Sharon Christian

March 21, 2022 by mlemon

Staff, faculty help students succeed

STEAMzSchoolcraft: Bridging the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences will be held virtually this Friday, March 25, at 1:00 p.m. Previous years facilitated 26 student presentations with over 200 attendees.

This year’s virtual summit theme is: Transforming Lives Through Storytelling. Specifically, how can we transform the world we live in through data-driven storytelling? Students will be encouraged and mentored by Schoolcraft College faculty and staff to explore this question.

Behind the scenes, Schoolcraft College staff, faculty and leadership worked together to make this event possible. The STEAMz Committee and student mentors team comes from various departments across campus:

Sharon Christian, Director of Learning Support Services, STEAMz Committee Chair
Elizabeth Kenney, Learning Center Coordinator
Olga Martinez, PTAC Program Manager
Emily Podwoiski, Scholars Honors Coordinator
Jennie Rokakis, Learning Support Services Assistant
Annika Sholander, Academic Success Coach for International Learning
Deborah Taracuk, Communication Arts Faculty
Katie Webber, Administrative Assistant III
Dr. Carmen Wilson, Academic Success Coach for Reading
Christopher Wood, Physics Faculty and Department Chair

young professional smiling — Students will vie for awards in a number of categories.

Selected students received a scholarship provided by a generous grant through the Schoolcraft College Foundation and will be mentored by faculty and staff to strengthen their presentation, research, and story. To align with this year’s theme, students are encouraged to combine a meaningful story with research findings to drive curiosity and inspiration with their audience.

The event will open with a welcome from Dr. Michele Kelly, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and share a special video message from Dr. Glenn Cerny, President of Schoolcraft College. In addition, several faculty and staff played a key role in this year’s event. Scott Davis, Curriculum Technologist; April Harden, English Faculty; and Christina Stansell-Weaver, Communication Arts Faculty; will serve as presentation judges. Judges review all presentations and evaluate them on a series of criteria, which they later use to award students on their presentation or lightning talk. Categories students can win awards are:

Best Presentation
Best Lightning Talk
Out of the Box
Top Investigator

An additional award will be presented to the student who captivates the audience – the People’s Choice. Attendees can vote for their favorite presentation to award the presenter or lightning talk. Students who are awarded will receive an e-certificate to add to their professional portfolio.

STEAMzSchoolcraft Virtual Summit will take place this Friday, March 25, at 1: p.m. via Blackboard Collaborate. The event is free to attend – registration is not required. Visit the website and click on the “Attend STEAMzSchoolcraft” button to attend this year’s event during the designated date and time.

If you have questions, please contact Sharon Christian, Director of Learning Support Services and STEAMzSchoolcraft Committee Chair, at [email protected].

March 7, 2022 by mlemon

The free event will be held in a virtual format

After 26 student presentations and over 200 attendees in the past two years, STEAMzSchoolcraft, a student-led conference that bridges the arts, humanities, and sciences, returns for its third year on Friday, March 25.

This year’s theme is “Transforming Lives Through Storytelling.” Specifically, the theme examines how to transform the world we live in through data-driven storytelling. Students will be encouraged and mentored by Schoolcraft College faculty and staff to explore this idea. The STEAMz presentations focus on ideas, findings, and experiences highlighting academic and professional successes. Presenters address specific values, skills, and experiences needed to set and achieve thoughtful and actionable goals as they transition into university life or the workforce.

Maria Cielo Robles — Cielo Robles, a Schoolcraft Scholars Honors Program alumni and medical student at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, will deliver this year’s keynote presentation.

Cielo Robles, a Schoolcraft Scholars Honors Program alumni and medical student at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, will deliver this year’s keynote presentation. Prior to MSU, she conducted cardiovascular health disparities research at the University of Michigan and pediatric neurosurgery clinical research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, New York).

Robles has led multiple NIH*-funded substudies, published multiple co-authored papers, including first-author publications, and presented her work at numerous national conferences. She received an Associate of Science degree from Schoolcraft College in 2014. She was the recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship and transferred to Cornell University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology, Health and Society in 2016.

The event also will feature in-depth and lightning talk presentations facilitated by Schoolcraft College students. Selected students received a scholarship provided by a generous grant through the Schoolcraft College Foundation and will be mentored by faculty and staff to strengthen their presentation, research, and story. To align with this year’s theme, students are encouraged to combine a meaningful story with research findings to drive curiosity and inspiration with their audience. During the event, students will be evaluated and recognized for creatively addressing this year’s theme.

STEAMzSchoolcraft Virtual Summit will take place on Friday, March 25, at 1 p.m. via Blackboard Collaborate. A link to attend can be found on the STEAMz website closer to the conference date. The event is free to attend – registration is not required.

If you have questions, please contact Sharon Christian, Director of Learning Support Services and STEAMzSchoolcraft Committee Chair, at [email protected].

*NIH stands for National Institute of Health.

March 1, 2022 by Schoolcraft College

Next event is this Thursday at VisTaTech

The Canton Chamber of Commerce introduces Canton Chamber University, a series of workshops and programs designed to provide personal and professional enrichment opportunities for community members. Schoolcraft College is excited to collaborate and sponsor this endeavor, which aims to connect community leaders with educational opportunities offered by local businesses and institutions.

“The Canton Chamber is pleased to collaborate with its longtime supporter, Schoolcraft College, to present this new educational initiative,” said Thomas Paden, Canton Chamber of Commerce President. “Canton Chamber University comprises a series of professional and personal curriculums benefitting businesses, citizens and students. There are five University categories offered: 1. Business, 2. Finance, 3. Health and Wellness, 4. Talent Acquisition, 5. Student Life Skills.”

Canton Chamber University aims to offer programs every month focusing on the topics in each of the categories. The next program, highlighting health and wellness, examines stress management and avoiding burnout. It will be held from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. this Thursday, March 3, in Room 205 (Waterman Wing) of the VisTaTech Center on the main campus of Schoolcraft College, 18600 Haggerty Road, Livonia.

Nicholas Pomante, Wellness Coordinator for Eastern Michigan University’s Office of Wellness & Community Responsibility, will be presenting on this important topic. He holds a Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition.

“Through this partnership, Schoolcraft College is excited to empower surrounding communities through educational programs,” said Sharon Christian, Director of Learning Support Services and Canton Chamber Board Member.

Upcoming Canton Chamber University programs are:

Cooking Demonstration: Brick Oven Pizza
- Presented by Chris Dreis, Owner of Genova’s Pizzeria
- Monday, March 28, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. at Genova’s Pizzeria, 42911 Ford Road, Canton.
Resume Essentials
- Presented by JoAnne Stadnicar, Director of Career Services at Schoolcraft College
- Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. at VisTaTech Center, Waterman Wing 205

Find the events and register.

July 5, 2021 by mlemon

Learning Support Services offers a wide variety of services to students at Schoolcraft College to help them achieve their academic goals. They offer tutoring, writing support, peer assisted learning, academic success coaching and more in the department, meeting students where they’re at in their academics. This department is unique in one major way – student employees make up more than half of their team.

“Want to learn real-world leadership skills all while sharpening your academics? Join our team,” said Sharon Christian, Director of Learning Support Services. “Learn to work in a team setting and gain professional development opportunities while supporting your peers at Schoolcraft College! Many of our students make lasting connections.”

Learning Support Services is currently looking to hire tutors, peer consultants for Writing Support Studio, and student assistants to work on-campus for the Fall 2021 semester.

Tutors support in various mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics courses by appointment and group tutoring sessions. Peer Consultants provide writing support in the Learning Center’s Writing Support Studio.

“Our tutors, peer consultants and service desk team members are the engines behind our work in the Learning Center,” said Elizabeth Kenney, Learning Center Coordinator. “As a Learning Center team, we enjoy and take pride in our work to support students across a wide variety of academic areas. As a department, we offer ongoing training, leadership and other professional development opportunities for our student employees.”

Want to join the LSS team? Please attend one of the information sessions. Both in-person and remote sessions are available. Here’s the schedule:

Date	Time	Mode
Wednesday, July 14	11:00 a.m.–noon	In person
Thursday, July 15	2:00-3:00 p.m.	Remote (Link to attend)
Tuesday, July 20	1:00-2:00 p.m.	In person
Thursday, July 22	10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.	Remote (Link to attend)

For more information, visit www.schoolcraft.edu/LSS, or email [email protected]