Life Outside the Classroom.

Life Outside the Classroom

By Jessica Steen

    Between the classrooms and the pools, Professor Victoria Downey stays plenty busy doing her passion she loves most, teaching.

Originally from Merriam, Kansas, the now Minneapolis resident currently teaches Geography here at Anoka Ramsey Community College and Synchronized swimming at the University of Minnesota. Three years ago, Downey relocated from Lawrence, Kansas where she was in school at the University of Kansas, to Minneapolis to work on her Ph. D. at the University of Minnesota. She soon discovered that teaching was what she wanted to do in life. "I first taught as a Graduate Teaching Assistant during my Master's Program at the University of Kansas and immediately loved it" says Downey. "Teaching offers me the opportunity to share my passion with others. I love being able to interest people in the world around them and offer insights (however small) into how the world works." Along with all of her schooling here in the states, she also got to travel to Queensland, Australia to study abroad for five months.

          During her sophomore year as an undergraduate student, Downey realized then that she wanted to major in Geography. She tells us "at the time I was majoring in Journalism but taking a number of Geography classes and they just resonated with me more" Adding to that statement, she laughs as she says the once popular television show and game "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego" was very big when she was younger, and jokingly says shes convinced that a number of her fellow classmates in Geography got into that field as well as a result of that program.

          After her discovery of teaching, coaching soon became apart of her life too. Downey has been coaching synchronized swimming for about last 12 years, starting with the Kansas City Sea Sprites, which is an age group program back in Kansas, and now is the head coach of the U. of M.'s synchronized swim team. Water sports are her strength a long with the rest of her family. "My mom is a big fan of the water so she got my brother and I in the pool at a very young age" says Downey, "Apparently I was jumping off the 3 meter diving board by myself at the age of three, and joined the Merriam Dolphins at age five. At 12 I started sychronized swimming with the K.C. Sea Sprites".

          Twleve years later, Swimming is still a hobby for Downey as she continues to coach. "It's a time-consuming sport but also an intersting one which is probably why I've kept with it for so long" says Downey. Keeping busy with her swimmers, ranging in age from the Freshman to Senior classes, she enjoys being around a young, refreshing crowd. During the season which begins in September and ends in March, practice is held three times a week resulting in eight hours at the poolside. Along with serving time at the pool with her swimmers and keeping orderly with parents and traveling for meets, she still serves fifteen hours of class time alone, not including the excess time she takes to prepare lectures for two new additional classes she has taken on in the semester. "Im not exactly sure how many hours exactly that all boils down to" says Downey, "but suffice it to say that I stay pretty busy between synchro and school!"

Transcript of Story Six

1.    Where are you from, and how long have you lived in Minnesota? What town do you live in now?( I know Kansas but cant remember where lol)

I’m originally from Merriam, Kansas, a small suburb of Kansas City, however I also spent a lot of time in Lawrence, Kansas, about 45 minutes down the road from KC while in school at the University of Kansas.  I moved to Minneapolis three years ago to work on my Ph.D. at the U and I currently live in Minneapolis, near Prospect Park.

2.     What made you decide to teach? Here at A.R.C.C.?

I first taught as a Graduate Teaching Assistant during my Master’s Program at the University of Kansas and immediately loved it.  I think my interest in teaching might be partly related to the fact that I did a bit of theater while in high school.  As you may know, there’s a lot of similarities between acting and teaching!  Beyond that, however, I’ve always loved geography as a field and teaching offers me the opportunity to share my passion with others.  I love being able to interest people in the world around them and offer insights (however small!) into how the world works.  Additionally, it’s hard not to love teaching when you get to be around young, energetic people all of the time!

3. How long have you been coaching? Were you apart of a swim team in school as well? Or any other sports?

I've been coaching synchronized swimming for around twelve years, first for the Kansas City Sea Sprites, an Age Group program, and then for the University of Minnesota.  My first year in the state I was a volunteer coach for the U and I took over the Head Coaching position last year.  I also previously coached swimming for my local summer swim team, the Merriam Dolphins, in Kansas.  Most of my personal experience has been limited to water sports (apparently I am inept on land!).  My mom is a big fan of the water so she got my brother and I in the pool at a very young age.  Apparently I was jumping off of the 3 M diving board by myself at the age of three (I don't remember this so it's all hearsay!) and I joined the Merriam Dolphins at five.  I also dove for a while (my brother was actually a very successful diver who was at one point featured in Sports Illustrated after winning four consecutive Kansas State Diving Championships and breaking the record that had been in place since 1977).  I, unfortunately, was afraid of hitting the board so I stopped diving after a few years.  At twelve I started synchronized swimming with the KC Sea Sprites, an activity that I really enjoyed as it played into many of my strengths and interests: swimming, music, flexibility, performance, etc.  It's a time-consuming sport but also an interesting one which is probably why I've kept with it for so long!  Besides swimming and synchro, the only other "sport" that I do consistently is yoga.

4. What made you decide to become a Geo teacher? What was your most favorite place you've traveled?

I decided to major in Geography as an undergraduate student during my sophomore year.  At the time I was majoring in journalism but taking a number of Geography classes and they just resonated with me more than anything else I had taken.  Wanderlust runs in my family--my nearly 95-year-old grandma is still a world traveler--so I think the idea that I could learn about different places and peoples really interested me.  In addition to this, both the computer game and the TV Show "Where In the World Is Carmen San Diego" were very big when I was younger.  I'm convinced that a number of my comrades in Geography got into the field as a direct result of that program!  I really didn't decide that I wanted to teach Geography until sometime during my Master's Program, but the geography bent was always there!

In terms of places I've traveled, my favorite experience was probably on Fraser Island in Queensland, Australia.  I studied abroad in Australia for five months and absolutely loved the place in general.  My friends and I visited Fraser Island over Spring Break in 2004.  Fraser is the largest sand island in the world and was a former logging area.  As such, it has a number of trails that run through it that require a 4WD vehicle to traverse.  We went on a tour there, as part of an ecotourism initiative, and I was transfixed.  The island has some of the highest numbers of sharks that pass by it due to migratory patterns of the sharks' prey, so you are told not to go into the water more than calf deep.  Additionally, from one point on the island you can watch whales breach, sea turtles and schools of fish, manta rays, and more from a rocky outcrop way above the sea.  The island is also home to a number of the world's basin and perched dune lakes, all of which are pristine and gorgeous.  There are so many amazing things about the island that it would be hard to recount them all...the only catch is that the island also boasts a number of HUGE spider species, including a bird eater.  A friend of mine and I unfortunately ran into a couple of these monsters while in the bathroom and I think it scarred me for life.  They're so big that, at night, when crawling around on the ceiling, they sometimes can't support their own body weight and they'll therefore fall on you in the middle of the night!  Needless to say, I slept on a bottom bunk that night...

5. How much time do you think you devote to the swim team each week ? To your students?


In terms of teaching, this semester I have five sections, or 15 credit hours of teaching.  Two of the classes are brand new to me which means that in addition to actually delivering lectures, answering emails and helping people during office hours I also have to prep my lectures!  I'm not sure how many hours exactly that all boils down to, but suffice it to say that I stay pretty busy between synchro and school!

6. What is your favorite thing about teaching? Coaching?

Like I mentioned earlier, I think my favorite thing about teaching is getting to be around young people who are generally immensely interesting, intelligent, and generally fun to be around.  My favorite moments have always been those where students tell me how much they learned from my class.  Geography is a discipline that few major in, so I understand that most of my students will be pursuing other fields.  That said, I clearly think the field is important so if I can get my students to take anything away from my class and make them think critically about the world around them, I'm stoked!

Coaching for me has many of the same positive attributes.  Because we spend so much time together, the synchro team becomes a sort of a family.  Our season just concluded a couple of weeks ago and it's actually terribly jarring not to see my athletes three times a week!  When you spend so much time together you're bound to either intensely love or intensely hate each other.  Luckily for us, it's been the former!

7. What grade are your swimmers?
My swimmers are all students at the U, so I've got the full gamut of freshmen to seniors.  It's a great age group, particularly because they keep me abreast of very important developments in pop culture :-).

8. Best swim team moment? Best A.R.C.C. moment?

This is tough...there are so many great moments!  For synchro, one of my athletes this year placed second overall at the US Collegiate National Meet in Buffalo, NY in the D Figure Category.  That is a really big deal for us as a team as well as her individually, so I was very proud.  On a slightly sillier note, last year at our annual home meet in January we managed to get Goldie to come to the meet.  He came during the Figures portion, which is an immensely dull section of the meet where the athletes all where black suits and white caps and silently perform figures in front of a panel of judges.  Goldie, being Goldie, had to mess around the entire time and made quite a scene with an inflatable chair in the lap pool.  Needless to say, it was hysterical.

At ARCC I would say my favorite moments were in conducting the Globe-o-Mania Trivia Bowl for my Physical Geography sections last semester.  Designed as an extra credit opportunity, Globe-o-Mania asks geography related trivia questions that are to be answered by small groups of students.  It's a nice ending point for the semester, a lot of fun, and also an opportunity for me to let loose with my ridiculous geography facts.  I just hope the students enjoy(ed) it as much as I do(did)!

Interview Transcript

Name of person im interviewing: Megan Steigauf
About: Painting
By: Text messaging


1. How long have you been painting?
about two years now

2. At what age did you become interested in Art and what inspired it?
I originally signed up for a painting class in my first semseter of being a senior in high school and I took it for an easy credit but ended up really liking it and took a second semester of it an now I paint at my house too.

3. What kind of paintings do you prefer to do?
I absolutely do not portraits!! I consider mysef a good painter but I can not make a person look real! I can make a killer landscape painting though!

4. Who is your most inspiring artist?
I am definately my favorite artist! *laughs* I dont like a certain artists work. I just like makingmy own creative ideas and using my own colors in my own way!

5. Will this stay as a hobby for you or could you see maybe trying to make it a profession of some kind?
I plan to make time for painting in the future! ill make my husband make me a cute painting room like on the notebook lol.

6. What is the most favorite painting you've done? And what did you name it?

7. Age, city resides in, and occupation.
18, Ramsey, waitress at a cafe.

Life is what you paint of it.

Life is what you paint of it
By Jessica Steen


What is better than a hobby you love? How about a hobby that you grew to love? That's what happened to Megan Steigauf when she decided to take what she thought was an easy class but turned into a passion.
There was no inspiration for Steigauf, 18 to paint in the beginning as she says "I originally signed up for a painting class in my first semester of being a senior in high school and I took it for an easy credit but ended up really liking it." Now, two years later she still finds passion in her new hobby and even says she paints at her home in Ramsey Mn.
Over the years she claims she has become her own inspiring artist, "I don't like certain artists work. I just like making my own creative ideas and using my own colors in my own way!" she says while laughing.
With the use of colors and self inspiration, she has figured out that Landscapes are more of her style. Steigauf claims "I absolutely do not do portraits! I consider myself a good painter but I can not make a person look real!" For the future painting will always be a hobby to her. She even wants a little painting room in her home just like she's seen in a movie.

Women takes our 6ft man in robbery

Jessica Steen
2/24/11
Ch 11 Exercise 3



Police are still searching for a suspect who attempted to rob a woman yesterday afternoon around 4 p.m. in the parking lot of a convenience store on Bonneville Drive.

Michele Schipper, a sophomore at Anoka Ramsey Community College pulled up to the side of the store, where a man came out from behind the dumpster area and approached her demanding her purse. As Schipper reached into her car to retrieve the purse, she could see the man approaching more closely and immediately turned around and kicked him. As he fell to the ground, she then kicked him in the face allowing her to quickly climb back into the car to drive away to a motel down the road to call the police.

The police took any information Schipper could offer in describing the man, recalling he stood about 6ft, and stated there were no witnesses around as well. Luckily no weapons were involved.

Schipper says "it just came instinctively" in how she responded. She had had some training around the house with her father about self defense.

My Obituary

Jessica Moreno, Age 22, died from being struck by a car that ran through a Target building driven by a senior citizen. Jessica was waiting in line for Starbucks, when the elderly man accidentally drove through the front entrance and ran over her. She survived by her parents Richard and Diana Roeder, and Frank Moreno. One sister, Jennifer Moreno, and one brother Andrew Roeder. She also was survived by her roommate, Kristina Olson, of 1001 School Street.

Jessica enjoyed many sports including softball and volleyball. She also was a hard worker with her career at Wells Fargo, and devoted herself to her studies at ARCC.

Family will be holding the funeral in her home town, Garland, Texas, where she grew up and is originally from. The viewing and funeral will be held at 3 p.m. at Williams Funeral Home, following the burial.

Sheriff requests budget increase for safer community.

Sheriff requests budget increase for safer community.
February 10, 2011
By Jessica Steen

       Disagreements were brought to attention in a meeting Thursday afternoon between the Sherburne County Sheriff and several County Commissioners who argued over equipment and police personnel. Sheriff Gus Diceasari argued "You're putting the lives of the people of this county in jeopardy." Commissioner Anita Shenuski and Raymond Laybourne supported his views. Commission President Anne Chenn disagreed, along with fellow commission members Valerie Dawkins, Faith Ellis, Jose Gardoz, and Roland Grauman, and says "The county does not have the money to buy new police cruisers and hire five new sheriffs deputies."

        The argument lead to accusations and opinions about where this money is going. During a heated argument Shenuski stated "We never had problems until we began letting migrants come to this county to work. They are a problem for our law enforcement, our schools, and our health care system. They take away jobs from decent people and work for next to nothing and if something gets stolen, you can bet it is one of them that's taken it. We need to protect local residents from them." Shock seemed to spread over Chenn when she responded with "Those people who come here to work are decent, hardworking people being employed at jobs that local residents don't want to do. They add a great deal to the local economy and they pay taxes. You are being a hypocrite when you try to blame those people for everything." The county commissioners estimate there are around 5,000 migrant families now in the county working in agricultural, construction, and service industry jobs. Commissioner Jose Gardez states "many of the migrant workers became permanent members of the community, opening business and earning citizenship."

        The important point of the meeting was finally addressed, in which what the budget increase would be supporting. Eight new police cruisers are needed to replace eight older vehicles that have over 150,000 miles on them. DiCeasari claimed "its getting too costly to maintain the older vehicles and they spend too much time in the repair shop." Higher fuel costs and increasing cost for health care for employees contributed a bit. As well as $30 million contributed to build a new prison to reduce over-crowding. The buget allotted was $127 million, which has been dispersed quickly. An additional $580,000 would be needed to supply these new vehicles and hire five new deputies. Chen suggested to DiCesari that the deputies not drive their vehicles home each day as the do now to save fuel costs and preserve mileage and to also make more cruisers available. DiCeasari disagreed and stated that "letting the deputies drive their cruisers home and parking them in their neighborhoods was a deterrent to crime." Final vote for the commissioners was 5-2 against DeCesari's request for an increase in the budget this year.

Story One

Fatal accident leaves many stranded.

Police are investigating a severe accident reported at 6:45 am this morning caused initially by two tractor trailers that collided with one another creating a multi-car pile up along the western edge of the city off Interstate 790. At least two drivers were killed, 20 others were injured and taken to the hospital. Four of them are in serious condition. A total of 14 cars and four tractor trailers were involved according to Sgt. Albert Wei of the Rogers Police Department.

One of the tractor trailers managed to stop in time on the side of the road creating only minor damage to his cab from being struck by a car, and walked away with no injuries. "He was very lucky he did not roll the tanker which would have caused a fire if the fuel were to have  spilt", said Wei.

Also on the scene was Fire Chief Tony Sullivan who reported that those with serious injuries were life threatening injuries according to an ambulance driver, and two were flown to the trauma center in Statesville by "Life Flight" sent from Memorial Hospital.  Sullivan also stated that his firefighters had to free trapped drivers and passengers from three cars by cutting into the roof. All five of the fire department's ambulances responded to the scene along with ambulances from four other near by cities. Sullivan also stated that the scene looked like a "war zone, and had never seen anything like that in the 18 and a half years he has been with the fire department.

Wei also reported that police were having trouble identifying which persons were with which vehicles, and who were the drivers and passengers. The accident caused the Interstate to close down in both directions, North and South bound, and has remained shut down to all traffic until further notice. "This has caused quite a mess for rush hour traffic since 790 is a well traveled highway" said Wei. All traffic was being detoured to Interstate 690, on the Eastern side of the city, causing delays of at least three hours.

Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Jessica and this is my third semester here at Anoka Ramsey. I am originally from Dallas Texas, and moved to Minnesota about a year ago. I know you're probably thinking why would someone move from somewhere warm to somewhere cold? Well I lay the blame on my parents, but I can't complain because so far it has not been so bad, well aside from the snow and negative degree temperatures! Anyways back to about me. I work full time for Wells Fargo, and I am also enrolled in school full time. I have a chocolate lab named Hunter that lives with my parents in Zimmerman. I am the oldest of three, one younger sister who attends ARCC also, and a ten year old brother who goes to Princeton Elementary. I am finishing my general studies. Not too sure what my profession goal is, however I am finding that I enjoy the Psychology, Art, and Journalism classes a ton. I have a huge passion for art and photography as well as music and writing. The main reason I took this class is because I want to broaden my writing skills. I have always kept a journal of some kind since I can remember, and I've always enjoyed my creative writing and English classes in high school as well.