CWI Compass Connect - October 14, 2014
In the Spotlight
A group of College of Western Idaho (CWI) students enjoyed a beautiful day of outdoor learning on Tuesday (Oct. 7), taking part in an aquatic biology lab on the Boise River. Dusty Perkins and students from his ecology class spent the afternoon taking measurements and samples from the river, which is part of a multi-year monitoring project. The lab included measuring the river’s width, depth, and current, among other tests.
News Highlights
CWI Scholarship Fundraiser collects $65,000
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Foundation hosted its inaugural Opening Doors Benefit Event on Oct. 1, which resulted in an overwhelming amount of community support for CWI students. Incredibly, initial reports show the event helped fundraise over $65,000 for student scholarships, including more than $38,000 donated through a scholarship paddle raise. Over 230 supporters packed the McCleary Auditorium at the Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise for an evening that featured a social hour, three-course dinner, live auction, and student speaker. The auction culminated with Zions Bank purchasing the head table for next year’s event.
The Foundation received a tremendous amount of community support in hosting the fundraiser, including donated auditorium use by Saint Alphonsus and catering by Thomas Cuisine and Hayden Beverage. The Foundation Board of Directors’ Marketing and Special Events Committee also played an integral part in planning the evening, thanks to countless hours of collaboration by Board President, Mary May, and Directors Ed Barrett and Joel Hickman.
The CWI Foundation would like to thank student speaker Margaret Slater, students with the CWI Presidential Ambassador program, and employees who helped provide tremendous support for the event. The CWI Foundation is excited to start planning next year’s fundraiser, which will be an important part of the ongoing effort to raise funds to Open Doors for CWI students.
CWI Speech and Debate Wins Nine Awards to Open Season
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Speech and Debate team is off to a strong start to the 2014-15 season with a successful showing at the Fran Tanner Invitational hosted by College of Southern Idaho last weekend (Sept. 26-27). CWI was represented by 25 students, including 15 first-time competitors, who captured nine awards across both speech and debate events.
“I am so proud of this team,” says CWI’s Director of Forensics, Johnny Rowing. “They worked hard and competed well beyond their experience level and received feedback that will help them have a successful season.”
CWI will look to build upon its success at the Fran Tanner Invitational as the group turns its attention to the Mahaffey Memorial, held Nov. 14-16, at Linfield College.
Horticulture Club Presents 2014 Poinsettia Sale
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Horticulture Club is hosting its' annual Poinsettia Sale. The club is currently taking orders and will continue to do so until 3 p.m. on Oct. 31. The poinsettias are locally grown and offer a variety of colors and sizes ranging in price from $8 to $39.50. The poinsettias will be ready for pick-up Dec. 2 and deliveries will be made to specific locations on Dec. 5. For more information on selection and pricing or to place an order, view the poinsettia order form.
All orders must be prepaid by cash or check made payable to: CWI Horticulture Club. Sale proceeds will help support Horticulture Club students attending the 2015 National Collegiate Landscape Competition; PLANET Annual Student Career Days. All order forms and payment should be mailed to CWI Horticulture Club, attention William Habblett, at mail stop 8000. Please contact William at 208.562.2469 or williamhabblett@cwi.edu with questions.
CWI Art Adjunct Faculty Voted Best of Idaho
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is celebrating a member of its Art Department as Adjunct Faculty, Erin Cunningham, has been recognized by the Boise Weekly Magazine’s Best of Boise 2014. Cunningham was voted Best Idaho Visual Artist by Boise Weekly readers for the second consecutive year; her third honor overall.
Cunningham lives and works in Boise. She has a master’s degree in Fine Arts in painting from Boise State University. She joined CWI as an art history faculty in summer 2014. She also currently works as an adjunct professor at Boise State. For more information on Cunningham, and to view some of her work, visit www.erincunningham.net.
Herz Receives Faculty of Distinction Award
Jason Herz has been selected College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Faculty of Distinction for October in recognition of his overall performance and service to the College and its community.
Herz is the program chair for CWI’s Cisco Networking and Security Technologies program. In his time at CWI, he has exceeded the expectations for exhibiting CWI’s core value of Caring. In one example—to better serve his students—Herz worked with Tutoring Services to get a tutor in his classroom that can help students better understand course material.
He is constantly in the lab, making himself available many more hours than is required to help his students in a one-on-one setting. Even with all of these demands on his time, Herz still finds time to meet with his students to check their understanding and offer them as many resources as he can.
He has shown his dedication the program by happily meeting with prospective students to answer their questions about the program.
Please join in congratulating Jason for this well-deserved recognition.
