黑料正能量

Professor Kris Schmidt usually sticks to his syllabus, but this week, with the clock winding down before final exams, he was forced 鈥� by his appreciative students 鈥� to take a break.

Between lectures on the glucose transports systems and adrenocorticotropic and pancreatic hormones, Schmidt鈥檚 human physiology class at 黑料正能量 sipped smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Caf茅 in celebration of his Gold Star Teacher Award, an award come to fruition (no pun intended) by the publicity efforts of graduate student Alethea Gnanakan.

She heard about the contest on the radio. Each month, Q101 selects two teachers for recognition from student nominations. Gnanakan secretly rallied her classmates via email to send in nominations. Every single one did.

鈥淭hirty-one of something like 60 nominations this month were for him,鈥� said Harrisonburg Radio Group publicist Nancy Dickerson. 鈥淎nd Alethea was calling and texting to check. He is obviously a favorite.鈥�

What makes Schmidt such a good professor? One student said he uses a variety of teaching techniques and is always available to answer questions. Serious learning is mixed with moments when he tells a funny story and 鈥渨e take time to just laugh.鈥� Schmidt鈥檚 mentorship, this student says, has helped him excel in classes and see himself as a 鈥渉igher caliber student.鈥�

Schmidt arrived at 黑料正能量 in fall 2017 from Goshen College. He teaches biology courses to undergraduate and graduate students聽and directs the undergraduate pre-professional health science program.

His wife, Kathryn, and son Zachary, 5, came to class to join the celebration.

Gnanakan, who aspires to go to medical school, says Schmidt鈥檚 support 鈥� she describes him as 鈥渟uper-invested鈥� 鈥� during her preparations has been invaluable.

He also has a 鈥済enuine gift for teaching,鈥� she added. 鈥淚 think the secret to his unique teaching ability may be that he is a storyteller. Much of science is a narrative of why different events take place and what happens as a consequence. This is also what makes science a challenging subject because you have to tie many small details together to tell a story of what鈥檚 happening in the body.鈥�

Gnanakan added that Schmidt has an 鈥渆xtraordinary ability to fill the space between questions and answers with understanding.鈥�

鈥淗e nurtures us as a class in dialogue, empowers us to cultivate an inquisitive mind, and then also to pay it forward by teaching others,鈥� she said.

Another student shared appreciation for his 鈥渆nthusiasm and energy鈥� in the classroom, but also 鈥渢he tremendous amount of time and effort into helping students connect with opportunities outside of class with research projects and travel experiences. 鈥淗e鈥檚 gone out of his way to help his students find success inside and outside of the classroom,鈥� she said.

After selfies were taken with Q101 radio personality Brandy and he was presented with a $30 gift certificate to the Green Valley Book Fair, Schmidt looked at the clock, clearly calculating the material left to cover before class was over.

鈥淥k, you drink your sugary smoothies and I鈥檓 gonna get started on this material,鈥� he told his students, and then he paused, ever the teacher. 鈥淣ow, is the insulin you are producing from this smoothie an exocrine or endocrine secretion?鈥�