Posted on Friday, May 06, 2022
Since both of her parents are teachers, Political Science Major Madison Demkowski’s ’22 passion for education was instilled in her at a young age.
When she was in the process of selecting the topic of her Undergraduate Research project, she decided to focus on finding solutions to help improve education gaps within the state’s school systems.
“I hope to see a change in the education system one day and see schools properly funded and properly run to set students up for academic success,” Demkowski said.
She said she developed her topic entitled “What Really Failed Students: The COVID-19 Policies or School Funding?” by researching the funds and test scores of certain Georgia school systems.
“I compared the test scores of these counties, and I found that if a county was mostly funded by the local government, then they tended to do worse after the pandemic for test scores unlike the mostly state-funded schools,” Demkowski said. “This occurred because locally funded counties did not have as many resources to teach virtually during the pandemic unlike the state schools.”
Demkowski, who hopes to work in local and state politics, said she wants to continue her research after graduation, expanding her research to all 159 counties in Georgia.
“I would like to bring my research to local and state representatives to show them how important it is to fix the education gaps within the school systems and to show that there must be solutions to policies set forth that have not necessarily worked.”
Demkowski was one of 22 students who presented at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session that was held April 28 at the Hudson Lab Sciences Building. This year’s event included projects covering Political Science, History, Art and Design, Psychological Science, Biology, Sociology, Theatre, Business and Music.
Undergraduate research plays a significant role in helping students grow in their individual fields, according to Dr. Greg McClanahan, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“It provides opportunities for students to think critically and learn to communicate as a member of their academic discipline,” McClanahan said.
Dr. Christi Hu, Associate Professor of Psychological Science and Director of Undergraduate Research, said there are two groups of students who benefit from this event.
“The students who did the projects benefit by getting the practice of talking about their work, summarizing their findings or final product, and answering questions,” Hu said. “The students viewing the projects get to have a sneak peek at what they will be capable of during their last year.”
Dr. John Tures, Professor of Political Science and research mentor had seven students presenting at the research session.
“My role is merely to share their stories, to inspire the current generation and to let them know that conference presentation or research publication is possible because others like them have done it in prior years,” Tures said. “I believe that's true of other programs at LaGrange College.”
Every year, four student researchers are selected to receive the Hines Undergraduate Research award at Honors Day. The award is given to winners in four categories: Basic Research; Applied Research; Religious, Historical and Literary Analysis; and Performance and Creative Projects.
This year’s winners included Alexis Simmons ’22, Basic Research; Madison Demkowski, Applied Research; Chase Davis ’22, Religious, Historical and Literary Analysis; and DJ Kelly ’22, Creative/Performance.
Kelly, who was one of 13 student researchers to also present at the National Collegiate Undergraduate Research Conference in April, said he enjoyed being able to showcase all the Theatre props he has made in the four years he has been involved with the department.
“It was rewarding to stand in front of a group of people and explain my process and how I have come to be the props person that I am today,” Kelly said.
LaGrange College sent more presenters to this year’s virtual NCUR conference than larger schools that include University of Georgia, Valdosta State University, and Emory University.
Check LC Connect for Virtual CE events and instructions.
Through Friday, May 6
Young Alumni Lecture: Anna Britt Crawford ’19 (Virtual)
Young Alumni Lecture: Matt Montgomery ’07, M’09; and Casey Montgomery ’12, M’14 (Virtual)
Young Alumni Lecture: Grace Margaret Neal ’20 (Virtual)
Young Alumni Lecture: Larry Thompson Jr. ’85 (Virtual)
Young Alumni Lecture: Savannah Thomley ’18 (Virtual)
Tuesday, May 10
My Life with the Braves
11:15 a.m., Corn Auditorium
The Inauguration of Dr. Susanna Baxter
Campus and community leaders gathered April 22 to celebrate Dr. Susanna Baxter’s official installation as the college’s 26th president.
Baseball
The fourth-ranked Panthers opened the USA South Tournament Bracket #2 with a 27-1 win over William Peace on Thursday at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium. David Smigelski was 4-for-4 with a home run and seven RBIs. LC had seven players named to the USA South All-Conference teams, including Joe Ruth, who was named the USA South Player of the Year. David Kelton was named the USA South Coach of the Year for the second time.The Panthers will face Covenant at 5:00 p.m. today.
Lacrosse
Junior goalie Isaac Bohrer and junior midfielder Ben Bryan were second team USA South All-Conference selections.
Category: Academics
Keywords: research, awards, baseball
