Community

The annual Valentine’s Day dinner in the Student Union drew its largest turnout ever Thursday night. Students were treated to a six-course meal of roasted New York strip steak, garlic shrimp, broccolini, baked potato, bread rolls followed by a chocolate dessert.

The Milwaukee Brewers showed off their spring training facility in Maryvale on Tuesday, and there’s an important GCU connection: There’s space for a Learning Lounge, which opens April 16. The baseball team, like the University, is focused on building the community. “We’re excited to be part of that,” said Andrew Daugherty, General Manager of the Maryvale complex.

Grand Canyon University has wrapped itself around Westwood Elementary, the first of three K-12 schools designated as an Academic Excellence Site. As part of GCU President Brian Mueller’s five-point plan, a team of departments, including K-12 Educational Development, the College of Education, and the Learning Lounge, collaborate to improve academic success in local schools and help young students consider college as part of their future.

The sun wasn’t even up and the temperature was a frigid 40-something degrees. But that didn’t dissuade more than 200 Lopes from showing up, ready to paint and landscape, for the semiannual Serve the City. And for just the second time, Parent Council members, along with other parent volunteers, served alongside their children to make a difference in the Canyon Corridor, helping move GCU and partner Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona closer to their 700-homes-renovated goal.

Men’s soccer coach Schellas Hyndman wanted one thing for youth attending Saturday’s Future for KIDS soccer camp: To have fun. But he also encouraged them to exhibit good sportsmanship, practice, work hard and to value their education, much like the soccer players who conducted the camp do. More than 160 youth, ages 7 to 12, attended the event, which marked the first time GCU men’s soccer has hosted a camp with Future for KIDS, a mentorship program that emphasizes education, ethics and athletics.

It’s tax season. But before you file your 1040 or 1040A, don’t forget to take that one final step to make sure the funds you had diverted for GCU’s Donate to Elevate initiative go to where you want those funds to go — Habitat for Humanity, School Choice Arizona or for public/charter school extracurricular programs. Here’s a primer on what to do next.

An estimated crowd of 5,000 sixth- to ninth-graders from schools across Arizona filled GCU Arena on Tuesday for the Speak Up Stand Up Save a Life Youth Conference, designed to fight the climbing suicide rate among young people. “It’s schools, law enforcement and business leaders all coming forward to make a difference,” said Gina Godbehere, an attorney in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and one of the organization’s founders.

Gwyn Satterlee, 7, cartwheels along the mat — and cartwheels and cartwheels — at her Chandler gymnastics studio. But it wasn’t long ago when the young gymnast didn’t have enough energy to do even one cartwheel. She was just 4 years old when she was diagnosed with leukemia. This year, she will serve as the honorary race starter for the 2019 Children’s Cancer Network Run to Fight Children’s Cancer, headed to the GCU campus for the ninth year on March 16.

The Colangelo College of Business Dean’s Speaker Series brought another industry leader to campus Tuesday. Students got to hear from Greg Hanover, who told them fascinating tales about his former career as an executive in the National Hockey League. But Hanover’s talks to multiple classes also included a very important message: Be prepared to work long hours and don’t plan on making a lot of money starting out.

Sports Business students were busy last month volunteering at several major events, but that’s nothing new — GCU’s alliance with Position Sports makes those types of opportunities possible regularly. But what’s really interesting is what happens when students fully utilize their chances to participate and learn. “GCU is the place to be if you want to have any sort of experience in the sports world at all,” said Darby O’Leary, who worked events on opposite sides of the country within a week.