Today's News

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) is still accepting applications for the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Scholarship Competition.

SMWC was founded in 1840 by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, a woman well ahead of her time who impacted countless lives. An entrepreneurial leader who was dedicated to serving all people, regardless of race, religion or background, Guerin was passionate about educating women and preparing them to become leaders.

To recognize students who embody the principles by which Mother Theodore Guerin lived and served, SMWC created the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Scholarship Competition. The College will award 10 renewable Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Scholarships ranging in value from $13,000 to $20,000 to students nationwide who have used their unique experiences, aptitudes and abilities to make a difference in their local communities and beyond.

Any female student enrolled in grade 12 in a public, private or parochial school in is eligible, and female students in grade 12 who are homeschooled are also encouraged to apply. To be considered for the competition, students must submit a completed application form, a high school transcript, SAT or ACT scores, two recommendation forms accompanied by letters of recommendation (one from a school official and one from a community member), and a written essay. The application can be submitted online at www.smwc.edu, and the additional application materials can be submitted via US mail or in person. All application materials must be postmarked by January 15, 2009, to be considered for the competition.

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Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) is still accepting applications for the Top Ten on 10 Scholarship Competition.

The Top Ten on 10 Scholarship Competition, sponsored by Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and WTHI-TV, is open to any female student enrolled in grade 12 in a public, private or parochial school in the WTHI viewing area. Female students in grade 12 who are homeschooled are also encouraged to apply. 

From October to February, 10 students are chosen to receive a $13,000 renewable SMWC scholarship. Two winners are chosen each month based on academic records, leadership and community service roles, high school/community references and a written essay. From the 10 winners, two students are chosen to receive $20,000 renewable SMWC scholarships. 

To be considered for the competition, students must submit a completed application, a high school transcript, SAT or ACT scores, two recommendation forms accompanied by letters of recommendation (one from a school official and one from a community member), and a written essay. The application can be submitted online at www.smwc.edu, and the additional application materials can be submitted via US mail or in person. 

Deadline for receipt of all application materials is 4:30 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. Materials received after the deadline will be considered for the following month’s competition. Once a student has applied for the award, she does not need to reapply. If she is not named a scholarship recipient during the month in which she applies, her application will be considered for the award during the following months.

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Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Guerin College Preparatory High School in River Grove, Ill., to bring SMWC’s one-year Master of Education program to the Chicago area. In addition, the College is celebrating this new partnership by offering a 20 percent tuition discount for all students who enroll in this first Chicago-area cohort.

SMWC’s accelerated Master of Education (M.Ed.) program incorporates a hybrid delivery model that blends Internet and classroom study. With the hybrid course format of the M.Ed., students are required to engage in classroom study for one weekend every eight weeks, or six times total, throughout the one-year program. For the convenience of prospective students in the Chicago area, Guerin College Preparatory High School will host all of the face-to-face components of the program. The Chicago-area cohort will have its first set of classes Feb. 21-22, 2009.

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Tracy Richardson, associate professor and director of the Master of Arts in Music Therapy program at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC), and Sharon R. Boyle, associate professor of music therapy at SMWC, recently attended the American Music Therapy Association Annual Conference in St. Louis, Mo.

Richardson conducted a two-hour workshop entitled “I Write the Songs: Songwriting in/as Music Therapy.” This workshop focused on helping music therapists become more confident with the use of songwriting as a clinical tool in music therapy sessions. Richardson attended the Great Lakes Region executive board meetings as President-elect of the Great Lakes Region of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA).

Boyle co-presented with other music therapy educators from the University of Dayton and Eastern Michigan University in a roundtable entitled, “Teaching Undergraduate-Level Clinical Improvisation.” The presentation focused on three different models for teaching clinical improvisation in the undergraduate setting. Boyle also attended the Great Lakes Region executive board meetings as the state representative from Indiana.

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Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) has created two new scholarships for female students who graduate from Saint Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville, Ind. By creating these new scholarships, which are valued at $11,000 and $20,000 per year for four years, SMWC hopes to make private college education more affordable for Saint Theodore Guerin High School graduates.

“In these challenging economic times, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College remains committed to making private higher education affordable,” said SMWC President David G. Behrs, Ph.D. “We are proud to offer these scholarships to the graduates of Saint Theodore Guerin High School , a school that not only carries the name of our College’s foundress, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, but a school that also shares our mission of serving students from diverse backgrounds and preparing them to be tomorrow's leaders.”

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One of the many wonderful traditions at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is the Midnight Breakfast. Every year, members of the faculty and staff volunteer to cook and serve a late-night breakfast to the campus students to kick off finals week. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, faculty and staff members gathered at 10 p.m. to help members of the Sodexo staff prepare a meal including omelettes, bacon, eggs, pancakes and homestyle potatoes, and from 11 p.m. to midnight, the students enjoyed their Midnight Breakfast and a lively party-like atmosphere complete with party favors and a DJ.

On Monday, Dec. 8, a Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College faculty quartet, comprised of music faculty members Sharon Boyle, Tracy Richardson, Michael Boswell, and John McIntyre, traveled to various campus buildings to sing Christmas carols and spread Christmas cheer to faculty, staff and students. The quartet sang carols in Guerin Hall, the Mary and Andrew Rooney Library, Le Fer Hall and Hulman Hall.

By Elaine Yaw, adviser for The Woods newspaper

Christy Wessel Powell thought she would find a job easily once she graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) in 2003. She studied abroad. She did multiple internships. Yet, when she graduated, she wasn’t getting much response to her resume.

She shared her experience and what lead to a life-changing experience working two years for Teach For America on Dec. 1 at SMWC’s Rooney Library. Teach For America (TFA) aims to end educational inequity. Through TFA, recent college graduates commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools.

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Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White and national advocate for people living with HIV and AIDS, will speak at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, as part of the College’s Four-Star Series. The time and location of the speech will be announced at a later date. The event is being co-sponsored by the SMWC Student Senate, which is coordinating Health Awareness Week at SMWC Feb. 9-12.

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As a service learning project for one of her classes at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC), Andrea Lynch, a junior digital media communications major with a minor in film studies and creative writing, is making and collecting cards that will be distributed to people who are hospitalized during the holiday season.

Lynch, who is originally from Greenfield, Ind., but now lives in Chula Vista, Calif., is a member of an international online artist community called deviantART, and she received a news notice on her account that the community was holding a card drive.

The purpose of the deviantART Holiday Card Project is to create holiday cards for people who are hospitalized during the holiday season. The idea behind the project is to simply try and bring a little cheer to those who are undergoing hospital stay.

“I wanted to get involved in this project because I think that the winter holidays are a unique time of year,” Lynch said. “They can be warm, loving, and bring out the best in some people. They can also be sad and hard for those who have lost loved ones and are ill. I like to spread holiday cheer and make arts and crafts, so this is really the perfect event for me.”

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On Monday, Dec. 1, 2008, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College faculty, staff and students gathered in the rotunda of Guerin Hall for the President's Tree, Wreath and Crib Lighting. The event included prayers, ritual and song.

The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) Chorale and Madrigals will present their annual Christmas choral concert at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 6, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception on the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods campus. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature the SMWC Chorale and Madrigals, who, under the direction of R. Ryan Endris, visiting assistant professor of music, will perform works by Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Rutter, Eleanor Daley and others. The concert will also feature guest artist Natasha Sexton, professor of music at Franklin College, as well as choirs from Terre Haute North Vigo and Terre Haute South Vigo high schools.

Please note, another event will be taking place in O'Shaughnessy Dining Room before the start of the concert, so limited parking will be available near the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The College will offer parking and shuttle service from the large parking lot behind Hulman Hall. Please plan to enter the College through the first set of gates near the Woods Daycare Center. Thank you!

For more information about the Christmas Concert, call the SMWC Music and Theatre Information Line at 812-535-6211.

The Music and Theatre Department at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College offers a variety of music and theatre degrees, including the bachelor of arts degree in music and the bachelor of arts in women and theatre. It also offers the bachelor of science in music therapy and the bachelor of arts in music education (all-level, all-area). The College also offers a master’s degree program in music therapy. The music programs at SMWC are fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. The music therapy programs are approved by the American Music Therapy Association, and the music education program is approved by the Indiana Department of Education.

To learn more about the Department of Music and Theatre at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, e-mail John McIntyre at music@smwc.edu or contact the SMWC Office of Admission by email at smwcadms@smwc.edu or by phone at 812-535-5106 or 1-800-926-SMWC.

Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $280,000 Sustaining Grant to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) for the Initiative to Promote Opportunities through Educational Collaboration, an effort that was launched in 2004. SMWC has also committed more than $300,000 to continue the initiative, which is focused on cultivating relationships with Indiana employers to increase employment and internship opportunities for students and alumnae/i and educating students and alumnae/i about Indiana employment opportunities.

“We are extremely grateful to Lilly Endowment for supporting Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and other institutions of higher education as we work to promote employment opportunities right here in Indiana,” said SMWC President David G. Behrs, Ph.D. “Guided by the data we collected in the first four and a half years of this initiative, SMWC is excited that we will be able to continue the successful efforts of the past while exploring new opportunities to match our students and alumnae/i with employers throughout the state.”

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Those interested in learning more about Teach For America are invited to join Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) alumna Christy Wessel Powell '04 as she discusses her experiences with the program during a presentation on Monday, Dec. 1. The presentation will take place at SMWC from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. in Jazzman’s Café, which is located in the College’s Mary and Andrew Rooney Library. Lunch is available for purchase from Jazzman’s Café.

Teach For America (TFA) aims to end educational inequity, and the organization envisions a day when all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. Through TFA, outstanding recent college graduates commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Today, 6,200 corps members are teaching in more than 1,600 schools in 29 regions across the country, while more than 14,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity.

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The Saint Mary of the Woods College (SMWC) Art Gallery will host its Annual Art Market Dec. 2-8. Visit the Art Gallery to purchase arts and crafts created by SMWC faculty, staff, students and alumnae/i. The art gallery is located in Hulman Hall, Room 132. Regular Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call 812-535-5265, email artgallery@smwc.edu, or stop by during regular Gallery hours.