Initiative Category: Physical Education, Recreation, & Kinesiology

–By Christy Wolff ‘10 

During Shanna Grigoletti’s ‘05 time at Trinity, God laid on her heart the idea of opening her own gym and using it as an outreach to the community. Through a handful of job changes, moves, and other life experiences, Grigoletti saw how God prepared her for the career she is in today. 

Grigoletti was raised in west Michigan and grew up attending Calvary Christian Reformed Church (Wyoming, MI) with her family. Through Sunday school, youth group, and attending church twice on Sundays, Grigoletti was fully immersed in the CRC but desired to experience something new. 

Along with that desire came an adventure in a new city. Grigoletti enrolled at Trinity–where her sister attended–with a track scholarship. Sports have always been a big part of Grigoletti’s life, so it was natural for her to major in exercise science. God began moving Grigoletti in the direction of opening her own gym and community center, beginning with an internship working at a corporate gym on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. “Trinity was really helpful in connecting me to this internship,” Grigoletti says. 

After graduation, Grigoletti got married and the couple moved to St. Louis, where her husband found work at an inner-city church planting ministry. “We jumped into family life really quickly and had kids early on,” Grigoletti shares. 

When Grigoletti was pregnant with her fourth child, her family decided to move back to Michigan to be closer to family. Grigoletti soon found herself reengaging in the Calvary CRC community, this time with a fresh perspective.  

Looking for a part-time job, Grigoletti agreed to fill the custodian role at Calvary. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Grigoletti recalls. She enjoyed interacting with others during the week and seeing what Calvary was like outside of Sunday worship. 

During one of her shifts at the church, Grigoletti had a meaningful conversation with the pastor and shared that she longed to do more with her life. The pastor told Grigoletti that he wanted to open a community center but couldn’t find anyone to lead it. That’s when Grigoletti stepped up and became the Executive Director of Lighthouse Community Ministries, located on Calvary CRC’s campus. 

Lighthouse serves its community through physical wellness, nutritional wellness, mental wellness, addiction recovery, and poverty mitigation by offering classes, activities, and other programs. 

Thinking back to her time at Trinity, Grigoletti reflects on an interim experience where she worked with women who were transitioning out of rehab. The program connected men and women to different volunteer opportunities, including helping at an after-school program and serving at a thrift store. “It was eye opening to have that kind of ministry right in your own neighborhood,” Grigoletti shares. “I was able to take what I learned during my interim course at Trinity and apply it to the community center I started.” 

 More than 15 years have passed since Grigoletti was a student at Trinity, and she’s grateful for the ways God grew her faith during her college years. “Trinity showed me that you need to step out of your bubble, love those around you, and open your eyes to the immense amount of opportunity that’s outside your front door.”

Students and professors in Trinity’s Physical Education, Recreation, and Kinesiology (PERK) Department are working with Trinity alumnus Ryan Hesslau ‘18 to be the first college to pilot an app his company recently developed, The Waves App.

Above the Waves is a student management technology company that is “helping guidance counselors better manage their students.”

The Waves App is a student management tool that allows guidance counselors to message students, schedule sessions, and make referrals – all from one central location. Although the platform was built for a high school setting, PERK agreed to partner with Hesslau to test run the platform in a college environment.

With the approval of the Institutional Review Board, students in all PE classes have been given access to the app and have been asked to provide feedback. PERK department professors have encouraged students to ask questions about health, wellness, and physical activity. This might include questions about things like nutrition, proper weightlifting technique, or stress management.

Department Chair Dr. Shari Jurgens, who is one of the PERK Department professors working with Hesslau and Above the Waves, says, “Trinity alums are doing some really cool things with technology, and The Waves App is a great example. We are currently using this app in the PE Department as a test run and we are really hopeful that this will be expanded across the campus in the future.”

The vision for The Waves App on a college campus is to become a helpful plug-in tool for faculty advisers that allows them to message students, schedule sessions, and plenty more.

In addition to being the founder and CEO of Above the Waves, Hesslau is also the Founder and Executive Director of ForeverU, a not-for-profit youth development organization that offers personal development programs to 7-12 grade students that empower them to overcome adversity. He also serves Trinity as a Startup Coach in Fusion59, Trinity’s on-campus innovation hub.

–Paige Rogers ’21, Health Communication Major

Seniors in Trinity’s Physical Education, Recreation, and Kinesiology Department recently made several visits with residents of Victoria Village in Homer Glen, Ill., for exercises, games, and a dance party!

Said Dr. Shari Jurgens, chair of the PERK Department, “These trips are intended for service learning, but I am sure that our student come out with more learning than service from this amazing population. It is a great experience for all involved.”

The Healthy Troll Challenge was created by the Exercise Science Club – a group of exercise science majors with hopes to help create healthier lives for all of our fellow classmates, faculty, and staff at Trinity.

As part of the Healthy Troll Challenge, we created workouts and short, informative presentations for those who chose to take an active role. The workouts consisted of exercises such as full body strength trainings, yoga, and high-intensity interval trainings. We utilized the spaces offered to us in the weight and cardio room in the DeVos Athletic and Recreation Center, as well as Trinity’s resource lab.

Prizes were offered each month, based off a point system. Points could be earned by eating healthy meals, people working out on their own, doing the twice-weekly workouts with other participants, attending our short presentations, and more!

The Exercise Science Club has been extremely grateful to have been able to better the lives of those who chose to take part in the Healthy Troll Challenge this year, and we would like to see even more participants next year! To learn more, visit our Facebook page or Instagram page.

–Ava Gomez ’20

Combining academic knowledge with experiential learning,  students from PE 360 Exercise for Special Populations visited Providence Life Services in Palos Heights, Ill., and spent about an hour leading residents in exercises and games

Trinity is excited to be recognized by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as an Education Recognition Program for our Strength and Conditioning and Personal Training Programs. The NSCA is a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to advancing the strength and conditioning profession around the world.