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Students And Alumni Are Urged
To Participate In Tufts Research Project
The Tufts University research project
which will evaluate the impact of Williamson’s educational approach on the
lives of its students is now in progress.
Williamson’s administration is 100
percent behind the project and encourages the cooperation of all students and
alumni who are asked to participate.
Williamson was chosen for this study
because of its unique approach to education which integrates character, moral, and civic education with the hope
of promoting success in the lives of its
graduates by giving them the skills to
become useful and respected members
of society.
The group of researchers, under
the leadership of Richard M. Learner,
Ph.D., professor of psychology at Tufts,
is gathering data from current students
and a sample of Williamson graduates
from five to 50 years after graduation.
The data collected will be compared to
the data collected from young men enrolled in several other vocational programs and junior colleges.
Lerner said it is hoped the research
will shed light on the impact of Williamson’s approach to education as “a
powerful means to enhance the quality
of American economic and civil life.”
He added, “The Williamson model
of integratively educating young people
in regard to character, moral behavior,
and positive, active citizenship can provide insight into a potentially powerful
means to break the cycle of social dependency among lower income American families.”
The project is being funded with a
generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
Masons Learn About Dedication
And Service At Air Force Base Project
Continued from page 2
in an actual work situation.”
Working under less than ideal circumstances, Hiltebeitel and his students
laid 900 12-inch concrete blocks, put in
steel reinforcements, applied grout, put
in a thin stone veneer, and plastered.
The project began with the Air Force
completing a background check on
each student and Hiltebeitel so they
could receive permission to live on the
base. This took about one month. Then,
arrangements had to be made to house
and feed the students. Passes to drive on
the base had to be obtained for all Williamson vehicles that were involved.
On the first trip, eight seniors accompanied Hiltebeitel for five days.
Because it had rained very hard the previous few days and the ditches, which
had already been dug, were full of water, Holm called and said don’t bother
coming because there is too much water. But, fortunately, Jim Steward 8W6,
supervisor of grounds and transportation, came to the rescue, loaning the
group a gas-powered water pump. With
an electric generator from the carpentry
shop and a mortar mixer and scaffolding from the masonry shop, the group
was able to work independently.
After draining the ditches and cleaning up the work area, the group laid
600 blocks in two days. Then, five of
the eight students had to return to their
spring co-ops, leaving Hiltebeitel and
three students to continue. They had
laid the block so fast they ran out and
Steward again came to the rescue, picking up another 300 12-inch block at EP
Henry and delivering them.
Hiltebeitel and the three remaining
seniors made other trips May 2, 3, and
4, and May 9, 10, and 11. With spring
semester coming to a close, it was necessary for the group to return to Wil-
liamson with the memorial not quite
completed. Hiltebeitel and the students
all offered to return over the summer,
but the base hired masons to complete
the project.
Hiltebeitel said they worked the entire time in raw, rainy weather, starting
at 7 a.m. and working until 6:30 p.m.
They worked under deadline pressure
and were exhausted at the end of each
day.
“The colonel said without Williamson’s help they never would have completed the memorial. They greatly appreciated the help we provided.”
Holm acknowledged that the wall
would never have been completed without the volunteer efforts of Williamson
students. “Huge kudos to Williamson
for their incredible dedication to excellence and hard work,” he said in a letter
to President Gardner.
Major General USAF Timothy Zadalis, of the USAF Air Education Training
Command, also said in a letter to Gardner, “I want to thank Williamson for
sending us your very best to build the
Air Advisor Memorial. Dan Hiltebeitel
and his young men performed a minor
miracle putting this memorial together
in such difficult weather and short time.
To see this group working so hard and
doing such a wonderful job just made
me so proud to be an American.”
The students who worked on the project were: Andrew Abrams, Chris Biddy,
Joe D’Aurizio, Will Figueroa, Tim Gillen, Dan Hobbs, Sean Kidd, and Dan
Koppenhaver.
The memorial was unveiled July 27
at a special ceremony with Williamson
represented by Hiltebeitel and Koppenhaver.
For more information on the memorial, visit www.airadvisormemorial.com/
home/Home.html.
Yeaw Endows Three Awards
Capt. Ronald Yeaw, son of Arthur S.
Yeaw, Williamson’s English and music
instructor from 1935-58, endowed three
awards spring semester, two in memory
of his father and one in memory of William Swinehart, machine tool technology instructor from 1947-74.
The awards are: the Arthur S. Yeaw
Memorial Award for English, given
to the student who was the best writer
for the student newspaper, the I.V.
Monthly; the Arthur S. Yeaw Memorial
Award for Music, given to the student
who demonstrated the most overall improvement in music; and the William T.
and Veronica R. Swinehart Award for
Machine Shop, given to the machine
tool technology student with the highest project grades. The awards will be
given annually to a student of any class
year.
Yeaw said, “It was with extreme pride
and memories of my life growing up at
Williamson that I took the opportunity
to endow three awards to honor and remember two true faculty member icons
in the history و H