Perfecting the Balancing Act: Kayla Tremblay

Perfecting the Balancing Act: Kayla Tremblay

By Leah Boucher -Staff Reporter

 

    The sun shone on a Friday morning through the basement windows of Dakin into the dance studio, where red and dark blue costumes reflected their sparkles onto the walls. Three mirrors placed together on the front wall captured a choreographer in leggings and a comfy green sweatshirt mouthing the count of the music while the floor vibrated with the bass of hip-hop music.

    Kayla Tremblay, the dancer in front of these mirrors, can be found here for at least a half an hour each Sunday through Friday dancing in eight different routines for Bust-A-Move Beavers (BAM), the dance club on campus she has been a member of since the first semester of her freshman year.

Kayla Trembley, senior Elementary Education Major at UMF
(Photo courtesy of Kayla Trembley)

    Tremblay, a senior Elementary Education major, smiled and leaned back on the wall filled with old dance showcase posters from the 90’s as she thought back to her previous years of dance. “This will be my 19th year of dance, and I started dancing at Steppin’ Out Dance Centre in Saco, Maine, at the age of three,” said Tremblay. “It has always been a way for me to let my stress from work and school out.”

    Her motivation to continue dance past high school even led her to participate in a clogging competition with Danica Lamontagne, another BAM member, this past spring, where they placed first. “This was the first competition that I signed up to do without being part of a competition team,” said Tremblay, “and being able to make the choice by myself was a big step of independence and confidence for me.”

    This stress relief activity is helpful now more than ever, as Tremblay has been a member of BAM, Rotaract, the Rugby Team, French Club and chair of the Spring Fling committee, as well as Alpha Lambda Delta, in which she holds the position of President. She also just finished mailing out cards for “Brocktober” at UMF, where people write and decorate Halloween cards for a terminally ill boy named Brock in Biddeford. Her natural leadership abilities led her to organize this event all on her own while encouraging the clubs she is a part of to contribute, as well.

   “When I first heard about Brock, I knew I wanted to get involved,” said Tremblay. “I knew if I reached out to other UMF clubs and organizations, they could help to make this event bigger than just myself writing several cards to him.”

    Tremblay wiped off her forehead as if to get rid of the sweat from just thinking about her hectic daily schedule. “I work about 15 hours a week in the Partnership for Civic Advancement office, and with a full load of classes, plus all my clubs, sometimes I am forced to eat dinner on the run or do my homework in 15-minute increments,” said Tremblay.

    Reflecting back on her four years in BAM, Tremblay’s face became solemn, but she then quickly switched back to her usual radiant grin. “It’s bittersweet knowing that I’m leaving such a supportive group when I graduate this May,” she said. “Everyone is willing to block out everything else that they may have going on to be an active part of rehearsal, but if someone does need support, there’s 41 other people to listen and help–it’s the perfect family network to be a part of.”

 

First-Year Teachers Represent UMF as Alumna Around the Globe

First-Year Teachers Represent UMF as Alumna Around the Globe

By Leah Boucher – Staff Reporter

Hannah Somes and Willa Barron are starting off their teaching careers in France and China respectively, where they are teaching students English and learning more about other languages, as well.

Somes, who is a 2017 UMF Elementary Education graduate currently teaching conversation-oriented English classes at University of Angers, initially wanted to teach abroad in this country due to her interest in French that started in sixth grade.

“Ever since my first French class, I have been seeking more immersion in the language and wanted to travel to France,” said Somes in a Skype interview.

Somes first arrived in France in August and was quick to experience culture shock. “I was informed that I was not allowed to hand my class a syllabus,” said Somes. “France has a much more open view on education in this sense, which has quickly made me a strong and creative lesson planner.”

Somes was fortunate enough to study abroad at the University of Montreal for the spring semester of 2016, which prepared her for her current teaching position. “Being at a university in Quebec, I ended up speaking French the majority of the time,” said Somes. “Without this experience of constantly speaking in French for several months, I think my transition to France would have been much more difficult.”

Willa Barron, another 2017 UMF Elementary Education graduate, is teaching second grade in Shanghai, China, at Shanghai Fushan Zhengda Foreign Language Primary School. She first heard of this opportunity at an Educator’s Career Fair at UMF last March, where there were representatives from Lee Academy, a private high school in Maine.

Willa Barron teaches an English lesson to her students at the Fushan Primary School.
(Photo Courtesy of Willa Barron)

“Lee Academy has connections with many international schools, the Fushan school being one of them. When I heard about an opportunity to actually teach abroad, I jumped at it,” said Barron in a Skype interview.

Although there are many challenges that arise as a first-year teacher, Barron always tries to find the positives in her day through her students. “When I’m having one of those ‘I’m the worst teacher and I’m not doing well at my job’ days, I just think to myself ‘Even if I teach my students nothing all day, they are still learning English, which will get them so far in life,’” said Barron.

UMF not only has international alumna, but also current students who will represent the school while student teaching abroad in the spring of 2018. Bailey Ohman, a senior Elementary Education major who will be student teaching abroad in Daegu, South Korea, was initially worried about a language barrier between the students and herself. However, she was quickly informed that the school in Daegu has an English curriculum.

“At the Daegu International School, the curriculum is pretty much the same to that in America,” said Ohman. “They use Common Core throughout the school, and all students are expected to read and write in English. I am excited to listen to a different language being spoken among students in the halls and among people in the city, though.”

Barron encourages other education majors to put their fears aside and student teach or teach abroad. “Although some future teachers may worry about language barriers when teaching in foreign countries, it is always important to remember that we all smile and laugh in the same language, and that is one of the best ways to build relationships with students,” said Barron.

    

Fifteen UMF Students Journey Through Peru

Fifteen UMF Students Journey Through Peru

Leah Boucher – Staff Reporter

UMF Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Nicole Kellett, along with her husband, Assistant Professor of Anthropology/Sustainability Coordinator, Lucas Kellett, led a travel course to the South American country of Peru this past May, giving students the opportunity to experience a vastly different culture for eighteen days.

This is the third trip the Kelletts have organized, but this year, they took fifteen students instead of capping the number off at thirteen as they did in 2013 and 2015. On this trip, students were able to visit Lima, the capital of Peru,  the off-beaten highland city of Andahuaylas, the Andean mountains, the local community Sacclaya, Cusco, where students visited Inca sites including Machu Picchu, and finally a trip down the Amazon River.

Nicole Kellett always enjoys returning to this country, where she and her husband have performed research and fieldwork, and loves seeing the interactions between students and locals. “ Luke and I always enjoy being able to introduce students to a number of our dear friends in Peru,” said Kellett.  “I love seeing our godchildren and other friends walking along holding hands with our students, sitting in their laps, and laughing–really building these cross-cultural connections.”

In fact, these connections with the local people are what stuck with Sarah Jenkins, a senior Elementary Education major who was a member of this trip. “One day, we trekked into the Amazon rainforest and went into an indigenous community where Spanish was their second language,” said Jenkins. “When we arrived on the bus, the whole community was in traditional clothing and put on a welcome ceremony–the kids took us by the hand and danced in a circle with us.”

Another senior in the course, a Secondary Education Social Studies major, Connor Lynch, felt a huge sense of culture shock when arriving in Peru; he had only previously been to Canada and knew little to no Spanish. However, his limited Spanish did not stop him from trying to interact with a local gift shop owner at Huaca Pucllana, a Peruvian archaeological site. “One of my friends was having problems with getting the exact amount of change, so I turned to the owner and said ‘loco’ with my limited Spanish—not knowing that it may be offensive to call someone ‘crazy,’” said Lynch. “The older woman was a bit shocked, but then wagged her finger at me, and we laughed together. It was funny to share a laugh with someone when we could not understand each other’s language but still understood what each other was trying to say.”

UMF students on the travel course to Peru this past summer. (Photo by Connor Lynch)

Dr. Nicole Kellett is aware that students each have an immense sense of adventure and curiosity as they peruse Peru, and for this year’s trip, she and Dr. Luke Kellett added a new location. “We added a trip to the Amazon rainforest for the 2017 course. This included a four-day three-night adventure during which we visited a native Amazonian community and a wildlife sanctuary, went on boat rides down Amazonian river tributaries, and went on numerous forest walks to learn about the flora and fauna of the Amazon,” said Kellett.

The Kelletts are in the process of putting another travel course together, but nothing is set in stone as of yet. “We typically offer the Peru travel course every two years, but we are also exploring the development of a travel course to the U.S. southwest,” said Kellett. “If that travel course is created, the timeline for the Peru travel course may shift, but we will definitely be offering the course again in the future with minor adjustments.”