Education Buzz for Sunday, May 15
Fresno City College awards 2016 Dean’s Medallions
Fresno City College awarded its Dean’s Medallion of Excellence Award for 2016.
The award is presented to an exemplary student in each division based on the student’s academic achievements, community service and general excellence.
Recipients received their medallions in a special ceremony on May 11 in the Old Administration Building.
This year’s award winners were:
- Leslie Jackson of the Allied Health, Physical Education and Athletics Division
- Joe Meza of the Applied Technology Division
- Savanhnary Vongthongdy of the Business Division
- Cody Sedano of the Counseling and Guidance, Student Services Division
- Tessa Barretto of the Fine, Performing and Communication Arts Division
- Patrick Galindo of the Social Sciences Division
Fresno State names top faculty
Music professor Thomas Loewenheim was awarded the 2016 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching by Lynnette Zelezny, Fresno State’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.
Loewenheim has been at Fresno State since 2007. Under his leadership, the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra has grown from a small ensemble to a full symphony orchestra with a level of artistic achievement rivaling many of the top universities in the nation.
In addition to his duties as professor, director of the University Orchestra and coordinator of chamber music, Loewenheim is the conductor of the Youth Orchestras of Fresno, host of the International Cello Festival at Fresno State and the music director and conductor for the Fresno Opera and Orchestra Summer Academy.
Additionally, Una Mjurka, associate professor of art and design, won the Faculty Service Award; Carmen Caprau, associate professor of mathematics, won the Research, Scholarship and Creative Accomplishment Award; and Joseph Ross, assistant professor of biology, won the Innovation Award.
Fresno State announces 2016 Deans’ Medalists
Sixteen Fresno State students were named last week as undergraduate and graduate Dean’s Medalists.
Nine of Fresno State’s top graduating seniors have been selected as the Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists for the class of 2016.
Medalists were selected from each of the eight of the university’s colleges, along with the Division of Student Affairs.
One will be named the President’s Medalist, the university’s top academic honor, at the 105th commencement ceremony May 21 at the Save Mart Center at Fresno State.
This year’s undergraduate medalists are:
- Jacqueline Alvarez, College of Arts and Humanities
- Irina Boginski, College of Science and Mathematics
- Michael Bowlin, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
- Ryan Ditchfield, College of Social Sciences
- Serenity Hansen, Kremen School of Education and Human Development
- Alan Suarez, Lyles College of Engineering
- Lilliana Toste, College of Health and Human Service
- Nicole Warmerdam, Craig School of Business
- Kelli Williamson, Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
In addition, seven of Fresno State’s schools and colleges, along with the Division of Student Affairs, selected an outstanding student to honor as Dean’s Graduate Medalist for the class of 2016.
One will be announced as the University Graduate Medal Winner at the commencement ceremony.
This year’s graduate medalists are:
- Andrew Beebe, Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
- Melody Downie-Dack, College of Social Sciences
- Yvan Mendoza, College of Science and Mathematics
- Jessica Miguel, Kremen School of Education and Human Development
- Amanda Moore, Craig School of Business
- Lucia Ramirez-Munoz, Division of Student Affairs
- Natalia Tomasello, College of Arts and Humanities
- Bessie Yang, College of Health and Human Services
‘Steve’s Scholars’ clean up SJ River
More than 25 Roosevelt High School students in the Steve’s Scholars program cleaned up the San Joaquin River on Saturday.
Students worked alongside volunteers from local nonprofit River Tree to remove trash, plastic bags and bottles while paddling the river. In addition students learned to paddle a canoe and basic river safety.
Steve’s Scholars was established in 2012 by the Farber family to encourage students from Tehipite Middle School to pursue college.
Students in the program must take specific courses and perform 20 hours of community service each year, while maintaining a 95 percent or better attendance rate and a minimum GPA of 3.0. Upon graduation, students receive a $1,000 scholarship each year for two years.
CART students present community justice projects
Students from the Center for Advanced Research and Technology’s Law Lab will showcase projects developed to address community issues on Tuesday in Clovis.
More than 80 students, who have worked in small teams, will showcase their projects at the Clovis Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 808 Fourth St.
The showcase is a project of the Fresno County Civic Learning Partnership, and partners include the Fresno Business Council, CART, Fresno County Office of Education, Fresno County Bar Association and the Clovis Veterans Memorial District.
The showcase will be from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Local students win history awards at state competition
Many local students won awards at History Day-California on May 6 and 7 at William Jessup University in Rocklin.
Fresno County History Day, coordinated by the Fresno County Office of Education, sent 96 champions who presented 46 entries over the two days.
The winners are:
Elementary Division, Group 2-D Display Category: Maci Butchert and Sierra Vargas, group champions from Cedarwood Elementary, Clovis Unified; Cy Hammerstrom and William Bishop, runners-up from Reagan Elementary, Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District.
Elementary Division, Individual 2-D Display Category: Sam Karlson, Cedarwood Elementary, Clovis Unified; Evan Nelson, Gettysburg Elementary, Clovis Unified.
Junior Division, Individual Performance Category: Anna Armstrong, champion from Abraham Lincoln Middle School, Selma Unified; Annie Cooper, Austin Kern, Tyler Mrkaich and Emma Pitcher, champions from Computech Middle School Fresno Unified.
Senior Division, Group Performance Category: Matthew Clark, Austin Cozzi, Kelsey Ewing, Sydney Fox and Allison Hodge, champions from Buchanan High School, Clovis Unified.
Champions from the Junior and Senior divisions will represent Fresno County and California at the National History Day contest June 12-16 at the University of Maryland, College Park.
This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Education Buzz for Sunday, May 15."