$50,000 Grant Funds Alternative Teacher Certification Program
A $50,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Education is funding the development of a new program that will offer teacher certification to individuals who have a bachelor’s degree and at least three years’ work experience, and who aren’t able to leave the work force for the time normally required to earn a graduate degree.
Under the new program, the students would spend a month on campus being introduced to key teaching concepts, two months as an intern in a classroom, and then two weeks on campus for follow-up.
Then the student receives a teacher intern license, which authorizes him or her to teach at any secondary school in Iowa. Over the next year, the student completes 12 semester hours of coursework while teaching, plus three months of summer coursework, most of it online. The student then receives an M.A.T. degree and a teaching credential.
“This is how I would do it if I were this kind of person wanting to make a career change,” said faculty member Paula Armstrong, who is helping to develop the new program. “It’s quicker, more practical, and more hands-on.”
Called alternative licensure, this new approach to teacher education is a measure being taken in Iowa and other states to bring more people into the teaching profession. The Iowa Department of Education announced the availability of three development grants as a way of encouraging colleges and universities in Iowa to add this option to their curriculum.
M.U.M.’s Teacher Intern Program will be in development for a year and will first be offered beginning next March. Development of the program will entail creating partnerships with Iowa school districts, creating courses, bringing in experts in mathematics and science education and in delivering instruction online via state-of-the-art technology, and becoming proficient with online delivery.
The program hopes to attract students from around the state and the country. “What makes ours unique is that it includes the Transcendental Meditation technique and the depth of Maharishi’s knowledge about education,” Ms. Armstrong said.
Another strength will be the mentoring component, which will entail having a mentor at the school where the person is teaching, a university professor as a mentor, and a weekly online seminar that will provide support.
The M.U.M. program will have a special focus on training math and science teachers, but will accept students with an undergraduate degree in any area in which M.U.M. offers licensure.
Ms. Armstrong said that other programs typically offer the initial training and two-month internship during the summer, which may not give teachers a realistic experience of the classroom. M.U.M.’s program will begin in March so that the interns can experience teaching in a regular classroom.
Those who enroll must do their first year of teaching in Iowa, but can then relocate to another state if they choose.
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Campus Organic Farms Warm Up to $13,000 Grant
BY LEE LEFFLER
The Maharishi University of Management Organic Farm has received a $13,750 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to study growing vegetables in large gutter-connect greenhouses in winter without added heat.
Not heating the greenhouse will reduce the farm’s fossil fuel consumption by about 88%. “This is an innovative study and a significant step in making the M.U.M. Farm and the University more sustainable,” said Steve McLaskey, assistant professor of biology and agriculture and director of the farm.
The method involves placing an extra layer of plastic directly over the plants to retain more heat. The research is innovative due to the large size of the greenhouses, which grow organic vegetables in the ground. Past studies at other institutions have examined this method in smaller greenhouses.
“Most of the large greenhouses in North America are used for ornamental crops, not vegetables,” Dr. McLaskey said. “There are large vegetable greenhouses in Canada, but they mainly use hydroponic [soil-free] techniques. I do not know of any other places, besides Fairfield and Maharishi Vedic City, that grow organic vegetables in the ground in one-acre greenhouses, especially in our very cold winter temperatures.”
The process started in January, when the heat in the greenhouses was switched off. The plastic on the roof of the greenhouse was replaced recently, so the old plastic was reused and placed over the plants in newly-built frames. This saved money and prevented the plastic from going into a landfill. The beds must be covered and uncovered daily.
Now that the grant is secured, the research will begin. The farm workers will measure growth and yield of four crops, measure soil and air temperatures, and estimate heating cost savings.
If this study is successful, Iowa farmers will be able to grow organic vegetables in large greenhouses without spending money on heating fuel. Then this type of farming will be more profitable and thus, more likely to become popular.
The Maharishi University of Management Organic Farm provides fresh produce to the dining halls and Golden Dome Market on the Maharishi University of Management campus.
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New Pre-Medical Program Begins
By Livia Cole
The University’s new pre-medical undergraduate program, which represents the first phase of the Maharishi Integrative Medicine program of the Maharishi College of Perfect Health, is now under way, with 10 students who have selected it as their major.
Those graduating with a pre-med degree may then apply to medical school, with a planned option of a forthcoming M.D. degree to be offered by M.U.M.’s Maharishi College of Perfect Health.
“Maharishi asked us to provide a complete package of health care that includes the best of all worlds to relieve suffering and promote longevity,” said Dr. Robert Schneider, dean of the Maharishi College of Perfect Health.
The Office of Admissions has already received great interest in the degree program because of its uniqueness. Also, there is a shortage of doctors in the U.S. and not enough places in current medical schools to fill the need.
“This is the future of medicine — to have preventive medicine and blend it with the diagnostic and emergency technologies of allopathic medicine,” said Marcus Chatfield, third-year student.
Students in the pre-med major take coursework in biology and chemistry, two physics courses, and four courses in Physiology and Health: Maharishi Self-Pulse diagnosis; Maharishi Yoga asanas; Diet, Digestion, and Nutrition; and Biostatistics and Medical Research Methods.
“The Consciousness-Based approach of this program will yield doctors who will know how to help people because they themselves are healthy,” said Tor Travis, first-year student.
Dr. Schneider and his colleagues are pursuing accreditation for the planned medical school, which will offer an M.D. degree in conventional medicine along with an M.S. in natural medicine. Clinical rotation and practical training will be offered in the Maharishi Health Center, a patient-oriented, holistic hospital. In addition, the College plans to collaborate with conventional hospitals interested in Maharishi Integrative Medicine.
This first-of-its-kind medical program combines the most advanced practices of modern medicine with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health(SM) as well as the most effective and scientific practices of other systems of natural medicine.
The Maharishi College of Perfect Health will be a prototype for medical education, clinical care, and research worldwide, Dr. Schneider said.
In addition to the 20 departments of modern medicine, the college will have departments of natural systems such as traditional Chinese medicine and homeopathy. The Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health section will contain 40 approaches, ranging from meditation therapy and sound therapy to yoga therapy, Maharishi Rejuvenation(SM) therapy, and the health benefits of Maharishi Vedic(SM) architecture.
“In offering access to all evidence-based healing modalities, the planned Maharishi College of Perfect Health and Maharishi Health Center promises fulfillment to the doctor as well as the patient,” said Dr. Nancy Lonsdorf, adjunct clinical faculty.
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Student Publishes Article in Book
First-year student Ellora Hans-Price has a short article about her experience as a Maharishi School student in a book published in February by Health Communications, Inc., publishers of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
Jon & Jayne’s Guide to Getting Through School (Mostly Intact) offers advice to teens related to school life — hallways and classrooms, athletic field and lunchroom, teachers and classes, homework and studying, cliques and crushes.
It includes short articles by students about their experiences in school. Ms. Hans-Price, who was invited by the authors to submit an article, wrote about how Maharishi School integrates the Transcendental Meditation® technique into the curriculum, what the technique entails, and the positive effects it has.
“TM has made my school career easy and enjoyable and is one of the most rewarding things I do with my time,” she concluded.
The book, the third in a series by the authors, is available on Amazon.com.
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School Students Win Top Award at State Speech
A group mime performed by Maharishi School students won the top award in that category at the recent state speech association competition.
“The Adventures of Miss Power and the Amazing Violet Velocity In: Dial ‘H’ for Hero!” received the IHSSA All-State Critic’s Choice Award, which deems it the best group mime of 2009 in the state of Iowa.
The 2009 Iowa High School Speech Association All-State Festival was held at the Iowa State Center in Ames. Six out of nine entries from Maharishi School were recognized at the All-State Festival this year. Only the top performances from each of the state-level competitions receive such an honor. Two Maharishi School pieces received special recognition at the All-State Festival and four pieces performed.
The winning mime was developed by the performers and the coaches, Brendan Thomas and Alana Waksman. The performers were Essa Johnson, Angelia Mahaney, Paris Lamoureux, Caroline Fulcher, Pearl Sawhney, and Minna Mohammadi.
Critics for the All-State Festival are chosen from across the state to judge each of the categories. At the end of the day, each critic from each respective category chooses his or her favorite performance of the day, thus awarding the Critic’s Choice Award to that performance and school and entrusting them with the banner to hang in their school for one year.
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