Students Find Positions

Four ONU Social Studies majors graduated this past spring, and all have found positions for the fall. Joy Kessler (pictured in an earlier post) will be teaching Social Studies at Lima Central Catholic High School. Matt Fox will be teaching History at Lima Senior High School, and is also the Head Football Coach at Arcadia Middle School. Brian Hoefel (pictured in an earlier post) will be attending Akron University, working on his Masters Degree in History. Aaron Stiger will be attending Ashland University, where he will work for Residence Life and pursue a Masters Degree in Administration. Not pictured is Ross Spencer, who will be teaching in Arizona next year.

Well done to all of them, and we wish them the best of luck as they start their new careers!

Crawford Publishes Online Article

On July 27, Crawford's article "Bowling, Basketball, BCS, Baseball, and Birdies: Obama’s Use of Sport to Connect" was published on the History News Network. Crawford argued that President Obama has expanded the presidential use of sport, interjecting games into nomination speeches, appearing on commercials for sporting events, and inserting the office of the presidency into debates over controversial issues in the sporting world. For instance:

• When the president nominated Sonya Sotomayor, he prominently mentioned her role in ending the 1994 Baseball Strike, establishing her bona fides as a true blue American.
  
• As a candidate, Obama recorded an opening commercial for Monday Night Football, and joined announcers in the booth for the MLB All Star Game, using a game analysis of the Bears' chances to further his chances for the presidency.
• He inserted the office of the president into the debate over the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), calling for its end and encouraging a playoff system for Division I Football.

Crawford argues that this represents an expansion of the presidents role in the use of sports. While presidents since Theodore Roosevelt have participated in sport as players or participants and have used their "bully pulpit" to encourage sporting behavior, the current president, so far in his administration has increased his visibility in the sporting world and in his use of sport to connect to the American people.

Crawford and Schuck grade AP U.S. History

Professors Russ Crawford and Ray Schuck travelled to Louisville, KY from June 4 to 11 to serve as readers for the Educational Testing Service’s Advanced Placement U.S. History exams. They were among 1100 readers who waded through over 300,000 exams taken by high school students from around the nation. The work was hard, but the pay was good, and it also offered a chance to network with educational professionals from around the nation and world. Crawford made contact with a fellow grad of the University of Nebraska who teaches English and History at the University of Perm in Russia, and they made plans to cooperate in online guest lectures during the next year. There was also time to enjoy the city and the two attended a Louisville Bats (AAA Cincinnati) baseball game as well as getting in some golf at one of Fuzzy Zoeller’s nearby courses.

Studia Socialia Americae Inducts New Members

During the May 9 Honors Day ceremony, five new members were inducted into Studia Socialia Americae, ONU's honorary for social studies students and practicing teachers. This year's inductees included students Katherine DeMars, Katherine Gualtiere, and Rick Ingold. The organization also inducted two practicing educators, Chad Spencer of Shawnee High School, and Drew Chiles of Lima Senior High School.

Three Students Looking for Positions

Ashley Reiff (not pictured), Matt Fox, Joy Kessler, Aaron Stiger, and Brian Hoefel have graduated this year or will graduate in May. Hoefel has accepted an assistantship at Akron College, and Kessler has already accepted a position at Lima Central Catholic, but the others will be looking for positions soon. All will be fine teachers for your school. Should you wish the contact information for these new teachers, please contact me at r-crawford.2@onu.edu

Social Studies Students Attend OCSS Meeting

On Friday March 27, six ONU students and Professor Russ Crawford attended the Ohio Council for the Social Studies Annual Convention in Worthington. Along with Crawford, Matt Fox (SR Social Studies Cardington, OH), Brian Hoefel )SR Social Studies Akron, OH), and Aaron Stiger (SR Social Studies Wapakoneta, OH) presented a session on Using Sport to Teach the Social Studies to the secondary teachers gathered there. Also attending were Katherine Gualtiere (SR Social Studies Parma, OH), Rick Ingold (SR Social Studies Newark, OH), and Jennifer Sherman (Jr. Social Studies North Olmstead, OH).

After Crawford gave an overview of how sport could be used to teach the National Council on the Social Studies Ten Themes, Hoefel presented his lesson plan for using the 1980 U.S. Hockey team victory over the Soviets to understand the latter phase of the Cold War. Matt Fox then presented hi lesson plan International Sporting Events as Sites for Political Engagement to describe how the Olympics are often sites for political protest as well as athletic achievement. Aaron Stiger followed with a multiage lesson plan for teaching Civic Ideals and Practices using sport.

Among the audience was Tom Rutan, the Associate Director in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction at the Ohio Department of Education, who asked what we would say to a principal who wondered why we were wasting time talking about sport when we should be getting students ready for the Ohio Graduation Test. Stiger answered immediately that sport is an important way to reach many students who wouldn’t otherwise care about the social studies, and student interest increases their comprehension of the subject.

All of the student presenters did a fine job delivering their part of the talk, and all students had the chance to listen to professional educators tell about their fields of expertise. They also had the chance to network with other educators and to talk with sales representatives from various textbook and other educational companies, not to mention gathering bags full of complimentary materials.

Four Student Teachers Take to the Field

Matt Fox, Aaron Stiger, Brian Hoefel, and Joy Kessler will be going into the field for their student teaching experience during Spring Quarter. They join Ross Spencer (Fall) and Ashley Reiff (Winter) as ONU Social Studies candidates who have or will graduate this year. If you are looking for a fine Social Studies teacher for next year, email me at r-crawford.2@onu.edu and I will put you in touch with them.