Bert's Alerts - July 7, 2017
Spotlight
Thirteen College of Western Idaho (CWI) students recently traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the 2017 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference held June 20-22. CWI’s team is celebrating another successful performance, with students bringing home two gold, a silver, and two bronze medals in their respective competitions.
News Highlights
CWI students complete first Biology 2 class
A Pileated Woodpecker was busy working in the trees above College of Western Idaho (CWI) students as they completed field research next to Payette Lake, in McCall, during their immersion science class.
Adventurous students recently completed CWI’s first Biology 2 class at the University of Idaho Field Campus (UIFC). The four-week course gave participants a chance to get hands-on experience in the field as they completed lab work on the lush forest floor surrounded by ponderosa pines and Douglas-fir trees. This year was CWI Assistant Professor of Biology, Steve Lysne’s, maiden voyage with the class.
“The purpose of the field work is for the students to hone their science process skills; literature review, experimental design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and science communication via a short presentation.”
The class is intense and the students complete four credits of instruction which also includes a week of online instruction via Blackboard. The course meets the same requirements as a similar biology class in a traditional setting. Credits from this class are transferable to both Boise State as well as the University of Idaho.
Students start their day with breakfast, in a historic log cabin built in the 1940s, before making a short walk to a yurt, with a stunning view of Payette Lake — some students called it a ‘good distraction.’ After a couple of hours of classroom work, participants load into a van and head out to locations along the lake, Ponderosa State Park, and the Payette National Forest dependent on the focus of their field study to complete labs.
“When you bring students out here to be immersed in the organisms they are studying, we think it’s transformative,” said Lysne.
On June 19, teams of students worked on their own projects, which included Taylor Widman and Lexi Bray who were exploring the habitat in a marsh area at Lily Lake. As water snakes slithered past and deer ventured by, they looked at snails, tadpoles, and insects. After collecting specimens they walked to the edge of the marsh, their boots disappearing in thick mud with each step, to note their observations.
“It’s a lot easier to absorb the information because you’re working with it constantly, it makes it a lot easier to remember things,” said Bray.
The class was a wonderful opportunity for students to discover the diversity of plants and animals, while surrounded by beautiful scenery — with the added bonus of receiving four credits in four weeks.
CWI students bring home multiple medals from SkillsUSA competition
Thirteen College of Western Idaho (CWI) students recently traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the 2017 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference held June 20-22. CWI’s team is celebrating another successful performance, with students bringing home two gold, a silver, and two bronze medals in their respective competitions.
More than 6,000 high school and post-secondary students from around the nation competed in 100 hands-on trade, technical, and leadership games designed to push competitors to their limits.
CWI student David Rucker, who received a bronze medal in Telecommunications Cabling, competed in events from installing and fishing Ethernet cable through walls to responding to customer service issues while working under pressure.
For some of CWI’s team, this was the second time competing at the national event — which benefited Trey Aspelund, a recent graduate from the Cisco Networking and Securities Technologies program and gold medal winner in the Internetworking competition.
“I knew what the competition was going to look like, and I was able to create my own lab scenarios to prepare for the event,” said Aspelund. “I was told, from event organizers, I got the second highest score since the competition started,” he said.
The experience students gained in their classes before heading to the SkillsUSA national competition provided an invaluable foundation for the competition.
“CWI is a great place to go and you’ll be ahead of the curve,” said gold medal winner Dan Thompson in the CNC Milling Specialist event.
The trip was not all work for the team. They had a chance to watch a Louisville Bats game, eat amazing barbecue, and zipline in a huge cavern that used to be a limestone quarry.
Results
Trey Aspelund – Gold, Internetworking
Dan Thompson – Gold, CNC Milling Specialist
Griffin McCulloch – Silver, Related Technical Math
David Rucker – Bronze, Telecommunications Cabling
Josiah Duff – Bronze, Electronics Technology
June Staff of the Month
Thursday, July 6, marked eight years Kae Jensen has been with CWI. She is currently the Dean of Math and Science with her previous positions including Dean of STEM; Education Department Chair; Assistant Professor, Education; and Senior Enrollment Specialist in Student Enrichment. She has a Master’s of Education, Leadership, and Policy Studies degree from the University of Washington, Seattle. Kae is the mother of five, all of whom have different birth mothers. She is both birth mother and mom to the youngest, who is two, while her oldest will be 16 in January.
The core values displayed on a daily basis by Kae are integrity and respect. Her nomination noted, “From the moment Kae Jensen stepped into the role as Dean of STEM, she has been an excellent leader. She has been able to strike just the right balance between advocating for the faculty in the departments with the School of STEM and being a part of CWI’s administration. She is an excellent listener, she writes well, she has excellent communication skills, and she is efficient. Kae has earned the respect of all who work with her. She treats others with respect at all times.”
Please join in congratulating Kae on this accomplishment!
Step Up Challenge Winners Announced
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Step Up Challenge wrapped up another successful year and the Champion Trophy goes to Anthony Anselmo with an incredible 855,424 steps — enough steps to walk to Portland! Way to go Anthony!
The following employees were the top walkers in their building:
Ada County Campus
Lynx Building - Jodi Hickenlooper
Mallard Building - Liz Otterness
Pintail Center - Kim Johanek
Quail Building - Joshua Deiss
Canyon County Center
Hollie Leavitt
Nampa Campus
Administration Building - Amanda Miller
Aspen Classroom Building - Molly Smith
Academic Building - Kristin Cook
Multipurpose Building - Stephanie Barham
Professional Truck Driving - Dean Taylor
Micron Center for Professional Technical Education - Anthony Anselmo
Winners will receive a CWI pack filled with yoga mat, reflective gear, blender bottle, earbuds, foot massage ball, cooling bandana, and more!
Catch the Winning Spirit with the Boise Hawks during CWI Night
Mark your calendars for CWI Night at the Boise Hawks on Wednesday, July 26! The Hawks will battle the Hillsboro Hops as they roll into the second half of their winning season.
CWI is proud to partner with the Boise Hawks for a fun night of baseball and fundraising. During the game, you will have a chance to play Baseball Bingo and one lucky future CWI student will be presented with the employee sponsored, $1,000 SCORE Big Scholarship.
Visit boisehawks.com to purchase tickets to the game. Each $15.75 ticket includes a hot dog, soda, and a third-base seat at the game. For each ticket sold, $5 goes toward CWI’s SCORE Big Scholarship. Faculty, staff, student, friends, and family of the CWI Community are encouraged to participate!
#CWINight
