Ice Arena to host ‘MS Awareness Weekend’ events

This Friday-Sunday (Feb. 18-20) will be "MS Awareness Weekend at the BGSU Ice Arena."

The Falcon hockey team will host Western Michigan for games starting at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday, then sponsor its annual “Skate with the Falcons” from 7-7:45 p.m. Sunday. Team members will serve pizza after the latter event, which costs $5 for children wearing their hockey team jacket or jersey and $6 for others.

All proceeds from the Sunday skate will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, as will donations for MS “Prism Pins” and “Bands of Hope” bracelets that will be available throughout the weekend. The society will also receive proceeds from a raffle of autographed memorabilia of former Falcon and seven-time NHL All-Star Rob Blake and current Falcon Jordan Sigalet, who announced in December that he has the disease.

"I want to encourage everyone who can to come to the Ice Arena that weekend to help be a part of finding a cure for this disease," said Sigalet, a senior goaltender who was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2001 and is a candidate for this year’s Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate hockey player.

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that can affect the brain and the spinal cord. Symptoms include numbness and other effects on muscles, reflexes and vision.
For more information on the disease, visit the National MS Society Web site at www.nationalmssociety.org or the northwest Ohio chapter Web site at www.nationalmssociety.org/oho.

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Special ed "Space Camp" teacher to speak at BGSU

Mike Kersjes, an author and special education teacher who brought Space Camp to his classroom, will speak Wednesday (Feb. 16) at the University.

Kersjes, author of A Smile as Big as the Moon: A Teacher, His Class and Their Unforgettable Journey, will speak to an education seminar at 7 p.m. in 101 Olscamp Hall.

The educator taught students with learning disabilities at an inner-city school for a decade before moving to Grand Rapids, Mich., where his primary assignment was to run a self-contained classroom for students from five different high schools.

His book tells the real-life story of how a teacher suffering from "burn-out" looked for new ways to motivate his pupils and succeeded beyond his hopes. Inspired by an article on a space camp for gifted and talented students, he created an array of educational materials to help his students prepare to take part in the NASA Space Camp program. They became the first team of special education students to compete with bright and gifted students from around the world.

The lesson for educators, Kersjes says, is that exciting math and science programs can motivate and benefit all students. Not only have his students succeeded, their lives have changed because of their experiences.

Educational resources and techniques Kersjes used in his classroom are now employed by other special education teachers around the country.

Kersjes' book, which will be available at the seminar, has been described by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as "a testament to how perseverance can get results and how children can perform surprising feats in a system that doesn't always work to help all children."

The author's visit is sponsored by the College of Education and Human Development.

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Faculty, staff, students invited to State of the University address

President Ribeau will address the campus community Feb. 24 concerning the state of the University.
The annual address will begin at 10 a.m. in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The BGSU Firelands campus can view a simulcast of the address in 1003 Cedar Point Center.

Everyone is invited to arrive at 9:30 a.m. for coffee and fellowship preceding the talk.

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Attend forum to learn about BG@100 ‘go live’ progress

The University community is invited to a BG@100 open forum at 2 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 15) in 314 Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The forum offers an opportunity to learn more about the project to implement PeopleSoft administrative systems as it moves toward its July “go live” date.

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