M-ongst Ourselves: Members at a Glance |
This is the month to get involved, I guess...all of this month’s Glances are involved in our local group--two with the scholarship contest, and one with the RGs.
When I called Pat O’Donnell Edwards, she had just finished hosting a birthday party for one of her five daughters (who have provided her with 13 grandchildren!). Pat has worked in education for about 10 years, as both counselor and teacher. She currently works with at-risk high school students in Tempe; these students have had problems with excessive fighting, absences, and so on, but Pat says their biggest problem is in their minds. Specifically, she has noticed that at-risk students in the lower grades seem to think they have no ability, but at-risk high-schoolers often place no value in education, creating double duty for teachers like Pat. The skill in teaching, she says, is in finding that level at which the student is challenged but not overwhelmed. Her favorite part about teaching is working with a student who has just realized that he or she is quite capable after all and really can make contributions to society. Along those lines, Pat feels that education is the greatest tool of a democratic society, and she strives to supply her students with that tool. Although not a native to these parts, Pat lived in the Valley 20 years ago, and recently returned about three years ago to discover that the place has improved! A recent program chair for our RG, she’s also been active in the San Diego and Portland chapters--she says she loves RGs. Other loves include swimming and movies; if you’re in a movie mood this week, she recommends October Sky, Simon Birch, and Patch Adams.
John Nangle’s most recent contribution to our chapter is his stint as a judge in the Mensa Education and Research Foundation (MERF) essay contest for college scholarship money. He’s been in Mensa for two years and is active in the Music SIG. Symphonies are his favorites, and for those of you with similar tastes, he recommends a boxed set of CDs of Dvorak symphonies (Dvorak--The Symphonies) conducted by Istvan Kerstesz leading the London Symphony Orchestra. His favorite composers are Haydn and Beethoven, and he’s even a volunteer at the local classical public radio station, KBAQ. When not being symphonic, John is a fitness buff and an electrical engineer, moving out here from Chicago to work for Motorola. His favorite nonfiction book is Battle Cry of Freedom, a history of the Civil War by James M. McPherson, but he also enjoys reading about economics and aviation history. Novels he’d recommend include his favorites: The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk and The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. In addition to all this, John collects phonograph records. And, he adds, he would collect classic cars if he could afford to.
Another MERF scholarship worker is Yvonne Solbrekken, who is our Local Scholarship Chair. Her collections include wind chimes and "Edward Gorey anything" (he’s an illustrator), as well as children’s books. (She especially likes the Miss Spider series, and she’s got all the John Bellairs--young adult books with Edward Gorey illustrations.) She also says she collects puzzles "for" her husband, and even manages to get him to put them together. Formerly she created furniture and did decorative painting as a full time career, which she still does today on the side. However, most of her time is devoted to music--composing, performing and teaching it. She performs both piano and voice and loves to record, so she has permanent records of her work. She composes for herself and for children’s ensembles, which she uses with her students around the Valley, including at the Easy Valley Yamaha Music School. Besides holding the position of Local Scholarship Chair, she is also the Community Service Coordinator, and you may hear from her in these pages soon when she begins recruiting for an upcoming project that involves pairing Mensa mentors with gifted children. If you’d like to become involved with this, or with the scholarship, contact Yvonne at 917-3754.
By the way, if any more of you involved members want to recruit for your cause, I know a great place to do it, and it will only cost you about 10 minutes on the phone with me. Just give me a call, and I’ll make you a Glance!