Prof. Michael Schinasi, the Department’s leader in the use of Centra for live DE Spanish instruction, has long wanted to find a way to offer students both a fourth day of instruction in 1001-1004 and a way to use the relatively low cost expertise of native speaking tutors in foreign countries to improve student language proficiency. He proposed to Jim Gehlhar in the Office of International Affairs a one semester experiment in hiring live DE tutors from ILISA language school in Costa Rica. Thanks to the generous support of Dr. Gehlar’s office, the department is able to offer an honors section of Spanish 1004 in Spring 2013. In this course students are refining their command of the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing Spanish. Readings further acquaint students with the life, literature, and cultures of the Hispanic world. Unlike other sections of Spanish 1004, the honors section has an additional required lab that is a graded part of the course. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays students have face to face meetings with their ECU professor, Alberto González-Valdés, and in their lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays they use Centra web conferencing from their own computer to meet with a tutor in Costa Rica. In their videoconference with Costa Rica students are receiving additional practice in oral communication, reading and clarification of difficult grammatical structures. The intent of this course is to promote a very high level of proficiency in Spanish to prepare students for foreign study or upper division work as majors or minors.

The winner of the 2011-2012 ΦΚΦ Outstanding Senior award is Amber Heckart from Holly Ridge, NC. A graduate of the NC School of Science and Math, Amber was selected to be an EC Scholar and member of the Honors College. She was also chosen to be part of the Brody Early Assurance for Admission to Medical School program. Amber graduates in May of 2012 summa cum laude with a B.S. degree in biology and a B.A. degree in Hispanic Studies. She studied abroad for a semester in Santander, Spain, where she attended classes at the Universidad de Cantabria. She did her senior honors thesis project under the direction of Dr. David Tulis at the Brody School of Medicine investigating the biochemical mechanisms that underlie abnormal growth of vascular smooth muscle. Amber has also been involved in many service and leadership activities. She has been a volunteer tutor for chemistry, biology and physics. She served as Co-President of the ECU Spanish Club, helped raise funds for the NC Migrant Farm Worker Food Bank, and has been the Undergraduate Student Vice President for ECU’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. In Greenville, she has served with a number of organizations to volunteer ot help the local Latino population, working particularly in the Grimesland Health Clinic and the AGAPE health clinic in Washington, NC. Amber is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Sigma and Golden Key. She was recently nominated for the Fullerton Scholarship in the Brody School of Medicine, which she will enter this fall. Amber plans to prepare for a career in primary care. Eventually, she would like to open medical clinics across eastern NC to serve the growing Hispanic population.