John Potts, SVSU’s physics laboratory technician and model rocket enthusiast, along with mechanical engineering major Lucas Colpaert and physics major Kayla Newson, composed one of 24 three-person teams selected for the NASA RockOn workshop, which took place in June.

“Opportunities like the RockOn workshop provide students with educational experiences that expand their thinking and deepen their understanding of subject matter they cover in regular coursework,” Potts said. “They also fan the flames of students’ passions and introduce them to career paths they might not have considered.”

During the workshop, each participating team – comprising a faculty member and two students – built a science payload that was launched on a sounding rocket and gathered data during the rocket flight. The workshop guided the teams through the experiment process: concept, design, build, integration, flight and analysis.

Sounding rockets do not orbit Earth. Rather, they fly from 50 to 120 miles high, gathering data, then parachute back to Earth.

During the first seven days of the workshop, the teams worked on assembling their experiments, which consisted of instruments to measure acceleration, temperature, pressure, radiation, humidity and position. Assembly involved soldering sensitive components to a shield board and mounting the shield board, a Geiger counter, an Arduino microcontroller and batteries to an acrylic disk, testing each step as it was completed. Then all of the experiments were loaded onto the sounding rocket.

The payoff came on the eighth day, when the workshop participants witnessed the 5:30 a.m. launch of the rocket into the atmosphere, roughly 115 miles above the Earth. About 12 minutes later, the rocket splashed down in the Atlantic, 75 miles off-shore, where it was retrieved and brought back to the facility so the experiments could be analyzed. The trio returned to SVSU with their experiment and the data it collected on its brief flight. 
More importantly, they came back with more ideas about how to apply workshop learnings into the instructional experience.

Providing students with experiential learning opportunities like the RockOn workshop aligns with one of SVSU’s strategic priorities.   
“Here in the physics department, we really try to help our students get experiences that they're not going to get at a big university,” Potts said.  
For the students, the RockOn workshop provided more than lessons in building an experiment.  

“Being able to talk to NASA employees and get advice from them — that itself was just as valuable as anything we learned from the actual workshop,” Newson said.
Colpaert agreed. “This was amazing,” he said. “If I have the opportunity to work on rockets again in the future, I will reach for that more.”

The nursing awards were established through a gift from Terry and Carleen K. Moore. The program honors nurses across a range of specialties including acute care, education and community nursing. Carleen Moore worked as a nurse for more than two decades. Her husband, Terry, created the award to recognize the commitment and compassion of nurses.

This year’s recipients were honored in three categories: acute care nursing, community nursing and education. The recipients in each category follow:

Acute Care Nursing

• Brian Howell, R.N., B.S.N., clinical nurse in the neuro-trauma intensive care unit at MyMichigan Health in Midland. Nominators cited Howell’s clinical excellence, clinical advocacy and personal integrity.  
• Deborah Maida, R.N., a nurse at the Covenant Cancer Care Center in Saginaw. In nominating Maida, a former patient wrote, “Deb’s compassion, patience and genuine humanity changed my experience of treatment.”
• Kerri Mellon, R.N., B.S.N., M.S.N., director of the critical care director of nursing at McLaren Bay Region. Mellon was recognized for her commitment to leading with professionalism and grace and for collaborating with colleagues to drive accountability on performance.
• Chadd Richard, B.S.N., manager of patient care services at McLaren Bay Region. A stroke certified registered nurse, Richard was recognized for consistently demonstrating advanced clinical judgment and serving as a trusted resource for both staff and providers.
• Kevin Stokes, R.N., a nurse on the mental health unit at MyMichigan Health in Midland. Stokes was praised for his compassionate care of patients and his willingness to share his knowledge and experience with colleagues.
• Community Nursing
• Kemberly Parham, R.N., M.S.N., assistant nursing director at the Saginaw County Health Department. Parham was honored for her exceptional service, innovation, and commitment to increasing immunization rates and reducing vaccine-preventable disease in Saginaw County.
• Beverly Pyles, R.N., B.S.N., community health services director at the Midland County Department of Public Health. In a career spanning 45 years, Pyles has accumulated a wealth of knowledge that she shares as she mentors colleagues, nursing students, clients and friends.
• Laura Walker, R.N., B.S.N., nurse in trauma education and injury prevention at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw. Walker was recognized for her work in education, outreach and training that contribute to the health and safety of the community.

Education    

• Kelly Bourdow, R.N., M.S.N.,  trauma program manager at MyMichigan Medical Center Saginaw. Bourdow was described as a standout nurse in her approach to education and outreach and her commitment to quality, evidence-based, empathetic care.
• Jill Jarvis, R.N., B.S.N., manager of clinical development and education at Covenant HealthCare. Jarvis was commended for elevating nursing practice and positively shaping the lives of the community, youth and nurses at Covenant.

Guest speaker for the event was Kay Wagner, D.H.A., M.S.N., system vice president and chief quality officer at MyMichigan Health.

“I am incredibly proud of McKenzie and Carter's accomplishment! This is a testament to their countless hours of research and writing as well as their analytical and critical thinking abilities,” said Kevin G. Lorentz II, associate professor of political science at SVSU and moot court advisor. 

The Nelson Mandela Competition is a three-part process. In January, Shagena and Poniatowski submitted two memorials, or legal briefs, for a hypothetical human rights case. The top 10 teams from each of the five United Nations regions were invited to participate in the preliminary rounds, which were held virtually May 18-23. While Shagena and Poniatowski were not among the 24 teams advancing to the final, in-person rounds, they gained valuable experience.

“I wanted to explore international law and find out whether it was an area I could see myself pursuing,” said Shagena, who joined SVSU’s moot court team in fall 2025. “When I heard about the Nelson Mandela Competition, I knew it would be an amazing opportunity to push beyond domestic law and develop a broader set of skills.”
For Shagena and Poniatowski, the competitions provided a crash course in international law.

“Carter and I knew very little about international law going in, and it felt like we had stepped into an entirely different legal world, as international courts operate nothing like U.S. courts,” Shagena said. “We had just under two months to write two 3,000-word memorials, and a significant portion of that time was spent simply learning how international law functions before we could even begin creating our arguments.”
She credits Lorentz with helping the team navigate the learning curve, even though competition rules limited how much assistance he could provide.

The team of Shagena and Poniatowski is the second SVSU team to earn a spot in the Nelson Mandela Competition preliminary rounds. In 2025, Payton Stemmerich and Jason Hoang advanced to the final rounds held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Following the 2025-2026 competition year, SVSU’s moot court team was ranked No. 17 in the United States by the American Moot Court Association, the highest standing of all Michigan undergraduate teams.