This week’s Hotline! includes the following articles:

• President’s Column: The Normal School Museum and Lura Perrine
• VCSU alumni Gjovik and Hatt win ACTE national awards
• Dahlberg named ‘Difference Maker’
• Da Vinha co-authors journal article in Mediterranean geography journal
• Heide presents at Nebraska music education conference
• Viking sports update
• What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…

The VCSU Hotline! online newsletter is published every Monday. Deadline to submit articles (photos encouraged) is 3 p.m. the Friday before publication.

President’s Column: The Normal School Museum and Lura Perrine

Did you know that VCSU once housed a museum? Back in 1893, the 3rd Annual Catalog notes an infant museum which included “numerous collections of specimens sent out by the National Museum (Smithsonian).” About a decade later, the 1905 Annual Catalog describes a museum that includes a rich collection of zoological types, an herbarium, a private collection of conchological and geological specimens, and a private collection of eggs “that contains nearly a hundred species, some of which are very rare and valuable.” If you, like me, needed the dictionary for “conchological,” it refers to the study of mollusks’ shells, something its first curator studied and collected.

The early museum was viewed as “a most valuable and indispensable adjunct to the work of instruction in our schools,” and natural science programs in both the Normal School department and the Model School department appear to have made frequent use of the artifacts to enhance student instruction.

The museum was named in honor of Lura Perrine, who organized and developed the collection during her 1892-1919 tenure at Valley City Normal as a faculty member in the field of natural sciences. The museum was housed in three rooms on the main floor of McFarland Hall, along the corridor that connects the original building with the West addition, the area currently home to the Student Affairs offices. The collection included about 11,000 specimens. It was closed in the early Sixties, about the same time that the Model School was closed.

The Perrine family genealogy (found online) indicates that Miss Perrine was the oldest of five daughters, all born in Michigan to parents who taught at Albion College, from which Lura graduated in 1880. After the death of her father in 1881, the family moved to Wano Township, LaMoure County, N.D.; according to President McFarland’s eulogy at her funeral, the Perrine women were the first family to settle in this township. Miss Perrine worked in the graded schools at LaMoure, Oakes, and Ellendale for a decade; then, when the new normal school in Valley City required an additional instructor, she accepted the appointment and began her work at Valley City Normal in January 1892. Her youngest sister attend Valley City Normal in 1894 and soon thereafter married Hugh McDonald, a Valley City resident.

Miss Perrine was an early member of the North Dakota Academy of Science; she was also a dedicated member of the VCN faculty. McFarland indicates that she contributed widely to the “best” traditions of the school, and he attributes the “Normal Yell” to her efforts. She was an avid collector, particularly interested in marine species, and she traveled widely between school terms, bringing back geological or conchological specimens to enrich the museum.

She appears to have been a highly intelligent, adventurous, dynamic woman, who drove a car in the 1900s when cars were new to the Midwest, who traveled alone and made friends at every destination, and who engaged students in exceptional learning experiences. Students remembered her reading Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poem, “The Chambered Nautilus,” and explaining it “with the beautiful shell in her hand, her soul exulting in the climax at the last verse” (McFarland’s eulogy).

When she died in 1919, she was (at that time) the longest serving faculty member of the school. McFarland said that she had “the appreciation of thousands of young people to whom she has introduced the beauties and wonder of the solid earth, ‘the wonders of the heavens above them, as well as the soul within them.’”

VCSU alumni Gjovik and Hatt win ACTE national awards

Peder Gjovik ’77 and Katie Hatt M.Ed. ’16 won national awards at the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) national conference, CareerTech VISION 2018, in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 28.

Gjovik, associate professor and chair of the VCSU Department of Technology, was named ACTE 2019 Teacher Educator of the Year. Hatt, health careers instructor in the Grand Forks (N.D.) Public Schools and the Grand Forks Area Career and Technology Center, was named ACTE 2019 New Teacher of the Year.

Read more at www.vcsu.edu/news/10681/vcsu-alumni-gjovik-and-hatt-win-acte-national-awards.

Dahlberg named ‘Difference Maker’

Margaret Dahlberg, Ph.D, vice president for academic affairs and interim president, was recently presented with the “Difference Maker” award. She was nominated by the academic administrative assistants.

Her nomination read, “Dr. Dahlberg is a difference maker. She not only hears what you say but she also listens. Being able to listen is a lost art. She takes time for each and every employee and student. In the interim position as president she has made a difference by maintaining the VCSU vessel by keeping us all rowing. Thank you, Dr. Dahlberg for your continued exemplary service to Valley City State University.”

Congratulations, Margaret!

Da Vinha co-authors journal article in Mediterranean geography journal

Luis da Vinha, associate professor of geography and political science, co-authored an article in the French journal “Méditerranée: Revue Géographique des Pays Méditerranéens.” The article, “Changes in Mainland Portuguese Forest Areas since the Last Decade of the XXth Century”, is co-authored with António Bento-Gonçalves (University of Minho), António Vieira (University of Minho) and Safa’ Hamada (An Najah National University), and analyzes the evolution of land use in mainland Portugal since the last quarter of the 20th century, focusing on the changes to the country’s forest areas. The article results from the authors’ research collaboration at the Centre of Studies on Geography and Spatial Planning (GEGOT).

More information about the article can be found online at journals.openedition.org/mediterranee.

Heide presents at Nebraska music education conference

Jerrold Heide, M.M., instructor of music, served as a clinician at the Nebraska Music Education Association conference in Lincoln, Nebraska, Nov.14-16. The conference included topic sessions covering areas of interest in band, chorus, orchestra and elementary/general music.

Heide gave a presentation titled “Not Mine But Ours: Getting Kids to Own Their Program,” focusing on development of student leadership, philosophy of running athletic bands and methods to improve efficiency in rehearsal through increased engagement.

Viking sports update

Women’s Basketball
Tuesday: Minot State 66, VCSU 59 (exhibition)
Saturday: VCSU 65, Mayville State 59
The VCSU women’s basketball team opened conference play Saturday with a 65-59 win at Mayville State. The Vikings scored the final 11 points to rally from a fourth-quarter deficit. VCSU is now 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the NSAA.

Men’s Basketball
Tuesday: Minot State 61, VCSU 47 (exhibition)
Saturday: Mayville State 81, VCSU 78
The Viking men dropped a back-and-forth game at Mayville State on Saturday, 81-78. The contest featured 17 lead changes. VCSU is now 2-7 overall and 0-1 in the NSAA. The Vikings host Oak Hills Christian College on Monday night at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Events
Dec. 3: Men’s Basketball vs. Oak Hills Christian College, 7 p.m.
Dec. 7: Track & Field at NDSU Dakota Classic, 1 p.m.
Dec. 12: Women’s Basketball vs. University of Jamestown, 6 p.m.

VCSU hosting Barnes County Tournament this week
Valley City State University will host eight area high school girls basketball teams for the 74th annual Barnes County Tournament this week. The tournament runs Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse. Games start at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. Saturday’s games begin at noon.

What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…

Monday, December 3
VCSU Annual Art Sale, Student Center (December 3-4)
Destress at Allen Memorial Library—different event each day this week
7 p.m. Viking men’s basketball vs. Oak Hills Christian College, W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse

Tuesday, December 4
12 Noon Graduate School Preparation Workshop, guest speaker Katie Woehl, Student Center Norway Room
12:05 p.m. Rotary, VFW
1:45 p.m. Merry and Bright Christmas choir performance, Theatre 320
3 p.m. Barnes County Girls Basketball Tournament, W.E. Osmon Field House

Wednesday, December 5
12 noon Kiwanis, Valley City Town & Country Club
3–5 p.m. VCSU Employee Holiday Social, Student Center Skoal Room

Thursday, December 6
Eastern Dakota Conference Instrumental Solo Contest on VCSU campus
7 a.m. Optimists, Vicky’s Viking Room
12 noon Toastmasters, Student Center Norway Room
3 p.m. Barnes County Girls Basketball Tournament, W.E. Osmon Field House
7:30 p.m. Christmas at St. Catherine’s, VCSU choral concert, St. Catherine’s Church
8:30–10:30 p.m. Vikings for Christ, Student Center Skoal Room

Friday, December 7
Viking Visit Day

Saturday, December 8
10 a.m. Community School for the Arts recital, Froemke Auditorium
12 noon Barnes County Girls Basketball Tournament, W.E. Osmon Field House
V-500 Annual Banquet
7:30 p.m. EBC “In the Christmas Mood” concert

Sunday, December 9
9 p.m. Student finals breakfast

Monday, December 10
Finals Week

Tuesday, December 11
12:05 p.m. Rotary, VFW

Wednesday, December 12
12 noon Kiwanis, Valley City Town & Country Club
6 p.m. Viking women’s basketball vs. University of Jamestown, W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse

Thursday, December 13
7 a.m. Optimists, Vicky’s Viking Room
12 noon Toastmasters, Student Center Norway Room
3:30 p.m. Winter Commencement, Vangstad Auditorium
8:30–10:30 p.m. Vikings for Christ, Student Center Skoal Room

Friday, December 14
Payday

Saturday, December 15
1 p.m. Public planetarium show, Rhoades Science Center 309
4 p.m. Viking men’s basketball @ University of Jamestown

Sunday, December 16

Go to https://valleycitynd.org/calendar.php to see more events happening in and around Valley City.