Beyond the classroom

WWU professors are committed to excellence and advancing knowledge, even outside of their university classrooms.

Supporting art in education

Early this year, Pedrito Maynard-Reid, professor of biblical studies and missiology, narrated two symphonic fairy tales in partnership with the Walla Walla Symphony. Alongside the longest continually operating symphony west of the Mississippi, Maynard-Reid recorded both “Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev and “The Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns.

“We did both recordings in the same day; it was an intense session, but we did them both in one take,” said Maynard-Reid.

The recordings were made available for free to Walla Walla elementary school students in support of local education.

Guiding safe media use

Lynelle Ellis, associate professor of communication at Walla Walla University, led a three-session seminar titled “The Power of Media: Healthy Choices for Families!” at the Spokane Valley Seventh-day Adventist church this fall.

Ellis explained that this topic is of great importance in today’s world because people are inundated with media and messages on a daily basis, from the movie theater to social media feeds. “Our brains actually change in response to the things we see or do online,” Ellis said. In her seminar, she stressed the importance of using discernment with regard to media choices and following Christian principles that can help guide media use.