Reinke Honored with a 25th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Roast

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Rod Reinke, didactic instructor of nurse anesthesia at Texas Wesleyan, was recently honored with a 25th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Roast at the Arlington Hilton. Reinke has been a member of the faculty at the Texas Wesleyan Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia (GPNA) for 25 years. He was instrumental in the development of the Program of Nurse Anesthesia and continues to improve the quality of nurse anesthetists throughout the country. To date, more than 1,100 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists who have been educated by Reinke are providing quality anesthesia in the United States.

     There were more than 220 people on hand to celebrate the surprise event with him, including his family members from North Dakota. The roast panel included Allen Henderson, provost and senior vice president; William Bleibdrey, vice president of finance and administration, who also served as master of ceremonies for the evening; Norval Kneten, former dean at Texas Wesleyan; Ron Ballard, professor of religion; and two CRNA alumni. Guests included CRNAs from over the past 25 years, including four from Reinke's first graduating class. An educational fund was started through donations of guests to directly benefit the future education of CRNAs. When you see Reinke on campus, please congratulate him on 25 fantastic years of nurse anesthesia education!

GPNA Receives Grant Awards from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

Congratulations to John Martin, Charlie Waller, and the Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia for their recent grant awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources & Services Administration. The Nurse Anesthetist Traineeships program award in the amount of $53,214 supports full-time anesthetist students who have completed the first 12 months of study and can assist with the payment of tuition and fees, books, and stipends. Totaling $44,067, the Advanced Education Nursing Traineeships grant supports nurse anesthetist students in the first year of the master's program.

Eisenhower/Teacher Quality Program Alumna Wins Presidential Award

Michelle Yates, a participant in the Eisenhower/Teacher Quality Workshops at Texas Wesleyan for several years, has received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The Presidential Awards are the nation’s highest honor for teaching mathematics or science. Yates teaches fifth-grade science at Bess Race Elementary School in Crowley.

     Each year, the President of the United States recognizes outstanding kindergarten–6th-grade or 7th–12th-grade mathematics and science teachers by bestowing upon them the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). The more than 3,700 awardees selected since the program’s inception in 1983 are a premier group of highly qualified teachers who have both deep content knowledge of the subjects they teach and the ability to motivate and enable students to be successful in these areas. Collectively, they reflect the expertise and dedication of the nation’s teaching corps, and they demonstrate the positive impact of excellent teachers on student achievement.

Texas Wesleyan University has been selected to receive nearly $2 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Strengthening Institutions Program. Texas Wesleyan was the only university in the state to receive this award and was one of 20 institutions nationwide. Congressman Michael Burgess’ office notified Texas Wesleyan of the award.

     The grant award will be approximately $400,000 per year for 5 years, beginning October 1, 2007. The Strengthening Institutions Program funding totals $1.98 million over five years and includes money for instructional technologies, academic programming using the Learning Community Model, and transforming the advising process.

     For more information, contact Michelle Stein, communications director for U.S. Representative Michael Burgess, at (202) 225-7772 or Deborah Roark, director of grants at Texas Wesleyan University, at (817) 531-5845.

New Arrival: Noah Michael Bailey

Congratulations to Krista Hughes Bailey and her husband, Kevin, on the birth of their son, Noah Michael. Noah was born Thursday, June 28, at 12:13 a.m.; he weighed 7 lbs., 10 oz., and measured 20 1/4 inches long. Bailey is administrative assistant to the faculty of Arts and Sciences and assistant to the director of the M.D. Anderson Pre-Professional Program at Texas Wesleyan.

Alumna Stars in Regional Production of Guys and Dolls

Amber Womack, BA '99, will be playing Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls at the Graham Regional Theatre. The show runs July 20-22 and 27-29; Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit www.GrahamRegionalTheatre.com. 

In the News

The Texas Wesleyan table tennis team was recently featured in an article on ESPN.com. This week, the site is featuring "a few of the best non-NCAA-sanctioned programs in the country." Click here to read the full article.