Some photos courtesy of Cabrini college Marketing and Communication department, photo compiled by Cecelia FranciscoMelissa Steven
Staff Writer
ms727@cabrini.edu
When students register for core requirements, some classes at Cabrini are on high demand at registration time. Mainly, it is the instructor teaching the class that drives students to register for a particular class.
For core requirements, Phyllis Bean, registrar, said that professors like Dr. James Hedtke, department Chairman of history and political science, Dr. Jolyon Girard, history and political science professor, Amy DeBlasis, Dr. Charles McCormick, dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Margaret McGuinness, department Chairman of religious studies and Dr. Leonard Primiano, associate professor of religious studies, are just some of the professors whose classes fill up quickly.
Bean said, “At the beginning of registration they are the first to go because they teach the classes to fulfill core requirements.” She also recommends students to register online in order to get the classes they most desire.
To fulfill a religion or a values and commitment requirement, McGuinness’s classes, like Religion and the Civil Rights Movement or Faith and Justice are two classes that students find interesting. Meredith Detwiler, a senior English and secondary education major, took McGuiness’s Faith and Justice class for the first time this year and said, “In her class, she is able to bring history to life. Teaching has become second-hand nature to her, so much that she is able to focus on our understanding of what is presented. She is great with explanations and answering questions.”
McGuinness, who has taught at Cabrini for almost 20 years, said, “I’m offering the students a chance to think. I want it to be something different then just a traditional religion class from high school.”
Lynsey McStravick, a sophomore accounting major, had both Primiano and McCormick in her freshman year and said, “Dr. Primiano was an awesome teacher and I’m glad I had him, and Dr. McCormick was helpful about everything not just only with his class.” She took Primiano’s Search for Meaning class and McCormick’s Cross-Cultural Food Ways class.
Hedtke has been teaching at Cabrini for 31 years and still loves it. Hedtke said, “I like young people, they’re neat. It’s fun to be with young people because it’s what keeps me going and keeps me young.” At the beginning of the semester, in his Survey of United States History 1780 to Present class, he tells his students that history is exactly like a soap opera. He wants the students to stay interested throughout the class, so he tells history as though it was a story.
DeBlasis, who teaches Sem 100 classes like Coming of Age, College Success and English Composition said, “It all boils down to the fact that I love teaching and believe in the mission at Cabrini.” DeBlasis said, “I teach students to find out how they can make the world a more beautiful place. It’s a pretty great job.”
Enthusiasm such as that shows through a teacher and their work, making students feel like their teacher cares about them and the work they do. Mary Nguyen, 20, a senior business administration major who took DeBlasis’s Coming of Age and English 101 class, said, “I took Amy DeBlasis because she was easy to talk to, she would always remember me and would ask me how things were going even outside of school.”
These professors were all willing to sign in students who want to take their classes even after they are full. They did say that once the class gets completely full, depending on the classroom, they cannot sign anyone else in as not to take the individualized attention away from the students.
These professors whose classes fill up quickly do so not just because they teach the core requirements but as Stefanie Ciarrochi, 21, a senior special and elementary education major, said, “A good teacher is someone who makes themselves available for not only their students, but any student that feels comfortable with them.”
Posted to the web by Cecelia Francisco
