A faculty member from was among six nursing professionals from across the Keystone State honored recently for their outstanding contributions and accomplishments in their field.

The Pennsylvania State Nurses Association presented Priscilla R. Simmons with its “2006 nursing education award” for her “commitment as a role model in the nursing comunity – inspiring her peers to improve their quality of practice.” She is the director and professor in the for EMU at Lancaster.

The recognition ceremony was held on the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College and was co-hosted by the Nursing Foundation of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Simmons was co-nominated for the award by members of the ADCP class in the Lancaster program.

‘Nurses as Adult Learners’

In her EMU role, Simmons oversees implementation of the curriculum and teaches “Nurses as Adult Learners,” “Professional Nursing: Knowledge, Attitudes and Skills,” “Health Assessment, Issues and Values” and “Nursing Research.”

“Students lovingly express appreciation for the profound impact Simmons has had on their professional and personal life, noting that they are better nurses for having known and studied under her,” a colleague writes.

An active member of the PA State Nurses Association, Simmons currently serves as vice-president for District 16. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau.

She received her diploma from Harrisburg (PA) Hospital and her BSN degree from Messiah College, Grantham, Pa. She obtained her MsED from Temple University, her MSN from Columbia University and her EdD from Columbia University, Teachers College.

“We applaud these outstanding nurses who help to advance the profession in ways that matter, through their contributions in clinical practice, education, research and legislative advocacy,” said Susan J. Simmons, president of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, at the awards ceremony.

The association is a non-profit organization representing more than 200,000 practicing nurses in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a constituent member of the American Nurses Association and is the official voice for nursing in the Keystone State ().

Lindsay M. Dale

Andrea J. Kniss

April J. Miller

Brent A. Schilt

Donovan E. Tann

Hannah E. Yoder

The at 草莓社区 has awarded academic scholarships to 11 students for the 2005-2006 academic year.

The award amounts vary, depending on each student’s demonstrated need. All have distinguished themselves as outstanding students.

Lindsay M. Dale, a senior education PK-12, German and Spanish major from Willow Street, Pa.; Kendra Nissley, a sophomore German and justice, peace and conflict studies major from Columbiana, Ohio; and Ashley Wiederrecht, an incoming freshman from Mount Joy, Pa., received the Ernest G. Gehman Scholarship.

The Gehman Scholarship was established to honor foreign language majors, with preference to those pursuing German study. Recipients must have grade point averages of at least a 3.0 and qualify for financial assistance.

The late Ernest G. Gehman (1901-1988) taught German language and literature at EMU, 1924-73. He maintained an intense interest in the Pennsylvania German dialect spoken by many Amish and Mennonites, taught course in the dialect and produced a recording of Pennsylvania Germany poetry. He was an ordained minister, prolific writer-editor, illustrator and inventor.

The Hubert R. and Mildred Pellman Literature Scholarship was awarded to: Andrea J. Kniss, a junior English, culture, religion and mission major from Harrisonburg; Karina J. Martin, a freshman English major from New Holland, Pa.; April J. Miller, a senior English major from Corning, N.Y.; Wayne R. Paxton, a junior English education major from Churchville, Va.; Brent A. Schilt, a senior history and English major from Marietta, Pa.; Donovan E. Tann, a sophomore English and music major from East Petersburg, Pa.; Carey L. Yeager, a senior English and Spanish major from Chesterfield, Va.; and Hannah E. Yoder, a freshman English major from Hubbard, Ore.

The Pellman Literature Scholarship was established to honor full-time students in language and literature, with preference to English majors. This year’s recipients all had grade point averages of at least 3.2 and qualified for financial assistance.

Dr. Pellman, a professor emeritus of English, taught at EMU from 1941 to 1983, with several breaks along the way for graduate study and sabbaticals and serving as a visiting teacher in California, Indiana and Sapporo, Japan.

He researched and wrote the official history of Eastern Mennonite College (now University), which was published on the school’s 50th anniversary in 1967. The veteran teacher was named EMU’s "Alumnus of the Year" in 1969. He lives with his wife, Millie Kauffman Pellman in Park View.

A play evoking the agony experienced by victims of violence is hitting people hard on both sides of prison walls.

“I’ve read about how victims feel and I’ve been through counseling,” one Pennsylvania prisoner told actors after they performed “A Body in Motion” at his medium-security state prison. “But this is the first time I’ve really felt it. This is the first time I felt the rage. This is the first time I’ve stopped thinking about my own victimhood.”

“A Body in Motion” is based on the book “Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims” (Good Books, 2001) by Howard Zehr, co-director of EMU’s Conflict Transformation Program.

Three of the five principals involved in the play – the director and two of the actors, Trent Wagler and Lisa White – are EMU alumni, as is Barb Toews, the Pennsylvania Prison Society official who marshaled the resources necessary for the play to tour through eight Pennsylvania prisons in late April and May.

Playwright and director Ingrid DeSanctis pieced together a touching, often wrenching, play from the 39 profiles in Dr. Zehr

In a one-of-a-kind art opening, international viewers gathered in a small gallery at EMU to mull over a group of portraits.

The exhibit listed no names for the men of varying ages and ethnicities depicted, though initials frequently served as titles. Artist Allyson Holtz said she had kept backgrounds simple because of having to work fast. Ditto for clothing, which, in fact, was the same for each: a prison uniform.

What stood out were the faces