News Articles

From August 8-9, 2023, during the EDTalks segment of the North American Division’s (NAD) 2023 Educators’ Convention, 13 leaders gave their unique take on this prompt: “Leadership. It all comes down to …” In this spin on the popular TEDtalks, music leaders Laura Story and Nicole C. Mullen; education leaders Mario Acosta, Doug Reeves, Tina Boogren, and Toakase Vunileva; Adventist leaders G. Alexander Bryant, Meshach Soli, Carlton P. Byrd, Adam Wamack, David Daniels, and James Standish; and entertainer Taylor Hughes used storytelling to share their leadership lessons.

Adventist Community Services Disaster Response (ACS DR) has joined the relief and recovery efforts in Hawaii; and plans continue to take shape as organizations join hands to support those affected by the wildfires that burned through Lahaina and other parts of Maui this past week. Hawaii Conference ACS director Mark Tamalaa led local efforts by setting up a shelter in Maui, where the most damage has taken place.

Alvin Maurice Kibble, former vice president for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, passed to his rest on Friday evening, August 11, 2023, in Temecula, California. He was 76.

Spark Tank was held over two days during the North American Division Educators’ Convention hosted in Phoenix, Arizona. The special event provided spiritual support and necessary aid through grant funding and feedback from three expert judges. Eight schools were chosen to pitch to the judges, presenting their ideas with a brief explanation of their projects.

Walla Walla University recently received a $235,000 collaborative grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to fund undergraduate research into harmful algal blooms. Alongside researchers from the University of Portland and Willamette University, the researchers hope to better understand and more quickly detect the algal blooms, which can produce toxins harmful to people and animals.

Strains of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Skidamarink” welcomed 150 attendees to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Gathering, Appreciating, and Promoting (GAP) launch session and luncheon, held on August 8, 2023. This event marked the start of the North American Division (NAD) education team’s efforts to support and affirm those involved in educating children from birth to age five with an all-new, separate ECE track during its 2023 “Something Better” Educators’ Convention.

About 1,500 people in the Deaf community came from all across the Northeast U.S. and beyond to the Waterbury Arc in Waterbury, Connecticut, on May 20, 2023 to meet friends, visit booths, watch exhibitors, and enjoy being in the Deaf world for a day. Jonathan Salomon and Jessica McGowan Smith from the Southern New England Conference Deaf Everywhere Are Family (DEAF) ministry supported Paul and Tina Kelly at the Three Angels Deaf Ministries (3ADM)/Deaf Bible School booth.

On Monday, August 7, enthusiastic volunteers huddled in “The STEM Experience” section of the North American Division’s 2023 Educators' Convention Exhibit Hall. Sponsored by the Versacare Foundation, this initiative aimed to spark excitement among K-12 educators for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education via hands-on activities, demonstrations, and workshops.

At 2 p.m. on Monday, August 7, 2023, the North American Division Educators’ Convention Exhibit Hall doors opened. At the convention kickoff event, students, educators, and administrators flooded the Phoenix Convention Center for a chance to browse the 150 exhibits offering endless tools, ministries, organizations, and resources, each designed to support the needs of Adventist education.

Moving forward into the next school year, La Sierra University will add at least 10 new academic degree programs to its offerings, three of them in the burgeoning sustainability arena.