GCU Today April Digital Issue 2018

30 • GCU MAGAZ I NE Todd Hinnenkamp, Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership with an Emphasis in Instructional Leadership, ’16, is a district instructional coordinator for the North Kansas City (Mo.) School District. The district’s students have outperformed those in similar Missouri school districts in recent years thanks to its innovative model. Hinnenkamp will make his second presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Exposition when it meets in April in Washington, D.C. Billie Bell, M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, ’16, is a finalist for Apache County (Ariz.) manager. Bell is the business manager and chief financial officer at Concho (Ariz.) Elementary School, a position she has held since 2007. Alexandra Davis, B.S. in Sports Management, ’16, is the administrative coordinator for the Arizona Coyotes. As a GCU student, Davis did internships with the Coyotes and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bryan Kelsen, M.A. in Christian Studies with an Emphasis in UrbanMinistry, ’16, left a 30-year career as a photographer for The Pueblo (Colo.) Chieftain and became the teaching minister at Christ Church in Pueblo West, Colo. His emphasis at the non-denominational church is community and youth outreach. Alexandra Biggs, B.A. in Dance Education, ’16, is the new dance teacher at Maricopa High School in Phoenix, where she teaches beginning, intermediate and advanced dance. Biggs also teaches jazz and tap at CYT Phoenix, a non-profit youth organization where she soon will be choreographing “Shrek the Musical.” Christina Rice, B.S. inMarketing, ’16, is a marketing assistant at Gannett Fleming in Phoenix. She is the lead designer and produces marketing collateral for the west region. Mona Clayton, M.S. in Nursing with an Emphasis in Nursing Education, ’16, is the CEO of Nurses Roc 2, a publishing company focused on promoting careers in nursing. Clayton’s goal is to reach 100,000 future nurses, and in May she will spearhead her #future100000 campaign, hosted by the Los Angeles Unified School District. She is targeting high school students, men and single mothers from South Central Los Angeles and the nearby Housing Authority community for her seminar, “Walking the Red Carpet to a Successful Nursing Journey.” Lauren Abraham, B.A. in Communications, ’16, is a blogger and editor at Bloguettes, a creative strategy and design studio in Phoenix. Abrahams has created her own lifestyle blog, “Love, Lauren Michelle.” SPOTLIGHT Jeff Orr, ’89 Home is where his heart and his master’s degree both are When Jeff Orr was considering where to get his master’s degree, he decided to go back to a place filled with good memories — albeit on a campus that is much bigger than what he knew. He went home … to Grand Canyon University. Orr, a Phoenix leadership coach who was one of the speakers at the TEDx event on campus in February, transferred from another college to Grand Canyon and got his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in 1989. “It really was God directing me through those kinds of circumstances — I ended up with a much better education, smaller class sizes, better grades,” he said. “That’s what drew me back, was that experience. I just had a draw to come back here.” Orr, who has worked as a corporate trainer for Fortune 500 companies and is the author of “Succeed in the New Normal: Winning Strategies to Succeed in an Unfamiliar World,” completed work on his Master of Business Administration in January and now is working on his Master of Science in Leadership. He also is an accomplished musician, thanks in part to his commercial music minor from GCU. He has released three CDs. Here’s how different things were when he first was on campus: He was one of three people in his music class, and when the other two dropped out he was able to receive one-on- one instruction on “business, music, arrangements, everything.” “I only wanted to do two things when I was growing up: Be a rock star and be a CEO of my own company. I guess I’ve kind of done both,” he said. “I’ve performed on large stages in front of thousands and I’ve performed in coffeehouses. I speak in front of groups and I run my own company.” And he’s proving that you can go home again. — RICK VACEK GCU Alumni