For over 10 years students have participated in two campus events during the annual McPherson County All-Schools Week – the Campus Blowout team competition and the Senior Drive-Thru where seniors are recognized as they pass through the Heaston Gazebo.
Category: Student Life
End of Year Traditions
MC Recognizes Award-Winning Students
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
Light and Life Awards for 2015
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the Light & Life awards – designed to recognize students who exemplify “Scholarship, Participation, Service” at McPherson College.
View gallery on Facebook
Awards were as follows:
Emerging Leader Award: Jacob San Martin (Nominated: Andrea Kadeba, Jeremiah Friend, Johanna Hoffman, Justin Smeltzer)
Outstanding Student Leader Award: Colby Patton (Nominated: Bailley McKinnley, Kevin Aka, Elizabeth Newby, Scott Crist, Laurina Hannan, Tyler Henning, Amanda Leffew)
Overall Excellence for Community Service Award: SGA – Special Needs Prom (Nominated: Rotaract – Poverty Week, Orientation Team)
Overall Excellence in Programming/Activity Award: Allie Hicks and the McPherson College Women’s Soccer Team – Pink vs. Purple Powder Puff Game for awareness of domestic violence and breast cancer (Nominated: Metzler Hall RAs – Sausage Feast/March Madness Tournament)
Outstanding New Student Group Award: Diamond Dogs (Nominated: Quartermasters)
Outstanding Student Group Award: Peacefully, Simply, Together (PST) (Nominated: Teachers of Tomorrow (TOTS), Rotaract)
Outstanding Volunteer Advisor Award: Becki Bowman (Nominated: Shane Kirchner, Jen Jensen)
14-15 Year-End Video
MC senior Kevin Aka created the annual year end highlight video presented at the Awards Convocation on May 1, 2015.
Car Show at McPherson College Attracts About 250 Vehicles, Hundreds of Visitors
Microcars and modern jazz, pop-tops and pinstripes, historic racers and even a haircut – all a part of the 16th Annual C.A.R.S. Club Car Show on May 2.
About 250 cars, trucks, motorcycles and tractors entered the student-run show on the campus of McPherson College, attracting hundreds of visitors and automotive enthusiasts.
Robert Bean of Great Bend, Kan., entered the show for the first time this year with what was probably the smallest car in the show – a 1954 Gebruder Ilhe Schottenring Microcar that doesn’t quite reach the knee.
With a single cylinder motor giving the tiny car a top speed of 25 miles per hour, only five of the microcars are known to remain, and Bean’s was the third manufactured. When Bean discovered the C.A.R.S. Club Car Show in an Internet search, he thought it would be a perfect venue for the Microcar.
“I like the setting,” he said. “It’s not like you’re sitting on Main Street somewhere.”
Evan Clary is a 2014 graduate from the college’s four-year automotive restoration bachelor’s degree program. He entered his daily driver in the show – which happens to be a 1967 Dodge A100 Sportsman with a Travco “pop-top” conversion to turn it into a RV/camping vehicle. With the pop-top up, it towered above any other car on the campus.
While Clary said the van was a good car but “nothing special.” As it won a top award for Student Choice, however, it still captured plenty of attention.
“Everybody loves the van,” Clary said. “I always get looks and comments when I drive it.”
Near the college’s iconic Heaston Gazebo, Jacob San Martin, a freshman from Perris, Calif., demonstrated his steady hand and artistic skill painting pinstripes on glass plates as well as a bright pink pedal car. San Martin said he’s been pinstriping since he was 12.
“I was just fascinated by the art,” he said. “Once the brush goes down, you’re in the zone.”
Nearby were the show’s featured cars, which were selected on a racing theme this year – including the 1991 Chevy Lumina winner of the Daytona 500, driven by Ernie Irvan; and a 1964 Shelby Cobra racer, owned by Tom Cotter – author of “The Cobra in the Barn” – who drove the Cobra to McPherson from North Carolina.
If the cars weren’t enough, many other special events were planned for the day. Hagerty Insurance gave kids the opportunity to race with “Valve Cover Cars” down a special racing ramp. Ed Barr, assistant professor of technology, demonstrated sheet metal shaping techniques just after lunch.
In the afternoon, the McPherson College jazz combo and the McPherson High School jazz band played several standards. Later, a team of restoration students assembled a functioning 1926 Ford Model T touring car from a pile of parts in just 9 minutes and 4 seconds in a competition against the clock that has become a tradition at the show.
Visitors to the show could also support the automotive restoration program by picking up lunch sold by the C.A.R.S. Club or getting a retro-style haircut or “mustache wax” right on the college campus from the Fox & Ash Barbershop in McPherson.
The day ended with students presenting the day’s awards, with top prizes going to a 1967 Corvette Stingray (People’s Choice) 1967 Dodge A100 Sportsman (Student Choice) and a 1951 MG T.D. Series (Best in Show).
Casino Night photos
May Session Courses Offered
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
‘Science Day’ at McPherson College Introduces Grade School Students to ‘Cool Science’
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 Experience Urban Chicago
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.”
Men’s Soccer KCAC Champs!
11 days after being crowned KCAC Regular Season Champions, McPherson College men’s soccer earned the 2014 KCAC Tournament Champions title as they defeated No. 16 Kansas Wesleyan University 2-1 in the finals of the tournament on Saturday.