CWI Compass Connect - March 23, 2016
In the Spotlight
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) annual spring equipment sale, hosted by the Powersports and Small Engine Repair program, will return March 28-April 1. The sale features outdoor power equipment as well as lawn and garden equipment. The fundraising event will be held at the Micron Center for Professional Technical Education. For more details view the full announcement.
News Highlights
CWI Speech and Debate Extends Streak at Nationals
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Speech and Debate team concluded another highly successful season with a runner-up finish at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. A second place finish in Community College Overall Sweepstakes marks the sixth consecutive year CWI has been one of the top-two community colleges at the event. Fifteen students competed for the College at the tournament, March 16-20.
CWI’s success included capturing the top community college honor for debate, which ranked eighth among all 87 colleges and universities. The College also saw 10 students earn 18 individual awards.
"I can't be more proud of these students,” says CWI’s Assistant Director of Forensics, Jim Gatfield. “Eleven of the fifteen had never competed at a national tournament before this week, so to see this kind of success is truly remarkable."
The most recent accolades for CWI continue a dominating tradition that has captured four national community college championships and a pair of runner-up finishes. The College earned first place in overall sweepstakes in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015. CWI’s other second-place honor came in 2014.
The success at nationals caps another remarkable season for CWI’s Speech and Debate program. The College took home top community college honors at 5 different tournaments, including first-place at the Pi Kappa Delta Regional Tournament of the Great West.
CWI Students Score Big at BPA Competition
College of Western Idaho (CWI) enjoyed a big day at the 2016 Idaho Business Professionals of America (BPA) Leadership Conference, March 4, earning 32 top-five finishes at the event. The awards were earned by 14 CWI students, who have all qualified to compete at the BPA national competition in May. CWI will be represented at nationals in 11 different events thanks to the outstanding showing at state.
CWI students excelled in a number of accounting and information technology competitions. The College took home four awards in College Accounting while also finishing first through third in College Payroll Accounting. On the Information Technology side, CWI swept Computer Network Technology and Network Administration Using Microsoft. The College also earned four of the top five spots in PC Servicing and Troubleshooting, and Systems Administration Using CISCO.
Michael Morrison, Pam Roemer, Troy Wilson, and Daniel Clemmens will lead the way for CWI at nationals; qualifying in three events each. The 2016 National BPA Leadership Conference will be held May 5-9 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Car Show Fundraiser is Back at CWI
The fourth-annual Skills on Wheels Car Show will return to College of Western Idaho (CWI), April 16. The event is a fundraiser to help send CWI students to the SkillsUSA national competition each summer. The car show will take over the Micron Center for Professional Technical Education in Nampa to showcase muscle cars, stock cars, eighteen wheelers, motorcycles, and more. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include music and food. Admission is free.
Registration is currently open and entries are needed for all categories. Vendors are also invited to join the event. For registration and entry fee information, or to sign up for a booth visit cwiautoshow.com.
Unique Project Captures True Spirit of Collaboration
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is preparing to celebrate the arrival of a unique work of art. For the past several months, Boise artist Alma Gomez and students taking Art classes at CWI have been working to create a one-of-a-kind painted mural. The artwork will be the College’s first public piece of art, and will be a significant addition to CWI's campus.
“The idea (for this project) came from our Visiting Artist program—a program that brings an artist every year to our campus to have a lecture and hold a workshop,” Goran Fazil, CWI art instructor, said. “Knowing that in the past Alma painted murals at different locations, including Boise State University, we decided to ask if she would be interested in painting a mural for our College.”
Called Spirit of Collaboration, this project has been a true learning process for students from beginning to end. Students in Fazil’s drawing and design classes started working with Gomez in her studio in October. Every other week, new groups of students visited the studio to work side-by-side with her. They participated in the process starting with the very first pencil stroke.
“We were able to see the initial stages of work on the full-scale project,” one student wrote on a classroom discussion board. “It was an excellent real-life preview of what a professional artist does.”
The mural is comprised of three separate panels. It depicts actual students in the Liberal Arts and Professional Technical Education programs. By the time the mural is complete at the end of March, approximately 100 CWI students will have helped Gomez with the painting.
“I have been to galleries before… but I have never been to an artist studio,” another student wrote. “To see inside (her studio) was really cool. I loved how she incorporated many aspects of CWI into one painting, and her different uses of perspective… it was an experience I will always remember.”
“This has been a great experience for the students,” Fazil said. “They got to work on something that will be here forever.”
Funding for the mural came from grants from the Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation, the Idaho Humanities Council, and a private donor. The artwork, which will have a permanent home at CWI’s Micron Center for Professional Technical Education, will be officially unveiled in a ceremony on Thursday, April 14. The event starts with an artist lecture at 6 p.m. The mural unveiling and a reception will immediately follow. For more information, contact communications@cwi.edu.
CWI Faculty a Lifelong Learner
College of Western Idaho (CWI) Adjunct Faculty, James Rosenberg, has enjoyed a unique spring semester. In addition to teaching classes, like he has done for five years at CWI, he is also taking a journey from the other side of the desk. This January Rosenberg enrolled as a student in CWI’s IDoTeach program; which offers courses that encourage Math and Science majors to consider teaching. The decision is giving Rosenberg valuable experience for his own classroom, while setting a tremendous example of what it means to be a lifelong learner.
“I enrolled in the IDoTeach program this term for several reasons,” says Rosenberg. “While I am quite comfortable with the subject matter of the classes I instruct, I am always interested in becoming a better and more effective educator.”
Rosenberg has enjoyed a positive experience in his first IDoTeach class. Not only has he found the curriculum to be helpful, but he is also benefiting from an additional learning opportunity as an intern with the Boise Watershed Environmental Education Center.
“When the internship was presented during class I was quite excited. I fancy myself a conservationist and jumped at the opportunity to combine that interest with the experience of providing lessons to excited field-tripping second graders, a population I have had little exposure to.”
Rosenberg believes the work done in the IDoTeach class, particularly regarding inquiry based learning and education plans, has paid off.
“I still have a lot I can improve upon, but my IDoTeach experience has helped me bring a more inquiry-based approach to the already hands-on Boise River Watershed presentation and exhibit hall experiment stations.”
English Department Presents Visiting Writer Event
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) English Department is proud to announce it will welcome renowned writer, Anne Panning, to campus for the next installment of its Visiting Writers Series. Panning is this year's fiction headliner at Storyfort in Boise. She will visit CWI's Nampa Campus Academic Building on March 28 for a free, public event in room 102E. She will open with a reading at 7 p.m. with a reception and question and answer session to follow.
Panning's novel, Butter, was published in 2012 by Switchgrass Books. Her short story collection, Super America, won The Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and was selected as a New York Times Editor's Choice. Panning’s fiction has been described as warm and original by Publishers Weekly, intelligent and humorous by the Boston Globe, graceful and wry by Booklist, and infectious and enchanting by the New York Times.
Please contact Malia Collins at 208.562.3323 or maliacollins@cwi.edu for questions and more information.
Classroom Opportunities Educate IDoTeach Students
This spring, 17 students from College of Western Idaho (CWI) are learning first-hand what it takes to be a teacher thanks to invaluable partnerships with local elementary and middle schools. The students are enrolled in IDoTeach classes at CWI, which are designed to encourage Math and Science majors to consider teaching. Thanks to opportunities at Hunter Elementary School, Peregrine Elementary School, Chaparral Elementary School, Meridian Middle School, and Falcon Ridge Charter School these students are gaining vital exposure to the profession which will hopefully help them decide whether or not to pursue a career in education.
Students in IDoTeach classes, Education 101 and 102, are required to design and teach three lessons this semester. The student teaching partnerships provide an opportunity to conduct their lessons, as well as observe teachers in a real classroom setting. All but one of the students is conducting their lesson and observation in a group, giving students a support system to help navigate a process that can be very intimidating.
The CWI Education Department would like to thank all of the schools that are helping provide this valuable learning opportunity for IDoTeach students, as well as the teachers who volunteer as mentors.
Haviland Receives Staff Award
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is happy to recognize Michelle Haviland as CWI’s Staff of the Month recipient for March.
Haviland is currently a financial aid manager and focuses on student financial aid services. She started her journey at CWI in November 2009 as a financial aid advisor and was promoted to her current position in July 2014. Haviland attended the University of Idaho where she obtained a degree in Sociology.
Haviland is a great example of the core values – “Serving all in an atmosphere of caring”, “Respecting the dignity of opinions”, and “Acting with integrity”. Her nomination notes: “Michelle is a good representative of CWI’s core values in her work and her interactions with staff and students. Michelle is a great educator not only to students regarding financial aid but to staff as well. She takes her time to be sure that everyone involved understands the core answer so that next time you will be able to answer the student directly and more accurately.” Additional notes made about Michelle are: “She is super helpful and caring; and will make sure students get taken care of and treated fairly. She is a rock star, I know she will always get the job done and is super dependable and knowledgeable. Michelle has been awesome on the front lines of the One Stop as a resource and deserves to be recognized for her efforts.”
Haviland has been married to her husband Drew since 2009. Her first child is Black Betty—a lab pound puppy—and second is Sydney, who was born October 2015. They keep her pretty busy. In her “free” time, Haviland enjoys cooking, camping, gardening, going to concerts, and a good patio beverage in the summer time. A fun fact about her is that before she dies, she plans to be on Price is Right and win big at Plinko.
Please join in congratulating Michelle.
