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Secondary Education Student Wins MLA Student Essay Contest

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Jennifer Nguyen '22 with author Viet Thanh Nguyen
Jennifer Nguyen ’22 with author Viet Thanh Nguyen. Jennifer cited his work multiple times in her essay.

Jennifer Nguyen ’22 calls herself a “history fanatic.”

She’s an online undergraduate student studying Secondary Education at Chaminade and hopes to one day teach history. So when her English professor, Dr. Brooke Carlson, assigned her class an argumentative essay designed to be something of a self-exploration she knew instantly what she would write about.

She took on nothing less than the Vietnam War, a topic that has haunted her since childhood.

“I find many reasons to be proud of my American heritage,” Nguyen said, in a recent interview. “On the other side, I find myself drawn to the stories, the struggle, and the memory of a war that has affected not only my family but all those who were lost, displaced, resettled, disturbed.”

Her essay explores the problematic way in which Americans collectively remember the war, offering a powerful alternative for recalling a bloody and protracted conflict that Nguyen said is meant to reflect her “love for the American value of expression and a love for cultural identity.”

Her powerful perspective didn’t just impress her professor.

It also garnered a national award: Out of hundreds of submissions from around the country, “The Vietnam War, the American War: Literature, Film, and Popular Memory” was selected as a winner in the MLA (Modern Language Association) Student Paper Contest. A committee of judges said Nguyen’s essay not only had a clear thesis and excellent sources, but the topic and her argument were “compelling.”

In winning the award, Nguyen’s essay will also be published on the MLA Style Center, a hub geared toward students from high school to graduate school that’s meant to demonstrate how to correctly use MLA style – and, of course, write a good essay.

Nguyen said the essay was a “passion project” that was made possible thanks to her partnership with Carlson. Nguyen said her professor suggested she submit the essay to the MLA and then helped her cut the word count and offered other suggestions for tweaks.

“Without him, I would not have even known or considered submitting my work to the MLA contest,” Nguyen said, adding that “This essay really was a joy to research and write. I hope to continue on this path and produce more work that sheds light on important issues.”

English Professor Receives Outstanding Mentor Award

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“No research topic is too unachievable.”

That’s one of the greatest lessons recent graduate Nicole Sagapolutele learned from professor Wyble, her mentor. “You can do research on anything you want…even though it’s something that not everyone knows. You shouldn’t be afraid to do a research topic that interests you just because you’re not sure how it will be received.”

Nicole Sagapoluetele, Justin Wyble (President Mackey Prize winner) and Dr. Lynn Babington
Nicole Sagapolutele, Justin Wyble and Dr. Lynn Babington

Sagapolutele recently nominated Wyble for the 2019 President Mackey Prize, otherwise known as the Outstanding Mentor Award. The annual award recognizes a Chaminade professor who has provided students with research experiences that go above and beyond the classroom experience. Wyble was named this year’s recipient at Na Liko Naʻauao, the university’s undergraduate research conference on April 26.

“My philosophy of teaching is a student-centered one and I definitely carry that over into any sort of mentoring that I do, so I think it only makes sense that Nicole is in the spotlight,” Wyble said. “I think it’s as much her award as it is mine.”

In her nomination letter, the Sagapolutele highlighted the various ways that Wyble went above and beyond in helping her with her research project, titled “The Importance of Hawaiian Representation in American History Textbooks According to Avatar: The Last Airbender,” which explored the connection between how Native Hawaiian history is often inaccurately depicted in American history textbooks and how a genocide is depicted in the fictional children’s show, “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

She shared how Wyble used his knowledge of Pacific Island literature to offer feedback and revise her research paper, introduced her to secondary sources he had used for his own research, helped her apply and prepare for conference presentations and encouraged her to pursue graduate school. But what really stuck with Sagapolutele about Wyble’s mentorship style was the creative freedom he gave her to explore topics that interested her.

Prior to mentoring Sagapolutele, Wyble had never seen “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” but did his research when she voiced that it was a topic she was interested in.

“That’s what a student-centered classroom means to me. I always try to start with where the students are, what their interests are,” Wyble said. “I’m constantly searching for those stories that I think they might enjoy reading and then trying to push their thought a little bit higher. I definitely start with them and see where I can take them.”

Throughout the mentorship, which officially lasted from fall 2018 to spring 2019, Wyble helped Sagapolutele prepare to present her research at two undergraduate conferences: Na Liko at Chaminade and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

But the research partnership is not over yet. With the support of Wyble, Sagapolutele will be presenting her project at the Science Fiction Research Association Annual Conference 2019, which Chaminade is hosting in June. Unlike her experiences at Na Liko and NCUR, she’ll be presenting alongside professional scholars even before she has begun graduate school—though, she will start soon.

A week before graduation, Sagapolutele received the news that she was accepted into Chaminade’s Master of Arts in Teaching program where she plans to study secondary education starting in the fall and eventually become a high school teacher. However, her time at Chaminade and the mentorship she received from Wyble has also opened her up to the idea of getting her doctorate and teaching at the university level.

“I’m very honored to receive [the President Mackey Prize],” Wyble said. “It’s nice. It feels good. I really like that this award is focused on the teacher-student relationship and it really foregrounds the importance of mentoring, of that close teacher-student relationship we have at Chaminade.”

Chaminade Students Inspire School Children at Annual ‘Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery’

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By sharing their knowledge and love of science, two teams of Chaminade University students encouraged children to pursue STEM educations and careers at the “2017 Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery.”

Held Oct. 28 at Punahou School, this 16th annual event honored the life and legacy of NASA astronaut Charles Lacy Veach, who flew on Space Shuttle missions in 1991 and 1992 and developed robotics for the International Space Station. The Punahou alumnus and U.S. Air Force Academy graduate died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 51.

2017 Lacy Veach Day - anchialine pools activity

One team of Chaminade students conducted a workshop on the tiny opae`ula Hawaiian red shrimp and the ecologically fragile anchialine pools where they live. Anchialine pools are enclosed bodies of water with underground connections to the ocean.

“The kids we worked with made a habitat for the shrimp and were really excited to take them home,” said English major Kalei Ehlers from the Hogan Entrepreneurs Program. “Kids are excited by science and I had a blast teaching them something new.”

Also conducting the workshop were students Aulani Oka, Martina Segura, Tara Supit and Luwella Leonardi.

A team of students from the “I Am A Scientist” mobile outreach program showed children how to dust and “lift” latent fingerprints.

2017 Lacy Veach Day - fingerprint activity

“We got to educate kids and parents about the different characteristics in fingerprints that are unique to the individual person,” said Nursing major Heather Carvalho. “We also taught them that fingerprints are how they catch criminals.”

Carvalho said she enjoyed encouraging parents and children “to engage in science education together as a family.”

“It was an awesome way to get the kids outdoors,” she said, “instead of in front of the television and internet devices.”

Forensic Science major Kaitlyn Castillo said she initially thought young children “wouldn’t really think about doing science-related things.”

“After this event, I know that I was wrong and that some kids really do enjoy science so much,” Castillo said. “A few parents I talked to said they had bought their kids fingerprint kits and they would be dusting for prints all over the house.

“I liked knowing there were kids that got interested in forensic science by actually doing things related to forensic science,” Castillo added, “rather than from a TV show.”

Working with Carvalho and Castillo at the fingerprint booth were students John Aiwohi, Chante Carter, Doris Sanborn and Samantha Williams, along with alumna Cassandra Song and biology lecturer Dr. Eric Umemoto.

Future STEM Teachers Inspired by Leading Scientists, Engineers at NASA Institute

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For the second consecutive summer, future teachers studying at Chaminade University gained a behind-the-scenes look at America’s space program. This during a five-day professional development institute conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The training program, funded by NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project, helped pre-service teachers enhance their STEM instructional practices. Field trips and other interactive events focused on the International Space Station, a planned mission to Mars and other major NASA initiatives.

Dr. Katrina Roseler, an associate professor with the Division of Education, applied for the program and took seven Chaminade students to Ames Research Center, a major NASA facility in California’s Silicon Valley.

Education students at NASA Research Park“For me, the most memorable part of the trip was watching the excitement of the students as they engaged in new activities,” Dr. Roseler said. “They developed their engineering design skills and had firsthand learning opportunities with some of the leading U.S. scientists and engineers.”

She pointed out that many elementary schools emphasize mathematics and language arts – because they’re highlighted on standardized tests – at the expense of science education. Moreover, pre-service teachers are only required to complete six hours of science-related coursework in their undergraduate studies.

“As a science educator, to me, this is unacceptable,” Dr. Roseler said, emphasizing that “science knowledge and practices are essential tools for engaging with the world.” NASA addresses this issue, she said, by providing learning experiences for future teachers “that can be directly applied to their future classrooms.”

Danielle Friend ‘18, a double major in Elementary Education and English, said she and the other six Chaminade students “got to go inside a wind tunnel, see how the NASA engineers prepare to send things up to the space station, and so much more.”

“I am excited to share what I learned at NASA with just about anyone who will listen to me,” Friend said. “But mostly, I hope to take what I learned and help encourage students to love science. Teach them that if they work hard, they really can become astronauts or even rocket scientists.”

Katie Grywczynski ‘18, an Elementary Education major, said she wanted to attend the training institute “because it sounded like a really fun opportunity to learn about NASA, their resources and STEM activities I can use in my future classroom.”

Education students at NASA Research Park“My most memorable part of the trip was getting to tour the facilities/labs and learning about everything that NASA does in our world,” Grywczynski said. “My biggest takeaway from the program was learning about all the amazing and free resources NASA has to offer.”

Elementary Education major Sara Castillo ‘19 said the training program was “jam-packed with so many sessions, tours and lessons.” This included meeting an astronaut, experiencing a mega-computer “that took up a whole upstairs building,” and exploring numerous NASA sites.

“I think my biggest takeaway – literally – is all the physical resources that we were given on the last day of the conference,” Castillo said. “Everyone was given pamphlets, lesson plans, posters for the classroom, stickers and just so many heavy resources – 20 pounds to be exact.

“Many of us were struggling to put it in our luggage without going over the airline’s weight limit,” she added.

Other Chaminade students participating in the training institute were: Angelica Louise Concepcion, Hannah Parker, Marisa Paz and Samantha Tufaga.

Chaminade’s Division of Education offers undergraduate programs in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education and Secondary Education. The division also offers graduate programs leading to a Master of Education degree or Master of Arts in Teaching degree. 

Chaminade University Announces Legacy Gift of Over $1.6 Million

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Angela Starke’s (BGS English ’85) bequest will go toward supporting the Bridges to the Future campaign

Chaminade University announces the receipt of over $1.6 million bequest through the estate of the late alumna Angela Starke, BGS English ’85. The major gift will support Chaminade’s ongoing Bridges to the Future campaign. Starke’s generosity represents one of the largest, single private gifts from an individual in support of the campaign, and the largest bequest in school history.

Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, Angela Starke graduated from Chaminade University in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in General Studies. Continuing her passion for emphasizing the importance of higher education and showing her appreciation for her professors, Starke established the Fr. Bolin Excellence in Scholarship Award benefitting Chaminade faculty members, and also made charitable gift annuity contributions to further the university’s educational mission.

“Angela was a lifelong learner,” said Chaminade President Bro. Bernard Ploeger, SM, PhD. “Her history of giving to Chaminade began the year after her graduation and continued steadily throughout her long life. As a non-traditional student, Angela became close to many of our faculty and staff, particularly Dr. Al Lum and Fr. John Bolin, SM. When she established the Fr. Bolin Award, Angela remarked, ‘a university is only as good as its faculty.’”

In 2008, Angela and her husband, Vincent Mainelli, were inspired by the history of the Marianists in Hawaii, and in particular, a collection of rediscovered nineteenth century photographic glass plates of the Hawaiian Kingdom, taken by Bro. Bertram Bellinghausen, SM, the first president of Saint Louis School. In a letter written to then Chaminade President Sue Wesselkamper, Starke and Mainelli announced that they would donate $100,000 towards the “preservation, expansion, and maintenance of the Bertram material and other archival material relating to the Marianists in Hawaii.” The exhibit later traveled to the neighbor islands and Washington D.C.

“My Chaminade experience didn’t end with a degree in 1985,” said Starke, in a 2002 interview for Chaminade Quarterly. “Instead, it spelled out reasons to give back to the university. I appreciated the quality education I received at Chaminade.”

ABOUT BRIDGES TO THE FUTURE
Bridges to the Future campaign focuses on four critical areas: (1) ensuring student access and support; (2) advancing academic programs; (3) building a richer campus life; and (4) renewing Chaminade’s athletics tradition. To contribute to the campaign, interested individuals should contact Diane Peters-Nguyen, Vice President of Institutional Advancement at dpeters@chaminade.edu or (808)735-4772.

ABOUT CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY’S PLANNED GIVING
The Planned Giving Program creates a lasting legacy and supports the continuing educational opportunities for future students and tomorrow’s leaders. In 2016, Chaminade University was selected as a participating organization in Hawaii Community Foundation’s two-year Legacy Giving Campaign.

Medical School Honors Chaminade Graduate Jacquelynn Pratt with ‘Diversity Excellence Award’

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Jacquelynn PrattChaminade University alumna Jacquelynn Pratt has received the “Diversity Excellence Award” from A.T. Still University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, where she graduated this spring. The annual award recognizes her commitment to diversity and inclusion in graduate healthcare education.

Born and raised on Oahu, Pratt majored in Biology and English at Chaminade. She earned both bachelor’s degrees in May 2006, while receiving the “Outstanding English Graduate” award.

Pratt participated in numerous research programs at Chaminade in the fields of psychology, cancer biology, ecology and epidemiology. She was also highly involved with campus clubs and organizations, including the Delta Epsilon Sigma and Sigma Tau Delta honor societies.

After graduating from Chaminade, Pratt worked with the Ministry of Health on the Cook Islands to computerize patient data and thereby more accurately calculate the incidence and prevalence of cancer among the native Maori population.

She later returned to Chaminade and served as the Assistant to the Associate Provost in the Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research.