Athletic Training Professor Chosen for Dedicated Service Award

The Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association Honor and Awards Committee has selected BW professor Jessica Emlich-Jochum, to receive the Great Lakes Athletic Trainer’s Dedicated Service Award. This award recognizes members demonstrating an extraordinary level of achievement in supporting the GLATA, whose mission is to “develop the athletic training leaders of tomorrow.”

She will receive the award at the 46th Annual Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association Annual Meeting and Symposium on March 13th in Wheeling, Ill.

Prior to joining the Athletic Training Education Program at BW, Emlich-Jochum served as an athletic trainer at three other universities.

BW Student Named OAC Scholar-Athlete of the Month

Due to her excellence in managing both academics and sports, Audrey Smolik, a junior Early Childhood Education major, was recently named as the Ohio Athletic Conference's Scholar-Athlete of the Month for January.

With a 3.833 GPA, Smolik is an accomplished basketball player. She has been titled OAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week two times. According to an article published by the OAC, Smolik is also involved with Honor societies and Teaching Together, just to name a few. 

Best of luck to the Women's Basketball team for the rest of the season.

Conservatory Makes Transition to an All-Steinway School

The kick-off of BW's All-Steinway initiative garnered widespread media attention this week. Monday's "roll-in" event means that students in the Conservatory can now enjoy twelve new Steinway pianos in practice studios and performance spaces. Eventually, every piano in the Conservatory will be a Steinway to make BW the 12th All-Steinway Conservatory in the world.

Channel19ActionNews, WJW-Fox 8, Cleveland.com, and CoolCleveland all reported on the big event.

Music Therapy Alum featured in the Plain Dealer

BW graduate Jennifer Walker singing in a music therapy session at UH. (Photo courtesy of Cleveland.com)

BW Music Therapy graduate Jennifer Walker was featured in the Plain Dealer on Monday in an article that details the benefits of music therapy to adolescent cancer patients. Walker, who works at UH Rainbow, Babies and Children Hospital as a Pediatric Music Therapist, was pictured in action as she sang alongside a Strongsville resident.

The article explains a recent study published in the American Cancer Society journal that gives added proof to the positive affects of music therapy programs on adolescent care. Walker contributed her thoughts and personal experience to the story saying, “[Children] start to feel like they have a voice in their process. It’s important for them to be able to express themselves.”

BW Alumnus Opens Art Gallery

The arts are such an important part of BW's wide range of exceptional programs, and faculty, staff, alumni and students all have an impact on the arts in the region as well.

Case in point: Richard Cihlar '02, a BW staff member and alumnus with a degree in Studio Art, has opened an art gallery in the 78th Street Studios in Cleveland.

Cihlar officially opened E11EVEN 2 with two friends this month. The gallery promises "a colorful array of painting, mixed media, and photography." E11EVEN 2 is open every third Friday of each month from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Cold Weather No Match For Nursing Students

Winter weather doesn't stop BW nursing students! In spite of today's frigid wind chill warnings, 28 BW Nursing students have been out in hospitals and clinics, along with their faculty mentors, since 6:45 a.m., contributing to quality patient care all over Ohio.

BW BSN Program Director James Fell says BW nursing students will contribute more than 200 hours of care on this date alone. While they are students, and not full-fledged nurses yet, they are providing an important extra set of hands on a severe weather day, when some nursing units are short-handed.

President Helmer Elected to CIC Board of Directors

BW President Robert C. Helmer has been elected to the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Board of Directors for a term that runs through January 2017. The CIC is an association of nonprofit independent colleges and universities that has worked since 1956 to support college and university leadership; advance institutional excellence; and enhance public understanding of private higher education’s contributions to society.

"I am certain that President Helmer will serve the Council admirably," said CIC President Richard Ekman. "I look forward to working with him."

BW Student Qualifies for World Irish Dance Championship

BW English major, Alyssa Reichert '16, is entering the New Year with an impressive accomplishment. Reichert qualified to compete in the World Irish Dancing Championships in London this April.

"This has been my dream for so many years," Reichert said. To realize this dream, she had to follow a strict schedule balancing her life as a student and an award-winning dancer. Reichert practices everyday whether it be dancing in her dorm room; hitting the gym for cardio and weight-training; taking private lessons; or teaching others.

Held at the Hilton Metropole London, the international event brings together dancers; their families and friends; and enthusiasts from across the globe. About 20,000 people are expected to attend, with organizers promising “an extravaganza, presenting all that is best in Irish Dancing.”

Now that the competition is only a few months away, Reichert is able to reflect upon her achievement. "When I learned I had qualified, I was in disbelief and cried my heart out. This was my dream. This was the moment I had imagined while I practiced, that had told me to keep going. Nothing compares to being in that moment."

BW Professor Recognized for a Lifetime of Stellar Work

BW psychology professor Dr. Michael Dwyer has earned the Ohio Psychological Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors Ohio psychologists who advance psychology as a science and/or profession through 25 or more years of outstanding contributions to the field.

Dr. Dwyer has definitely had a productive career, which ranged from consulting on behalf of children to developing an early childhood intervention model involving the interaction of early brain development.

But what really defines his career is the way he has mentored so many students in more than 30 years at BW. As his faculty colleague, Dr. Jennifer Perry puts it, "He has been a supporter, cheerleader, critic, and overall support network for so many of our students – and so many of them attribute much of their success to his support."

Students Collaborate for "MLK Day of Learning"

Jesper Zuber '14 with Channel 19 anchor Romona Robinson

The BW and Berea Schools' collaborative "MLK Day of Learning" was featured in a "Romona's Kids" segment on WOIO/WUAB-TV this week.  Public Health major Jesper Zuber '14, who serves as student director of special projects for BW's Office of Community Outreach (OCO) and OCO Director Myla Cooper were featured in news anchor Romona Robinson's report, which you can view online here.

Now in its 11th year, the "MLK Day of Learning" invites local 4th Graders to experience a day of activities that are aimed at fostering an understanding about the importance of the civil rights movement and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

BW Beatles Sing And Support Hunger Relief In Lakewood

2013 BW Beatles Festival

The "BW Beatles," a group of student musicians from BW's Conservatory of Music, are taking the stage with other Beatles tribute bands this Saturday 1/25 at the Lakewood Masonic Temple. In addition to making great music, the event, as profiled in the Lakewood Observer, is being staged to raise awareness of hunger in Lakewood as well as funds for the Trinity Lakewood Community Outreach organization.

The 4th Annual BW Beatles Festival, which will cover the White Album, takes place March 28-29.

Speech and Language Students Publish Original Activities

Communication Disorders major Rachel Antrim '13 is the first BW student to have work featured through a partnership between The Inspired Treehouse and BW's Speech and Language department. The collaboration gives students the opportunity to publish their creative work on the site. Assistant Professor and Director of the Baldwin Wallace Speech Clinic, Christie Needham coordinated the partnership between the department and the website during the 2013 fall semester.

The Inspired Treehouse is a blog written by three mothers who specialize in pediatric, physical and occupational therapy and features constructive activities for parents to do with their children that will support their development. Antrim's 'Winter Wonderland Sounds Game' is the first by a BW student to be featured on the blog. It's a fun, winter themed activity that helps children understand letters and sounds.

Needham says she is looking forward to seeing more BW students contribute to the blog in the near future as students create additional activities for use in and out of the classroom.