Ferrum College, Belize -- and Macaws

If experience is the best teacher then one of the rising sophomores here at Ferrum College must have a head full of lessons.

Take a look at the Ferrum College You Tube Channel and you'll see a couple of recently posted videos from the May e-term. The e-stands for "experiential." That's a big deal here at Ferrum. We put our education students in classrooms as freshmen. Our environmental science students are in the field doing research as undergrads, and every May the kids have a chance to go somewhere and do something cool.

One video shows an interesting study in history that took the form of a mural at Ferrum Elementary School. It's a spectacular piece in the cafeteria that spans more than 40 feet. Among the student artists, only one was an art major -- the rest were there for the experience.

Another video depicts a trip to the Virgin Islands, where Ferrum students studied coral reefs, local culture, and participated in an archeological dig. They brought back tales of barracuda, sharks, and ancient civilizations.

The next video we'll shoot will have more to do with birds and jaguars than fish, and will tie one student in particular to woman whose fight to save the nesting grounds of the scarlet macaw was the focus of a best selling book.

The Backstory.

Ferrum College this year took its first e-term trip to Belize -- a small country in Central America that was once known as British Honduras. During their three week tour, called Rain Forest to Reef: Natural Resources in Belize, students learn about the country's culture, political structure, and of course the environment. In a nutshell, the nation is primarily English speaking, not as corrupt as many of its neighbors and covered in jungle.

One of the students on the e-term trip, Abigail Lewis, opted to stay a little longer -- to intern at the Belize Zoo.

Not to digress too much -- but to understand the significance of that opportunity, you must know a brief history of the Zoo and Sharon Matola, who founded it.

Matola took a round-about route to learning how to handle large cats like lions, tigers and jaguars. (She started out as the wife of a dentist, hopped a train to Florida, joined the circus and never looked back. I told you it was interesting.)

Fast forward to Belize where she is putting that knowledge to work during the shooting of a documentary on jungle animals. The documentary over, the producer packs up and leaves her with critters which cannot be returned to the wild. With no other choice, Matola sticks a post in the ground with a sign that says "Belize Zoo."

All of this is detailed in Bruce Barcott's book, The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw, which I am currently reading. The book is not unlike other environmental thrillers such as Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm. There's intrigue, evil, multiple sub-plots, heroes and tragedy -- but none of it is fiction. It's an actual page-turner.

Ferrum College Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, Glen Stevens left the book on my desk two weeks ago. "If you are going to do a video on the Belize group, you need to read this," he said. Now I see why.

The book details not only Matola's efforts to establish the zoo, but more importantly, her fight to prevent the building of the Chalillo Dam which would flood one of the last nesting sites in Belize of the scarlet macaw -- the beautiful parrot you may have seen for sale in pet stores. The book details the popularity of the birds dating back to European explorers who gave them to kings as gifts from the New World, to Eco-tourists who flock to the jungles to see them in the wild, to the pet trade, where people pay thousands per bird because of their colors and intelligence.

Back to the Ferrum College Angle

If the e-term group received a small dose of this story during their trip, then Abigail got the full IV version.

She is there at that same zoo, with those same jungle cats and yes, Sharon Matola, who is now a world figure when it comes to macaws, jaguars and environmental battles. Stevens has exchanged e-mails with Abby and it appears she is seeing more of the big cats than she is Matola -- but that was to be expected.

No matter. What counts is that she is there. She is learning, and she's doing it from Ferrum College -- where experience counts.

Note: We'll be posting more information, including an interview with Abby after she returns from her adventure.

One heck of a bike commute

Before I could ride my bike to work, I had to ride it home. Let me explain.

One of the best aspects of Ferrum College is its location. It's just far enough away to be isolated, but near enough to have contact with cities like Roanoke and Greensboro. It's also just far enough away to make National Bike to Work Day just a bit epic.

It's 31 miles from Ferrum College to my home in Roanoke. Take the back roads through Franklin County and the scenery is as pretty as anywhere, unless you have a strong dislike for rolling farmland, mountain vistas, gurgling brooks and that kind of stuff.

In the mid-to late 1990's I bicycled these roads regularly. But that was 10 years and 20 pounds ago. I had been wondering if it was still doable and with a little nudge from a buddy who laughed earlier in the week and said sarcastically, "are YOU riding to work on Friday?" I decided I'd do it.

The fitness part of biking to work is just part of the problem. There's logistics. I wanted to have a change of clothes at the College, so I drove to Ferrum on Thursday, with the bike, all my gear and a change of clothes in my beloved Mini Cooper. My plan was to ride home from work, and get up on Friday and ride back.

It made sense for a number of reasons. First of all it was going to take 4 hours plus to make the commute. If I had ridden to work and home in the same day, that would have made for a long Friday. Plus, with minimal time on the bike so far this year, the thought of a night's sleep in between the efforts seemed like a good idea.

So at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, I hopped on my bike and headed over Ferrum Mountain and into the countryside. It was gorgeous. The sun was out, the farmers were cutting hay and for whatever reason, even Boones Mill and the truck traffic seemed quaint. I had kept my eye on Cahas Mountain in the distance and for a time it seemed to get no closer despite my efforts.

Once in Boones Mill I turned off Bethlehem Road and spent less than a mile on the dangerous Route 220 before turning off onto another country road that took me along Maggodee Creek. Just after crossing back into Roanoke County, I descended a hill local cyclists call the "Wall." My speedometer registered 57 miles an hour.

I dragged myself up the hill to my house, pleased but apprehensive. After all, it was 31 miles BACK to work in the morning.

Friday Morning.

Up at 5:30 and the thermometer said 50 degrees. That can be a chilly ride. I upgraded my jersey, threw on a nylon vest, had some coffee, toast and a granola bar and hit the road.

Remember the "Wall?" Now I had to ride up the beast. I actually took my older bike for the return trip because it has easier gearing, but the Wall -- 4 miles into the ride was more than I had in my tired legs. I rode all the way, but "cheated" by looping back and forth across the road. Think of it as creating your own mini-switchbacks.

After that is was a beautiful, twisting downhill for several miles to Boones Mill. The sun warmed things up about 10 degrees, which was perfect.

I stopped to take a photo 18 miles into the ride and thought about how lucky I was to be able to do this.

As Ferrum Mountain emerged in front of me 10 miles later I wasn't so sure. Back in the day my buddies and I played a game to see if we could maintain 10 mph all the way up. This day, success meant just another turn of the pedals.

Be that as it may, the top eventually arrived and it was a thrilling descent back into the heart of the college.

I may do it again as a test of my fitness after what I hope is a summer of riding. But tonight, I'll be happy to see the scenery from the car.

To see the route click Here.

Eating flowers and getting jobs

This week, Ferrum College Student Melissa Maldonado has the keys. She was one of many Ferrum College students who attended the annual Protocol Dinner -- designed to show students how to handle a business meal and/or interview situation. Here are Melissa's thoughts.

Mom could only teach us so much when it came to table manners, but, she never had occasion to teach us about flowers in our salad. Issues such as that were right in front of us at the annual Ferrum College Protocol Dinner, where students join faculty, staff and local employers for a fancy dinner in the Blue Ridge Mountain Room.. Our host, and guide for the evening was Jack Sharlow an etiquette specialist.
Students walked into the Blue Ridge Mountain Room to find tables with more silverware than we had ever seen around a plate and a very interesting looking soup. At that moment I was intimidated.

But host Jack assured us that this dinner was a learning experience and a comfortable setting. He started off by showing us basics like the proper way to put the napkin in your lap (fold it diagonally halfway). He then told us to open sugar packets by tearing the paper only halfway. No sooner had he said that than I did what I always do – tore all the way through, leaving TWO pieces of paper on the table instead of the preferred, one. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed. The business executive for Safe Sleep beds, Mr. Al Flora to my left laughed and said " I know, its hard to break habits." This made me feel a lot better and I began to relax.

The first serving was a melon soup. In the soup was a thin bread stick with ham wrapped around it. It looked kind of like a ham lollipop. I was completely lost on how to begin eating this and by the look on everyone else’s face they were too. We are instructed to scoop the soup away from us, so would not dribble on ourselves. This made sense. As far as the ham-on-a-stick went, we were relieved to learn we could simply pick it up. I sighed in relief this dinner might be a little easier than I anticipated.
The salad was next, it came with a surprise, flowers! I was lost again. We were told the flowers were edible and that we should eat them. I did not see this coming, but why not try something new? I put the yellow flower in my mouth and shocked! It was horrible. I tried my hardest not to make a face, I could not spit it out . That would be completely inappropriate. I was glad it was all over when I swallowed it.
Our next plate was the entree; skewers with chicken steak and vegetables. I knew this was not going to be a barbecue were I could just pull it off with my teeth. To get the food off the skewer we had to use a fork and gracefully slide the pieces off individually, “one or two at a time.” With the chicken it was not a difficult task, but the steak was a completely different story. I could see the senior to the right try and scoot the steak off the skewer slowly. Then suddenly the steak launched into his lap. We knew it had to happen to at least one of us.

Finally desert and coffee. I don’t recall what it was exactly but it was absolutely scrumptious and easy to eat -- thank goodness.
Overall the dinner was a success. Everyone at the table engaged in good conversation. We all admitted that we had some manners to brush up on and that we all will take something away from the experience. I learned to always eat my flowers.

The Best Student Workers

A good friend of mine used to quip of his days in college, that he, "never let classes get in the way of his education."

It always got a laugh and he had the personality to pull it off. But there's a hint of truth in there as well. Not EVERYTHING of value in college happens in class.

Nowhere was that more evident than on campus this week as Ferrum College honored it's students employees of the year. Eight work study students who went above and beyond the normal hum-drum task of dutifully performing mundane work in return for money for college.

Nominees included:
James Hunter Boyte, Information Services
Corey Elizabeth Brooks, Provost Office
Andrew Michale Maxwell, Dining Services
Wesley Adam Mullins, Campus Safety
Travis Powell Smith, Athletics
Ryan Michael Snyder, Subway
Diana Rochelle Yates, ARC
Michale Travis Zitmore, Facility Services








In a brief ceremony in the Virginia Room in Franklin Hall, Human Resources Director M.A. Whisenant told the students how her goal was to teach the students how to be good employees once they graduate.

Toward that end, nominees were graded on whether they were reliable, the quality of their work, whether they were innovative and professional and the uniqueness of the contribution they brought to the job.

Last year's winner, Bob Dill, now a senior who has two job offers and has applied to medical school, told this year's nominees that he feels the award is among his greatest accomplishments at college and that, "You may get a job in the real world, but you won't keep it unless you take to heart what you learned in your job here at Ferrum."

This year's winner is Wesley Mullins, who worked in campus safety. Police Chief Libby Legg extolled Mullin's contributions to campus safety when he volunteered to answer phones during a campus crisis last fall, among many initiatives he undertook during the year.

"Heroes rise out of tragedy,"said Legg, "and he became a hero that night."

Like I said -- Not all the lessons are in the classroom.

Spring Is In The Air

For a while I thought this was a college without any students.

OK—not really. But for the first month I was here, where there was snow and wind and cold temperatures, you could drive a snowplow through campus and not hit anyone.

Students and faculty were running from building to building bundled up and mostly miserable. The grounds were covered with snow, and the wind was whipping around the brick buildings and across the ice on the lake while the gray skies offered zero reason for optimism.

Now at last, the sun is out and so is the campus community. Students are sitting outside the buildings and soaking in campus life. If nothing else they are out on the grounds instead of hiding in their dorms or classrooms. Life after spring break is much different—and better.


It is with that in mind that I offer the beginnings of the Ferrum College blog. It is to Public Relations what Spring has been to the semester—something new and refreshing and hopefully—like the sun—something that will draw the Ferrum Community far and near from their hiding spots.

There are so many worthwhile things to talk about on this campus that may not make the paper or the 6 p.m. news. But this space, along with our new Facebook Fan page (please become a fan) and a soon to come YouTube channel—not to mention an improved website will allow Ferrum to the rest of the world know what a great place this is.

Please use the comment section to help me further tell the story—or if I get it wrong to refute it.

Feel free to contact me a jcarlin@ferrum.edu.

Thanks for reading and for spreading the word about Ferrum College.