Category: Post

Family Insight, P.C. is hosting a job fair on Saturday, November 3, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm at their Manassas office (located at 7730 Donegan Drive, Manassas, VA 20109).  Available positions include:

• Intensive In-Home Counselor
• Behavior Technician
• Therapeutic Mentoring
• Outpatient Counseling

Attendees should bring a resume.  Walk-ins are welcome, but you may also RSVP by emailing [email protected], using the subject line: JOB FAIR RSVP.

All CEHD students are invited to attend the Greater Washington Reading Council (GWRC) Fall Conference, featuring Cuban American author, Meg Medina, taking place on October 20, 2018 on the SciTech Campus.  Registration is required.  Click the flyer below to read more.

My charge to you, and to myself, is to more frequently and intentionally initiate and reciprocate gratitude and kindness without delay.

Flowers. Thank you cards. Words of affirmation. Compliments. Uninterrupted time. Showing up for others. These are just some of the ways that we show gratitude and kindness to people who have either performed a service or good deed for us or to those who we simply value, appreciate, respect, admire, and love.

Sadly though, too often we find ourselves lacking the capacity, willingness, or awareness to initiate or reciprocate everyday, or special occasion, acts of kindness. 

Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Frank A. Thomas, Director of the PhD Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana, speak on the topic, “the tragedy of delayed kindness.” He reminded the audience that, “one flower in life is worth more floral wreaths in death” and that “please and thank you will take you further in life than money and degrees.” This message resonated with me, as there are times when I find myself too busy to initiate kindness to let someone know how much I appreciate them or to reciprocate kindness to show my gratitude for what someone has done for me. 

I can’t begin to count the number of times, this week alone, I’ve been on the receiving end of kindness and gratitude. I’ve received: compliments on my new Mason gear that I recently purchased at the University bookstore during the Flash Sale; a kind and very thoughtful email from my supervisor letting me know how much she appreciates me and values my leadership and perspectives; a thank you note and gift card from a colleague to express her gratitude for how I always support her and answer her questions no matter how trivial or complex; and a student walking up to me in the Johnson Center to tell me that he was officially enrolled for the semester and eligible to receive his VA benefits as a result of my colleagues and I taking the time to meet with him when he showed up to the office unannounced and in a panic and working expeditiously, on his behalf, to resolve his challenges. Indeed, I’m humbled and energized by the varied acts of kindness that have been directed towards me this week. My spirit is lifted, and my kindness cup “runneth over.” 

Truly, it’s great to be on the receiving end of kindness; but, of course, it works both ways. As such, my charge to you, and to myself, is to more frequently and intentionally initiate and reciprocate gratitude and kindness without delay.

Therefore, in this blog space, I want to publicly recognize the staff from across the College and the student volunteers who helped make our CEHD Welcome2Mason Block Party this week a huge success! Also, special gratitude to my staff, the CEHD Student Success Team, for successfully planning and flawlessly executing two signature events this week, the Block Party and the PhD and faculty mixer! Lastly, thank you to my new graduate assistant who has been going above and beyond to acclimate herself to our office and the CEHD culture and displaying ultimate team player spirit, as she has willingly dived in to help the office staff in whatever capacity needed. 

Now it’s your turn. Let someone know today how grateful you are for what they’ve done for you; how they’ve made you feel; or how you appreciate what they are doing in the lives of others. Give them their “flowers” now while they can still see, smell, and/or touch them. 

Here are a few suggestions to help get you started:

• Send a kind note to that professor who gave you an IN grade to allow you more time to complete assignments when they weren’t obligated.
• Offer an appropriate compliment to that classmate who always shows up for class looking fly! It takes time to consistently look fly!
• Bring a coworker a small token of appreciation for covering your shift or volunteering to help lighten your workload.
• Call (not text!) your parents or an old friend just to let them know that you’re thinking about them.
• Leave the server a 20% tip the next time you’re dining in at a restaurant to show appreciation for the quality of service that enhanced your experience. 

Don’t delay. (Re)Activate your spirit of kindness today, for as Dr. Thomas reminded me, and I share with you, “there’s a tragedy in delayed kindness.”

JOB TITLE: NSF RET Fellows

Review of application starts now until the post is filled.

Job description: The NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center (STC) is advertising a fellow opportunity for in-service or pre-service K-12 teachers. The fellow will participate in a spatiotemporal innovation project funded by the NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program. STC, a collaboration between George Mason University (GMU), University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Harvard, conducts STEM research and development with partners in academia, state and federal agencies, industry, and non-governmental organizations. This RET fellow opportunity supports K-12 teachers, specifically in-service or pre-service high school teachers, to participate in spatiotemporal research at GMU. Outcomes of this RET program will provide participants with novel STEM-based lesson plans and State of the Art classroom activities.

The participant will join our research team at George Mason and will work in residence until the end of July 2019 (contingent to budget). During the first two weeks, the participant will get introduced to the latest advances in spatiotemporal research. The participant will meet with center members to discuss their research and how this research relates to national education standards. The initial two weeks will allow the participant to understand the importance of spatiotemporal research and how it alters everyday decision making. In a second phase, the participant will get familiar with the acknowledge about the practical research conducted in the center, the participant will develop lesson plans that are closely associated with national education standards. The participants will also have access to activities in the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program, an educational opportunity for high school and undergraduate students. The third phase will include implementing the lesson plan into the class curriculum. RET participant will be encouraged to introduce their new lesson plans in a classroom setting during the academic school year, or publish the outcomes of this research experience in an educational journal.

The NSF RET Fellow will receive travel support to a professional conference (e.g. the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers or the 2019 Annual Meeting of the National Council for Geographic Education) to present the outcomes of this RET fellowship. Participants are also encouraged to publish the outcomes of this research experience in an educational journal.

For more information about NSF RET program, please visit http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5736
For more information about STC, please visit http://www.stcenter.net

Compensation:
Funding up to $10K will be provided to cover stipend and travel. Hourly wage ranges from $15 to $20 per hour depending on the candidate’s experience. Maximum 20 hours per week.

Requirements:

• Applicants must be in-service or pre-service K-12 teachers.
• Applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the United States.
• Applicants should be able to work at GMU. The start date and end date is flexible.
• We encourage applications from underrepresented groups, such as women, Native-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, Veterans, and students with disabilities.

A complete application includes:

• A resume
• One-page statement of interest.
• Contacts (email and phone #) of two referees.

Selection process:

There will be three steps for selecting the students: 1) Site directors will collaboratively select a pool of promising applicants. 2) Faculty members will select relevant student who matches their interest. 3) A phone interview will be arranged with the selected candidates to consider the teacher’s skills in communication, team work, and topic interest.

Please send the application to Penny Peng ([email protected]). The review of applications will start now until the position is filled up.

George Mason University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration as follows without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status.