Creating Costumes for Exhibits and Programs at Treehouse Children’s Museum
Catherine Zublin, Professor of Theatre Arts and Associate Dean of Arts & Humanities

Project Abstract: Treehouse Children’s Museum has several exhibits that invite visitors to interact with costumes and costume related accessories. It seems a natural partnership for the WSU costume area students to refurbish and/or create costumes for exhibits and special projects. Students will be able to visit Treehouse Children’s Museum and then propose a costume related project. Collaborative student projects will be encouraged. The budget for individual theatre productions comes from WSU student fees and the income from ticket sales. Even though there are leftover bits and pieces, which may be used, this proposal seeks funding to purchase more durable materials and to give students more choices for their projects. Student will be required to present design ideas and a list of needed materials. WSU costume studio equipment and stock supplies will be available as needed. This is a great opportunity for the theatre costume emphasis students to collaborate with a community organization that will truly benefit from their abilities.


Fabulous Fridays
Joanne Gialelis, Media Librarian/Outreach Coordinator for Visual Arts

Project Abstract: Fabulous Fridays is an ongoing outreach program of Weber State University’s Department of Visual Arts. The purpose of the program is to provide the underserved populations in our community an increased awareness and appreciation of the visual arts. Students receive a gallery tour featuring professional artists from around the world and a hands-on art lesson from a professional artist in the Kimball Visual Arts building’s enhanced studios. Fabulous Fridays reaches up to 900 elementary school children each year from 25 different classes, the majority from Ogden and Weber County school districts. Funding from the grant will be used to fund five more Fabulous Fridays sessions during the Spring 2007 semester. 3rd and 4th grade teachers on our waiting list from Bonneville and Lincoln Elementary schools, Title I schools in Ogden City district, will be contacted to schedule their Fabulous Fridays sessions. Qualitative assessment will be based on external evaluations given to participating teachers and internal evaluations by Joanne Gialelis, Outreach Coordinator, and Monika Del Bosque, Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery Director. Internal evaluations will also be based on reflection papers written by College of Education students who volunteer to be classroom aides during sessions.


Best Buddies
Laurel Allen, Student Leader in the Volunteer Involvement Program

Project Abstract: Best Buddies is an international non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through one-to-one friendship and employment. Our Weber State chapter matches college volunteers with adults with intellectual disabilities in the Ogden Adult Transition program in mutually enriching friendships. Every month our chapter holds a group activity for our volunteers and their buddies. On January 13th, we would like to take our volunteers and their buddies for a day of sledding at Snow Basin Ski Resort. Our chapter would need to rent two school buses from Weber State University, and we would need to cover the amount of the sledding lift ticket for our members.


Dental Health Education, Dental Screenings and Dental Sealant Project for Inner-city Ogden Elementary School Children
Stephanie Bossenberger, Department Chair and Professor of Dental Hygiene

Project Abstract: The objective of this project is to plan and implement a dental health education, dental screenings and dental sealant project for inner-city Ogden elementary school children. The purpose of this proposal, specifically, is to request funding for the bus transportation of the elementary school children to WSU=s Dental Hygiene Clinic on the WSU Ogden campus. The methodology and timeline for planning and implementing the series of dental health education, screenings and dental sealant clinics is December 2006 – March 2007. School contacts have been made in anticipation of the project carrying out in spring semester. In the past, individual elementary schools have funded the school bus for the children. The school’s budgets have decreased leaving very little latitude for this expense. One school principal who has been part of this project for several years said that this is such an important program that she would reallocate monies from the school library to support the transportation of the children for dental hygiene treatment. The dental hygiene program contributes its facility – on-campus dental hygiene clinic, dental equipment, and volunteer faculty and staff. Also, community dentists and dental hygienists volunteer to assist in these clinics.


Who said, ‘Not for Me?’ a Bilingual Play
Caril Jennings, Marketing Director, Performing Arts
Victoria Ramirez, Associate Professor of English

Project Abstract: WSU Hispanic students will write a readers theatre play that will explore various cultural messages Hispanic students receive from their families, communities and educators about their chances of succeeding in public school and at university. The play will be presented and recorded for a DVD that can be distributed through WSU and community outreach programs. Students have met with a playwright and are currently collecting research to develop the play. They will enroll in a Spring Semester directed readings course with Dr. Victoria Ramirez. It will be “workshopped” during Hispanic Emphasis Week and the National Undergraduate Literature Conference. Public performances will take place at the end of the semester. The performances will be filmed and prepared for a DVD. Once the DVD is prepared, WSU outreach organizations can meet with local schools to present the work and also provide information about attending Weber State University.


Web Application with Database & Calendar for Community Involvement Center and Community Partners
David Ferro, Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Project Abstract: Students in a computer science course will work to create a software application to complement Weber State University (WSU) service-learning needs. The program will be a web-based database and Community Calendar that lists and allows access to service learning projects by faculty, students, administrators, and service learning organizations. A service-learning component will be added in two spring courses – including an online course – to do observe/participate in service organizations and gather requirements, design and build the system, and install it on a server and get it running.


Dream On
Marci Rigby, VP for Service, WSU Student Government

Project Abstract: The Dream On art contest was conceived as a way to introduce the importance of a college education to elementary and middle school aged children. More specifically, this project is directed at inspiring first generation students who may not have parents or family members who have attended college. The poster campaign encouraged students to create a piece of art that shows how a college education can help them achieve their biggest dreams. At each site a teacher or a student from WSU gave the children a lesson about college and then they were set loose with their art materials. This project has been paired with Head Start, CARES, and Project Central (at Central Middle School). The second part of the project is the display. In order to display anything on campus it must be matted and framed. We would like to display the art projects of these children. The display will be important because it will encourage the students and their parents to actually come onto campus to see the work. It will also be a publicity campaign geared at Weber State students and have information on how they can get involved in volunteering with CARES and Head Start or how to sign up to be a tutor at Central Middle School. Funding needs to be secured to properly display the art work and recognize the participants in the contest.


Serving Students with Disabilities by Providing a Quality Adaptive Physical Education Experience
Monica Mize, Professor of Physical Education
Dan Balderson, Assistant Professor of Physical Education

Project Abstract: According to Public Law 101.479, students with disabilities must be included in regular physical education settings. The proposed project will involve the Special Education and Physical Education Teachers in Weber and Ogden school districts, the students they serve, as well as Weber State physical education students and faculty. This project is aimed at addressing a clear need in the school districts; that of providing a better physical education experience for students with disabilities. In one class a physical education teacher may have students with disabilities such as blindness, multiple sclerosis, attention deficit disorder, and autism. This is a tremendous challenge for the teacher and oftentimes the needs of the students with disabilities are compromised. The Weber school district currently employs one special education teacher with an emphasis in physical education to travel to over 40 elementary, middle, and high schools to teach and assist the regular classroom and physical education teacher in providing physical education experiences for these students. The objectives of this project include the professional development training in best practices for teaching students with disabilities for the special education and physical education teachers and university faculty, the purchasing of equipment to better help students with disabilities (example: balls that beep for a student that is blind so they can hear it coming), and finally a new required class for Weber State students to work with the Ogden and Weber school district’s special education teacher and regular physical education teachers. The time line for this project covers a two year period in which the program will be developed, implemented, and disseminated to others. Besides sharing the results of the project at various conferences, we will meet with and share the information with local public school principals, district administrators, and public school teachers.


WSU’s Moving Company
Amanda Sowerby, Assistant Professor of Dance

Project Abstract: Moving Company (MC) is the name of the WSU Dance Department’s community outreach program. Our mission is to create choreographic works on our dance students and then share that experience through education and performance in the Weber County school system. During fall semester Weber State dance students are steeped in the choreographic process designing creative works and lesson plans that will move into the schools during spring semester. The 2007 schedule includes primary and secondary schools, some of which are designated as including lower SES and ESL students. New this year is a semester-long partnership that provides Ben Lomond High School students an opportunity to choreograph creative works on MC dancers. Ben Lomond students will explore choreography, directing, editing and staging works on our highly skilled dancers. In turn, MC dancers will guide and mentor them during the process, educating the teen choreographers in their creative endeavors. In this exchange MC dancers experience their own potential as artists, educators and members of a broad and diverse community. Through the experience of dance participants can realize hidden talents, artistic expression and improved physical health. MC's work in the school district is about making children proud of themselves by employing important life skills through the medium of dance. The art form addresses critical thinking skills, social connectivity, knowledge of aesthetics and an ability to communicate in new ways. MC's outreach program is not about making the school students good dancers, although they will learn dance. It is not about creating great choreographers, although they will learn dance history and composition. What it is about is giving the students an experience of success in the art form while educating them as to new ways and means of navigating the larger landscape of life.


Teacher Assistant Path to Teaching
Marilyn, Lofgreen, Instructor Specialist, Teacher Education Program

Project Abstract: The Teacher Assistant Path to Teaching Program (TAPT) has as its major objective to provide scholarships to empower disadvantaged members of Ogden and the surrounding communities with education, counseling and mentoring. The TAPT program’s purpose is the eventual goal of helping these individuals obtain teacher licensure. The six school districts surrounding Weber State University provide applications to prospective TAPT students. These prospective students are either teacher assistants or volunteers in the various districts. The school districts interview and send to the TAPT Administrative Team the names of those that qualify under the guidelines for admission into the TAPT program. When admitted to the TAPT program the TAPT director becomes an advisor and mentor for the TAPT students. Because TAPT students are usually those whose circumstances prevented them from attending the university, they are not expected to become full time students upon entry into the TAPT program. With these funds the TAPT program would increase to include ten new TAPT students.


Serving the Ogden Community through Improved Museum of Natural Science Programs
Sharon Ohlhorst, Director of Center of Science and Math Education

Project Abstract: The Museum of Natural Science (hereafter 'Museum') and the Layton P. Ott Planetarium (hereafter 'Planetarium') are currently underutilized Weber State University science facilities that provide outreach to the local community. We seek to increase the variety and quality of museum programs to provide a better educational experience for Ogden area students and help Ogden area teachers meet their mandated core objectives. Title I schools in the local area and programs focusing on high risk schools are targeted in this program. Due to the success of last year's pilot program (funded by the Hall Endowment), we have expanded the Museum Advisory Committee to include interested partners across the WSU campus including the Colleges of Arts and Humanities, Education, Science and Social Science. These collaborations better involve faculty and students in this important outreach program. We are also expanding to serve Weber District as well as Ogden District schools. This renewal application continues the program to support faculty and student development activities which improve the quality of museum exhibits and onsite outreach programs to school groups. The program consists of improved exhibits, an undergraduate docent-led interactive program and hands-on demonstration kits and activities closely tied to the Utah science and social sciences core. Our focus groups with Ogden and Weber District teachers indicate that this type of program development would best help them and we are working with them to identify the specific content areas that we should target for student success. We will also assist schools with transportation costs to the museum and planetarium on the WSU campus to complement Planetarium fee waivers for Title I schools and groups (such as Head Start and Student-to-Student) serving high risk schools.