Fall semester is always an excit-

ing time as students return to

campus, energized and ready to

start a new academic year.

Whether returning students or

new entering students, the

energy on campus is palpable

and the Green House is no

exception. Each fall we take

time to re-connect with our

students,

coaches,

faculty/

staff and

adminis-

trators at

our fall cook out. We appreci-

ate the opportunity to “break

bread” with our university fam-

ily and

share our

passion

for the

success of

our students.

And that success is our mis-

sion! To provide those aca-

demic support and develop-

ment services that facilitate

opportunities for our students

to enjoy success in the class-

room and beyond. Our suc-

cess over the years has not

been the result of one, or a few

people. Since the inception of

Athletes for Success in the

Classroom, we have had an

amazing team of students who

have contributed to our growth

and success.

This past spring

we initiated our

very own

Green House/Athletes for

Success in the Classroom Hall

of Fame to recognize those

who have had a major impact

on our efforts. The computer

lab now doubles as our official

Hall of Fame. Enshrined in

our inaugural class are 56 indi-

viduals who always answered

the bell. Join us in acknowl-

edging and thanking the Class

of 2016 for their contributions

to student success!

—Shawn Kakuk

The Director’s Chair

Hall of Fame class of 2016

Sarah Strohschein, Curtis

Washington, Jesse James,

Chris Buckel, Corey Miller,

Rodney Walker, Corey

Tollefson, Andre Stevenson,

Jenny Kimman, Isaiah Harris,

John Derlein, Harry Jackson,

Ramon Nunez, Adrienne

Higley, Amy Harris, Keith

Heckendorf, Danielle Simons,

Mariann

Gabrawy,

Rich Pryd,

Bianca

Rhodes, Lamont

Townsend, Ben

Wagner, Frank

Ayers, Megan Har-

dy, Angela Mayers,

Nick Peterson, Jodi

Tarasewicz, Mark

Henderson, Andrew

Syverson, Melanie

Pudsey, Fatma Abdi-

nasir, Dan Kamin,

Cory McLouden, Me-

ghan McGee, Ryan

Koch, Liz Solberg,

Bintou Jatta, Heather

Miller, Cameron

Pham, Thoa-Ha Phan,

Krystal Scott, Rachel

Solgon, Zach Stover,

Sarah Wuotila, David

Kamin, Tony Parker, Damon

Spurlock, Helmie

Teketay, Jon Ammer-

man, Courtney Jo-

sephson, Matt Asmus,

Talisha Barlow, Jason

Terres, Teresa Gazich, Nicolas

Harris-Rioux and Taylor Witt.

—Shawn Kakuk

Accolades

2016 Fall Semester

Volume 5 Issue 2

Athletes for Success

Inside this issue:

The Director’s Chair 1

Accolades 1

Meet the RGHers 2

Coach’s Box 2

Making a Difference 3

Faculty Forum 3

Where Are They

Now?

3

Pup’s Corner 4

Senior hammer thrower,

Stephanie Waletzko is majoring

in biomedical sciences, minor-

ing in chemistry and psycholo-

gy with an emphasis in biome-

chanics/exercise physiology.

Stephanie is the president of

the Student-Athlete Advisory

Committee (SAAC), along with

being the Co-president of the

North Star STEM Alliance,

STEM scholars too.

We have been lucky enough to

put this incredible woman’s

talents to use the past three

years here at the Green House.

One can certainly claim that

she stays busy. In fact, almost

any time a visitor might stop

by at the Green House, Steph

can be seen studying, or help-

ing one of the many students

she assists in her challenging

field of study! Steph thanks the

Green House for allowing her

the opportunities to learn best

how to focus and manage her

time and, and for giving her a

very well rounded college ex-

perience overall. When asked

what she finds to be special

about the Green House she

said: “We are such a diverse

group that all have a common

goal: to excel, on the field and

in the classroom.” How excel-

lently put!

Senior Biomedical Sciences major, Adam Josephson is studying Pre-Veterinary Medi-cine and plans to attend veteri-nary school next fall. He also participated in football and will join the wrestling team in the spring semester. On top of

athletics and aca-demics, he has worked at the Green House for three years! It

is no wonder that he has learned how to effectively manage his time, as well as how to work with, and com-municate with students so well!

When asked why he values the green house Adam said: “The best part about the Green House is that while it offers a great place for students to study and receive tutoring, it also really helps in building the ‘Husky Family’ that we all talk about. By being a place to study together, we get to meet other athletes and build a ca-maraderie where we would not otherwise have that opportuni-ty with everybody’s busy schedules.

We will certainly miss Adam and his work ethic next year once he departs from our husky family, but we all will celebrate his accomplishments as he continues down his aca-demic path! Thank you, Adam, and good luck!

—Emma Konopasek

ibility of tutor scheduling al-lows our student-athletes the opportunity to maximize time in their busy schedules.”

Former Husky Hoopster, Green House attendee and current assistant men’s basket-ball coach Mahmoud Abdelfat-tah cited the Green House’s flexibility and structure con-tributing to academic suc-cess…believing student-athletes who are given free-dom, yet still held accountable and responsible for their aca-demic performance, will learn far more than the academic material. “I view the Green

Head coaches talk about the importance of a staff being “on the same page” when it comes to strategical and technical concepts. After talking with Huskies assistant coaches, coaching staffs are also on the same page when it comes to the Green House. Soccer graduate assistant Sierra Bon-ham, whose team placed 12 student-athletes on the Fall NSIC All-Academic Team, appreciates the quality and availability of tutors at the Green House: “Our women have access to some of the best tutors on campus, and the flex-

House as a place that provides student-athletes the opportuni-ty and freedom to study on their own time and master their own study habits. The Green House helps student-athletes prepare for life after college by developing life skills such as time management, communica-tion, decision making, problem solving, and many more.” It is clear that our coaches are on the same page with one thing: the positive impact the Green House has on developing suc-cessful students and future leaders.

—Carley Jeffery

Meet the RGHers

Coach’s Box

“The best part about the Green

House...is it really helps in

building the ‘Husky Family’

that we all talk about.”

-Adam Josephson

Page 2 Athletes for Success Volume 5 I ssue 2

“We are such a diverse group

that all have a common goal to

excel on the field and in the

classroom.”

-Stephanie Waletzko

Making a Difference

Where Are They Now?

Faculty Forum

The slogan for Division II is, “Make It Yours”. As a senior, I am able to look back on my time at St. Cloud State and how I “made it mine”. As a student-athlete at St. Cloud State, I have become very in-volved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), being the president for the past two years. Through SAAC, I have had the opportunity to give back to the

St. Cloud community through different volunteer opportuni-ties. These include, working at the Salvation Army food shelf, organizing campaigns again drunk driving, and working to break down the stigma that surrounds mental health. The Green House provides leader-ship training. In conjunction with their Green House posi-tions, the staff is involved with outside endeavors. On staff at

the Green House are student athletes also involved in SAAC. These students use their excep-tional leadership skills and roles to help the greater good of the campus and the commu-nity. Through the Green House and SAAC, student-athletes have the great oppor-tunity to “Make It Ours.”

—Stephanie Waletzko

reasonably well dramatically

increases your likelihood of

having a successful college ex-

perience.

OK, so you’re sold on the idea.

Now what? How do you get

started? What do you talk

about? The most obvious an-

swer is to talk with faculty

about material from your cur-

rent class. Is there something

from class that struck you as

interesting? Or that you are

not sure you fully understand?

Faculty really do want to dis-

cuss the material with you and

these questions can help your

professor to know where to

start. They may also be able to

help you focus your study hab-

its in a way that helps you mas-

ter course material.

—Dr. Dan Macari

College Counseling and Student Development

“Talk to your professors.”

You’ve all heard that, right?

Whenever we talk about being

a successful college student we

always suggest that you go talk

to your professors – before

class, after class, and most im-

portantly during office hours.

This is truly good advice. In

fact, research suggests that

having at least one faculty

member on campus know you

laid the foundation that allowed

me to become a successful col-

lege student. It gave me the

tools to develop good studying

habits and taught me how to

manage my time between

school and sports. The Green

House also helped me stay mo-

tivated through the tougher

times whether it was on or off

the ice.”

Nicolas’ efforts in the class-

room landed him a position as a

tutor in the fall of 2008. “Being

a Green House staff member

helped me become a better

leader in many ways. The first

one is leading by example. A

good work ethic will rub off on

your peers and will be beneficial

“The college journey of a stu-

dent-athlete is not always easy

but knowing that I had people

around me who were willing to

help and were there to keep me

on track really had a positive

impact on my success. ”

Former Green House and

Husky Hockey team member,

Nicolas Harris-Rioux knows

these words well. Turn back

the calendar to fall 2007 and

Nicolas realized the im-

portance of having people sup-

porting him in his journey as a

student-athlete. Of his experi-

ence, Nicolas said, “The Green

House made my transition to

college easier because it gave

me the structure I needed and

to each members of your team.

Secondly, I got to help people

from different cultural back-

grounds. Since my first lan-

guage is French, I had to work

on my communication skills

and tutoring people gave me

the confidence I needed to

strive in my new home.”

Since graduation, Nicolas has

played professional hockey in

Texas, Illinois/Iowa and the

United Kingdom. Now retired

from hockey, Nicolas is pursu-

ing his MBA at the Universite

Laval in Quebec. We expect

Nicolas to continue leading by

example and we thank him for

the example he set with us!

—Shawn Kakuk

“Research suggests that having

at least one faculty member on

campus know you reasonably

well dramatically increases

your likelihood of having a

successful college experience.”

Page 3 Athletes for Success Volume 5 I ssue 2

Back Row: Emma Turbyville, Adam Josephson, Brindley

Theisen, Jon Averkamp, Stephanie Waletzko

Front Row: Natalie Gottschalk, Alyssa Coletto, John

Solberg

Our goal is to aid in the development of student athletes at

St. Cloud State University, increasing productivity through

academic support, academic advising and encouragement.

Physical Address: 827 4th Avenue South

St. Cloud, MN 56301

Mailing Address: 720 4th Avenue South

St. Cloud, MN 56301

www.stcloudstate.edu/asc/

The second ingredient is the commit-ment to work-ing hard. Nat-

ural talent only gets a person so far. To be great, we have to strive to constantly better our-selves. We have to work hard to run a route faster, to field a ball cleaner, to land a higher note in order to create the per-fect sound. Without the ability to persevere and work hard, natural talent will always lead an individual to fall short of success. Lastly, in order to be success-ful, the recipe must contain passion. Without passion, natu-

Success is a simple recipe.

There are three key ingredients

to a fulfilling livelihood. The

first component is natural tal-

ent. For some people, mathe-

matics is simple; for others,

writing an essay is painless and

enjoyable. We are all gifted

with special abilities, which we

must use to our advantage. An

artist shouldn't force them-

selves to be a lawyer, a brilliant

mechanic shouldn't be obligat-

ed to drag themselves through

medical school, and vice versa!

As we travel down our road to

destiny, we need

to remember to

embrace what we

are good at.

ral talent and hard work are tasteless. If you do not enjoy the process, a job will become work, your schooling will be-come mind-numbing, and practice will become arbitrary: a cog in a machine going through the motions. Remind yourself why you love to do what you do. As you finish this semester, take some time to reflect on what you have ac-complished and what you must improve on to reach your goals. Stand tall, be proud, and indulge in a small slice of your impending success.

—Sydney Kakuk

Pup’s Corner

Phone: 320-308-5392

Fax: 320-308-1525

E-mail: sakakuk@stcloudstate.edu

Education for Life

Richard Green House