Our Academic Coaching and Tutoring Center held a Relax Before Finals event yesterday in the Main Lounge of the Hammond Building. This was a co-curricular event for First Year Experience students to come de-stress and get some resources to help them through the finals period. Students could stop by for make-your-own snack mix, crafts, puzzles, easier-to-read final exam schedules, and peer mentors to help strategize and schedule tutoring appointments to get through this final stretch of the semester.

In this course, the fundamentals of guitar playing are studied including learning basic chords, scales, arpeggios and techniques for playing a variety of musical styles. Emphasis is placed on melody and accompaniment style texture as well as on individual and ensemble playing.

Students in Biology and Chemistry Professor Dr. Sean Rollins' Medical Microbiology course performed four separate procedures in yesterday's lab in the Antonucci Science Complex. The course serves as an introduction to the biology of major groups of micro-organisms including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. Emphasis is placed on their relationship to man as agents of infectious diseases. In the laboratory principles and practices of aseptic techniques and diagnostic identification and culture of disease entities are explored.

Last week, students enrolled in the Fitchburg High School Honors Academy  visited campus to learn about the Fitchburg State University Honors Program from Honors Coordinator Mathematics Professor Dr. Catherine Buell, and Assistant Honors Coordinator Biology and Chemistry Professor Dr. Emma Downs, and students currently enrolled in the program. After the information and Q&A session, students took tours of the campus and enjoyed lunch in the dining commons.

Beginning this evening, the Communications Media Department will present its production of It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at the Wallace Theater for the Performing Arts in the McKay Complex. Written by Joe Landry and directed by Fitchburg State Professor Kelly Morgan and student Allison Thompson, the classic movie is retold as a charming 1940s-themed radio show, including a live Foley operator for sound effects. Experience the impressive vocal range of the actors as they play multiple characters "over the air." Learn more about the production and when to see it here.

Late last week, Dean of The School of Health and Natural Sciences Dr. Jennifer Hanselman and Engineering Technology Department faculty welcomed local business partners to the  Fitchburg State University Engineering Technology Department's Industry Advisory Board (IAB) meeting. Included on the agenda was an opportunity for students ask these industry professionals questions, and to present their work to the partners in attendance.

The Fitchburg State University Dance Club held their annual Winter Showcase Friday night and Saturday afternoon to packed and boisterous audiences. Each performance was choreographed by a member of the club, and the performances were amazing! Senior Kayla Matthews and her self-described Proud Dance Dad served as emcees for the event.

Yesterday, Lourdes Ramirez, coordinator of field placements, partnerships and recruitment for Fitchburg State’s School of Education welcomed a cohort of local high school students enrolled in The Future Educator Academy program to campus for a day of programming. Students completed a badge focused on Supporting Mental Wellness in the Classroom, Working with Students Who are Underserved, Traditionally Marginalized, and Disenfranchised, and a badge on performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to adults and infants.

Yesterday evening, the Fitchburg State University community gathered on the Highland Ave. Plaza for the Annual Lighting of the Campus. Members of the staff  spoke briefly after the Fitchburg State Choir began the festivities. Holidays that were spoken about were St. Nicholas Day, Fiesta de Guadalupe, St. Lucia Day, Los Posadas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Dong Zhi, Soyaluna, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Hmong New Year, and Three Kings Day/Epiphany. In closing, both President Lapidus and Student Government Association (SGA) President Kervens Blanc made remarks, then led the crowd in a countdown to the lighting of the campus.

Music Professor Amy McGlothlin discusses and demonstrates how different types of microphones can be used in different ways to improve voice or instrument recording in her Intro to Music Technology course. Students recorded, then evaluated the microphones based on sound, soundwaves, and tonality. This course focuses on acoustics, hardware operation, music theory, notation, and composition skills through instructional software and on creating, recording, and editing sounds with digital audio applications. Learn more about our music programs here.