Creativity Conference at SOU Ashland set to begin

Creativity Conference at Southern Oregon University set to begin May 15

/in ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — The 7th annual Creativity Conference at Southern Oregon University will offer something for everyone in four days of presentations, May 15 through 18. The conference delivers a wealth of information for those who study the science of creativity, seek to leverage research on creative thinking or simply consider themselves to be creative.

The Creativity Conference at SOU features a lineup of more than 100 presenters, with both in-person and virtual events that allow for exhibits, performances and presentations – and attendees – from a variety of countries. It draws many of the world’s leading scholars, researchers and practitioners from the field of creativity, including this year’s five keynote and invited speakers.

“This annual conference brings together internationally renowned speakers, researchers and artists who are leaders in creativity research and application,” said SOU Associate Provost Daniel DeNeui, co-executive director of the conference. “This is an opportunity to learn and imagine, and also to network and build relationships that could have a meaningful impact on the world.”

Participants will be able to join in several applied workshops that feature hands-on activities for developing and using creativity in the workplace. Previous presentations have included “Fostering Creativity Through Virtual Environments” and “Attitudes toward creative people and innovators.”

All sessions – remote and in-person – will be accessible via livestream, ensuring inclusivity and engagement. Archived presentations will be available for viewing post-event.

The 2025 conference will feature in-person sessions all day Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17. A full day of remote sessions will be featured on Sunday, May 18. The in-person featured speakers will include:

  • Denis Dumas, Ph.D., who will be presenting his research on the creativity and psychology of stage and screen actors;
  • International scholar Todd Lubart, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the Université Paris Descartes, who will offer a 75-year retrospective on creativity research;
  • Laura McBain – designer, educator and managing director of the Stanford d.school – who will address how human-centered design can be used to shape more preferable futures;
  • International scholar Tuuli Mattelmäki, associate professor in design at Aalto University in Finland, who will present research on how creative practices stimulate eco-social change; and
  • Ivonne Chand O’Neal, Ph.D. – the founder and principal of creativity and arts impact research firm MUSE Research, LLC – who will discuss culturally responsive storytelling in opera, and its impact on artistic creativity.

Attendees can expect a range of formats, including 60-minute panel discussions, 40- to 50-minute individual presentations, 15-minute “boom talk” sessions that deliver concise insights and engaging poster presentations. Opportunities for interactive dialogue and exchange will be offered in each format.

The Creativity Conference at SOU welcomes sponsorships from individuals and organizations. For more information or to register for this year’s conference, visit soucreativityconference.com. Conference co-executive director Daniel DeNeui can be reached at creativity@sou.edu.

About the Creativity Conference and Southern Oregon University
The Creativity Conference, sponsored by Southern Oregon University, is located in beautiful Ashland, Oregon. Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a burgeoning wine industry and an array of outdoor recreational opportunities, providing the perfect backdrop for creativity and innovation.

Southern Oregon University is a medium-sized campus that provides comprehensive educational opportunities with a strong focus on student success and intellectual creativity. Located in vibrant Ashland, Oregon, SOU remains committed to diversity and inclusion for all students on its environmentally sustainable campus. Connected learning programs taught by a host of exceptional faculty provide quality, innovative experiences for students. Visit sou.edu.

-SOU-

Tacit knowledge grant awarded to SOU Ashland's Boscoe

SOU’s Boscoe awarded second “tacit knowledge” grant

/in ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Bernadette Boscoe, an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department at Southern Oregon University, has been awarded a second grant to fund her study of tacit knowledge in research settings – gathering, storing and retrieving the unspoken practices of academic teams that sometimes are lost when a project is disrupted or ends.

The latest grant, from the National Science Foundation, totals about $164,000 over two years, beginning July 1.

Boscoe received a $250,000 grant last fall from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to help fund her creation of a Large Language Model (LLM) of artificial intelligence to archive the protocols of scientific groups researching environmental science at SOU, astronomy at UCLA and violin acoustics at Cornell University. The tacit knowledge archive, if successfully developed, would benefit researchers in those and other academic disciplines by preventing the loss of unstated practices in research labs when participants leave the projects.

Research funded by the NSF grant is closely related to that funded by the Sloan grant, but is focused more on what Boscoe calls “the technical tool-building side” and looks exclusively at astronomy research.

“The Sloan grant is more (about) using three research group spokes and doing an investigation of the tacit knowledge capture,” Boscoe said. “The NSF grant doesn’t look at that – it is more about how we can improve astronomy workflows and tools.”

Boscoe is using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), an AI framework that pairs an LLM with an information retrieval system to improve accuracy and relevance of resulting data. She is working with SOU computer science graduate Chandler Campbell to build the project’s RAG-LLM tool, called AquiLLM – named after the constellation Aquila.

“Research groups often face challenges managing and accessing work such as paper drafts, research experiments, plots, and meeting notes, especially as these resources grow over time and researchers transition in and out of projects,” an NSF abstract on the project said.

“This project benefits research groups by offering a way to use natural language to ask questions about their data, yielding links to relevant documents.”

Boscoe is a computer and information scientist who builds and researches infrastructures and tools to help domain scientists do their work. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from the Pratt Institute in New York, an associate degree in computer science from Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in mathematics from California State University-Northridge and a Ph.D. in information science from UCLA.

-SOU-

McNair Scholars program at SOU Ashland

McNair Scholars: Apply or nominate potential grad students

/in

Undergraduate students who have stood out in the classroom and have an interest in graduate school can apply or be nominated to join the next cohort of SOU’s McNair Scholars Program. The application deadline for spring interviews is Friday, May 30.

The McNair program, a U.S. Department of Education initiative that began at SOU in 2003, is considered a graduate school preparatory program of activities and instruction that participants can engage in throughout a calendar year or longer. Students can be from any academic major, must have completed at least two terms of college and can enter the program as sophomores, juniors or early in their senior years.

To apply for the program, nominate a student or learn more, email McNair@sou.edu or visit SOU’s McNair Scholars Program website. Nomination emails should include the student’s name and email address.

The program is named for Dr. Ronald E. McNair, who was a member of the Challenger space shuttle’s seven-person crew that met a tragic end in a 1986 explosion. As a tribute to his achievements, Congress and the McNair family formed the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program in 1989 to assist young people in following McNair’s path and taking the initiative to chart their own academic paths.

It is intended to help underrepresented and first-generation undergraduate students from low-income backgrounds to prepare for research-intensive doctoral programs. However, SOU faculty members have traditionally nominated any students they feel may have the ability and desire to complete graduate school, and eligibility is sorted out during the application process.

SOU’s McNair program has provided an intensive research experience and graduate school preparation to nearly 200 students since its inception. As many as 28 students are selected for each year’s cohort of McNair Scholars.

The SOU program offers one-on-one guidance from faculty mentors as it helps participants complete their undergraduate degrees, enroll in graduate school and prepare for doctoral studies. Scholars complete an eight-week research internship in the summer, attend weekly seminars to help prepare them for testing and graduate school applications, and travel to national McNair conferences and graduate program visitations.

Taran Cross is bound for Oxford after receiving bachelor's degrees at SOU Ashland

Unorthodox path: recent SOU graduate bound for Oxford

/in ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Achieving success wasn’t the issue for Taran Cross. He had risen to the position of vice president with a Medford-based healthcare technology company, despite dropping out of college soon after he began back in 2007. But he had unfinished business and higher ambitions.

“I dreamed of going to Oxford as a kid and, around 2018, I started having these profound feelings of regret that I hadn’t been the sort of person who could accomplish those dreams,” Cross said. “I felt like the opportunities of my life had passed me by and, despite having a successful career, that I had squandered my potential.

“Applying to SOU was my way of rejecting that negative thinking. I decided that I wasn’t going to let the failures of my past define me, and live the rest of my life with regret. If I wanted to go to Oxford, I was the only person who could stop me.”

Cross applied for and was accepted into SOU’s Innovation and Leadership Program for working professionals in January 2021, and graduated last spring with a pair of bachelor’s degrees – in Innovation and Leadership, and in History. And as for that dream of attending Oxford University? Well, soon after earning his bachelor’s degrees he applied for admission into a master’s degree program in history at Oxford – and learned recently that he has been accepted.

“I didn’t often tell people that was my goal while at SOU because, even to me, it seemed far-fetched,” Cross said. “It honestly felt almost silly to articulate. How could a former college dropout be accepted to the best university in the world?

“However, the loftiness of the goal drove me to put everything I had into every class I attended, because I knew that the cards were stacked against me. I think success often requires both luck and just enough delusion to believe something is possible without being oblivious to the difficulties that lie ahead.”

The first missteps, and moving forward
Cross acknowledges that his academic pathway, like those of many students in the multidisciplinary Innovation and Leadership Program, was “a bit unorthodox.” The SOU program offers an accelerated bachelor’s degree – completed either in-person or fully online – for working professionals hoping to develop skills in academic areas such as organizational leadership, project management, systems thinking, communication, emerging media and data management.

Cross first enrolled in college following his high school graduation in 2007, but dropped out early in 2008. “Roughly 15 years passed and while I regretted failing in college, I didn’t really have a strong desire to go back until around 2018 or 2019,” he said.

Meanwhile, he learned on the fly and developed a career. He took a short-term job at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival shortly after leaving college, then several months later began the first in a succession of technology-related positions – first at a computer forensic services firm, then back at OSF and then at a Medford computer support and services business. He began as an applications support specialist in 2014 at PLEXIS Healthcare Systems, and by March 2019 he had risen to vice president of client and information services at the Medford-based company.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more. He was nagged by his failed attempt at college, had a growing commitment to self-improvement and felt that there must be a more meaningful role for him. So he took the first step toward a return to college, registering in fall 2020 for a single, lower-division class in SOU’s History Department to measure his merit as a student.

“I didn’t anticipate how much I would love that class or the process of examining historical sources,” Cross said. “Professor (Sean) McEnroe’s love of history is genuinely infectious, and I quickly realized that this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life – and that SOU was the place to train me how to do it.”

He began looking into the best avenue for working on his degree while continuing in his position at PLEXIS, and discovered the university’s INL program. He set up a call with Moneeka Settles, the program’s coordinator, and realized immediately that it was his best route toward academic success and improvement as a business leader.

“She ended up inviting me to join her Organizational Communication class, which started about an hour later (after the call),” Cross said. “I felt once again I had stumbled into the perfect place.”

Two degrees, and much more
The Innovation and Leadership Program provided the academic pathway that Cross needed as a working professional, but it was his love of history that motivated him. Even as he was working his way up the corporate ladder, Cross was captivated by history – particularly the biographies of presidents and other historical figures who have exercised power. At the time, he visualized himself communicating that type of “popular history” to the general public.

“However, SOU exposed me to the variety of historical fields and their corresponding methods,” Cross said. “It was in classes like professor McEnroe’s ‘Global History of Slavery’ that I started gravitating toward subaltern (lower status) studies.

“It was one of those really life-changing classes that shifted my perspective and interests. I now fully intend to make the study of slavery my life’s work, looking for what Jenny Sharpe (author of ‘Ghosts Of Slavery: A Literary Archaeology of Black Women’s Lives’) calls ‘the stories that are being withheld’ in the historical narrative.”

Cross also gained appreciation for historiography – what he calls “the history of the study of history” – and his capstone project taught him to search archives and manuscripts to find “little pieces of forgotten history” that add texture to a larger tapestry.

“I discovered this new interest in Professor (Hannah) Archambault’s classes, where she does a phenomenal job getting students into historiography,” Cross said. “One of the main things I find exciting about pursuing history as a career is participating in these debates and making a serious contribution to the historiography.”

Those pursuits of historical knowledge were complemented by courses Cross took in the Innovation and Leadership Program, which focused on skills such as effective communication, organizational understanding and emotional intelligence.

“I think Moneeka (Settles) has done a remarkable job creating a program that is not only accessible to returning students, which is no simple task, but provides the exact kind of training every individual needs to be successful in the modern workforce,” he said.

In the end, the former college dropout graduated summa cum laude – with highest honors – in last June’s SOU Commencement ceremony, with bachelor’s degrees in Innovation and Leadership, and History.

“He did very well in both programs, studied abroad for a semester, and after graduating, applied to graduate school,” Settles said. “His acceptance at Oxford is unprecedented.”

Graduate studies in the UK
Cross’s study abroad program in 2023 was at University of Nottingham, about 100 miles north of Oxford. He expects that experience to be helpful in his transition to life and studies at Oxford University, where he will begin his master’s degree program in October at Oxford’s Corpus Christi College, studying British and European history of 1700 to 1850.

But just getting his foot in the door of the English-speaking world’s oldest university was a “practically indescribable” accomplishment. Cross felt he “left everything out on the field” when he applied to the Oxford program, but he still was uncertain how it would play out. Then the acceptance email arrived.

“I was actually in a work meeting when the email came in, and had to excuse myself to leap around my office in joy and legitimately cry with happiness,” he said. “I was so emotional, both because this is such an unbelievable opportunity and because I proved to myself that I am capable of accomplishing my dreams.”

His ultimate plan is to earn his master’s degree from Oxford, then apply to the university’s doctoral program in history, before finding a position focused on research and writing about British colonialism in the Caribbean – particularly around slavery and the experiences of the African community.

The entire Oxford experience promises to be the second-most exciting of the year for Cross.

“I’m getting married later this summer to my loving and supportive partner, Hayley Dixon, who will be joining me in Oxford along with our wonderful, goofball dog, Gus,” he said.

-SOU-

Criminology & Criminal Justice students from SOU Ashland

SOU Criminology & Criminal Justice class visits historic UK sites

/in ,

A group of Criminology & Criminal Justice students from SOU spent their spring break on an immersive academic journey to Nottingham, London and other locations in the United Kingdom, delving deep into the UK’s rich legal and criminal justice history. The students in Alison Burke’s CCJ 389 class visited two prisons, a British courtroom and even the area of Jack the Ripper’s crimes.

Criminology & Criminal Justice students from SOU AshlandStudents in the fall term 2024 class immersed themselves during classroom sessions in the United Kingdom’s criminal justice history, then concluded their studies with the spring break study abroad trip.

The visit began in Nottingham, where students explored the city’s original prison, gaining firsthand insight into historical penal conditions. A highlight of the visit was a dynamic session at Nottingham Trent University with Phil Rudkin of the Centre of International Law. Students had the unique opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue alongside three police constables and a dozen NTU students, comparing international perspectives on policing, law,  justice and education.

The journey carried on with a memorable guided tour of Shrewsbury Prison, a decommissioned Victorian-era facility that offered a haunting glimpse into life behind bars. After exploring the historic cells and corridors, students put their wits to the test in a prison-themed escape room — but despite their best efforts (and their professor’s), no one managed to break free.

In London, the group stepped into the grandeur of the Royal Courts of Justice, where students brought a real court case to life in an original courtroom, complete with robed and wigged judges presiding. The hands-on legal simulation offered a rare and memorable glimpse into the inner workings of the British legal system.

The journey concluded with a chilling Jack the Ripper walking tour through the darkened streets of Whitechapel, tracing the path of one of history’s most infamous unsolved crime sprees.

The impactful experience blended historical exploration with modern legal insight, allowing students to engage critically and creatively with issues of justice, law and public safety across some of the UK’s most iconic locations.

Students in next year’s CCJ 389 sequence will study and visit Ireland, and all majors are welcome. Contact CCJ professor Alison Burke at burkea@sou.edu for more information.

outh Programs department brought local high school students to the university campus recently for the César E. Chávez Leadership Conference returns to SOU Ashland

César E. Chávez Leadership Conference returns to SOU

/in ,

Southern Oregon University’s Youth Programs department brought local high school students to the university campus recently for the César E. Chávez Leadership Conference, which began at SOU in 2012 to celebrates the late civil rights leader’s heritage and teach young people to carry on his legacy of leadership.

Last month’s 14th annual César E. Chávez Leadership Conference hosted 200 students from nine high schools throughout the southern Oregon region.

Led by SOU Youth Program’s Latino/a/x team – Genesis Beas, Monserrat Alegia and Katie Mena – the one-day gathering was designed to empower students to become more involved in their schools and communities while deepening their understanding of Latino/a/x culture and contemporary issues.

The event consisted of an opening session, with a welcome message from SOU President Rick Bailey and an interactive keynote speech from Julia Garcia. Through a hands-on presentation that involved student participation and a soccer challenge, “Dr. Garcia had a really great way of interacting with us,” a student wrote.

After the keynote, the students were divided into groups and went off to workshop sessions hosted throughout campus. Attendees were exposed to a variety of educational and career opportunities by participating in workshops focused on leadership skills, cultural arts, life skills, and college and career readiness.

Participants chose their language preference (Spanish or English) for workshop sessions, which included the topics “Latinos In Business,” “Presenting Your Authentic Self on Application Essays” and “Getting Started in Forestry: Oportunidades en el Bosque.” Two current students and three SOU professors – Alma Rosa Alvarez, Enrique Chacón and Anne Connor – shared their expertise through session breakouts.

The conference also plays a crucial role in motivating Latina/o/x youth to pursue education beyond high school. Public universities and colleges, along with local business and nonprofits, participated in the College and Career Fair as a portion of the event. Students had a chance to visit the individual tables to ask questions and learn more about their organization.

The afternoon portion of the conference consisted of lunch at The Hawk, additional workshop sessions and an end-of-ceremony DJ dance party in the Stevenson Union Diversions.

“It is always great to see the partnership between SOU Youth Programs and the local high schools,” Genesis Beas said. “It is a yearly reminder that students are actively investing in themselves and exploring their post-graduation options.”

SOU’s Latino/a/x student ambassadors and the Office of Admissions’ student staff were also on-site to lead groups and offer guidance and support to the high school students.

For more information about Youth Programs opportunities, please visit youth.sou.edu.

Crew Experience mentor Gary Lundgren at SOU Ashland

Acclaimed Ashland director and screenwriter leads SOU students’ “Crew Experience”

/in ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Ashland-based writer-director Gary Lundgren will guide student filmmakers at Southern Oregon University in bringing “An Extraordinary Year” to life this spring, when he mentors those in the Digital Cinema Department’s innovative “Crew Experience” course.

“Crew Experience,” launched in 2022, has given SOU’s Digital Cinema students a chance each year to work on and complete a full-fledged film project. The course allows students to assume professional film crew positions under the guidance of professional mentors in the production of a short film.

They will be mentored this year by Lundgren, an Ashland-based director and screenwriter, while bringing his new short film project “An Extraordinary Year” to the big screen. The class is being guided by Megan Isser, an experienced producer and instructor in SOU’s Communication, Media and Cinema department. Oregon Shakespeare Festival actors Chris Butler and Barret O’Brien, past collaborators with Lundgren, have joined the film’s cast.

“I’m so excited to work with this impressive faculty to mentor film students,” Lundgren said. “I’d love to help demystify the filmmaking process. As an aspiring filmmaker in L.A., I learned the most from being on set or in edit bays watching filmmakers make decisions.

“The fact that SOU is allocating resources to give their students an opportunity like this while they’re still in school feels exciting and unprecedented. In 10 weeks, we will cover the entire process, from script to screen and complete a short film together.”

“I am beyond thrilled to be working side-by-side with Gary and I’m so excited for our students to learn from him and from each other,” Isser said. “I have worked with many directors in my filmmaking career, and it is rare to find someone who is not only as wildly talented as Gary, but who is also willing to take the time to mentor future professionals. And the cherry on top is that we’re all going to walk away with a fantastic film.”

The Digital Cinema program was recognized by MovieMaker Magazine in 2024 as a “Top 30 Film Program in North America,” in large part due to innovative course offerings like “The Crew Experience.”

The SOU Digital Cinema program sets itself apart as a hub for creative innovation and experiential learning. With the guidance of industry professionals such as Lundgren, students hone their craft and make meaningful contributions to the world of cinema.

-SOU-

Global Innovation Scholars from SOU and UG in Guanajuato

Global Innovation Scholars unite to serve U.S. and Mexican businesses

/in , ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Nine students and two faculty members from Southern Oregon University have been working for most of the past week with their Mexican counterparts at Universidad de Guanajuato on the annual Global Innovation Scholars program – a multicultural business development initiative to help organizations and businesses in both Guanajuato and Ashland while providing students with experience in international collaboration.

“Southern Oregon University’s 56-year relationship with the University of Guanajuato is a testament to the wonders that can come from a foundational bond built on love, admiration and mutual respect,” SOU President Rick Bailey said. “We have demonstrated that we can move mountains when we come together, united in purpose, to serve others and to help make our world a better place.”

Students from SOU and UG in Global Innovation Scholars programThe 18 combined students from the two universities spent the past week researching and analyzing three Guanajuato businesses before concluding the visit by offering suggested development plans to the business owners. The students will reunite for a week in Ashland beginning on April 26, to provide the same services to three Rogue Valley businesses or organizations.

The 20-week Global Innovation Scholars program includes international, online coursework for participating students during each year’s winter and spring terms, in addition to the opportunity for immersive social and cultural experiences. The SOU and Guanajuato delegations met last week with various leaders of the Mexican university and with the region’s political leaders. Students typically spend a total of more than 250 hours on their projects, including the two site visits.

Global Innovation Scholars was developed by the two universities’ business schools as part of the “100,000 Strong in the Americas” program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Embassies and the nonprofit organization Partners for the Americas.

“I believe that economic prosperity and peace are best built hand-in-hand across all borders,” Vincent Smith, dean of SOU’s School of Science and Business, said in his opening remarks for the gathering last week. “Our students are a symbol of hope.

“They are working together to build economic prosperity and community in both Mexico and the United States of America,” Smith said. “They symbolize not only the importance of international trade, but of international friendship. They are a reminder that real strength comes from building friendships, not walls. They remind us that we are better together.”

A key point of discussion during this year’s Global Innovation Scholars session in Mexico was the new U.S. tariffs and growing trade war. Guanajuato’s primary economy is the export of automobiles and automobile parts.

SOU and UG have initiated a variety of exchange and cooperative projects since they became sister universities in 1969. The link between the two schools has led more than 1,000 students, faculty members and others to participate in exchanges – and has resulted in more than 80 marriages that have tied people from Ashland and Guanajuato over three generations.

“The opportunity to do the Global Innovations Scholar program has made a tremendous difference in my skills in teamwork and my international worldview,” said Tiana Gilliland, president of the Associated Students of Southern Oregon University and one of the business students in this year’s program.

“I have had the opportunity to work closely with several other scholars to make a real difference in businesses that are striving to make a difference in their community,” Gilliland said.

Another student leader – Garima Sharma, a student member of the SOU Board of Trustees – said she has learned much about the power of connection and making a change in the world through her involvement with the Global Innovation Scholars program.

“I have learned that building relationships with students from both Southern Oregon University and Universidad de Guanajuato is a privilege which not many have,” Sharma said. “I have … gained a deeper understanding of our shared goals and how we can use our differences to create innovative solutions.”

The current Global Innovation Scholars project grew out of a previous partnership between the two schools – the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program – which brought together classes of upper-division business students to work on the development of international business relationships.

-SOU-

Raider Education Day and keynote speaker Jay Schroder come to SOU Ashland

Raider Education Day for new and prospective teachers

/in ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Author, teacher and consultant Jay Schroder will deliver a keynote address, highlighting the third annual Raider Educator Day – an event on Saturday, April 5, that will allow new and prospective teachers to gain insights into the field. The forum, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Rogue River Room of SOU’s Stevenson Union, is hosted by Southern Oregon University’s School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities.

The annual Raider Education Day provides an opportunity for prospective and current students, and recent alumni, to connect with seasoned education professionals and explore career opportunities.

Schroder has taught high school English and social studies for 24 years. He’s the creator of the “Teach from Your Best Self” professional learning programs and the author of the book “Teach from Your Best Self: A Teacher’s Guide to Thriving in the Classroom.” Schroder is an affiliate faculty member at SOU, a teacher consultant for the Oregon Writing Project and a certified instructor of social emotional learning and character development.

Schroder currently works for the Southern Oregon Regional Educator Network (SOREN), supporting schools and educators throughout the region. He offers professional learning experiences that help educators increase resiliency, avoid burnout and thrive in the challenges of education.

“Jay Schroder is a tremendous resource for our region and for those who have chosen careers as teachers,” said Dustin Walcher, dean of SOU’s School of Social Sciences and interim dean of the School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities. “Raider Educator Day gives newcomers to the field of education a chance to learn from our most respected educators.”

Schroder has received High School Teacher of Excellence Awards from both the Oregon Council of Teachers of English and the National Council of Teachers of English. Schroder has also trained for more than 25 years in the martial arts, and holds a sixth-degree black belt in karate. He was recently inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Other presenters at the event include South Umpqua School District Superintendent Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns, principal at Ashland’s Walker Elementary, who are co-authors of the book “Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students.” Bare and Burns will lead a breakout session on tools and strategies for communicating and building relationships with students that enable learning while avoiding power struggles.

Raider Education Day each year includes sessions and mock interviews with superintendents, administrators, hiring managers and teachers from local school districts – many of whom are SOU alumni. School of Education faculty members and student leaders also participate.

The day is intended to provide valuable career and pathway advice to attendees. Topics include teacher preparation programs, scholarships and insights into the evolving landscape of the education field.

Raider Educator Day is open at no charge to all who are interested. The schedule and sign-up information are available online. More information about the event is available from Mary Patridge, student success coordinator for the School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities, by email or by phone at (541) 552-7154.

-SOU-

Brain Bowl participants during recent tournament at SOU Ashland

SOU offers 48th “Brain Bowl” for local students

/in ,

Middle and high school students from throughout the Rogue Valley came together recently to participate in the 48th annual Southern Oregon Brain Bowl, a quizbowl tournament organized by the Youth Programs Office at Southern Oregon University.

The annual Brain Bowl tournament is a fast-paced quiz competition in which teams from local schools compete to answer questions for points in categories including science, math and history. The round-robin format guarantees that all participating schools have the opportunity to face each other.

Middle School
Throughout January and February, 15 middle schools took part in the Brain Bowl tournament. The seven weeks of matches were held at rotating schools. Talent (4-1), Eagle Point (6-0) and North (4-1) middle schools earned championship titles in their respective divisions.

High School
Taking place on the SOU campus, 11 high schools and more than 100 students competed in this year’s tournament on Saturday, March 15. One participant from South Medford shared that the Brain Bowl tournament has made an impact by “helping build leadership skills and self-confidence.”

This year, the Team Challenge competition allowed teams five minutes to answer a question or solve a problem collaboratively. Scores from this challenge were recorded separately and did not impact overall standings or advancement to the finals. Team Challenge awards were presented to Chesterton Academy, Phoenix High School and Logos Charter School.

In April, the students from the highest-scoring high schools will compete for championship titles in their respective divisions.

Televised finale
The championship round will be aired on Southern Oregon Public Broadcasting Service (SOPBS) on Sunday, April 20, starting at 4 p.m., with the Junior Varsity division. The 90-minute segment will be rerun on Friday, April 25.

In the Varsity Division A round, Cascade Christian (5-0) will face Ashland (3-2), while Chesterton Academy (3-0) and Rogue River (2-1) will battle for the title in Division B. The Junior Varsity Division competition will feature Logos Charter (5-0) and St. Mary’s School (4-1).

The Southern Oregon Brain Bowl, based on game show Jeopardy, began in 1977 as a local academic competition between southern Oregon middle schools and high schools.

More information about SOU Youth Programs competitions and academic offerings is available online.