Outliers: Students in ACTION Newsletter

Outliers: Students in ACTION Newsletter

September 2016

Outliers: Students in ACTION is a monthly publication during the academic year highlighting students and events in the Science and Math Education in ACTION Choose Ohio First grant program at BGSU.

Reflections from the ACTION Director

by Dr. Daniel Brahier


	Dr. Brahier chats with Ashley, Anna, Hannah and Christian at the ACTION Academic Excellence Dinner

The new academic year has begun! As I scan my Facebook page, I see countless posts made by graduates of ACTION, making statements such as, "I am so excited to start this school year" and "I met my students for the first time today and absolutely love my classes!" The energy level in these young teachers is contagious, and their students are ultimately feeling the effects of that enthusiasm. At our Summer Bridge Program this July, I pointed out to the parents of our 33 new ACTION scholars that Choose Ohio First and BGSU will jointly spend about $1-million on them between now and graduation. But I also pointed out that our new cohort would collectively teach more than 175,000 middle and high school children in their careers and that is why the investment is so important. We need middle and high school teachers who are excited about science and mathematics and can pass that positive spirit on to their students.

This summer, we greeted 29 new first-year scholars in Cohort 8, as well as 4 new second-year transfer students into Cohort 7 (engaging in a program in July known as STARS - Summer Transfer and Returning Students). ACTION now serves a total of 112 students - the largest group in the history of the program. We are anxious to formally greet the students in the weeks to come, as we will celebrate a Welcome Back Spaghetti Dinner, an Academic Excellence Dinner, and a food tent event at the Family Weekend football game for students and their parents - all of which are in August and September. Meanwhile, we continue to strengthen the popular Peer Mentoring Program that was instituted last year, as well as building on success in the Mathematics in ACTION Tutoring Hub in which ACTION scholars tutor high school mathematics students from around Ohio.

We recently established a new Twitter account to send out regular "tweets" to our scholars, friends, family, and anyone with interest in the ACTION program. If you have not already done so, we encourage YOU to follow us on Twitter (ACTION @ BGSU) to track our program and the many exciting opportunities we offer to our scholars. Meanwhile, we will soon begin recruiting Cohort 9 - up to 30 incoming freshmen for the Fall of 2017. Application information is scheduled to appear at the ACTION website (bgsu.edu/action) in mid-September, with applications due by January 15, 2017. If you know of high school seniors considering a career in teaching science and/or mathematics, please send them our way to explore the website, and encourage them to follow us on Twitter.

I look forward to my sixth year as Director of Science and Math Education in ACTION - a program that is unique to Bowling Green State University and serves as a model of teacher preparation for other institutions around Ohio and the country. If my staff or I can help you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us. I wish our scholars and their families all the best as we begin the new academic year!

ACTION STUDENT PROFILES

We are excited about the four students who have transferred into ACTION and are joining Cohort 7 as rising sophomores this year. We asked each of them what they were involved with at BGSU last year and why they want to teach science and/or mathematics:

Hannah Tomor

AYA Integrated Science

Hometown - Oak Harbor

I am involved in the outdoor program at BG where I worked at the rock wall and this summer I led one of the Freshman Wilderness Experience trips. I also helped train other staff members with specific things related to leading trips such as knot tying, trail etiquette, ration planning and nutrition, personal hygiene, and how to handle group stressors.

My high school chemistry teacher had a big impact on me wanting to teach science. I respected her as a teacher and she helped me love science by making class fun while also maintaining order in her classes. I enjoy hands-on activities in class and science labs allow for this throughout the year. I would like to be able to help students understand the world through a scientific perspective.

Emma Bordner

Middle Childhood Education (Science & Mathematics)

Hometown - Attica

A few organizations I have been involved with at BGSU include educational groups such as BGCTM and BGSEC, a religious group called Veritas, and an all-girls workout group called CHAARG.

My dream is to make a difference in the lives of youth by pursuing a career in the field of math and science education. I want to encourage my students to find the drive that I have to learn, especially in math and science because they are used in daily life. Numbers are all around us, and math is used in everyday tasks, such as measuring units of sugar while baking, or determining how much money it will cost to fill your car with gas. The process of simply baking a cake or driving a car utilizes properties of science. My passion for learning is something I love to share with others.

Brandon Kohler

Middle Childhood Education (Science & Mathematics)

Hometown - Wapakoneta

I have gotten very involved in BGSU Residence Life and am currently the Vice President of Admin and Finance for Resident Student Association as well as a member of NRHH. I am part of the BGSU Men's Chorus.

Science has always been one of my strongest subjects. I was always curious as to why things happened the way that they did. Furthermore, science is a broad enough subject that has content areas that can catch the attention of most students. Inspiring scientific curiosity into my future students is a thought that motivates me daily to achieve my best results within my college education. I fell in love with math from a young age, and I continue to appreciate its patterns and processes daily. I want to make math fun and engaging for students to inspire them to care more about mathematics and realize the practical uses it provides.

Hailey Ginnever

Middle Childhood Education (Science & Mathematics)

Hometown - Arcadia

Last year I got very involved with Math Camp and I am a member of BG Council of Teachers of Mathematics (BGCTM) and also BG Science Education Council (BGSEC). I am active at H2O Church and volunteer at the Wood County Senior Center.

I aspire to help students discover and relate classroom experiences to the real world. Math and science require determination for solving and creativity for thinking outside of the box, while offering an abundance of hands-on activities. Once I realized teaching was the career for me, I created my own classroom in the basement and forced my brother to do multiplication worksheets and made him take observations of a fake flower. I seek to give my students the same desire to inquire what a plant is made of or how to find an unknown variable.

ACTION Graduates

ACTION Choose Ohio First graduates have a high commitment to staying in Ohio. Several are pursuing a Master's Degree, while many of our 2016 grads have secured teaching jobs for the 2016-17 school year in districts across Ohio including:

Mason High School - Mason

Woodward High School - Toledo

Van Buren Middle School - Van Buren

Lakewood School District - Lakewood

Tippecanoe High School - Tipp City

Pfeiffer Intermediate for Perry Local Schools - Massillon

Mayfield Elementary - Middletown

North Ridgeville High School - North Ridgeville

Elida High School - Elida

Bellefontaine Middle School - Bellefontaine

Holt Crossing Intermediate - Grove City

We are so proud of all our graduates as they begin to utilize the first hand experiences and skills gained through ACTION and the College of Education and Human Development at BGSU.

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Summer Bridge Highlights

Another successful Summer Bridge is in the books! Our 29 new ACTION Cohort 8 scholars were kept busy on campus from July 5-29, 2016. Weekdays were filled with class sessions, whereas evenings and weekends provided opportunity for these incoming freshman scholars to engage in social and educational activities.

The recent high school graduates were transformed into college students by the end of the Bridge. Cohort 8 scholars are now familiar with campus, have built a deep and lasting community, and gained confidence that will carry them far the next four years. You can get a glimpse below of Summer Bridge 2016...

Gail and Stephanie wait to help their cohort members over the wall at Camp Miakonda

Lauren, Lisa and Nicole create during a "Beautiful Math" session

Chris and Gail examine double stuff oreos

Erika and Mackenzie show off a snake during the reptile session

Josh and Alaina work together

Kara, Ally, Nicole, Sydney and Kate have fun bowling

Dr. Larsen shows Karen, Nicole and Kyle a petri dish

Josie and Makenna examine a starfish

Josh and Kyle compare designs

Ryleigh, Natalie and Katelyn pose with their creation

Kate, Emma and Ally provide support to Josh and Chris during a team building activity

Morgan presents her poster to President Mazey at the Showcase

Danielle and McKenna complete lab work on fingerprinting

Marco, Lauren and Gail collect data for the GLOBE session

Cohort Updates


	Cohort 6 scholars discuss action research while Dr. B listens

It is exciting to be an ACTION senior as Cohort 5 scholars now have the opportunity to implement the classroom research portion of their capstone project. Students will collect data during methods and/or student teaching and then analyze the results as a means to improve as a teacher.

Cohort 6 juniors are just beginning the capstone process. At the first of six sessions for this group last week, Dr. Brahier laid the foundation for the next two years. He discussed the six steps in the action research process and shared an example of one student's research.


Olivia Henderson and Erin Erbskorn meet with a rep from Toledo Machine and Die, Inc to discuss a fall practicum

During the summer, ten scholars from Cohort 7 completed practicums. These students were able to make a connection in their hometown at various companies and agencies that were grateful for assistance with hands-on math and/or science projects. The remaining sophomore scholars are beginning to be matched with companies in this area and will complete a practicum this fall or spring.

First year scholars (Cohort 8) have already started meeting with their research groups. With seven different research topics available, students were able to select the research focus that best matched their interests. In the coming letters, one group will be highlighted each month. These projects enable our scholars to begin thinking like researchers as they start of their college career and will continue to provide positive benefits thereafter.

GLOBE Conference

Very few rising sophomores have the chance to present at an international conference, yet that is exactly what six of our Cohort 7 ACTION scholars had the opportunity to do this summer. Bonnie Altstaetter, Logan Bretz, Emma Constance, Janelle Mangen, Kim Wheatley and Beth Zeno worked with Dr. Jodi Haney last year to complete their first-year ACTION research. Their project focused on taking soil moisture samples around Bowling Green and comparing them to NASA's soil moisture readings from their soil moisture probe satellite. Several NASA representatives were so impressed by a webinar presentation by our students last spring, an invitation was extended for our scholars to present at the international GLOBE conference.

The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program is an international science and education program that provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process, and contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment.

The group travelled to Estes Park, Colorado from July 16-19. While in Colorado, the students presented their research poster at a reception and interacted with participants from all over the world including Croatia, South Africa, Oman, and Puerto Rico. Our scholars then gave a general session presentation to a full audience that was very well received, earning accolades from top officials from NASA, NSF, and the GLOBE Program. They also were able to attend sessions on new initiatives within GLOBE as well as how to use GLOBE and NASA satellite missions in the classroom. Read below for comments from Dr. Haney and some of the students:

Dr. Jodi Haney: It was very easy and enjoyable to travel with this group. They were highly professional in every sense of the word and were great fun too! Their presentation was most impressive and I am both humbled and honored to call them my students!

Janelle Mangen: Being at an international conference allowed me to realize how helpful and real our


	The group had a little time to hike and enjoy the mountains before the conference started

research was and it opened doors to connections with experienced mentors. We felt like professionals (at least on our topic). It was a very rewarding and memorable experience.

Logan Bretz: The trip to Colorado was wonderful! We made many connections and met important people throughout the trip. I also enjoyed attending the other sessions at the conference, specifically the one about mosquitoes. Being in the Rocky Mountain National Park was stunning; overall it was an amazing experience.

Emma Constance: There were a lot of teachers at the conference who were interested in our work and wanted to discuss ways they could implement activities like our research in their classroom. I felt very professional and we were almost like superstars!


	The ACTION lounge is packed full of scholars enjoying time together

Academic Excellence

During Spring semester 2016, over 70 percent of our scholars earned 4.0 GPA's! This is truly an amazing accomplishment. To celebrate the hard work our scholars who met the criteria of academic excellence, ACTION hosted an Academic Excellence Dinner on August 30. We are so proud of the achievements of all our scholars as they make school work a priority while also being involved in many leadership roles on campus and in the community. Congrats!

ACTION Tailgate - BGSU Family Weekend

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 17. Join us for food and fun at the ACTION tailgate tent starting at 10:30am. Look for our tent near the stadium prior to the noon football game as BGSU takes on Middle Tennessee State.

Upcoming ACTION Events

Welcome Back Spaghetti Dinner - Tuesday, September 6 :: 6:00pm

Peer Mentoring Training & Match - Tuesday, September 13 :: 4:30-5:50pm

BGSU Family Weekend - ACTION Tailgate - Saturday, September 17 :: 10:30am-12:00pm

STEM in the Park - Saturday, September 24

BGSU Preview Day - Saturday, October 15

ACTION Fall Seminar - Tuesday, October 18

September 2016

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1	2	3

4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Labor Day	EDTL 4160 Session #1 Welcome Back Spaghetti Dinner 6pm 1104OW	Natalie Miller B-day		Kaitlynn Jensen & Emily Breech B-day
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
	Morgan Knight B-day	Peer Mentor Workshop & Match			Devoney Miller B-day	Family Weekend Tailgate
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
	Zoe Hatfield & Sydney McQuate B-day	EDTL 3160 Session #2 & Practicum Presentations				STEM in the Park
25	26	27	28	29	30
Chelsea Mayer B-day		Student Advisory Board Mtg. Gail English B-day			Erika Emch B-day

As a Choose Ohio First grant program sponsored by the Ohio Board of Regents, our goal is to produce exceptional science and mathematics teachers who will impact the next generation across the state to improve STEM areas. The need is great for good teachers in these areas.