(Above, from left to right: senior music education major Emily Ellis, Timothy Doak Mentor Leadership Award; freshman Julia Thompson, Gabriella Miller First-Year Student Award; and Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Jessica Peacock, Ph.D., First-Year Seminar Teaching Excellence Award.)
For the fifth year, the First-Year Seminar (FYS) Awards were presented, at the end of the fall 2016 semester, to worthy individuals who have put incredible time and effort into the FYS program, and who embody the goals and mission of FYS.
The Gabriella Miller First-Year Student Award is presented to a student who embodies a love of learning-for-learning’s-sake, brings infectious energy to the classroom and inspires those around him/her. Freshman Julia Thompson, from the “You Don’t Have to be Ghandi: Student Activism in a Global Perspective” class, was presented with this award.
Senior music education major Emily Ellis was presented with the Timothy Doak Mentor Leadership Award, which is given to a student mentor who can be counted on consistently inside and outside the classroom, shows initiative and follows through on ideas that go beyond what is required. The award is named after Timothy Doak, who served as FYS head mentor in 2011 and 2012, helped shape the mentor aspect of the FYS program and embodied all that mentors strive to be.
The First-Year Seminar Teaching Excellence Award was presented to Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Jessica Peacock, Ph.D. Dr. Peacock taught the FYS course “We’re all ‘Humans of New York’: Empathy and Connectedness on a Global Scale.” This award is given to a FYS professor who inspires students to achieve beyond what they believe they are capable, embodies a creative teaching style, and builds a sense of community in the classroom.
Photo by Rick Ours