Category: Stories In Focus

Categories
Stories In Focus

Jason Bintz: Southern Math Teacher Turned Seminarian Turned Houghton Math Professor

The first time Doctor Jason Bintz, Houghton College’s new assistant professor of applied mathematics, attempted to visit the Houghton campus, he found himself snowbound. Fresh from a mild Tennessee winter, he arrived in Buffalo to learn that his ride from the college could not drive into the city. Bintz was ultimately forced to find a hotel room, and conducted the first part of his job interview over Skype. Happily, he made it to campus the next day, and was officially offered the position a few weeks later.

Despite the snowy introduction to Houghton, Bintz was thrilled accepted the offer.

“I was just leaving my house when I got the call,” said Bintz. “I went back inside, and celebrated with my family.”

JasonBintzCMYKBintz began his career in higher education as an undergraduate student at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Like Houghton, Covenant is both a liberal arts college and a member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. Bintz graduated from the institution with a degree in mathematics in 2003, and immediately found work teaching high school math in nearby Chattanooga, Tennessee. Three years later, he decided to continue his education, but in a different field.

“In my time working with high school students, I felt called to seminary,” said Bintz. “I wanted to receive the same training a pastor receives.”

This new vocation led Bintz to the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, where he and his wife resided until his graduation in 2008. From there, Bintz returned to teaching math at the secondary level for one last year before he made the choice to pursue graduate work in applied mathematics at the University of Tennessee. He graduated with his Ph.D. this year.

“At the end of the day, I wanted to be in a college setting,” said Bintz.

During his time at the University of Tennessee, Bintz worked on two main projects in the area of mathematical biology. One attempted to find the best way to allocate resources in order to benefit a specific species, while the other involved building a mathematical model to evaluate the policies implemented by hospitals to reduce Clostridium difficile infections. Bintz remains interested in the broad range of mathematical applications for biology research, and hopes to eventually interest his students in this area.

According to Linda Mills Woolsey, Dean of the College and Vice-President of Academic Affairs, Bintz’s work using math to support biology research, along with his abilities as an interdisciplinary thinker, helped tip the balance in his favor during the hiring process. Kristin Camenga, former chair of Houghton’s department of mathematics and computer science, as well as a member of the search committee that hired Bintz, echoes this sentiment.

“One of the things that impressed me about Jason is his care for people and his deep interest in subjects that cut across disciplinary lines,” she said. “The fact that he has a seminary degree and a Ph.D. in applied math gives him a broad base of knowledge to connect with others, but Jason did research to find out about other faculty at Houghton and their interests to discover commonalities. I really think he will be a great addition to the math faculty and the college at large!” 

Bintz first met with the search committee from Houghton for a short interview in early January at the 2015 Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Antonio, Texas. They met once more during his February campus visit before Bintz was offered the job. While he had applied other places, Houghton was always his preference.

“I had a pretty strict profile in mind of where I wanted to be,” said Bintz. “Houghton was the only school that fit the profile, and the job was exactly what I wanted to do.” He adds that he is also excited for his wife and three children to experience the kind of community Houghton has to offer them as a family.  “We’re really happy to be here.”

This semester, Bintz teaches Calculus I, Multi-Variable Calculus, and Probability and Statistics. His experience in his field, his commitment to his faith and family, and his enthusiasm about the college community all point to his being an excellent fit for Houghton.

Categories
Reviews Stories In Focus

Movie Review: Straight Outta Compton

In an age where we have become so accustomed to celebrity culture it can be easy to forget that there was, in fact, a point in time when aggressively colorful headphones did not bear the name of Dr. Dre or that Ice Cube actually had a career beyond starring in buddy-cop goofball comedies alongside Kevin Hart or Channing Tatum as an ironic parody of his former self. That is the point director F. Gary Gray wishes to make in Straight Outta Compton. Before the two of them were media moguls, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and fellow rapper and business partner Eazy-E, had a hand in creating music together that would change the world forever.

straightouttacomptonStraight Outta Compton, to the uninitiated, is about the rise and fall of N.W.A., one of the most controversial musical groups of all time. So infamous were they that their best selling album, “Straight Outta Compton”, was the first to ever include the “Parental Advisory” sticker on the front of it. The film does an excellent job chronicling the earliest exploits of Cube, Dre, and E and how through combining their individual, unique skillsets they were able to secure a record deal with the help of manager, Jerry Heller.

The performances are solid throughout, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube, Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, and one excellent Paul Giamatti as Jerry Heller, the group’s manager. Mitchell, Jackson, and Hawkins even do their own rapping. All four are featured prominently alongside each other without anyone hogging too much of the spotlight and each remaining completely magnetic on their own. There are a couple of dents in the armor when it comes to the screenplay but my overall enjoyment of the movie was hardly affected by the occasional lapse of good writing or awkward method of delivery.

One of the darker aspects of the film is the early theme of police brutality and racism. It is the 1980s, after all. The film’s timeline falls in the middle of the Rodney King era, which is mentioned at several points. By seeing the actions of the LAPD and their unjustified aggression toward our protagonists, it is hard not to sympathize with them and have some sort of muted respect for the brazenness of their retaliation in the form of “F*ck Tha Police”. It is no secret that N.W.A. was widely demonized by the public over the content of their songs upon release, one of Straight Outta Compton’s biggest strengths being how it attempts it humanize its members by providing enough lyrical context to educate as well as entertain.

The second half of the film does more to focus on the careers of Dre, Cube, and E as they begin to drift away toward other projects. Some of the film’s funniest moments are the scenes featuring Dre’s first forays into producing for other rappers who today you and your mother are almost guaranteed to know on a first name basis.

However, things don’t move at nearly as brisk a clip here as the first half. Some scenes drag on a bit longer than they should, others grind past not feeling vital enough to have made it into the final cut. The foremost criticism by many regarding Straight Outta Compton is that certain incriminating details surrounding the morality of N.W.A.’s members are never brought up. This isn’t to say that the movie portrays them as spotless, only able to be properly seen through rose-colored glasses but it is true that some particularly unflattering scenarios managed to stay away from the narrative we see on the screen.

If you enjoy the conventions of good filmmaking, music from the golden era of hip-hop, movies with hard-R subject matter, or have even a passing curiosity for social justice, any one of those reasons is good enough to give Straight Outta Compton a watch. The characters are rough around the edges but wholly endearing, showing multiple generations the merits of overcoming great lengths to express yourself, “Express Yourself” incidentally being a great N.W.A. song that you should definitely go listen to.

Categories
Stories In Focus

Senior Class Plants Their Legacy

Though the senior class gift is not a consistent tradition in Houghton’s 132-year history, gifts to the college from previous classes are still recognizable and well-loved landmarks on campus today. The Luckey clock and bell system, the bridge between Rothenbuhler Hall and the Randall townhouses, the Rock – all of these were donated by a graduating class. On Wednesday, April 22, the Class of 2015 planted their gift, a Christmas tree, beside the Campus Center, intending that it, too, will enhance the Houghton experience for future students.

ClassGiftTreeRGB_LukeLauerThe history of senior class gifts at Houghton has slowly evolved over the years. Houghton’s first president, Dr. James S. Luckey, began the practice by asking graduating students to pledge a sum to give to the college within their first ten years of graduating. The Class of 1925 used their pledge money for the first class gift on record: the memorial outside Fancher marking the birthplace of Willard J. Houghton. Not every class that followed gave a gift, but several classes continued with practical gifts, such as hymnals (Class of ’37), clocks (Class of ’42), and campus benches (Class of ’48). By the 1990s, the tradition had changed so that class cabinets gave money from their budget surpluses rather than pledges. The system reverted back to pledges and donations in 2009, when Dan Noyes, Executive Director of Alumni Relations, and a group of students decided it was preferable for classes to use their budgets entirely for class activities. Now, cabinets encourage their classes to donate the amount of their class year; for example, the class of 2009 donated $20.09, and so on.

The process classes undertake to choose their gift has also changed. While previous senior class cabinet members made the final decision among themselves and the Alumni Relations Office, their role has shifted. Now, the group solicits ideas from their own class members, and collects practical options from which the entire senior class selects by voting.

“We want the class to feel like this is their gift,” said Noyes. “This process creates a good experience for everybody, and we get things we wouldn’t have even thought of, like this tree.”

The idea for the Christmas tree originated at the end of last semester in a conversation between Senior Class Cabinet President, Luke Lauer, and Director of Student Programs, Greg Bish. The idea further developed for Lauer in a conversation with a fellow class member, who mentioned that Christmas decorations were lacking. The class cabinet, currently composed of President Lauer, Social Chair Katie Szwejbka, and Treasurer Nathan Sircy, figured that a Christmas tree would fill this need as a focal point to be decorated for the Christmas season, while also acting as a landmark they could visit during reunions.

In February, the senior class voted for the Christmas tree and its decorations as their official class gift, and the cabinet proceeded to secure a location. With help from Grounds Supervisor Dennis Eerdman and Director of Community Relations Phyllis Gaerte, the cabinet chose a spot outside of the Campus Center, close enough to an electric outlet so that the tree can be lit at Christmas time. The tree, a ten-foot white fir, was planted Wednesday, Earth Day 2015.

The cabinet envisions future students leading a tradition associated with the tree. “What that looks like exactly, we’re not totally sure, but our goal is to make it some sort of class tradition for the seniors, because the seniors don’t really have a formal tradition,” said Lauer.

Szwejbka added, “I think there’s a lot of potential for this to be not just something the college takes care of, but something that the student body interacts with. I’d actually compare it to the Rock. The college could paint the Rock every couple weeks, but students take that initiative and they have fun with it. I’d love to see the tree function in the same way.”

Categories
Reviews Stories In Focus

Recommended Record: Passion Pit’s Kindred

Eclectic indie pop band Passion Pit released their third album Kindred this past Tuesday, full of vibrating, bubbly synth and sparkling vocals. The album is frontrunner Michael Angelakos most cohesive work to date, deftly weaving sonic euphoria with sounds of nostalgia and inward struggle.

passion10While previous Passion Pit hits, like “Make Light” or “Little Secrets” are deceptively upbeat, often masking cynical undertones, the lyrics of Kindred are more attune with their vibrant sound. This is most likely due to Angelakos’s brazen honesty concerning his own personal struggle with bipolar disorder. Despite the stigma attached to mental health diseases, Angelakos halted his 2012 Gossamer tour in order to seek help for the extreme highs and lows he experiences. “Once I started accepting my mental condition, it stung for a little bit, and then everything improved,” he comments.

Arguably the catchiest tune on the track list is “Lifted Up (1985)” a song bursting with Passion Pit’s characteristic frenzied electronica, dedicated to Angelakos’s wife, Kristina Mucci. Glitchy synth and Angelakos’s giddy voice proclaim, “1985 was a good year/The sky broke apart and you appeared.” Contrary to a typical love song, the speaker acknowledges his intrinsic faults, and subsequent failures: “Oh, but yeah I’m so tired/I fight so hard and come back beaten…Oh but yeah, all my life I stay here waiting.” In “Whole Life Story”, also inspired by Mucci, the listener is given insight into their complicated relationship. Amidst peppy handclaps and sugary synth-sounds, a falsetto voice cries: “I’m sorry darling, how could I have turned this/Into such a, darling, difficult position for you”.  Yet this apology is quietly accepted: “And you didn’t make a sound/You were looking out the window at the city/Then you turned and said you loved me.” The most beautiful aspect of Kindred is its persistent optimism despite acknowledged failures. In an interview with TIME, Angelakos speaks in regards to his inspiration: “Growing up. It’s all the things I wish I had been doing instead of dealing with all of the complications from my disorder. It’s also about figuring out my relationships with other people and how to deal with love in a very real way.”

This is evidenced especially in lilting tracks like “Five Foot Ten (I)” and “Until We Can’t (Let’s Go)”, where pounding, out-of-control synth undulates the listener up and down, a visceral parallel for Angelakos’s intense mood shifts. Admirably, the only extraneous track on the album is the autotune experiment gone wrong, “Ten Feet Tall (II)” where Angelakos’s high pitched, overzealous techno-warbling serves more to give the listener a headache than convey any concrete emotion. Taken as whole however, Kindred does well to reflect it’s creator’s liberating ideal: “Being as honest and transparent as you can be…that’s actually really, really empowering. It shows you have guts.”

Angelakos’s attempted honesty makes Kindred as a whole chaotically compelling. It’s messy, but underlying its sonic extremes is an overall message of perseverance.

Categories
Stories In Focus

Supernovas: Joel VanderWeele

Supernovas: Past Editors-In-Chief Reflect On The STAR and Beyond

JoelVanderWeeleAfter graduating from Houghton with a double major in Math & Philosophy in 2010, I went on to graduate school at the University of Notre Dame where I earned Masters degrees in Architecture and Architectural Design and Urbanism.  In the past four years my wife Amy [Buckingham] VanderWeele ’10 (former section editor) and I have lived, worked, and studied in Chicago, South Bend, Washington DC, Rome, and Philadelphia. After four years of living out of suitcases, we have now settled down in Providence, Rhode Island where I work as an architectural designer for Union Studio Architecture & Community Design and Amy works for the Town of Cumberland’s Office of Children, Youth, and Learning.

I had the time of my life working for the Star.  Amy and I still bring it up once in a while, laughing about terrible headlines we came up with at 3 in the morning, or that time a student mumbled about our poor judgment in subject matter and was later spotted discussing the finer points of an article with a friend in the coffee shop, or best of all that time a Financial Aid staffer came up to us with tears of laughter in her eyes thanking us for our April Fools’ story, “Baptist Bus to Visit Houghton.”   It was thrilling to be so dialed-in to the conversations around campus and it was a tremendous honor to lead the dialogue week in and week out.

Joel VanderWeele

Editor 2009-2010

 

Categories
Stories In Focus

Supernovas: Monica Sandreczki

Supernovas: Past Editors-In-Chief Reflect On The STAR and Beyond

MonicaSandreczkiI’ve reported stories and hosted our news show, Morning Edition, for our National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate in Binghamton, NY since the end of 2013. ​But getting here was no small feat. Recent-Houghton-Grad-Monica – young and naive, yet self-confident – was just crazy enough to apply for the job after an internship at the NPR station in Kansas City. What a time that was! Interviewing NRA members, mixing audio, investigative reporting. But it all started from the first, most beloved, stepping stone that is the Houghton Star. 2010-2011 was a year that turned girls into women (you remember, Kristen?), honing news judgment through whatever means accessible. The most grandest – and often the most depressing – night of the week was Wednesday night when the editorial staff worked magic laying out the paper until 3:00am in the Star office. And of course, took a break to cut the lights, get office chairs in position, and crank Lonely Island’s “I’m on a Boat.” Thank you, Houghton Star. All good things to the future of the newspaper that still means so much.

Monica Sandreczki

Editor 2010-2011

Categories
Stories In Focus

Supernovas: Sarah Hutchinson

Supernovas: Past Editors-In-Chief Reflect On The Star and Beyond

I was a wet-behind-the-ears, wide-eyed freshman wandering around the campus activities fair when a boisterous voice yelled out, “Well, hello there!–join the Star!” The voice belonged to Monica Sandreczki, then editor-in-chief of the Star. Her influence prompted me to sign up and so began a four-year stint at Houghton’s weekly.

Screen Shot 2015-04-23 at 4.04.21 PMThere were many things that impacted me from working at the Star, but what I will always remember is this: locking up the Star office at 2 AM (and sometimes later) on Thursday mornings after sending the paper to print. The chilly, lonely campus at that hour might as well have been paradise with the elated, full feeling rising from somewhere in my chest. Our paper, a team effort, was going to be published. We had spent a week keeping our ear pricked for stories, pestering writers (“are you going to send that article in? ARE YOU??”), chasing down sources (sometimes literally), drinking umpteen cups of Sodexo Starbucks coffee, and it was all for producing this essential piece of campus dialogue. Work at the Star was lots of fun and deeply satisfying.

Now, after graduating last year with a degree in political science, I work for a health organization that serves refugee communities in Buffalo, NY. While my work is rewarding in a different way, I admit that sometimes I start to get wistful for the work at Houghton’s little paper. So thanks Monica, Kristen, all other section editors that I’ve worked with, and most especially last year’s be-sweatered staff. It was a blast.

Sarah Hutchinson ’14

Editor 2013-2014

Categories
Reviews Stories In Focus

A Night of Willards, Films, and Fancy Outfits

9th Annual Film Fest Celebrates Veteran and Amateur Filmmakers Alike

2015 marks the ninth consecutive year that Houghton has hosted Film Fest, its annual celebration of student-made films. Its purpose has been to exhibit and reward the work of these students who are willing to submit their projects and relinquish them to the critical eyes of a panel of judges as well as the hundreds of others who fill Wesley Chapel to congratulate the winners on their films as they are shown.

FilmFest2015-02Film Fest covered a wide array of submissions, ranging from narrative driven films, to more technical ones showcasing an attention to shot composition, to commercials for certain events, as well as many other categories. Hosted entertainingly by JL Miller, townhouse resident director, and Michael Jordan, dean of the chapel, the event chugged on without too many hiccups, as the space in-between viewings of each category’s submissions was filled with their banter and commentary. Overall, the quality of films put on display this year was good, there being some truly impressive stand-outs among the winners and runners-up. The coveted Willard Awards were distributed to the winners, a few student filmmakers picking up more than one.

Ice Nine Studios (a collaboration between Colin Belt ‘15 and Matthew Grim ‘16) snagged four Willards for their animations: one for the best animation award for the eye-catching, ethereal, and especially well done Allice trailer, another for best editing for the bizarre mind-trip that was, The Supple Chunk, the third for best drama with Candle’s Tale, another animated feature. The last film of theirs to take home the Willard for best sound was one of my personal favorites, Rainbow Kitten Fun Time, an energetic, colorful, and nostalgic homage to classic video games and the power of friendship. Ice Nine Studios and their strength in this year’s Film Fest hopefully signifies an increase in the presence of animated features in the coming years.

Hannah Folkerts pulled in two Willards as well. The first for best documentary with Andrea, a well-shot film that tells the story of the titular young woman Andrea who aspires to be a ballet dancer despite the many setbacks she has experienced. The film cuts back and forth between Andrea speaking to the camera and her dancing in the studio, capturing both the expressiveness in her face as she tells her story and the expressiveness in her body as she floats, twirls, and spins across the floor. The second of Folkerts’ Willard’s came for best cinematography for Country and City, a collection of truly excellent camera work, gathering contrasting shots from environments both urban and rural, showing some remarkably beautiful scenery in both settings.

The Willard awarded for best film of the night went to Derek Brooker’s Lucid, an incredibly shot and innovatively edited film that held my breathless attention from the very first scene. Lucid excels in conveying the anxiety and bleakness of the situation faced by the short film’s silent protagonist, played well by Brooker himself. Lucid fully deserved its recognition as the best of the best.

Several submissions were made by first time filmmakers, introduced to the field through various outlets, be that through sheer curiosity or class assignments. Ava Bergen ‘17 won her Willard for best comedy with her film Coffee, a project made initially for her Digital Video class. Her film advocated for the “wonder-drug” that college students have become all too well acquainted with, caffeine. Ava commented in regard to her film, “Though it was satirical, the message was one that I relate to on a personal level. I’m fascinated by the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain, as well as my hopeless dependence on coffee.” Bergen described her decision to submit Coffee as an easy one, “I thought, why not? There is no downside to submitting and seeing what happens.” When asked what the recognition that comes with winning a Willard has done for her motivation as a burgeoning filmmaker, she responded, “It’s definitely an encouragement, especially because filmmaking is so fun. I love doing it, so it was nice to receive the positive feedback.” In addition to some of the more seasoned veterans of the filmmaking trade, students like Bergen are the success stories that will hopefully influence other potential filmmakers out there who will do their best to ensure that Film Fest retains its quality and diversity for years to come.

Categories
Stories In Focus

A Sodexo Story: Pam Wilkinson

Since the fall of 2009, Pam Wilkinson has worked as a Sodexo greeter in the dining hall where she scans ID cards for meals, does other miscellaneous jobs when needed, and gets to interact with Houghton faculty, students, and other community members.

Pam first became affiliated with Houghton when she attended one of the college’s programs at its West Seneca satellite campus in the early 1980s.  She graduated with an associate degree and remembers her time with “fond memories.”  Shortly after graduating, Pam met her husband and became a stay-at-home mom to their three children.

PamRGBIn 2006 Pam reconnected with Houghton when her daughter, Candace, attended as a student from 2006-2010.  At this time she was not working and since her children were all beginning to leave home, she decided she “wanted something to do with [her] time”.  She would often visit her daughter while she was a student at Houghton and began thinking, “I would like to work here”.  Following her daughter’s encouragement, Pam decided to go ahead apply at the dining hall. She wasn’t aware that a food service ran the dining hall so she was told to go online and apply.  After she applied, Pam ended up earning the position as a greeter in the dining hall. While this was good news, Pam was still nervous, “I haven’t been in the workforce since the early ‘80s, so I was nervous” she said.

Although she has a 40 minute commute each day from Delevan, Pam loves her job and the college atmosphere.  “The students are what I love most about Houghton. They are so friendly and so full of energy,” said Pam, who especially enjoys having conversations with students throughout the day. “The faculty and staff are also very friendly,” said Pam.  Pam’s most memorable experience occurred when she came into work on her birthday and found three huge birthday balloons at her register, “I have never seen such huge balloons.  To this day I don’t know who they were from.  I will always remember that!  That really made my day!”

Pam doesn’t quite know what is in store for her in the future, but she does know that she wants to continue her work here at Houghton.  She and her husband are grandparents to one twenty-one month old grandson and a granddaughter on the way this coming July.  During her time off, Pam enjoys hobbies like crocheting, painting, quilting, decorating, and shopping.  She also enjoys reading, walking her dog, and watching Jane Austen and Bible movies.  Pam can always been seen at the top of the dining hall stairs, wearing a smile, ready to greet everyone entering the our dining hall.

Categories
Stories In Focus

Houghton Movement and Arts Center

Local Dance Studio Offers Opportunities for Aspiring Dancers of All Skill Levels

In September of 2011, after living in Houghton for only 8 months, Sarah Badger took over an empty studio on Route 19 and began Houghton Movement and Arts Center with 40 students. The building she currently occupies was previously owned by Sandy Charles who taught dance at her studio named “Pointe by Pointe”.

“We saw that dance needed to continue in Houghton. I started initially just thinking I would offer some private lessons to performers who wanted to keep up with dance. It just sort of occurred to me that this building could be put to really good use and I envisioned a way of bringing not just dance but other forms of recreation and performing arts to students in Houghton,” explained Badger, “This could really be a third space for performing arts that’s outside of the schools.”

Badger began her training at age four with dreams of being a professional dancer. When she was ten she switched to studying purely classical ballet. She trained at the Ballet San Antonio Academy and also attended a magnet High School for dance, the Northeast School of the Arts. She left Texas for New York City to go to Marymount University. She didn’t study dance in college, but danced professionally while training at the Ailey School. “My plan was always to stay in New York City and have a dance career there. When I married my husband he had not been to college yet and when I finished school he was really interested in attending a Christian liberal arts college. So, we ended up in Houghton.”

Badger felt frightened starting such a new enterprise. “I had never set out wanting to own a dance studio. I had always seen myself as a performer – maybe teaching a little down the line,” said Badger. She enjoyed her first teaching job in New York City. When the Badgers moved out to Houghton, Badger jumped on the opportunity to teach, “It was definitely a little bit scary, but I tend to see potential in things and want to make things as good as they can possibly be.”

The studio has done well in the rural setting. It is growing each year and branching out to offer new classes and more performances. Badger said,“People tend to think a dance studio is just for little girls, but we’re so much more than that. We have tons of adult programs. We’ve offered acting and voice classes in the past. We have adult dance classes and dance and fitness and theatre arts – things that can be enjoyed by a lot of different people.”

One of the developments the studio has made in the past year is the creation of Genesee Dance Theater. This is a semi-professional dance company, meaning that a fraction of their dancers are not professionals – students, teenagers, community members – who are working alongside local professional dancers. This past December they put on a well-received performance of the Nutcracker, a performance they plan on continuing annually. Ultimately, the goal of the company is to put on two to three annual performances in Western New York.

The college, though not exclusively connected to the studio, has a good mutual relationship. Kayleen Norcutt ‘16 has taught classes at the studio and dances there regularly and said, “Most students I talk to are surprised when they discover that there is a dance studio in Houghton. I found it about a year before I began college, and was in contact with Badger throughout that year regarding job and dance opportunities. It was certainly a deciding factor in attending Houghton.”

Kara Bartholomew has been teaching classes for the past two semesters. “Dancing has taught me how to meet people at different spots in their lives. Throughout my years of teaching I have encounter many students at all different levels,” said Kara.

The studio is now at a transition point. With her husband Graham graduating from Houghton this semester, he is looking to work in his field which might require them to move. The couple wants to stay local, but aren’t certain where they will end up. Because of this, Badger doesn’t want to commit to owning the studio for another full year. Rachel Phillips, a former instructor for Badger, owns a studio in Fillmore called STEPS. HMAC will merge with STEPS under the ownership of Phillips. Badger says very little is going to change and that she will stay on staff as a ballet teacher and consultant.

Badger sees the studio as a place where students can deeply develop their skills whether they are looking to dance professionally or just to keep up their training and health. She encourages all of her students to follow their dreams, “If a student comes to me and they really want to be a professional dancer, I’m not going to laugh at them and say ‘That’s not possible because you live in Houghton or you live in Allegany County’.”