Tessa was invited to help set science standards for Grade 8 by the Nebraska Department of Education. She worked with a team of middle school educators and curriculum specialists to determine cutoff scores for new assessments built around the statewide standards, which approach learning disciplinary core ideas within the context of crosscutting concepts through exploration using the tools of science.
Tessa was invited to give the Fall Workshop to 145 secondary STEM educators at Millard Public Schools. She collaborated with Kate Marley and Brad Elder to design and present a workshop entitled, "Building a culture of discovery and discourse in the science classroom". In this workshop, we explored why focusing on science practices and skills best supports student preparation for understanding core disciplinary ideas in science. We used an activity called "What's in the Box?" designed by Brad Elder to demonstrate the power of using hands-on learning to illustrate and practice skills. We explored how the activity makes core ideas and cross-cutting concepts more accessible.
Tweets about the event from participants: Dr. Amy Hines 1, Dr. Amy Hines 2, Dr. Amy Hines 3, Christine Gustafson
Dr. Andrea McGrath serves as the secretary for the Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (RMACES).
Dr. Andrea McGrath serves as the current president of the Wyoming Counseling Association (WCA) and worked to plan the annual conference in Casper, WY.
In July, Nikki concluded her five years of service on the Nebraska State Literacy Association (NSLA) Board. Throughout her time on the board, she had the role of vice chair, chair elect, chair and past chair. She also served as chair and co-chair of the annual conference for five years. The mission of the organization is to lead in the promotion of literacy in the state of Nebraska through collaboration, advocacy and professional development.
Josh Pope (Fulbright Program Advisor at Doane), along with Doane as an institution, was one of 20 chosen by the Institute of International Education (IIE) to participate in their Fulbright Development Initiative. The Initiative is in New York City and has meetings in March and November, 2023. There are two main purposes of the Initiative. One is to connect with Fulbright Program Advisors from around the US to share ideas to nourish a Fulbright culture on campus. The other is to get an in-depth view of how IIE runs the U.S. Fulbright Student Program.
Through Doane’s membership in the Global Council for Science and the Environment, Dr. Russ Souchek, Professor of Environmental Science, is participating in a GCSE Sustainability Education Community of Practice roundtable. The "Pathways to Accreditation for Sustainability and Sustainability-Related Programs" roundtable is working toward developing national accreditation standards for environmental and sustainability college and university programs.
Dr. Russ Souchek, Professor of Environmental Science, has been invited to serve on the Strategic Planning committee of the Nebraska Academy of Science.
Tiffany Young was invited to be a member of the 2023 Scientific Committee for the World Conference on Qualitative Research. As a member of the committee, she is responsible for reviewing abstracts for the conference in Algarve, Portugal as well as subsequent manuscripts authors submit for publication in New Trends in Qualitative Research (NTQR).
Tiffany Young continues to serve as co-editor of the Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research (JEQR). JEQR is indexed with ERIC and EBSCO and has a full-text electronic subscription base of over 13,000 libraries worldwide. In this role, she co-leads an editorial board of 60 peer-reviewers, five associate editors, and a managing editor. Tiffany invites her Doane colleagues to consider submitting their qualitative research and/or conceptual pieces to JEQR for potential publication.
William Whipple (Music Department) was an adjudicator for the Nebraska Music Teachers Association-Omaha District Festival on May, 6, 2023 at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
William Whipple (Music Department) was elected by his peers to serve as the West Central District representative to the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Nominating Committee for the 2023-2025 term. Some of the duties of the nominating committee include the preparation of one slate of national officers and one slate of division directors-elect.
As Vice President of the Nebraska Music Teachers Association, William Whipple organized and led the NMTA State Festival which took place at UN Kearney on October 22-23, 2022. Thirty-two piano teachers and 138 pre-college piano students from across the state participated in the 2 day event.
William Whipple organized the second Medley Pre-College Piano Competition at Doane University on October 29, 2022. Ten pre-college pianists came from across the state (Sidney to Omaha) to compete at Doane University. 1st Place: Cheryl Zeng, Lincoln (teacher: Dr. Marina Fabrikant) 2nd Place: Chuyee Huang, Omaha (teacher: Dr. Boban Martic) Honorable Mention: Bennett Lambelet, Omaha (teacher: Dr. Bryan Stanley)
Blake Tobey directed Roald Dahl's "Matilda: The Musical" at the Nebraska Communities Playhouse in July 2022. Tobey was joined by Doane Alums Madisen (Gieler) White '16, and Kayleigh Schadwinkel-Hickman '16 as the Music Director and Choreographer, respectively.