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UW-L's Found-Object Heron
One of 35 Herons of La Crosse presented to the city in awareness and celebration of the Arts, the Found Object Heron was sponsored by the UW-L Foundation.
Members of the UW-L Art Student Association - Carly Dilworth, Beth Crook, Patty Bindley, Erin Woida and Nichol Schoen and Meagan Rhodes from the School of Education - created this heron, inspired by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. He is known for his trencadis structures throughout Spain. Trencadis is a type of mosaic made from broken tiles. Gaudi used this technique to cover irregular, curved surfaces with tiles. He is most famous for projects in Barcelona's Park Guell.
The "found objects" were mostly broken ceramic plates purchased from Goodwill that the students spray painted. Their spray technique involved different layers of harmonious colors. First the plates were painted whole and then broken with a hammer. The pieces were next mortared to the heron. Finally they grouted their mosaic pieces using white unsanded grout. They did not want to cover the entire heron in a mosaic; as a result, they completed the heron using vivid acrylic paint.
The heron can be found at the corner of 16th & State Streets, adjacent to Morris Hall, from April to October 2008.
UW-L Students Wage Advocacy Campaign - Be B.R.A.V.E.
During the week of April 20th, the Capstone in Child Youth Care students executed a well planned advocacy campaign called Be B.R.A.V.E. (Bullying, Respect, and Violence Education) in Holmen Middle School.
The Child Youth Care program is a multidisciplinary program between Community Health Education, Communication Studies, Educational Foundations, Exercise and Sport Science, Health Education and Health Promotion, Political Science/Public Administration, Psychology, Recreation Management, Sociology, Special Education, and Therapeutic Recreation that allows students to obtain either an emphasis or minor in working with at-risk children and youth.
Lisa Caya began coordination of the program a few years ago and, starting last year, revamped the Capstone course to include an advocacy component. This year the students chose to educate on bullying - a huge problem in our schools today. Activities for the week included:
April 22:
12:30-2:00 at Holmen Middle School. The students put on three different assemblies (there are over 700 middle school students in Holmen!) and shared their Be B.R.A.V.E. (Bullying, Respect, and Violence Education) campaign.
Also, during the following two weeks in Holmen Middle School they will be working with the students on counter-bullying strategies. The CYC students created Brave Bucks that the teachers and staff will be handing out when they witness the middle school students exhibiting positive interactions with their peers. The students created a contest between the homerooms and whomever wins with the most Brave Bucks gets a sub party. There are also contests throughout the week, such as a poster contest, trivia games, etc. that can earn the students Brave Bucks or even a special raffle prize. The CYC students were able to get prizes donated from the following companies/organizations: Papa Murphy's, Applebee's, Fayze's, The Pearl, La Crosse Loggers, Children's Museum, La Crosse Speedway, La Crosse Community Theater, Holmen Aquatic Center and Mary Kay Inc.
April 24:
7:00 p.m. at the La Crosse YMCA - The students hosted a panel discussion to educate the public on bullying. Panel guests included: Dr. Casey Tobin (UWL Psychology faculty member) speaking from a counseling perspective, Lisa Hesch (at-risk coordinator for Holmen High School), a new teacher that has been subbing in different schools since graduating), and Karl (Leah’s father) and Leah Matz (Leah is a student from St. Peter, MN that has experienced extreme bullying). The panel flyer can be found here.
Lisa Caya states, "I am very proud and honored to work with the dedicated, intelligent, and absolutely amazing Child Youth Care students in the Capstone course. They have outdone themselves. I am also very excited to say that our student, Kayla Breckheimer, was able to arrange Channel 8 to film both the assemblies and the panel discussion! After speaking with Adam from Channel 8, he said that Lisa Klein is doing a week long segment in May on cyber-bulling and would like to interview us for her news piece!"
"I would also like to say thank you to all the campus community that has supported the Child Youth Care program. I feel very fortunate to coordinate the program and work with the incredible students that I do. We couldn’t do it without the campus-wide support and we appreciate it."
The brief WKBT newscast about this event can be found here.
The audio clip of the radio announcement for this event can be found here.
Lisa Caya can be contacted at caya.lisa@uwlax.edu or at 608-785-6895.
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