The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/705015
4 6 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U McCONNELL CENTER While the McConnell Center is best known for drawing huge crowds to hear political heavyweights such as Hillary Clinton or Colin Powell speak on the Belknap campus, it's the center's Civic Education Program that is responsible for making the biggest impact on thousands of students and teachers throughout the commonwealth. Since establishing the Civic Education Program in 2005, the center has offered f eld trips, seminars, AP U.S. History workshops and lectures with world leaders to almost 1,900 Kentucky K-12 students, while hosting nearly 300 young Kentucky high school students at its annual Young Leadership Academy held every summer. "Our founders understood that our government would rely on having knowledgeable, engaged citizens, which is why the McConnell Center decided to put our weight behind supporting, nurturing, and developing Kentucky history and social studies teachers", center director Gary Gregg said. "Their work is vital to the future of this nation and our commonwealth. If we continue to remember the lessons taught by history, programs like ours might be the reason why." Just as importantly, the center provides continuing education travel opportunities for teachers, crafted so educators can better explore topics unique to the American experience, such as Manifest Destiny or the understanding of modern political parties. According to Bullitt East High School history teacher Sue Roe, the program has made a real impact on both her and her students. "From the opportunities that I've had through the McConnell Center, I'm able not to just teach about historical facts, but I'm able to give my students the story behind the story," Roe said. "I've had students come up to me and say they are more engaged because they know that I'm passionate about the topics I'm teaching them." McConnell Center pushes civic education to the forefront Since 2005, the McConnell Center's Civic Education Program has provided hundreds of Kentucky teachers with innovative professional development opportunities, including a lecture from best- selling historian Jay Winik, (pictured above). High school students earn UofL credits in business management The College of Business partnered with Louisville Central High School (CHS) to offer a dual credit course in business management. Ten UofL professors volunteered their time over the fall 2015 semester to teach the class, which included a guest lecture in economics by President James Ramsey. The course, Introduction to Business Management, was created by COB management professor Nat Irvin II, W.M. Strickler Executive-in- Residence, and CHS teacher Joseph P. Gutmann, 78AS, an adjunct professor and head of the Law & Government Magnet Academy at CHS. Twenty-four high school students took classes in economics, organizational behavior and leadership, business law, communications, f nance, accounting, computer information systems, project management, decision making and management. The course counted as three hours of college credit. "We felt it was time to actually expand the course subject offerings for college credit, utilizing many more members of the faculty. We already have even more faculty volunteering to teach the course this fall," Irvin said. Central High School is part of UofL's Signature Partnership Initiative. COLLEGE OF BUSINESS President James Ramsey taught economics in December to students at Central High School, where the UofL College of Business offered an Introduction to Business Management dual-credit class. LEFT TO RIGHT: Ramsey, CHS teacher Joe Gutmann, 78AS, and Nat Irvin, College of Business Strickler Executive-in-Residence and professor.