Messiah College News Archive

The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival recently honored the work of several students and an alumnus from Messiah College’s Theatre Department. Jim Knipple, from the Class of 2000, will receive the festival’s Certificate of Merit for his direction of “Fertile Ground,” in recognition of the play’s exceptional elements of production. “Fertile Ground: Stories from Messiah’s First 100 Years,” is an original blackbox production written by alumna Deborah Harbin DeGeorge ’03, to commemorate the College’s Centennial year. The play was performed on campus to sold-out audiences on Oct. 8-16.

Current students Sarah Burgess, Kimberley Lambertson, Ashley James, and Gabriella Saramago are also nominated through the festival for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. The main focus of this nomination and subsequent competition is to celebrate the nation’s finest student actors and the craft that enables them to create compelling and truthful characterizations. These students will compete at the regional level in January 2010. Lambertson and Saramago were nominated for their roles in “The Spitfire Grill” under the direction of Edward Cohn and Elaine Henderson. Burgess and James were nominated for their roles in “Fertile Ground.”

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics ranks college programs by assigning point values based on the successes of each team’s season. This year Messiah earned a school record of 696.75 points and finished 14th among Division III colleges.

The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has ranked the Messiah College women ninth in the nation among DIII schools. The recognition is based on the teams’ finishes in the cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.

The Central PA Blood Bank recognized Messiah for donating more blood than any other local college this spring semester. The campus community donated 182 pints this spring and 412 pints, or 51.5 gallons, this academic year.

The College expects a commencement crowd of more than 5,000 people on May 16 when 650 graduates earn their degrees. Ronald J. Sider, evangelical speaker and writer, will address the graduates and their guests.

“How My Light Is Spent,” a one-act play written by Danielle Sahm `09, was one of four winners chosen in a Drury University playwriting competition.

Sahm’s play was selected from among nearly 300 entries.

Theatre major Josh Luther `11 will play the role of Peter Van Daan in Open Stage Harrisburg’s production of “Diary of Anne Frank.”

The play will be performed for area high school students and will have a public showing on March 14 at 8 p.m.

Seniors Amanda Bonanni and Lacey Ward were selected from among more than 1,300 applicants to teach in the Philadelphia School District while attending classes to earn their teaching certification.

Bonanni will teach mathematics at the middle or high school level, and Ward will teach English, probably Special Education English, at the high school level in the 2009-2010 academic year.

Both students cite their experiences at Messiah’s Philadelphia campus as a life-transforming time as they fell in love with the city of Philadelphia and developed a passion for the city’s children.

Messiah once again earned a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for service-learning and civic engagement commitments.

Almost 92% of Messiah College’s student body participates in some form of local community service while they are enrolled at Messiah, according to the College’s Agape Center for Service and Learning. Yearly, students log more than 124,000 volunteer hours. Read the rest of this entry »

Barnabas Servant Leadership Awards recognize James Krimmel for providing fraud prevention and detection workshops internationally, and Jessanna Hall `09 for coordinating youth mentoring and prison ministries.

Krimmel is a professor of accounting at Messiah. He has worked extensively with Hope International and World Vision. Hall is a student leader at the Agape Center for Service and Learning. In addition to her role as Youth Mentoring and Prison Ministries coordinator, Hall co-founded “Project B,” a ministry to the homeless.