Tag Archive : Alumni

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The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU is currently hosting the 27th annual installment of the Summer Program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth, better known as VAMPY.  Students spend three weeks during the summer taking one of sixteen in-depth courses on campus.   10 of the incoming members of the Gatton Academy’s Class of 2012 are among the nearly 240 students attending VAMPY.  In this video blog, alumni George Johnson, Alex Boswell, and John Max Wilson share their thoughts on camp, the Academy experience, and working alongside students who are gifted and talented.

More information about VAMPY can be found online at VAMPYblog.org.

The Fijis Across America cross country bike ride for Alzheimer’s research will begin next week.fijis

The group, which includes five Western Kentucky University students, left Monday morning on their way to California. The bike ride will begin May 25 in Oceanside, Calif., and will end in mid-July in Yorktown, Va.

Riders from WKU are Tyler Jury (Gatton Academy ’08) of Elizabethtown, Chaz Vittitow of Louisville, Mitchell White of Bowling Green, Justin Cave of Glendale and Wade Haga of Lexington.

“We’ve gotten incredible support from our families, friends, WKU and the Alzheimer’s Association,” Jury said.

The group hopes to raise $75,000 to benefit the Greater Kentucky/Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and to increase local, state and national awareness as the students ride about 3,200 miles from California to Virginia. The fundraiser is being conducted in memory of Barrett Cummings, Jury’s grandfather.

So far the group has raised more than $20,500. As the students travel through nine states – California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia – they plan to participate in fundraisers and other events.

Jury said the group has been collecting stories of Alzheimer’s impact on families and will dedicate each day’s ride to a family.
Information about the trip, including videos, photos, blogs and route map, is available on the Fijis Across America website and Facebook page.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu. For information, contact Tyler Jury at (270) 766-7121.

Academy Student and Staff had the opportunity to discuss space, STEM, and innovation in a small-group setting.
Academy Student and Staff had the opportunity to discuss space, STEM, and innovation in a small-group setting.

Even though the space shuttle program has only four missions left and the U.S. space program is facing an uncertain budgetary future, NASA astronaut Terry Wilcutt urged students at the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky to keep reaching for the stars.

The seemingly impossible challenge of missions to the moon or Mars “takes the best the country has to offer,” Wilcutt said. “That’s you.”

Wilcutt visited with Gatton students Anthony Bombik (Boone ’11), Kaitlyn Oliver (Muhlenberg ’10), Tejas Sangoi (Daviess ’11), and Michael Phillips (Marshall ’11).

In the morning session with Gatton students and an afternoon session with WKU students, Wilcutt said one key to working for NASA or becoming an astronaut is an undergraduate degree in math, science, engineering or other technical fields. But the most important thing is simply to fill out the NASA job application.

“The number one reason qualified people don’t make it is they don’t apply,” said Wilcutt, a Russellville native and 1974 WKU graduate. “Most people in the astronaut office applied more than once. They had a dream and refused to let go of it.”

Wilcutt taught high school math in Louisville before joining the U.S. Marine Corps in 1976 and earning his wings in 1978. In 1986, Wilcutt was selected to attend the U.S Naval Test Pilot School and was selected by NASA in 1990 and became an astronaut in 1991.

“For all means, have the nerve to apply,” he said. “If this is your dream, you’ve got to give NASA a chance to say yes.”

Wilcutt was the pilot on two space shuttle flights in 1994 and 1996 and the mission commander on flights in 1998 and 2000. The retired Marine Corps colonel now serves as director of Safety & Mission Assurance at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Wilcutt has “mixed feelings” as the space shuttle program winds down. “They’re going to miss it,” he said.

Astronaut Col. Terry Wilcutt is a native of Russelville and a 19XX graduate of WKU.
Astronaut Col. Terry Wilcutt is a native of Russelville and a 1974 graduate of WKU.

Next up for the space program is “game-changing technology” that would take humans back to the moon or to Mars, he said. But President Obama and Congress must agree on the NASA budget and other space program issues, Wilcutt said.

“Now that the president has laid out his vision, it’s up to us at NASA to go out and do it,” he said.

The NASA budget is just one-half of 1 percent of the U.S. budget and has shown its benefits in medical, environmental and scientific research, exploration, international cooperation and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education among others, Wilcutt said.

“We’re not really an expense,” he said. “We’re an investment.”

Wilcutt said the best part of working for NASA is “the people you work with and the access to information” on topics like black holes, dark energy, cancer research, astrophysics and more.

“Every single day there something interesting coming through our office,” he said. “It’s like being a kid in the candy store if you have intellectual curiosity. No matter what you’re interested in, at NASA you’ll find the latest and greatest.”

[Video Blog] Sydney Blasts Off With WKU Alum, NASA Astronaut Terry Wilcutt from Gatton Academy on Vimeo.

Even though the space shuttle program has only four missions left and the U.S. space program is facing an uncertain budgetary future, NASA astronaut Terry Wilcutt urged students at WKU to keep reaching for the stars.

The seemingly impossible challenge of missions to the moon or Mars “takes the best the country has to offer,” Wilcutt told a group of students at the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky. “That’s you.”

Later that afternoon, first-year student Syndey Combs has the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Col. Wilcutt about STEM, NASA, and making a difference.

Gatton Academy
Gatton Academy

The Gatton Academy wishes to invite current students, alumni and their families to our inaugural Homecoming Celebration on Saturday, November 7, 2009.

For some, it might be the first time you’ve returned since graduation. For others, come on over from your residence hall on campus amid WKU’s other Homecoming activities.

The Academy will provide a lunchtime tailgate for our guests. The tailgating menu will include barbecue with all the trimmings. Vegetarian options will also be available. Lunch will be served at 1 p.m. in the parking lot behind Schneider Hall.

If you are interested in attending the football game as WKU takes on Troy at 4 p.m., you may obtain tickets via the WKU ticket office by telephoning 1-800-5-BIG-RED.

Alumni and parents are kindly asked to RSVP online at http:///gattonhomecoming09.eventbrite.com no later than noon on Monday, November 2, 2009. Current Academy students need not RSVP.

We look forwarding to seeing you then as we celebrate the exciting things happening at the Gatton Academy.

Ports of Call

Eight Western Kentucky University students, including two Gatton Academy Class of 2009 members, will be setting sail Aug. 28 as part of the prestigious Semester at Sea study abroad program.

“Semester at Sea is one of the most unique educational programs in the world,” said Dr. Bernie Strenecky, scholar-in-residence at WKU. He also is the ship’s director of service learning and a member of the Semester at Sea’s alumni board of directors.

This fall, the Semester at Sea program will celebrate its 100th voyage with about 520 students aboard the floating campus. The University of Virginia serves as academic sponsors. Schools such as Pittsburgh, Colorado, Stanford, Virginia and UCLA traditionally send groups of students on the voyages.

“WKU is going to have a presence there and be among the best universities in the world,” Strenecky said.

WKU students making the trip are Carley Brooks, a senior from Louisville; Joey Coe, a junior from Louisville; Lauren Gray, a senior from Franklin, Tenn.; Jennifer Hail, a sophomore from Brandenburg; Kaitlin Hartley, a junior from Versailles; Cameran Smith, a sophomore from Campbellsburg; Caroline Wells, a junior from Glasgow; and Bobbi-Lee Williams, a senior from Portland, Tenn.

The voyage will begin Aug. 28 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and will end Dec. 14 in San Diego. In between, the ship (the MV Explorer) will dock in Spain, Morocco, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Viet Nam, China, Japan and Hawaii.

“Semester at Sea gives our students an international academic experience that is unique,” said Clay Motley, assistant director of academics for WKU’s Honors College. “We have a lot of cool study abroad experiences, but to do this whole semester on a ship is unique.”

Kaitlin Hartley

Hartley will take coursework in global studies, zoology, global music and leadership.  Hartley believes this program will be unlike any other opportunity for learning: “This is something unique to put on a resume and say you’ve been part of this program,” Hartley said. “I’m really excited. I think it will be a fun environment to be on ship with all the students.”

Caroline Wells

Wells will study zoology, global studies, leadership development and history of jazz.  Wells sees a world of possibility ahead in the coming weeks:  “It’s a wonderful opportunity to expand my views on other cultures in the world and to experience things that most people only get to see or hear about on TV or in the media. I can’t wait!”

Established in 1963, Semester at Sea is the only study abroad program of its kind in the world. Using a ship as its traveling campus, students, faculty, and lecturers learn and reside together while fully circumnavigating the globe each fall and spring semester and exploring a world region each summer. More than 2,000 undergraduates representing 200-300 institutions worldwide study abroad with Semester at Sea each year.

Semester at Sea classroom learning is integrated with hands-on fieldwork and service learning in destinations around the world-as many as 12 each semester — where participants gain deeper knowledge of world issues, economies and cultures through comparative experiential study. Participants receive full transferable credit to their home institutions from the University of Virginia, which serves as academic sponsor.

During the voyage, WKU students will be taking classes such as global learning, psychology, zoology, leadership, music, poetry, communication, management, business and service learning.

In the area of service learning, all students will have an opportunity to participate in the $100 Solution, a humanitarian project developed by Dr. Strenecky. Through this project, which is headquartered at WKU, students are provided with knowledge, skills and funds which are used to solve social problems at the national and international levels.

The idea is, Dr. Strenecky said, that many social problems can be solved with $100 not millions of dollars. Last year, for example, a group of students bought a water heater for an orphanage in Vietnam and provided the first hot showers for 45 children there, he said.

Through service learning efforts like the $100 Solution, students learn about the value and importance of giving back to society, Dr. Strenecky said. “We as a university have the responsibility to teach them,” he said.

This fall’s itinerary includes the following locations: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Cadiz, Spain; Casablanca, Morocco; Accra, Ghana; Cape Town, South Africa; Port Louis, Mauritius; Chennai, India; Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam; Hong Kong/Shanghai, China; Yokohama/Osaka, Japan; Honolulu/Hilo, Hawaii; San Diego, Calif.

For more about the Semester at Sea program, visit http://www.semesteratsea.org/ and http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/upcoming-voyages/fall-2009.php

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Jerry Barnaby at (270) 745-2571.