April 20, 2001

A trio of new hires at Calvin College plans to make connections to the West Michigan community in a variety of ways.

Dee Dee Honner (top pic) comes to Calvin from San Diego to become Calvin's first-ever Manager of Employment & Compensation. Peter Overvoorde (middle), a Grand Rapids native, has been named the school's new Pathways to Possibilities Program Coordinator. And Carol Rienstra (bottom), who hails from Muskegon, is the new Director of Community Relations.

Each position has a variety of significant external interactions built right into the job description.

Overvoorde will work with Calvin's Possibilities program which sees Calvin partnering with church in Holland, Muskegon and Grand Rapids to work with youth in elementary, junior high and high school to keep them excited about education.

"There are so many kids out there that deserve a chance," says Overvoorde, a 1997 Calvin graduate. "They just need a little help, a shove in the right direction. I'm really excited about doing that and making it fun too."

Pathways has been in existence since 1997, working with fourth through 12th graders. Because of a recent grant to Calvin the school was able to hire Overvoorde to work on programming. He will be involved with such educational events as "The Joys of Writing," in which youngsters will get a change to produce a newspaper story with a newspaper reporter, and "Exploring One's Genealogy."

Overvoorde graduated Calvin with a degree in therapeutic recreation and went on to earn a master's degree in kinesiology from Indiana University.

Rienstra, also a Calvin graduate, was recently appointed as the Director of Community Relations for the Alumni and Public Relations Office at Calvin, bringing to the post a background of working with community, faith-based and school organizations. She co-founded a coalition of youth-serving organizations which became Muskegon's Promise: The Alliance for Youth. She also has served on many advisory boards and committees that relate to youth and community development. Since 1997 she served the Pathways to Possibilities partnership, working with Muskegon and Holland churches.

Says Rienstra: "It's an honor to be part of a team that seeks partnerships in community as a way to transform society and further the kingdom of God. As Calvin seeks to articulate the meaning and significance of cross-cultural engagement, one of the exciting challenges for a Community Relations Director is to discover, uncover and recover ways to further the missions of the college and the partners. I hope I can be used to connect some dots that will help us all as staff, faculty and students, live lives of faith in contemporary society."

Honner is the school's first Manager of Employment & Compensation. In that capacity she will work with Calvin departments in their hiring processes, "providing leadership and assistance in helping recruit the best qualified staff." She also will work with Calvin's Job Evaluation Committee to administer the compensation program, create accurate job descriptions, conduct job evaluations and maintain current benchmark wage and salary survey data to ensure pay equity within Calvin and compliance with federal and state regulations.

Honner has a degree from National University in San Diego. For many years she has been involved in human resources, specializing in employment and recruiting. Most recently, she was been working as the Employment Manager for TDK Semiconductor in California.

Contact Phil de Haan.