Thursday, May 28, 2015

Graduation, End of Year Happenings


There's been quite a bit happening lately, and I've been slow to post, so this will be a combination of events that I'll lump into this one post.

First of all, we say farewell, but not goodbye to our seniors.  I missed Piper at Graduation, but I did manage to say farewell to Lizzy and her family, as well as Olivia and her mom--although we still get to have the Kolodka family thanks to Emily!  I've heard that there may be a great photo coming of our "Crew dads" as well, so stay tuned for that!  Kathryn was on hand to watch Graduation, as was her fan club, and they were all loudly cheering for our three graduates as their names were called to receive their diplomas.



In the weeks leading up to Graduation, we had a few very nice events, also.  Piper rocked her thesis presentation, and not only was impressive to those of us in attendance, but apparently completely impressed her professors as well, so congrats Piper!  That's no easy feat, as you mentioned that they'd already evoked some tears from a couple classmates. You really made your technical work easily understandable for the rest of us, so thank you, and well done! 











And, Kathryn received the Peter Kohn Service Award for outstanding community service by a student-athlete.  She's been very actively involved with community service, and in particular has taken a leadership role with our local Special Olympics chapter and the United Way of Addison County, just to name a couple.  Well done, Kathryn, and keep up the great work!  (She was unable to make the awards ceremony due to an evening class, so she came by my office to accept her award.)

Lastly, but certainly lot least, we held our Athletic Department Awards Ceremony in the couple of days leading up to Graduation.  It's a nice lead-in to Graduation, and although they've stopped doing all of the Departmental Awards together, most departments have their own, and then these special awards are read as the seniors cross the stage during graduation.  It was great to have Pat join us for that ceremony as our Faculty Affiliate, too!  Congrats to our seniors, and we hope to see them often back on campus, and look forward to keeping in touch with them as they head off in different directions on their next adventures in life!  Congratulations Seniors!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Girls In Sports Day!

Earlier this Spring the team participated in the National Girls In Sports Day here at the College.  Here's the link for the Women's Sports Foundation's National Girls in Sports Day web page, if you want to check out all that they do and sponsor.  A local representative along with volunteers from the college organize this day to help encourage young girls to participate in sports as an avenue to a healthy lifestyle, among other benefits.  The young girls spend time with each group of college athletes throughout the morning, rotating from group to group. This gives them the opportunity to play and learn several different sports from the athletes who play those sports here at MIDD.

 As you'll see from the pictures, we used both "real" volleyballs and the much lighter supermarket balls so the girls wouldn't get the tell-tale red arms from their first day of volleyball.  (We figured it's much better to let them learn to love the game before they learn that's just part of the deal!)  It was a great day of fun, and most of these girls have never been exposed to volleyball.  Unlike every other state, Vermont is still in an experimental stage with starting HS volleyball teams, so many of these girls have never played it, with no younger feeder programs.  These young girls just love working with the college athletes, and it's a win-win for all involved.  The athletes love working with these young kids, and by reaching out to get involved in the community, their college experience here at MIDD is enriched in many ways.  It was a fun, and successful day for all involved!






Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Katie Studies in New Zealand for Spring Term

I've been meaning to post this update from Katie for a few weeks now, so I apologize for the lateness of this post.  Katie has spent the Spring Semester in New Zealand and sent some great pictures.  It sounds like she's having a great time! 

She apparently bought a car with some other students (which is common, she said, for international students to do) so they can all travel more easily on the weekends.  One of the places she visited was Mt. Cook (the tallest mountain in NZ) where they saw two avalanches!  I think it's in the background of the picture on the right. 


And, at the time of her email they were planning a trip over the break to the South Island, and into the Abel Tasman National Park to hike, camp and sea-kayak.  Sounds FUN!!  Here are some pictures she shared, along with her testimonial that, "I've honestly never seen a place as beautiful as New Zealand."  Having been there one time myself, I'd have to agree, Katie.  Thanks for sharing!!



Friday, May 1, 2015

Jen Performs With Her Group, "On Tap"

Our volleyball team is SO talented!  I love it!  Jen has joined a tap group called, "On Tap" and she had a performance recently that Becca enjoyed and sent me pictures from.  I'm sorry I missed the performance, but I hope to go next time!!

The show was called "On Tap Presents:  Paradiddles with Paradiddles."  I believe that the Paradiddles are an a cappella group that performed along with the tap dancing by Jen's group, "On Tap."  Sounds like fun, and the pics look great.  Thank you to Becca for sharing, and great job Jen!!  I hope to catch the next show!