| Changing the World: Alumni News and Notes |
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Changing The World
Rob Cornwell, '88 Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , (314) 744-5322 Alumni News and Notes Phillips (Leong), Shirley, '78, BA in Elementary Education and MSE in Classroom Teaching in '04. Shirley was named the Lindbergh School District Teacher of the Year for the 2009-2010 school year. She currently teaches pre-kindergarten at the Lindbergh Early Childhood Center and has been there for the past 22 years. Shirley will be considered for the Missouri State Teacher of the Year award as well. Scism, Stanley, '81, BA in English and MA from Washington University, has taught school in several different countries, including Madagascar, Sri Lanka, India, at the Scism Christian Institute in New Delhi, and others. Scism pastors multiple churches and edits Glory magazine, which circulates in India and Nepal. In addition, he has published several books and is currently working on a Christmas opera, several books, three memoirs, and numerous songs. Carter, Andrew, '87, BS in Business Administration and MBA in '90. Since 2002, Carter served as the vice president of intercollegiate athletics at Newberry College. Prior to that he was the athletic director at MBU, from 1997-2002. On July 1, he began a career as the athletic director of Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA. Hayden (Coughlin), Debra, '87, BA in Psychology and Religion, currently lives in St. Charles with her husband, Steve. They have three boys: Josh (13), Jake (11), and Jaron (8). The family attends Grace Church St. Louis and is involved in the Worship Arts Ministry there. In her spare time, Debbie enjoys cooking, photography and scrapbooking. Pewitt, Kenneth, '88, BS in Social Sciences. During his time at MBU, Ken was involved in various musicals, served as the President of freshman class, was in the musical group "Anticipation," and served as Director of Development from 1989-1990 prior to graduation. Since 1991, he has worked for Safeco Insurance and is still there as a claims analyst. Ken has been married for 19 years and lives in Wildwood, Mo., with his wife, Carrie. They are active at West County Community Church. His two step-children- Paul and Jessica -are grown and married and his two children-Sarah and Will-are 17 and 12. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tucker, Richard, '93, BS in Religious Education and Candace (Carlin) Tucker, '91, BS in Psychology keep busy with their seven children that range in age from 14 to 1 - Caleb, Luke, Allison, Nolie, Elijah, Isaiah, and Anna Claire. Rick currently serves at 2Rivers Church in Wentzville in Family Ministries, and Candy works hard homeschooling their children. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Bynum, Kip, '94, BS in Communications, just opened the first Christian Brothers Automotive repair facility in the greater St. Louis area on April 23. CBA is located at 2941 Dougherty Ferry Road in Valley Park. Although the company was founded in 1982 in Texas, it is rapidly expanding, with the first location in the St. Louis area managed by Kip and his wife, Lori. Underwood, Nathaniel, '94, BS in Business Administration and his wife, Sharon (Cameron) Underwood, '96, BSE in both Early Childhood and Elementary Education moved to Palmyra, Mo., this summer. They spent five years in Iowa serving at Cono Christian School as Athletic Director, Principal, coach, dorm parent, cook, bus driver, maintenance, and various other roles involved with the needs of an international boarding school working with troubled teens. Sharon was hired by the Palmyra R-I School District as the elementary principal, so they made the trek to Missouri. Nathaniel will be working with the basketball programs at the high school until he discovers God's plan for him long-term. They have four children, Victoria (17), Allyssa (15), Sabrina (7), and Elijah (18 months). Brenner (Ruble), Melanie, '96, BS in Administration of Justice and Psychology has served as a patrol officer in Montgomery County, Maryland for the past five years. She then moved to a temporary job in the media section, which led to her current position as the department's public information officer. In this role, she serves as web master, writes press releases, and also serves as the police liaison to the Crime Solvers organization for Montgomery County. DeShurley, Keith, '96, BSE in Elementary Education, coaches baseball at Fort Zumwalt South High School. The team has always been elite, but this year they defeated Lee's Summit North in the Missouri Class 4 Championship game - claiming the school's first baseball state title. As a result, DeShurley was selected as the 2009 Post-Dispatch Baseball Coach of the Year. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Sisney, Lee, '96, BA in Music is currently the Worship Pastor at First Baptist Church of Blue Springs, Mo. He leads the church's growing music and worship ministries, and coordinates graphics, technical arts, and seasonal productions. His wife, Casey (Tiefenbrunn), '94, BSE in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education teaches first grade at an elementary school in the Blue Springs district and serves with Lee to coordinate a number of special events at First Baptist. Lee and Casey moved to Blue Springs in the spring of 2007 after serving nearly nine years at First Baptist Church of Harvester in Bess (Augustin), Janet, '97, BA in English with a Writing Certificate in English and a minor in Public Relations, celebrated the birth of her first child, Claire MaKenna, born on June 18, weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Janet, her husband, Jim, and baby Claire live in St. Peters, Mo., and are active at First Baptist Church of Harvester in the Children's ministry. Janet also sings on the Praise Team. Janet works from home as an audio production editor/coordinator for Affordable Audio Production and Jim works as Operations Manager for Stogner (Nowlin), Rebecca, '97, BA in Communications, began her duties as executive director of the West Texas A&M University Alumni Association on March 2. Prior to WTAMU, she worked for The Don and Sybil Harrington Cancer Center as director of annual giving and then as director of development. Ohnemus, Marcus, '98, BS in Sports Medicine and MA in Exercise Physiology from University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2001. Since 2002, Marcus has been a part of the athletic training staff at Bradley University and has served as the head athletic trainer for the past three years. His work includes everything from helping players recover from colds or assisting them through rehab after an injury or surgery. He is also challenged with finding a balance between getting the players back out on the court and doing what is best for their recovery. He loves to see a player get back to what they love to do. Pruett (Bradley), Julie, '98, BA in Music Education, and her husband, Ryan, are excited to welcome a new boy into the family. The Pruetts adopted Alexander James, their second boy from China on June 21, 2009. In August 2007, they brought Nicholas home from China, and now they welcomed Alex into the family as well. For more of the story see www.youbelong.net/pruett or contact them at: Cooper, Anthony, '00, BA in Church Music and his family just moved to Texas. Anthony went in view of call to Holy Cross Lutheran Church as their Director of Creative Arts Ministries. He, his wife, and two sons now live in College Station, Texas. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Weems (Scharf), Amber, '02, BS in Sports Medicine was married this past winter. On December 13, 2008, she and her husband, Jon, were wed at the Piper Palm House in Tower Grove Park. They now live in Abilene, Texas. Jon works as an Adult Probation Officer for Taylor County and Amber is the Associate Women's Athletic Trainer at Abilene Christian University. This is her sixth year as fulltime staff there. She and Jon also have a four year old dog, Millee, whom they adore, and they attend Beltway Park Baptist Church. Payton (Gowen), Melissa, '03, BM in Music Performance currently lives with her husband, Ryan, in St. Charles, Missouri. She is working at Mozingo Music in O'Fallon as a private voice teacher (since 2006) and as the lessons and events coordinator (since 2008). She also sings as a principle singer in the Bach Society of St. Louis and recently has done some chorus work with Union Avenue Opera and New Opera St. Louis. Melissa also continues to perform as a soloist in many St. Louis area churches and ensembles including the Bach Society and Masterworks Chorale. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Dutchik, Sheridan (Chip), '04, BS in Kinesiology. During his stay at MBU, Chip served as assistant coach of the men's soccer team and, later, as head coach of the women's soccer team. He then went to Missouri State as the assistant coach for three years and now serves as the women's soccer coach for Lynn University in Florida. Chip was announced as the new women's coach in early April. He is only the third coach of the program and will follow in the footsteps of two national Kelly (Meyer), Christy, '04, BA in Communications with a Writing Certificate in English and her husband, Matt, '04, BS in Communications celebrated the birth of their daughter, Anna Leigh, on September 11. Anna has a proud and helpful big sister, Madeline (age 2). Matt has been with Graybar for five years and is currently working as a business technology analyst. Christy stays at home with the girls and stays active serving in the worship ministry at Concord Church. Landwehr, Timothy, '05, BPS in Ministry and Leadership and MA in Counseling '09, recently became engaged. He and his fiancé, Hollie, attended high school together and are planning a wedding in 2010. Patterson, Kara, '05, BA in Psychology, graduated from Lindenwood with an MA degree in Professional Counseling in 2008. Then, she began working for Christian Psychological and Family Services as a counselor. The agency is non-for-profit which works with individuals, couples, families, children and adolescents. Currently, they are working on a ministry project called "The Father's House", which will be a housing facility created to help women with daily living while teaching them how to function independently in society. Kara is also active at Rockwood Baptist Church where she assists in leading worship, working with the youth group, Sunday school, and various other events. On Sunday evenings, she is involved with a ministry that reaches 18-30 year olds in Maryville, Ill., at the YMCA called "Render". In addition to all of this, she enjoys being a Beauty and Fashion Advisor with Lia Sophia Jewelry, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and playing flute and piccolo in the MBU Concert Band. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Snider, Christopher, '05, BS in Ministry and Leadership, moved to the DC area with his wife this summer. They moved to Maryland in view of a call to FBC of St. Charles in Waldorf. Christopher now serves as the Minister of Students there. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Ash, Kenneth, '06, MSE in Educational Administration, was approved as the head boys basketball coach for Kirksville High School in May. In addition to coaching, Ash will teach physical education and health at Ray Miller Elementary. Dietiker (Wilson), Heather, '06, BA in Communications and her husband, Jeremiah, celebrated the birth of a healthy baby boy in June. Jaxon Jeffrey arrived two weeks early on June 19, but he and his parents are healthy and doing well. Giacomelli, Philip, '06, BME in Music Education is the funeral director and Web site administrator at Wilson Mortuary in Salem, Mo. He also serves as worship leader at Oak Grove Baptist Church, President of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, and as Dent County Deputy Coroner. Philip also sings in the First Baptist Church Men's Quartet. Hess, Amy, '07, BS in mathematics and '09 Master of Educational Administration, is teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Math and 6th grade Bible at Willott Road Christian Academy in St. Peters, Mo. Amy is active at St. Louis Family Church and volunteers with Service International. Falloon, Justin, '08, BME in Music Education and Erin (Gruen) Falloon, '08, BME in Music Education. Since July of 2006, Justin has served as the Worship Leader for Heartland Baptist Church. In August, he began teaching elementary music for the Mehlville School District, working at both Blades and Trautwein Elementary Schools. Erin is in her second year at Oakville High School serving as the Associate Choir Director. This year, they have a girls group performing at the annual MMEA Conference at Tan-Tar-A. Erin is also active in their church music ministry serving as worship keyboardist Kell, Kinsey, '08, BA in Religion. This fall, Kinsey began an internship with Campus Crusade for Christ in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is on a team of seven that is helping launch a student led movement at the University of New Mexico. The team on campus prior to her arrival made about 600 student contacts. The group that Kinsey is working with provides nightly Bible studies, Monday -Thursday, and organizes large events McKibbin, Clayton, '08, BS in Mathematics. Clayton has been attending and working at MBU for the past four years. This summer he left the St. Louis area and moved across the country to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Clayton is taking this geographical leap to do an internship with Campus Crusade for Christ. He has been actively involved with Campus Crusade during his time at MBU-even taking a couple trips to California with them-and now he is taking the next step and taking on an internship with the organization. Richman, Jim, '08, BS in Religious Education is the Pastor of Charter Baptist Church in Festus, Mo. His wife, Christy, is an RN at the ER at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Festus. Jim and Christy celebrated their one year anniversary on July 26.
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Barnes, John, '09, BA in Worship Arts is working on his M. Div. at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. John has felt the call on his life to serve the Lord as a pastor. He is currently working with a brand new church plant named Midtown Community Church. The church is set in Kansas City's midtown district and all core team members live and work in the neighborhood and apartment complexes of the community. John is serving in their media department during their Sunday services. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Bess Dietiker Fujarski
Kelly Scharf
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