.

Applied Social Sciences Department

Rachel Crist, Sarah Boshart, Harrison Horst and Samantha Jacob received honor cords signifying their membership into the Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society from Dr. Carolyn Stauffer and Dr. Jenni Holsinger. EMU’s new chapter joins 650 other college chapters.

Biology and Chemistry Department

Janaya M. Sachs was named Outstanding Senior Chemistry Student, the highest award given to a chemistry/biochemistry major who demonstrates high academic achievement, significant research experience and the potential to contribute to the field. She will be recognized with other outstanding senior chemistry majors by the Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and was given a Merck Index by the ACS and the Merck Company. Read more about one of�� .

Tyler D. Denlinger and Robert H. Propst earned recognition as the Outstanding Senior Biology students, the highest award to acknowledge exceptional academic, scholarly and service accomplishments throughout a student’s career at EMU. The award also recognizes characteristics of initiative, wisdom, diligence, collegiality and integrity.

Kaylee M. Ferguson was given the Outstanding Service Award. Consideration is given to scholarship across the entire EMU career, including research outside of the EMU context, as well as qualities of leadership, citizenship, compassion, a commitment to working with others and the ability to place their EMU experience with the context of service.

Diego C. Barahona earned the Excellence in Research Award for his exceptional performance in independent research, demonstrating initiative, integrity, knowledge of subject and high technical aptitude. Read more about one of his .

Leah C. Lapp was recognized as outstanding first-year chemistry student. Mario J. Hernandez was named outstanding second-year biology student.

Winners of the STEM poster contest, upperclass division are: first, Samantha Kauffman and Marchelle Smucker; second, Eli Wenger; third, Diego Barahona; honorable mention, Tyler Brenneman; Kyle Johnson and David Nester; Aron Harder, Austin Engle, Dylan Grove, James Paetkau, Ben Zook, Andrew Troyer and Collin Longenecker.

Winners of the STEM poster contest, underclass division are: first, Leah Lapp and Melissa Kinkaid; second, Seth Weaver and Jared Bergman; third, Linda Ouedraogo and Caroline Lehman.

Bible and Religion Department

The winners of an essay contest in the field of Bible, theology, church history and philosophy, sponsored by Haverim, the alumni association of Bible and Religion Department, were recognized. Justine Nolt won $300 and first place for her analysis of Eucharistic theology. Christina Hershey won $200 and second place for her treatment of Lancaster Mennonite Conference’s decision to leave Mennonite Church USA.��Janaya Sachs was awarded $100 and third place for her exegesis of 1 Corinthians 5.

Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

��The following students were recognized by Executive Director Daryl Byler: Caitlin Morneau, for publication of an article on restorative justice; Kajungu Mturi, for his work with Harrisonburg High School’s Peer Leaders program; Matt Tibbles, for work with youth at Harrisonburg and Rockingham County Boys and Girls Club; Jennifer Chi Lee, for overall leadership to CJP; and Myriam Aziz, Sho Igawa, Christine Kindler, Agnes Chen and Isabel Castillo for their Arts and Peacebuilding film productions.

Education Department

Five students were selected as Teachers of Promise by Don Steiner, interim department chair: Dorothy Hershey, Rebekah Hertzler, Erick Luna, Miranda Lyle and Amy Nussbaum. Teachers of Promise is a statewide honor recognizing gifted pre-service teachers.

Paul Lankford was awarded the Courage to Teach award, which is modeled after the principles of Quaker educator Parker Palmer. “Paul was selected for his dedication and effectiveness in teaching, genuine caring for students, value-based and highly principled behaviors, reflective thought and practice and a passion for teaching,” Steiner said. Lankford was awarded a copy of Palmer’s Courage to Teach book.

History Department

Robert Cook was awarded the Outstanding History Student for his essay on Rockbridge County schools integration. A future social studies educator, he was awarded a copy of A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor.

Language and Literature Department

The following awards were presented by department chair Mike Medley:

• The Ray Elvin Horst Award for Excellence in Spanish: Maddie Gish
• Jay B. Landis Award (Literary essay): Jasmine Miller
• The Ervie L. Glick Award for Excellence in World Language Study: Anna Messer
• James Bomberger Award (TESOL): Jasmine Miller
• Carroll Yoder Award (English teaching): Quinn Kathrineberg
• Omar Eby Award (Creative writing): Kaitlin Abrahams

Mathematical Sciences Department

Junior Aron Harder was the winner of the department’s mathematics contest. Harder also won this contest as a first-year student. His prize was what Professor Owen Byer described as a “math geek” t-shirt. Second place went to first-year Austin Engle.

Seven members of the Engineers for a Sustainable World club won first place in the first- and second-year undergraduate design team division at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Zone 2 Conference early March in Puerto Rico. Ben Zook, Dylan Grove, James Paetkau, Collin Longenecker, Austin Engle, Ben Stutzman and Andrew Troyer were recognized for their work.

Music Department

Jon Bishop was recognized as the Outstanding Senior in Music Composition Award. Jacinda Stahly earned the Outstanding Senior in Music Performance award.

Nursing Department

Professors Audrey Myers and Ann Schaeffer, Nursing Student Association (NSA) sponsors, presented the department’s annual awards.

Nina Simmons was given the Leadership Award, for her work in the NSA to involve all levels of students. She will work after graduation in the intensive care unit at Augusta Health.

Abbie Luther was given the Sacred Covenant Award. The sacred covenant is a model of nursing that honors the relationship between the nurse and the patient. “Nursing has shaped me and continues to shape me into embodying Christ in my everyday life,” said Luther. “One of the biggest reasons I decided to study nursing was because it allowed me to be the hands and feet of Jesus. As my future as a nurse unfolds, my hope is that I stay grounded in this simple truth. Kindness, presence, grace, love and compassion will be my guiding light.”

Leona Good��earned the Academic Achievement Award. “Nursing school has challenged me to step up because I know that my knowledge and education impacts the care I am able to give others. I am driven by the desire to be the best nurse I can be for my patients. As my journey into nursing begins this next year, I am looking forward to how my career will allow me to offer myself and form relationships with people in their most vulnerable times.”

Visual and Communication Arts and Theater Department

Lila Marks received the Matthew Alan Styer VaCA Scholarship Grant for excellence and dedication to photography. “Lila is a passionate and compassionate documentary photographer of human encounters,” said Steven David Johnson, department chair. Johnson added that Marks is an excellent student, receptive to critique and already approaching photography with a critical and professional acumen and interest. She is pursuing a vocation in humanitarian documentary photography.

The cast of earned a Certificate of Merit for Ensemble Acting from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The cast includes Jeremiah Hines, Dylan Peachy, Collin Dutt, Abigail Greaser, Emma Roth, Clara Bush, Robert Weaver and Esther Ajayi.

Greaser and Bush earned nominations for the Irene Ryan Acting Competition. Roth is an alternate.

Ezrionna Prioleau was recognized for her outstanding work in stage management for The 39 Steps and recommended for the KCACTF national competition in stage management.

Academic Success Center and Writing Program

Janaya Sachs was honored as Tutor of the Year. “She has been a chemistry, mathematics, Bible and general-whatever-I-can-help-you-with-I-will-help-you-with tutor,” said Linda Gnagey, director of the Academic Success Center. “We want to thank Janaya for three years of support for many different students at many different academic levels and departments.”

Graduating tutors were also recognized: Kaylee Ferguson (biology), Leona Good (nursing), Jacob Hertzler (computer science), Andre Kalend (biology and history), Lamar Kiser (nursing), Timothy Martin (mathematics) and Sam Miller (biology). Quinn Kathrineberg and Luisa Miller were recognized by Professor Vi Dutcher, director of the Writing Program.

Common Grounds Coffeehouse

“Common Grounds Coffeehouse is routinely blessed to be led by exceptional students who give boundless creative energy and passion to their shared work,” said Rachel Roth Sawatzky, student programs director. She recognized three of the five managers who are seniors: Stephanie Anders, events manager; Maddie Gish, operations manager; and Ryan Thomas, finance manager.

Read more about their contributions .

Student Government Association

The spring 2017 executive council was recognized: Quinn Kathrineberg, president; Mario Valladares, vice president; Keyri Lopez- Godoy, secretary; Rachel Holderman, vice president of marketing; and Tyler Denlinger, treasurer.

Spring 2017 senators are Dera Nwankwo, Nicole Litwiller, Rebecca Cardwell, Val Hernandez, Seth Weaver, John Sanchez, Ali Zuercher, Carlos Garcia, Lamar Kiser, Leah Wenger, Luke Mullet, Caroline Lehman, and Victoria Barnes.

Campus Activities Council

Seniors Ali Hartzler and Jeremiah Robinson were recognized by Mike Yoder, assistant director of student programs and orientation for their commitment and dedication to providing creative and positive entertainment that engages the entire student body. Hartzler has been involved for two years with the tech department and as vice-president this year. Robinson joined CAC this year. Both have been instrumental in planning a variety of events, including the Color Run at Homecoming, the Presidents Ball, and Springfest.

Campus Ministries

Pastoral assistants were recognized: Rachel Breidigan, Maddie List, Grayson Mast, Janaya Sachs, Hannah Shultz, Alexa Weeks and Brittany Williams.

Ministry assistants were recognized: Sarah Regan, Bekah Mongold, Madalynn Payne, Nathaniel Nissley, Cameron White, Alex Wissler, Andrew Troyer, Dylan Grove, Austin Sachs, Jenna Lile, Maia Garber, Seth Weaver, Abigail Shelly, Ariel Barbosa, Justin Odom, Taylor Allen, Clarissa White, Lydia Haggard, Lindsay Acker, Kyra Lehman, Janet Spain, and Joseph Harder.

Residence Life

��Seniors and community assistants Eli Wenger and Becky Barrett were recognized for three years of service. Wenger’s “kind and welcoming” personality was noted as well as his ability to create enthusiastic participants in community.

Barrett “effortlessly gets along with all of her residents,” said Tyler Goss, resident director. “She is driven, organized and not afraid to speak up. She is a strong, grounded and welcoming leader.”

Goss also recognized Matthew Hunsberger, who has been promoted to assistant director of residence life after many years as a residence director.

Athletics

All second-semester athletics award-winners were honored. Their accomplishments can be viewed .

Armstrong, who started on Jan. 5, 2015, succeeded , who retired last summer. She is responsible for the 90 graduate students on the home campus as well as the 46 master’s students at the . Her duties include teaching four courses a year.

Previously Armstrong was at the University of Virginia (UVa) in Charlottesville, where she worked with school superintendents and education administrators to provide professional development programs and graduate courses for practicing teachers. She was senior director for K-12 professional development in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies and then director of programs for the Statewide K-12 Education Advisory Council at UVa’s Curry School of Education.

Armstrong’s first contact with EMU was when she was assistant superintendent of Staunton City Public Schools from 1999 to 2007. “Our principals would actively seek teachers who had graduated from EMU,” she said, “telling me that they were highly effective and hit the ground running.” For teachers who wanted to be reading specialists, she and her staff asked them to enroll in .

Over the years she taught two graduate courses at EMU – “Teaching Diverse Learners” and “Research on Risk and Resiliency.” She also mentored students who were completing their action research studies at the end of their graduate program.

“I’m delighted to have Sarah with us,” said , dean of . “She brings lots of energy and experience in administration, and she’s very connected to schools throughout Virginia.”

For the past 10 years, Armstrong has worked closely with superintendents and educational leaders around the state and is acquainted with efforts to improve teaching and learning. “I see potential in offering focused courses and certificates that are unique – or somewhat unique – to EMU,” she said. An example is the proposed Restorative Justice in Education program which she will help implement.

Armstrong is particularly interested in recent research on the brain and how it affects learning in the classroom. She plans to teach a graduate course on neuro-education next fall.

The new EMU administrator got her start in education at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she earned a BA in elementary education and an MEd as a reading specialist. She went to UVa for doctoral studies, graduating in 1986 with an EdD in educational leadership and administration, with minors in curriculum and reading.

Armstrong started her career as a classroom teacher and reading specialist for four years in Amherst County Public Schools in Virginia. Moving into administration, she supervised programs for reading and gifted students in Amherst for 10 years.

She then moved to Nelson Public County Schools for eight years, where she was executive director of instruction and personnel, followed by executive director of personnel and student services.

From 1996 to 1999, Armstrong was principal of Burnley-Moran Elementary School in Charlottesville.

For the past seven years, she has also worked as a consultant in neuro-education. “I believe working in schools and school districts around the country on ways to improve teaching and learning,” she said, “will help me stay current in practice and bring valuable ‘stories’ to my job at EMU.”

Carr joins Mary Johnson, a first-grade teacher at Clark Elementary School in Charlottesville, in sharing the award.

“Jennie is a resourceful and creative teacher so it comes as no surprise that she is the recipient of this award,” said , director of EMU’s MA in education program. “We are proud of Jennie’s recognition…. She is a gift to the students she teaches.”

“Teaching is about inspiring and challenging young minds, enhancing learning with interactive technology, and providing a safe, encouraging atmosphere for every child to reach individual goals and find personal success,” said Carr. “The award was a true honor.”

The award — supported through a grant from the Verizon Foundation — recognizes Virginia teachers who use “Thinkfinity” resources into the classroom. Thinkfinity is Verizon Foundation’s free web portal providing access to online instructional resources, including lesson plans aligned with state standards, reference materials and interactive tools for students, according to a release.

“Great teachers are always on the lookout for new sources of lesson plans, reference materials and activities that engage students and support increased learning,” said Patricia I. Wright, superintendent of public instruction at the VDOE.

Carr was nominated by her peers for the awards program. Nominations included lesson plans using Thinkfinity and a video demonstrating it in the classroom.

Carr received $1,000 stipend to conduct workshops on Thinkfinity, $1,000 unrestricted cash prizes and iPads. The gifts were provided through a Verizon Foundation grant.

The opened during the summer of 2011 and has 33 tenth and eleventh grade students enrolled for the academic year. , director of EMU’s and chair of LAC’s board of directors, believes the center is poised to provide Albanians with an education equipped in core Christian values to serve “both the church and community.”

“We envision the center will be a strong presence in the community, a place known for academic excellence and its emphasis on biblical values and English,” said Steiner. “We have 100 students enrolled in the adult, business and high school programs, with 40 more on a waiting list.”

Building a community

Built in a remodeled three-story hotel, the center is equipped with donated furniture from Mennonite schools in northern Germany. Steiner, the teachers, and students had worried that the school would not be able to open as planned, because the government-required school charter arrived only a few days before the official opening. Paperwork for it had been submitted a year earlier.

EMU graduates Kaitlyn Bontrager, Jessica Hedrick and Kristi Reinhardt are three of the four teachers on campus. In addition, there are two retired teachers providing additional support.

“Teaching English to students in a foreign country as a first-year teacher is a challenge, to say the very least,” said Bontrager. “[One of] my goals for the students is to show them what it means to be caring, compassionate individuals who value all people and seek to make a positive change in their community.”

“My desire is to not just teach my students content but to teach them to be inquisitive learners that creatively problem-solve,” said Reinhardt. “When they leave our school I want them to have experienced genuine community and compassion.”

In planning LAC, Steiner said a goal of the founding group was to build a school that runs with “honesty, integrity and a servant’s heart.” In doing this, Steiner said they envisioned LAC becoming a self-sustaining school supported by a combination of American and Albanian teachers who embrace biblical views.

“The leadership of LAC will encourage Albanian patrons to not only help support the school but provide leadership for its future development,” Steiner said. “This will be an experiment of establishing a healthy dialogue with the multi-faith community of Lezhe.”

Growth anticipated

LAC was built as an alternative to Albania’s public school system, which lacks essential resources and has overcrowded classrooms, according to the EMU graduates.

“Our students come from an educational system that equates a quality education with the quantity of information students can memorize and regurgitate,” said Hedrick. “It is my hope that I can put my students on the path to lifelong learning by igniting their curiosity and teaching them to evaluate the information they receive instead of memorizing it.”

To encourage academic learning, all classes are taught in English except Albanian language and history classes. Steiner said they will add a twelfth grade and additional English teachers by the start of the next school year. “We anticipate that Lezha Academic Center will continue to grow in numbers with the potential of 120 or more students.”

LAC Principal Klementina Shahini believes the school can be a place where future Albanian youth will see “hope and start to dream about their future.”

“[LAC] can be a school where students, the future of Albania, will have the opportunity to learn everyday more and more about their King [Jesus] and share the good news with their friends, families, relatives and neighbors.”

Luke Hartman is dumping the hardcourt for the classroom.

The former basketball coach