fall 2012 connect magazine

12

Upload: central-wyoming-college

Post on 12-Mar-2016

223 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

Fall 2012 Connect Magazine

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 2: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 3: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 4: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 5: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 6: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 7: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 8: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine

Ray Snyder is a perfect example of a lifelong learner. He’s lived in many places and worked in a va-riety of occupations throughout his long life, and has always been in the personal or professional pursuit of knowledge. Snyder, an 83-year-old teacher, pilot, fl ight instructor, automotive and airline mechanic, and a dedicated hobbyist, has enrolled in almost every automotive technology class that Central Wyoming College has offered in the past decade. In 2002 he bought a new Chevy pickup truck. “I don’t understand this thing,” Ray thought to himself. He decided then it was necessary to go back to school to learn the new technologies in the automotive industry. The college waived many of the course prerequisites because of his past and vast knowl-edge. While in that fi rst class, he overhauled an engine of a 1974 van, modifying the torque so the vehicle could pull heavy loads. “He’s got a story for everything,” said CWC auto technology Professor Dudley Cole. “It’s amazing the kind of stuff he’s done in his life-time.” Ray worked in the automotive industry for decades mostly to hold him over until there was work in aviation. His father operated an airport near Redding, PA and Ray took his fi rst fl ight as a 6-month old infant. At age 15, he had his fi rst fl ying lesson and soloed just a year later. In 1941, Ray’s father joined the civil service and worked as an aircraft mechanic near Wright

Octogenarian never stops learning

8(continued on next page)

Field, an airfi eld of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ray said his father had the opportunity to meet aviation pioneer Orville Wright. The love for fl ying and tinkering on aircraft engines was passed on from father to son.Before he entered the fi rst grade, Ray’s toy was an old 1929 Dodge engine. He would use his father’s tools, take it apart and put it back together. Already established as an automotive mechanic, Ray continued to hang out at airports hoping to ad-vance his career into aviation. While watching a man put together a new engine for an airplane, Ray recognized the factory had switched the terminals. After that, he stopped by every couple of days and was allowed to fl y in exchange for his mechanics work. Ray eventually became a fl ight instructor and taught aviation mainte-nance technology at a vo-cational high school in Las Vegas. After retiring from teaching, Ray fl ew tourists over the Grand Canyon in twin engine planes, fl ying down into the outer gorge. When it came time to retire again, Ray and his

Page 9: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine
Page 10: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine

The Central Wyoming College Sinks Canyon Center has proven to be an extraordinary outdoor classroom.

Through a partnership between CWC and sev-eral state and federal agencies and organizations, fourth grade students from Lander spend a day each September learning about geology, wildlife, weather, water and just about anything the great outdoors has to offer.

The annual Outdoor Education Day began more than three years ago when staff from the Riverton office of the National Weather Service (NWS) began looking at ways of reaching out to young people to further generate interest in sci-ence and math.

After a brainstorming session with Sinks Can-yon Center staff, other agencies were contacted and the event was launched. “We are putting into practice some of the ideals of Richard Louv,”

said meteorologist Chris Jones of the Louv book entitled “Last Child in the Woods.” A child advo-cacy expert, Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation to the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rise in obesity, attention disorders and depression.

The Outdoor Education Day also dovetails nicely with the nationwide initiative to motivate students to study Science, Technology, Engineer-ing and Math (STEM). “It has been a fantastic way to get us all involved while strengthening partnerships,” said Jones whose agency has been sponsoring the Men and Women in Science pro-gram for more than a decade.

Planning and organizing the Outdoor Educa-tion Day has become a monumental task for the partner agencies so to grow the program region-ally and nationally, the organizers are putting together a curriculum guide to share with other

organizations who may want to put on a similar event.

“It would be very difficult to replicate it without a facility compared to the Sinks Canyon Center,” Jones said. “We can do so many things there that would be difficult to do elsewhere.”

The children arrive at the Sinks Canyon facil-ity in the morning and are divided into small groups to be escorted to one of ten stations throughout the property by students of CWC’s Outdoor Education and Leadership program.

At station 1, representatives of the U.S. For-est Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Outdoor Leadership School teach the school children how to wade the Popo Agie River while incorporating lessons in stewardship, ethics and erosion.

Representatives from U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Wyoming Game and Fish teach the chil-

Outdoor education spreading to elementary students

(continued on next page)10

Page 11: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine

11

dren about tracking wildlife and identifying scat at the next stop, while wildlife experts discuss ethics and respect at station 3.

A UW Extension agent and a Wyoming State Forestry representative teach plant and tree iden-tification at the next station while Game and Fish and wildlife experts discuss awareness of bears, mountain lions and wolves at station 5.

Geology of the Wind River Mountains is the topic at the following station with BLM leaders, while experts from the Weather Service, Popo Agie Conservation District and Game and Fish discuss weather and water while weaving in other impor-tant ecology lessons at the next station.

The Audubon Society teaches bird identifica-tion, while the Game and Fish and Fish and Wild-life teach about nuisance species of fish. The final station demonstrates preparedness in the woods.

“We’ve tried very hard not to make this a classroom in the woods,” Jones said, explaining that the students are true participants at each station and enjoy plenty of hands-on experiences. “They are touching, looking and learning. They are not just sitting in a classroom.”

At the end of the day, everyone gathers under

a tent and the Game and Fish Department gives every student their own brand new fishing pole.

It is also a great learning experience for the CWC Outdoor Education students, said professor Darran Wells. “So many of our students come from out of state and didn’t grow up with the flora and fauna here,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity for the students to get some leadership and facilita-tion experience with that age group.”

Jones said the fourth grade students imme-diately connect with the college students. Wells hopes the youngsters go away thinking college is really cool and the experience will lead them to realize there are careers in outdoor education.

The students from Lander’s Baldwin Creek School were impressed. “The fourth graders were begging me to build a school at Sinks Canyon when they returned today,” said Principal Leslie Voxland in an email to organizers. “Thank you so very much for your time and effort organizing this amazing experience for our students – a day that will be memorable for many a kid when they think back about their favorite times at school.”

The principal promised the learning from the day’s experience will continue as students make connections in all of the content areas that were presented. “We look forward to next year,” she said.

The Magdalen Whitewash’s central character is incest victim Mary, who the audience will see in 1919 when she arrives at the asylum at age 13. She will be played by 13-year-old Riverton Middle School student Kirsten Dorn, who has been acting professionally since the age of seven and has been in six made-for-TV mov-ies. This is the third time Kirsten has appeared in CWC productions. We will also see Mary in 1934, and she will be played by CWC student Amanda Hessler.

Other “Maggies” are played by Briana Burlingham, Kimmie Lia Baxter, Katie Wagner, Shanelle Anderson, Rae Dawn Bennett, Anika Greenhalgh and Maille Gray.

“This play is actually tame in the depiction in how they were treated,” Myers said. “It was actually much worse.”

Other cast members include Taylar Stagner, Seth Finley, Daneile Hardison, Marcia Himes, Grace Kinder, Jennifer Neely, Erika Dierking (DeBoer), Brittany Dwyer, Cody Mock, Quincie Cowell, Laurence Miles, Nathaniel Esposito, Ze-dikiah Mills, Seth Finley, and Kristi Dorn-Billin.

Considering the subject matter, Myers promises this powerful play will surely enter-tain CWC audiences with a compelling story.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and children. Order tickets online at www.tickets.cwc.edu or call the CWC Box Office to reserve your ticket: 855-2002.

Irish play(continued from page 7)

Outdoor education(continued from page 10)

Page 12: Fall 2012 Connect Magazine