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CANYON CORRIDOR CONNECTION
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Educat ion
Grand Canyon University
offered scholarships to
45 qualified Alhambra
High School students
this summer, allowing
them to get a head
start on college while
experiencing campus life.
Students selected between General Psychology,
Introduction to Justice Studies and Public
Speaking courses and attended class on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
The instructors were all very impressed
by the students’ work ethic and willingness
to learn. Jessi Farmer, the Public Speaking
instructor said, “Many of the students
transformed their public speaking skills and
became confident and clear communicators.
This wasn’t an easy a process, but their diligence
and hard work really paid off in the end.”
The Justice Studies students had the
opportunity to take a number of field trips.
One of the most interesting was to attend
an Arizona Peace Officers Standards and
Training Board meeting with their instructor,
Cornel Stemley, who is on the board. The
board saw cases of officers’ conduct. One case
involved an off-duty incident and another was
a person whose past drug use almost prevented
him from becoming a police officer. “It showed
the students that there are consequences to
their actions,” said Stemley. They also had a
chance to meet with police commanders.
The opportunity has been extended into
the traditional school year. Over 30 students
are attending class after school this fall. Many
of them were also in the summer program.
General Psychology is offered again because it was
the most popular course in the summer. Students
are also taking algebra and English courses.
Any Alhambra High School students
who are interested in taking part in the
program next semester should contact their
guidance counselor.
Alhambra High School Students Take
College Courses on GCU’s Campus
Building rockets and calculating the height of their
flight pattern. Learning how to build a circuit to light
a bulb. Building a robot that can swim under water.
Discovering how to build or program a computer.
Science, technology, engineering and math
(STEM) can take students in many different directions
as they explore the world in which we live. This
curiosity and experimentation is not only good in the
classroom, but is also growing increasingly important
to building the critical-thinking and problem-solving
skills necessary to succeed in today’s economy.
Grand Canyon University (GCU) knows how
critical the STEM fields are to the future and knows
how important it is to start a love of these topics at
a young age. In fact, new degree programs have
been developed to serve an increasing number of
GCU students who will be studying STEM subjects.
In order to build this STEM culture for all ages, GCU
started a K-12 STEM outreach effort that will continue
to grow throughout this year and in years to come.
“Every student should be exposed to STEM in
fun and creative ways in order to foster that passion
and creativity,” said Amanda Hughens, the new
K-12 STEM Outreach manager in GCU’s Strategic
Educational Alliances (SEA) department. “Project-
based learning is a great way to engage students in
real-world issues and give them an opportunity to use
what they learn in the classroom to create solutions.”
That is exactly what Hughens hopes to accomplish
with STEM Saturdays, a monthly opportunity for
middle and high school students and K-12 teachers
alike to explore a specific STEM topic.
Among other things, teachers will gain lesson
plans, activities and ideas to address not only STEM
foundations and skills, but also how to integrate them
into all core academic subject areas. Students will have
the chance to explore interesting and relevant topics
representing a wide range of STEM disciplines and
learn how STEM subjects play a role in everyday life.
In addition, GCU is offering a sponsorship program
to financially assist schools or organizations planning
grade-level, school-wide or community-wide STEM
events in the 2014-15 school year. Sponsorship
awards will be up to $500 dollars.
“This is just the beginning,” said Hughens. “There
is so much potential, and I am excited to create
additional opportunities for STEM engagement at the
K-12 level. The possibilities are endless! There will
certainly be more to come.”
Those interested in the STEM Saturdays
and STEM sponsorship programs should
visit gcu.edu/STEMSaturdays and gcu.edu/
STEMSponsorships
It’s a STEM World!
Opportunities for K-12
are Boundless
Back-to-School Health and Safety Fair
Thank you to nearly 100 GCU and community
volunteers who served the 5,000 attendees at the
10
th
annual GCU Canyon Cares and Arvizu Ninos
Seguros Back-to-School Health and Safety Fair
at Grand Canyon University on Aug. 2. The event
focused on our community youth and provided free
back packs, school supplies and special drawings
for laptops, iPads and bicycles. In addition, over 50
vendors kept the giveaways flowing and the Disney
entertainment kept the crowds singing and dancing into the afternoon. Mayor Greg Stanton was on hand to
meet the kids and parents – he loves the Canyon Corridor and never misses this event!