Calvin-Parents E-Newsletter: April 27, 2010

Breakfast for Parents of Graduates tickets

Join President Byker and other Calvin guests for a special Commencement weekend event, the Breakfast for Parents of Graduates, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., on Commencement morning in the Prince Conference Center.  The keynote speaker is professor of communication arts and sciences Judith Vander Woude, recipient of the Presidential Award for Exemplary Teacher in 2008. 

Seating for this event is limited to 300 parents; order your tickets ($15) online today or call the box office at 616-526-6282. Tickets will be on sale until May 14 and will be mailed directly to the parents' home.  See the Commencement site for more information and the full event schedule.

Speaking of Prof. Vader Woude and the communication arts and sciences (CAS) department, there is a Visit Day for CAS on April 30---a day of events designed for students considering a major in CAS.  Recently, a video featuring students that are part of Calvin's Stroke Rehabilitation Clinic was posted to Calvin's Vimeo channel.

Faith

Be sure to visit the recently redesigned Faith site to see how faith animates our scholarship, our worship, our athletics, our music and our lives at Calvin.  We invite you to join us in exploring this passion through worship, discipleship, prayer, learning, service and the mutual caring that is part of this community.  On that site you can read more about "What We Believe, or watch daily chapels or the LOFT service, both of which are streamed live.  Also, you can read current prayer requests or link to sermon archives on prayer from Chaplain Mary Hulst.
 
If you are interested in sermon archives, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Calvin Theological Seminary are partners in the Center for Excellence in Preaching. This Center provides sermons on their site that cover a wide variety of preachers, scripture passages and topics, and would be great to add to your podcasts or mp3 files.  You can also access the CEP on iTunes.

Senior Design Banquet and Projects Night, May 8, 2010

Senior Design Projects Night is the perfect time for friends, family, and the public to come together to see what Calvin's engineering students have been working on all year!  The 26th Annual Senior Design Banquet and Projects Night will be Saturday, May 8, 2010.

The evening's activities will begin at 4:00 p.m. in the Vermeer Engineering Projects Center and Prince Engineering Design Center. During the open house guests will be able to view the displays and prototypes developed by the design teams, ask questions and talk to faculty. Following a wonderful dinner at the Commons Dining Hall (read more about dinner/tickets below), the teams will divide into small groups and give a formal presentation of their team project. The small groups presentations will be held in the Science Building 010, Science Building 110, the Chapel Undercroft, and the Commons Lecture Hall.

This evening is open to the public.  We'd like to extend a special invitation to high school students considering an engineering program at any school to attend.

Dinner is at 6:00 p.m. and tickets are required. Tickets can be purchased through the Calvin College Box Office. If you have any questions, please contact the engineering office.  If you cannot come to the festivities, please take a few minutes to visit the Web site which includes links to each of the 17 teams in this year's class.

Sports

For the first time since 1982, the Calvin women’s tennis team has captured an MIAA championship. The Knights clinched the outright league crown with a 9-0 win at Alma Monday afternoon. The Knights finish the MIAA regular season 8-0, marking just the second time in school history that the Knights swept through the league dual match schedule unbeaten.  You can read more about NCAA III qualifying performances for track and field athletes from this past weekend.

Other Calvin sports stories found around the Internet:

• Tennis player Matthew DeVlieger was interviewed about his recovery after a scuba diving accident left him paralyzed. 
• Cancer-free Shelby Mast helps rebuild Calvin's softball team.
• John Mantel will look back at his four years at Calvin as a time where he strengthened his heart, soul, mind and body.

Gifts for Commencement

To make your Commencement celebration as simple and enjoyable as possible, the Campus Store and a number of partnering businesses offer special memorabilia and gifts (photos, flowers, Prism yearbooks, rings, nursing pins...) for Calvin graduates and their parents. Visit the Commencement gifts page for more information about all that is offered. 

We'll see you for Commencement on Saturday, May 22, 2010!

Spring Exam Treat

Help your hard-working student jump-start spring exams with confidence. The Spring Exam Treat ($20) features a reusable tote box filled with study snacks and treats (popcorn, candy, granola bars, etc.). The order deadline for this treat is Tuesday, May 4; the treat will be delivered to students on Monday, May 10. Remember that you can also surprise your student with the popular "Pizza and a Movie" treat, which can be ordered anytime and often! This treat features a certificate for a large two-topping pizza, a bag of popcorn, and a Blockbuster® gift card.
 

Student health insurance (slightly) updated announcement

T-shirts for a cause

The Hope College men's tennis coach has initiated a t-shirt fundraiser to help offset the cost of therapy for Matthew De Vlieger. The shirts are royal blue and will be worn by all seven teams in the MIAA conference the opening day of the tennis tournament on Friday.  Calvin, Hope, Kalamazoo, Albion, Adrian, Trine, and Alma will be wearing these shirts instead of the team jerseys that are normally worn. This will serve as a tremendous motivation to Matt as he continues his therapy in Miami.
 
These t-shirts are being made available to the public as a fundraiser and will be sold for $15 each.  Please stop by the table at Johnny's on Thursday, April 29 from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to buy one or some.  Shirts may also be available at the dining hall that will celebrate "Matthew DeVlieger Grilled Cheese Day" at lunch on Wednesday, April 28.
 
Thanks in advance to everyone for all your support, encouragement, and prayers. Matt and his entire family have been touched and inspired by the Calvin community. 

Shirley Hoogstra, Vice President for Student Life

Check the Parent Calendar for important dates

Bookmark the Parent Calendar page to keep track of important dates throughout the year, including:

News & Stories from campus

Check out a wealth of great stories on the News & Stories site, including a story about a fast-growing sport on campus, lacrosse.  Also, professor Henk Aay has earned a Fulbright to study documentaries about the Netherlands in the Netherlands.