Oakwood's WJOU 90.1 FM Hosts 2nd Annual Community Health Fair

Testing for hypertension was just one of the several screenings available at the second annual Community Health Fair last week. (Photo by Anthony Chornes II)

Oakwood University's Praise Station WJOU 90.1 FM along with Good Samaritan Hospice, hosted its second annual Community Health Fair on October 23, at the Millet Activity Center.

More than 60 vendors were present to provide diabetes screening, BMI Testing, dental consultation, flu shots, healthy product presentations, voter registration, other health screenings, affordable care act counseling, senior citizens info, home health care services, and healthy cooking demonstrations.

"This health fair event is our gift to the community," said Reginald Hicks, general manager and director of WJOU. "It's very important to know how healthy you are," he added.

This year, event organizers also awarded scholarships to Oakwood University students in the areas of communication, allied health and nursing. "Not only do we want to make sure we let the community know about health, we want to help students out as well who are going into these health and communication-related fields," said Hicks.

Other local Huntsville sponsors included Redstone Federal Credit Union, Healthy Smiles Dental, Dynamic Performance Physical Therapy, Eternal Security, Crown Trophies, Woody Anderson Ford, Walgreens, Madison County Health Department, Minuteman Printing, Seraaj Family Homes Inc, Genesis Healthcare, Senior Directory, Homewatch Caregivers, Two Men in a Kitchen Catering, McAbee Medical, and Childress Accounting.

Oakwood's Education Grads Return to Campus

by Mrs. Marilyn Schenck, M.A., and Dana Wilchcombe, Ph.D.

School of Education

Chantel Bailey-Callender

Chantel Bailey-Callender, '04, and

Bianca Barreiro '09, were recent guest lecturers in Dr. Dana Wilchcombe's class, ED341 - Foundations of Reading, in the Education Department. Both Education Department alumna also gave presentations to prospective OU students during the annual "College Days" and to members of the Education Club.

Bailey-Callender has taught in both public and Christian schools. She modeled how she integrates faith and learning through music and poetry. In addition, she demonstrated how a teacher can integrate literacy into all subject areas.

Bianca Barreiro

Barreiro, a kindergarten teacher in the local school district, modeled how she integrates technology into classroom instruction to teach phonics and word knowledge through the use of the Promethean board. She also demonstrated how she engages students through the use of free websites, such as padlet.com, socrative.com, and classdojo.com.

This was an exciting opportunity for our current and prospective students, faculty, and staff in the Education Department to dialogue with our guest speakers and witness the impact the graduates of Oakwood University's Education Department have on K-12 student learning. We applaud our Education Department graduates for their willingness to come back and partner with the Department.

Ambassadors Experiencing Good Season, Head to DC for Basketball Season Opener

by Monica Spencer, student writer

Oakwood University Ambassadors and Lady Ambassadors have already demonstrated a stellar performance this season. "Each team is filled with talented and vibrant players and it shows. Unlike the opposing teams, our athletes receive no scholarship; they play the game because they love it and because of the acceleration of wholesome competition," Coach James Roddy, athletic director, explained.

The Women's Volleyball team, under the coaching of Dr. Wayne Bucknor, certainly represented Oakwood exceptionally well with their performance throughout the season. In fact, for half of the season the Women's Volleyball team ranked 14 in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, which is comprised of more than 100 Colleges and Universities. On October 30, at 12:00 noon, the Women's Volleyball team will play their final game of the season in the Ashby Auditorium.

The Women's Soccer team has showed tremendous improvement since its inception. This season under the coaching of Anthony Walker, the Women's soccer team won their first game against the skilled Fisk University team.

This season's Men's Soccer team was one of the most talented since Oakwood became involved in intercollegiate soccer. Although numerous obstacles surfaced, the team was able to win about 50% of their games this season.

The Women's Basketball team, coached by Tony Oliver, and the Men's Basketball team, coached by Simon Jacob will begin their journey on Thursday, October 30, with a trip to Washington, DC, to kick-off their season with a double-header game against the Washington Adventist University teams, at the Takoma Academy gymnasium in Takoma Park, Md., on Saturday night. Adult tickets are $15 at the door; $5 for children 12 and under. Hundreds of Oakwood University alumni and friends are expected to be there to support. See advertisement below for ticket sale details.

Also while in Washington, DC, Oakwood students will take in the historic attractions, including a tour of the U.S. Capitol Building, and will meet with Dr. Barry Black, '70, chaplain of the U.S. Senate and former student athlete of Oakwood College.

Note: To see the Ambassador's game schedules, please click here.

Employee News

Ramona Hyman, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of English & Foreign Languages, has been asked to present on the topic of inspirational writing at the Madison Public Library on November 2. This free, local symposium is gradually becoming a hit in the Tennessee Valley. Other topics being shared include photography, playwriting, production, and authorship.

Alumni Notes

Armand Blankenship, '12, recently encouraged the owners of Huntsville's Woody Anderson Ford

to establish the "Care to Drive" campaign. For every vehicle purchased by anyone affiliated with Oakwood University, Woody Anderson Ford will contribute $50 toward Oakwood's scholarship fund.

Celebrating the selection of Elite Scholars Academy as a 2014 National Blue Ribbon School: (l-r) Clayton Co. Public Schools Supt. Luvenia Jackson; Elite Scholars Governing Board Chari State Rep. Mike Glanton; Elite Scholars Principal Dr. Shonda Moody-Shaw; and U.S. Dept. of Education Communications Asst. Jonava Johnson (Special Photo)

Due largely to the leadership of Dr. Shonda Moody-Shaw, '89, Elite Scholars Academy, a public charter school in Morrow, Ga., is one of the 337 schools being honored by the U.S. Department of Education for the 2014 National Blue Ribbon Schools recognition. Elite Scholars will be formally honored during a ceremony November 10-11 in Washington, D.C. The school will receive a National Blue Ribbon School plaque and a flag as a symbol of its recognized status. MORE

Note: Share your Alumni News with us at pr@oakwood.edu.

Pollard's Places

This past weekend, I had the joy of attending the U.S. Dream Academy board meeting, led by our alumnus, Dr. Wintley Phipps. On Sunday evening, we enjoyed a wonderful supper at the home of U.S. Dream Academy Board Member Candace Matthews, who serves as the chief marketing officer at the Amway corporation. Candace and her husband Bruce provided us the opportunity to meet several of Amway's executives.

Pastor Phipps is to be commended for starting a ministry which touches the hearts and homes of thousands of children whose parents have been incarcerated. Congratulations to Dr. Phipps! Every day his ministry makes Oakwood University proud that he is one of our graduates.

OU Picture of the Week

This past Monday, "Mr. Oakwood," Jordan Harris, hosted a panel discussion for the student body about how to appropriately respond to law enforcement. Harris' event was very timely, as local and national media has been dealing with this hot topic. His guests included an attorney and an officer from the Huntsville Police Department. (Photo by Anthony Chornes II)

About Oakwood

The mission of Oakwood University, a historically black, Seventh-day Adventist institution, is to transform students through biblically-based education for service to God and humanity.