education

Last week, the Genesee Community College Board of Trustees approved $852,900 in contracts for the construction of a new art gallery at the Batavia campus, subject to review and approval by the architects for the project.

Low bidders winning the Board's approval were: Steve General Contractor, Inc., of Caledonia -- general construction ($590,000 base bid and $648,000 total bid with allowances); T. Bell Construction Corp., of Rochester -- mechanical ($112,700 base bid and $122,700 total bid with allowances); Thurston Dudek LLC, of Ontario -- plumbing and fire protection ($43,200 base bid and $53,200 total bid with allowances); and Concord Electric Corp., of Rochester -- electrical ($107,000 base bid and $117,000 total bid with allowances).

The art gallery will be located east of the existing Genesee Center for the Arts lobby. The one-story gallery will have about 1,700 square feet of exhibit space, as well as storage and work space.

The gallery will house modular walls which can be used to accommodate a wide variety of exhibits, including visual works, sculpture, ceramics and other media. The gallery will be built with "smart technology," which will make new media and web-based exhibits possible.

The new gallery will be used for student instruction, as well as exhibits of work by students and artists throughout the region. The college has formed a community advisory committee to help develop policies for the new gallery and involve area arts organizations in exhibits.

The art gallery was designed by Joy, McCoola & Zilch, of Glens Falls, award-winning architects for colleges and universities throughout the northeastern United States. The firm also designed the Wolcott J. Humphrey III Student Union and the Conable Technology Building, which won a juried award for excellence from the American Institute of Architects. Target date for completion of the facility is late October.

The new art gallery will add an exciting new dimension to the college and a new opportunity for community outreach, President Stuart Steiner said.

"Throughout the College's history, we have taught the fine arts and exhibited artistic works as best we could," he said. "But our exhibit space has been very limited. A professionally designed gallery, with modern and secure exhibit space, will be a wonderful resource for our students, our region's arts community, and residents of our region."

The gallery is being financed with funding from the State University of New York Construction Fund, and gifts from the Genesee Community College Foundation and Genesee Community College Association.

Three Genesee Community College instructors will embark on an English language collaboration program in Sao Paulo, Brazil this summer.

They will travel to the South American country to teach English to students at FATEC Americana, a state-run, technology-based institution. Those traveling abroad include
Charley Boyd, English professor, Connie Boyd, director of the Human Services program and Susan Drexel, Sociology assistant professor.

They will travel to Brazil July 8 to 26 to teach language as well as to share information about culture, history and geography. The collaboration between Brazilian students and American instructors will allow for a dialogue to discuss the differences and similarities between the two cultures.

Instructors will focus on topics that contrast the two cultures' holidays, climates, history, current events, politics, job seeking as well as cultural elements such as music and
cooking.

The collaboration grew out of an initial visit to Genesee from Osvaldo Succi, International Relations advisor and Rafael Ferreira Alves, Ph.D, director at FATEC-Americana in October 2009.

"We seemed to click from the very first meeting and the relationship has strengthened as a result of weekly online meetings," said James Goodwin, director of Curriculum Development at Genesee.

"This relationship between Genesee Community College and FATEC is the ideal way to engage teachers and students alike, not only to learn about another culture but to learn about a particularly diverse one," Goodwin said.

"Brazilians have a reputation for being happy, enthusiastic and high-spirited and the warmth we have experienced so far affirms a culture very much centered on relationships."

Brazil has a very exciting schedule over the next six years with the 2014 Soccer World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. With the success of this partnership between Genesee and FATEC, the two institutions hope to build on each other's strengths and cultivate a longstanding multi-cultural relationship.

For more information please contact James Goodwin at 343-0055, ext. 6322.

Four students from Genesee County were among 29 regional finalists for the Outstanding Scholar Awards in Genesee Community College's Advanced Studies program. The awardees were announced at a ceremony and reception June 2 in the Stuart Steiner Theatre.

Keynote speaker for the evening was Joan Cole, superintendent of Elba Central School.

Advanced Studies is part of the College's ACE program, or Accelerated College Enrollment, and allows high school students the opportunity to earn college credit from Genesee while attending class at their high school. High school teachers approved as Genesee adjunct faculty teach all Advanced Studies courses.

Some of the most enterprising young students earn enough transferable Advanced Studies credit to enter their first year of college as sophomores.

Finalists were selected from 66 semi-finalists in five subject areas: mathematics, science, social science, foreign language and English. As in years past, a committee of academic professionals from GCC selected the following local award winners, listed by subject area and high school:

• English -- Carissa Hyde - Batavia
• Foreign Language -- Shelby Cross - Byron-Bergen
• Mathematics -- Kevin Beuler - Oakfield-Alabama
• Science -- Kevin Beuler - Oakfield-Alabama
• Social Science -- Jacob Griffin - Notre Dame

"This year we also took the opportunity to recognize and thank our ACE teachers who commit their time to teaching these courses," said Ed Levinstein, associate dean of ACE programs.

"We have many instructors who have been teaching Advanced Studies courses for over 10 years and we commend them for their dedication. Each of them has helped hundreds of students get a head start on their college educations, saving them both time and money."

For more information about the Advanced Studies program at Genesee Community College, call 345-6801 or go to www.genesee.edu/ACE.

The hazards of texting while driving is something students at Elba Central School have been learning about this month.

On June 3, Awareness Day at the school, fifth-graders presented information to high-school and middle-school students and staff about the dangers of multitasking on the road.

The fifth-graders' "crack down" is part of Elba's Cell Phone Road Safety project. It included handed out fliers with their slogan "Don't Drive InTEXTicated," along with statistics the youngsters researched about the dangers of texting and driving.

They also promoted radio WGRZ's "Pledge 2 Hang Up" as part of the Awareness Day presentations.

They are students of Amy Thompson and Patricia Staebell.

The day's biggest accomplishment was being able to raise enough money to pay for a
billboard with a public service announcement about the dangers of texting
and driving.

Local businesses have helped the project by generously donating money for the cost of the billboard. The billboard will be on Route 5, visible to westbound traffic, near the Bushville Bridge.

Students also held a contest to design a poster with an antitexting an driving theme and the winning poster is going to be on the billboard. The winner of the contest was  AnnMarie Georgia. The poster will be up for two months, beginning June 21.

The fifth-graders hope this project has a big impact on the community and decrease the number of people who text while driving.

Beginning this fall, The Campus Shop, Genesee Community College's on-campus bookstore, will give students the opportunity to take advantage of a textbook-rental program designed to deliver maximum savings and convenience.

It will allow students to rent their textbooks for less than 50 percent of the cost of purchasing a new printed textbook. Plus, as an added convenience, students will be able to rent their books either in the store or from the store's website, <http://www.geneseecc.bncollege.com>.

This decision to offer a textbook-rental program was a joint decision made by the college administration and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers.

"The college is taking on this initiative to help students afford the rising costs of textbooks," Kevin Hamilton, vice president of Finance and Operations at Genesee Community College said. "We understand that not all students can afford to buy new books during these times of economic uncertainty and we're pleased to be working with Barnes and Noble to address those concerns."

Here are some additional features:
Students can pay the rental fees using any form of tender currently accepted by the bookstore – including student financial aid. (Note: For security purposes, a valid credit card must also be provided regardless of the tender used for the rental fee.)

Students can highlight or mark the rented books just as they would if they purchased a book and planned to sell it back to the bookstore.

Students can convert their rental to a purchase during the first two weeks of class.
The rental period is for the duration of the term/semester. Books are due back at the bookstore no later than 10 days after the last day of finals. Students can return the books in person or mail them to the bookstore.

Courtesy e-mails will go out as the end of the term/semester approaches reminding students to return their books. Books not returned (or returned in unusable condition) will be subject to replacement and processing fees.

About 25 percent of the textbooks assigned by Genesee's faculty will be eligible to be rented. Textbooks that have a consumable element such as an Internet access code or a study guide are not part of the textbook-rental program.

For more information about Genesee Community College Bookstore visit <http://www.geneseecc.bncollege.com>.

The Genesee County Business Education Alliance (BEA) is offering three career-exploration camps this summer Genesee County middle-school students.

Brand-new this year is a camp exploring careers related to math, science and technology. The MST Explorer Camp is July 20 and 21 and it is for students who are currently in 6th, 7th and 8th grades.

The MST camp on July 20 is for boys and the girls camp is July 21.

The camp fee is $25 and will run all day, 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch and snacks are included. It will be held at Batavia Middle School.

Students will learn how math, science and technology can translate to exciting career options. Some of the activities will include: designing and building bridges; testing CO2 cars; exploring aerodynamics through a hot-air balloon, a real race car, and an ultralite aircraft; experiencing energy; and learning about the future of alternative energy sources, and much more.

The MASH (Medical Academy of Science and Health) Camp will be July 27-30 for current sixth- and seventh-graders. The camp fee is $40 and includes lunches and snacks. The camp will be held at a variety of locations. including United Memorial Medical Center and Genesee Community College.

The MASH Camp explores careers related to health and health-care fields, including the new career clusters, life sciences and biotechnology. The camp is hands-on and offers a variety of interactive activities for students to gain a better understanding of what it’s like to be in some of these careers. The activities are led by dedicated professionals who are excited about their jobs and who want to share that with students.

Culinary Camp will be Aug. 2-6, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., for students currently in sixth- and seventh-grades. The camp fee is $25. Students will receive chef hats and aprons.  This camp will be held at a variety of locations including Tops Food Market in Batavia, Genesee Valley Educational Partnership’s Batavia Campus, and restaurants in downtown Batavia.

Culinary Camp is a career-exploration camp for students interested in experiencing and learning about careers related to culinary arts and the hospitality field. Students will have a unique opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the daily operations of Tops and how the staff works to meet the local community's needs.

Students will spend three days learning cooking techniques and creating meals under the direction of the culinary arts instructor from Genesee Valley Educational Partnership. The camp will conclude with a tour of restaurants in downtown Batavia.

For more information on these camps or to register, please contact Melinda Chamberlin at <mchamberlin@geneseeny.com> or at 343-7440, ext. 25. Information is also available through the school district counseling offices.

Do you remember participating in the incubation and embryology project, either as a student or as an adult?  Odds are you are familiar with this program, just one part of Cornell Cooperative Extensions’ 4-H Youth Development programming.   Extension educator Barb Sturm is again visiting Genesee County classrooms, delivering this exciting hands-on learning experience.  

One component of Barbs’ job is Ag in the Classroom, an effort to help students, teachers and parents learn about agriculture, why it is important, why we should care, and how important agriculture is not only to Genesee County, but to the entire world!

What you may not know is why this program (incubation and embryology) exists, and why it matters. This interdisciplinary project is designed to provide youth with a “hands on” experience while classroom teachers have the opportunity to satisfy science, math and ELA core requirements.  While watching the fuzzy little chicks find their way out of the eggs, youth are increasing their knowledge and developing personal confidence and leadership ability through related project activities.  They are developing an interest in the science of embryology.  And as they learn about incubation, hatching and brooding, they  have opportunities to demonstrate the skills they have mastered in embryology.

This is one of the more well known programs that Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County offers as part of the 4-H Youth Development Program.  There is so much more that 4-H offers to youth.   Through hands-on, experiential learning, youth develop life skills including

Learning to Learn

•          Developing intellectual curiosity

•          Learning through experience

•          Learning by using the five senses

Leading Self and Others

•          Working on a team

•          Identifying one's own competencies

Relating to Others

•          Trusting one's self and others

•          Accepting diversity

Communicating With Others

•          Disagreeing and refusing

•          Speaking before a group

•          Creative expression

Planning and Organizing

•          Setting short-term goals

Whether you are directly involved in this program or not, over the next few weeks, students in Alexander, Batavia, Bergen, Corfu, East Pembroke, Leroy, Oakfield and Pavilion will be learning all about it. 

Donations and assistance have been received from Cargill, Harper Hill Farm, and the Genesee County Fur & Feather 4-H Club.  Thank you one and all for your participation and support of this, and all, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County programming.

If you have questions or are interested in learning more about the Incubation and Embryology project, 4-H, or Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, please (585)343-3040, or visit our website, www.genesee.shutterfly.com

Here's news from Genesee Community College about its board of trustees meeting earlier this week.

Genesee Community College has been awarded a $457,661 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for replacement of campus lighting with new energy-efficient devices.

Through the grant, the college will replace incandescent and fluorescent lighting fixtures and ballasts with more efficient fluorescent lighting and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs over the next year. LED bulbs are highly energy-efficient and last longer than traditional bulbs, according to Kevin P. Hamilton, vice president for finance and operations.

"These changes create greater light output per unit of electrical power used," Hamilton said. "And will result in savings of at least $48,000 annually at Genesee.

NYSERDA is a state agency created to fund research and infrastructure initiatives that result in greater efficiency throughout the state, and ultimately a reduction in reliance on fossil fuels. NYSERDA grants are highly competitive. The grant proposal was coordinated by longtime Buildings and Grounds Director Timothy M. Landers.

"This is a grant we have never had before," President Stuart Steiner told trustees. "It is very significant."

Hamilton told trustees that the college will continue to seek "green" grants.

"Our hope is that we will receive additional funds to be able to complete other projects such as boiler replacements, upgrades to the energy management system and motor replacements," Hamilton said. "We continue to study the feasibility of solar and wind power."

In other business, the board of trustees:

• Approved a $16,863 athletic facilities upgrade change order for the purchase and installation of new lockers in the men's locker room.
• Heard Board Chair Laurie J. Miller appoint a three-member board subcommittee to review proposed fees for the college's Batavia Campus athletic fields. Named to the ad-hoc committee were Maureen T. Marshall, Chair; Kenneth A. Dodd, and Laura J. Bohm.
• Heard Vice President for Finance and Operations Kevin P. Hamilton report that drywall is being installed in the portion of the new Genesee County Economic Development Center's Med Tech Park designated for the College's nursing program. Staff should be able to move in by July 1. Hamilton also said that only "punch list" items need to be completed on the turf field project. These include landscaping and bleacher work. He also shared preliminary architectural sketches of the planned Art Gallery. Architects recommend a limestone exterior, to match the nearby Batavia Campus entranceways.
• Heard Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services Virginia M. Taylor report that 1,308 individuals applied for admission as full-time students for the Spring 2010 semester, up 32% from the 990 individuals who had applied a year earlier.
• Heard Taylor report that the college is receiving applications from area high school students for Summer 2010 Genesee Promise Plus scholarships. Under this program, seniors enrolled in area high schools receive a scholarship for one or two summer courses at Genesee. Last year, the Promise Plus program had 351 registrations, up 14% from the 217 registrations received in summer 2008, the program's first year.
• Heard Genesee student Lori Mould describe "Bridge Winter Camp," an event that brought 200 SUNY faculty, staff and students to The People's Republic of China over the winter break. The Chinese government invited SUNY to send a delegation as a follow-up to SUNY's gesture a year earlier to bring 150 Chinese students from earthquake-ravaged Sichuan Province. Eight Chinese students completed a year of study at Genesee during the 2008-2009 academic year. Mould shared photographs of Beijing, Olympic Village, Chinese art and architecture, the Panda Research Center, and the Great Wall of China. She was able to meet one of the former Genesee students during the trip. Mould called the visit to China a "life-changing experience." Mould also serves as Genesee Community College student trustee.
• Heard Genesee student Colleen McKay describe her business experience in her native Canada, and how she came to select Genesee as her college choice. McKay, whose family lives in Woodstock, Ontario, started a farm market business with her brothers and sisters as a youngster. The business operates about six months a year, selling produce and baked goods. Called – "Your Farm Market" – it has grown over the years and now earns more than $400,000 annually in gross revenue. McKay, 20, and a longtime softball pitcher, met Genesee Assistant Softball Coach Pat Clark, who was visiting Woodstock and talking to prospective students. "I spent about five minutes with him, and he taught me six new pitches in that short period of time. I was so amazed by him, and after he left, I looked up Genesee Community College on the web. I knew I wanted to come here and play softball." McKay is pursuing a degree in Entrepreneurship and holds a 4.0, or straight A, average. She calls Genesee an "amazingly friendly place.

An essay competition sponsored by the Cornell Club of Buffalo is open to all 11th graders in Western New York and Southern Ontario, Canada. This means all juniors in public or private schools, as well as home-schooled students in their penultimate year of schooling.

The Cornell Club believes that participation in this contest will aid students in the development of their critical thinking and writing skills. Development of these skills is vital to the maturity of a well-rounded lifelong learner and will make one a much more attractive applicant during the college admissions process.

The club says: "One of the most important skills that you will continue to develop during the balance of your high school years and in college is the ability to thoughtfully evaluate opposing viewpoints - in other words, to think critically. This skill is important not only for students and scholars, but also for nearly every occupation you might choose, as well as for your personal mental growth and maturity."

The Grand Prize will consist of $100, a certificate, a letter of award and a limited edition copy of  Cornell University’s Reading Initiative book of the year, “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. Each Second Prize and Honorable Mention prize will consist of: a certificate, a letter of award and a limited edition copy of the “Grapes of Wrath.”

There will be one Grand Prize awarded, and as many second prizes and honorable mentions as the club sees fit. The Cornell Club of Buffalo offers the prize; winning or placing favorably in the essay contest in no way implies a favorable admission decision by any of Cornell's seven undergraduate colleges.

The Rules:

• Answer the PROMPT below as completely as you can in 1,000 words or fewer. There are no limits to the range of your response, but it should give a picture of your personality and beliefs, and should imaginatively include your own life experiences including, but not necessarily limited to: reading, school, travel, work, personal successes, personal failures, sense of humor, current events, family history, etc.
• If you refer to another author’s work in a manner that would require citation, you may include footnotes or end-notes in any commonly accepted format. These citations will not count toward your 1,000-word limit.
• Finally, on the last page of the document include:

1. Your name
2. Your parents’ or guardians’ names
3. Your home address, telephone number, and e-mail address where we may contact you
4. The name of your school
5. The name of your English teacher with his/her school phone number.
6. Please do not include any identifying information (your name, your teacher's name, etc.) on any page other than the last page.
7. All entries must be in Microsoft Word format or text format.
8. Submit your essay as a single e-mail attachment to the following e-mail address:

c.sasiadek@gmail.com with the subject line “Cornell Club Essay Competition.”All entries must be e-marked no later than April 1.

PROMPT:
There are some who argue that the purpose of higher education is to train individuals in immediately practical skills with an eye toward fulfilling the perceived needs of society and the economy -- by training students in fields such as agriculture, medicine and engineering. There are others who argue that the purpose of higher education is to develop general learning skills and to add to human knowledge whether in an immediately practical manner or not. They believe that fields such as art, philosophy and the classics are more important than practical fields of study.
What is your opinion regarding these two educational philosophies?