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WTHI: Students play music for therapy
Posted on: 04/28
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Around 70 special needs students from Terre Haute North, South and West Vigo High Schools visited St. Mary-of-the-Woods College.
The students presented a musical program to the public, where they played instruments and sang songs. They showed how music therapy has helped them accomplish their goals.
The program helps students communicate and socialize.
The intern working with the program said one girl went from being a wall flower to the center of the action.
“She would hold her papers with her very tightly before she would join the group and now she comes in the group and says can I play the drum. It's great to see the responses and that's just one of the many responses that I get,” music therapy intern Bethann Smith said.
Bethann also said the program benefits the faculty, as much as the students.
By Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — One student performer blew kisses to the audience, while another student on the Cecilian Auditorium stage waved proudly to friends and family.
The two were among 70 performers Monday in the Very Special Arts Spring Musical Concert at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College.
The special needs students from Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo high schools have been working this past year with Bethann Smith, a Woods music therapy intern.
For some students, it was their first time on stage, and they joyfully threw themselves into the rhythm of the music or the beat of a drum.
Tribune-Star: Program at St. Mary-of-the-Woods helps tame wild mustangs, prepare them for adoption
Posted on: 04/26
At first, Indigo didn't want anything to do with Jennifer Steager and classmate Whitney Mahloch, who have been taming and training the wild mustang since early March.
Slowly, the yearling warmed up to his doting human handlers, and by Thursday, it was clear a close bond had formed between Steager and Indigo, or “Indy” for short.
The 32-year-old Steager, an equine training and instruction major at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, decided she couldn't live without the now playful, affectionate yearling. “I fell in love with him,” said Steager, who moved to Terre Haute from California about three years ago.
She's adopted the black stallion, one of nine male mustangs that found a temporary home at the college through a partnership with the federal Bureau of Land Management's Save the Mustangs program. This is the fourth year the college has participated in the program.
Local special needs students show how music therapy has helped them reach therapeutic goals - April 27
Posted on: 04/24
About 70 special needs students from Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo high schools will visit Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) on Monday, April 27, to show how music therapy has helped them accomplish their therapeutic goals. The presentation, which is open to the public, will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Cecilian Auditorium of the SMWC Conservatory of Music.
SMWC student Bethann Smith has been a music therapy intern with the Vigo County School Corporation since August 2008, and she has been working with high school students with special needs. She arranged the special presentation at SMWC as an opportunity for the students to demonstrate, through music, the goals they have worked on this year in music therapy. Some of the students’ parents and teachers and administrators from the various schools will be in attendance to celebrate the students’ successes in music therapy.
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College offers a baccalaureate degree in music therapy for women enrolled in the campus-based undergraduate program. The College also offers a graduate program in music therapy to both women and men in a flexible distance-learning format. For more information, contact Tracy Richardson, M.S., MT-BC, director and associate professor of music therapy at SMWC, at 812-535-5154 or trichardson@smwc.edu.
Family Day at The Woods - June 14
Posted on: 04/20
The Sisters of Providence and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) invite all members of the community to participate in Family Day at The Woods from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 14.
Family Day at The Woods is a free event that will include activities for children and families, including games, face painting, hay wagon rides, a craft booth, and entertainment. The Church of the Immaculate Conception will also serve as a stage for several choir and a handbell performances.
Tours of the campus will be available, and free refreshments will be served while supplies last. Ample parking is available, but outdoor seating is limited, so attendees are encouraged to bring their picnic blankets and chairs. Families are also encouraged to bring their cameras to take photos of the grounds, activities and the alpacas. The gift shop at Providence Center will also be open.
All performances and activities are free and open to the public, and most games and activities will be held in front of the Providence Center. Refreshments are also free, but free-will donations will be accepted.
For more information about Family Day at The Woods, contact Diane Weidenbenner at 812-535-2802. More information about the Sisters of Providence can be found at www.SistersofProvidence.org. More information about Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College can be found at www.smwc.edu.
SMWC celebrates 168th Commencement Ceremony on May 2
Posted on: 04/17
More than 140 are expected to participate in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College’s 168th Commencement Ceremony on May 2, 2009.
During the ceremony, Marlene EchoHawk, Ph.D., a graduate of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) and an advocate for Indian behavioral health and adolescents, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the College, and she will deliver the 2009 Commencement address. During the ceremony, SMWC will also recognize Mary Pat Kelly, Ph.D., an author and filmmaker, as the College’s 2009 Distinguished Alumna award recipient.
Student Activities Committee hosts Spring Bash - April 16
Posted on: 04/16
The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) Student Activities Committee will host its Spring Bash on Thursday, April 16, from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Sunken Gardens in front of Le Fer Hall. The event will include inflatable games and activities, opportunities to “pie” resident assistants, and other carnival games. The and Florez will perform at 7 p.m. Cost of the games will be 25 cents per ticket or five tickets for $1. All money raised at this event will go to the American Cancer Society.
Spring Jazz Band/Wind Ensemble and Choral concerts - April 18 & 19
Posted on: 04/15
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) will present two free concerts this weekend.
The Spring Jazz Band/Wind Ensemble concert will be held on Saturday, April 18, at 7 p.m. in Cecilian Auditorium of the SMWC Conservatory of Music Building. The SMWC Spring Choral Concert is Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m. in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Both concerts are free and open to the public.
For more information, call the SMWC Music and Theatre Information Line at 812-535-6211.
Author and filmaker to give book presentation at SMWC April 30
Posted on: 04/15
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) alumna Mary Pat Kelly has embarked on a national book tour for her newly published novel “Galway Bay,” and on Thursday, April 30, she will give a special book presentation at SMWC.
Kelly's presentation, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. on April 30 in the Presidents' Room of the Mary and Andrew Rooney Library at SMWC. The presentation will include readings from “Galway Bay,” special Irish music performed by SMWC music faculty, a book signing and light refreshments. Books will be available for purchase at the event.
In “Galway Bay,” one family’s epic journey captures both the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience — and echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself.
In a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family. Because they and their countrymen must sell both their catch and their crops to pay exorbitant rents, potatoes have become their only staple food.
But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children will live. The family joins two million other Irish refugees—victims saving themselves—in the emigration from Ireland.
Danger and hardship await them in America. Honora, her unconventional sister Máire, and their children help transform Chicago from a frontier town to the “City of the Century.” The boys go on to fight in the Civil War and enlist in the cause of Ireland’s freedom.
Spanning six generations and filled with joy, sadness, and heroism, “Galway Bay” sheds brilliant light on the ancestors of today’s forty-four million Irish Americans.
SMWC students training mustangs in preparation for adoption
Posted on: 04/09
The equine training and handling class at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is gentling and training a special group of horses in preparation for adoption. The horses that are being trained are wild mustangs that were rescued through the Bureau of Land Management’s Save the Mustangs program.
Federal protection and a lack of natural predators have resulted in a thriving wild horse population that increases every year. The mustangs at SMWC were rescued from Wyoming, Florida and Montana, and they were selectively gathered from public lands, administered by the Bureau of Land Management, where the mustang populations have exceeded the carrying capacity of the land.
The horses arrived on campus in March, and since that time, the SMWC students have been training them to stand quietly while tied; pick up all four feet; and to walk, trot and canter while being led by the student. Students have placed halters on the horses and loaded them into trailers.
SMWC is currently accepting bids for the eight mustangs that are being trained. All of the mustangs available for adoption are yearlings, and bidding begins at $125.
To qualify to adopt a mustang, adopters must be at least 18 years old, have the ability and financial means to care for a mustang, and have corrals that meet BLM specifications. Bidding will begin immediately and will remain open until April 20, 2009. Notification of adoption approval will be made before April 23, and horses must be picked up from SMWC between April 24 and April 28.
To receive an adoption application or to place a bid, contact Angie McMillin at 812-535-5003 or amcmillin@smwc.edu, or Sara Schulz at 812-535-5018 or sschulz@smwc.edu.
SMWC hosts Graduate Studies Open House on April 28
Posted on: 04/09
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) will host a Graduate Studies Open House on Tuesday, April 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Vigo County Public Library Main Branch, located on the corner of 7th and Poplar streets in Terre Haute. During the Open House, prospective students can learn more about the graduate programs at SMWC and scholarship and financial aid opportunities.
SMWC currently offers six graduate programs in art therapy, earth literacy, education, leadership development, music therapy and pastoral theology. All of the graduate programs at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College are open to women and men, and they are delivered through distance education, which means that students spend minimal time on campus.
In addition to offering students quality graduate education in a convenient distance format, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is committed to making higher education affordable. Each year SMWC awards six $6,000 scholarships and six $3,000 scholarships to graduate students who demonstrate financial need as assessed by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) results. SMWC has also partnered with several businesses to provide their employees with a 10 percent tuition discount when they enroll in one of SMWC’s graduate programs or the College’s Woods External Degree (WED) program.
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Fest, October 23-25
Posted on: 04/07
Join in the celebration of the life and legacy of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., only the eighth person who ministered in the United States to be named a saint.
The inaugural Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Fest is scheduled for Oct. 23-25, 2009, at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Visits to historic sites on the grounds will be available, along with special prayer opportunities, time to talk in groups about Saint Mother Theodore’s life, meeting artist/sculptor Teresa Clark, opportunities for writing in or creating journals and some entertainment.
Come get to know this first saint from Indiana, who was canonized Oct. 15, 2006. Visit her shrine where her remains are available for public veneration in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
People from 55 nations and 49 states have visited the shrine in the past year. At the fest you can learn about Saint Mother Theodore’s powerful devotion to Providence, her love the land and a call to sustainability, her life given to works of love, mercy and justice, an openness to people of all faith traditions.
Watch for more details to be announced soon. For more information, contact Sister Barbara Doherty, coordinator of the Office of the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, by e-mail at mtg@spsmw.org or by phone at 812-535-2925.
