Archives: Initiatives

Trinity’s Education program has been recognized as a 2019-20 “College of Distinction.” The program was honored for its exemplary commitment to the four distinctions identified by the Colleges of Distinction organization: engaged students; great teaching; vibrant community; and successful outcomes.

Along with the Education program, Trinity overall was named a College of Distinction. Trinity was also recognized in several other areas, including: a Christian College of Distinction; Nursing College of Distinction; and Business College of Distinction.

Colleges of Distinction was founded on the premise that there are hundreds of remarkable colleges across the United States, each with a unique strength to offer the next generation of college-bound students.

Trinity’s Business program has been recognized as a 2019-20 “College of Distinction.” The program was honored for its exemplary commitment to the four distinctions identified by the Colleges of Distinction organization: engaged students; great teaching; vibrant community; and successful outcomes.

Along with the Business program, Trinity overall was named a College of Distinction. Trinity was also recognized in several other areas, including: a Christian College of Distinction; Education College of Distinction; and Nursing College of Distinction.

Colleges of Distinction was founded on the premise that there are hundreds of remarkable colleges across the United States, each with a unique strength to offer the next generation of college-bound students.

Trinity’s Nursing program has been recognized as a 2019-20 “College of Distinction.” The program was honored for its exemplary commitment to the four distinctions identified by the Colleges of Distinction organization: engaged students; great teaching; vibrant community; and successful outcomes.

Along with the Nursing program, Trinity overall was named a College of Distinction. Trinity was also recognized in several other areas, including: a Christian College of Distinction; Education College of Distinction; and Business College of Distinction.

Colleges of Distinction was founded on the premise that there are hundreds of remarkable colleges across the United States, each with a unique strength to offer the next generation of college-bound students.

Alan (MA ’18) and Crystal (MA ’18) Goldbergs’ career paths took an unexpected turn when their son Justin was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2006 at the age of two and a half. Coming from a 15-year career in the insurance industry, Crystal said, “When we first got the news about Justin, our hopes and dreams were shattered like many other parents who receive the diagnosis. Over time, we adjusted as a family, and sought out evidence-based interventions – such as Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy – and provided him with a variety of opportunities that would help him achieve his best life.”

Desiring to extend their help for kids with special needs, Alan and Crystal both completed their master’s degrees in special education and ultimately became Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) through Trinity’s two-year program.

Associate Professor of Special Education Sara Baillie, Ed.D., and Assistant Professor of Special Education Marilyn Spalla led the couple’s cohort of 12 and taught the principles of behavior analysis through both an academic and practical lens. “They both gave us a solid behavior-based framework we still reference today,” Crystal said. Since graduating, Alan and Crystal, along with Baillie, joined a journal article group that brings BCBAs across Illinois together to review published research about their field and discuss ways to apply it to their own careers.

Starting each class at Trinity with devotions made an impact on Crystal. “This practice got you in the mindset of being a catalyst for helping others,” she shared. She found that it allowed the cohort to bond and bring out the authentic qualities in people.

Today, Alan manages the special education department at Thomas Kelly High School in Chicago, which provides services to more than 400 students with special needs. Crystal recently started her own company, Operation Empower Inc., which focuses on educational advocacy and behavior consulting for families with children with special needs. She also serves as an advocate for families in schools by connecting home programming with the practices in use in school.

According to Crystal, “This experience has made us stronger as a couple, and we strive to continue to provide Justin with as many opportunities as possible so that he can lead a full and more independent life. If we didn’t experience this ourselves, I never would have been exposed to this field, but it happened for a reason – and that’s for us to give back and help others.”

For Kimberly Mueller ’19, the support of her husband and her faith in God helped her achieve her goal of graduating from Trinity’s Adult Programs with a bachelor’s degree in art education on Dec. 14 and beginning a teaching job at Stony Creek Elementary School in District 126 in Alsip, Ill.

While it was challenging to balance family life, student teaching, homework, and the requirements of passing the Teacher Performance Assessment EdTPA, Mueller believes it is all part of God’s plan. “I feel I am meant to be an art teacher and share my talents with my students. I am proud of how far I have come,” she said.

Mueller began Trinity’s Adult Program at Trinity in 2016. Her first student teaching placement was at Prairie Junior High School, also in District 126. “I was unsure what to expect,” she said. But she was reaffirmed by how much she loved teaching art.

For her second student teaching assignment, which took place during the fall of 2019, she was placed at Alan B. Shepard High School in Palos Heights. “My first week of high school was tough. I did not think high school was for me,” she said. “But I continued to have faith in God.”

Just like at Prairie Junior High School, Mueller’s student teaching assignment consisted of getting to know the students and staff. After observing her cooperating teacher, she began teaching herself. She found that it was very hard to say goodbye at the end of her student teaching period, she said. “I met some very talented and awesome students. I now feel comfortable teaching high school and will miss my students.”

While Mueller was at Shepard, she was also doing research and writing for the EdTPA, a performance-based, subject-specific assessment and support system used by teacher preparation programs to emphasize, measure and support the skills and knowledge that all teachers need in the classroom.

“As I researched and wrote my EdTPA, I asked God for help and guidance,” she said. “I finally submitted my EdTPA about a week into my second placement. It took a month to get my scores back. All of my hard work paid off! My family was proud of me.”

While at Shepard, Mueller received an email about a job teaching art in District 126 at Stony Creek. “My former principal at Prairie Junior High referred me to the principal at Stony Creek. I went in for an interview and I got the job!” she said. “I could not be happier.”

Mueller begins teaching in January. “I feel Trinity has prepared me to be an excellent teacher. This journey has been beyond difficult, but God has a plan for me,” she said.

At Trinity, students are equipped with the skills needed to make a difference in the world by showing Christ’s love wherever God places them. Charley Boonstra ‘09 is a great example of this, applying the skills he acquired at Trinity to his position as a government attorney.

Growing up in Christian schools all his life, Boonstra had no question about enrolling in a Christian college. “I realized the value of having a Christ-centered education,” he said. And that’s where Trinity came in.

Originally interested in law enforcement, Boonstra soon changed his major to political science under the advice of former professor Charles Emmerich. “Prof. Emmerich guided me to the career I’m in today.”

Emmerich wasn’t the only faculty member to make an impact. “The faculty did a great job of giving us what we needed to succeed in our professions, but did it in a way that honored our individual worldviews while being ambassadors for Christ.”

After graduating from Trinity in 2009, Boonstra worked for a small law firm in downtown Chicago. He went on to attend Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., for law school and passed the bar exam in 2013.

Today, you will find him in the Lee County, Ill., State’s Attorney’s Office, in charge of the office of prosecutors – a recent promotion. He lives with his wife and their 3-year-old son in Dixon, Ill., a small town situated about an hour and a half west of Chicago. He has been able to take the tools he received at Trinity to impact a smaller community through his work.

Working on criminal cases all day long can be challenging, but that doesn’t slow his drive to show Christ’s love in his job. “Every day when I go to work, I don’t know what kind of case I’m going to walk into, and I think it’d be a lot harder for me if I didn’t have a foundation in Christ.” That foundation was laid when Boonstra was young and took shape during his time at Trinity, preparing him for a life of Kingdom service.

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

Trinity is pleased to announce that Indira Escalante ’20 has been named Trinity’s Lincoln Laureate. Escalante was honored at the Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Convocation Ceremony on Nov. 16 in Springfield, Ill.

The annual Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Ceremony recognizes excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities by seniors from each of the state’s four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from the community colleges in Illinois.

An accounting major and theology minor from Hoffman Estates, Ill., Trinity’s selection committee lauded Escalante for her leadership roles at the College, including as an intercollegiate student-athlete in golf, a member of the multicultural student leadership team, a founding member of a campus club called Women Empowered, vice president of administration of the Student Government Association, a student representative on the Campus Diversity and Unity Committee, and as a student mentor for incoming transfer students in Trinity’s Foundations 111 class. “She possesses a rare combination of gifts that span excellence in the field of accountancy, a complex understanding of social justice, a commitment to public service, and diverse contributions to the communities she serves,” the committee noted. “She has demonstrated a commitment to the public good for all people in ways that have garnered the respect of her peers, faculty, and staff in every context in which she serves. This is a remarkable gift to the Trinity Christian College community.”

Escalante, who was joined in Springfield by Becky Starkenburg, Vice President for Student Life, and her parents Lesly and Jose, said she was surprised and honored to be named Lincoln Laureate. “My first reaction was that I don’t deserve it,” she said. “There are so many students here at Trinity to choose from.”

After graduation, Escalante plans to sit for the CPA exam and go to work as an accountant with a major firm.

Trinity Christian College Lincoln Laureates

2018 – Mallory Boyce

2017 – R. Josiah Rosario
2016 – Courtney Kalous
2015 – Hallie Wisse
2014 – David (Woody) Lucas
2013 – Megan Anderson
2012 – Adam Perez
2011 – Alberto LaRosa
2010 – Joseph Wydra
2009 – Jon Vander Woude
2008 – Caitlin Fillmore
2007 – Elizabeth VanderSpek
2006 – Allison Backous
2005 – Erin Marshalek
2004 – Rachel Van Oort
2003 – Yvana Hansen
2002 – Evan VanderZee
2001 – Nate Bosch
2000 – Laurie Johnson
1999 – Hanna Vancer Zee
1998 – Kristen Devine
1997 – Heidi Boeck
1996 – Julie Tinklenberg
1995 – Keri Dyksterhouse
1994 – Mark Mulder
1993 – Kristen Hart
1992 – Sarah Ver Velde
1991 – Aron Reppmann
1990 – Nathan Van Der Male
1989 – Drew Sweetman
1988 – Erik Hoekstra
1987 – Kimberly Dykema
1986 – Edward Wiener, Jr.

In the sprawling city of Los Angeles, you will find Olivia Winkowitsch ‘17 fulfilling her dream of working in the film industry. Olivia’s passion to grow in her career is met with her experience and ambition to do well, and Trinity played an important role in getting her to where she is today.

During Olivia’s high school years, a middle school group from a church in Illinois traveled to her hometown in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to participate in a mission trip. After getting to know the group well, Olivia kept in contact with her new friends and was invited on another mission trip years later. Following the trip, Olivia entered herself in a video contest put on by the church. She produced a “mockumentary” about what people outside of her hometown think the locals do for fun. This evolved into a project that brought together her friends and neighbors, ultimately earning Olivia the top award. “I had never felt so alive,” Olivia said.

This was the springboard into her studies in film.

When looking at colleges, Olivia knew she wanted to be close to the church she had first formed a relationship with all those years before. After visiting 10 schools in Illinois, Olivia knew right away that Trinity was the best fit for her. “I got on Trinity’s campus and I just felt immediately at home and at peace,” she said.

Eager to learn and gain experience, Olivia enrolled in classes working toward a communication arts degree with an emphasis in film and a minor in graphic design. Dr. Craig Mattson, Professor of Communication Arts, made a strong impact on Olivia. “Dr. Mattson is a brilliant man. He teaches so well to the individual in the midst of a full class.”

During her senior year at Trinity, Olivia spent a semester with the Los Angeles Film Studies Center, which is one of Trinity’s off-campus partner programs. Trinity aided Olivia in making connections on the West Coast, which ultimately led to an internship at a small production company, where Olivia read scripts and gave her feedback on the content.

After graduation, Olivia moved back to Los Angeles and has been there ever since. She found a job managing a photo studio for an e-commerce company, and also helped produce photo and video shoots. “My degree was really helpful in my first job. I used my producing and communications side but also used the graphic design experience I earned at Trinity.”

Olivia also did freelance work for nearly a year, which included working with a production team on Levi Strauss model shoots and temping in a production office for a film that’s set to come out at the end of 2019.

Today, Olivia is the production coordinator at Percival and Associates, an entertainment advertising agency, and is part of a team that creates movie and TV posters. “This job is the perfect marriage of my degree in film, my minor in graphic design, and my internship experiences.”

Three of Trinity’s professors participated in the eighth biennial conference hosted by the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning, “Shaping Christian Learning,” earlier this month at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. For the first time, the Kuyers Institute co-hosted the conference with INCHE (the International Network for Christian Higher Education).

In a session on shaping curriculum, Trinity Professors of Music Helen Van Wyck, D.M.A., and Mark Peters, Ph.D., and Professor of Philosophy Aron Reppmann, Ph.D., led a session on “Creating a Mission-Specific Departmental Curriculum: A Case Study.” They spoke on how the College completed a significant revision of the music major curriculum in spring 2015. The discussion focused on how Christian faith and institutional mission shape curricular design and examined three courses in detail: Being a Musician, Reading and Writing about Music, and Aesthetics.

Peters participated in another session, “Shaping Culture Makers in Music: The Use of Igor Stravinsky’s Poetics of Music in Christian Higher Education,” with Associate Professor of Music John MacInnis of Dordt University.

Learn more about the Kuyers Institute Conference here.