Education

The Columbia Union Conference Office of Education recently recognized juniors and seniors at each of the union’s eight academies. The Caring Heart Award winners were nominated for demonstrating a personal commitment to service and witnessing:

Ashley Hunte from Blue Mountain Academy in Hamburg, Pa.

Bree Hurst from Highland View Academy in Hagerstown, Md.

Michael Williams from Pine Forge Academy in Pine Forge, Pa.

Chrizette Sullano from Richmond Academy in Richmond, Va.

Brenda Ngetich from Shenandoah Valley Academy in New Market, Va.

Story by Barby Kulakov

Last month, Weymouth Spence, president of Washington Adventist University (WAU); Mikhail Kulakov Jr., professor of religion and director of WAU’s Bible Translation Institute; Zack Plantak, chair of WAU’s Religion Department and Celeste Ryan Blyden, Visitor editor and publisher, joined leaders from the Euro-Asia Division for a groundbreaking ceremony for a new media center that will soon be erected at Zaoksky Adventist Seminary and Institute outside Moscow.

The idea for a new media center, which Spence spearheaded, took form in January at a meeting held in Zaoksky with John Konrad, WGTS 91.9 FM general manager and leaders of the Global Vessels ministry, a U.S.-based charity.

Story by Tamyra Horst

Born in Calcutta, India, Kalyani Prakasam received bachelor degrees in Education and Teaching from the University of Calcutta (India). She taught school for 10 years in India before moving to the U.S., and has been teaching children at the Lehigh Valley Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School in Whitehall, Pa., for the past 42 years. She earned a Master of Education in 1983 and received her reading specialist certification in 1985.

Story by Visitor Staff / Photos by Krystal Irrgang

Seven students recently graduated from REACH Columbia Union Urban Evangelism School.

Story by Lauren Brooks

On Sunday, May 21, Kettering College and Kettering Medical Center participated in a full-scale mass casualty emergency preparedness exercise.

The exercise used intentional simulations to assess emergency procedures and medical responses to a mass casualty incident involving elements of terrorism and an active shooter incident. This simulation included mock wounds and sound effects to create a more realistic setting, and it was one of the largest exercises of this kind in the Dayton area.