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“We provide academic resources which enable students to accomplish their goals,” Kwasteniet said.
All services are confidential and free to students. The OLS offers resources such as tutoring and academic coaching to the general student body. Students wondering about a potential learning issue can receive academic counseling and discuss the possibility of a diagnostic evaluation. Students with identified disabilities have the legal right to receive accommodations. The director of the OLS works closely with the student and the student’s professors to devise an individualized accommodation plan which may include things like extended time for testing and utilizing text-to-audio reading systems.
“Trinity’s small size proves beneficial as the OLS facilitates open communication between students and instructors,” Kwasteniet explained. Many of the professors “go above and beyond” in this “highly collaborative process,” she said, noting that Trinity’s faculty understands both the legal and ethical implications of supporting all of their students.
Tutoring and Academic Coaching
The OLS offers tutors, academic coaches, and help through the Writing Center. Students can request tutors for a specific subject or an academic coach to help them prioritize and organize their schedules as well as hold them accountable for their work.
“It’s also for really strong students who want to get the most out of their classes,” Kwasteniet said. The aim is to help students excel in all areas, so they reach their academic goals. She added that it’s not unusual for a student to serve as a tutor in one subject and to seek tutoring in another.
“I think it is also beneficial for the tutors,” said student tutor coordinator Jessica De Young ’13 of Waupun, Wisconsin, “because it gives them a chance to use their strengths in certain subjects to help others learn.”
Supplemental Instruction
A new program implemented in fall 2010 is Supplemental Instruction (SI), headed up by Lisa Kuiper, coordinator of student support services. Trained student leaders attend lectures and lead SI group study sessions each week. The leaders act as facilitators to help students process the course material and study more efficiently. SI is currently being offered for Math 151, Biology 205/206, Chemistry 101/102, and Accounting 221/222.
Students who have benefited from the help they received from taking part in the SI program say:
“SI is very helpful, and I would recommend it to anyone – it is nice to get a student perspective from the material. I think I do better in a group session, and it has improved my knowledge of the material.”
“I always came out of SI sessions with a clearer idea and understanding of the material. It was nice to have multiple SI’s a week, as well as [the SI leader] having office hours. I was able to approach my test more relaxed because I had been to SI.”
“[The SI leader] was wonderful! She offered so much help and time to us. She made me feel comfortable and adjusted to everyone’s learning levels and abilities. She definitely was a huge contributing factor to my grades.”
The OLS creates a supportive atmosphere where students can receive free and confidential help. With the number of students taking advantage of the resources steadily increasing each year, the OLS will continue to expand its services.
For a complete list and explanation of all the services provided by the Office of Learning Services, visit http://studentlife.trnty.edu/office-of-learning-services.html.
Director Nancy Kwasteniet explains the help available to students through the Office of Learning Services:
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Led by Dr. Thomas Roose, associate professor of physics and science education, the group of students explored both the rain forest of the lowlands and the cloud forest of the mountains to learn about how the ecology of these regions work and how humans interact with the rainforest.
Although Costa Rica covers only .03 percent of the earth’s surface, this tiny country holds more than 5 percent of all life forms. The Interim team of students, all from varying majors, enjoyed whitewater rafting, zip-lining through the treetops, hiking near an active volcano and in tropical forests, and encountering toucans, sloths, poison dart frogs, iguanas, and other wildlife in their habitats. The students also experienced how global climate change is adversely affecting this unique part of God’s creation.
“My Interim trip to Costa Rica was more amazing than I could have ever imagined,” said Melissa Conrad ’14 of Hawthorn Woods, Illinois.
Conrad said she is passionate about wildlife conservation and sustainability and the trip provided an opportunity for her to experience both firsthand.
“The main highlight of my trip, besides being plunged deep into the lush Costa Rican rainforest, was getting to experience the Costa Rican culture. You could tell that people had a deep appreciation for everything and a very strong respect for nature, as well as each other. Their motto is ‘pura vida’ (pure life), and indeed it is. I would absolutely love to go back.”
Interim is a two-week program in January led by faculty and staff of the College. Special courses and trips are offered on campus, in Chicago, or at destinations in the United States and abroad.
Click here to read Dr. Roose’s Costa Rica Interim blog.
Students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered in the Grand Lobby of the Ozinga Chapel on January 17 to celebrate the 82nd birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
President Steven Timmermans, Ph.D., opened the evening with an excerpt from a 1962 sermon of King’s, which was followed by a scripture reading from senior Edmond Mensah of Chicago. The celebration continued as Dr. David Brodnax, Sr., assistant professor of history, gave a presentation called “Reflections on Music and the Civil Rights Movement,” and the Trinity Gospel Choir performed a selection of songs.
The evening focused on the roles music and the Bible played in King’s life and activism.
“Music played an important role in the civil rights movement,” said Brodnax. “Although Dr. King has been gone for over 40 years, the songs of his civil rights movement live on.
“The songs of the civil rights movement inspire us to think differently,” added James Palmore, director of the Gospel Choir. “Social justice songs took on a biblical proportion.”
Senior Velvet Woods of Chicago also read from a speech King gave in 1967. Afterwards, attendees viewed a video commemorating King’s life. The video was created by Audio Visual Coordinator Dave Jousma and junior Justin James of Riverside, Illinois.
The evening concluded with closing remarks and prayer offered by Don Woo, dean for ethnic diversity and multicultural programs, who related the passage of 2 Corinthians 5:17–6:2 and the life of King to God’s call of Christians today.
“God did not call us to be comfortable,” Woo said. “He called us to make a difference.”
Origami is not only a hobby for Moore, it is an instructional strategy she encourages future teachers to use in their classrooms. She also teaches origami to both education and non-education majors during Trinity’s two-week Interim in January.
The Interim class provides an opportunity for students to develop a new and exciting hobby and to gain insight into incorporating paper-folding into classes and other group activities. Students are also required to teach someone else the models that they have learned at three different points during the two week
For nursing major Caroline Klingbeil ’14 of Chesterton, Indiana, the class was her first experience with origami. Klingbeil constructed a swan with 430 strips of paper.
“I’ve never done anything like this before. It was a lot of fun, and it’s definitely something I’ll keep doing for enjoyment in the future,” she said.
Dr. Patti Powell, professor of education, is beginning her work as a Fulbright Scholar at Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College in Montego Bay, Jamaica. From January through May 2011, Powell will assist with the development of the college’s new deaf education program. In addition, she will introduce service learning into the curriculum and research how service learning enriches the experience of teacher.
In order to share her experience with the Trinity community, family, friends, and colleagues, Powell is documenting her journey through her blog “Jammin’ in Jamaica.” She invites all to visit her here: http://pattipowell.wordpress.com/
Powell, who is also director of the Alexander De Jong Center for Special Education at Trinity, has spent the past ten years leading Interim trips each January to the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf (CCCD). During the Jamaica Interim 2011, a service-learning experience, Trinity students had the opportunity to work at the CCCD on various projects and interact with the children who attend the CCCD after school. Students also experienced the Jamaican culture by traveling to Ocho Rios, climbing Dunns River Falls, and shopping in the straw market.
Read the January 2011 Interim blog.
Read more about Powell’s Fulbright award.
T
DeKruyter was one of the 10 men who served on the Christian Junior College Committee formed in 1953 to study the feasibility of establishing a Christian junior college in the Chicagoland area. Those early meetings paved the way for the formation of Trinity, first as a two-year institution and eventually a four-year, baccalaureate-degree granting college.
DeKruyter served as the committee’s chairman and later as chairman of the Board of Trustees. On many occasions he addressed meetings of classes and other organizations to gain support for the college movement.
“That was our assignment,” DeKruyter reminisced during a 2009 interview for Trinity’s 50th anniversary. “I felt very responsible for getting the Chicagoland people involved in something like this.”
In 2009, DeKruyter began the 50th Jubilee anniversary celebration with a campus chapel message for students, faculty, and staff on October 2. He then offered the invocation at the Jubilee formal dinner and program at Navy Pier.
In another recent demonstration of his ongoing devotion to the College, DeKruyter donated his personal pastoral library, which will be housed in the Dutch Heritage Center of the Jennie Huizenga Memorial Library and will provide access to works of relevance for pastors as well as Trinity faculty and students.
DeKruyter is survived by his daughter Lucette and son-in-law Thomas Bamford; his grandsons Tab (Kristin) and Arthur; and his great-grandchildren Thomas and Robert. He was preceded in death by his wife Gladys.
Arrangements as published on the website of Christ Church of Oak Brook are as follows:
Visitation with the family will be held at Christ Church of Oak Brook on Tuesday, January 18, from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m.
A private burial will be conducted on Wednesday morning, attended by family and invited guests only.
A memorial service will be held in the sanctuary on Wednesday, January 19, at 7 p.m. This service will also be broadcast live on the church’s website at www.cc-ob.tv. A reception will follow the memorial service in the fellowship hall. All are invited.
For more information, visit: http://www.cc-ob.org/dekruyter/
The Watoto Children’s Choir will once again be performing at Trinity. The free concert will be held Tuesday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Ozinga Chapel.
The choir is made up of 22 Ugandan orphans who are among the 2 million children who have lost parents to war and disease.
At its first appearance at Trinity in 2007, the choir attracted nearly 700 visitors to the Ozinga Chapel. Audience members enjoyed the musical and dance gifts of these children and also heard testimonies of how God had rescued them from hopelessness.
A free will offering will be taken to benefit the Watoto organization. For information, contact Troy Schemper at 708.293.4963 or troy.schemper@trnty.edu.
What is “Watoto”?
- In Swahili it means “children.”
- It is also an organization that has been rescuing Ugandan children orphaned by AIDS and civil war and meeting their physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs.
- It is an event that helps these children while simultaneously sharing God’s message of restoration and renewal with students, faculty, staff, and the community.
For more information about Watoto, visit: http://www.watoto.com/home.
Click here to see a video of the Watoto choir performing in Los Angeles with Chris Tomlin.
Click here to listen to the choir sing “Cast Your Burdens Unto Jesus”
The HLC accreditation team, composed of reviewers from various institutions of higher learning, visited the campus September 27-29 as part of the College’s periodic evaluation.
“It is affirming to have our professional accrediting body provide confirmation of our institutional strength and faithfulness to our mission,” said Dr. Steve Timmermans, president of Trinity.
Efforts in the report preparation and during the accreditation team’s visit were led by Dr. Sharon Robbert, dean for academic planning and effectiveness.
Below are some excerpts from the HLC report:
- In nearly every meeting with students, faculty, and administrators the spiritual focus of the college was evident. A strong sense of spirituality permeates the learning environment, both among the traditional students and the adult program students.
- It is evident the college takes seriously its mission to be a Christian community of learners who are dedicated to be servant leaders in the finest of Christian traditions. Students repeatedly expressed support for faculty who were not even their own advisors or in their own major, for going out of their way to provide support and help in finding jobs, obtaining internships, and helping with assignments.
- The past ten years has not only evidenced the substantial growth of the institution’s land and physical assets, it also witnessed a strong increase in enrollment, a diversification of that enrollment, strong alumni support, and very successful fund raising. This also helps the institution secure its future, with the necessary resources to support the learning environment.
- Trinity is an engaged partner with their local community and greater Chicago area. Last year, more than a thousand hours of volunteer time was donated to local churches, charities and non-profits. Trinity College engages its local community by opening its campus facilities to them. In discussions with local community leaders, Trinity was praised for its efforts in community development and campus outreach.
To obtain a copy of the full report, please contact Deborah Vincent in the president’s office at deborah.vincent@trnty.edu.
Belstra, a certified public accountant with nearly 20 years of experience in the finance industry, will serve as the chief financial officer of the College. As a member of the president’s administrative council, he represents the division of the College which includes financial and business operations, human resources, and auxiliary operations.
When Belstra was a Trinity student, the College was breaking ground on the library where his office is now located. He majored in accounting and served as treasurer for the Student Association. Since his graduation, Belstra, who grew up in DeMotte, Indiana, has lived and worked in the area and kept close ties with his alma mater.
“It is nice to be back ‘home,’” said Belstra of his official return to campus. “‘Home is just a lot bigger now.”
He also said he is looking forward to working with colleagues with whom he has some long-standing professional relationships and building on what has been established in the financial operations division of the College.
Belstra resides in Tinley Park, Illinois, with his wife Renee and their three children Melanie, Katelyn, and Matthew, all of whom attend Southwest Chicago Christian School.
“We are just two people of about nine million in this city, and we’ve been called to do a specific job working with certain students, teaching, discipling, and preparing them to do the work that they are called to do in God’s kingdom,” said Rebecca (VanderWilt) McKeever ’10.
Rebecca and her husband Ryan are currently teaching at El Camino Academy in Bogotá, Colombia, where Rebecca did her student teaching while enrolled as a Spanish education major at Trinity. She also minored in English-as-a-Second Language (ESL), and since approximately 85 percent of the students are learning English as a second—or even third or fourth—language, the experience proved to provide excellent experiential learning for the future teacher.
This initial student teaching experience also planted the seed for Rebecca to return to Bogotá with husband Ryan a month after they were married in June 2010.
“We knew we needed to go where we could serve but at the same time receive a lot of support, as this is our first year of marriage, and we are both first-year teachers,” said Rebecca. “Because I had student taught at El Camino, I knew that this would be a school where we could grow together and gain experience in a supportive Christian environment.”
Ryan teaches Bible class for grades 5-8, and he serves as the middle school chaplain. Rebecca teaches language arts and social studies for 6th grade, and she provides ESL support in the middle school.
El Camino Academy
El Camino Academy started as a school solely for missionary children, but has grown so that now mostly Colombian students attend. None of Rebecca’s students speak English as their first language.
“I’m always teaching them new vocabulary and answering questions like, ‘How do you say…?’ I’m so glad that I learned Spanish, not only because I can translate for students when necessary, but also because I know what it’s like to learn a second language, and I can identify with their struggles.”
One of the school’s main focuses is ministry. The goal is for students to take what they’ve learned at the school and use it to serve God and to serve people wherever they go.
“We’ve gone with our classes to after-school programs, orphanages, and other ministries,” said Rebecca. “It’s great to see God working through our students.”
Being Prepared
Many opportunities at Trinity prepared Rebecca well for her work abroad.
“My experience at Trinity was very rich and full,” she said.
Rebecca spent a semester in Spain and a semester student teaching off campus. Her involvement in Trinity’s Semester in Spain program reinforced her language skills so that she arrived in Bogotá able to communicate in Spanish. In addition to the two months student teaching at El Camino, Rebecca’s second student teaching experience was in a dual-immersion 3rd grade classroom in Blue Island, Illinois, where she taught in both Spanish and English.
During her capstone project for the College’s Honors Program, Rebecca conducted a study on the experience of students with English as a second language on Trinity’s campus. She discovered how language and cultural differences affect the learning and social lives of multilingual students.
Continuing the work
“We love our friends in Bogotá, most of who are teachers at the school. We like the fresh fruits and vegetables. We like looking out our apartment windows and seeing the mountains. We like walking and taking public transportation everywhere and being amongst Bogotanos. We love our students and their families– they’ve really helped us feel at home,” said Rebecca.
The McKeevers plan to work in Bogotá for the next two years. They work as volunteers in order to subsidize the cost of education for the missionary and ministry families who attend El Camino. Although the school provides a stipend, which covers rent, the couple depends on funds from supporters in the United States.
“We have to trust God to take what he’s begun in our students and what he’s begun in us and carry it on to completion.”
For more information, visit the McKeevers’ blog at http://rrmckvr.weebly.com.