Voice - Spring/Summer 2021

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OF DORDT UNIVERSITY

What is the lasting legacy of KDCR 88.5 FM?

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Five seniors who studied Spanish gained new perspectives.

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SPRING/ SUMMER

2021

FROM THE PRESIDENT

DEO VOLENTE When I was growing up, one of my pastors had the habit of using the words “Lord willing” when announcing an upcoming church activity.

The words caught my ear in a peculiar manner when I was younger: “The congregation will celebrate the sacrament of baptism on Sunday, August 24— Lord willing.” Sometimes it would appear in our church bulletin using the Latin formulation: “The congregation will be invited to a time of cake and coffee next Sunday (D.V.) to celebrate the pastor’s 50th birthday.” I can still recall asking my parents what D.V. meant in that usage, and I remember that my mother gave me a lesson in both Latin and theology.

D.V. wasn’t something that you heard very often 40 years ago, and such usage has dropped off almost entirely during my lifetime.

Yet, this somewhat old-fashioned Christian habit is very scriptural; we find it in James 4:13-16: Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance.

And the admonition against boasting is also reiterated in Proverbs 27:1: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

Perhaps one of the lessons we as modern people can learn from the Covid-19 pandemic is that we are not in control. In that regard, we might consider resurrecting the humble habit of using D.V. and “Lord willing” from generations gone before. For our students, faculty, and staff at Dordt University, I’m saddened that, because of the pandemic, the past three semesters did not turn out

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as we had hoped. Yet, I also have a sense that we’ve all changed a bit and realize that we can’t control what the future holds—and maybe a bit of that change is just what we need to stop boasting in our arrogance.

It certainly was a special blessing in May 2021 to complete the academic year with a face-toface graduation ceremony for 362 graduates, our largest group in Dordt’s history. We blew some of the accumulated dust out of the organ pipes in the B.J. Haan Auditorium and sang together in praise of our God. It had been a long time coming, and it was an outstanding time to be together in community.

My sincere hope for Dordt is that we’ll start classes this fall on August 24, 2021, Lord willing, just a bit humbler due to what we’ve been through. Even as we do, we shouldn’t succumb to worry or fear, since the Lord clearly warns us against that posture in Matthew 6:31-34: “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

THE

OF DORDT UNIVERSITY

SPRING\SUMMER 2021 VOLUME 66 | ISSUE 3 The Voice, an outreach of Dordt University, is sent to you as alumni and friends of Christian higher education. The Voice is published three times each year to share information about the programs, activities, and people at Dordt. www.dordt.edu (712) 722-6000 Send address corrections and correspondence to voice@dordt.edu or VOICE, Dordt University, 700 7th Street NE, Sioux Center, Iowa 51250-1606

Contributors Sarah Moss ('10), editor sarah.moss@dordt.edu Jamin Ver Velde ('99), designer Sally Jongsma, contributing editor Bethany Van Voorst, contributing writer Lydia Marcus ('17), contributing writer James Calvin Schaap ('70), contributing writer Kaysha Steiger ('21), contributing writer Brandon Huisman ('10), vice president for enrollment and marketing brandon.huisman@dordt.edu

Our Mission As an institution of higher education committed to a Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.

I hope we enter the year ahead (D.V.) with our eyes fixed on Christ’s coming kingdom and with a sense of eager expectation of what God is up to in the lives of our students, our faculty, and our staff as we equip them for lives of effective service to the King.

DR. ERIK HOEKSTRA, PRESIDENT

On the Cover Ray Badudu (’19) hugs Victor Julien following the class of 2021 commencement ceremony on May 7.

Photo by Devyn Driesen ('22).

Brock Huard, a former Washington Huskies quarterback and veteran college football analyst who now works for FOX Sports, spoke at the Game Changer Christian Sports Summit. Huard was one of several speakers, including Wayne Simien, a former University of Kansas basketball player, and Ron Brown, University of Nebraska's director of player development. The summit, which took place in June, sought to equip and inspire current and future athletic directors, coaches, and teachers in faith leadership.

IN THIS ISSUE 5

The four faculty members who are retiring this year have given more than 100 years of cumulative service to Dordt.

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With the lowest per foot utility cost in the state among Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Dordt works hard to be stewardly with resources.

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A few adjustments were made to this year’s commencement ceremony so that the class of 2021 would be able to graduate in person.

Students now have access to a screenprinting studio, thanks to the work of Graphic Design Instructor Vaughn Donahue.

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What is the lasting legacy of KDCR 88.5 FM?

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Five seniors who studied Spanish during their four years at Dordt gained new perspectives on the importance of language learning.

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Liz (Friesema, ’05) Hoek and her family show the love of Jesus through adoption.

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Herm Van Niejenhuis (’71) helped to bring hockey to Dordt’s campus both as a student and as a coach.

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n a sunny yet unseasonably chilly day in late June, 257 sixth through eighth grade students arrived on campus. Dordt Discovery Days hadn’t been in-person since 2019, and the campers were eager to stay in the dorms, participate in classes like Survivor Siouxnami and Cooking with Karen, and make new friends. In many ways, 2021 Dordt Discovery Days gave middle schoolers a glimpse of what being a Dordt student could be like. It also gave Dordt faculty and staff a chance to see Dordt anew—to teach classes in a way that appeals to a younger audience, but also to form new connections with students who might one day return to campus as college freshmen.

FROM THE EDITOR

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

GAME CHANGERS

LET'S CONNECT

This issue of The Voice of Dordt University looks at the many ways Defenders form connections.

Professor of Language Studies Dr. Rikki Brons and five Dordt students used their Spanish speaking and writing skills to connect with elementary students, hospital patients, the formerly incarcerated, and more. KDCR 88.5 FM spent five decades serving as a bridge between Dordt and Sioux County. Classes like History of the Muslim World and Methods of Teaching STEM in K-12 Schools encourage students to look beyond themselves and consider different perspectives.

Making connections, forming friendships, being bridge builders– these are wonderful ways to show compassion and to live out our faith. They also help us continue fulfilling Dordt’s mission to “work effectively toward Christcentered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.”

SARAH MOSS ('10), EDITOR

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NEWS

PROJECT- AND PROBLEMBASED STEM EDUCATION

How do we best equip science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers for the schools they are going to serve in?

Dr. David Mulder ('98), professor of education, ponders this question every time he teaches Methods of Teaching STEM in K-12 Schools. The course is designed to meet the needs of STEM teaching majors such as engineering education, physics education, and industrial technology. Chemistry, biology, and mathematics majors also choose to take the course, which allows them to explore creative, fun ways to apply STEM concepts in the classroom.

“In STEM education today, there is a big push toward project-based learning and problem-based learning,” explains Mulder. “With project-based learning, teachers devise projects where students can practice different skills. They learn science while doing science, or they learn engineering while doing engineering. With problem-based learning, teachers assign authentic problems where students must do realistic work to engage in real problem solving.”

“Let’s say your administrator received a STEM grant and ordered you this roller coaster kit,” says Mulder. “How can we use this kit? Where should this be placed in the curriculum? What could we actually teach with it? I have my students step into the role of teacher, because these scenarios are real possibilities that happen all the time in K-12 education. I have this great resource, but where does it fit in my curriculum?”

He also gave a similar scenario with Lego robot kits, where his students explored how the Lego robots work and then figured out how the kits might fit into the curriculum.

Mulder and his students also read through a book titled Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide.

“Every time I assign a reading, I frame our class discussion around three questions,” says Mulder. “What was new for you? What was affirmed for you in this chapter? And now what— what questions do you still have? We can talk for the entire 50-minute class period about these three questions, because these students know that they are going to be student teaching next year, and they want to do their best as student teachers.”

Dr. David Mulder works hard to tailor Methods of Teaching STEM in K-12 Schools to the specific needs of his students.

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Joseph Wanninger, a senior double majoring in engineering and secondary education, says that this is the most applicable methods class he has taken.

He plans to teach engineering in a high-needs school after he graduates, so he appreciates the STEM-centered approach.

“Professor Mulder has taught in the STEM fields and knows them well,” says Wanninger. “He’s really passionate about his work, and he is willing to answer any questions we have. It’s nice to share our thoughts in class and to get his ideas, critiques, and comments.”

STEM educators are in short supply nationwide, and Dordt’s education department is committed to increasing the number of STEM education majors that they teach and send out into the world. Teaching a course like Methods of Teaching STEM in K-12 Schools is one way of doing that.

“Every time our class gets together, we have really rich conversations,” says Mulder. “It’s a lot of fun.”

SARAH MOSS (’10) JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

This spring, to prompt project and problem-based learning, Mulder gave his students a bag of materials—popsicle sticks, a wooden spoon, and a glue gun—and told them to build a catapult that could launch a marshmallow at least 25 feet. In another activity, he asked students to build a bridge out of one sheet of 8.5 x 11-inch paper that could withstand the weight of at least 100 pennies.

Later, his students worked on more complex problems.

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Agriculture Major Ben Vos was one of 18 student recipients to receive the Iowa Corn Future of Agriculture Scholarship for the 2020-21 academic year.

The program awards one-year scholarships to qualified students enrolled at an accredited two-year or four-year college, university, or graduate school, in a program of study to equip them to contribute to Iowa’s agriculture industry.

OLIVIA (HELMUS,'21) DE VIN

he Dordt community is thankful for the more than 100 years of collective service that this year’s retiring faculty members have given.

NEWS

FOUR FACULTY MEMBERS RETIRE

CAMPUS KUDOS

DR. BILL ELGERSMA In addition to teaching English at Dordt since 2003, Dr. Bill Elgersma ('81) has coached hockey and women’s soccer over the years. “There was always a long processional of students, former students, athletes, former athletes, and alumni that would come to his office,” says Dr. Bob De Smith, chair of the English Department. “They would be comforted, if that’s what they needed; they would be cheered on, if that’s what they needed.”

DR. DOUG DE BOER Dr. Doug De Boer ('79) has taught Dordt engineering classes for 37 years. “He is one of the smartest people I know,” says Charley Young, a senior engineering major. “He also is intentional about taking the time to make sure his students understand topics and material from every angle, more than just demonstrating his own knowledge. He is a blessing to have as a professor.”

To view retirement

VIDEO TRIBUTES

DR. ED STARKENBURG

tribute videos for each of these professors, go to Dordt's YouTube channel at: bit.ly/3fOkclx.

The Dordt University Archives has released an oral history collection featuring stories from Reverend B.J. Haan, Dordt’s first president. The collection includes stories of Dordt’s early history, such as relationships with Sioux Center and the local Christian day schools. To hear the recordings, visit https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/ oral_history_haan/.

The Andreas Center for Scholarship and Service has launched a new podcast, “In All Things.” Hosted by Professor of Theology Dr. Justin Bailey, the episodes feature conversations about living creatively in God’s created world. The podcast is available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Podbean, and Google.

Just a Guy, a short film by Digital Media Major Noah Deist, was selected by Produce Iowa as one of six films for the Executive Directors’ Film Festival Picks showcase. To learn more, see https://www.dordt.edu/ news/60949.

GERRIT VANDYK ('22)

For the past 16 years, Dr. Ed Starkenburg has served as an education professor at Dordt. “We will miss his spontaneity, his joyfulness, and his sense of humor,” says Dr. Barb Hoekstra, an education department colleague. “We’ll also miss the way we feel so cared for by him. I think everyone in the department would say that they have a great relationship with Ed.”

Dordt will begin offering a minor in church music starting in fall 2021. To learn more, see https://www.dordt. edu/news/82909.

DR. NOLAN VAN GAALEN Dr. Nolan Van Gaalen has taught engineering at Dordt for 38 years. “Professor Van Gaalen is thoughtful and well-read,” says Dr. Ethan Brue, an engineering professor. “His breadth of understanding of engineering, of the Reformational perspective, and how both come into the classroom shows. He has wrestled with key questions for so many years.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

Dordt has approved a new entrepreneurship emphasis offered to students majoring in business administration.

To learn more, see https://www.dordt.edu/news/61063.

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NEWS

SARAH MOSS ('10)

Dr. David Mulder, professor of education, delivered a commencement speech titled “We GET to Do This! Formed with Purpose.”

CLASS OF 2021 COMMENCES DESPITE COVID-19 he 2021 commencement ceremony looked a little different from that of an average year. The commencement ceremony was in-person, but there were some alterations to allow for social distancing. All the graduates who chose to participate in the ceremony–298 of the 365 total graduates were present on Friday, May 7—sat in the B.J. Haan Auditorium. Only a small fraction of the 1,485 total guests were seated in the auditorium; most watched the ceremony via livestream from the Recreation Center and the De Witt Gymnasium.

About 24 faculty and staff sat on stage during the commencement ceremony, while others gathered elsewhere on campus.

Still, graduates like Lydia Smits didn’t take for granted the fact that they could be part of an in-person commencement ceremony.

“It provides us all with a sense of closure and celebration for what we have all accomplished,” says Smits. “Knowing we were able to walk across the stage of the B.J. Haan Auditorium and join the alumni who have gone before us, brings a sense of accomplishment and is a true honor.”

Months earlier, the commencement planning committee had decided that their goal was to host a ceremony that was as close to normal as conditions allowed, says Jim Bos, registrar.

“What we learned from our virtual

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SARAH MOSS ('10)

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bit more like normal. As they stepped out of the B.J. Haan Auditorium and onto the Campus Green, graduates were greeted by smiling friends and family as well as warm sunshine.

“If we’d known that the weather would be as nice as it was, we would have considered holding the ceremony outside!” laughs Bos. “In the past I’ve seen snow, rain, tornados, and more on commencement day, so it was safer to plan for an indoor ceremony than for an outdoor one.”

After the ceremony, graduates and their guests gathered on the Campus Green before enjoying a catered lunch.

commencement in 2020 was that students had a strong desire to get together one last time as a class—to be with their friends and to recognize their achievements together,” says Bos. This was true for Alan Park. Even though his parents weren’t able to make the on-campus ceremony, Park was grateful he could end his college career with his friends.

“Assuming that commencement will be the last time I will see all my friends, classmates, and professors at Dordt, I was excited to celebrate alongside them before we went our separate ways,” he says.

Following the ceremony, things looked a

Looking back at her time at Dordt—all the projects and exams she worked on, the deep-rooted friendships she gained, and the opportunities to grow in her faith—Jacquelyn Geels says that the commencement ceremony was an excellent way to conclude her four years of college.

“It makes moving on into the next phase of life feel more real,” says Geels. “It will be a definite point that I will be able to look back on and remember for many years.”

“It was a chance to gather and to celebrate,” says Bos, “And to do that in a worshipful way, recognizing the achievements of the students but understanding that the reason we do this is Soli Deo Gloria—to God alone be the glory.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

NEWS

SEEKING TRANSFORMATION The Center for the Advancement of Christian Education (CACE) offers Teaching for Transformation (TfT) and now Coaching for Transformation (CfT) programs.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Teaching for Transformation (TfT) provides Christian schools with a framework for the creation of learning experiences rooted in a transformational worldview. This includes services like professional development training, leadership coaching and support, school visits to provide feedback on TfT implementation, coaching training and support, and more.

“With the current cultural climate Christian schools find themselves in, TfT allows teachers to tackle the issues of our day, providing them with a biblical framework to teach and learn,” says Dr. Tim Van Soelen, director of CACE, which implements TfT. Since CACE began offering TfT in 2018, they have established relationships with 65 schools. These schools can be found nationwide, ranging from Trinity Christian High School in Monterey, California; to Grace Community School in Tyler, Texas; to Washington Christian Academy in Olney, Maryland.

“Initially, schools are most excited that they will be deepening teaching and learning practices that align with the promises contained with the biblical mission and vision of their school,” says Darryl DeBoer, director of TfT. “As they implement, the excitement grows when they see the high engagement from students and the growing evidence that students are connecting the learning to

Sioux Falls Christian School participates in Teaching for Transformation (TfT), which helps to transform the hearts and minds of students so they see God's story in everything.

playing their part within God’s story.”

With TfT continuing to grow in popularity, CACE launched a new program called Coaching for Transformation (CfT), which aligns athletics with a school’s mission and vision. CfT began with Sioux Falls Christian School, where the varsity football coach gathered a group of coaches for a retreat to brainstorm ways to take the big ideas of TfT and apply them to athletics. At the same time, athletic directors at Southwest Christian High School in Chaska, Minnesota, and Surrey Christian School in Surrey, British Columbia, had been looking into similar practices. Those conversations grew to the point where, today, Dordt Football Coach Joel Penner and Women’s Basketball Coach Bill Harmsen now serve as directors of CfT and have just finished Bill Harmsen has served as women’s basketball coach at Dordt since 2018.

a year-long implementation with 13 schools.

“It is encouraging to walk alongside athletic directors as they dive into and develop the core beliefs of their athletic programs resulting in a transformative athletic experience for their athletes,” says Harmsen.

Central Wisconsin Christian School is utilizing CfT as part of their athletic program this year. Athletic Director Gregg Zonnefeld (’92) is excited about implementing CfT at his school.

“Our goal for Crusader Athletics is to raise up champions with Christ, and Coaching for Transformation provides us with a framework and common language to ensure that this focus is consistent and concrete for our coaches, our athletes, and our Crusader family,” says Zonnefeld. “I am excited to see our staff grow in connecting the dots in a deeper and stronger way.”

BETHANY VAN VOORST

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NEWS

BETHANY VAN VOORST

BEING STEWARDLY WITH DORDT’S RESOURCES D

ordt University has the lowest per foot utility cost in the state among Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (IAICU) of similar size, according to a recent financial benchmarking report released by the IAICU. The per foot utility cost is calculated by comparing the cost of utilities for the institution as a whole to the total square footage of Dordt’s buildings.

Vice President for University Operations Howard Wilson cites several reasons why Dordt has the lowest per foot utility cost in the state. One advantage is that Dordt is located in Northwest Iowa, where electricity and gas are relatively inexpensive compared to other parts of the state or country. A second advantage is that Dordt's buildings are relatively new in comparison to campuses that were built in 1905 or earlier; Dordt's oldest building was built in 1955. And third, compared to many institutions, Dordt has significantly less deferred

During the summer months, the facilities team spends many hours tending to flower beds and ensuring that campus looks beautiful.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Over the past few years, the facilities team has repainted the walls and replaced the flooring in Southview Apartments.

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maintenance than many institutions because maintaining facilities well has always been a priority.

computerized controls that allow rooms to be heated and cooled only when they are occupied.

A fourth and crucial advantage is the fact that Dordt employees are efficient and hard workers.

Duane Mulder, who retires this summer after serving for 37 years in facilities and services and who currently works as caretaker for the Campus Center, also exhibits thoughtful stewardship. Years ago, Mulder helped Dordt purchase used Kirby vacuums from a nearby hotel. More than 30 years later, these silver vacuums are still in use in on-campus dorms, and Mulder knows how to fix them better than anyone on campus.

“There is a strong work ethic on Dordt’s campus, which means we do not have to hire as many employees per square foot as some other colleges and universities do,” says Wilson.

Members of Dordt's facilities team care for more square footage than those at most institutions and often go above and beyond to be stewardly with resources.

Paul Kroeze, who serves as maintenance technology technician, is passionate about energy-saving measures.

“The HVAC controls in any construction since about 1990 have the capability to monitor temperatures as well as control heating and cooling so energy isn’t wasted,” Kroeze says. Dordt also uses ice storage; ice is made during low electrical demand times and is used for cooling when demand is high in order to "shave the peak" and thereby keep overall energy costs lower. In addition, energy is conserved as a result of

The bottom line is that Dordt seeks to operate highly efficiently.

“We realize that being stewardly with our resources impacts tuition, so we try to reduce costs whenever possible,” Wilson says.

“We should always make wise use of what God has entrusted to us,” Kroeze adds. “At Dordt we are always balancing the cost of saving energy with the cost of buying energy while keeping everyone comfortable, and I think we find a pretty good balance.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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ordt University is partnering with the City of Sioux Center on the construction of an indoor turf dome, which will be called the American State Bank Sports Complex. The dome, which is slated to be completed in 2022, will allow for multiple practices and workouts to be held simultaneously. It is estimated that more than 200,000 visitors will use the facility each year for community and Dordt events.

is made possible in part by a generous sponsorship by American State Bank.

“Cities like Sioux Center are made because, at pivotal moments in history, people and organizations step forward to make investments in the

The ability to partner in our community is the envy of others, as these three entities work so well together.

“We believe the dome will — Ross Douma, athletic director benefit both Dordt athletics and the greater Sioux Center community,” says Ross Douma, Dordt’s future. American State Bank has done athletic director. “For a community this with a lead sponsorship for this our size to have access to an indoor indoor turf facility, and we will all be turf dome will be a great chance for the beneficiaries of this investment for Dordt and the Sioux Center community generations to come,” says President Erik to enhance athletic and recreational Hoekstra. programs, provide institutional visibility, The City of Sioux Center, the Sioux and highlight community partnerships.”

Center school district, and Dordt have a The air-supported 250 by 450 feet long history of community partnerships. structure will be 75 feet high and will Open Space Park came to be through a be located at Open Space Park, east of partnership between the City of Sioux the All Seasons Center parking lot. The Center, the Sioux Center school district, construction of the indoor turf facility and Dordt; the All Seasons Center, which

NEWS

DORDT TO PARTNER WITH CITY ON INDOOR TURF DOME houses an ice arena and a swimming complex, is a partnership between Dordt and the City of Sioux Center. The American State Bank Sports Complex will provide a third partnership for the area.

“The ability to partner in our community is the envy of others,” says Douma.

Dordt students will have access to the dome for athletic team events as well as winter intramurals.

“The dome will enhance our athletic programs and provide for the physical well-being of all Dordt students,” says Douma. “Our instructional skills and workout designs will be better because of this space, and it will allow for more robust and comprehensive practice sessions.”

“This multi-sport recreational facility will bring new opportunities for members of our community to meet, connect, and deepen relationships through year-round soccer, softball, football, baseball, and more—for all age groups from a variety of diverse backgrounds,” adds Hoekstra.

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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NEWS

SCREEN-PRINTING GIVES ART STUDENTS NEW OPTION Art and design majors have a new screen-printing studio, thanks to the work of Graphic Design Instructor Vaughn Donahue.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Last year while cleaning out closet space in the art department, Donahue discovered screen-printing equipment that had not been used in a long time. Donahue decided to explore the possibility of putting together a screenprinting studio. He applied for and received a project grant and a teaching innovation grant from Dordt before reaching out to Staples Promotional Products in Orange City to see whether they had any old screen-printing materials they would be willing to donate.

“I was hoping for 20 screens, but they donated more than 150 screens, 100 squeegees, important chemicals, and mesh,” he says. “They also gave us two six-headed presses, which is huge.”

Donahue located a few other helpful items, including an old shower that he converted into a screen-washing station to complete the screen-printing studio.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Digital Media Production and Graphic Design Major Emily Broersma worked in the screen-printing studio this spring as part of a printmaking class. She enjoyed screen-printing and the printmaking class so much that she spent her free time in the studio making more prints.

“I love the hands-on experience and the creative freedom we have in our projects,” she says. “The wonderful thing about screen-printing is that it has so much room for creativity but also forces you to think strategically about your designs. It is so satisfying to press the ink onto your paper and watch as each layer reveals a new aspect of the design that wouldn’t have the same effect without it.”

Graphic Design Major Morgan Stoltzfus also enjoyed screen-printing, which, she says, taught her to be intentional with every element she includes in a design.

Screen-printing allowed graphic design majors to step away from the computer screen and to work on tangible projects.

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“With screen-printing, there are so many opportunities to get experimental and find new, exciting ways to create,” says Vaughn Donahue.

“I tend to be ambitious with my designs and love to include details that might not be entirely necessary,” she explains.

“With screen-printing, I’ve found that the more complexity you add, the more difficult it becomes in the long run. Each color requires its own individual screen, and every detail needs to be lined up in a way that leaves little room for error.

These limitations have helped me look at design in a different way; by narrowing

my designs down to the most necessary details and colors, I am forced to focus on what I actually need to create a successful design.”

Donahue says the art department plans to use the screen-printing studio in graphic design, printmaking, and possibly 3-D design courses in the future.

Stoltzfus thinks it’s important for graphic design majors to learn screenprinting skills because it gives them an opportunity to step back from the computer screen.

“Because of how design has progressed, most of our work is done on the computer. However, there’s something about taking a step back from the screen and working with your hands that helps you see design in a more tangible way.

By learning screen-printing, you get to be part of every step along the way and get a big picture view of design, from sketch to print.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

Many students take the class to fulfill a cross-cultural requirement, but the course is popular for another reason, too: learning about the history of the Muslim world is a relevant topic, particularly since the Middle East is often in the news. Islam is the second largest world religion—second only to Christianity globally.

That’s part of the reason why Lane Kieser decided to take the course.

Growing up, Kieser heard stories about terrorist attacks in the Middle East. When he learned that Dordt offered a class about Muslim history, he jumped at the opportunity to take it—he knew that terrorism wasn’t the entire story, and he wanted to find out more about the nuances of Muslim community.

“This class has educated me in Islamic culture, religion, and history, and I am a better person for it because I understand how to interact with and love these people better,” he says.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Every other year, Dr. Walker Cosgrove teaches History of the Muslim World. And each time, the class fills up quickly with students studying in a variety of majors—political science, engineering, history, computer science, education, and more.

Dr. Walker Cosgrove has taught history at Dordt for the past 9 years.

humility, and understanding as they engage Muslims and individuals from the Middle East. It’s likely that they will have neighbors or coworkers who are Muslim, and I want students to recognize that these are people with hopes and dreams. They fall in love, they start businesses, they write poetry. Everything we experience, they experience as well.”

superficial level and loves conflict and to sensationalize.”

Lexi Schnaser says that this was her favorite course this spring.

“It really challenges me, and I think it challenges a lot of my peers as well. It’s cool to take a class where I can really tell that I’m going to come out of it with more knowledge on a topic than I did before taking the class,” she says. “I think learning about other religions and cultures is essential to a healthy Christian faith and Reformed perspective.”

It’s good for Christians to be aware of what other people think and believe.

I think there’s a lot of misconception about Islam, mostly because our media deals with it on a superficial level and loves conflict and to sensationalize.

Students engaged a series of books in the class, including one on the history of the world from an Islamic perspective and one that focuses on topics — Dr. Walker Cosgrove, professor of history such as Mohammed, women in Islam, jihad, Sunni and Shiite, Cosgrove encourages his students to eat and more. They also read Persepolis, at Sanaa’s, a Middle Eastern restaurant in a graphic novel that tells the story of Sioux Falls, or Khorasan Kabob House, an a girl growing up during the Islamic Afghan restaurant in Sioux Falls; if they Revolution in Iran. Throughout the do, they earn extra credit for the class. course, Cosgrove tries to help students think beyond stereotypes they might find “It’s good for Christians to be aware of in the media. what other people think and believe,” “I would like students to come away from the class with a posture of charity,

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HISTORY OF THE MUSLIM WORLD

says Cosgrove. “I think there’s a lot of misconception about Islam, mostly because our media deals with it on a

Annetta de Jong has also appreciated taking History of the Muslim World.

“God created a world full of variety and beauty, and we as Christians can still appreciate the rich culture of the Muslim world while remaining faithful and steadfast advocates for Christianity,” she says. “Being able to understand other religions and cultures should be expected of Christians; we are called to be loving and to see the image of God in people of other religions and cultures."

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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NEWS

RECORDING STUDIO HELPS EQUIP WORSHIP ARTS MAJORS W

DR. JEREMY PERIGO

orship Arts Director Dr. Jeremy Perigo used Dordt’s recording studio as a classroom for his Elements of Worship Praxis course during the spring semester. The class included a unit on recording, in which students learn good microphone techniques and how to use recording software. They then demonstrated what they had learned by recording a song.

“Churches are always in need of passionate, Jesus-loving tech people,” says Dordt Worship Arts Technical Director Alex Priore, adding that students with studio experience will be wellpositioned for getting such jobs. The need for technologically skilled people serving in local churches has become especially apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In March, Perigo and Priore worked with each of Dordt’s seven worship leaders to record live music videos and songs for an acoustic album, which they plan to release on YouTube and as an album in the near future.

DR. JEREMY PERIGO

Junior Worship Arts Major Kira Waite was a contributor to this music video project. “It was fun to work with talented people who are both passionate and

dedicated to their craft,” says Waite. “I am thrilled to see the finished product of this masterpiece!” Waite also used the studio when she recorded a four-song EP with her roommate and two friends in her freshman year.

“Studio experience helps to train a musician’s ear to understand what sounds good and what doesn’t,” says Priore. “In the studio, you learn how to be flexible and creative on the spot, how to come prepared for the session (much like coming prepared for a worship practice), how to record and play to a click track (essential for staying in time), and so much more. Not only is it fun, it adds to the well-roundedness of a musician’s skills and abilities.”

Although hidden from view beneath the De Yager Student Activity Center, the recording studio is a hub of activity.

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“The worship arts room and studio is a teaching space, a rehearsal space, and studio for our worship arts majors and other musicians," says Jeremy Perigo.

Perigo says that students studying worship arts at Dordt can build their own profile and portfolio so that they leave Dordt with a collection of songs to show who they are as artists.

“Today, artists often produce their own music, and our students leave with the skills needed to do that,” says Perigo. “In the Worship Arts program, we hope to equip majors and minors to be discerning theologians, skillful musicians, confident and humble leaders, and creative media messengers.

Using the recording studio helps our students to become more technically skillful.”

Students appreciate these opportunities for hands-on experience. “Dordt’s worship arts program has broadened my understanding of what it means to be a worship leader,” says Waite. “I have learned a lot by being a worship leader on campus and have gained knowledge through practical experience that was outside of what any textbook or classroom experience could have given.”

LYDIA MARCUS (’17)

MEYER STAYS IN TUNE W

hen Emma Meyer teaches piano lessons, some of her students get very excited. One first grader slid right off the bench. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and Meyer and her student laughed off the fall and continued the lesson.

Meyer, a senior at Dordt, has played piano for many years. “I started taking piano lessons in second grade and continued through the 10th grade,” she says.

Meyer didn’t really intend to teach piano while at Dordt. She began working as an accompanist to other musicians for the music department to make extra money. But another student, Hannah Klos (’18), who was graduating, wanted to find someone to teach her local students. The job and the students fell into Meyer’s lap, and her piano teaching career took off. She’s had between four and 16 students during each of her four years at Dordt.

her to use their facilities to teach lessons.

“Without such a helpful jump start, I would have a harder time considering teaching lessons in the future,” she says.

This year, because of Covid-19, Meyer had to get creative about where to give lessons. She chose to travel to her students’ homes rather than have them come to campus. Her students also proved flexible, and those who lived in the country would go to a friend’s house in town to help limit the travel that she would have to do. It seems to have worked well for everyone.

Meyer has also had to be creative about balancing her schoolwork and her piano teaching responsibilities. She spends about two hours of preparation for each lesson, and she intentionally blocks out time in her day for homework.

“It’s mostly about staying ahead and organized with my time,” she says.

Meyer is thankful to be able to apply what she’s learned in the classroom to teaching piano. An elementary education major, she has found that teaching techniques and practices she has learned in her education classes applied to her piano teaching. And Meyer loves walking from the classroom where she is learning to the classroom where she is teaching, all on the same campus.

Even though much of her time at the piano is as a teacher, Meyer keeps up with piano herself by playing at church and simply playing for fun.

Meyer is also grateful that Dordt allowed

KAYSHA STEIGER (’21)

“It’s been a blessing to be a part of the great Sioux Center community as a piano teacher,” she says. She even is thinking of one day being able to have a small piano studio and continuing to teach new pianists.

Instructor of Journalism and Communication Lee Pitts gave a presentation titled “Why your Worldview is Necessary in Good Journalism” at a virtual event hosted by the Alliance Defending Freedom in February. He also spoke at Jubilee Professional’s virtual conference, where professionals shared practical stories and explored how to apply faith in everyday work and life.

NEWS

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Emma Meyer is spending the summer working as a community living lead at Hope Haven in Sioux Center. This fall, she plans to teach piano lessons in Sioux Center full time.

FACULTY NOTES

Professor of English Dr. Joshua Matthews was invited by the University of Notre Dame to give a lecture on Dante Alighieri and the American Civil War. This was part of a lecture series acknowledging the 800th anniversary of Dante’s death.

Professor of English Dr. Robert De Smith hosted the 28th Northern Plains Conference on Early British Literature at Dordt in April. The conference was held both in person and virtually, with 18 of the 24 presenters offering their papers on Zoom. The inperson presenters included three Dordt faculty: Professor of English Dr. Shaun Stiemsma, Professor of History Dr. Walker Cosgrove, and Professor of History Dr. Scott Culpepper.

Professor of Music Dr. Onsby Rose’s work for solo trumpet and wind band, “Lamentations,” was performed as a featured work at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Anaheim, California, in June.

Professor of Mathematics Dr. Tom Clark recently had a paper published in Mathematics Magazine. The paper is titled “Flappy Bird in Space: An Impulse Minimization Problem.”

Professor of Psychology Dr. Luralyn Helming and Professor of Chemistry and Planetary Sciences Dr. Channon Visscher have been selected to be part of the Lilly Faculty Fellows Program.

The program is for mid-career faculty leaders across a variety of disciplines to engage the intersections of Christian thought and practice with the academic vocation.

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NEWS

I N A L L T H I N G S E X P L O R E S T H E C O N C R E T E I M P L I C AT I O N S O F C H R I S T ’ S P R E S E N C E I N A L L F A C E T S O F L I F E

THEOLOGICAL TRUTHS THAT DIVIDE US I

s Christ divided? (1 Cor 1:13). Paul’s question is rhetorical, and we’re meant to say, “No, of course not!” But like the fractious Corinthians, we seem to have a pile of evidence to the contrary on our hands.

In nearly every matter about which self-professed followers of Jesus hold conviction, disagreement can be found: the atonement, baptism, evolutionary science, hell, women in ministry, the Lord’s Supper, just warfare and pacifism, gay marriage, the death penalty, predestination and free will—and so on.

Meanwhile, those of us who identify as “evangelical” (a controversial term in its own right) and regard the Bible as God’s infallible and authoritative word are not spared this confusion. On the contrary: a bewildering array of mutually-exclusive interpretations problematizes the assumption that a high view of Scripture, on its own, can provide a basis for unity.

How do we make sense of all this?

Is there some perspective on these differences that may help us navigate them more charitably, and perhaps even take steps toward the church’s visible unity in our generation? Here, I would contend that our culture’s radical individualism and dualism do not provide us with helpful tools for answering such questions well. If we are fundamentally self-interested individuals concerned with avoiding hell and escaping earth to get to heaven, we tend to develop a sense of identity that revolves around the question of whether I, as an isolated individual, yet have the necessary qualifications to feel assured of my destination.

This outlook dramatically relativizes my concern for the church’s present

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON:

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unity, and indeed, for the church itself.

However desirable our visible unity may be, at the end of the day what matters to me most is whether I will “make it,” not whether they will. And if unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ is only incidental to my experience of salvation, then the stakes in efforts at church unity are quite low. The path of least resistance would be simply to ignore these divisions in practice, while justifying them in theory with an appeal to a hidden, invisible unity that the empirical reality can’t touch.

The problem is that Jesus won’t let us get away with that. While the unity of the church is ultimately a transcendent, invisible reality, that unity must be made visible in some way, or else we have to conclude that God will not answer his Son’s prayer “that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11, 22). Jesus isn’t referring to something indiscernible, nor to something that will appear only in the new heavens and the new earth.

Neither understanding does justice to the prayer’s missional intent “that the world may know that you sent me” (v. 21). We must strive for outward, concretely demonstrated unity, and if our understanding of the Christian faith is one that permits us to live comfortably with its opposite, then our understanding must change.

How must it change? To approach disagreement and difference more fruitfully and in a way that aligns better with our Lord’s intentions, I suggest that we need a renewed vision of what it even means for us to be “saved”—one that orients us toward each other in love and impels us to seek agreement, unity, and fellowship. Not as an optional add-

on to our pursuit of everlasting life, but as an integral part of it.

We get a taste of such a renewed vision in Ephesians 1, where Paul describes God’s overarching plan for the cosmos as “his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (1:9-10). Here is dualism of a fundamentally different kind than our culture’s, one that subverts our individualism and locates unity at the very heart of our salvation. In Jesus, the meeting point of heaven and earth, God reveals his ultimate intention for created diversity, namely, its oneness with an integrated whole. The God who in the beginning separated the waters of chaos to bring forth the heavens above and the earth below, distinguished these utterly different spheres and their inhabitants from each other because, through the Messiah’s redeeming work, he intends them for each other.

Paul celebrates this truth in several other places in his letter, again with reference to the early pages of Genesis. First, consider Ephesians 5:31-32: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” God not only separated the heavens and the earth in the beginning; he also “split the adam,” dividing female from male, to bring the two together into a fruitful oneness that will fill the world with his image and glory (Gen 1:26-28; 2:18-25). This finds its fulfillment in the union of Christ and the church, “which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:23).

Second, this body, whose union with the Messiah will fill the world with

In All Things is a journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. We want to expand our imagination for what the Christian life—and life of the mind—can accomplish. In pursuit of this end, we will engage in conversation with diverse voices across a wide range of traditions, places, and times. To read more articles from In All Things, visit inallthings.org.

NEWS

LEARNING TO ASK FOR HELP F

God’s fullness, is itself a unity that spans the divide of Jew and Gentile.

In the Messiah, we discover that God’s reason for dividing up humanity in this way was ultimately to unite the two in Christ, who “himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (2:1416).

Reconciled fellowship in unity with other people, then, is not incidental to my experience of eternal life: it is my experience of eternal life. Salvation means the coming together of all things into unity in the Messiah, by the transforming power of God’s grace.

Eternal life is an eternal fellowship, a communion of difference gathered into perfect oneness through the working of the blood-bought Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. The very purpose of created difference and diversity is their communion and oneness, and the whole story of Scripture—the story of the human race, of Israel and the nations, ultimately of heaven and earth—is a story of God’s costly grace transforming fraught division into fruitful unity. The Creator makes two so that the two may become one.

This purpose is rooted in God’s own character and identity, as an eternal union and communion of Father and Son in one Holy Spirit.

What does this mean for me, then, as I approach my brothers and sisters in Christ amid our differences? It means that one of my foremost needs is for new eyes to see that our fellowship in God is not an addendum to my individual experience of eternal life.

Rather, that fellowship is an experience of eternal life already begun, of the new humanity that God has established in the death and resurrection of his Son.

However long it may take, then, and whatever the difficulty, I must seek agreement and unity with my neighbor in Christ, because eternal life cannot be lived without us both, “reconciled to God in one body by the cross.”

Although the grace-empowered process of attaining full unity will be complete only in “the fullness of time,” it has already begun in the risen Messiah, and we are called to safeguard our mutual share in it, “bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:2-3). For this to happen, we must be “renewed in the spirit of [our] minds” and “put on the new humanity,” viewing ourselves and each other in terms of the transcendent reality of our shared identity in the Messiah and acting accordingly (4:23-24). Only when we locate our differences within the shared context of God’s will to unite all things in his Son can we start to relate in love, allowing our objective identity in him to exert continual pressure on our relationship.

None of this is to say that doing so is an easy or comfortable process.

That is why Paul calls it “bearing with one another.” Our togetherness in the Messiah will reveal a myriad of obstacles to unity in each of us, and we are called to endure the uncomfortable process of transformation that God promises to carry out in our relationships as he unearths all the things in us that impede our fellowship, passes judgment, and remakes us into people who are truly one. But embracing that process may come more easily if we can recognize that oneness in Christ for what it really is: the foretaste of eternal life.

DR. DAVID WESTFALL, PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY

or many of us, asking for help is as enjoyable as cleaning out our shower drain. A true act of courage and humility, an ask for help often feels more like an act of desperation and defeat. In the face of a difficult task or a challenging situation most of us would rather choose to grit our teeth, roll up our sleeves, and dig deep into our self-reliance.

It’s easy for us to believe that our individual successes stand alone, unsupported and unaided by anyone or anything.

We take pride in our independence and find satisfaction in our personal accomplishments. And yet, more often than not, we find that our greatest achievements are actually rooted in the help and support of others—in the moments we fall short, when what we have and what we can do alone is simply not enough.

Over the past year, the Dordt University Hope Fund has helped students experiencing financial hardship due to Covid-19. To date, the Hope Fund has raised more than $900,000 for students and families who have asked for help. Providing students with financial assistance, mental health services, and learning accommodations, the Hope Fund has helped make it possible for every student to attain their degree at Dordt.

The Hope Fund is a beautiful reminder of all that is possible when we are bold enough to ask for help and bold enough to respond.

To learn more about the Hope Fund, visit dordt.edu/hope.

KAREN VAN SCHOUWEN ('01), DIRECTOR OF ANNUAL GIVING

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F E AT U R E S

THE LASTING LEGACY OF

KDCR DORDT ARCHIVES

The original KDCR building fit one studio, a transmitter, and some equipment. One staff member commented that the building was “hardly large enough for three people to turn around in.”

On May 14, KDCR News Director John Slegers (’78) sat down at his desk and spoke into the microphone one last time.

“When I began work at KDCR as a student, I thought this place would be around forever,” he said. “So, it’s difficult to realize that, in less than a half hour, KDCR will go silent. While I can think of hundreds of reasons why KDCR should stay on the air, we won’t. So you know what I have left out of all of this?

Thankfulness.”

Slegers then read 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” He talked

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about what he is thankful for: the long affiliation of KDCR and Dordt University; how his faith was shaped and deepened through his work at KDCR; how his life’s work began at KDCR. “KDCR is the place where I met the person who would later become my wife. It is the place where my children tagged along on severe storm nights and, later, dropped by to visit between classes,” he says. “I’m thankful that KDCR was a community outreach, and I’m especially thankful that you let me into

DORDT ARCHIVES

Slegers paused for a moment before saying, “I’ll always be grateful for the trust you placed in KDCR to be part of your day and part of your lives. Soli Deo Gloria—to God alone be the glory.”

F E AT U R E S

your home and your vehicles and your headsets.”

KDCR 88.5 FM has been on air for 53 years “proclaiming a God-centered culture” to generations of listeners. KDCR broadcasted 24 hours a day, sharing Christian contemporary music, weather and news information, devotional and informational programs, and play-byplay action of Dordt athletics. Now KDCR has become KDLX 88.5 FM, which airs the K-Love network and streams Christian music.

“We are grateful for the good work of KDCR radio and the legacy of Christian radio,” says President Erik Hoekstra.

“This was a difficult decision, and we are committed to honoring the legacy of KDCR radio as well as the good work of those involved.”

What is the legacy of KDCR radio? To Jim Bolkema (’76), who served as music director at KDCR, the legacy can be traced back to the vision Dordt’s first president, Reverend B.J. Haan, had for a Christian radio station. Haan founded the station after asking donors to give $1,000 to build the station.

SARAH MOSS ('10)

“B.J. Haan envisioned KDCR as a way to provide a bridge between the college and the community— for us to work together,” Bolkema says.

“We worked to live out Reverend Haan’s vision, and you can see that in the support we had from the broader community.”

Once the radio station was up and running, Haan even hosted his own daily radio program.

“Before going to his office, he’d come in to KDCR, grab a newspaper, and talk off the cuff on air for 13 minutes,” recalls

Leonard Van Noord (’79) was hired as KDCR’s first manager in the fall of 1967. In the early years, Van Noord was the only full-time announcer and often worked 90 hours a week.

Bolkema. “He did this every day. I always said that many people in the community would wait to formulate their opinions on issues until they heard what Reverend Haan said—that’s how strong of an influence he had in this community.”

Because KDCR was an independent radio station, KDCR could dream up their

Reverend Carl Zylstra had his own show called “Conversations” during his presidency. “Looft den Heer” was a Dutch Psalms and hymns program that ran on Sundays. “Tick Tock Town,” a creative educational program designed specifically for children, featured a little boy named Beany who sought out Christian answers to his many questions.

“Finding your Way,” led by former KDCR General Manager Denny De Waard (’92) and Dale Ellens of Bethesda Christian Counseling, was a weekly counseling program.

Slegers paused for a moment before saying, “I’ll always be grateful for the trust you placed in KDCR to be part of your day and part of your lives. Soli Deo Gloria—to God alone be the glory.” own programs. Creating and planning all aspects of KDCR was challenging at times, but it also gave opportunities for one-of-a-kind programming.

Deborah Haan, Reverend B.J. Haan’s wife, created a program called “The Family Room,” during which she shared household tips, recipes, and stories.

Another KDCR staple for many years was “Plumbline,” in which Dordt faculty would offer a four-minute commentary on how their discipline integrates with Christian life. And who could forget “Illumination,” the evening show where callers could request contemporary Christian music from bands like Caedman’s Call, Third Day, DC Talk, Rebecca St. James, and Burlap to Cashmere?

In the last few years, Slegers ran “Focus

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SARAH MOSS ('10)

F E AT U R E S

on Fine Arts,” where he interviewed Dordt professors and students who work in the arts.

“Money Concepts Radio Series” featured Tom De Jong (‘02), an independent financial advisor who shared insights on wealth management and financial planning.

And Station Announcer Christian Zylstra (’17) started a popular program called “Where are They Now?”

In addition to creating their own programming, KDCR staff decided what music they wanted to play on air. When Bolkema began working at KDCR in the

FIRST 20 YEARS Back in 1988, KDCR celebrated 20 years on air by putting together an anniversary booklet that is rich with the radio station’s history.

To view the booklet, see bit.ly/3gm30Fm.

In 1988, KDCR’s core staff was comprised of Station Manager Denny De Waard, News Director Tim Vos, Administrative Assistants Caroline Douma and Ruth Hofland, and Music Director Jim Bolkema.

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— Jim Bolkema, KDCR

mid-1970s as a work study, the radio station primarily focused on classical and choral music. Over time, they moved toward contemporary Christian music while also making sure their programming was distinctive.

“These days, you get your music in a certain category, and many radio stations are run by large conglomerates who own multiple stations,” says Bolkema.

“KDCR functioned entirely on our own.

Our goal was to provide a kingdom perspective on all of life, so if you’re playing the radio in your car or at the workplace, we’re showing how Christ’s kingship exists in all aspects of life—how you manage your finances, how you listen to the news, how you raise your kids, what music you listen to.”

KDCR programs and music also tried to give their listeners the content they desired.

“You have to know your community and what they want, because if listeners don’t like your content, they don’t have to listen,” says Bolkema.

“It was our job to serve our local community, but as a Dordt-owned radio station, we tied the community to Dordt as well. I believe that, if KDCR never existed, the overall reach of Dordt would have taken longer to get to the point DORDT ARCHIVES

“I interviewed former athletes or coaches who have affiliation with Dordt and asked, ‘Where are they now?’” says Zylstra. “There are a lot of amazing stories we’ve been able to share. For example, Mark Rowenhorst (‘09) is a wilderness tour guide up in Alaska.

A secret service agent came on the show; I also interviewed Todd Green (‘11), whose family helped found Hobby Lobby. I heard more from people about those segments than anything else I do.

It’s great to see how God has worked in Dordt graduates’ lives and led them down different paths.”

“KDCR functioned entirely on our own.

Our goal was to provide a kingdom perspective on all of life, so if you’re playing the radio in your car or at the workplace, we’re showing how Christ’s kingship exists in all aspects of life.”

Leon Groenendyk (‘88) also mentioned on Facebook that “back in the mid1980s, my work study job was to listen to records that might have been scratched or skipped while they had been played on air. I had to decide if those records were scrap or could be salvaged!”

F E AT U R E S

DORDT ARCHIVES

Grotenhuis. “What a truly great and good God we serve.”

At one point in KDCR’s history, all music was listed on 3 x 5 notecards, all hand typed. “Before the days of computers, that was your method of rotating music—you’d grab a card to switch songs,” says Bolkema.

Jordan Gaiser (’05) worked at KDCR from 2001 to 2005 and remembers “working closely with Jim Bolkema to help move from CDs to MP3s.”

where it is now,” adds Zylstra.

Sports Information Director Mike Byker (‘92) says he doesn’t get caught up in the notion of legacies, but he does hope that listeners remember that KDCR staff took their jobs seriously and tried to show their Christian faith in how they worked.

“KDCR presented news stories, music, and other information from a Reformed perspective,” says Byker. “Jim Bolkema closely examined music that was played and was very intentional about what was chosen. John Slegers presented news in a way that was in-depth and made you think. We all sought to challenge our listeners to think and formulate views.

KDCR did things a little differently than what other media outlets were doing at the time.”

KDCR changed with the times. The technology used today would be barely recognizable to early staff and students who once worked there. Bob Grotenhuis (‘81) was 11 years old when KDCR first signed on the air, and he recalls as a child hanging out at KDCR with first-time broadcasters Jerry Vreeman (‘72) and Ron Klemm (‘74). “The DJs let me record newscasts from the old teletype. That led me to a 40-year career in TV news,”

SARAH MOSS ('10)

“I enjoy watching local communities like Sioux Center and Orange City work,” says John Slegers. “It’s neat to see the towns grow and work to be innovative.”

From LP records to reels to digital tapes to computer-based audio, Bolkema has been leading his team through new technologies and finding ways to experiment with available sources. He says there was never a dull moment when working at KDCR radio.

“It’s our job to serve our local community, but as a Dordt-owned radio station, we tied the community to Dordt as well.”

To Byker, the mission statement of KDCR—”to encourage and equip our listeners in their daily walk with God”—is key to what KDCR was trying to accomplish.

“If you keep the mission statement at the foreground — Christian Zylstra, KDCR of what you do and how Grotenhuis says in a Facebook post you make decisions, that’s important,” commemorating the last day of KDCR’s says Byker. “We were not asking our broadcast. listeners to hunker down in their Grotenhuis adds that the chance to work basements and wait for Christ’s second with former KDCR Station Director Marty coming. We all need to work and be salt Dekkenga, Administrative Assistant Ruth and light right now in this world. And the (Wester, '96) Hofland, De Waard, and media, for right or wrong, has tended to many other radio station stalwarts was not be salt and light in this world, but we rewarding. at KDCR have taken that role seriously.”

“Thanks, Dordt, for giving me the happiest years of my life,” says

Byker’s work at KDCR focused primarily on Defender athletics, which is one of

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

F E AT U R E S

the reasons many listeners tuned in to KDCR. Byker was the voice of Defender athletics on KDCR, and he spent many nights and weekends on the road, bringing the games to fans.

From football through basketball season, Byker’s voice was one that KDCR listeners could rely on for both home and away games. Looking back at his time with KDCR, Byker is most grateful to the avid fans for tuning in.

“Athletic listeners are very loyal. They’d be with us during seasons where we went .500, and they’d be with us in seasons where we’d play in the national tournament,” he says.

KDCR as a student worker was being scheduled to work Saturday night from 6 – 12 p.m. and then having to sign on at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning only to find that the budget was so tight that I had to make coffee from the grounds left over in the coffee pot on Friday afternoon,” he jokes. “Why did they have to lock — Mike Byker, KDCR up the fresh coffee every weekend? But “Early mornings, late nights—it was a I’d drink gallons of that awful brew for great place to be,” says Westra about his the chance to do it again.” time as a student worker.

Gerald Rutgers (‘75) truly enjoyed Grotenhuis has memories of early working at KDCR when he was a student. mornings and late nights spent at KDCR “I met my future wife there, who also as well. “The most difficult time at

“Athletic listeners are very loyal. They’d be with us during seasons where we went 500, and they’d be with us in seasons where we’d play in the national tournament.”

DORDT ARCHIVES

Corey Westra ('97), who now works as the commissioner for the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), was KDCR’s first sports announcer and Dordt’s first sports information director. He started working at KDCR after his senior year of high school and spent many hours on air during his four years as a student. As sports announcer and sports information director, he traveled around Siouxland and the United States to broadcast games.

“I enjoyed working at the station every day. There were great people who worked there; Denny De Waard was one of the greatest guys I’ve ever known, and I think the world of him,” says Westra.

“Working at KDCR led me into the position I’m in today, because the GPAC recognized me from the work I did at KDCR and Dordt when considering me as a candidate.”

Westra was only one of many student workers who served at KDCR over the years. Since the beginning, students have been an integral part of keeping KDCR up and running all day long.

They took on some of the same tasks and roles that full-time employees did, including writing, editing, broadcasting, and producing. In recent years, the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. programming could be automated, but not too many years ago, students had to staff the station every hour of the day.

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“One of my greatest memories of working at KDCR was the passion of the staff, faculty, and community members who were involved in creating the programs,” says Ruth Hofland.

Cindy Holtrop (‘78) worked at KDCR from 1974–78 “announcing, spinning records, and reading a book for 15 minutes a day on air,” she says in a Facebook post.

“Later I worked as music manager and announcer in the early 1980s. It was the most valuable experience in my life.

Thanks to Ron and Ila (Vande Kerk,‘72) Klemm for giving me a start.”

Many others got their start at KDCR. Mark Vogelzang (‘79), who worked as music coordinator at KDCR in the late 1970s, now serves as president and CEO at Maine Public Radio and Television. Dr. Tim Vos (‘84) was a news director at KDCR for many years before moving to academia; he has taught communication and journalism at Michigan State University, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, and Seton Hall University.

Brent Assink (‘77), who was once KDCR’s music director, went on to serve for 18 years as executive director of the San Francisco Symphony and is now chief of philanthropy of the Fuller Foundation. Rich Haan (‘04), a former KDCR engineer, has spent many years working as a senior broadcast technology executive in the Siouxland area. Piet Westerbeek (‘98) and Mark Buss (‘89), both former student employees at KDCR, now work at KSOU in Sioux Center.

Looking back at KDCR’s 53 years of broadcasting, current KDCR General Manager Rich Lodewyk recognizes just how many people have worked at KDCR and how many stories and memories they have about the radio station.

“There have been excellent student workers over the years who have made the most of the opportunity to push themselves and grow in their talents while working at a fullscale, far-reaching radio station like KDCR,” says Lodewyk.

Most of the current KDCR staff also got their start in radio as student workers. Bolkema began at KDCR in 1974 while studying music education at Dordt. Slegers

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worked there while at college and during the summers,” he says. “In the mid-1970s, all programming had to be done when the station was off the air at 12 a.m. until 6 p.m. Those were the days.”

The KDCR station was once surrounded by cornfields. Today, the cornfields have been replaced by the Recreation Center and the De Witt Gymnasium.

auditioned at KDCR as a freshman in 1974 and was hired the following year as a basketball announcer; student worker positions were highly sought after at KDCR, so competition was steep. Byker worked at KDCR as a student in 199192, beginning in the newsroom writing stories while being supervised by Vos. Zylstra also worked at KDCR as a student.

to students,” says Westra. “It was a classroom, a laboratory, and a real-life radio station, and a lot of KDCR people have or still are working in media today.

That’s quite a legacy. It shows that not only was it a phenomenal radio station, but it turned out some really good people. And I for one am proud to be an alumnus.”

“KDCR offered a tremendous opportunity

Westra says the KDCR signal wasn’t very strong in his hometown of Sioux City on KDCR’s last day on air, but he made it a priority to tune in.

WHAT'S NEXT? The decision to cease operation of KDCR 88.5 FM reflects ongoing rising costs and limited listener financial support for the station in recent years.

Dordt is still committed to engaging its community, both regionally and beyond, by encouraging and equipping listeners to live as God’s people. Dordt will now concentrate on growing livestream access to athletic events, chapel, fine arts, and other programming. Coverage of all home basketball, football, and women’s volleyball contests will happen through the Dordt Media Network’s livestream broadcasts, and away games will air via an audio link.

“The Dordt Media Network will continue to provide exceptional educational opportunities for students,” says Rich Lodewyk, Dordt Media Network director.

It will also offer multi-camera broadcasts of Defender athletics and continue to air weekly chapel services and music concerts.

To learn more about the Dordt Media Network, visit dordt.edu/dmn.

“I listened all the way to the end of the sign-off on that last day,” says Westra. “It was hard to see it go. It is the end of an era.”

In his parting words on KDCR, Bolkema thanked the listening audience for allowing KDCR into their lives.

“It was all intended for you, to help you grow in your faith, to help educate you in the ways of living out Christian life,” he said. “That goal dictated the music that was played and the music that was not played. It reflected a Christian perspective on news in an age filled with lies, agendas, and extremes found in the media today.”

KDCR sought to put life into focus, without focusing on a narrow part of life, added Bolkema—and that focus was Christ.

“So, thank you, everyone. And a heartfelt goodbye. God was, is, and will always be in control.”

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BRIDGE BUILDING THROUGH LANGUAGE LEARNING This spring, Dr. Rikki Brons taught courses in elementary Spanish, intermediate Spanish, conversational Spanish, and Spanish grammar.

Anyone who takes Spanish classes at Dordt University gets to know Associate Professor of Language Studies Dr. Rikki (Mueller, ’04) Brons well.

She teaches nearly all of the Spanish courses at Dordt, and that is a benefit for most students.

“When I talk with students who are considering studying Spanish, I tell them that, yes, you will be stuck with me since I teach most classes,” she laughs, “but I’ll also be able to challenge you to improve your Spanish skills, recognize what areas you’re passionate about, and support you in your growth."

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Brons has an interactive, dynamic style when it comes to teaching Spanish. Her small classes and the amount of time she spends with each student over four years means she knows where each students' interests lie. She gives Spanish students the support and knowledge they need to go out and serve once they graduate.

Brons will do whatever it takes to help her hardworking students succeed. Every semester, she teaches independent study courses to ensure that her students learn

Spanish well and graduate on time. She collaborates with local organizations to help her students get good internships, placements, and student teaching opportunities.

Brons loves languages and is proficient in three of them: German (her native tongue), English, and Spanish. She says that with every language she has learned, she has developed a new perspective and a greater sense of compassion.

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“I get most excited about what we’re promised in the end—that every nation, every tongue, every tribe will stand before the throne and the Lamb. If I only know one language, I have so much more to learn about God and his creation. We’re also called to love our neighbor, and if I can’t communicate with my neighbor, then I’ll have a more difficult time of doing that,” she says.

Brons sees language learning as a bridge builder. It can help foster relationships, create empathy and a better understanding of other perspectives, and more. She sees these things happening in the lives of her students, who are using their language skills to make connections in Sioux County and beyond.

“When you learn a new language, you aren’t just learning new words. You’re learning someone else’s perspective.

You’re learning about different traditions and cultures. You’re getting to know them as an example of their culture and also as a unique person that God created. Students will come to me and say, ‘I want to learn Spanish so I can be a better social worker,’ but that’s just the beginning, because with language learning comes friendship, perspective, and growth.”

The following stories highlight five seniors who studied Spanish during their four years at Dordt and found that, along the way, they gained new perspectives on the importance of language learning. Their experiences were varied and include student teaching in an immersion program, working at a Mexican taco shop to improve conversational Spanish skills, and communicating with former inmates living in a halfway home. The five students not only developed their Spanish skills but learned how valuable it can be to be proficient in another language.

learning a new language,” says Walhof. “I also worked as a CNA in a local hospital, and I realized that there was such a need

plenty of college credits while in high school. Instead, she studied abroad in Spain to complete her study abroad course requirement as part of the Spanish major. When she found out she couldn’t attend Spanish class every day because of her nursing schedule, she worked with Brons to formulate a plan to meet with Spanish tutors at night or during her free time.

When you learn a new language, you aren’t just learning new words.

You’re learning someone else’s perspective. You’re learning about different traditions and cultures.

— Dr. Rikki Brons, professor of language studies

ANNA WALHOF Nursing can be a tough major; it requires many hours of studying, memorizing, and testing. But Anna Walhof decided to take it up a notch: she chose to double major in Spanish as well.

“I decided I wanted to double major in nursing and Spanish because I enjoyed

“If we as nurses want to care for each patient with compassion, we need to be open to learning to speak and understand another language," says Anna Walhof.

for nurses who spoke Spanish. It was tough trying to communicate with our Spanish speaking patients, and I decided that if I had the opportunity to learn Spanish, I would take it.”

During her sophomore and junior years of college, Walhof overloaded on college credits to fit in Spanish classes in. She originally planned to graduate a semester early, since she had earned

“I really appreciate how flexible Professor Brons was with my schedule,” says Walhof. “She was always willing to move things around for me so that I could make it work with my nursing classes. She adapted her curriculum to fit my schedule and helped make it possible for me to learn.”

This spring, Walhof enrolled in a class in medical Spanish, with the goal of making it easier to communicate with her hospital patients.

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“Not long ago, I had a patient who was primarily Spanish speaking. My nursing and Spanish education allowed me to explain situations to him and to talk with him about how he was feeling about being in the hospital. Dordt has given me an excellent education and equipped me to be confident in my skills as a nurse and as a Spanish speaker so that I can provide the best care for my patients.”

Walhof has worked at the Orange City Area Health System for the past year and will begin working there in a full-time capacity this summer. She currently works on the medical-surgical floor, but she hopes to be cross-trained to work in the emergency room.

students learn to read, write, and speak Spanish throughout their daily lessons.

She also wrote papers and gave presentations on the subject for the Kuyper Honors Program. While studying abroad in Spain for a semester, she experienced firsthand how valuable it is to have to speak a second language.

“Students who spend all day using Spanish in every interaction develop a vocabulary that is broad and useable,"

Especially as Christians, we have a responsibility to go out and be disciples to other nations, but we can do that in our own country.

There are connections between language, culture, relationships, and our Christian calling to be disciples to one another.

Although she was disappointed when her student teaching experience in Nicaragua fell through due to Covid-19, Oostenink was thrilled to learn that she could fulfill part of her student teaching requirement at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary School in Sioux Falls, a Spanish immersion program that currently enrolls 560 kindergarten through fifth grade students.

"I want my patients to feel comfortable with me and — Shannon Oostenink, student the hospital, and if I can communicate with them in their native language to make them more she explains. “Being able to start at a comfortable, then that is what I will do.” young age can be important to help

SHANNON OOSTENINK For years, Shannon Oostenink has dreamed of teaching in a Spanish immersion classroom—to teach curriculum entirely in Spanish so that

“My Spain experience was so formational in my Spanishspeaking ability, as I was constantly immersed in the language. I had no other option but to speak Spanish, and through that I was pushed outside my comfort zone and had to use language skills that I didn’t think I had,” she says. “Students in a Spanish immersion program get to do this every day.”

them build their speaking skills so that, by the time they are in high school, they can speak with a high proficiency.”

Oostenink spent hours researching immersion programs as part of her double major in Spanish and education.

SARAH MOSS ('10)

For the first half of the spring semester, Oostenink taught second graders entirely in Spanish. The 25 students in her class were all native English speakers.

“Every day, we started out with math, reading, grammar, and science–all in Spanish,” she says. “It's like a normal school day at any other school; it’s just taking place in Spanish.”

Over the two months of student teaching, Oostenink watched her students grow by leaps and bounds in their Spanish speaking ability. And as she did so, she says she was reminded of why it is so valuable for Christians to be open to learning other languages.

As part of her independent study, Hailey Pullman presented on the intersection of flavor and health within food and culture in Sioux County’s Hispanic population.

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“In my early Spanish classes at Dordt, we read a book called The Gift of a Stranger, which talks about how learning a language is one of the most Christianly acts you can do, because you’re being a good neighbor to those around you,” says Oostenink. “Especially as Christians, we have a responsibility to go out and be disciples to other nations, but we can do that in our own country. There are connections between language, culture, relationships, and our Christian calling to

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and then brought the food to the counter. During quieter times, Pullman would learn about Mexican culture and traditions from Sustaita and her staff; she also spent time sampling different foods like gorditas and bistec a la Mexicana.

Her favorite day was masa day.

“Masa is corn flour. We’d dump the masa into a big bowl, add water, and mix it until it had a play dough consistency,” says Pullman. “Consuelo told me that it’s tradition in Mexico to put a cross in your dough as a symbol of God’s blessing on what you’re preparing. She let me put the cross in the dough, and I felt pretty special being able to participate in that tradition. Then we’d take a ball of the masa, put it at the center of a tortilla press, and apply pressure.”

Pullman also spent time building relationships with community members.

Hailey Pullman spent time working at La Rancharita Taco Shop in Sioux Center, where Consuelo Sustaita taught her how to make authentic Mexican dishes.

be disciples to one another.”

Oostenink's great experience at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary School led her to accept a full-time position teaching there this fall, and she is excited.

Interseccion de la Salud y el Sabor,” a semester-long research project looking at the intersection of flavor and health within food and culture in Sioux County’s Hispanic population.

“I enjoy cooking, and I like to try different cultural foods,” says Pullman.

“So, I combined that with my interest in nutrition and investigated the local

“Language and culture are some of the most beautiful things in life,” she says. “They can help you broaden your views so that you can see others around you, how they live, what influences them, and more.

Understanding another language opens up so many opportunities and — Hailey Pullman, student relationships.”

The relationships I developed through my independent study go well beyond the project.

HAILEY PULLMAN Biology Major Hailey Pullman was required to complete 90 hours of experiential learning for her Spanish minor. Originally, she had planned to study abroad, but after nearly two years of delays due to Covid-19, she and Brons came up with a different plan to combine her love for science and Spanish.

The result was “Cultura y Comida: La

cultures within our community. It was like having a cultural immersion program without having to go across the ocean.”

Pullman spent many hours at La Rancharita Taco Shop, a Mexican restaurant in Sioux Center, where she worked directly with shop owner Consuelo Sustaita. During the lunch hour, Pullman took down customer orders, brought the tickets to the cooks,

“I met Norma at my church in Sioux Center, and she was awesome,” says Pullman. “We’d have phone conversations in Spanish, and we also had a cooking day where we made pozole, a type of soup that includes hominy, meat, and cabbage.”

Pullman came to know Azucena and her family, who live in Hawarden. Pullman went to Azucena’s house, where she spoke with them in Spanish and taught them some phrases in English.

“They invited me to their daughter’s birthday party,” says Pullman. “The party started at 5 p.m., so I showed up at 5 p.m., only to discover that guests actually start showing up at 7 p.m. So that was an interesting cultural note.”

At the party, she tried la birria, another type of soup, and ensalada de nopales, a cactus salad—both of which were delicious.

“The relationships I developed through my independent study go well beyond the project,” says Pullman. “Yes, I had to meet those 90 experiential hours, but I have made strong connections and good friends along the way.”

A third part of her project was working with Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center. Pullman spent several afternoons at Promise with two health coaches to assist Spanish-speaking clientele in making lifestyle changes that would allow them to live healthier

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lives. Clients were dealing with such things as diabetes or hyperlipidemia, an abnormally high concentration of fats or lipids in the blood.

“Particularly for hyperlipidemia, the health coaches often hear from clients that they cook and fry their foods with Mazola oil because they think it’s heart healthy. In reality, Mazola oil has an improper ratio of Omega 6s to Omega 3s; normally, you want a 3:1 ratio, but this oil has 46:1 ratio. So even though the label says it is heart healthy, that packaging can be deceiving.”

Pullman and the health coaches also helped to educate clients on managing carbohydrates; one patient they met with said his daily diet consisted of eight tortillas plus bean and rice.

“The diet is predominantly carbohydrates, which can throw blood sugar out of whack,” says Pullman.

“Carbohydrates are not bad, but it’s important to create a balance and to incorporate more vegetables into the diet when possible.”

Pullman is thrilled with the varied experiences she had within the Sioux Center community.

“Having people from different backgrounds and cultures brings a richness to the community and to the church, and I think that’s awesome," says Destiny Howerzyl.

Spanish speaking abilities. When she decided to attend Dordt, she knew she wanted to enroll in Spanish classes so she could relearn some of what she had lost.

Initially I wasn’t planning to major in Spanish, but I loved the Spanish classes at Dordt and was thrilled to be able to hold more conversations in Spanish.

“God opened doors and offered me opportunities before I even knew I needed it,” — Destiny Howerzyl, student she says. “I didn’t have to go across the ocean to interact with people around me and “Initially I wasn’t planning to major to learn a language better. I feel blessed in Spanish, but I loved the Spanish that I got to experience other cultures classes at Dordt and was thrilled to be just by exploring my own community.” able to hold conversations in Spanish,”

“I’ve always had a heart for helping people,” says Destiny (De Hoogh) Howerzyl. “But my experience in the foster care system and being adopted was really what made me want to major in social work. I’ve always believed God uses our stories to impact other people, and I know God can use my story and experiences to help others through my career in social work.”

she says. “Also, Professor Brons is a really awesome professor. She makes Spanish classes fun. With every class I took, I knew I was going to learn something new, whether it was new vocabulary or new cultural ideas.”

Howerzyl grew up speaking Spanish at home, but when she was adopted at age 13, her adopted family didn’t speak Spanish, and she lost some of her

As part of her social work major, Howerzyl needed to participate in

DESTINY HOWERZYL

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an internship. She worked with Dismas Charities in Sioux City, Iowa, which serves as a halfway house for individuals coming out of federal prison.

“The halfway house is a transition point for residents. They have left prison, but they haven’t quite reentered the community,” explains Howerzyl.

Dismas Charities’ goal is to give “men and women released from state and federal incarceration the skills and motivation to re-enter society as contributing members” and “to end the cycle of victimization and to heal the human spirit.” The organization provides residents with plenty of resources as they work toward community reentry.

Residents have access to counseling support, help with job and housing search, and education options.

Howerzyl worked one on one with residents to conduct psycho-social assessments in which she got to know the resident—their interests, their goals, their worries. She also led some group classes where she taught lessons to groups of residents.

She found plenty of opportunities to use her Spanish speaking skills, too.

“Currently, Dismas does not

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have a translator for residents, and there are a many Spanish speaking residents who are at the facility right now,” says Howerzyl. “So I was able to spend a lot of time translating for residents.”

She shared lessons in English and in Spanish, and she worked individually with Spanish speakers to make sure they understood content.

Although she learned much from her internship at Dismas, Howerzyl is more interested in working with teens and families in the future. This fall, she plans to enroll in the Master of Social Work program at Dordt to continue learning.

“I really enjoyed my time at Dordt; I’ve learned so much in the past few years,” she says. “My social work and Spanish professors have been really awesome and have influenced me. I’m excited to go into the social work field once I’ve completed my master’s degree. I’ll use Spanish in my work as a social worker, but I’ll also use it in other areas of my life too. I’m excited to see what God has in store for me.”

“The study abroad aspect of Dordt’s Spanish program is really important,” says Onica Nop. “I think studying abroad will help improve my Spanish speaking skills.”

ONICA NOP

school math and science endorsement.

This combined her interest in interacting with people as well as her love of math. Through it all, she stuck with her Spanish major, and she picked up an ESL endorsement.

Like many college students, Onica Nop switched her major a few times.

She started off as an actuarial science major because she liked math; then she switched to a double major in marketing and Spanish because she wanted to interact with people. When she realized business wasn’t a great fit for her, she switched from marketing to an education major with a middle

Nop is thrilled to be studying abroad this summer in Spain. While there, she is living with a Spanish-speaking host family, participating in university classes taught only in Spanish, and learning to interact with native Spanish speakers.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Students studying Spanish can receive tutoring at the Academic Enrichment Center to help improve their Spanish speaking and writing skills.

“Being able to study abroad while at Dordt is something I’m very grateful for," she says.

This spring, Nop completed a student teaching experience at Sioux Center Middle School. She taught seventh grade math for the first nine weeks and then taught English as a Second Language (ESL) and a fifth grade Spanish course.

She found the two student teaching experiences to be vastly different. When teaching math, she taught at the front of the classroom; as an ESL teacher, she served in more of a supporting role and worked individually with students to help guide them through a lesson plan. For example, she and her mentor teacher might go into a social studies class, help adjust the lesson plan to an ESL student's

CONVERSATION PRACTICE One thing Nop appreciated about Dordt’s Spanish program is the opportunity it gave her to cultivate her conversational Spanish skills.

In conversation classes, Nop and her fellow students discussed specific topics, practiced speaking sentences out loud, and played games.

“You can learn Spanish but speaking it out loud can be a bit scary. You worry about how you’re going to sound and if your pronunciation is any good. But I think that pushed me to improve my speaking skills,” she says.

She also participated in live labs, where Brons invites native Spanish speakers to converse with students for an hour each week.

“They can help you with homework, or you can just have a conversation for an hour,” says Nop. “These are great opportunities to speak the language instead of just looking at a textbook.”

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needs, and then guide them through it.

She also taught one Spanish class each day. The goal of the class was simply to explore Spanish and not grade profiency.

The rambunctious fifth graders didn’t always take the subject matter seriously, says Nop, but she still had a good learning experience working with her mentor teacher, Fabiola (Castelan, ‘14) Addink.

“Faby is very kind and dedicated to her students," says Nop. "She was easy to work with, very flexible, and encouraging.

I learned so much from her and really enjoyed working with a Dordt graduate."

When it comes to working with newcomers—students new to the United States—there isn’t a lot of time to adjust; you have to just jump in. She quickly built a rapport with my students. I felt like I had a second certified ESL teacher with me, even if she was still technically a student teacher.

— Fabiola (Castelan, '14) Addink speaking about Onica Nop

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

“Onica came in ready to help and support students from day one,” says Addink. “When it comes to working with newcomers—students new to the United States—there isn’t a lot of time to adjust; you have to just jump in. She quickly built a rapport with my students. I felt like I had a second certified ESL teacher with me, even if she was still technically a student teacher.”

In the fall, Nop will teach sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in Spanish, math, and science—all three of her favorite subjects—at Hanford Christian School in Hanford, California. She plans to pack up her belongings from her home state of Vermont and move across the country sometime in July. Nop is grateful to have had experience in an exploratory classroom at Sioux Center Middle School, as it serves as a great base for her to begin teaching Spanish at Hanford Christian.

"It's been good practice for me to teach Spanish because it’s so different from teaching math,” she says. “I’ve learned about different resources I can use and different ways of presenting the material.

I also know what types of assessments I want to put in place.”

Nop is thankful to have been part of Dordt’s Spanish program.

“Since the classes are pretty small, you get more opportunities to interact with your classmates and with the professor,” she says. “I know Professor Brons very well. I babysat her kids, and when I was stressed about choosing a job, I called her for advice. I knew that, if I needed extra support, I could just ask her. I think having those types of relationships is really important.”

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Onica Nop, who will teach at Hanford Christian School in California this fall, is planning to reshape the middle school Spanish program and has already picked out new curriculum.

CMBA ARCHITECTS

Dr. Rikki Brons is always looking for ways to improve her teaching. For the past few years, she has been enrolled in an Ed.D. program through Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

One requirement of the program is to find and conduct research on a problem of practice within her local community and then provide recommendations regarding possible solutions. She heard that Sioux Center Christian School (SCCS) was looking for someone to conduct research on a future language studies program for elementary students.

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DR. RIKKI BRONS AND SIOUX CENTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL EXPLORE LANGUAGE LEARNING

“I was looking for a problem, and they were looking for a solution, so we partnered up,” says Brons.

To start, Brons interviewed local stakeholders such as parents, teachers, and board members to learn what they were looking for in a possible language program at SCCS. She also interviewed principals and Spanish teachers at schools that were similar to SCCS. “I asked, ‘If you could do it all over again, what would you do? What has worked well, and what could be improved?” says Brons.

She then conducted a literature review of best practices for foreign language programming at the elementary level.

“Finally, I looked at the communities at Sioux Center Christian, Sioux Center, and Sioux County in general, and considered what a long-term, sustainable program might look like,” she says.

Brons put together a presentation titled “Research on Foreign Language Program Implementation at the Elementary School” and shared an implementation plan that was suitable and sustainable for SCCS. She recommends implementing a content-based program that is available to all students and directly ties into the curriculum that is already being taught.

“What I’m suggesting for Sioux Center Christian is a middle ground between having a one-hour class each day and doing a full immersion program,” she says. “They could hire a language teacher who would collaborate with the content level teacher to reinforce the work already being done in the

Since 1905, Sioux Center Christian School has sought to provide a Christ-centered, biblically-based education. About 500 students in TK through eighth grade are enrolled.

classroom, and this could begin at the kindergarten level.”

them to gain a broader perspective and appreciation for God’s creation.”

For example, when students learn about the parts of a plant in a science class, they could learn it in both English and Spanish. When sharing Bible stories, the Spanish teacher could tell the stories in Spanish as well as in English.

Thanks in part to the research she conducted and presented, Brons successfully defended her Ed.D. dissertation this spring and can now be referred to as Dr. Rikki Brons.

Josh Bowar (’05), head of school at SCCS, says that their school board has chosen to include Brons’s findings in a strategic planning process that they will implement in the fall through a partnership with Center for the Advancement of Christian Education (CACE).

“Rikki has provided so much good information and has done the legwork for us, so now it’s time to assess and to seek what God’s will is for SCCS moving forward,” he says. “Spanish is an important language in today’s world, and students will find themselves using it often in their neighborhoods, in their schools, in their churches, and in the future workplaces. Offering Spanish might help SCCS equip students for future service in God’s kingdom and help

Language is not a vacuum, says Brons; it shouldn’t be simply about knowing grammar rules and memorizing vocabulary words. And after more than two years of research for SCCS, she continues to come back to the school’s mission statement: “to disciple God’s children by equipping them with a knowledge and understanding of Christ and his creation so that they can obediently serve God and others as they work and play.”

“We want our kids to be community builders, image reflectors, and servant workers,” says Brons. “And foreign language can help get us there and do it more proficiently.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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SHOWING THE LOVE OF JESUS THROUGH ADOPTION “My Dordt education shaped my thinking about my calling to ensure that all children are loved, supported, and have the opportunity to learn,” says Liz (Friesema, ’05) Hoek.

“At the time, I thought I was only preparing for my vocation, but God was shaping my heart to work for Christcentered renewal in my home as well."

Now, years later, Hoek sees how God prepared her to welcome two beautiful children into her home through adoption, inspired by both her husband and her background as an educator.

“Kiel, my husband, was adopted as an infant, so adoption has always held a special place in his heart,” she says. “We knew we wanted to grow our family through adoption at some point, but we waited on the Lord to make it clear when the time was right.”

Eventually after a conversation Kiel had with a coworker, the Hoeks realized that the time was right. They began the process of becoming foster parents, hoping that one day they might be able to adopt.

“We knew from our work as educators that children thrive in safe, consistent, supportive environments and that their greatest need is to experience the love of Jesus. We felt called to provide those things,” says Hoek.

Becoming foster parents was an involved process. They spent hours attending classes and trainings and participating

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The Hoeks make sure that Lily and Kylee spend as much time together as they can.

in meetings. They also had to undergo a series of inspections, where their home, finances, and marriage were examined.

That foster family had initially accepted Lily and Kylee’s placement in their home because they thought it was temporary.

Once they had been accepted as foster parents, they waited for a child to arrive.

A placement was closer than they expected.

“They were unable to consider adoption at that time, so the other foster family approached us, and we approached our team of case workers,” says Hoek.

“Lily, our older daughter, was in my son’s kindergarten class, so they had been friends for most of the school year,” says Hoek. “She and her younger sister, Kylee, were being fostered by another family at our school.”

Since the Hoeks had been seeking a foster-to-adoption placement, it was a perfect fit.

“Lily and Kylee felt like family from day one,” recalls Hoek. “We agreed to move forward with the adoption process

“Working as a classroom teacher gave me plenty of practice in loving others’ children as my own, setting up environments to help them succeed and thrive, and adjusting when what I thought would work wasn’t successful,” she says.

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before they were ever placed in our home.”

The Hoeks saw how God can restore families.

“While the adoption process was going through the court system Kylee’s biological father, who was previously unidentified, was named,” says Hoek.

Kylee started visits with him, and within a year he was given custody of her.

The Hoek family built a strong relationship with Kylee’s biological father, and he values that they are an important part of Kylee’s life. So, even though the Hoeks did not adopt Kylee, she spends at least two days a week with them.

“My training as an educator helped me understand how children develop, mature, and learn,” says Liz Hoek. “It also gave me practice in loving others' children as my own."

After 1,141 days in the foster care system, Lily was officially adopted by the Hoek family. She is almost nine years old, and Hoek describes Lily as the bravest girl she knows.

their peers. Our marriage is stronger than it has ever been, because when life gets hard we have been able to lean into each other, and lean together into our faith,” says Hoek.

“She’s always up to try something new.

She is funny, determined, and kind.

She loves art, crafting, soccer, and horseback riding,” says Hoek.

As adoptive parents, the Hoeks have also

Kylee, who is almost five, loves to be the center of attention and is decisive.

We knew from our work as educators that children thrive in safe, consistent, supportive environments and that their greatest need is to experience the love of Jesus. We felt called to provide those things.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Hoek says that many fostered children and their biological families have never experienced free, unconditional love that asks nothing in return. She and her family found that one of the most surprising things about being foster parents has been the compassion they have come to feel for biological parents.

“We have developed trust with the girls’ biological parents, and that relationship has allowed us to minister to them as well,” says Hoek.

— Liz Hoek, alumna

“She makes up songs and dances all day, and she can usually be found in a dress-up princess dress with all the accessories,” adds Hoek.

The Hoeks acknowledge that foster care and adoption can be emotionally and mentally challenging. Still, they recognize God’s grace amid the challenges and the growth they have experienced. And the rewards are closely tied to the challenges.

“Our kids have grown so much in how they relate to each other, to us, and to

had to learn how they will share and explain adoption to Lily.

“When we talk with Lily about her adoption, we tell her how much she is loved—loved by our family and loved by her biological mom. While her mom was not able to provide a safe place for her to grow up, we know that love is deep both ways,” says Hoek. “We tell her that we are so grateful for the blessing she is to our family, and how much love she has brought to us, but we also acknowledge

that adoption for her involves loss and grief.”

You do not need to be superhuman or specially called to be a foster parent, she adds. You just need to be willing to show the love of Jesus.

“We are ordinary people who have taken the next steps through doors that God has opened, and he has blessed us beyond what we could have imagined.”

BETHANY VAN VOORST

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F E AT U R E S

DORDT ARCHIVES

In 2005 during the Jubilee celebrations, Herm Van Niejenhuis participated in the alumni hockey tournament.

HOCKEY STICKS AND A FEW JELLY BEANS If you follow hockey at Dordt and wonder how it began, you might start with the consistory of an Edmonton, Alberta, church.

The preacher, Reverend John Piersma, was a big-time hockey fan who found a way to speed skate through consistory meetings so he and those elders similarly inclined could sprint over to the arena and catch the third period of the Edmonton Flyers game—free admission after the first two periods.

Jan Van Niejenhuis was one of those elders. He had immigrated from the Netherlands only a few years earlier and, back then, knew next to nothing about

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ice hockey. Still, he was so taken by the game that when a neighbor down the block sold his black-and-white console TV, Van Niejenhuis bought it, then set it down in the living room so the whole family could watch the National Hockey League (NHL) on Saturday nights.

Anje and Jan Van Niejenhuis’s three sons, Bert (’68), Herm (’71), and Cecil (’77), started slapping pucks around on Christian school ice when they were kids. They got themselves hooked but

good on the national sport of Canada.

In time, all three boys came to Dordt.

Moving from Edmonton to Sioux Center is quite a trek.

Fifty years ago, loads of Dordt students lived off-campus. When Herm, the second son, finally got his Dordt application in, the dorm was full, so he had to live a block east of downtown Sioux Center, where he shared an upstairs apartment in a house owned

It’s possible to say that match was made in heaven; young Herm could speak Mrs. Pluim’s native Dutch, so they got along royally. When, later, a room in the dorm opened, he wasn’t particularly interested.

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and occupied (downstairs) by a lovely grandmotherly homeowner named Mrs. Gerrit Pluim.

“I wandered over to the dorm to visit, and it just seemed to me four people in such close quarters made it a crowd,” he says. So he stayed put downtown with Mrs. Pluim, who laid out sweet rolls on mornings when he and his roommates were a bit late for class.

Soon enough, he had a girlfriend named Deadra “Dee” Plowman (’71), who suggested he needed a haircut and sweetly volunteered to do the job herself. He told her to come over, and she did, ascending the stairs. Such proximity would have been verboten in dorm life. They’ve been married now for 50 years.

People like to think that hockey exists somewhere out there on the very edge of total depravity.

That first year of college, — Herm Van Niejenhuis Herm had taken his skates along to Iowa because brother Bert had said there was a rink in Central Park; but he got those skates out only once, for an ice-skating social at the Sioux City Auditorium.

Whoever sponsored the skate promised a few minutes to whoever wanted to take along a stick and puck. That was the only time his skates came out of safekeeping during his entire freshman year. But that night he’d begun to see that he wasn’t the only Dordt kid who loved hockey.

THE FIRST HOME ICE This shot may be one of few that catches the action on the Sioux Center Blades’ first “home ice,” a rink constructed and maintained by the team itself. That work was serious business, something of a calling. Some guys stayed around during Christmas vacation just to keep it up. With a little financial help from one of the local car dealers, they had constructed the boards themselves and spent hours trying to make and keep the ice smooth as glass. What they hadn’t thought of was what Iowa farmers call “a January thaw.”

The next year, the college—which was little more than a decade old—welcomed one of the biggest classes ever. Included in the new crowd were more than a half-dozen guys who loved hockey and played as if they did, even an honest-to-goodness goalie named Keith Vanderzwan (’73), who remembers having to drive all the way to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to buy goalie gear.

To Canadian hockey players, Northwest Iowa was the last frontier.

On a much-anticipated Friday afternoon, the Blades squared off against Graceland College—the first game on the brand-new outside rink, “home ice.”

DORDT ARCHIVES

Temps got dangerously warm, and two games had been scheduled for Friday and Saturday—a good way to save money. “We were watching the weather closely!” Herm remembers, because they knew things could get sloppy fast.

By Saturday, it got too warm. The game went into the books, but their sweat-and-blood project, their own ice, would never host another game. You couldn’t keep up a rink when temps, even in January, are that variable.

Yet today, when Herm talks about it, his voice almost quivers because, doggone it, they were proud of that rink and all of that work. And it was theirs. And it didn’t go.

Alas, one two-match weekend spelled the end of the Blades’ much beloved homemade outdoor home ice.

Herm and Dee claim they're not quarreling in this Signet picture, despite what it might look like.

But the Blades lived to play again.

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Soon, a roughshod league was formed from club teams at Drake University, Iowa State University, and Graceland College, along with the brand new “Sioux Center Blades.” The Dordt administration wasn’t sure what to do with a bunch of yahoos who played for fun, smoked a bit, and were known to tap a pitcher or two at Shakey’s after the game.

Dordt had a team and a name. They had a schedule too; all they needed was a rink. So, they built one— why not?—out at Tower Park, in what was back then the southwest edge of town.

was a great skater and thus, a good hockey player, a smart player, not dirty, but willing to mix it up for control of the puck,” he says.

Still, to a ton of American innocents, all that banging going down on and off the boards didn’t feel much at all like turn-

call to Covenant Christian Reformed Church.

People at Dordt hadn’t forgotten that, hockey-wise, Pastor Herm was there way back in the beginning. So, with one of the finest skaters and players the college had back in town, the administration, who had taken ownership of hockey, came knocking: the Dordt Blades needed a coach.

Before one of those trips, the campus pastor once told him he’d heard someone in authority say that all those guys required someone’s supervision. “Herm’s watching out for them,” someone else said, but then the guy said, “But, who’s going to watch out for Herm?”

Ever since, hockey has been a first-rate attraction at Dordt, even before the sport became popular in the United States.

Why? Well, some like to think that, with every game played, a few conventionally sweet Sioux Center pieties got knocked silly by all that bodychecking.

“People like to think,” Herm says, “that hockey exists somewhere out there on the very edge of total depravity.”

It always was rough. Even Herm, Vanderzwan will tell you, found it difficult not to take some shots. “Herm

the-other-cheek righteousness. Some holy eyebrows were furrowed every time those Canadian boys came out to circle the ice.

Some 30 years later, Herm Van Niejenhuis, as strong a skater as anyone in the olden days, had become Pastor Herm Van Niejenhuis. In the later years of his ministry, he and Dee returned to Sioux Center when Herm accepted the

“I told them I’d never coached hockey, but they said that was okay,” says Herm. In the old days, neither had Professor Case Boot, who’d stood behind the bench for years and never done much more than lead in prayer before games.

Herm says it sounded to him like a sweet offer. He couldn’t help but enjoy hanging around a rink again, even being able to get out on the ice himself in an arena right across the street from Dordt, a place that had been built, at least in part, for community hockey.

He says he didn’t really “coach” the Blades. He’d encourage kids, and he loved just being with them, felt a bit of the old enthusiasm every time Dordt’s first line hit the ice before the first buzzer.

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Thirty years after the Blades played home games at the Sioux City Auditorium, the team was now not only acknowledged but even supported by the college. But what he discovered quickly was that players had changed.

They weren’t just a bunch of kids slapping a puck around on ice laid out on the Christian school playgrounds or frosted streets in front of the house.

Today, he says, they come out of community or school hockey teams, echelons of supervised leagues, years of learning and playing. Today, it’s a whole different operation, more business-like, less spontaneous.

“My mom and dad never saw me play hockey,” he says, matter-of-factly.

“Hockey was a kids’ thing, camaraderie with my friends. My parents would be out of place beside a hockey rink. When we played hockey, we did it on our own.”

Back then, it was pure kid stuff.

Dee and Herm were married in 1970, and they have been blessed with three sons.

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Still, coaching, at least what he was able to do of it, was a great experience, he

says. When he was nudging up close to his sixties, he enjoyed hanging out with the teams, maybe especially on long trips into Canada, which the team often took during Christmas breaks, public relations trips that were a venue for recruiting students.

Before one of those trips, the campus pastor once told him he’d heard someone in authority say that all those guys required someone’s supervision.

“Herm’s watching out for them,” someone else said, but then the guy said, “But, who’s going to watch out for Herm?”

Even Pastor Herm likes that kind of role.

“I’m a bit of a rebel,” he says, “always was, still am.”

All these years later, he’ll admit feeling a bit more stressed by hockey’s almost inevitable rough housing. After all, he was the coach, not to mention a preacher in a local church. He had responsibility for the players, whether he liked it or not. His years wielding a stick were behind him, but he had to look after the Blades.

One Saturday at Casey’s Bakery, he says he was waiting for cheap donuts when he felt someone tugging on his sleeve.

He turned to look. It was a woman he didn’t recognize.

“Hey,” she said. “You’re the coach of the hockey team.”

When she eyed him closely, he didn’t show it, he says, but he winced. He didn’t know her. He believed he was

about to take a hit.

“We just love hockey at Dordt,” she told him. Big smile. Then she sidled a bit closer. “We especially like the fights.”

He didn’t get her name.

The Van Niejenhuises had a blessedly successful ministry in Sioux Center all those years later, even got himself a little time on the ice. Today, filling pulpits hither and yon (including a Florida stint in January), he and Dee live on a quiet street in Willmar, Minnesota, where Dee has lots of family.

When Pastor Herm and Dee Van Niejenhuis retired from Covenant, goodbye wishes from church families were recorded on video. When Andy (’98) and Rachel (Bakker, ’97) Landman lined up, there were only four of their five kids on the lawn posing. Hannah, the oldest, was missing. Rachel said Hannah, who was in middle school at the time, refused to say goodbye to a pastor she didn’t want to leave.

This fall, Hannah Landman will be a sophomore at Dordt.

“Pastor Herm had a jelly bean machine in his office at church, but it wasn’t the jelly beans I valued,” she explains. “When I refused to wave goodbye, I was really thinking of Pastor Herm’s generosity, his kindness. I didn’t want to lose the compassion and generosity I had found behind the jelly bean machine.”

JAMES CALVIN SCHAAP ('70)

Kiley (Olson, ’18) Vander Maten received the April Team Member Spotlight at Raven Industries in Sioux Falls. Kiley, who works as a human resources generalist, has gone “above and beyond to support Raven Applied Technology in recent months by hiring over 150 people and facilitating student programs,” according to Raven’s website.

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Herm (left) stands beside his nephew Nathan ('02) who was a former Blades coach and player. Herm's brother, Cecil, also played for the Blades.

ALUMNI NOTES

Covey Jackson (’18) and his wife, Courtney, have been accepted to serve as missionaries to build a community in Quito, Ecuador. He previously served as a sales and account manager at Cornerstone Computer Solutions in Colorado.

Carlie (Hendricks, ’17) Jansen passed away on February 17, 2021, from undifferentiated myxoid (synovial) sarcoma, which she was diagnosed with as a senior at Dordt in 2014. Please keep her husband, Tyler (’15), and their son, Elijah, in your prayers.

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra (’01) recently had her first book, Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age, published by Waterbrook & Multnomah. It was co-written with Collin Hansen, her editor. The book is described as “a profound exploration of how to hold on to hope when our unchanging faith collides with a changing culture, from two respected Christian storytellers and thought leaders.” Eekhoff Zylstra serves as a senior writer and faith and work editor for The Gospel Coalition.

Dr. Lambert Zuidervaart (’72) recently wrote and published a memoir titled To Sing Once More: Sorrow, Joy, and the Dog I Loved.

“This intimate little book tells the story of Hannah Estelle, our lovely Golden Retriever, and how she helped me learn to sing again,” says Zuidervaart. The book is published through Wipf and Stock Publishers. Zuidervaart holds a Ph.D. from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and currently works as a visiting scholar at Calvin University.

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