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Col lege Park ScholarsCommunity Newsletter

DEAR SCHOLARS COMMUNITY, What an exciting time of year it is in College Park Scholars right now! We are delighted to get to know our newest members of Scholars as our freshmen settle into classes, thrilled to hear from our sophomores returning from interesting summer experiences, and looking forward to celebrating the successes of our recent Scholars alumni. As we launch into the academic year, we are also delighted by the many wonderful activities that are happening both within and outside of the classroom.

And this excitement is too much to keep to ourselves. This year we have decided to share this newsletter not only with parents, but also with Scholars students, faculty, and staff. Through this newsletter we want to feature some of the amazing things going on in Scholars, share some of the stories we are hearing, and highlight some of the activities that bring us together.

As you know, College Park Scholars emphasizes community. This past summer we welcomed our newest community members – freshmen and their parents—during summer orientations. Our annual Service Day, was a wonderful opportunity for us to engage in service together with the communities nearby the University of Maryland. Imagine the work that 1,100 students, faculty and staff can accomplish in one day! We cleared parks and rivers, helped in schools, created gardens, worked in food pantries and shelters, and even cleared some land in a “dinosaur park.”

Our community within Scholars has continued to deepen as faculty, resident assistants, and peer mentors help students build a sense of community on their floors and within the classroom. Ropes courses, scavenger hunts, and camping trips are among the activities that have launched the year. Classrooms come alive as

Scholars anticipate field trips, prepare for service experiences, and plan for winter term excursions.

We hope you enjoy hearing “the buzz” around Scholars. If you are new to the Scholars community, we hope that this newsletter will inspire you to get more involved. Should this feel a little daunting, please be sure to talk with the resident assistants, program faculty, or give me a call. We are here to help and would be delighted to help you figure out how to get started.

I hope this is the start of a wonderful year and that you feel as proud as we do of all that is happening in Scholars.

Sincerely,

Martha Baer WilmesAssociate DirectorCollege Park Scholars

College Park Scholars celebrated its 15th Annual Service Day with students wearing their customary Scholars t-shirts, spreading out across the greater Washington D.C. area for a day of service to the local community. On Friday, August 27, the Scholars community banded together to pitch in and make a difference for the local community from College Park to Washington D.C. Not only does this hallmark event act as a way to help the community, it is also a great way for new Scholars to get to know their fellow classmates and faculty.

Students participated in a myriad of service projects, helping out in homeless shelters, cleaning up parks, and sprucing up local elementary schools. Service Day is a perfect example of the active learning and community outreach that College Park Scholars emblemizes.

Business, Society, and the Economy students went to the Silver Spring Interfaith Housing Coalition to help organize and clean up areas inside and outside the shelter. The Housing Coalition works to help end homelessness by providing food and shelter to those in need. Coordinator of Communications and Media, Self and Society alumni Heather

Bartholomew went along with them, believing that the experience that students get on this day is invaluable. “Participating in Service Day really gives you the full picture of how many students there are throughout the Scholars program, as well as what impact it will make on the community with this much assistance all on one day,” said Bartholomew.

She doesn’t think the good vibes stop at helping the community, however.

“It is a precursor to their whole college experience,” she said. “They get to meet tons of other new students, even those not just from their program, allowing them to even meet Scholars Alumni who can be particularly helpful with advice on Scholars and the University as a whole.”

Other Scholars programs took trips to various sites, such as Watkins Regional Park, Paint Branch Elementary School, and the Howard B. Owens Science Center. Arts Scholars painted a mural to greet young grade school students. The event benefits both College Park Scholars and the local community, and we hope this tradition has another great 15 years!

15th Annual Service Day - A Success! WHERE WE WENT

GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH - ANACOSTIA TRIBUTARY

TRAIL

PUBLIC LEADERSHIP -BLADENSBURG

WATERFRONT PARK

SCIENCE, DISCOVERY AND THE UNIVERSE - DINOSAUR PARK

GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH - SHARE DC

HOW TO CONTACT SCHOLARSWelcome to our first edition of the Scholars Community Newsletter for the 2010-2011 Academic Year! If you would like to follow up about an article or topic, or if you have any questions or suggestions regarding our Newsletter, please feel free to email us!

We create this monthly newsletter to give you an idea of what is happening in Scholars, so if there is any input you may have about what you’ve liked, what you haven’t liked, or what you want to see, we would love to hear it. Our email address will be featured at the end of each newsletter.

This is a great way to keep in touch with the Communications staff; we hope to hear from you soon!

Email:newsletter@collegeparkscholars.com

Did You Know?

THE FIRST STATUE OF TESTUDO WAS DONATED BY THE CLASS OF 1933 AND DISPLAYED ON

BALTIMORE AVENUE IN FRONT OF RITCHIE

COLLISEUM.

Life Sciences embarked on their camping trip in Western Maryland this past Labor Day weekend, continuing their beloved annual tradition. A little over one hundred students joined five faculty members for a bonding experience in the great outdoors!

Canoeing, fossil hunting, hiking, and engaging in team building games were just some of the fun activities Life Sciences students enjoyed. Sophomore students made bonfires and all students tasted the delicious homemade apple crisp and apple cider.

This trip served as an important opportunity to strengthen the Life Sciences community.

“Students start to work together and get to know each other,” said Becky Kenemuth, Assistant Director of Life Sciences. “It’s also a great time for faculty and students to interact and for freshman to get to know some of the sophomores that come.”

The camping trip is a wonderful tradition that all Life Sciences students love. As Kenemuth put it, “It’s just a really fun time for Life Sciences!”

Life Sciences Takes Annual Camping Trip

Now that students have settled into classes, they may be looking for more ways to get involved on campus. College Park Scholars provides amazing opportunities for students who are looking to broaden their horizons.

Peer Mentors is a new student group that focuses on providing freshman with leadership and advice from older students. Peer mentors attend special events with their mentees and help them adjust to life in college. Interested students should visit the Peer

Mentor page on the Scholars website for more information.

Scholars students may also be interested in College Park Scholars Ambassadors, a group that promotes the living-learning program to prospective students. Ambassadors assist at special events, recruitment opportunities, and one-on-one meetings with interested students. This is a great opportunity for any student with Scholars spirit! Please visit the Ambassadors website for information on how to join the group.

Another way for students to get involved in Scholars is to join a Student Advisory Board Committee. The three committees- Academic Affairs, Student Activities, and Advocacy- work with the Student Advisory Board to plan events for the Scholars community. Past events have ranged from relaxation nights before final exams, to semi-formal dances, to making finger puppets for hospitals. Students can check out the Student Advisory Board website for more details on the committees and how to join.

Get Involved!

PROGRAM PROFILE: PUBLIC LEADERSHIPPublic Leadership (PL) has been a staple in College Park Scholars since the beginning. The program advocates for community involvement and its goal is to teach its students how to become engaged citizens who help the community in an ethical way. PL is evolving, however, as they introduce some exciting new aspects to the program.

Stacy Kosko, the Associate Director for the Public Leadership program, is excited for new programs PL is starting up. “We have always had student projects where we partnered up a student with a host organization and worked on a public issues project,” said Kosko. “But we noticed that a lot of our students came up with great ideas on their own, ideas that didn’t necessarily match up with our partnerships. We are still using our partners, but we are also giving the students the opportunity to come up with some of their own plans, and we have already had some impressive ones.”

One of the community-based learning projects put in motion by students is Books Across Borders, an initiative to collect books and send them to those in need in Africa. The group donated

approximately 2,000 books last year and is still going strong.

Another new enterprise that PL is putting into effect is a philanthropy and non-profit management program. Two groups of students get $10,000 and are able to spend the semester deliberating and figuring how they want to donate the money. They take proposals from various non-profits in the area, which gives students the hands-on ability to decide for themselves where the philanthropic money should go.

“We are very excited,” said Kosko. “We did this last year with one group and it was a smashing success. The students begin to develop their own philanthropic vision. They write requests for proposals and they decide as a

group what to do with the money. These students have a number of organizations competing over their funds.”

PL also takes a trip to Morocco each year to explore leadership and democracy. It gives the students a chance to observe leadership in a country where a monarchy is looked at as a democracy, according to Kosko.

“We look at women in Moroccan society, talk to minority representatives, and we meet with both government and non-government people to gain some perspective,” said Kosko.

Students are truly able to have unique experiences in the evolving Public Leadership program.

For one weekend each fall, the campus welcomes families from all over the country who want to get a taste of the college life. The University of Maryland’s 30th annual Family Weekend runs from Friday, October 15 through Sunday, October 17, and you don’t want to miss out on all of the

exciting events planned for this year! There will be theater performances, musical entertainment, the Terp Family Festival, and you can even catch the basketball team as it gears up for the season in Maryland Madness! It is a great opportunity for parents to spend some quality

time with their students at their second home. For more information, check out the Web site at http://www.familyweekend.umd.edu/.

Because, as the slogan says, it’s going to be one shell of a good time!

FAMILIES - THIS IS YOUR WEEKEND

LIFE SCIENCES GOES DOWN UNDER

Life Sciences students have gone on some pretty cool trips, but it is going to be hard to beat the three and half week trip to Australia this summer. The trip was run by Life Sciences staff and took students all over Australia, from bustling Sydney, to the rugged Outback to the secluded Lizard Island.

Christina Buckless, a junior Life Sciences alumnus who went on the trip, couldn’t contain her excitement when recounting her experience.

“It was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my entire life,” said Buckless. “We did so many amazing things and the staff was so friendly and knowledgeable, they took us to some of the most incredible places on earth.”

While in Sydney, the students visited the famous Sydney Opera

House and toured the Sydney Harbor. Soon enough though, they were let loose on the true nature of Australia.

“We went on a lot of hikes and had some pretty cool camp outs in the Outback,” said Buckless. “We would hike for two hours to plunge pools and see some of the most beautiful sunsets, or we would swim up to astonishing waterfalls. We even went to a rainforest habitat and got to hold the koalas and feed kangaroos.”

Students visited Aboriginal rock sites and observed a variety of animals, ranging from kangaroos to saltwater crocodiles to exotic birds.

“We even swam in crocodile infested waters,” said Buckless. “But don’t worry – they didn’t bite!”

The trip culminated on Lizard Island, which is situated on the outer Great Barrier Reef. There, students each participated in a research project to earn three

credits. The students stayed in the research center on the island and were able to get up close and personal with all of the wildlife that roams the area. Much of the time was spent snorkeling on the Great Barrier reef, where students encountered all different types of marine life, including a giant green turtle and a shark.

“The colors on the reef were exquisite,” said Buckless. “We would snorkel all day and there was still so much that I wanted to see.”

Life Sciences has always been at the forefront of active learning, and the students believe that the lessons learned out in the field are invaluable.

“Life Sciences is great at giving students the unique experience of actually practicing hands-on what they are learning about; they have us learn about science in a fun way,” said Buckless. “The staff worked hard to make this an amazing trip and it showed. I would go back again in a second!”

COLLEGE PARK SCHOLARS

HISTORY

EXCELLENCE FROM ALUMNI : David Tana

When College Park Scholars started in 1994 the original

programs were Arts, International Studies, Life

Sciences and Science, Technology and Society.

Scholars students are known for having incredible passion for their areas of study. This has never been so true as for Earth, Life, and Time (ELT) alumnus David Tana.

Originally a biology major, Tana chose to enter ELT after being intrigued by the description of the program.

Upon starting his Scholars courses, Tana became even more interested in the subject matter and actually switched his major to anthropology with a minor in geology.

“Dr. Merck and Dr. Holtz [ELT Directors] were two main reasons why I switched majors,” said Tana. “I wanted to be able to take more classes with them!”

Tana sang the praises of the two directors who inspired him. “They have such a broad range of knowledge between the two of them. You can ask them any questions and they will give you an answer immediately or find out for you.”

“Their knowledge base, level of dedication, and passion for the

topics are astounding,” Tana added. “To have them as a resource was an amazing part of ELT.”

Tana also recalled some of his favorite activities with the program, such as a summer trip to the Galapagos and some fun, unique teaching methods.

“In freshman colloquium we were learning cladistics and how to make phylogenetic trees using Mr. Potato Heads. It was such an innovative way to teach such a complex idea- everyone could understand it and no one was left behind.”

Using his knowledge of science, Tana has begun writing a blog that covers many different topic areas. His idea was to explain science topics to people that may not know a lot about science.

“A friend asked me a question about something he had read and the way that he phrased the question showed me that not a lot of people might know all of the basics of good, key science. I wanted to write and explain things,” said Tana. “ The blog

focuses on natural history, especially paleontology and zoology, but no science is left untouched.”

Tana looks back on his years with College Park Scholars as an amazing experience which keeps him returning to the community for events such as Service Day. “Scholars is the program to be in on campus. It’s a great living community, gives you access to outstanding faculty, helps you make friends that you’ll keep for a lifetime, and can shape your career path. It is truly a life-changing experience.”

College Park Scholars congratulates Dr. Mark Wellman, Director of the Business, Society, and the Economy (BSE) Scholars Program will be honored with the Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award at the Faculty and Staff Convocation Ceremony on Tuesday, October 12, at 3:00 pm in the Memorial Chapel.

Congratulations Dr. Wellman!

Scholars Faculty Member Mark Wellman to Receive Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award

College Park Scholars Welcomes Three New Members to the Central StaffCollege Park Scholars is thrilled to welcome three new faces to the Central Staff: Ben Parks, Brent Hernandez, and Dr. Dave Eubanks.

Ben Parks joins our community after three years at the University of Iowa as a residence hall coordinator and instructor for a leadership course. As Coordinator for College Park Scholars, Ben will organize annual Scholars events, as well as supporting leadership and peer initiative programs.

Brent Hernandez came to Scholars after several years as an advisor and coordinator with the College of Letters and Sciences. As Assistant Director of Scholars, he will coordinate communication, admissions, and orientation for the program.

Dave Eubanks also has a long history with the University of Maryland. He served as Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, as well as teaching courses in American and British literature. He will be coordinating assessment efforts and consulting on teaching methods and faculty development as the Associate Director for College Park Scholars.

The enthusiasm and support of College Park Scholars is present in everything that Ben Parks, Brent Hernandez, and Dave Eubanks do. The entire Scholars community is excited to work with the newest members of the Central Staff!

BEN PARKS

“I'm excited to join Scholars because it combines the best of a smaller community with all the benefits of a large research university. I see my role as primarily providing enriching educational experiences for students outside of the classroom.”

BRENT HERNANDEZ

"College Park Scholars is an exceptional program comprised of exceptional students, faculty and staff. I am looking forward to working for this outstanding community."

DAVE EUBANKS

“Scholars promises the most rewarding sort of learning and living the University can offer its undergraduate students. Its commitment to supporting and challenging students is remarkable, and I am honored and delighted to contribute to that good work.”

Supporting Scholars

If you have an interest in providing financial support to College Park Scholars, please contact Greig Stewart, or choose one of the following options:

1. You may send a gift by check. In this case, please make the check out to UMCP Foundation and indicate the area you wish to support, if any, in your check's memo field, next to 'College Park Scholars'. Gifts made by check without a notation beyond the program name will support College Park Scholars general fund.

2. You may make a gift online, through the University philanthropy site. Please choose College Park Scholars as the fund.

3. If you are a University faculty or staff member, you may use payroll deduction as the method of payment, and you may indicate your preferred donation amount and the period during which the deductions should begin and end. Please contact Greig Stewart if you are interested in this option.

On behalf of all of us in the College Park Scholars community, thank you for the consideration of your support.

Please visit our website for more information.

CONTRIBUTORS - SEPTEMBER 2010

Pete Tartaglione Undergraduate Communications Co-DirectorJulie Brontman Undergraduate Communications Co-Director

Shane Connolly College Park Scholars Videographer

Brent Hernandez Assistant Director

Heather Bartholomew Coordinator for Communications

Greig Stewart Executive Director

For More Information, please visit any of the following websites:

College Park Scholars

Scholars on Facebook

Scholars on Twitter

Undergraduate Studies

College Park Scholars Alumni Association

UM Office of Parent & Family Affairs

Questions, comments, ideas, or suggestions?

Please send us an email