Students Kick Off Their Shoes at EDGE

On his way out of Biggers Sports Center, freshman Christian Courtney of Bedford, Ky., signs his name Friday to a poster of members of the LWC Class of 2013. (Click on photo for a larger version.)

COLUMBIA, Ky. – Lindsey Wilson College sophomore Elizabeth Goode of Somerset, Ky., told a classroom of incoming freshmen on Friday morning why she prefers to wear flip-flop sandals. And then the freshmen told her something about their shoes.

The exercise was part of an introduction session Lindsey Wilson uses on EDGE Day to introduce students to their new classmates.

“The idea is that they will talk about their shoes, which is pretty basic, and that will help introduce them to others,” said Lindsey Wilson Director of Student Activities Bobbie Owen.

Breaking the ice is a big part of an LWC EDGE Day. EDGE – which stands for education, development, growth and experience – is an orientation program for the college’s incoming freshmen.

More than 170 incoming freshmen attended Friday’s EDGE Day, the first of four five-hour orientation days the college will hold this summer.

But freshmen don’t spend the entire time in a classroom. Following ice-breaking sessions, they go outside to participate in team-building activities that include untying a human knot and a song game.

“We get them out of the classroom and get them around campus,” Owen said. “We do team-building activities with them. A lot of students find their roommates on an EDGE Day through the activities.”

While students break ice and build teams, parents and family members meet with college officials to learn about student life at Lindsey Wilson. Then following lunch in the Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center, students and family members visit a series of stations in Biggers Sports Center.

By the time they exit Biggers Sports Center, the freshmen have a class schedule for the 2009 fall semester, a parking permit and have completed paperwork necessary to enroll.

“They are building those relationships now, then on opening weekend in August they will further solidify their relationships with several more activities and events,” Owen said. “By the time the school year begins, they won’t feel like strangers in a classroom.”

EDGE also helps demystify the college experience, Owen said.

“One of the questions we ask freshmen on an EDGE survey is whether they would be afraid to talk to a professor a staff member when they first get to Lindsey Wilson,” Owen said. “Many of them tell us that they are because they often enter college with the pre-conceived notion that professors and staff members cannot be bothered with students. But on EDGE Day, we tell them that at Lindsey Wilson that’s what professors and staff members are here for – they want to have contact with their students and they want to help them.”

EDGE Day also is an opportunity for incoming freshmen to meet upperclass students who share similar interests and backgrounds.

“When we assign students to an EDGE group, we go out of our way to look at their intended major and their extracurricular activities so that we can pair them with an EDGE leader with similar experiences,” Owen said. “That makes it easier for freshmen to ask questions such as how to get involved at Lindsey Wilson.”

LWC’s final two EDGE Days of the summer will be July 24-25. For more information, contact the Student Activities Office at info@lindsey.edu or (270) 384-8100.

Sights & Sounds from EDGE
AUDIO: Advice from sophomores Danielle Albertson & Elizabeth Goode

AUDIO: Advice from EDGE Leader MacKinsey Wheeler

VIDEO


SCENES

More than 160 Mental Health Professionals AttendAppalachian Center for Play Therapy Conference

Play therapy pioneer Garry L. Landreth addresses mental-health professionals Thursday at the Appalachian Center for Play Therapy conference, held at the Center for Rural Development.

SOMERSET, Ky. – Tasha Miller of Pikeville, Ky., didn’t know a lot about play therapy at the start of this week.

But by the end of Thursday, the Lindsey Wilson College human services and counseling senior thought she might want to incorporate play therapy into her career as a mental health professional.

“It’s something that I’m going to consider using because I want to work with children after I graduate,” she said.

Miller was one of more than 160 people from seven states who attended the first sponsored conference of the Lindsey Wilson Appalachian Center for Play Therapy. The two-day conference, which was held at the Center for Rural Development, featured Garry L. Landreth, an internationally known play therapy expert, who discussed play therapy and its benefits.

“Play therapy gives a voice to children by using their play,” said Landreth, who is the the founder of the Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas, the largest play therapy training program in the nation. “The play therapist ‘listens’ to the meaning in the child’s play, just as the therapist listens to meaning of an adult’s verbalization. So while they are in a playroom setting, their toys are viewed as being like a child’s words and play is the child’s language.”

‘Child’s Play Language’
The task of the play therapist is to understand the “child’s play language,” Landreth said.

“And that’s not as difficult to read the play language as you might initially think because play is a universal language,” Landreth said. “Children all over the world play similarly, just the items they play with differ. ... Give a child in South Africa a pile of sand and they play in it the same children in Kentucky play in the sand.”

Play therapy as a discipline was first discussed in the 1940s, but Landreth is responsible for popularizing it over the last 40 years, said Lindsey Wilson Associate Professor of Human Services & Counseling Jodi M. Crane.

Landreth has published more than 150 journal articles, books and videos. His award-winning book Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship has been translated into several languages.

Landreth’s articles, books and videos are among the reasons play therapy has become one of the fastest-growing areas in the mental-health profession, Crane said.

“The mental-health profession is finally recognizing that it’s not effective to sit children down in big chairs and tell them what they need to do or give them instructions about how to live their lives – it doesn’t work,” Landreth said. “We need to give them a chance to communicate at their level, the same way we give adults an opportunity to communicate verbally. That recognition is slowly catching on.”

Despite efforts to promote play therapy, Landreth said the subject is taught as a separate class in just about 30 percent of the U.S. counselor-education programs.

‘Struggling with Lack of Recognition’
“We are still struggling with the lack of recognition of the child’s ability in their own way to solve emotional issues,” he said.

Central to play therapy is for the therapist to see the child as a person, not as a junior version of an adult.

“Children are people, they just happen to be younger people,” Landreth said. “They are persons worthy of respect, as any person is worthy of respect. They just happen to be 3, 4 or 5 years old. They possess the same capability of helping themselves emotionally that adults possess. In fact, sometimes it’s harder for adults to help themselves because their minds get in the way – they keep thinking about all the things that didn’t work.

“I love the child’s approach and view of their world – they approach their world with newness. It’s new, eager, creative and willing to explore.”

Appalachian Center for Play Therapy
In addition to exposing more than 160 mental-health students and professionals to play therapy, this week’s conference was also something of a coming out part for the Appalachian Center for Play Therapy. Founded early this year by Crane, a nine-year veteran of the LWC faculty, the center’s goal is to help educate and train mental-health professionals and others who work with children about the benefits of play therapy.

“The center makes it possible to train greater numbers of people in how to use play therapy,” Crane said. “Otherwise, it’s sort of hit or miss as to where that training can be found in this region of the United States.”

And Landreth said he was “very impressed” with the center’s first conference.

“It took me longer to get to where Jodi is now than it has taken her to get where she is is today,” he said. “In less than 10 years, she has started a play therapy program, is building a center for play therapy and has held a conference for play therapy. That’s very impressive, and it also speaks of the tremendous need this region has, as evidenced by the fact that it attracted professionals from seven states.”

Connie Stallard of Clintwood, Va., was among those who attended the conference and hopes to become a licensed play therapist. A 30-year veteran of special education, Stallard said she sees numerous possibilities for integrating play therapy into her work.
“I’ve seen such a need for this service in helping young people,” she said.

To learn more about play therapy, go to the Association for Play Therapy Web site.

Play therapy pioneer Garry L. Landreth (left) chats with Aaron Meriwether of Columbia on Thursday at the Appalachian Center for Play Therapy conference, held at the Center for Rural Development.

Adair County Resident Named DuoCounty Scholar

Joseph Thomas Payne of Columbia (third from left) is a DuoCounty Telephone Cooperative Corp. Scholar at Lindsey Wilson College. Pictured with Payne are Duo County Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer Bill Magruder (left); his father, Joseph Payne; and Lindsey Wilson Fund Director Brady Button.

COLUMBIA, Ky. – An Adair County resident has been named a DuoCounty Telephone Cooperative Corp. Scholar at Lindsey Wilson College.

Joseph Thomas Payne of Columbia has received the telephone cooperative’s scholarship at Lindsey Wilson.

Payne, the son of Joseph and Majorie Payne, is a 2009 graduate of Adair County High School. He will be a freshman this fall at Lindsey Wilson, where he plans to prepare for a career in music. And he will get a good start to his major – beginning this fall, the college is adding a bachelor of arts in fine arts administration. It will be the 22nd undergraduate program offered at the college.

DuoCounty Telecom founded the scholarship program for one year for a first-time, full-time freshman to attend Lindsey Wilson from DuoCounty’s service area, which includes parts of Adair, Casey, Cumberland and Russell counties.

“It’s an honor to receive this scholarship from DuoCounty,” Payne said. “I appreciate everything DuoCounty has done to help me attend college.”

And DuoCounty officials say they are equally excited about supporting the scholarship program at Lindsey Wilson.

“We are pleased to be able to help a good student like Joseph attend a wonderful college like Lindsey Wilson” said Duo County Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer Bill Magruder. “Duo County Telecom is dedicated to education in our community. We hope Joseph achieves his goals at Lindsey Wilson College.”

At Adair County High School, Payne was a member of marching band, concert band, district honors band and pep club. He was a recipient of several honors, including the honors award, outstanding musician and most improved musician.

This Week @ LWC -- June 1-5

Graduate Program in Christian Leadership Prepares Next Generation of Church Leaders

The first group of LWC’s Christian leadership graduate program gather Friday night in front of the John B. Begley Chapel.

COLUMBIA, Ky. – About two dozen people made history Friday night at Lindsey Wilson College.

The individuals were part of the first meeting of the college’s new graduate program in Christian leadership. Being part of a graduate program’s inaugural class is exciting in itself.

It’s even more exciting considering the program is less than a month old. The program was approved in late May by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In less than two weeks, the program registered 15 students for the summer session that began Friday; another six students plan to enroll in the program in the fall.

“The stated goal of The United Methodist Church Board of Higher Education is that we are to develop the next generation of Christian leaders,” said Dean of the Chapel Terry Swan, who is the program’s director. “And that is what this program is doing – preparing the next generation of Christian leaders for The United Methodist Church and other churches throughout our region.”

A major attraction of the new program – which is Lindsey Wilson’s third graduate program – is classes are offered on weekends and Monday nights. For students with a bachelor’s degree in Christian ministries or a related degree, the graduate program can be completed in 30 hours – “one intensive year,” Swan said.

“The program is built on the model that social work and business graduate programs have used – if you already have a substantial amount of training on the undergraduate level, the hours are reduced on the graduate level,” Swan said.

Students who enter the program with bachelor’s degree in another field will be required to take six hours of introductory classes.

‘Logical Next Step’
Swan said creating the new graduate program was “the next logical step for us.”

LWC’s undergraduate Christian ministries major is almost a decade old, and in the last four years the college built the Sumner Campus Ministry Center and Norma & Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship.

Swan said the Christian leadership graduate program is designed for individuals who want to serve their church but do not want a traditional seminary education.

“This is an ideal program for students in a variety of occupations who want to prepare to lead a church or church organization,” he said. “This program might also attract individuals who seek a second career or want to lead a parachurch organization.”

Another reason Swan said he started the program is because Lindsey Wilson is located in “an underserved area for theological education.”

“You have to go almost two hours in either direction to find a program like this,” he said.

Regional Student Body
Ironically, the weekend-Monday format of Lindsey Wilson’s Christian leadership graduate program has attracted students from Louisville, Ky., Lexington, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn.

One of those students making a two-hour to Lindsey Wilson is Sydney Smith of Nashville. A 2002 LWC alumna, Smith said the Christian leadership was started at “the perfect time for me.”

“I looked at graduate programs at several different colleges, but none of them appealed to me like this one did,” she said. “This program will open a lot of doors with all of the Christian organizations in the Nashville area. And a graduate program in leadership itself looks good to prospective employers.”

When LWC graduate Ray Moore heard the program had been approved, he decided to relocate from Grayson, Ky., where he had been serving churches, to Columbia. But it took the 2008 LWC graduate almost 16 hours to get back to the A.P. White Campus because he was in Long Island, N.Y., when he heard it had been approved.

“The fact that it’s a brand new program and there is a small community of learners will give us a lot of opportunities,” Moore said.

Swan also expects the program to become a “fifth year” for some of LWC’s 150 Christian ministries students.

“A lot of our undergraduate students have expressed interest in staying on for a fifth year, which will allow them to earn a master’s degree while they begin their careers,” he said.

Julie Walker of Columbia is one of the undergraduates who stayed on for an extra year. In May, Walker received a bachelor of arts degree in Christian ministries and communication from LWC.

“The ability to get a master’s in a year’s time when I already have a bachelor’s degree was too good for me to pass up,” she said.

More ...
For more information about the program, contact Swan at swant@lindsey.edu or (270) 384-8148.

Click on the icon to hear Terry Swan talk about the new graduate program.