Students Learn Japanese in Classroom, Community

Ozaki’s students made sushi.

Adjunct faculty member Naoko Ozaki is gaining a reputation on campus and in the Nashville community for her techniques to teach Japanese to Belmont students. Their in-classroom experience includes games of charades, and on the weekends, students dine at local Japanese restaurants, make sushi and volunteer at local Japanese festivals.

“I believe in the grammar translation method of education: study grammar, read and write, in combination with communicative approach,” said Ozaki, who also advocates for cultural immersion and has created a micro environment for her students to interact with people whose first language is Japanese. All of Ozaki’s students interact each week with Japanese immigrants she met at the Nashville Cultural Festival. Ozaki gives guidelines on which grammar patterns to use and during the hour-long session, they split their time equally conversing in Japanese and English to help each other develop language skills and with culture nuances.

“(Students) are happy with the fact they go to the store and can read the words on products and recognize words when they watch Japanese movies. They have learned 400 characters and can converse at limited capacity but can ask questions and put together simple sentences,” said Ozaki, adding that she strives to build a sense of unity and sense of belonging in Belmont’s Japanese program.

The classes performed this past Saturday at the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival in the Public Square.

“She said she wanted to start a choir, and our class was like, ‘yeah, OK.’ Then she told us she got us a gig. It was a little surprising for us as a class, but fun,” said Cecilia Tregelles, a junior in the entertainment industry studies program.

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High School Students Job Shadow at College of Pharmacy

Fourth-year pharmacy student Cortney Manning shows high school students how to fill a prescription.

Hillsboro High School students visited the College of Pharmacy March 20 as part of a job shadowing program designed to expose them to the pharmacy profession and expand student interest in the pharmaceutical field.

“Health care and pharmacy are changing now, and the industry wants to be prepared. PharmD is a terminal degree and a commitment. The high school age group is good to target because they will know whether this is for them or not,” said Assistant Professor Edgar S. Diaz-Cruz, who serves as an advisory board member for Hillsboro’s Global Health Academy. “High school students also can gain valuable experience as a certified technician, and we want to expose them to that. This was a chance for them to see our facilities and research labs and get to interact with our students and faculty.”

The job shadow day was made possible in part by the Walgreens Diversity Donation award, which aims to recruit minorities to the pharmaceutical field.

“I never thought about all the things pharmacists do, like working in labs and making medicine. It’s a broad field,” said Hillsboro junior Zacnite Vargas. She said she is now considering pharmacy in addition to her previous goal of pediatric medicine.

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100 Black Women, Belmont Partner to Launch Leadership Program

Program will serve as a national model for organization

The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. (NCBW), Metropolitan Nashville Chapter has announced the establishment of a leadership development certification program in collaboration with Belmont University designed to train and prepare African-American women for leadership service on nonprofit, government and corporate boards.

The new initiative, which will operate through Belmont University’s College of Business Administration, strives to develop and market competent, qualified and committed professional business women of color to help them gain access and share their skill sets to help organizations reach their full potential. In addition to the 100 Black Women and Belmont, several other supporting organizations have signed on to the effort, including the Nashville Coalition of 100 Black Women Foundation, Inc., Meharry Medical College, HCA and members of the national leadership arm of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Incorporated.

“This effort has been several years in the making and we are very excited about the development of a program like this which has so much value in shaping the diversity and perspective of board leadership,” said Veronica Marable-Johnson, president of NCBW Nashville. “We seek to create a resource for organizations seeking well-trained and knowledgeable black women who are ready to contribute to the overall management, growth and success of organizations.”

The certification program will have three tiers focusing on nonprofit leadership, government and corporate leadership and provide an introduction to the basics of board service, governance, strategic planning and overall responsibilities. The first module of the program will be launched in fall 2013. (more…)

Belmont Nationally Recognized for Service to Community

The Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Education today announced Belmont University is among the nation’s leading colleges, universities, students, faculty and staff for its commitment to bettering Nashville through service.

Belmont University was admitted to the Honor Roll with Distinction for its students’ and employees’ support of volunteering, service learning and civic engagement.

“Being recognized now on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for a third consecutive time now is very affirming of the great work that so many folks at Belmont are doing with the community. The honor recognizes not only the breadth of our work, but the depth of it, and the fact that we’ve sustained our efforts over a number of years,” said Belmont University Director of Service-Learning Tim Stewart.

A total of 690 higher education institutions were named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Belmont is among the 113 institutions that earned the recognition of Honor Roll with Distinction.

Inspired by the thousands of college students who traveled across the country to support relief efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, CNCS has administered the award since 2006.

“Communities are strengthened when we all come together, and we are encouraged that these institutions and their students have made service a priority,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a news release. “Civic engagement should be a key component of every student’s education experience. Through reaching out to meet the needs of their neighbors, these students are deepening their impact, strengthening our democracy and ultimately preparing themselves to be successful citizens.”

More information on eligibility and the full list of Honor Roll awardees, can be found at nationalservice.gov.

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll honors the nation’s leading higher education institutions and their students, faculty and staff for their commitment to bettering their communities through service. These are institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund, and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. Through the agency’s Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Matching Program, CNCS gives education institutions access to tens of thousands of AmeriCorps alumni with millions of dollars in Segal Education Awards for tuitions and fees. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

Ranked No. 7 in the Regional Universities South category and named for the fifth consecutive year as one of the top “Up-and-Comer” universities by U.S. News & World Report, Belmont University consists of approximately 6,650 students who come from every state and 25 countries. Committed to being a leader among teaching universities, Belmont brings together the best of liberal arts and professional education in a Christian community of learning and service. The university’s purpose is to help students explore their passions and develop their talents to meet the world’s needs, a fact made evident in the University’s hometown, Nashville, where students served more than 60,000 hours of community service (valued at $450,000) during the last academic year. Belmont is also home to the World Cup champion Enactus team, a group of 42 student leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. With more than 80 areas of study, 23 master’s programs and five doctoral degrees, there is no limit to the ways Belmont University can expand an individual’s horizon. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.

Belmont Hosts Minority Caucus’ Recognition of Metro’s 50th Anniversary

For the second consecutive year, Belmont hosted Metro government officials, local business owners and community leaders as part of the Metropolitan Minority Caucus anniversary celebration. This year’s program honored the 50^th anniversary of Nashville-Davidson’s County’s consolidated government. More than 100 people attended the reception in the Frist Lecture Hall on Feb. 28.

“It is great to have on our campus people who have been a part of making Nashville such a great city,” said Belmont President Bob Fisher, welcoming the guests.

Harriette Bias-Insignares, the first poet laureate of Nashville, read a commemorative poem from Tennessee’s bicentennial celebration in 1976. Lois Jordan, Metro’s first African-American Councilwoman, shared stories from her election campaign and working on Metro Council with 39 men. She urged current council members to make their constituents feel important. Former Councilman Ludye Wallace, a strong advocate for Belmont’s shared use of E.S. Rose Park, also spoke on the founding of the Metropolitan Black Caucus. It was later renamed to include all minority council members.

“Thank you for paving the way so we could walk down the road more easily,” said caucus Vice President Fabian Bedne, Metro’s first Latin-American councilman.

The caucus presented special awards to current and former minority council members. Belmont junior Chelsea Stratton accepted an award on behalf of her late grandfather, James Hawkins, the first African-American councilman to be a committee chairman.