Cristo Rey students on campus July 24-27 for retreat

In a few weeks Saint Mary’s will welcome Cristo Rey St. Martin High School (Waukegan, Ill.) students to campus. A total of 110 incoming ninth-graders, and 138 people total, are expected to be on campus July 24-27. Please make them feel welcome during their stay on campus.

Philanthropy and Development cohorts on campus July 20-31

Dates for the M.A. in Philanthropy and Development summer residency are July 20-31. Forty-two students are expected to be on campus during this period.

Other events

Other upcoming summer events on campus include the Saint Mary’s Press educators’ conference July 28-31; and the MIAC Leadership Conference Aug. 2-3. Volleyball, hockey and string camps have just ended.

NSOR helps incoming students prepare for success

New Student Orientation and Registration (NSOR) is the time for incoming students to register for classes, take placement exams, have ID photos taken, attend the resource fair, and learn more about academic advising, residence life and campus technology.

Also at NSOR, parents are invited to attend informational break-out sessions about athletics, tuition and billing, disability services, career services, health and safety, campus ministry, and the Student Success Center.

Remaining 2014 NSOR dates are:
Friday, August 1
Friday, August 22  (late confirmations, transfers and students coming from a distance — no overnight accommodations for families)

For more information, contact the Office of Student Activities at Ext. 1648. Please make every effort to welcome these students and families and assist them with questions.

String camp students from Hong Kong welcomed

The Center for International Students had an Ice Cream Social to welcome a group of students from Hong Kong who are enrolled in Dr. David Leung’s music camp  this week. The camp participants also enjoyed a game of cards.

Christian Brothers join ESL program

The following De La Salle Christian Brothers joined a four ESL week program this month in order to learn and/or  brush -up their English skills: Brother Pierre Ouattara from Burkina Faso, Brother Martin Montoya from Spain and Brother Jorge Fonseca from Colombia.

They were welcomed during orientation day by the International Center staff including their ESL instructor Mary Kaye Perrin (former director of academics of the DeLaSalle Language Institute).

As a part of this intensive ESL program,  Mary Kaye and her husband, Donald Nelson, spent July 4 in La Crosse, Wis., along with the three Brothers.  With this cultural festivity,  the Brothers had the opportunity to cruise the Mississippi River, participate in the Riverfest celebration, and watch the spectacular fireworks.

Countdown to College continues to welcome students

Countdown to College (C2C) students are on campus through Aug. 2. On July 19, C2C welcomed a new cohort of  incoming freshmen, and on July 20 returning sophomores joined them. These two cohorts will study on campus through Aug. 2.

This two-week program for students from under-resourced communities is offered each summer for four years, beginning just after they complete eighth grade and continuing until the summer before their senior year — helping to assure each student is prepared for a successful college experience.

The camp is free to student participants from San Miguel and Nativity middle schools and Cristo Rey and Lasallian high schools and their parents (who come the first weekend). Teachers from their schools co-teach with Saint Mary’s instructors, and help prepare Saint Mary’s instructors on how to effectively work with this growing population of students. C2C is part of the First Generation Initiative, which helps students prepare for and succeed at college.

MCA presents 2014 Summer Dance Intensive Showcase

The Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts will present the Summer Dance Intensive showcase at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Valéncia Arts Center Academy Theatre, 1164 West 10th St.

The showcase, which is free and open to the public, features works that the students participating in the Summer Dance Intensive have learned in their two-week dance camp.  A variety of dance forms will be presented, including classical and contemporary ballet, jazz, musical theatre dance, and modern dance. The works were choreographed by MCA guest artists Dustyn Martincich, Allan Kinzie, Jen TeBeest and Tammy Schmidt.

In addition to learning showcase pieces, students have been participating in comprehensive dance training including technique and theory classes throughout the two-week process. Class studies have included ballet, pointe, variations, pas de deux, repertory, jazz, hip hop, rhythm tap, modern, musical theatre dance, piyo, choreography and improvisation.

The students are from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa; range in age from 11 to 16; and were selected for the program by audition.

For more information about the Summer Dance Intensive showcase or future MCA program offerings, visit www.mnconservatoryforthearts.org, e-mail mca@smumn.edu, “like” them on Facebook, or call 453-5500.

Let’s Do Ice Cream raises $216; next event Aug. 8

The Volunteer Committee’s rootbeer float fundraiser Wednesday raised $216.40 for the students on our Nairobi campus. Look forward to the next Let’s Do Icecream sundaes event Aug. 8 in the Plaza. Thanks to Chartwells for donating ice cream and cups to make this cause successful.

Watch for SMU float in Goodview Days Parade

As part of our community visibility initiative, SMU will participate in the Goodview Days Parade at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. Watch for a large group of resident assistants who will represent Saint Mary’s.

News from Nairobi

For the first time in the history of Christ the Teacher Institute for Education, two separate graduation ceremonies were held in recent months. On May 3, the first took place in the traditional time. On that occasion, 32 students received their diplomas or degrees from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Because of increased requirements in Kenya in recent years, a number  of students were not quite able to complete their studies at that time. So, this past weekend, on July 12, another 17 CTIE students culminated their studies with either the diploma or the degree from Saint Mary’s.

The expectation is that CTIE will return to one spring graduation next year. While the additional months were challenging for our July graduates, they may take some consolation that they are likely to be the only July graduation ever in the history of CTIE.

Brother Robert Smith, FSC, vice president, Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs, presided over the Commencement Exercises with great enthusiasm, as it was a homecoming for him, having served as CTIE Director from 2000-03. He encouraged the graduates to pay attention to the recent Vatican document, “Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion.” In his closing, he cited the practice of the philosopher, Martin Buber, who entered into rooms by reminding himself that he Robert encouraged these new teachers that it was a practice that they may wish to replicate whenever they enter their classrooms.

A unique feature of this graduation was the presence of Brother Paulos’s immediate predecessors as director, Brother Robert Smith and Brother Dominic Ehrmantraut.

‘Campus Notes’ schedule

The newsletter will come out every other week throughout the summer to update the Saint Mary’s community on all the news and events that occur on campus through August. The next edition will be Aug. 8.

Congratulations to Rodgers family

Jim Rodgers, professor of Social Sciences on the Winona campus, and Stephanine Dustrud M’90, adjunct associate professor in the M.A. in Organizational Leadership program, joyfully announce the birth of their first granddaughter, Stella Jade Gramlich. She was born to Ana (Rodgers) and Chris Gramlich on Saturday, July 12, in Greenwich, CT.  Stella weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long.

Ana attended dance classes at the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts and was a member of the Dance Rep Company, performing in many productions. She also attended classes at Saint Mary's through PSEO during 2003-2004, her senior year at Cotter High School.

The Saint Mary’s community extends its congratulations to the Rodgers family.