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Rebecca Johnson Mastin '93, principal of Mulberry Elementary School in Wilkes County, N.C., received the county's principal of the year award on March 28. Mastin will now compete with principals of the year from more than 20 school systems in northwestern North Carolina for regional principal of the year.

Music theatre alumnus Rob Marnell '06 was featured in the March 31 edition of The News Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Ind. He spoke with reporter Sheryl Krieg about his role as Alex the Lion in a touring production of "Madagascar Live" based on the hit animated film.

Alex Ellis, a 2005 graduate of Elon's music theatre program, will be featured in a Webseries called "Diary of a Chorus Girl." The series, which premiered on YouTube's DanceOn channel Wednesday, March 16, will chronicle Ellis' experiences while making her Broadway debut in the ensemble of "Catch Me If You Can."

In most introductory counseling courses, students are required to practice their counseling skills through role play activities in the classroom and demonstrating their learning through mock counseling sessions in class or on video or audiotapes. These role play activities, while helpful in providing practical experience, often lack the authenticity of a real client-helper exchange.

This community-based participatory research project engages 16 high school students, who are students in the Elon Academy, as co-researchers. Through interviews, focus groups, participant observation, surveys, and photovoice, the scholar-researchers explore how intersections of social location, e.g., race, class, gender, and sexuality, produce barriers to and opportunities for college access.

Elon Academy first-year college students are thriving on campuses across the state. We have 20 graduates studying at 13 different colleges and universities.

Twenty-three Elon students and Prof. Gerald Dillashaw are in Costa Rica for the spring semester as part of Elon’s Study Abroad program. The students are living with host families and enjoying this cultural immersion experience.

A senior computer science and math major, Amy Eubanks, is completing an honors thesis titled “Catching Fireflies: A Persuasive Augmented Reality Game for Android.” Eubanks has worked for two years on the design and implementation of a game applicaiton for Android mobile phones that encourages players to engage in one of the seminal experiences of childhood: going outside at dusk to catch fireflies.

When I meet with a student to discuss their choice of major or career choice, the first question typically is “What can I do with this major?” To avoid the clichéd “anything you want to…” answer, I reframe the conversation to discuss the transferable skills they will gain in the majors they are considering. Long gone are the days where you have to major in one subject and can only work in that field for the remainder of your career. While there are still linear career paths out there - study accounting, pass the CPA exam, work for one of the big-four firms - there are other options out there.