Bone said, “I think the uniqueness of the topic drew interest. The idea that cortisol, the stress hormone, does so much damage to our brains as it seeps out, shutting down the prefrontal cortex, impeding creativity, actually shrinking the hippocampus, the center of memory and neurogenesis, is daunting enough. You have a huge problem when you recognize the fact that simply living in poverty triggers cortisol, even when there is no direct stressor like abuse or illness in a child’s life. I linked the two, cortisol and creativity, to introduce this model:”

• Children who live in poverty need to use their most creative brains to find new pathways, for learning and living.
• Children who live in poverty are subject to more cortisol, which impedes creativity.
• Therefore, teachers, leaders and parents need to find creative ways to reduce cortisol and increase creativity.

“I saw this conference as an opportunity to expand my reach as a Christian scholar,” says Karges-Bone.

She shared inexpensive, practical strategies from her books, “Differentiated Pathways of the Brain,” “Breaking Brain Barriers,” and “Brain Framing: Instructional Planning with the Brain in Mind:”

• Playing classical music during review and practice sessions
• Using journaling to improve expressive language and reduce anxiety
• Giving active boys exercise balls to sit on to allow for kinesthetic learning
• Using scents like cinnamon and lavender in the classroom to evoke sensory connections between the limbic system and the cortex
• Trying single gender differentiation
• Using wait time to increase girls’ confidence in mathematics and boys’ fluency in language
• Bibliotherapy

Members of Building Buccaneer Baseball are raising money for lights at the ballpark. A recent golf tournament at Kiawah Island Golf Resort netted $10,000. As a group, they are continuing to raise funds to support enhancements to the CSU baseball ballpark.

Head Coach Stuart Lake ’94, said, “One of the main goals I have had since accepting the job was to light CSU Ballpark and allow our program to grow along with the great communities that surround us.”

Recent alumnus Nick Chinners ’11, all-time hits leader for the Bucs, said, “Lights would make it easier for players to schedule classes and for the coaching staff to work practices around those classes. It was challenging to have a full practice with all players when half of the team was in class during daylight hours.”

Matt Brownlee ’89, head baseball coach at Holly Hill Academy, said, “Lights at CSU Ballpark will bring more to the campus than I believe most people realize. The ability to have night games will enhance student life, player excitement and community involvement. CSU will benefit greatly by giving the community to watch great college baseball in a family friendly ballpark.”

Quincy Boyd ’94, scout for the Boston Red Sox, said, “The addition of lights to a baseball field elevates the status of a program immediately! From recruiting to simply increasing the fan base there will be immediate benefits which will in turn pay for the lights.”

Brightly colored display boards greeted the families and served as a backdrop as the 22 future teachers engaged children and parents in hands-on activities.

“It was a great success,” said Dr. Luci Carter, principal of Westview Primary School.  “More than 100 participants attended our annual Family Math night. The display boards and activities focused on the math standards currently being taught and gave our students and their families the opportunity to practice math skills together.”

The event was coordinated by Dr. Norma Harper, dean of the School of Education, and teacher candidates enrolled in Education 338.

“It is a unique way to show families what really counts in math; it is about the lessons and about building relationships,” said Harper.

Senior Devon Kemble, said, “It was such an awesome experience to see families supporting their children and school. I am thankful to have had this opportunity to help children develop their math skills and more importantly, a love for math.”

Dr. Linda Karges-Bone, an education professor who teaches courses on assessment, said, “According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, sometimes called the Nation’s Report Card, fewer than four out of 10 4^th graders are proficient in math, making math education a priority for CSU’s future teachers and the teachers and families at the partner schools that they serve.”

The partnership with Westview Primary School in Berkeley County is one of many collaborations maintained by the School of Education, an NCATE accredited teacher education program.

Cutline: Lauren Deas and Rececca Braun prepare a math bingo game for Family Math Night.

Lewis, a classical soloist and recitalist, is an assistant professor of music teaching voice and music history courses.  She enjoys collaborating on new music projects with great musicians, and this recording was a chance to study a different style.

“This project was an experiment in finding common ground between my classical background and Robert and Gerald’s jazz background,” she said.  The result is a mix of selections from the Great American Songbook, including jazz standards as well as songs from folk, sacred and popular culture.

The cd can be purchased at CDBaby.com.

Jon Davis, campus minister, said, “To impart and declare the power of God to the next generation is what gives me hope. What we’ve seen with Grace Awakening, God is doing something with this generation.”

“We are praying for this to be the year of increase,” said Tam Odom, director of women’s ministry and creative arts.  “First Corinthians 3:6 says, ‘I planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase.’  We challenge you to seek the Lord and ask Him to show you very clearly where you are to water and sow this semester as we prepare for the harvest,” she said.

Prayers were lifted up for:

• the Holy Spirit to rain down on students
• God to allow us to embrace the opportunity we have to serve Him
• the influence of athletes and coaches to be positive
• the campus to stand united
• God to do something historic on campus
• no other name to be above His at Charleston Southern

Trey Barnett, a senior majoring in youth ministry and religion from Westminster, prayed that the faculty would “praise God’s mighty acts to this generation.”

In planning the semester, Odom said, “We believe the undertone of our worship experiences will be a freedom party full of celebration in expectancy. There has to be a celebration of the freedom we receive, and our hearts have to expect that the Holy Spirit is going to be present and move.”

Campus ministries will specifically target sowing and watering through worship and service this semester, all while praying for the Lord’s increase.

Cutlines

Jan. 11 prayer: The CSU community gathered for prayer in expectation of the Lord’s increase on campus. Photo by Christi Pearson

WaterSowSpring: campus ministries graphic for spring 2012 semester. Graphic by Tam Odom

In addition to teaching business law online, Thornton serves as the Deputy Solicitor for the 14^th Circuit, a position that enables him to bring a world of experience to the classroom.

“The program is flexible for the student, but it’s also flexible for the professor,” said Thornton, who has spent the last four years as an instructor in CSU’s online program. “As an attorney I am in the court room. If I am in the middle of a case, I don’t get to just leave, but I have access to the Internet no matter where I am.”

His legal career started in 1998 as an assistant public defender in Walterboro. Two years later, in 2000, he was promoted to chief public defender. In 2003, Thornton joined the solicitors for the 14^th Circuit (covering Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties) where, in 2006, he was promoted to “the number two person supervising the serious cases; death penalty cases, serial armed robbery, drug traffickers,” he said.

Throughout his professional career, Thornton has been an adjunct professor at Charleston Southern. He started in 1998 in the classroom. Since 2008 he has taught exclusively online.

“The greatest advantage that the environment Charleston Southern fosters with its teachers and students is that, since I actually practice law currently, and both business and criminal law in different contexts, I am able to give real-world examples,” he said. “I can talk to you about the law, and I can talk to you about rules and regulations all day, but when someone can give you a ‘for instance,’ I can actually flesh out examples of what the law is.”

The real-world experience is a marketing cliché in higher education, but the reality is experience offers students the best of both worlds. In fact, Thornton says students need professors who can provide both textbook and experience.

“As great as the materials are at CSU nothing is better, in my opinion, than having someone tell you, ‘this is what happened to me,’” he said. “CSU does an excellent job of melding both together, the materials provided and professors who can give real-world examples. To be successful, you really need both.”

Thornton, like his students, communicates on lunch breaks, in the evenings, even while he is waiting for a jury to return with a verdict. He’s found his balance between work, family, life and teaching part-time, a lifestyle experience he shares with many of his students.

“Since a lot of the students are already employed, I often get emails from students about situations that come up on the job,” he said. “Probably the questions and answers we give outside of the classroom setting offer the best real-world examples.”

Thornton says the online learning process combines education and professional growth. “It’s almost like a real-time application process. They (students) can learn it at night and apply it the next morning on the job.”

Thornton is also quick to point out the balance between a busy life and faith, a component he is able to share and use in the virtual classroom. For Thornton, faith is a personal value, one which he is able to comfortably share through the course.

“Charleston Southern makes it easy to do that [integrate faith in the classroom] because they hire the right people,” he said. “The entire program is set up to foster faith integration in the classroom. For me, it’s pretty easy because I teach law and law is based on morality in one form or another. As a professor I try to exhibit the Christian morals and values that are important to CSU inside the classroom.

“As a side benefit Charleston Southern prides itself on Christian faith, Christian values and Christian morals,” added Thornton. “One of the cornerstones of that is family. This is a program you can do with a family, with a job, and your family can come first because you always have time to go back in and do your studies. There is no set time. Convenience works in a lot of different areas.”

“Kindred provides a wonderful clinical learning environment for our students,” said dean of the School of Nursing, Dr. Tara Hulsey, “and we appreciate their donation of infant beds totaling $2,400 for our simulation laboratory.

“Select Health has provided scholarships for our nursing students, many of whom would not be able to achieve their dream of becoming a nurse without such financial assistance,” continued Hulsey. “Select Health also supports our program by contributing to the simulation equipment needs of the faculty and students.”

Most recently, they assisted our purchase of a $5,000 birthing simulator. This has been a need for several years now,” she explained, “and the students and faculty are thrilled to have this resource.”

In the face of health care changes, nursing schools will always need community partners to ensure quality nursing education. “Our educational nursing programs would not be successful without the support of our community partners,” said Hulsey.

Photo: Lauren Ranz and Ariel Kline work with the isolette donated by Kindred Hospital. Photo by Lili Gresham

Baseball Camp

• June 18 – 21, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (ages 7 – 12)
• July 9 – 12, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (ages 7 – 12)
• August 6 – 9, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (ages 7 – 12)
• August 25, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (ages 13-high school senior)

Costs and details at csusports.com, click on baseball, then camps

Summer Music Camp

Music camp faculty are Horton School of Music professors and guests

• June 17 – 22: Band, choir and piano camps, grades 4 – 12, Dorm or day camp with meals options

Web: charlestonsouthern.edu/musiccamp

Email: musiccamp@csuniv.edu

Phone:  843-88-CSSMC

Taylor Nicolette displays auction items open for bidding.

Currently, Nolan teaches courses in physiology, nutrition, medical terminology, pharmacology and life-science for educators. She is also the academic advisor for the pharmacy club and serves as CSU’s representative to the South Carolina Women in Higher Education Network.

Nolan is honored to be chosen as a member of the Trident board and attributes much of her success to one of her former CSU professors, recently retired Dr. Ken Bonnette. A chemistry professor later promoted to provost, Bonnette recommended Nolan as his successor on Trident’s Board of Trustees. “It is such an honor,” she said, “that he would recommend me.”