Keyword: Alumni
Creation care as career: spotlight on alumni farmers (part 2 of 4)
How running a family CSA is teaching these alumni newlyweds about togetherness.
Marta and Kelsey Bunnett Wiebe, newly married, are both alumni of CMU. You could say they met in the middle. Kelsey, who hails originally from Brooks, AB, completed CMU's Outtatown program before studying two years of Physics at Shaftesbury campus (he later transferred to the University of Manitoba to complete his degree with honours). Marta came to CMU from Atlantic Canada, toting a leadership scholarship for a her award-winning high-school essay, "Responsibility for a More Equitable World." Four years later, she walked away with a self-created Interdisciplinary Studies degree in Theological Ecology.
Creation care as career: spotlight on alumni farmers (part 1 of 4)
Why more and more CMU alumni are including small-scale agriculture in their life-paths, during and after school.
This year the CMU Farm celebrates its 10th anniversary season. And while the challenges of COVID-19 have reshaped things for the farm, from celebration plans to daily operations of their CSA project, Autumn's work is largely unaltered: harvest season proceeds apace, and the steward Metanoia Farmers' collective are already forming their plans for next season.
Business co-op program gives alumna head start in career
Kayla Yanke (CMU '18) was one of the first students to graduate with CMU's Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Co-op degree, majoring in Accounting. After walking across the convocation stage in cap and gown, she was ready to join the workforce.
Super Sick: Making Peace with Chronic Illness – English alumna Allison Alexander launches first book
Having battled chronic illness all her life, Alexander wants to see herself in her heroes. Her new book Super Sick chronicles her search for sick characters in pop culture, and the personal impact of that quest.
In God’s Country: Alumna finds joy and purpose teaching in Canada’s far north
Gjoa Haven is situated on William Island, Nunavut, a little over 2,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg. As the crow flies, it's about as far from here to Vancouver. But the Mercator effect is truer to life in Canada than ninth-grade social studies would have us believe: in significance if not in substance, distances expand toward the Pole. While the realities of life up north can be harsh, for Katrina Brooks, a 2015 alumna of CMU's Bachelor of Arts in English now teaching at Gjoa Haven's Qiqirtaq Ilihakvik High School, this expansion of space and consciousness is a taste of what it feels like to be in God's country.
Alumni Profile: Cecilly Hildebrand, Executive Director of Candace House
Cecilly Hildebrand graduated from CMU in 2012 with a BA in Psychology. Today, at just 31, she is completing an MA in Social Work and serves full-time as Executive Director of Candace House, a daytime refuge in Winnipeg for families navigating the court system after the criminal death of a loved one.
Nolan Kehler (BMus, ’17): How good listening makes good music
For Nolan Kehler, building a career in which singing can be of service to others, whether through critical storytelling, powerful encouragement, or creative advocacy, is the goal to strive for.
Nolan Kehler (tenor) completed his Bachelor of Music in 2017, concentrating in Vocal Performance. In his graduating year he placed third in CMU's prestigious Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition, and in 2019 he graduated from University of Victoria (BC) with a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. New as he is to life as a working artist, Kehler is already booking regular singing work in leading roles, on top of his part-time job as a technical producer for CBC Manitoba.
2019 CMU Distinguished Alumni Story | Eileen Klassen Hamm (video)
Eileen Klassen Hamm (CMBC '86) of Saskatoon, SK is the Executive Director of MCC Saskatchewan. She began working for MCC in 1992, taking on various program coordinator roles and becoming Program Director in 2007, before being appointed as Executive Director in 2016. "I continue to be passionate about the ministry of MCC because this organization weaves together a diverse constituency of generous donors and volunteers and church communities with the beauty and brokenness of the world," says Klassen Hamm. "Through MCC, we are invited to step into local and global realities and offer our resources and our love, and in turn, we are formed and transformed by the courage and teachings from many places around the globe." Klassen Hamm and her husband, Les, have two adult children. They attend Wildwood Mennonite Church in Saskatoon, where she participates in leading worship and preaching. "Receiving this award is humbling," she says. "My learning journey as a young adult was shaped deeply by the CMBC community, and I have continued to be shaped by relationships and institutional activities that began then."
2019 CMU Distinguished Alumni Story | Jeffrey Metcalfe (video)
Jeffrey Metcalfe (CMU '09) of Quebec City, QC was recently installed as the Canon Theologian for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec. He facilitates theological reflection in decision making processes, helps congregations engage in vocational discernment, and creates programs to further clergy education. Metcalfe was ordained in 2013 and began his PhD in Theological Studies at the University of Toronto's Trinity College in 2015. His research focuses on developing an ethnographic theological methodology to explore how the Anglican church in Quebec City can resist and push back against the racism in their context. "I am passionate about welcoming many kinds of migrants, including refugees, because I believe that God passionately loves the different peoples and places that God has created," he says. "As disciples of Jesus, the Spirit calls and empowers us to join together with those who come to dwell with us from other lands – not as a duty, but as a joy." Metcalfe says he is grateful for this award and the opportunity it gives him to thank CMU for the way it has shaped and empowered him to do the work he is doing today. He and his wife Julie have two children.
2019 CMU Distinguished Alumni Story | Randy Klassen (video)
Randy Klassen (MBBC '84) of Saskatoon, SK taught at Bethany College from 2002–2015, before becoming the National Restorative Justice Coordinator for MCC Canada for over three years, until the office was closed this spring. He has dedicated over 10 years to building relationships with Indigenous communities. First through Bethany College and then Lakeview Church, he has taken young adults to Beardy's and Okemasis Cree Nation, where they connect with youth, get involved in the community, and learn from Indigenous elders. "It's been a remarkable and beautiful journey," he says. He also spent this summer with MCC Saskatchewan as the Event Coordinator for the Spruce River Folk Festival, a one-day event that raises awareness for landless Indigenous bands. Klassen says receiving this award from CMU was an unexpected honour, especially during a time when his career was changing in ways that he didn't anticipate or ask for. "It is a huge encouragement to think that the different chapters of my life thus far have made a positive contribution somewhere," he says. "I'm grateful to be part of this huge legacy." Klassen and his wife Darlene have four children and five grandchildren. They attend Lakeview Church in Saskatoon.
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