Clark: Beyond the classroom
Continued from page 1
life, they will really understand it.”
She compared that with her attitude
toward Spanish. Understanding
the tenses in Spanish, she realized,
wasn’t enough for her. She had
to make it a part of her life and
immerse herself into the Spanish
culture to really understand its
people, culture and language.
“Education is not a game,” she said.
“It’s about changing yourself.”
Clark has been teaching Spanish
classes for several years. In
2004, she received the award for
Excellence in Teaching from Penn
State Schuylkill, where she taught
prior to coming to the Harrisburg
campus. And even before that, she
taught at both the Schuylkill and
capital campus at the same time
because they were merged together.
Once they separated, she taught at
either campus.
Both campuses, she explained, have
their advantages. It would be unfair
to choose her favorite, she said in her
soft-spoken tone.
“Each campus is unique and
different in its own way,” Clark said,
The commute to either campus was
“not too bad,” she said.
Clark calls Lebanon County her
home, even though as a child, she
moved several times. But she
was able to experience different
neighborhoods that way, she
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mentioned. She lives with her
husband and two children, while her
two oldest have moved out.
Some classes she has taught include
Spanish, Hispanic culture, Latin
American literature and political
identity, magical realism, and
“bananas, coffee and water: text and
politics of the commonplace in
Latin America.”
Besides being interested in Spanish,
Clark has several other hobbies.
Being an ecologist is one of them.
Even for her home, she uses solar
powered energy. Being able to create
her own energy at home is something
she really desires. With all the
energy-saving tactics Clark uses in
her house, she said that she and her
husband are “greening the house.”
Knitting is also one of her interests.
She knits clogs, sweaters and scarves
that she gives as gifts. She has
also knit items for breast cancer as
therapy. Painting and water coloring
are also one of her hobbies.
Even though teaching is her
passion, Clark said she would love to
work in a developing country where
she could “really, really” make a
difference and “right a wrong.”
“It’s better to actually do something
for people than to just give them
money,” said Clark.
She would really like to involve
herself in study abroad projects. A
group of people in Chicago taught
an indigenous group of people
in Mexico, called the Zapatistas,
how to make films. It is called the
Chiapas Media Project. The group
in Chicago will be coming to Penn
State Harrisburg on March 21 where
Clark will lecture on the project and
actually show a film created by the
Zapatistas. The event will be open to
the public.
Another one of her hobbies include
playing the violin, flute and piano,
which she has been playing since she
was five years old. She still plays the
piano and flute.
One of the craziest acts Clark has
done is chasing a purple bus in
Georgia because she thought the
Indigo Girls were in it. She was with
her daughter and was wearing an
Indigo Girls shirt. She saw the purple
bus, and got so excited that she told
her daughter to follow the bus, while
she pulled at her shirt to show the
folk singers how much she loved
them. When the bus finally stopped,
she was embarrassed to learn that the
bus was actually a group of tourists.
Clarke would like for people to
view her as warm, compassionate
and intellectual.
Claric’s fevs:
Food: Roast Chicken,
anything Penn. Dutch
Drink: Water because
its good for you
Sport: She likes to go
cross country skiing.
She hates to watch
sports.
Music: New age,
Celtic with world pop
influences, Classical,
Space music, Folk.
She does not like the
“really hard stuff”
like Rap and Rock.
She enjoys political
statements in her
Places to travel
Maine, Mexico,
Europe, England,
Canada and Puerto
Rico
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Dancing with Penn State
By MARIAM ELHADRI
Staff Reporter
MUEII7@PSU.EDU
It is the new rage in reality TV
that you probably have seen
causing commotion and getting sky
high ratings. The hottest celebrities
battle it oft' on the dance floor in
front of millions of Americans each
week, all for the love and passion of
ballroom dancing on “Dancing with
the Stars.”
Penn State Harrisburg is bringing
reality TV to the classroom with its
v ery own ballroom dancing course.
This is the first year Penn State
Harrisburg has Ballroom Dancing
as its newest addition to the gym
program. Only one section of this
class is offered, during the spring
semester only, and it filled to capacity
during scheduling week.
According to Penn State’s
schedule of courses, this is a course
designed to provide students with
basic dance skills and an understanding
and appreciation of ballroom dance.
Along with the gym credits,
ballroom dance student Victoria
Nguyen stated, “I think when Dancing
with the Stars showed on TV, more
and more people have become
interested in ballroom dancing and I
guess what is one reason that this class
caught my eye.”
Another ballroom student, Bethany
Burchill, has always wanted to
learn to ballroom dance; since it
THE CAPITAL TIMES
was “basically” free and she was
getting a gym credit for it, she could
not resist.
Instructor Deborah Davis was very
excited to bring this course over to
PSH. She has been ballroom dancing
for thirty years and teaching for
twenty of those years. Davis started
out during the disco/hustle scene.
She received the ISTD, the Imperial
Society of Teachers of Dancing. She
has been teaching non-credit courses
at HACC for eighteen years, and
credit courses there as well for the
past three years.
Davis loves teaching dance to
“promote an activity and the young
that they can enjoy their entire lives.”
She explained that in liurope, children
Photo by VICTORIA HENNIGAN/Copitol Times
learn ballroom dance at eight years of
age. It has great benefits including
social skills and exercise. A twenty
minute ballroom dance session
equals twenty minutes of an aerobic
exercise. She said it also is a great
stress reducer, connecting the mind
and body, and can help greatly with
patients of Alzheimer’s disease.
For her students at PSH, Davis
teaches an introduction to Ballroom
Dancing and Rhythm. The dances
they will learn include the Fox Trot,
Waltz, Tango, Swing and Hustle. She
will also give history lectures on each
dance in which students are quizzed
on. A typical lesson would consist
of the characteristics of a dance,
warm-ups, and incorporating into the
dance. She is impressed how quickly
ft* tin*
February 26, 2007 5
the students have picked up on
the dances.
The students’ enthusiasm about the
course was just as energetic as their
movements and motivation. Of the
twenty-five students, ten male, fifteen
female, most believe the best part of
the course is getting out on the floor
and learning the moves. Burchill
particularly enjoys the Tango and the
Hustle as her personal favorites.
Nguyen stated about the mood of the
class and said, “At first we were all
kind of shy and did not know how the
paring up would work since there were
twice as many girls in the class than
guys. Now, we have gotten to know
each other and we take turn dancing
together. While we wait for a partner,
we practice by ourselves or
with each other. We have a
lot of fun, laughing together
when we make mistakes or
accidentally step on each
other’s feet.”
Both Nguyen and Burchill
plan on continuing their
ballroom dancing elsewhere
after this semester ends.
Professor Davis offers
discounts to any of her
students that are looking for
lessons at her studio.
Professor Davis projects
dancing program at Penn
State Harrisburg to expand. With
its popularity this semester, she is
looking into adding another section
next spring, and hopefully eventually
offering the course throughout the
entire year.
If you are ready for a fun exercise
experience, and to take a break
from traditional academic courses,
consider this ballroom dancing course
as apart of your schedule for Spring
2008. Can’t fit that in you schedule?
Get a part of the dancing scene at
Davis’s studio, Ballroom Break,
and learn dances including Swing,
Latin, Smooth, Hustle, Theatrical,
Country and Western, Jazz, Ballet,
and American and International style
dances. Visit www.ballroombreak.
com for more information.
ballroom