Anna Nekola (left) and Jubilee Dueck Thiessen (right)
How have you experienced gendered language? Has certain language hurt you or made you feel welcome and safe? These are some of the questions that students reflected on in a recent peer-led survey about Canadian Mennonite University (CMU).
Members of Gail Schellenberg’s family gathered at IJC’s new training centre named in her honour, for its dedication. Pictured from left to right: Bob Schellenberg, Jesse Wolfe, Selenna Wolfe, Kim Thiessen, Byron Thiessen and Brenda Schellenberg. (Photo courtesy of Initiatives for Just Communities)
A newly renovated training centre at Initiatives for Just Communities was dedicated to its former executive director and lifelong educator, Gail Schellenberg. (Photo courtesy of Initiatives for Just Communities)
Gail Schellenberg influenced the lives of thousands of people during her career as a teacher and principal in Mennonite high schools across Canada, and later as executive director of Initiatives for Just Communities (IJC). She died from cancer in 2020, but her legacy lives on in people’s memories.
The Johnson sisters wait for the bus on their first day of school. (Sarah Ewert Johnson)
Mary Anne Neufeld of Vineland, Ont. teaches Kindergarten in the public school system and was surprised at the beginning of the school year that 92 percent of students returned to the classroom instead of taking online classes. This was a tough decision for many parents.
Zac Schellenberg, a teacher at Rosthern Junior College, uses his cell phone to take a picture of students taking selfies. (Photo by Jill Olfert Wiens)
Increasingly, students are required to use their cell phones for classroom work. (Photo by Jill Olfert Wiens)
The anonymity of the internet can make it easier to engage in bullying behaviour online. (Photo by Jill Olfert Wiens)
While screen time can be isolating, it can also be used to build community, as when students study together. (Photo by Jill Olfert Wiens)
In many schools the internet has replaced the library as a major source of information. (Photo by Jill Olfert Wiens)
In many schools the internet has replaced the library as a major source of information. (Photo by Jill Olfert Wiens)
The internet and the myriad technologies that have accompanied its rise to media supremacy have transformed the way people communicate. For better or worse they have also transformed education.
David W. Boshart, pictured with his wife, Shana Peachey Boshart, has been appointed the next president of AMBS. (AMBS photo by Melissa Troyer)
David W. Boshart, Ph.D., of Wellman, Iowa, has been appointed the next president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Elkhart, Ind., effective Jan. 1, 2020, following a period of “extended discernment” that included “outreach to and listening sessions with the AMBS community,” according to board chair Bruce Baergen of Edmonton.
Philip Martin, left, and Ella Strathdee promote Cycling into the Future at a community event at Kitchener (Ont.) City Hall. (Cycling into the Future photo)
When Philip Martin discovered several years ago that “cycling education in Canada is almost non-existent,” he set out to do something about it.
Glenallen Christo took part in Quest with Columbia Bible College. (Photo by Jeremy Walker)
Starting this fall, Quest, Columbia Bible College’s longstanding one-year discipleship program, is adopting a more flexible approach to its academic requirements in order to provide a richer experience for incoming students.
I got my first taste of journalism at a Mennonite school. As a second-year English major, I began writing for The Weather Vane, the student newspaper at Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University), in Harrisonburg, Va. The following year I accepted the challenge of becoming co-editor of the features section.
College Kindergarten students play in the snow during a Kinderforest Day in Goshen (Ind.) College’s Witmer Woods on Jan. 15. (Goshen College photo by Brian Yoder Schlabach)
College Kindergarten students work in Witmer Woods on a fort made from branches during a Kinderforest Day on Jan. 15. (Goshen College photo by Brian Yoder Schlabach)
Teacher Jenna Labash talks to her Kindergarten class during a Kinderforest day in Witmer Woods last September. (Goshen College photo by Brian Yoder Schlabach)
About once a month, 24 students from the Goshen College Laboratory Kindergarten class—a partnership between the college’s education department and Goshen Community Schools—spend the day climbing trees, building shelters and making mud pies in Witmer Woods.
Troy Osborne, Grebel’s dean and associate professor of history, in the classroom. (Conrad Grebel University College photo)
At Conrad Grebel University College, students engage the arts in two ways.
Grade 9 Rockway students Thomas Klassen, left, and Haolin Li repair bicycles at the Working Centre’s Recycle Cycles shop in downtown Kitchener, Ont. (Rockway Mennonite Collegiate photo)
Our journey at Rockway focuses on students developing an ability to lead with compassion when classroom learning is extended so they can live out Christ-centred values, develop empathy and perspective, and serve the community locally and globally. This is the inspiration behind Rockway’s new Students Learning in Community (SLIC) partnerships.
Benjamin and Rianna Isaak-Krauss sit in front of a pocket prairie at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center’s Rieth Village in Indiana. (Merry Lea photo)
A vision for incorporating sustainability into seminary education came to fruition in the fall of 2018 when two students from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Ind., joined the Sustainability Leadership Semester at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen (Ind.) College.
Menno Simons Christian School junior-high students pack relief buckets for Mennonite Central Committee Alberta in Calgary. (Menno Simons Christian School photo)
The vision at Menno Simons Christian School to offer “An education for life” challenges us to provide an education that equips children for now and for tomorrow.
RJC Grade 10 students pose with the Win-Stick, an artistic representation of what they learned on their class trip to Winnipeg. (Photo by Donna Schulz)
The Win-Stick, created by RJC’s Grade 10 students, tells the story of their class trip to Winnipeg, where they learned about many forms of injustice through the theme “Insiders and outsiders.” (Photo by Donna Schulz)
It’s called the Win-Stick and it tells a story. Created by the Grade 10 class at Rosthern Junior College (RJC), the Win-Stick expresses some of what they learned during a class trip to Winnipeg.
Rosthern Junior College student body. (Rosthern Junior College photo)
Rosthern Junior College held its fall Deeper Life Days in late October and early November. The topic was ‘Tough talk: Conversations about the Bible, peace and violence.’ (Rosthern Junior College photo)
“It’s called Deeper Life Days for a reason,” says Grade 11 student Shaelyn Nordmarken. Deeper Life Days give Rosthern Junior College (RJC) students opportunity to engage with challenging topics.
The topic was “Tough talk: Conversations about the Bible, peace and violence.” The event was held over four days in late October and early November 2018.
Werner and Joanne DeJong enjoy the company of new friends in a coffee shop across from Meserete Kristos College in Ethiopia. ‘In a communal-based society like Ethiopia there are more opportunities to sit, visit and sip coffee under the trees,’ says Joanne, who is impressed with the strong emphasis the college places on peace, justice and community development. (Photo courtesy of Joanne DeJong)
Werner and Joanne DeJong faced a challenging decision. After many years of pastoral ministry with Edmonton’s Holyrood Mennonite Church, they felt called to consider ministry in East Africa. The call, however, was not equally clear for each of them or for their congregation.
Grebel students, faculty and staff will spend the 2018-2019 school year intentionally singing together as a way of building bridges and exploring issues of diversity, justice, hospitality, faith and peace. (Photo by Jennifer Konkle)
At the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, students, staff and faculty at Conrad Grebel University College took a deep breath and sang together, first in unison, and then in several different parts to build a new melody. The piece called “We All Sing” was written by Karen Sunabacka, a Grebel prof, and commissioned for the College’s 2018-19 integration initiative.
Grade eight Rockway students, Alors Lin (foreground) and Ellery Ezekiel help plant one of 20 10’ by 10’ plots in the Courtland-Shelley Community Centre Garden. (Rockway Mennonite Collegiate photo)
The garden plots are open primarily to Courtland-Shelley townhouse residents. The gardeners come from many different cultures, making this an opportunity for Rockway students to learn about gardening and different cultural practices. (Rockway Mennonite Collegiate photo)
This past spring, students from Rockway Mennonite Collegiate’s Grade 8 class began participating in a new project whose goal is to build character, skills and perspective; and to create opportunity for students to serve our larger community.
Systems design engineering student Isaac Veldhuis was among 40 official Orientation Week leaders who welcomed new students and their families to Conrad Grebel University College this September on Move-In Day. The eager crowd was greeted with cheers and a song, and students soon got to know each other during a week of games, activities, and an all-college retreat. (Grebel photo by Jennifer Konkle)
Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) students enjoy the sun and play games at the welcome festival on September 4. (Photo courtesy of Canadian Mennonite University)
Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont.
Photo courtesy of Henry Neufeld
Henry Neufeld’s first classroom in Pauingassi in 1956. (Photo courtesy of Henry Neufeld)
In northern Manitoba, winter travel in the 1960s was by snowmobile and summer travel was by boat. This early snowmobile was made by Ingham Brothers of Lanigan, Sask. The seat and steering at the front were connected to the frame and motor at the back by hinges on the runners. It was propelled by a metal cleat track. (Photo courtesy of Henry Neufeld)
Elna and Henry Neufeld are pictured in front of the Moose Lake School in 1952. (Photo courtesy of Henry Neufeld)
Henry Neufeld learned to fly this two-seater ‘bush plane,’ obtained in 1961 by the Mennonite Pioneer Mission. (Photo courtesy of Henry Neufeld)
“Never a teacher,” I declared from the time I was in public school, growing up in the Leamington district of southwestern Ontario.
Distance education director Tigist Alamirew, standing, with students in class at Meserete Kristos College in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. (Photo courtesy of Tigist Alamirew)
Distance education director Tigist Alamirew at her desk at Meserete Kristos College in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. (Photo courtesy of Tigist Alamirew)
“With the grace of God, I escaped many deaths throughout my journey in Christ,” says Tigist Alamirew. Born to an Orthodox family in Finote Selam, she now serves as distance education director at Meserete Kristos College in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.
Sandra Luna assists Jimmi Bedoya, 3, at Centro de Capacitación del Niño (Children’s Training Centre) in El Progreso, Soacha, outside Bogotá, Colombia, where Luna teaches Grade 1 and acts as one of the coordinators of the school. (MCC photo by Colin Vandenberg)
I was born in Santander in north-central Colombia. My husband and I married when he was 17 and I was 15, and we decided to come to Bogotá to look for a better life.
Kaitlyn Janzen (centre) leads the chorus in “O Bless The Lord.” The disciples and chorus used their own names for their characters in RJC’s production. (Photo by Rosthern Junior College)
John the Baptist (Nathan Bartel) “baptises” Benjamin Gerwing in the opening sequence, “Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord.” (Photo by Rosthern Junior College)
Every year, as part of homecoming and graduation weekend at Rosthern Junior College, the students present a large-scale musical. This year they performed Godspell by John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz.
A Grade 3 class at Hagar Association made signs for International Tolerance Day to promote ethnic and religious tolerance in the region. Hagar is a bilingual MCC-supported school educating 330 Arab and Jewish children from age 1 to Grade 6 in Be’er Sheba, Israel. (Photo courtesy of the Hagar Association)
Tal Dayan, right, and Lev Zemer Gilboa-Oppenheim, left, attend Hagar Association, a bilingual MCC-supported school in Be’er-Sheva, Israel. (Photos courtesy of the Hagar Association)
Walk into Hagar Association, a school in Be’er-Sheva, Israel, and it looks like almost any other school. But if you listen closely, you’ll hear children speaking both Hebrew and Arabic, and see them playing together—uncommon sounds and sights in the region.
Karen Ridd facilitates the Village Game during her workshop at this year’s Red River Heritage Fair at the University of Winnipeg. (Photo courtesy of the Red River Heritage Fair)
“In the Second World War there were over 10,000 loyal Canadians who served Canada without weapons. What were they called?” This is the question Conrad Stoesz has been asking students at the Red River Heritage Fair for more than a decade.
