Saint Mary's Newsroom

On April 27, five Saint Mary’s seniors participated in the sixth annual Minnesota Undergraduate History Symposium at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn. Sam Price (History), Robbie Sobczak (Social Studies Education), Bailey Melz (Spanish and History), Sam Hyberger (Social Studies Education), and Brady Weber (Social Studies Education) were among 46 students from 12 regional colleges and universities who presented their research projects on a broad variety of topics and attended a keynote address/live podcast on the future of public history.

On April 7, two School of Education organizations, Kappa Delta Pi and ASCD, hosted a teacher panel made up of eight first-year teachers who graduated last year. The panel described rewards and challenges in the first year of teaching, advice for aspiring teachers, and funny moments from the classroom. They also discussed how their professional practice forwards Saint Mary’s traditions of excellence in education, leadership, and our shared Lasallian heritage of relationship and community in the classroom. Members of the panel included Sr. Marie Faustina, Abbey Killian, Katie Homan, Aleaha Zabel, Austin O’Hare, Alex Zuzek, Zach Slowiak, and John Morales. About 40 School of Education students and six School of Education faculty attended the event.

Saint Mary’s University recognized outstanding students, faculty, and staff April 15 at the Student Life Awards Ceremony. Individuals who have exhibited outstanding leadership and service through co-curricular activities at Saint Mary’s were recognized. Get the full list of awards and honorees, and see more photos.

Photo caption: Tim Gossen, vice president for Student Affairs and Student Life, presents Aldontae Guess with the Student Service Award.

James Loken, a senior computer data science: GIS major, demonstrated his programming project at the 2019 Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium (MICS) held April 5 and 6 on the campus of North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D. The project involved developing software to wirelessly control an old scoreboard through a web interface. The scoreboard had been updated to include a Raspberry Pi computer and LED lighting. Other students attending were Brendan Scott and Griffin Rades.

The MICS is a regional conference dedicated to providing higher education participants an educational experience focused on the teaching of computing and its use in learning processes of all disciplines and the incorporation of the study of this technology in the curriculum. The conference features student competitions in robotics, cybersecurity, and programming along with paper presentations, posters, and software demonstrations. Approximately 300 computer science students from more than 25 regional colleges and universities attended.

Photo caption: James Loken demonstrates his project to a group of students.

Saint Mary’s theatre students and faculty recently attended the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) annual conference in Louisville, Ky., where they met and interviewed with national companies such as Cirque du Soleil, Disney, regional theatres, technology and design companies, along with many different graduate schools for design and stage management.

“I enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with professionals about what they do and have them tell me what I should do now in order to make myself more appealing for jobs in the future,” said student Jennifer Honsa.

Photo caption: Attending the USITT Conference were, from left: back, Jason Underferth, faculty; Jennifer Honsa; Mackenzie Jensen; Amber Geyer; Chelsea Boesiger; Niffer Pflager, faculty; front, William Scannell, Kamryn Matta, and Casper Pichotta.

A group of memorable teachers helped Michaela Heuckendorf ’19 overcome the challenges that once made it difficult for her to learn. Tables in the classroom have turned. Heuckendorf is now making it her mission to help others overcome their challenges to become the best students they can be.

The Plymouth, Minn., native was diagnosed with a learning disability in seventh grade, but she discovered that it’s OK not everyone learns the same way or at the same rate. Using her experiences, Heuckendorf now wants to be a special education teacher — to inspire and encourage students as she once was. “I had the most amazing accommodation specialist team in school,” she said. “I give them all the props, because I would have not had the success I had growing up and in school without their help. I decided this is what I want to do; I want to help kids who learn differently because I learn differently.”

She found her path at Saint Mary’s University within the education program and graduated this spring with an undergraduate degree in educational studies. Read the full story.

Saint Mary’s University announced that senior business intelligence and analytics majors Emily Seykora of Lansing, Mich., and Kristjan Meitz of Waukesha, Wis., have each been awarded $1,000 MinneAnalytics Scholarships.

MinneAnalytics Scholarships are awarded to students who display a passion for pursuing a career in analytics and an ongoing commitment to community engagement. Last year, the organization awarded 20 scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each to students from schools across the Midwest. Read the full story which includes more information about Seykora and Meitz.

Photo caption: Michael Ratajczyk of Saint Mary’s Business Department presents two $1,000 scholarships on behalf of MinneAnalytics to seniors Kristjan Meitz and Emily Seykora.

Eleven Saint Mary’s women attended the second annual Women of Color Summit: Empowering Together at Gustavus Adolphus College on April 13. The Women of Color Summit is similar to the annual Kente Summit for Collegiate Black Men — both offer an environment to build community. It is designed to help women of color, trans feminine people of color, and indigenous women find affinity with one another, help them embrace their intersecting identities, and offer an environment for them to discuss current issues of race on their campuses and nationwide. In addition to Saint Mary’s, there were students from Mankato State University, Century College, and more.

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota sophomore Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) had a break-out year for the Cardinal men’s hockey team in 2018-19 — highlighted by a spot on the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First-Team. But Stang’s impact has proven to go far beyond his uncanny playmaking abilities on the ice — just ask the Thief River Falls NorsKids Foundation.

The non-profit NorsKids Foundation — in conjunction with the Thief River Falls Noskie Junior A hockey team — announced the creation of the $1,500 NorsKids Foundation/Tommy Stang Community Service Scholarship, and, on March 16, named Noskie Alec Daman its first recipient. Stang, who played for the TRF Norskie squad during its inaugural season in 2016-17, was instrumental in organizing and getting the TRF Norskie players involved in NorsKids Foundation events, including weekly Tuesday afternoon bowling with the adult Special Olympic athletes. Read the full story.