By Rhiannon Saegert and Emina Gibic
The Turning Point Conference, a weeklong celebration of students’ achievements, will be held on NW Campus April 22-25.
NW speech instructor Carol Hunsberger, who organized the event, said she was inspired to do so by her colleagues.
“We all work hard for student success, and I thought it would be nice if we combined our efforts and offered a week of exciting workshops and conferences in which students could demonstrate various areas of success,” she said. “I was also inspired by the Student Success Conference the NW Campus offers at the beginning of the fall semester. I thought it would be beneficial for students to demonstrate the different ways they achieved success.”
The conference will consist of 12 separate events. Students may sign up in WSTU in front of the bookstore, or by sending an email to turningpointconference@gmail.com. Most events require students to register ahead of time.
Dance associate professor Amy Sleigh said her event, Making Waves with Dance, is a collaborative effort.
“Dancers will be working with speech students to develop a dance,” she said. “In addition, the writings the speech students will read were written by NW students from Marine Creek Reflections.”
Two performances will be given by two separate modern dance classes. Amanda Jackson’s modern dance class will perform at 10 a.m. April 22, and Sleigh’s modern class will perform at 1 p.m. April 23 in the sculpture garden in front of NW Campus. Students do not need to sign up for this event.
Philosophy professor Tony Roberts will present How a Flea Changed the World, a conference covering the scientific and social impact of the plague, which killed millions throughout Europe in the 14th century. He said the day will be divided into three parts.
“In the morning, several instructors will explore both the science behind the plague and the cultural events. This will be the story of the change,” Roberts said.
The orientations are 9:30-10:30 a.m. in WSTU 1303, 11 a.m.-12:20 p.m. in WSTU 1103 and 12:30-1:30 p.m. in WSTU 1303 or WHPE Yoga Studio on April 24.
On the final day of the event, art associate professor Fred Spaulding will lead the Sculpture Walk with Cheese on Top, a guided tour of the sculpture garden. The final sculpture, “Brick Oven Truck,” is a working oven where students will be served free pizza.
“We’re just trying to inject a little more fun and interest into the conference,” Spaulding said. “It will give people a chance to get outside and eat some pizza.”
The sculpture tour will take place 12:30-1:50 p.m. April 25 and begins in the WFAB student gallery.
The last day to sign up for the Turning Point Conference is April 18.
