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The Trinity Christian College community is deeply saddened by the loss of 22-year old student Giselle Charissah McComb of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Giselle passed away on Tuesday, December 28, 2010, from injuries sustained in a car accident in Wadsworth, Illinois.
She was the daughter of Michael and Janice (Newsted) McComb, of Pleasant Prairie. Giselle grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin, attending Christian Life High School and was currently a senior at Trinity. She is survived by her parents; her two brothers, Jonathan McComb and Kendrick McComb, both of Pleasant Prairie; and her sister, Kaci McComb of Pleasant Prairie. She is further survived by one grandmother, one grandfather, and other relatives and friends.
Giselle was pursuing a double major in psychology and criminal justice at Trinity. She served as the president of the College’s Criminal Justice Club. She was currently working hand-in-hand with the Cook County Sheriff’s office to develop a program in which young offenders were given information about turning their lives around through education, with an emphasis on helping these young offenders earn a high school diploma and continue in their education at the college level. Giselle had just been accepted into graduate school to study forensic psychology.
Visitation and the funeral service were held on Sunday, January 2, 2011, at the Proko Funeral Home in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the family would be greatly appreciated. Visit Giselle’s Online Memorial Book at www.prokofuneralhome.com.
The Trinity community will remember Giselle during chapel at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 26.
Please uphold the family in your prayers.
Sandy Aggen ’10 graduated from the Adult Studies program at Trinity, receiving her diploma during the Commencement ceremony on December 18, 2010. Aggen is also an employee of the Adult Studies department at the College but never planned to pursue her education when she first came to Trinity in August 2005.
With an associate’s degree from Fox College, she had no expectation of furthering her education. Aggen was inspired and began to rethink her educational future as she observed Lori Scrementi ’00, director of the Adult Studies program, balance her career, her family, and her pursuit of her doctoral degree.
“When I saw that Lori could do it, I thought maybe I could as well,” said Aggen. “Once I mentioned it to her, she was very encouraging. I also had lots of support at home,” said Aggen. So in September 2008, Aggen entered the Adult Studies business program.
While going through the program, Aggen, who serves as the student relations coordinator in the department, was able to share her first-hand knowledge of the program with prospective students.
“I can really empathize with their obligations of family and work, because I have the same demands on my time. But when they hear that I am able to work through the program, it encourages them,” she said.
With aspirations of teaching college, Aggen took a week off when the program ended in August 2010 and then began a master’s degree program at Gonzaga University. “I feel very prepared for the program. The high expectations at Trinity in reading and writing have served me well in the next level of my education.”
Aggen walked in the graduation ceremony in December 2010 with the rest of her Adult Studies cohort. Her family and co-workers were present to help her celebrate this milestone.
Adjunct Professor Tricia Paarlberg has learned from her experiences—from living in Asia for several years to traveling to India on a group Fulbright as a student at Columbia College. She knows the importance of learning through experience and gives her Trinity students the same opportunity.
Paarlberg may engage geography students by taking them to Chicago to enjoy Indian cuisine or by involving them in a service project at the Chicago Food Depository. Recently her education students benefited from an entirely different project. Twenty-five Trinity education students were partnered with 25 students in grades 6-8 from Southwest Christian School in Oak Lawn, Illinois, for an experiential learning opportunity.
With the goal of developing Individualized Self Instruction Modules, or SIMS, the Trinity students met on different occasions with their junior high counterparts before creating lesson plans designed to meet the specific interests and learning needs of their assigned students.
“This was a practice experience for the education students that they were able to see played out,” said Paarlberg.
The lesson plans, which included topics such as Egyptology and physical education, were recorded on CDs and administered by Southwest. Trinity’s future teachers then visited with their students to follow up and gather feedback on each child’s individual experience.
Junior Vanessa Noonan of Oak Lawn, Illinois, worked with a sixth grader interested in history, so Noonan decided to base her SIM on Native American history. In it she included activities about fossils and the first Thanksgiving, and explained the differences between Disney’s Pocahontas and the actual historical figure.
“When I met with my student and saw how well she did on the SIM, I was floored,” said Noonan. “She put so much work into the project. What I learned most about students through this assignment is that as teachers, we cannot underestimate the great potential that each student has.”
Senior Kathy Hossink of Byron Center, Michigan, said, “This project was beneficial for me because it equipped me with another tool to use as a teacher, and then gave me practice implementing it. I can see myself using a SIM for some of my general education students and especially for my special education students.”
Paarlberg received her master’s degree in multicultural education from Columbia College in Chicago and her bachelor’s degree in history and business from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Paarlberg completed her student teaching through Trinity at Timothy Christian School.
Clifton Hurt ’09 followed the voice deeply rooted in his heart as he left home to help others overseas. Now a Peace Corps volunteer, Hurt is using his time to serve others in Mongolia.
“One day it hit me,” he said. “I am a young Christian with time and strength to serve. Why not serve people abroad?” His objective was to be a Christian not by saying it, but by living it. Following months of prayer and conversations with friends from the Trinity community and his family, he signed up.
Hurt arrived in Mongolia in early June 2010 for training and in August was officially sworn in as a volunteer serving the next two years. He currently resides in Muren, Mongolia, where he is a primary teacher at Ereedwee, also known as Future 21 School. Because of his educational background, Hurt is able to teach in a classroom setting as well as train fellow teachers. He is one of nine foreign language teachers serving in the area and works with grades 4-11.
Hurt’s work extends far beyond his teaching as he engages with the community around him. Along with his fellow volunteers, he hosts the “English Corner” for local adults and interested students and offers private music lessons to a few of the local community members.
As Hurt reaches out to his surrounding community, he feels God’s call to Mongolia is confirmed. This incredible journey has led Hurt to a family that has been serving in Mongolia for 16 years. He has been blessed with the opportunity to offer guidance and understanding in worship leadership with two of the eldest children.
“God knows what he is doing all the time,” Hurt said.
While at Trinity, Hurt earned his bachelor’s degree in music education, K-12 choral emphasis, and was involved in numerous extracurricular activities, including the Campus Ministry Leadership Team, Outcry, Gospel Choir, Organization of African American Unity, and Brother 2 Brother.
Despite several opportunities presented to Hurt after graduation, God’s call held firm in his heart. “His plans always supersede our expectations and dreams,” said Hurt.
The December Commencement ceremony celebrated the graduation of 37 baccalaureate students and 81 Adult Studies students on Saturday,
December 18, 2010.
Families and friends of the graduates gathered in the Ozinga Chapel Auditorium to witness the presentation of the diplomas by Provost Liz Rudenga and to hear the commencement address of Dr. Sharon Robbert, dean for academic planning and effectiveness and professor of mathematics.
In her address “You Must Remember This,” Robbert pointed out that although most people don’t always recall the messages delivered by commencement speakers, Trinity students would always remember their particular Trinity experience.
“Trinity Christian College is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture.”
Unpacking Trinity’s statement of identity and purpose, Robbert spoke about how each aspect—community, Christian scholarship, and the commitment to shape lives and transform culture—pertained to the student experience.
As she spoke about the shaping of students’ lives during their educational journey, Robbert said, “God’s hand has been actively shaping each of you through experiences at Trinity so that you might be prepared for kingdom work next week, next year, and in the next decades to come.”
The invocation was delivered by Dr. John Hoekstra, director of Adult Studies Education; the song of response and the song of prayer were sung by the Trinity Gospel Choir; and the commencement litany was led by Adult Studies graduate, Sandra Aggen, administrative assistant in the Adult Studies department.
You Must Remember This—
2010 December Commencement Address, Dr. Sharon Robbert
President Timmermans, Provost Rudenga, faculty, staff, graduates, family and friends:
It is an honor to be able to speak to you today, but an honor that I take with a grain of salt. This is because the premise of my words to you today is that no one ever remembers the content of a commencement address. I’ve personally attended at least 30 graduation ceremonies, and I have at best only vague memories of these commencement speeches. An informal poll of a few colleagues who have attended more of these ceremonies than I shows that I am not alone. At best, attendees of graduation ceremonies remember the person who spoke when something out of the ordinary happens—usually these are bad things, like when the speaker trips on the way to the podium or mispronounces the name of the president. So why is it that no one remembers what the address is about? There are several reasons that might be contributing factors, all of which make this address a particularly challenging experience for me. Here are some that might be distracting you from paying attention right now:
- You might be worried about standing, sitting, walking, wearing your mortarboard, or accepting your diploma case at the right time.
- You might be more interested in the concept of a graduation ceremony than the particulars of this one.
- You have never seen me before and don’t anticipate seeing me again, so why listen, much less remember something that is said now 10 minutes after the ceremony is complete?
- You might need a break from brain exercise because you just finished exams or grading the last set of papers from your student teaching internship.
- But maybe the problem is that you have a poor view. Did you know that the typical location for Trinity faculty members is in the front few rows of the auditorium? I usually sit pretty close to the photographer—front and center of the first row. In this location, I get a splendid view of the feet and footwear of the platform party and graduates. At last May’s ceremony, strappy sandals replaced flip-flops for graduate attire, in case you were curious.
Even though there are reasons why you might not remember, you probably have direct experience with tools to aid memory. Remembering facts and issues is particularly important during college years. You may have used a mnemonics device. To spell geography, I learned “George Eliot’s Oldest Grandfather Rode a Pig Home Yesterday” back in elementary school. Maybe you used creative visualization, where you mentally placed important facts in a location in the testing room for recall during testing. Some people rely on muscle memory for learning terminology or shooting a basketball or striking a soccer ball or playing a complicated run on the piano, but this requires long hours of practice. Other memory tricks include using color for note-taking or singing concepts as the lyrics to a familiar tune. “Is-am-are-was-were-be-been are the linking verbs.” I learned that song from my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Fairbanks, but I’m still not certain why it was important to know which verbs were linking verbs.
The need for memory tools is not new to the 21st century—memory tools are even identified in the Old Testament! Back in the days of the infant Israelite nation, God knew that his people would have trouble with their memory in spite of the dramatic events in their history. God told his people to tie the Shema “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” to their hands and foreheads and write this same phrase on their doorposts to help them remember.
So, if you aren’t going to remember this address, what must you remember? Not the specifics of this address and certainly not the speaker. I believe that you must remember what is important about your particular Trinity experience. Here are some things to consider, centered around Trinity’s one-line statement of identity and purpose. “Trinity Christian College is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture.”
First, Trinity is a community. Who made up the community for your Trinity experience? I imagine that you would include fellow students in your class or cohort, friends in major classes, teammates, roommates, professors, and academic advisors. You may even include the chaplain, RAs, RDs, and other staff members who have made a difference for you—those who serve coffee or prepare meals or clean the buildings or fix computers or take tuition payments—these people all have contributed to your Trinity experience. So this is something I would put on the list of items that you must remember. What memory tools can help you remember these people and the Trinity community as a whole? Unfortunately there is no Trinity school song to bind us together, a song like “As Time Goes By” that we can ask Sam from the film Casablanca to play for us. But Trinity does have one distinctive item that can represent our community well: our school mascot, the Troll. I’ve brought one today as a visual aid to your memory. So try to think of your particular community as a collection of Trolls—friendly blue trolls like this one.
Next, Trinity is a community of Christian scholarship. Two words here need unpacking: Christian and scholarship. At Trinity, these two words are linked together through the particular slant on higher education that is present on this campus. On this campus we are committed to infusing a Christian view into what we learn and the way in which we learn.
One familiar component of the Christian view at Trinity is the creation-fall-redemption-new creation motif. The very building in which this ceremony is occurring is designed to help remember these components. Of the four stained glass windows planned for this building, three are installed: the Creation window is in the recital hall on the north end of the building, the Redemption window is in the Grand Lobby on the south side, and the recently installed Restoration window is located above the doors on the east side of the building. The window to represent the Fall has yet to be installed. The designs of these windows provide a reminder of who is in charge and to help us identify our place and purpose in God’s creation. Did you know that this building is designed in the shape of a cross? In the physical construction of this building, the cross of our redeemer Jesus Christ links these four themes of Christian worldview. After the graduation ceremony is complete, I encourage you to take the time to look at each of these beautiful stained glass windows.
Now for the second part. In each discipline at Trinity, the subject that you have studied has intentional connection to these themes and to other themes important to a Christian worldview. For example, all persons have value because they are created in the image of God, so future teachers are taught that they have a responsibility to teach all students whether they learn concepts easily or need an IEP (an individual educational plan) to facilitate their learning. Or, if you prefer, we know that we are co-creators with Christ as we make and redeem culture, and with this comes the responsibility of the creation mandate to care for the world. So we study the impact the construction of athletic fields has on the population of snakes in the adjoining woods. We also know that God created the world with inherent order and structure, so in mathematics we study the patterns that we see in creation and marvel that following a logical structure in our models accurately predicts patterns in weather and cell development. I could add more, but you get the idea. So what if we put glasses on our Troll and make him look a bit more academic and better represent the Christian scholarship portion of Trinity’s purpose statement?
Third, Trinity is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives. Experiences at Trinity have molded you into the person God needs you to be for your vocation. What experiences do you remember having the most impact? Did you have a time where you worked on a project for a course and you were particularly proud of the results? What about experiences in a culminating internship like student teaching—was there a particular lesson that you enjoyed teaching and your students enjoyed learning? For some of you, living on your own for the first time has played a huge role in who you are today and who you will be in the future. But even if you didn’t live in campus housing, you have very likely been changed through your experiences with others—both in academic and in co-curricular settings at Trinity. Maybe that was through a course field trip to a city art exhibit or maybe it was at a project team meeting with other students at the BBC or maybe it was at a chapel service or maybe it was through a service-learning project for a course or through volunteer hours at an organization that provides services to the needy. All of these things, both the academic and co-curricular, have prepared you in ways that you might not yet even identify. As God told the Israelites in Jeremiah 29:11 while they were being punished through their captivity and exile in Babylon: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God’s hand has been actively shaping each of you through experiences at Trinity so that you might be prepared for kingdom work next week, next year, and in the next decades to come. Let’s give our Troll a carabiner and a tiny book so that we can remember that he has and must continue to shape his muscles—biceps and brain—for vocation work.
Finally, Trinity is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture. Transforming culture is a huge task, one that is not complete in four short years or 22 months of academic experiences. Have you heard the phrase “pay it forward?” The concept of “pay it forward” is parallel but opposite to that of “pay back,” as in slugging your brother when he teases you. To “pay it forward” means that once energy or good will or learning is invested in a person that this person in turn has the responsibility to pass that same thing on to other people. God blesses those he loves with the understanding that through us, all of creation will be blessed. As heirs of Abraham, we are “blessed to be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). With the help of the Holy Spirit, Trinity has invested knowledge, love, community, and culture in you. And, by the help of the Holy Spirit, you now have the responsibility to pay this investment forward through your engagement with the world outside of Trinity. This part is what you have been preparing to do. Through your career; with your family, friends, and coworkers; and in your community you are called to redeem the world for Christ. My hope is that your experiences at Trinity have opened your eyes to the ways in which you might be an agent to transform culture—whether it is through political action or church service or developing a new business or graduate school study or creating art or teaching children—all of these things can build to the transformation of culture with and for Christ. Our poor little Troll already has too much to carry, but maybe he can stand on a Bible to help us remember that the community of Trolls needs the foundation of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—to pay forward the blessings that God has given us.
So, will you remember this commencement address? Probably not. But hopefully, you will remember this little Troll and the things with him—the glasses he wears to represent Christian scholarship, the carabiner and book to represent the ways you’ve been shaped, and a Bible to represent the task God has already laid out for you in the future.
May God bless you and your loved ones as you leave Trinity and go into service in the Kingdom of God!
Nearly 700 students, faculty, staff, families, and friends of the College gathered in the Ozinga Chapel Auditorium on December 4 to celebrate the true reason for Christmas during Trinity’s annual Christmastide concert.
The program provided an evening of worship with Christmas songs, Scripture readings, and performances by the Concert Choir, Honors Ensemble, Gospel Choir, Wind Ensemble, and String Ensemble.
“I believe that our message of hope as sung and played on Saturday made a difference for good in people’s lives,” said Dr. Helen Van Wyck, professor of music and director of choral activities. “For many, this wonderful and growing tradition marks the beginning of their Christmas celebrations, and I’m so glad we have built an audience that keeps coming back.”
In collaboration with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Trinity social work students recently had an opportunity to learn about and practice the process of advocacy and lobbying.
The Coalition had been working to support a bill to raise income taxes in the state of Illinois to help provide educational programs and social service providers to those in need. Social work students stepped in to help and utilize this hands-on learning experience.
After advocating throughout campus, presenting the petition, and gaining support, seniors Erin Nykamp of Holland, Michigan; Gina Smith of Tinley Park, Illinois; and Danielle Swenson of Milaca, Minnesota, arranged a trip for the social work students to lobby the bill in Springfield, Illinois.
On November 18, students traveled to Springfield where they learned the process of lobbying firsthand. Meeting with representatives, the students had the unique opportunity to promote the bill.
“This was a good learning experience for me on advocacy, because I have never had to represent a petition before, and we were required to convince people to sign in support of this bill,” Nykamp said.
While there, students sat in on an assembly meeting for the Illinois House of Representatives, giving them another chance to see and understand the process of advocacy in a government setting.
“The trip to Springfield allowed our class to better understand the state legislative process,” said Alyssa Mulder ’11 of Fox Lake, Wisconsin. “It was interesting to find out how much access we actually have to our representatives. Even though they are busy, they still take time to meet with their constituents to hear about issues that are impacting the people in their district.”
Senior J.R. Wydra of Tinley Park, Illinois, has been named as a Lincoln Laureate by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Wydra was one of the outstanding college students from the state honored at the annual Student Laureate Convocation on November 6 in Springfield.
Wydra, a theology and philosophy major who plans to attend law school after graduation, felt blessed to be chosen as this year’s laureate.
The Lincoln Academy’s Student Laureate Awards are presented for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities to seniors from each of the four-year, degree granting colleges and universities in Illinois.
During his four years at Trinity, Wydra, a Founders Scholar, has served as a freshmen representative— and this year as the vice president—for Student Association; a First Year Forum mentor; and a criterion team member involved with preparation for the College’s recent Higher Learning Commission accreditation visit. He has been active in Trinprov, a student improv group, and currently works as one of the graphic designers for Trinfo, Trinity’s digital signage program. Off-campus, Wydra has served as an intern with Calvary Church’s high school youth group in Orland Park, Illinois.
Of his time at Trinity, Wydra said he has enjoyed forming relationships with his professors. “They all care so deeply about the subjects they teach, and I can never thank them enough for what they have given to me,” he said.
“I have also deeply enjoyed getting to know the other students at Trinity and am blessed to call so many of them my friends,” said Wydra. “This place is truly my home away from home, and I will miss it dearly when I head off to law school next fall.”
At the convocation, Wydra received a Student Laureate Medallion, along with an honorarium check and certificate of achievement.
The Lincoln Academy, unique among the 50 states, was established 46 years ago to honor Illinois’ most distinguished citizens with the state’s highest award, the Order of Lincoln. The 47th Annual Convocation and Investiture of Laureates of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois will take place Saturday, April 16, 2011, at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois in Urbana.
A proposal for curriculum changes in Trinity’s English department was recently approved and will be implemented in the fall of 2011. The major changes will be a pedagogical shift to an apprenticeship model at the junior level and an emphasis, at the sophomore level, on writing and reading as social practices.
Currently, English students present several papers at a regional undergraduate English conference each year. The new curriculum is designed to help students become more comfortable making strong claims, supporting them, and fielding questions.
“We want our students to become more comfortable as Christians engaging in both kinds of discourse, academic and civic,” said Dr. Michael Vander Weele ’73, chair of the English department.
At the sophomore level, the changes will increase the emphasis on literature and society by engaging students in Chicago events and activities that relate to their courses.
At the junior-senior level, faculty will apprentice students in the ways of academic debate. Students will observe how their faculty mentors set up and pursue a question and then practice doing so themselves. In this tutorial setting, 4-5 students will meet with a professor and participate in the meaningful give and take of academic discourse.
Although the new curriculum will offer fewer course options, each course will be offered every year, rather than alternating years as with the current curriculum. This change will also make registration and course scheduling easier for students and will deepen faculty engagement with the course topics.
What are the main benefits to students?
- Guided practice in academic discourse
- Increased engagement in Chicago resources to help reflect on literature’s role in society
- Ease in planning a Trinity English major
- Better preparation for graduate school, careers, and civic discourse through the opportunity to practice the give and take of academic debate
The Brass Quintet recently traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, for a weekend tour, which included the Sunday morning service at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church. On Monday, the group performed at Faith Christian Community High School in Fenton and conducted a clinic for the band class at Westminster Christian High School in St. Louis.
The quintet is funded by an endowed scholarship and tours once or twice each year, occasionally making day trips to local schools and churches. In past years, the group has traveled to Wisconsin, Indiana, and Canada.
The students were accompanied by director Dr. Ken Austin, professor of music, and Rachel VanOort ’05, who serves that area of the country as an admissions counselor.
“We had a great time promoting not only brass playing and musicianship, but also Trinity Christian College,” said quintet member Carrie Hofland ’11 of Hartley, Iowa. “We had a great time getting to know each other better as well as meeting and fellowshipping with people in the St. Louis area.”
Tour arrangements were made by member Daniel Thayer ’12 of Buchanan, Michigan. “As a group we get to put together our own concert with the music of our choice and plan ‘lessons’ to teach,” said Thayer. “Our group is given time to bond and have fun as well as teach others our love for brass music.”
The other members of the Brass Quintet are Christian Busta ’13 of Palos Park, Illinois; Collette LeMahieu ’11 of Frankfort, Illinois; and Adam Perez ’12 of Racine, Wisconsin.
This was the quintet’s first tour in St. Louis, and they enjoyed a visit to the city’s famed Gateway Arch on Saturday.