Education

Story by Stephen Payne

The Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities (AACU), which is composed of the presidents and other top leadership from 13 Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities in North America, reports the latest consolidated enrollment numbers for 2022.

Gordon Bietz, executive director for AACU, shares, “At our latest meeting in October 2022, the AACU presidents from North America voted to make some of this most recent data public to inform and engage our key stakeholders and constituencies.”

Story by Esther Hernandez 

Nalda Hernandez was concerned for her son Antonio. He was being bullied in school, and the emotional stress resulted in him not caring about anything, including his grades. She knew he needed a change, but as a single mom, could she afford a Seventh-day Adventist education? On the other hand, could she afford not to?

She enrolled Antonio at Blue Mountain Academy (BMA) in 2019. “That was a lot of sacrifice at the time,” Nalda shares. “The atmosphere of an Adventist school was important to me, and here he had the opportunity to meet other students from all over the world who also shared the same beliefs.”

Story by Courtney Dove

Kettering College has been awarded a grant aimed at creating and implementing a comprehensive education program for community health workers in Dayton, Ohio. The funding will be effective immediately through September of 2025, awarding $1,847,399 to the university.  

Community health workers (CHWs) are grassroots health workers who live in the communities they serve. They work with their friends, families, and neighbors to bring reliable health information and services to under-resourced communities. This is especially true for communities that are predominately minorities. 

Story by Debra Anderson

A new principal was in place when Takoma Academy (TA), located in Takoma Park, Md., opened its doors for the 2022–23 academic school year. Yasmine Julien, an instructional leader, mathematics content specialist and experienced classroom teacher, accepted the assignment to lead the 118-year-old institution.

Julien brings to TA a breadth of experience in academic leadership, as she has held the positions of dean of students and instructional coach in previous jobs. Her most recent job was as the assistant principal at the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy in Washington, D.C.

Story by Andrew S. Lay

Chesapeake Conference's Highland View Academy (HVA) welcomes Rob Gettys as the new principal for the 2022–23 school year. He brings many years of educational experience to the position.

Prior to coming to HVA, Gettys served as the athletic director for Andrews University (Mich.). He has worked at several academies, including Blue Mountain Academy (Pa.), Fletcher Academy (N.C.), Ozark Adventist Academy (Ark.) and Upper Columbia Academy (Wash.).