City of Lacombe Radically Improves Maple Drive

The City of Lacombe has begun resurfacing Maple Drive and adding curbs and sidewalk from College Avenue down the hill, past the PE Centre to Rosedale Valley.  "The City's engineers spent a great deal of time consulting with us at CUC and the staff of the College Heights SDA Church to ensure the Maple Drive upgrade met everybody's needs," explained CUC President Mark Haynal.  "When finished, this portion of Maple Drive will be visually appealing and a great deal safer for pedestrians."

Perhaps the greatest safety enhancement the upgrade will provide will be a clearly marked crosswalk with a flashing light between CUC's main campus and the PE Centre.  Students will now be able to walk safely on a sidewalk from the church all the way to the PE Centre.  There will also be an asphalt trail from the PE Centre to the edge of Rosedale Valley.

"We've contracted with the same company that will be resurfacing Maple Drive to have them resurface the parking lot adjacent to the church and the McKibbon Education Centre," said Haynal.  "We saved some money by having them take care of our parking lot while they were working on Maple Drive."

Drawings of the landscaping improvements that will be made can be viewed here.

A newly-resurfaced Lot G by the church, before the lines were drawn.

Faculty and Staff Meet Together for Special Worship Services

Faculty and Staff met together for two special worship services Monday and Tuesday, August 25 and 26, in the Ralph Coupland Choral Rehearsal Room in West Hall.  "Getting a new academic year started can be an extremely busy and stressful time," said President Mark Haynal.  "When we face challenges, the best thing we can do is take time together to worship, pray, and sing a hymn or two."  (The full text of Haynal's welcome can be read here.)

Ron Sydenham, senior pastor of the College Heights SDA Church spoke Monday morning on the assurance God provides that we are saved.  Tuesday morning Honey Todd, pastor of the Mountain View SDA Church in Calgary used the story of Jesus healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda to illustrate God's desire to give us wellness.

Pastor Ron Sydenham

Pastor Honey Todd

In addition to singing hymns, faculty and staff enjoyed a special musical meditation each morning.  Professor Debra Bakland played a piano piece by Mozart on Monday and Professor Cristian Neacsu played a violin piece by Bach on Tuesday.

Following faculty/staff worship, the faculty took part in presentations and activities that focused on wellness.  Most of Tuesday was spent at Foothills Camp enjoying the ropes challenge.  For aerial video shot by CUC's new drone, please see the video clip at the end of this post.

As Dr. Laurence Wong prepares to demonstrate his considerable rope challenge skills, his colleagues (below), ready their cameras to record the historic event.

First Year Students Embark on CUE Quest

Dr. Joy Fehr teaches UNIV101 in the Ad Building chapel.

A new batch of over 100 first year students arrived on campus Sunday and are now fully immersed in CUE* Quest.  Also known as UNIV101, CUE Quest is an intensive week-long course for first-year students that helps them make the important transition to university while providing vital information and resources needed to flourish as a CUC student.

"CUE Quest will introduce you to all aspects of campus life and prepare you for a successful first year at university," Dr. Joy Fehr, vice president for academic administration, told students at the start of the week-long course she teaches.  Because the class is so large, Dr. Fehr is assisted by a group of experienced students, some of whom are shown in the video below giving new students a joyful greeting as they enter the Administration Building.

*Complete University Experience

In UNIV101 students are often asked to answer survey questions by texting in their response.

Canadian University College does a number of things to ensure first year students have a smooth transition to university life.  In addition to UNIV101 there is a special weekend campout designed to help all of the first year students make as many new friends as possible.  Some new students even receive help moving into their dorm room.

New City Bus Service Includes CUC Stop

The City of Lacombe and the Town of Blackfalds launched a new bus service August 25, 2014, that includes a stop at CUC on both of its routes.  Known as BOLT Transit, the services has been hailed as a "great example of regional collaboration that will provide an important quality of life benefit to a large number people."

Students can catch a BOLT Transit bus six times a day* at the corner of Maple Drive and College Avenue that will take them through Lacombe to downtown Red Deer with stops in Blackfalds.  Anyone can ride the bus for free until September 30, 2014.

For more information about the routes, schedule, fares and types of buses operated please click here.

*Three times a day on Sabbath.

Keith Leavitt Spends Third Summer with A Better World in Kenya

For the third consecutive year education professor Keith Leavitt spent time in Kenya this summer working with A Better World Canada to develop schools and education programs.

In 2012 Leavitt presented a series of teacher training workshops in the Kericho and Masai Mara regions of Kenya.  Teachers from 120 different schools took advantage of this training.  More information about that project can be found here.

Leavitt led a small team of teachers from Alberta that visited 10 schools to work one-on-one with Kenyan teachers in 2013.  "Each teacher on our team was paired with a teacher at the schools we visited," explained Leavitt.  "A teacher from our team would teach a demonstration lesson to students while the host teacher would observe and take notes."  After this, the teachers would swap roles and the teacher from Alberta would observe the Kenyan teacher.  Once this cycle of observations was completed, the two teachers would debrief and share observations and ideas.  Additional information about this trip can be found here.

"I came away from this trip with a sense of admiration for what the Kenyan teachers are doing with limited resources," said Leavitt.  "Many teachers have 70 or 80 pupils in their classroom with 3 or 4 students sharing one desk and one textbook."

This summer Leavitt met with around 55 administrators in three school districts.  The purpose of these meetings was to vision with school leaders ways they would like to develop and improve their institutions and how A Better World Canada might partner with them in achieving these goals.

In addition to these meetings Leavitt visited 10 schools to begin gathering data that will be used to document the impact improvements in facilities and teaching strategies have on students' academic performance.  "Simply putting a roof on a school that did not have one positively impacts students' academic performance," said Leavitt.  Without a roof classrooms would get quite cold during the "winter" months.  When the classroom is cold students don't show up and miss important lessons.

"Student achievement is improved by simply ensuring a school has a safe and reliable water supply," said Leavitt.  "When students must take turns hauling water in from a distance, those students miss instructional time."

Although Professor Leavitt will be retiring from his position at CUC, where he will have taught for 28 years, he plans to continue using his time and talent working with schools and teachers in Kenya and other A Better World Canada locations.  If you would like to support or learn more about A Better World Canada's education projects please click here. 

 

Former CUC Librarian Publishes His Memoirs

Keith Clouten, who served as CUC's librarian from 1980 to 1993, has just published, The Road from Stoney Creek.  Filled with many photos and fascinating stories, this book describes the various "journeys" that make up Clouten's life, from his childhood in Toronto, New South Wales, Australia, to retirement in Lacombe.

"I wrote this book for three reasons," explains Clouten.  "First, I wanted to validate how God has led throughout my journey.  Second, as Ngaire and I read these chapters together, it will help us recall our shared experiences.  And finally, I want my readers to be encouraged in their own journeys."

The summary of the book on its back cover states, Anyone who believes that librarians live ho-hum lives should read this book.  Keith's life has been filled with adventure and travel.  Besides a life-long career as an academic librarian in three countries, Keith has volunteered in at least a dozen others.  Librarianship was not Keith's original career choice, but his story reveals how God led him step by step into a life of rewarding experiences.

The Road from Stoney Creek is Clouten's fourth book.  Prior to this he wrote:

• Reid's Mistake: A History of Lake Macquarie to 1890  
• Hunter Valley Bush Walk
• Journeys: Devotions for Travelers

The Road from Stoney Creek can be purchased at the Lacombe Adventist Book Centre.  For more information please call (403) 782-4416 or (800) 661-8131.

A Wide Variety of Class Gifts have been Presented to CUC

Graduates of a school typically give a gift to their alma mater in their senior year to promote a philanthropic spirit among them and to encourage a legacy of giving. CUC has benefited from the generosity of its alumni and friends who continue their financial support of the “school we have learned to love, Our CUC!”

The bird bath given by the Class of 1931 was preserved thanks to the
Class of 1961.  Standing by the bird bath is Carolyn Hoyt whose
aunt, Nettie Baerg, was a member of the Class of 1931.

The Class of 2014 contributed $6400 that they asked be used to install additional plug-ins in student parking areas.  The earliest class gift we are aware of is 1922. The class president, Marvin Knoll, and his 13 classmates gave a drinking fountain for the main floor of the administration building. The next nine class gifts on record are as follows:

1923 Loud speaker for the school radio; class president, Clifton C. Hubbard

1926 Large wall clock, class president: Carson Morrison

1931 Rock garden and bird bath; class president, Roy Bowett

1932 Electric clock for the chapel; class president, Arthur Ross

1933 $15.00 for missions; class president, Walter Roberts

1938 Sidewalk from West Hall to the basement northwest door of the administration building (under chapel stage) to the laundry; class president, Hugh Campbell

1939 Black hardcover ledger with bolts in the spine; class president, Norman Taylor

1943 Wall standard to hold 2 flags; class president, Rudolph Johnson

1948 Pulpit made by Mel Andersen; class president, William “Bill” Soloniuk

Of these ten years, three gifts still remain. In 1996 the 1961 class executive wrote a letter “to whom it may concern,” to urge the preservation of the bird bath gift of 1931. If you remember your graduating class gift to CUC and/or PAA, we would like to hear from you so we can add to our files.

The Class of 1931 gave CJC a bird bath, seen here in its original setting in a rock garden in front of the Administration Building.  The bird bath still stands in the middle of the walkway leading from the Administration Building to the Cafeteria.

The Class of 1939 gave CJC a general ledger book.  Bernie Vatcher Leavitt's (left) aunt and Marianne White's grandmother, Edythe Vatcher White, was a member of the 1939 graduating class.

The Class of 1943's gift was a wall flag holder, held in the photo above by Beth Winslow
Dunlop, a member of that class.  In the photo below graduands of the Class of 1953
pass that flag holder as they take their place in the chapel.