edited by Kistler Hunt
Volume 7, Issue 20
February 14, 2024
A message from Honors Wednesday Memo Editor, Kistler Hunt:
Dear Honors family,
This past Friday, fellow Honors College student Katie Rhoades and I showed a prospective nursing major (who is now committed to Appalachian!) around the Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences. I was so grateful for Katie’s perspective because, in my field of study (public health), we don’t use the labs in our building at all. Had I been alone, I wouldn’t have been able to speak in great detail about the nursing program and how it fits with the Honors College, or the hands-on learning that is afforded to nursing students, both in their prerequisites and their nursing classes. Our collaboration showed me that while Honors students cross all majors, we have one common goal: develop and challenge ourselves to be well-rounded citizens of the world through engagement. This Memo affords many opportunities for collaboration. While we are each on our own individual journeys, we can’t do it alone. Seek out these opportunities; you never know what will come from it!
All the best,
Kistler
Upcoming Opportunities:
Interim Dean Vicky is happy to help you apply; send her an email at klimavw@appstate.edu
Earth Day T-Shirt Design Competition
The Office of Sustainability is currently accepting design applications for t-shirts for their upcoming Earth Day Expo. Designs should focus on Earth Day, community, and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals. Designs are to be submitted by February 26. For more information and questions, contact Jennifer Maxwell. To submit a design, click here.
Syncopation Tap Club Showcase Auditions
Syncopation Tap Club, a newly revived student organization focused on tap dance, is selling club merchandise through February 16. The club is holding auditions on February 15 from 8:00 – 9:15 p.m. in Varsity Gym Room 203 to cast dancers in performance pieces for their showcase on April 11 and 12. In addition, Syncopation welcomes new members; they hold meetings every other Thursday in the same room as the auditions, with their next meeting being held on February 22. For more information about the club or auditions, contact Hannah Schulze.
Campus Activities Leadership and Learning Summit Nominations
Campus Activities and the Office of Community-Engaged Leadership will join together to host the Campus Activities Leadership and Learning Summit (CALLS) on February 28 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. They are currently accepting nominations for current and prospective student leaders who want to learn more about individual and organizational leadership. Students are also able to register for the event on their own. This event will offer a chance to develop leadership skills and provide a space for clubs to highlight what they are doing, whether that be successes, overcoming challenges, tactics, and more. The deadline to register is February 22. To submit a nomination, click here. To register, click here. For any questions, contact Ashley Vinson.
Celebration of Student Research and Creative Endeavors Abstract Submissions
The Office of Student Research will be hosting their 27th annual Celebration of Student Research and Creative Endeavors on April 18. They are currently accepting abstracts for their poster competition, which will be held on the same day as the Celebration. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply. Submitted abstracts must reflect work that is mostly student-designed, driven, conducted, and completed at the time of submission. Abstracts must be submitted by March 1 at 11:59 p.m. For more information and to submit an abstract, click here.
Appalachian College Advising Corps Applications
Applications are now open for the Appalachian College Advising Corps (AppCAC) for the 2024-2025 academic year. Members of the group serve as college advisors for high schools and travel to high schools in assigned counties in Western North Carolina. This position is open to graduating seniors and alumni who have graduated no earlier than June 2020. The appointment will begin on July 1 and advisors will serve for at least one year with the option to renew for a second year. For more information, click here or contact AppCAC.
Stay in the Know:
Best of Boone Voting
The Appalachian is currently holding its annual “Best of Boone” competition, lasting through February 18. Best of Boone allows students to vote for some of their favorite things about Boone, such as their favorite coffee shop or hiking trail, as well as some of their favorite things about Appalachian, with categories like Best Professor and Best Academic Department. To cast a vote, click here.
Urban Bush Women Performance
Urban Bush Women, a Brooklyn-based dance ensemble, will be performing at the Schaefer Center on February 16 at 7:30 p.m. Urban Bush Women weaves contemporary dance, live music, and text with the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African diaspora. Their performance, “Legacy + Lineage + Liberation,” celebrates that journey with both new and iconic dance pieces that amplify the importance of equity and justice while lifting up Black lives and the voices of women of color in inspiring ways. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
UREC Lifeguarding Classes
University Recreation will be offering lifeguarding certification classes throughout the semester, with the first certification class starting on February 23. There are other session dates in the spring semester, with the final class beginning on April 20. Classes combine both didactic instruction and simulations in the water. For more information and to register for a class, click here.
The Athlete’s Heart Presentation
The Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness will be hosting a discussion on the cardiac health of athletes on February 27 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 103 of the Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences with Richard Palma, director of Duke University School of Medicine’s Cardiac Ultrasound certificate program. The presentation will focus on the causes and prevalence of sudden cardiac arrest. For more information, click here.
Summer 2024 Faculty-led study abroad to Ethiopia
Rebecca Liljestrand, clinical instructor in the Department of Nursing, and Brian MacHarg, director of academic civic engagement, will be leading a study abroad trip to Ethiopia from May 24 to June 7, 2024. In this service learning course, students will learn about the different influences of health in Ethiopia, the outcomes and what is being done to address these outcomes from the public, private and NGO perspectives. The course has a nursing call number, but is applicable for all majors, and particularly for health science majors. It really is designed from a public health perspective. For more information, click here.
In the Honors Spotlight
Annie Morgan serves as fellow in $1 million AmeriCorps grant
Photo features Morgan. Photo submitted.
Honors College junior and front office worker Annie Morgan is currently a fellow with App State’s Public Health AmeriCorps program, a three-year, $1 million grant that focuses on implementing psychological first aid and enhancing rural health preparedness in 25 Western North Carolina counties. Morgan is a public health major with a minor in chemistry. Reflecting on her participation in the program, Morgan describes, “AmeriCorps has allowed me to build a network of people who are committed to improving the Appalachian community through service work. This tight-knit team is similar to that of Honors, in which I can seek out professional development skills, opportunities, and fantastic life skills.”
To learn more about the AmeriCorps program, click here to read the story in AppalachianToday by Amanda Mlekush and Brian Miller.
Have announcements to share? Submissions can be made to honors@appstate.edu. Any content received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday will be considered for the following week’s issue.
Have a story to share? Share what you have done, what you are doing, or what you will be doing by submitting a story here.
To stay in the know, learn about opportunities, and take part in the Honors community, find us below!