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Teacher education earns second national accreditation

Bethel’s Department of Teacher Education has been notified of achievement of accreditation under the performance-oriented standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Bethel had earlier completed requirements for its regular, periodic review by NCATE, including hosting a site visit by Kansas State Department of Education and NCATE officials last spring. NCATE is responsible for professional accreditation of teacher education at 623 institutions that produce two-thirds of the nation’s new teacher graduates annually.

Bethel offers electronic transcript services

Bethel is now offering a new electronic service to alumni and former students.

The college is one of only a handful of higher education institutions in the state that recently began providing electronic transcript delivery.

The service is part of a statewide initiative involving colleges and universities that the Kansas Board of Regents announced in mid-October. The State of Kansas began collaborating with Docufide by Parchment, Inc., in 2009 to launch eTranscripts, with all public high schools eligible to participate.

Senior psychology major presents paper at national conference

Brad Celestin, a senior psychology major from Newton, presented a poster at the FUN Undergraduate Research Poster Session in Washington, D.C., Nov. 14.

FUN stands for Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, which has a satellite meeting that accompanies the annual Society for Neuroscience meetings. Dwight Krehbiel ’69, Bethel professor of psychology and a member of FUN, served as Celestin’s sponsor for the event.

Celestin’s poster, "Neural Correlates of Implicit Sexual Identity Bias as a Function of Religiosity," was based on his senior thesis project at Bethel. It was one of approximately 160 posters by students from colleges and universities across the United States that were presented

Nearly 32,000 scientists and students from around the world attend the Society for Neuroscience meetings each fall.

Call for limerick writers

A new Bethel book needs some text.
About this we were quite perplexed,
But got quite excited
When soon we decided

A contest is what would come next

An alphabet book ’bout BC
(A rhyme for each letter, you see).
If your limerick’s chosen
Amongst those proposin’
We know you’ll be dancing with glee!

If you fancy you’re good with a rhyme,
This contest has come just in time.
It’s your time for fame,
So join in this game
Through text for a book most sublime.

The Bethel College Women’s Association (BCWA) is planning "A BC ABC Book" and invites alumni and friends of the college to submit limericks to be considered for inclusion.

Each letter of the alphabet will describe an aspect of Bethel with a limerick. BCWA will ask 26 artists with Bethel connections to illustrate the limericks.

Submissions must be postmarked on or before Jan. 15, 2012. They may be mailed to Bethel College Women’s Association, 300 East 27th Street, North Newton, KS 67117; or submitted online on or before Jan. 1.

For more information, check the website or contact Susan Bartel ’74 at 316-283-5632 or asbartel@cox.net, or Berneil Rupp Mueller ’62 at 316-283-1663 or tabco@cox.net.

See ’Six Places of Christmas’ this Saturday

Kauffman Museum and Goerz House are two of the "Six Places of Christmas" to visit this coming Saturday, Dec. 3, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Stop by the museum’s open house for decorating and gift-making ideas that recycle or use natural materials. Shirley Harms ’56 will demonstrate how to make eco-friendly cards; Beth Burns, renewing old ornaments with polymer clay; Marlene Bogard, how to "upcycle" old books; and Kathy Schroeder ’77 and Helen Pauls, creating tea light luminarias from pressed prairie grasses.

Make-it-and-take it activities will include creating newspaper seedling pots with "Saint Barbara wheat" for French-style decorating, and gift bags from old maps. Representatives from Et Cetera Shop in Newton will lead a take-home "creature craft" activity for children from 10 a.m.-noon.

The activities are free to the public, as are the museum’s exhibitions, including "...the eyes of a stranger: Indian images and experiences by Cookie Wiebe." Wiebe died Oct. 31 from ovarian cancer.

The Bethel College Women’s Association (BCWA) is hosting visitors to Goerz House that day, as well. A traditional bake sale of homemade goodies will include zwieback, peppernuts, cookies and cinnamon rolls, along with a variety of homemade candies that may be purchased by the pound.

New at Goerz House is a special gift shop, offering BCWA’s latest signature item that celebrates Bethel’s 125th anniversary -- a limited-edition picnic basket with a drawing of the Administration Building on the wooden lid. The finely crafted baskets have both practical and sentimental appeal and would make a perfect Christmas gift. Other specialty gift items include Bethel kitchen towels, T-shirts, ornaments and candle houses.

The other four stops on the Saturday circuit are the Carriage Factory Art Gallery, Harvey County Historical Museum, Kansas Sports Museum and Warkentin House. For more information on "Six Places of Christmas," contact Rachel Pannabecker at Kauffman Museum.

Treat your loved ones to Christmas gifts from campus

With Christmas coming, the Bethel bookstore and Kauffman Museum Store can also meet your gift-giving needs. Thresher Bookstore in Schultz Student Center offers -- pewter Ad Building tree ornaments for $10 -- a box of four four-inch-square stone coasters for $24 -- an Open Road CD for $15 -- a "Music for the Soul" CD by former Newton resident David Deutschendorf for $15 -- stainless steel Knorks engraved with "Bethel College" for $6.29 -- maroon stadium blankets for $29.99 -- mugs, license plates, stocking caps, sweatshirts and a wide variety of Bethel apparel and gift items

Open Mon.-Fri., Thresher Bookstore will maintain its regular 8 a.m.-5 p.m. hours through Dec. 9, be open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 12-23, close Dec. 26-30 and return to its regular hours Jan. 2.

Kauffman Museum Store, located in the museum lobby at 27th and Main, offers -- three books that are new to the store this year: "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" (a cookbook, "On the Zwieback Trail" (a recently published Russian Mennonite ABC book) and "Small Steps Toward the Missing Peace" by James C. Juhnke ’62, Bethel professor emeritus of history -- natural history books, Kansas gift books and additional Mennonite cookbooks -- wood sculpture pieces by John Gaeddert ’50 -- "Menno Power" T-shirts -- bird prints and cards by Robert W. Regier ’51, Bethel professor emeritus of art -- jewelry by Cindy Beth ’80 and Cornelia Krahn ’72 -- children’s items, including stuffed animals, books, puppets, puzzles, baby gifts and stocking stuffers -- Wedel chocolate, Lehman maple syrup, wheat weaving and many more gift options

Kauffman Museum and its store are open 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, including on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The museum will be closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Otherwise, regular hours apply. Museum admission is not required to visit the store.

Give BC students a year-end gift

As the tax year comes to a close, remember to support Bethel students with a gift to the Bethel College Fund. Your support helps the college keep their costs down.

You may give online or mail your donation to Development Office, Bethel College, 300 East 27th Street, North Newton, KS 67117. A tax-deductible receipt will be sent to you.

Thank you for giving students the gift of a Bethel education!

Head to "Alumni Afternoon" at basketball Jan. 14

Join other alumni and friends of Bethel at a special "Alumni Afternoon at Basketball" event Saturday, Jan. 14, when the varsity women’s and men’s teams play Saint Mary University, Leavenworth.

The two games, originally scheduled for the evening, will instead be held at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively, so that the opposing team can travel home mid-evening rather than late at night.

Members of the Alumni Council will offer giveaways at the door as well as prizes at halftime. Spouses, family members and other Bethel supporters are invited to participate in the festivities.

Come meet council hosts, sign up for prizes, cheer the Threshers to victory and have fun with others that afternoon!