In the News

An exceptional place to start

Hesston College’s results from the 2012 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) are among the highest in the country and reinforce the college’s claim that Hesston is a great place for students to start their college career.

The survey measures student perceptions of their engagement in their academic work in five key benchmark areas that research shows contribute to learning: active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction and support for learners.

Results from the same survey conducted in 2009 earned the college a number two national ranking from “Washington Monthly” magazine among other two-year colleges in terms of student engagement and overall success in 2010. At that time, Hesston ranked at the 97th and 98th percentile in four of the five benchmark areas.

In keeping with recent trends, Hesston’s results are on the top end of the scale.

The results from the 2012 survey surpass even the 2009 data, giving college leaders, faculty, staff and students alike much to celebrate.

All five of the benchmark areas for 2012 were above the top 10 percent of all 2012 CCSSE participants. In student-faculty interaction and support for learners, Hesston scored at the highest score reported by all 266 participating colleges.

“Our CCSSE results show us that we are finding success in the efforts we make to be caring and people-centered while providing our students with excellent academics,” said Dr. Sandra Zerger, vice president of Academics.

The college began using CCSSE in 2007 to help identify areas for improvement. At that time, the college scored only slightly higher than the national average in four of the five benchmark areas. Administrators and faculty decided to use the survey results to improve the learning experience for students, and the newest data reflects great success in those efforts.

“It is exciting to see the improvement we have made since our earliest experience with the survey,” said Zerger. “The survey results help us build a faculty team based on the factors of success.”

The steps toward improvement have been calculated and intentional at both a collective and individual level. The Dean’s office and faculty members collaboratively discuss the survey data, how it affects them and their courses and how to respond. Faculty also attend on-campus in-service workshops and off-campus conferences geared specifically toward those areas needing improvement.

“Our faculty care about improving the academic experience for students,” said Nelson Kilmer, chair of the science and math division and who analyzes and interprets Hesston’s survey results. “We always want to know how we can improve. We care deeply about our students’ learning.”

Hesston faculty explore their strengths and weaknesses even further by using the Individualized Developmental Education Assessment (IDEA) survey for at least one of their courses each year. The national survey measures student perceptions of the quality of individual courses and instruction.

When Hesston began using the IDEA survey in 2006, 11 percent of all courses were in the top quartile nationally when compared to both two- and four-year colleges. With the most recent survey conducted for the 2011-12 year, 76 percent of all Hesston courses scored above the national average, as compared to 50 percent for all IDEA colleges surveyed, and 38 percent of all Hesston courses scored in the top quartile.

The IDEA Institutional Report states that “A summary score of 60 percent or more of the classes above the IDEA average is considered exceptional.”

Students attest to the exceptional quality of their courses, instructors and overall educational Hesston Experience.

“All of my classes are small, so my instructors know me personally, know how I am doing in their class and are quick to offer help when they know I need it,” said Ezekiel Lazaro of Andover, Kan., a sophomore studying Aviation and Air Traffic Control.

“I have been to other colleges and have never felt such genuine interest from faculty and staff for my academic pursuits and personal life as I do at Hesston,” said Jennifer Kaberline of McPherson, Kan., a non-traditional first-year student in Hesston’s two-year RN nursing program. “My instructors use a lot of interactive projects and small-group discussions in class. I appreciate being able to hear different perspectives on topics from other students.”

Although college leaders don’t know if the college’s CCSSE results will be used for rankings again, the evidence of student satisfaction and learning is enough of a success in itself.

And until the next survey rolls around in three years, the college will continue to make Hesston College an exceptional place to start.

Former instructors write unexpected family history

It is not uncommon for people to discover new relatives at Hesston College. With ties to the Mennonite faith tradition and many of the students, faculty and staff coming from the same faith background, the branches of many family trees run all across campus.

Sharon Cranford, however, did not expect to find any cousins at Hesston College. As an African-American Baptist woman teaching at a college from a predominately white, European church tradition, common blood lines were the last thing she expected to find. But the discovery of just that led her to co-author a book, “Kinship Concealed: Amish Mennonites/African-American Connections” with her new-found cousin, Mennonite-Episcopalian Dwight Roth.

The book is historical fiction – documenting the historical multi-racial lineage of Amish brothers Jacob and John Mast who immigrated from Switzerland to Philadelphia, Pa., in 1750 with a fictional story line.

Jacob was the first Amish bishop to be ordained in the United States and had an expansive group of descendants in the Conestoga Valley of eastern Pennsylvania. His brother John left the Amish church and moved south during the time when slavery in America was at its peak. His descendants became Methodists and Baptists and include slave owners and slaves.

“Discovering this family connection and writing the book has expanded my view of family,” said Roth. “For many people, kinship systems, ancestry and the definition of family may be much broader than we realize.”

Cranford and Roth were both teaching in the social science department at Hesston College in 2004 when they uncovered the connection that went further than common academic pursuits.

Overhearing a conversation Cranford was having with another colleague and mentioning her great grandmother’s maiden name of Mast, Roth interjected that his mother was also a Mast. He went on to explain that Mast is a common Amish Mennonite name and his own grandfather was an Amish Mennonite bishop.

Roth, who taught at Hesston from 1973 to 2010, had an interest in his family’s genealogy and asked a few questions of Cranford to see if they might stem from the same Mast branch. When Cranford answered Roth’s questions correctly, the two made their way to the college library to further explore their unexpected discovery in the C.Z. Mast Geneaology book, which covered the family history from 1750 to 1909. There, their suspicions were confirmed when they found both family lines.

“From the moment I first came to Hesston, I felt comfortable,” said Cranford, who taught at Hesston from 2002 to 2007. “I was raised with many of the principles and values of this culture, but would have never made the connection. It was wonderful to find out there was a kinship and reason I felt so comfortable. I believe our discovery was meant to be and this story was meant to be told.”

It was several years after their discovery that Cranford and Roth decided their family’s story needed to be told. Both set out on research trips to the areas where their families originated – Pennsylvania for the northern Amish Masts and east Texas and North Carolina for the southern Masts – to talk with relatives still living in the area and visit cemeteries and other historical family sites.

The Mast family became multi-racial when John’s grandson Reuben, a slave owner in North Carolina, fathered a child with a slave girl. The child was Cranford’s great great grandfather, Charley Mast, who was ripped away from his mother as a baby and sold to his uncle, Reuben’s brother John.

Throughout the book, Cranford and Roth use imaginative history to look into what their ancestors’ lives may have been like – their struggles, pain, fears and celebrations.

“I have felt my great great great grandmother’s presence – Charley’s mother – as I have gone through this whole process,” said Cranford. “As a slave, not much is known about her, but as a mother myself, I can empathize with what it must have been like to have her child torn away. Writing about it has calmed my spirit. Our ancestors propel us. Because of that compelling spirit, they drive what I say and feel.”

For both authors, writing their ancestors’ stories have been a personal experience full of growth and understanding.

“This has been a profoundly spiritual and emotional experience for me, which is why I think it is about something larger than Sharon and I meeting,” said Roth. “Our ancestors wanted this story to be told.”

Aside from telling an interesting and unexpected story, Cranford and Roth hope their book will encourage others to be open minded to the realities of bloodlines that may exist even in their own families, but in an even broader sense, to realize how connections across races exist.

“I hope our readers will recognize the strange American phenomenon about color and how tied up we are in that,” said Cranford. “I hope they will take a more internal look at ‘self” and who we all are as a people.”

“Stories like this have happened throughout history and continue to occur, but people don’t want to talk about it,” said Roth. “The complexity of kinship is often the elephant in the room, but we have decided we are going to talk about it.”

“Kinship Concealed” is currently being reviewed by publishers and Cranford and Roth hope that their family’s story will be available to all readers soon.

Hesston College students have success at vocal competition

Four Hesston College voice students advanced to at the least the semifinal round of competition at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Vocal Competition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nov. 2 to 3. Nine students represented Hesston College during the weekend competition.

Sophomore Cameron Ponce of Elkhart, Ind., placed fifth in the Sophomore Men’s Classical Division – the highest finisher for Hesston during the weekend – and advanced to the semifinals of the Freshman-Sophomore Men’s Musical Theatre Division. Ponce was also selected to sing at a musical theatre master class before the full convention. At Hesston, Ponce is a two-year member of Bel Canto Singers and Concert Band, both under the direction of Bradley Kauffman, and has been a part of all of the college’s theatre performances under the direction of Laura Kraybill during the 2011-12 year and in the current year to date. He studies voice with Hesston music faculty member Matthew Schloneger.

Sophomore Deni Brummer of Hutchinson, Kan., advanced to the semifinal round in the Sophomore Women’s Classical Division. She is a member of Bel Canto Singers for the 2012-13 year, was a member of the Hesston College Chorale under the direction of Ken Rodgers during the 2011-12 year and has participated in theatre performances. She studies voice with Holly Swartzendruber.

Sophomore Broxton Busenitz of North Newton, Kan., advanced to the semifinal round in the Freshman-Sophomore Men’s Musical Theatre Division. Busenitz is a two-year member of Bel Canto Singers and studies voice with Schloneger.

Freshman Josh Booth of Newton, Kan., advanced to the semifinal round in the Freshman Men’s Classical Division. He is a member of Bel Canto Singers and studies voice with Schloneger.

Other students competing from Hesston were sophomores Emerencia Dudas of Walbridge, Ohio, Bonita Garber of Bainbridge, Pa., Alisa Murray of Orrville, Ohio, freshman Rebecca Eichelberger of Geneva, Neb., and third-year student Kaedi LeFevre of Hesston, Kan.

The NATS Vocal Competition pits students against one another based on their age level and gender. About 450 students competed throughout the weekend, representing regional colleges and universities of all sizes from Division I to two-year colleges comparable in size to Hesston from Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.

“I was pleased at how well our students competed against voice majors from some of the top programs in the region,” said Schloneger.

A tradition continues with Thanksgiving Weekend

Hesston College will host its 45th annual Thanksgiving Weekend: A Family Celebration Nov. 22 to 24. The public is invited to attend several events that have become an annual Hesston College tradition.

The weekend lineup includes activities for all ages, including a traditional Thanksgiving meal, music concerts, a talent show, men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, a two-mile run/walk and a luminary walk at Dyck Arboretum.

“We welcome anyone who is interested in experiencing Hesston’s community or just wants to take part in the many fun events,” said Dallas Stutzman, director of Alumni and Church Relations.

Hesston students come to campus from 29 states and 15 countries, and with Christmas break following only three weeks after Thanksgiving, going home for both holidays is difficult for many students. Instead of going home for Thanksgiving, the Hesston event brings students’ families to them, giving them the chance to experience the Hesston College community.

“Thanksgiving is a weekend for high school-aged siblings of our students to visit their brother or sister at college, stay in the dorms, meet their friends and get a glimpse of the Hesston Experience,” said Vice President of Admissions Rachel Swartzendruber Miller. “We want all of our students’ families to feel connected to Hesston and to their students’ experience.”

Prospective students and their parents can explore what Hesston has to offer and meet faculty during a majors exhibition from 12:45 to 2:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 in the Hesston Mennonite Church Community Center on the Hesston College campus, and enjoy the fun of the campus community during activities like the annual talent show.

Other weekend events of special interest include the Thanksgiving buffet prepared by Hesston College Food Service and hosted by faculty and staff members. The dinner will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 22 in Bontrager Student Center. Reservations are required.

The music department will host several free performances throughout the weekend, including a choral masterworks concert of Mozart’s Solemn Vespers alongside traditional and contemporary anthems will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 22 at Hesston Mennonite Church.

The Hesston College Bel Canto Singers, Chorale and Concert Band will perform works from their fall repertoire at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 at Hesston Mennonite Church.

Voice and acting students will perform a collection of musical theatre songs and scenes during a Cabaret Music Revue at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24 in the Northlawn Studio Theatre. Admission is free but tickets are required as seating is limited. Call the Hesston College Bookstore at 620-327-8105 to reserve tickets.

Students, faculty and staff will display their talents through song, skits and video at a 10 p.m. talent show Nov. 22 at Hesston Mennonite Church.

Seasoned and casual runners and walkers can work off their Thanksgiving feasts during the 21st annual Howard Hustle two-mile run/walk at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 23. An early entry fee of $20 is being offered to registrants before Nov. 15. The fee after Nov. 15 is $25. Entry fees cover t-shirts and a chip timer for each participant. Proceeds will be donated to the Hesston College Labyrinth Project. Individuals may donate a gift to the Labyrinth Project without participating in the run. Medals will be given to overall and age group winners, and several door prizes will be available to participants as well. Registration information can be found online at hesston.edu.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams will host Northern Oklahoma College-Enid, Central Christian (McPherson, Kan.) junior varsity, Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kan.) junior varsity and Southeast Community College (Beatrice, Neb.) for the Thanksgiving Classic sponsored by The Twisted Cow in Newton, Kan., Nov. 23 and 24.

A complete weekend schedule and registration information can be found on the Hesston College website at hesston.edu or by calling the Special Events office at 866-437-7866 or 620-327-8109.

Hesston College to celebrate diversity with Arts Week

The local community is invited to join Hesston College in celebration of diverse backgrounds, cultures and religions in keeping with the year’s campus theme of immigration and diversity during the college’s Arts Week Nov. 5 to 11.

Students, faculty, alumni and local and national artists will present visual art, music, theatre and nature as a glimpse into the ways diversity affects all people.

“Arts week is a chance for our students to engage with a variety of artists in our community and have opportunities to be creative on campus,” said First-Year Experience leader Marissa King.

Arts Week begins at 3 p.m. Nov. 5, with a prairie exploration of the plains at the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains led by arboretum staff member Brad Guhr.

At 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5, Hesston alumnus Delmar Reyes of Hugoton, Kan., will present his artwork reflecting his Latino heritage and traditions in the Smith Center lobby. Reyes will be joined by students enrolled in Drawing I and II, who will present homage drawings of celebrated artists from the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 30s. Sophomore Ashish Pathak of Katmandu, Nepal, will also unveil his latest website creation.

From 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 6, Drawing I and II classes will do an exercise in creating immigrant portraits from trash with art faculty member Lois Misegadis in Friesen Center 108.

Events on Nov. 7 include an 11:30 a.m. concert and presentation exploring immigration’s influence on music in Northlawn 109 with Fred Carpenter and Tim May. Carpenter and May are a singer-songwriter duo from Nashville whose debut album charted them as the number one artist with the number one album at folk radio.

“Portraits of Change,” an art exhibit by local artist Micala Gingrich-Gaylord, director of the Newton Expressive Arts Center, will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Nov. 7 in Smith Center 105. The exhibit will show again from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 in Smith Center 105.

Ceramics faculty member and local artist Hanna Eastin will demonstrate clay art techniques from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 7 in Friesen Center 111.

Nov. 9 marks the opening night of the Hesston College Theatre Department’s performance of “Green Card,” which explores America as an immigrant and refugee society. The show will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Northlawn Studio Theatre. Ticket prices are $9 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens (65+). Tickets can be purchased in person at the Hesston College Bookstore, online at books.hesston.edu or by phone at 620-327-8105. A talk-back session led by the Mennonite Church Immigration Task Force will follow the performance. Other performances of the play are at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10, 16 and 17 and at 3 p.m. Nov. 18.

The Campus Activities Board will host a coffeehouse at 9 p.m. Nov. 9 in the Erb Hall Larks Nest where students, faculty and staff will perform music, poetry and other art in reflection of diversity.

The concluding event for the week will be a concert by Turtle Island Quartet as part of the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts series. The string quartet will perform their own original work and the music of Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane in a fusion of classical music tradition and contemporary American styles at 3 p.m. Nov. 11, at Hesston Mennonite Church. Single tickets are available for $20 or $25. Discounts are available for students and senior citizens. To purchase tickets, call 620-327-8158 (Hesston College) or 316-284-5205 (Bethel College) or visit the HBPA website at www.hesston.edu/hbpa.

A model for servant leadership

Equipping and empowering others through servant leadership in the church and in business was the theme of Hesston College’s 13th annual Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship Series Oct. 26 to 28.

More than 130 church and business leaders gathered on the Hesston College campus for the weekend conference with the theme “Top-down Servant Leadership: Redefining Leadership for Business and the Church.”

The theme played well into what was also a celebration weekend for 25 years of the college’s Pastoral Ministries program. About 30 of the program’s alumni, former faculty members and spouses spent part of the weekend connecting with one another, reminiscing about the start of their pastoral training at Hesston and reflecting on the program’s place in the church and world.

“Hesston College has not just been about developing leaders for 25 years, but for its entire existence,” said Tim Lichti, program director since 2010.

Lichti noted that one of the founders’ purposes for Hesston College was to be a place of biblical training and for preparing people for ministry.

Over the last 25 years, the program has trained 134 graduates, about 40 of whom are currently active pastors. In addition, more than 180 active pastors in Mennonite Church USA congregations list Hesston College as part of their education.

“Hesston College has responded well to the church’s call to provide leaders and to offer an opportunity for students for whom seminary is not option,” said Lichti.

Graduates and students shared about their experience in the program. Many, like Shawn Nolt, had been out of school for many years, had established careers and families whom they uprooted to move to Kansas for two years.

Nolt, a 2009 graduate, has served the Salem Mennonite Church congregation in Shickley, Neb., since he graduated. In 2007 he left behind a job as IT director and engineering support for a tractor manufacturing company and moved his wife, Suzanne, and three young daughters from Ohio to Hesston.

“I chose Hesston College Pastoral Ministries because I knew some pastors who had come through the program and they were professional, compassionate and relational,” said Nolt. “I had been serving my home church as I discerned my call to ministry, and I wanted a quick and valuable course of study that would get me into the local church as soon as was responsibly possible.”

Several graduates and students mentioned that while they were going through the process of discerning their call to ministry, considering Hesston College, a move and a change in their life’s direction, they felt like they were the only ones who had dealt with the changes. Shared and familiar experiences, changes and emotions helps to quickly build relationships and lasting bonds.

“The bond between pastoral ministries students is quickly built through the daily relationships of class, formation and experiencing life outside of classes together,” said Nolt. “While each family’s story is unique, there is a similar thread of struggling through the call and responding in faith. We also recognized our need for mutual guidance and support in the program and in the ministry to come.”

Hesston College’s Pastoral Ministries program is unique to most other pastoral training programs in the fact that the majority of pastoral training comes through seminaries and advanced degrees.

“It’s not reasonable to expect every pastor to go to seminary and have a master of divinity degree,” said Ervin Stutzman, executive director of Mennonite Church USA who was one of the presenters for the weekend. “I have an appreciation for Hesston’s program. It serves a great need in the church for training pastoral leaders.”

The program meets crucial needs for those considering ministry – a two-year course of study for the non-traditional student for whom seminary is not an option and the ability for pastors to consider a bi-vocational ministry – while offering practical pastoral training.

“The program’s founders had a vision that they worked hard to deliver on,” said Jim Mininger, who served as academic dean when the program was founded in 1987 and who played a part in organizing the program in its beginning stages. “But the real heroes are those who entered the program, who sacrificed and made faith decisions to answer the call.”

Once classes and internships are completed and practice sermons delivered and critiqued, Hesston College Pastoral Ministries graduates are prepared to lead their own congregations.

“All children of God have a ministry,” said 2009 graduate Karen Dalke, pastor of Des Moines Mennonite Church. “My responsibility is to help the people in my congregation unleash their creativity as we serve God by serving others. The Pastoral Ministries program gave me the tools I needed to be successful in that mission. My Hesston College Experience is the strong foundation I received that I continue to build on.”

The servant leadership that the weekend conference focused on wasn’t just a resource for pastors, but was one that can be applied by all church leaders, congregants and business leaders who desire to empower their employees and minister through their work.

Many recognized names in business and the church presented during the weekend, including the keynote speaker, Dr. John Stahl-Wert, a recognized expert in organizational leadership and an international bestselling author on the topic.

The idea of servant leadership meets the needs of both the leader and the follower, employer and employee, pastor and congregant, in a mutually beneficial and empowering way. With this model, people are able to relate to one another on a comfortable and more personal level.

Just as Hesston College Pastoral Ministries has served its students and the church as a model for leadership training and a champion for the culture of call for many years, so it will continue its mission in the future.

“The program grew me and became one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” said Dalke. “Thank you Hesston College and Hesston College Pastoral Ministries for partnering with God in walking with your students.”

Through the eyes of the newcomer

The Hesston College Theatre Department will present the stories of immigrant experiences through the decades and the world in the fall drama, JoAnne Akalaitis’ “Green Card,” directed by Laura Kraybill.

The show, which explores America as an immigrant and refugee society, will have five performances over two weeks – at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9, 10, 16 and 17, and at 3 p.m. Nov 18. The drama will be in the Hesston College Northlawn Studio Theatre, and has a run time of about 90 minutes with a talk back session to follow each performance.

“Green Card” weaves back and forth between old world immigrant experiences of the early 20th century to more contemporary experiences of Cambodian refugees to Thailand in the 1970s and Central Americans to Los Angeles.

Each story tries to help the audience understand and connect with the thoughts and emotions that many immigrants feel in a new place.

“The play allows the audience to watch the Americanization of immigrants through our media-saturated culture, and how that permeates the immigrant experience,” said Kraybill. “It tries to create a barrage of image and sound that would replicate the overwhelmed feeling someone from a non-media culture would experience.”

The immigrant stories are told with brutal honesty, showing the way in which immigrants throughout the centuries have faced racism and other prejudices in their new home, including cruel jokes, harsh language and violent descriptions, which audience members should be aware of and prepared for.

“This is not a play that leaves you feeling good,” said Kraybill. “Even as it shows the beauty and turmoil of immigrant stories before coming to America, it also shows the dirty underbelly of racism.”

The audience will be left to feel uncomfortable at some points, but discomfort often addresses the issues that need to be talked about, Kraybill said.

Talk backs sessions will be led by the Mennonite Church Immigration Task Force following each performance.

Immigration is a common theme of study in several courses for the year, being spearheaded by the First-Year Experience seminar. Students enrolled in First-Year Experience are reading “Enrique’s Journey” by Sonia Nazario, which is the true story of the dangers and hardships 17-year-old Enrique faced as he traveled alone from Honduras to the United States to find and reunite with his mother after 11 years.

“Immigration is a huge topic in our society,” said Kraybill. “The arts – especially theatre – are an avenue to discuss issues of great moral importance and to reconsider our responses to those issues.”

With a PG rating, parental caution is advised due to difficult themes and descriptions and harsh language.

Ticket prices are $9 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens (65+). Tickets can be purchased in person at the Hesston College Bookstore, online at books.hesston.edu or by phone at 620-327-8105. Tickets will also be available at the door 30 minutes before each show and are subject to availability.

Student performers include sophomores Nathan Bray of Galva, Kan., Deni Brummer of Hutchinson, Kan., Bonita Garber of Bainbridge, Pa., Cameron Ponce of Elkhart, Ind., David Rudy of Manheim, Pa., freshmen Amber Davis of Crawfordsville, Iowa, JD Hershberger of Hesston, Kan., David Penner of Moundridge, Kan., Nathanael Ressler of Mount Vernon, Ill., Tien Tran of Hochiminh City, Vietnam, Issei Tsuji of Chiba-ken, Japan, and community high school student Emmali Lapp of Hesston, Kan.

Bold string quartet to open concert series

Turtle Island Quartet, a string quartet fusing the classical music tradition with contemporary American styles, will open the 31st year of the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Series at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 11, at Hesston Mennonite Church.

Winner of the 2006 and 2008 Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album, Turtle Island has led the way in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings since 1985.

“Turtle Island Quartet was really the first string quartet to achieve artistic and commercial success merging traditional string instrumentation with jazz, improvisational styles and contemporary compositional techniques,” said Matthew Schloneger, HBPA director. “They’re still the best in the world at what they do, and they put on a superbly energetic and entertaining live concert.”

The quartet’s repertoire includes folk, bluegrass, swing, bebop, funk, R&B, new age, rock and hip-hop as well as music of Latin America and India. They have more than a dozen recordings with well-known music labels, collaborations with famed artists, composers and symphonic ensembles, soundtracks for major motion pictures, television and radio credits including “The Today Show,” “All Things Considered,” “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Morning Edition” and feature articles in “People” and “Newsweek” magazines.

In addition to their own original work, Turtle Island’s HBPA concert will focus on the music of Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane.

Members, David Balakrishnan on violin, Mark Summer on cello, Mateusz Smoczynki on violin and Benjamin von Gutzeit on viola, are known worldwide for their revival of improvisational and compositional chamber traditions that have not been explored by string players for about 200 years – a unique trait explored in modern music by saxophonists and keyboard masters of the jazz and pop worlds. Their innovative approach to chamber music has moved them from being termed “alternative” at one time to now firmly inhabiting mainstream expectations.

World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma described the quartet as “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground – authentic and passionate – a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.”

Single tickets for Turtle Island Quartet are available for $20 or $25. Season tickets for all five concerts in the series are also available from $75 to $85 for adults. Discounts are available for students and senior citizens for both single and season tickets.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 620-327-8158 (Hesston College) or 316-284-5205 (Bethel College) or visit the HBPA website.

HBPA is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency which believes a great nation deserves great Art, Excel Industries and Hustler Turf Equipment (Hesston), the cities of Hesston and North Newton and area patrons.

Hesston College to host church leader in residence Oct. 28 to 31

Joanna Shenk, an associate for Interchurch Relations and Communication with Mennonite Church USA in Elkhart, Ind., will serve Hesston College as church leader in residence Oct. 28 to 31.

Shenk serves on teams committed to undoing prejudiced behavior in the church, including leading the Women in Leadership audit project that researched the frequency with which women are used in leadership positions within Mennonite Church USA congregations and organizations. She is also the editor of “Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship” (Herald Press, 2011), a collection of stories exploring the creative tension of movements and institutions within the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Huntington (Ind.) College and a master’s in theology and theological studies from Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Elkhart, Ind.)

As church leader in residence, Shenk will connect with Hesston College students and local pastors. She will share her life story and work during student-led campus worship at 9 p.m. Oct. 28 in the lower level of Northlawn. She will also speak at 11 a.m. chapel services on Monday, Oct. 29, and Wednesday, Oct. 31, at Hesston Mennonite Church. Campus worship and chapel are open to the public.

Shenk will also lead a seminar for pastors on “Welcoming Divine Mystery into Our Churches” beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31. The seminar will address the meaning and practices of being a true discipleship community. Pastors interested in attending Wednesday’s chapel, complimentary lunch and the seminar can contact the Hesston College Church Relations office at 620-327-8109 or toll free at 866-437-7866.