McPherson College recognized the outstanding students of the 2014-2015 academic year at its annual Celebration and Awards Convocation on May 1.

Following a highlight video looking back at the last year, faculty and staff presented the awards and recognitions. See Facebook Photo Album

Recipients were as follows:

Automotive Restoration

• Paul Russell Award for Excellence – Austin Hiebert, sophomore, Newton, Kan.
• Jay Leno/Autoweek Scholarship – Jacob O’Gorman, junior, Ennismore, Ontario
• “Pop” Rice Award – Rick Morchesky, senior, Greensburg, Pa.

Journalism
Kansas Collegiate Media Contest Awards

• 1st – Sports Photography – Miranda Clark Ulrich, junior, Russell, Kan.
• 2nd
  • Sports Photography – Miranda Clark Ulrich, junior, Russell, Kan.
  • Copy Editing: Laurina Hannan, senior, Wamego, Kan.
  • Interior Page Design: Laurina Hannan, senior, Wamego, Kan.
• Honorable Mention
  • Editorial Writing: Jacob O’Gorman, junior, Ennismore, Ontario
  • Editorial Writing: Laurina Hannan, senior, Wamego, Kan.
  • Column Writing: Scott Versaw, senior, McPherson, Kan.

Business

• Outstanding Business Student Award – Makenzie Frank, senior, Urbana, Ill.

Curriculum & Instruction

• Model Educator Award – Colby Patton, senior, Maize, Kan.

History & Politics

• Marvin and Doreen Will History and Politics Scholarship – Tessa Szambecki, junior, Gridley, Kan., and James Covel, junior, Goddard, Kan.
• Leland L. Lengel Memorial Scholarship in History – Breana Clark, freshman, Wichita, Kan., and Destiny Reed, junior, Kansas City, Kan.
• Best Senior Thesis Award – Andrew Pina, senior, Wichita, Kan.
• Induction to Phi Alpha Theta National Honor Society for History:  Curtis Mullins, junior, Hutchinson, Kan.; Jacob Singley, junior, Salinas, Calif.; and Tessa Szambecki, junior, Gridley Kan.

Natural Sciences

• CRC Press First Year Chemistry Achievement Award – Nathan Finch, sophomore, Lindsborg, Kan.
• Merit Research Award – Shannon Coldren, senior, McPherson, Kan.; Sidney Lipton, senior, Wellington, Kan.; and Jordan Stewart, senior, Sterling, Kan.
• Burkholder Award (Outstanding Achievement in Student Research) – Nathan Schowengerdt, senior, McPherson, Kan.

Behavioral Sciences

• Outstanding Behavioral Sciences Student – Katelynn Reed, senior, McPherson, Kan.
• The Emile Durkheim Sociological Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Theoretical Reasoning – Kenneth Braden, senior, Riverside, Calif.
• The Jane Addams Award for Applied Research in Sociology – Oscar Cortez, senior, Dallas, Texas

Communication

• Lambda Pi Eta, Communication Honor Society – Miranda Clark Ulrich, junior, Russell, Kan.; Alaina Johnson, junior, McPherson, Kan.; Rissa McNichols, junior, Olathe, Kan.; Marissa Patton, junior, Tribune, Kan.; Tessa Szambecki, junior, Gridley Kan.

Visual Arts
Excellence in Competitive Exhibitions:

• Five-State Photography Exhibition – Kevin Aka, senior, McPherson, Kan.; Adam Porter, senior, McPherson, Kan.; Kala Tiemann, senior, Lewis, Kan.
• Prairie Arts Exhibition – Danna Jacks, senior, Stafford, Kan.; Kala Tiemann, senior, Lewis, Kan.
• American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) – Kevin Aka, senior, McPherson, Kan.; Nathan Holthus, senior, McPherson, Kan.; Adam Porter, senior, McPherson, Kan.; Nick Unruh, senior, McPherson, Kan.

Physical Education

• Outstanding Physical Education Major – Jaime Roman, senior, Santa Ana, Calif.

Athletics

• Female Athlete of the Year – Bailey Brown, Women’s Soccer, Junior, Glen Elder, Kan.
• Male Athlete of the Year – Oscar Cortez, Men’s Soccer, Senior, Dallas, Texas

Campus Ministry

• Senior Award for Distinction in Campus Ministry – Danna Jacks, senior, Stafford, Kan.

Service

• Senior Award for Distinction in Service – Elizabeth Newby, senior, McPherson, Kan.

Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges

• Savana Cross, senior, Wichita, Kan.; Makenzie Frank, senior, Urbana, Ill.; Laurina Hannan, senior, Wamego, Kan.; Rebecca Hornung-Heeke, senior, Spearville, Kan.; Ashlee Maier, senior, Claflin, Kan.; Isabelle Moyer, senior, McPherson, Kan.; Colby Patton, senior, Maize, Kan.; Michael Rhodes, senior, McPherson, Kan.

Professor of the Year Award – Joe Dickhudt, assistant professor of technology

Staff Person of the Year Award – Hunter Nolen, computer services assistant

Need extra credit hours?

McPherson College is offering special courses during a 2 week session May 18-29, 2015. Courses are offered for a discounted price. Room & board available.

Courses include:

G-EE210: Children’s Literature (3 hours) Prof. Carl Lund
G-SO 246: Marriage and Family (3 hours) Dr. Laura Eells
PE 340: Leadership in Camping and Recreation Programs (3 hours) Prof. Dan Hoffman
ML 168: Spanish for Travelers (3 hours) Prof. Lorena Medrano
G-BA 150: Special Topics in Business (3 hours) Dr. Sheron Lawson
BI 150: Primitive Survival Skills (3 hours) Dr. Dustin Wilgers
G-BI 105: Concepts in Biology Now (3 hours) Dr. Allan Ayella
CI 310: Topics in Education: Cooperative Learning (2 hours) Dr. Shane Kirchner
G-PR 235: Envisioning, Starting, Growing & Managing a Social Justice/Change Organization (2 hours) Dr. Tom Hurst

Find out more at www.mcpherson.edu/academics/may

Invisible ink, drinking straw rockets and bubbling beakers – just some of the “cool” science that Washington Elementary School students got to experience at McPherson College on Monday, Jan. 26.

Members of the college’s Pre-Health Professions Club put on the “Science Day” for about 80 students in 2nd and 3rd grade to spark their interest in the sciences and to allow elementary school children and college age students to interact.

Some of the hands-on experiments included drawing with invisible ink made of lemon juice and setting up beakers filled with dry ice and topped with bubble mix – creating large spheres that grew on their own.

“It looks like a Chihuahua’s brain!” one enthusiastic grade school student said, as a soap bubble grew larger and larger.

Students also got to design rockets from drinking straws and peek into the microscopic world of biology – seeing samples of hair, algae, and grass enlarged through high-powered laboratory microscopes.

McPherson College students experienced a larger view of the world and urban life at the beginning of January with a visit to the Chicago Center.

This is the fourth year that MC students have visited the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture through the college’s teacher education department. The center focuses on helping college students to experience diverse, urban communities with internships and other programs.

Dr. Shane Kirchner, assistant professor of education, said that this was the first year that students outside of the teacher education program also went on the January interterm trip to experience what the Chicago Center has to offer.

Dr. Kirchner said the trip is ideal for those learning to be teachers, as it fulfills a class requirement to observe in schools in a diverse environment. But he realized that many students could learn from the same broader perspective.

“Why are we restricting this to education kids when any college student could benefit from the opportunity?” Dr. Kirchner said.

Savana Cross, a senior from Wichita, Kan., was one of those students outside of the education department to go on the trip. She had the opportunity to work with a diversity marketing research firm during the trip. Cross said the “culture shock” was important, as she discovered Chicago on a deeper level.

“It was a great opportunity to see how other communities live,” she said.

Stops on the trip included seeing murals at a Mexican art museum in the Pilsen neighborhood, attending an open mic night at KLEO (Keep Loving Each Other) and observing classrooms in a number of ethnic Chicago communities.

Cross and several other students said that they were most impressed with the half day the center spent teaching them how to navigate the complexities of Chicago’s Transit Authority.

“They do an incredible job of explaining that,” Cross said. “It makes you more comfortable with the city.”