Learning Lessons Beyond the Classroom
Seeing the Forest Because of the Trees
While several science experiments take place within Voigt Science Hall’s classrooms, Dr. Michele Schutzenhofer, professor of biology, elected to take her ecology class outside to collect real-world data for their fall litter and nitrogen cycling lab this semester. The project gave students a better look at how the common practice of leaf-raking may export important nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, that onsite turf grass, trees, and other flora need for growth and maintenance.
Students built leaf traps and placed them under the towering trees of the front lawn to collect leaves and other autumnal debris over the course of a few weeks. Once most of the leaves had fallen, the students retrieved their traps and, after two days, analyzed their findings and recorded their data in their lab notebooks, including the geographic location, site, date and time, trap number, and the identity of all the trees overhanging the traps. They then estimated how much nitrogen would be lost from areas on campus if the leaves were raked and removed and also calculated the economic costs of replacing any lost nitrogen with a chemical fertilizer to maintain normal growth.
This project allowed students to collect actual data from campus, a place they are familiar with, and collect it in a way that is standardized at long-term research sites across the country, which allows for a comparison between their data and that from 20 different eco-climatic domains. Furthermore, it challenged students to build on what they learned in the classroom about nutrient cycling and decomposition at a very conceptual level and then apply that knowledge to consider how common cultural practices, such as raking, can potentially have ecological consequences.
Learning to Teach - Teaching to Learn
Several majors at McKendree offer the opportunity to gain vital experience in the field before they graduate. The School of Education is no exception; in fact, future educators begin their observations long before their senior year, when they take a semester to student-teach in an area school district. McKendree has taken this a step further to help solve the teacher shortage that is still present in Illinois by rolling out the all-new Paraprofessional+ Pathway Program. This fully online offering allows paraprofessionals – that is, teacher’s aides and assistants – to become licensed teachers at the elementary level in only two years, and a special education endorsement option is also offered.
Several paraprofessionals enrolled in this new program are already making positive changes to the local schools in which they work. One such paraprofessional and current student is Tommy Hagen, who is presently serving in Breese School District No. 12 as a classroom aid for fifth through eighth grade.
Tommy has more than 20 years of experience working with children and adults with disabilities in various settings and aims to help them learn and grow as important members of society. She has already seen the value of this new program and has been able to apply what she’s learned as a paraprofessional to help her achieve her goals.
“McKendree’s Paraprofessional+ Pathway program works well for potential teacher candidates as it allows them to continue to work and apply the information they are learning in real time. In addition, the online class allows students to work at their own pace week by week,” Tommy said. “My classes have given me ways that I can contribute to making a safe, inviting learning experience for my students by being mindful about classroom arrangement, rules, and expectations. I would wholeheartedly recommend this program to paraprofessionals who are interested in furthering their education and taking that next step in becoming a teacher.”
McKendree has also been the first university in Illinois to receive the Gateway Apprenticeship Grant through the Illinois Department of Labor to support the Paraprofessional+ Pathway program. Through this registered apprenticeship program, students may continue working full-time as paraprofessionals while doing their online coursework and practicing skills in the field.
On a more local level, McKendree’s School of Education recently partnered with O’Fallon School District 90 through a program called TEACHD90, which offers the opportunity for selected staff members to obtain their teaching license through the new Paraprofessional+ Pathway Program while remaining employed in the district. These employees continue to support students full-time in their school while completing the two-year program, and District 90 is in turn supporting these paraprofessionals as they advance their skills and become licensed educators.
“TEACHD90 is designed to provide our current support staff the opportunity to obtain a teaching degree with the goal of creating a pipeline of future classroom teachers,” said Carrie Hruby, superintendent of O’Fallon Consolidated Community School District 90. “We are proud of our support staff’s commitment and ambition, and we look forward to supporting their achievement. As we face the challenges of a national teacher shortage, this type of innovative partnership with McKendree is a true win-win.”
Feeding Bearcats' Hearts and Souls
After a long day of learning, many students unwind with their friends in their dorm rooms and grab dinner together at Ames Dining Hall. On Monday nights, scores of students flock to the Joseph House next door to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lebanon, Ill.
“We see an average of 70 to 80 students each week,” said Deborah Kuth, pastoral associate at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
It’s not just local students making the journey a few streets away for some food and fellowship; Bearcats from all over the world take part in this weekly ritual. Walk into the home and you will regularly find Illinois students from O’Fallon, Mt. Vernon, and Carbondale; other American students from Tennessee, Colorado, and Washington State; and international students from Spain, Brazil, and Ghana, Africa.
These Bearcats, who also come from all sorts of different religious backgrounds, congregate under one roof together for what first-year Jeremiah Barrett calls “radical hospitality.”
“We get to talk to a lot of people, and it’s a peaceful
and soothing experience,” he added.
For those hailing from far-flung countries like first-year Christopher Ofosuhene, the connection with others is what keeps him coming back.
“I may be a million miles away from home, but I feel so connected with everyone when I’m here,” he said.
Homesickness is also something that many students contend with, whether they’re half a world away or even a few towns away from home. However, they often find comfort within these warm walls just a block away from campus.
“I feel at home here, and all the professors and staff talk to you like a normal person. It’s one of the reasons why I chose to attend McKendree; it feels like a family,” said sophomore Julianna Kilroy.
These students often participate in sports and extracurricular activities on campus, including band and choir, the all-new commuters group called McKendree Commuter Student Association, a young adult ministry called Come to the Table, the newly-started improv team, and more.
Deeper inside the home on an eastern wall hangs a large world map adorned with several small sticky notes. These bright pops of color represent each student who attends the Joseph House nights and point to the places they call home. Colors are scattered throughout the world from the United States, Canada, and Mexico to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Serbia, to Japan and Australia.
“We see students from all walks of life here,” said The Reverend Beverly Wilkes-Null, university chaplain and director of church relations at McKendree University. “The Joseph House nights engage wrestlers with tennis players, athletes with non-athletes, and connect people who otherwise would have never met.”
