NOVEMBER, 2020

Honors Newsletter
Editor: Nicole Egan
Cover Photo Designer: Gabi Keebler

Honors Staff Members
The next two pages are dedicated to the student workers in the
Honors College. Feel free to contact any of us if you have
questions. We would be more than willing to help!
Name: Brooklynn Goodworth
Position: Honors Office Staff
Email: bg163654@scots.edinboro.edu
Year: Senior
Majors: Accounting and Finance
Minor: Sociology
“This year I am sad that it is going to be my last year working in the
Honors Office. However, my favorite part is seeing how much it has grown
during my time working here over the years. I am excited to see how we
are adapting to these changing times and how we will stay connected as a
program.”
Name: Nicole Egan
Position: Honors Office Staff
Email: ne190456@scots.edinboro.edu
Year: Junior
Major: Speech and Hearing Sciences
Minor: Psychology
"I am looking forward to staying connected
with the Honors College during these unprecedented times. I am excited
to see what the future has in store and meet new people in the program."
Name: Jessalynn Ellis
Position: Honors Office Staff
Email: je190954@scots.edinboro.edu
Year: Sophomore
Major: Psychology
Minor: Sociology
“Being on the honors staff this school
year, I am really looking forward to learning about everything that
goes on behind the scenes of the Honors College, and how we will
navigate a primarily online mode of connection. It’s a weird time, so it
will be interesting to see the ways in which we stay united despite
everything going on!”

Honors Staff Members

Name: Shannon Kearney
Email: sk162810@scots.edinboro.edu
Year: Senior
Major: Middle Level Math and English Education
Minor: Special Education
“I am most looking forward to helping my Honors mentees have successful first years and enjoying
my final year as a member of the Honors College. My mentees all have very bright futures, and it is
my hope to encourage them to take advantage of all the Honors College has to offer. I have been
fortunate to be so involved with the program since my freshman year, and I hope to create more
meaningful memories throughout my senior year regardless of the challenges the pandemic
presents.”

Name: Hazel Modlin
Position: Scholar-In-Residence
Email: hm190936@scots.edinboro.edu
Year: Junior
Major: English Literature
"I am looking forward to seeing all the people in the Honors
College again once we're allowed to return, as I miss seeing
everyone's friendly faces!

Semester Requirements
The requirements for maintaining membership in
the program have changed temporarily this
semester due to the primarily remote learning
format. You will be considered in "goodstanding" with the program as long as you have
completed the following:
1. 3.50 GPA for honors scholarship
recipients/3.25 GPA for all other honors
students
2. Attended 2 live enrichment meetings via
EngagEU or watched on own time and
emailed short reflection paragraph to
Brooklynn Goodworth

Summer 2020 Highlights
This page is dedicated to
Honors students' accomplishments during the summer. From
rescuing people from fires to serving their communities, these
students demonstrated selflessness during one of the most
hectic summers in history.
Madison Edwards: “I joined my local fire department over the summer and got
certified as an EMT. To date, I've responded to over 60 calls in just a few months.
I've been to house fires, motor vehicle accidents, and take care of people in my
community who needed pre-hospital care and transportation to several hospitals. I
was in our local news for helping pull a car out of a pond after an accident. It has
been one of the best life decisions I have ever made.”

Alexander Owens: “My brother and I saved our entire family
from a house fire and I rescued the dogs over the summer.”
Jordan Brewer: “Over the summer, I worked at UPMC Cole
screening patients for COVID-19.”

UPMC Cole

Peer Mentors
Every fall semester, a select group of upperclassmen from the
program volunteer their time to act as peer mentors to new
freshmen. These students reach out to their assigned mentees
via email and help host the annual peer mentor meeting each
fall. Listed below are all of the students who volunteered this
semester. Stay tuned to find out what some of them had to say
about their experiences!
Lydia Bable
Tess Bartlett
Kaley Berger
Tifany Berry
Jordan Brewer
Sydney Brown
Tonimarie Della
Nicole Egan
Taylor Freeburg
Gracelyn Gawlinski
Lexi Gilchrist
Brooklynn Goodworth
James Hartley
Ashlee Hohman
Shannon Kearney
Abby Morrow
Carley Semancik
Tehya Thorpe
Sarah Watson

Peer Mentors
•Name: Lydia Bable
•Year: Junior
•Major: Early Childhood and Special Education
•Experience: "What I enjoy most about being a peer
mentor is getting to share my knowledge and help make
the transition for incoming students smooth. It is rewarding
to be someone who students can relate to and just serve
as another resource for them."
•Name: Kaley Berger
•Year: Sophomore
•Major: Nursing
•Experience: “What I have enjoyed most about being a peer
mentor is being a resource to other students. I know I like to learn from
other students and their personal experiences, so when I was a
freshman, having a peer mentor was great. I have been able to provide
my mentees with lots of advice about the bookstore, scheduling, and
lots of other things which has helped me build a strong connection
between the students to help them feel more comfortable and
confident with their transition to college and the Honors College!”

•Name: Tifany Berry
•Year: Senior
•Major: Comprehensive Business Administration
•Minor: Communications
•Experience: "What I enjoyed most about being a peer mentor
is the opportunity to be a leader. I have been able to build on my
leadership and communication skills all while gaining happiness knowing
I am able to help others learn and progress as they transition into their
first year of college."

Peer Mentors
•Name: Jordan Brewer
•Year: Senior
•Major: Speech and Hearing Sciences
•Minor: Deaf Studies
•Experience: “I love getting to see bright new students show their
excitement for the Honors College!”
•Name: Taylor Freeburg
•Year: Junior
•Major: Nursing
•Minors: Psychology and Biology
•Experience: “My favorite part about being an Honors
College peer mentor is being able to guide my mentees on their
academic journey. I enjoy being able to assist them with their honors
requirements such as Honors Options Points. I am a nursing major, and
most of my mentees are nursing majors, so I can give them ideas on
what assignments I completed to fulfill the Honors Options Points.”
•Name: Lexi Gilchrist
•Year: Sophomore
•Major: Speech and Hearing Sciences
•Experience: “I enjoy seeing all the new freshmen joining the program.”
•Name: Brooklynn Goodworth
•Year: Senior
•Majors: Accounting and Finance
•Minor: Sociology
•Experience: “I have been a peer mentor for the past 3 years now and what I
love most about it is being able to have an impact on the new freshmen. I
remember my Honors mentor back in my freshman year and he is the reason I
have this job today actually. But he was super helpful and definitely had a
huge impact on helping my freshman year go smooth, so I like to try to have a
similar impact on the students I am mentoring.”

Peer Mentors
•Name: Abby Morrow
•Year: Junior
•Major: Speech and Hearing Sciences
•Minors: Psychology and Deaf Studies
•Experience: “What I’ve enjoyed most about being a peer mentor is the sense of
community that it brings. Right now, I think it’s really important to build that
community despite the circumstances. It is also just interesting to talk to new
people who have different interests than my own.”

•Name: Carley Semancik
•Year: Sophomore
•Major: Nursing
•Experience: “What I enjoyed most about being a peer mentor was that I was able
to become more involved in the Honors College and on campus, while having the
opportunity to meet directly with the new members of the Honors College.”

•Name: Tehya Thorpe
•Year: Sophomore
•Major: Comprehensive Business Administration
•Experience: “What I enjoyed most about being a mentor was being able to
ease the transition from high school to college for incoming Honors
students. Especially during this time of uncertainty, being able to answer
questions and ease people's fears of Edinboro, the Honors College, and
extracurriculars was comforting to me, and hopefully to them as well.”

Student Artwork
In this section, you will find pieces that a few of the
students in our art department made during their
time at Edinboro. Enjoy!

Lenny Vesely

Gabi Keebler

Lenny Vesely

Lenny Vesely

Honors Contracts
Every semester, students have the option of contracting courses
that are not within the honors department. Students work with the
professor of the course they would like to contract and complete a
project that is equivalent in length to a 20-page research paper. In
order to complete a contract, you must receive at least a B in the
class. You can earn 2 HOPS points for each completed contract.
Listed below are the contracts students completed this semester.
Heather Bowers, NURS 301: Maternal, Newborn and Family-Centered Nursing, Dr. Dianna
Lindsey, Research Into, and the Creation of a Brochure About, Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome; NURS 302: Pediatrics and Family-Centered Nursing, Dr. Elizabeth Farbotnik,
Informational and Interactive Pamphlet About Bicycle Safety, Designed for Children
Ashley Chess, NURS 301: Maternal, Newborn and Family-Centered Nursing, Dr. Dianna
Lindsey, Educational Brochure for UPMC Hamot; NURS 302: Pediatrics and FamilyCentered Nursing, Dr. Elizabeth Farbotnik, Educational Brochure About Diaper Rash
Ashlee Hohman, CRIM 340: Criminal Investigation, Dr. George Richards, Criminal
Investigation as it Relates to the Real World
Amanda LeSuer, SOC 342: Youth and Society, Dr. Patricia Claster, Content Analysis on
the Reopening of PA Schools
Maria Rose, MLED 466: Instructional Techniques for Middle and Secondary Education, Dr.
Tracy McCalla, Lesson Plans for Teaching Science in a Home-Schooling Environment
Avery Schmader, ART 303: Illustration I, Prof. Michelle Vitali, A Series of Drawings About
the Over-fishing of Sharks
Gracie Wick, ART 303: Illustration I, Prof. Michelle Vitali, A Series of Illustrated Poems

Graduating Seniors
As the semester comes to a close, we
would like to wish the following seniors
congratulations on graduating this fall:
Ashley Bayer
Nathan Brennan
Sarah Watson
Olivia Wyman
We wish you all good luck on your future
endeavors!

Enrichment Meetings
Each semester, students are normally required to attend at
least one enrichment meeting. Since the campus event and
service hour requirements are being waived this semester,
everyone will need to attend at least two enrichment
meetings. If you were unable to attend any live meetings,
be sure to check out the list below to find some on
EngagEU. If you attended the meeting live, your attendance
is recorded on EngagEU. Otherwise, email Brooklynn a
short paragraph on each meeting you watched
independently.

NCHC 2020 "Big Hearts, Big Minds"
Congratulations to the following individuals for presenting their
research projects virtually at the 2020 "Big Hearts, Big Minds"
National Collegiate Honors Council Conference! Every year,
students have the option of submitting a proposal to NCHC that
is reviewed by a panel of judges. If accepted, students have the
opportunity to present research at the annual conference. This
year, the conference was supposed to be held in Dallas, Texas,
but it was held in a virtual format due to our current
circumstances. Next year's conference is scheduled to take
place in Orlando, Florida. Stay tuned next semester if you are
interested in applying!
Jordan Brewer: Senior, Speech &
Hearing Sciences Major, Deaf Studies Minor,
Improving Social and Classroom Inclusion
of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Nicole Egan: Junior, Speech & Hearing Sciences Major,
Psychology Minor, The Universal Right to Insulin
Eve Wyman: Sophomore, Business Administration:
International Business Major, Data Analytics Minor, Artificial
Intelligence Applications in Business Communications

New Honors Courses
As part of our transition from the Honors Program to the
Honors College, four new honors courses have been
implemented: HONS 201, 283, 222, and 271. Below you will
find a short description of each course and when it is offered.
Fall 2020
HONS 201: Identity in the American Experience
This course focuses on understanding the core values that construct the American identity.
The offering of the course will vary each semester, and students will learn how a university
education impacts their self-identity and life purpose. The course is taught by a
multidisciplinary team of faculty and meets the requirements for Core 3, American
Civilizations.
HONS 283: Technology for Teaching and Learning
This is an educational technology course designed for teacher candidates. It highlights
effective strategies and resources for teaching and learning based on the International
Society and Technology in Education (ISTE) standards. The course meets the requirements
for Skills, Computer Competency.
Spring 2021
HONS 222: Crimes against Humanity; Humanity against Crimes
This course examines societal injustices brought into this world and how individuals fight
against these injustices. The course offering will vary each semester, and it is taught by a
multidisciplinary team of faculty. It meets the requirements for Core 2, World Civilizations.
HONS 271: Multiculturalism in American Schools
This is another course specifically designed for teacher candidates. Students will learn how
school experiences are impacted by ethnicity, culture, and race. Students must take Teacher
Clearances as a prerequisite before they can take this course. HONS 271 meets the
requirements for Core 5, Cultural Diversity/Social Pluralism.

Thank you all for keeping up the
good work in your classes while
meeting the requirements for the
program. We wish you all the
best of luck with finals and hope
to see more of you on-campus
next semester!