SPU Sponsors Workshop on Helping Teens
On October 12, 2013, the Advisory Board for the School of Psychology, Family, and Community offered a workshop titled “Helping Teens Through Turbulence” for parents, teachers, counselors, and youth workers on the subjects of adolescent depression, substance abuse, and recovery. Experts from Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch and SPU’s Clinical Psychology program provided strategies to help teens through challenging years.
Day of Common Learning Focuses on Youth
Thomas Maridada of the Children’s Defense Fund gave the keynote address at SPU’s 12th annual Day of Common Learning on October 16, 2013. The director of national education policy, practice, and strategic initiatives at CDF kicked off a day of community conversation on the theme “Helping Youth Flourish.”
Fritzberg’s Tutoring Program Serves Seattle Schools
Future high school counselors studying in SPU’s School of Education are employed by a nonprofit founded and directed by Professor of Education Greg Fritzberg. University Tutors for Seattle Schools, which supports K–12 students, obtained approximately $750,000 in City of Seattle, Seattle School District, and state funding for both the 2012–13 and the 2013–14 academic years.
Nursing Students Partner With Older Adults
The Older Adult Partnership Project in the School of Health Sciences matched 64 SPU nursing students with more than 30 senior citizens living independently in the Seattle area. Under the direction of Nursing Instructor Carol Redfield, the students spent eight months developing therapeutic relationships with their older adult partners and learned about geriatric health issues and challenges.
SPU Hosts Youth Ministries Conference
Open Seattle, a gathering of 144 youth ministers from the Pacific Northwest, was hosted on campus by SPU’s School of Theology and the youth ministry organization Youth Cartel on October 26, 2013. An “open source” conference at which each session was led by a conference attendee, the event was a conversation about youth ministry from an academic and a cultural perspective.
SPU Hosts Prominent Business Speakers
Sonny Vu, founder, chairman, and CEO of MisfitWearables, was the keynote speaker for the 2013 Business as Calling Day on November 7, 2013. Business students learned from Vu’s experience in a high-tech, multinational startup that manufactures fitness tracking devices. The Dean’s Speaker Series, also sponsored by the School of Business and Economics, enabled business students to hear from and interact with Randall Lane, director of global diversity and inclusion at Cisco; Dana Manciagli, career coach and former Microsoft general manager; and Russell Dean Lowell, Washington Independent Restaurateur of the Year. The Walls Distinguished Speaker Series luncheon on January 21, 2014, featured Craig Jelinek, president and CEO of Costco.
Wright Fills Brougham for Presentation on the Psalms
Theologian N.T. Wright spoke to more than 1,600 people in SPU’s Royal Brougham Pavilion on November 13, 2013. His theme was based on one of his latest books, The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential. One of the world’s leading Bible scholars, Wright is the award-winning author of nearly 60 books, and chair of New Testament and Early Christianity in the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Stewart and Students Run Intervention Program
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology Dave Stewart, along with graduate and undergraduate students, continued to implement Project READY in local high schools. Project READY (Reducing the Effects of Alcohol and Drugs on Youth) is an intervention program that has helped more than 300 teens markedly reduce their alcohol and marijuana use over six years.
Students and Faculty Perform in Christmas Concert
SPU’s 14th annual Sacred Sounds of Christmas concert drew a sold-out audience to Seattle’s McCaw Hall on December 3, 2013. The event showcased student and faculty musicians, who performed the best of sacred Advent and Christmas music to more than 2,700 people.
Conference Explores “Soul Change to Social Change”
The School of Theology, in partnership with the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Free Methodist Church, hosted a regional racial reconciliation conference on February 22, 2014. Speaker Brenda Salter McNeil, associate professor of reconciliation studies at SPU and nationally known reconciliation advocate, talked about reconciliation and the church, and explored a new model of racial reconciliation, social justice, and spiritual healing.
Lecture Series Features Conductor Laureate Schwarz
The Music Department’s Futures in Music Lecture Series featured Seattle Symphony Conductor Laureate Gerard Schwarz on March 3, 2014. Schwarz spoke to students and the public about leadership in music. This new lecture series is made possible by SPU’s Spiritual and Educational Resources for Vocational Exploration (SERVE) program.
New Partnership Enables Nurses to Earn Degrees
In an effort to help Seattle-area registered nurses earn bachelor of science in nursing degrees, the School of Health Sciences partnered with the SEIU Multi-Employer Training Fund to enroll working nurses in SPU’s RN to BSN program. Courses were taught at local hospitals, including Valley Medical Center, Swedish Medical Center, and Group Health Cooperative.
Alsbury Serves as Advisor for School Board Task Force
Appointed by the Alliance for Education, Professor of Educational Administration and Supervision Thomas Alsbury served on the Seattle School Board Task Force, a nonprofit organization focused on the improvement of Seattle Public Schools. Among other things, he advised Seattle high school students who managed a debate between candidates for the Seattle School Board. All told, Alsbury has worked with school boards in 15 American states and 15 countries.
Albright Visits SPU
The first woman U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, spoke to 1,100 business and community leaders at SPU’s annual Downtown Business Breakfast on April 4, 2014. The evening before, Albright drew a crowd of 1,800 — including newly admitted students and their parents — to campus for a lecture and conversation about world events.
Smith Headlines Church Leaders Forum
On April 9, 2014, Seattle Pacific Seminary welcomed James Bryan Smith as the keynote speaker for a Church Leaders Forum, “How We Are Formed ... And Transformed.” Smith, executive director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation and theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, discussed replacing false narratives with the mind of Christ, and the implications of doing so for discipleship and transformation.
Public Lecture Addresses Early Childhood Mental Health
Heather Carmichael Olson came to campus on April 15, 2014, as part of the School of Psychology, Family, and Community’s Initiative for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. She spoke on “Early Childhood Mental Health: Problems and Solutions.” Carmichael Olson directs the Early Childhood Mental Health Clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and is clinical professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
SOE Faculty Receive Grant to Evaluate School Initiative
School of Education faculty members Dan Bishop, Andrew Lumpe, and Robin Henrikson received a $210,000 grant from the Washington state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to conduct an evaluation of a three-year project focused on public schools in Washington. The initiative is funded by a $2.4 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called “Transforming Professional Learning Systems for Reform: Common Core Standards.” The SPU faculty members will conduct research on the impact of the statewide project on school district reform efforts, teacher practices, and student learning.
Grant Funds Faith and Work Initiative in Churches
This spring, SPU was awarded a $112,000 grant from the Kern Foundation to develop church-based communities of practice around faith and work. The initiative will be spearheaded by SPU’s Center for Biblical and Theological Education in the School of Theology, and the Center for Integrity in Business in the School of Business and Economics.