Penn State Mont Alto students share knowledge at Academic Festival

More than 200 students spent weeks putting together elaborate displays/exhibits on a range of topics

April 11, 2012|By ROXANN MILLER | roxann.miller@herald-mail.com

By Roxann Miller, Staff Writer

MONT ALTO, Pa. — Students at Penn State Mont Alto shared their knowledge on Wednesday with their peers and the community at the seventh annual Penn State Mont Alto Academic Festival in the campus’ Multipurpose Activities Center.

“The Academic Festival is a great opportunity for students to showcase their projects to the campus and local community,” said Robin Yaure, senior instructor of human development and family studies, and chairwoman of the festival planning committee.

More than 200 students, freshman to seniors, spent weeks putting together elaborate displays/exhibits on a range of topics including women’s health, breast cancer, occupational therapy, the effects of poverty on children in Central America and nursing as a career for men.

Some of the students worked alone and some worked in teams of three to four students.

“It’s not only to show the culmination of what the students are learning throughout the year, but to help the students with public speaking as they help educate others about their topic,” Yaure said.

For Tasha Shuhart of Greencastle, Pa., the festival was a chance to share her concern about the extreme poverty in Honduras.

“Malnutrition and death is the leading cause of death in under-developing countries,” said Shuhart, a freshman who aspires to become a social worker.

Not only was it a way to spread her message, but also Shuhart said it helped strengthen her public speaking skills as people approached her about her exhibit.

Standing in front of his display — “The Evolving Role of the Male Nurse” — Andrew Lininger of Waynesboro, Pa., was eager to answer questions about the often misunderstand profession.

“I think it’s important to get the idea of male nursing out in the public because there’s a problem with the perception. You don’t have to say female nurse because when you say nurse it’s implied,” Lininger said.

He said the ratio of female to male nurses is about 10 to 1, but it’s slowly starting to change as more people are becoming educated.

“We wouldn’t question a female who wants to become a physician, but somehow we’ll question a male who wants to become a nurse. We have a very archaic way of thinking of nursing,” he said.

But with a national nursing shortage, Lininger was eager to promote nursing as a career for everyone who stopped by his exhibit.

He is currently attending Penn State Mont Alto to complete his bachelor’s degree in nursing.

The festival is a great way to inform and educate the community, showcase their academic endeavors and be proud of what they have accomplished, Yaure said.

The event was sponsored by F&M Trust, which judged the projects and presented gift cards good at the Penn State Mont Alto bookstore for $200 (first place), $150 (second place), and $100 (third place).

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