Calvin Profs to Be Honored

February 7, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY

A trio of Calvin College professors will be honored by Michigan Campus Compact
(MCC) with a special community service-learning award, the highest honor MCC
bestows on faculty and staff in the state of Michigan.

Engineering professor Gayle Ermer, education professor Tom Hoeksema and
recreation professor Glen Van Andel will receive their award tomorrow at 5:30
pm at the 11th annual MCC institute on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement in
Lansing.

As a team, the three professors partnered with the Christian Learning Center,
a local non-profit agency which provides Christ-centered educational,
psychological, vocational and advocacy services for people experiencing unique
needs and gifts.

The effort began when the CLC called Calvin to ask about partnering Calvin
students with area students who are developmentally delayed.

Ermer, Hoeksema and Van Andel all responded to the opportunity to make
connections between their classroom and the CLC opportunity, albeit in slightly
different ways.

For example Ermer and her engineering students designed adaptive equipment for
the students with special needs. Van Andel's recreational therapy class
developed and implemented different therapeutic plans for developmentally
delayed students. And Hoeksema's education students partnered one-on-one with
the special needs students as peer mentors and friends.

Such responses, says the Michigan Campus Compact, are exactly why the three
were chosen to receive this year's award which honors professors' influence on
and engagement of students to be involved in community service or
service-learning through modeling, instructing and/or special projects.

Michigan Campus Compact promotes the education and commitment of Michigan
college students to be civically engaged citizens, through creating and
expanding academic, co-curricular and campus-wide opportunities for community
service, service-learning and civic engagement.

Contact the professors at:
Ermer - germer@calvin.edu
Hoeksema - hoet@calvin.edu
VanAndel - vdel@calvin.edu

Contact Lisa Sommer of MCC at 517-492-2424 or
lsommer@connectmichiganalliance.org

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Received on Wed Feb 7 16:25:34 2007