The Maryland Business Roundtable for Education has unveiled a new program, “STEM Specialists in the Classroom,” designed to augment classroom instruction and inspire high school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, WBAL reports.

President Freeman Hrabowski talked to WBAL about the importance of the new initiative and UMBC’s success in educating students in the STEM fields.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV)

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Reflection:

As a former captain of a slave trade ship in the 18^th century, John Newton powerfully experienced God’s mercy while encountering a storm at sea.  From that moment on, his life was dramatically and forever changed, as he gives up his slave trade profession and goes into full time ministry.  One day as he reflected upon God’s incredible work in his life, he penned the powerful opening stanza of his famous hymn “Amazing Grace”:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Many times we have a tendency to forget the darkness from which we came from- a time when we were under the power of sin and were dead in our transgressions.  It is only by God’s grace that we have been made alive and saved into a life and relationship with Him.  And as we continually remember God’s wonderful work in our own lives, we will grow into a deeper appreciation and thankfulness of Christ’s saving grace.  We once were lost but now we are found, were blind but now we see!

Responding to Transmission:

Let’s thank God for His gift of grace and life in Christ, and pray that we live according to all of God’s good plans and purposes for our lives.

Jay Greene, one of the most successful and popular players in
UMBC basketball history, has returned to his alma mater as an assistant
men’s basketball coach, Head Coach Randy Monroe announced today.
Greene replaces another UMBC alum, John Zito ’06 who has entered private
business after three years on the staff.

“I’m really excited to have Jason be back and be a part of our staff,”
Monroe said. “He is going to bring a tremendous amount of basketball
knowledge to our staff, but above all, he has the ability to relate to the
student-athletes at UMBC.”The Whitehall, Pa. native has played the most basketball games, 122, and
most minutes, 4,192, in Retriever basketball history from 2005-09. The
two-time team captain dished out 683 assists, the most in school history,
the third-most ever in America East Conference history and the third-most
of any NCAA Division I player in the state of Maryland.

He scored 1,186 career points and was the Reggie Lewis Most Outstanding
Player in the 2008 America East Tournament, leading the Retrievers to
their first NCAA bid. In his junior season, Greene was the lone player in
the nation to be ranked in the top five in the nation in
assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd, 3.47) and assists per game (4th, 7.2 per
game).

Greene, who was named UMBC’s Outstanding Senior Athlete for 2008-09,
earned three league citations in four seasons of competition. He was an
All-Rookie team member in 2005-06, earned First-Team All-Conference honors
in 2007-08 and second team honors in his senior campaign.

Greene earned his bachelor’s degree from UMBC in sociology in the spring
of 2009. He spent the 2010-11 season at director of basketball operations
at Rider University.

Theodore Gonzalves, associate professor of American Studies, is the co-author, with Roderick N. Labrador, of the new book Filipinos in Hawaii. This pictorial history is the latest volume in the “Images of America” series by Arcadia Publishing.

Nearly one in four persons in Hawaii is of Filipino heritage. Representing one-fifth of the state’s workforce, Filipinos have been in Hawaii for more than a century.  This book traces that history from 1946—the last year that sakadas (plantation workers) were imported from the Philippines—to the centennial year of their settlement in Hawaii.

A portion of the profits from the sale of the book are being donated to the Filipino American Historical Society of Hawaii.