Outreach

About 3,000 eighth- and ninth-graders from 10 Maryvale schools connected with their community Thursday at GCU Arena during the HERO U Convention — the kickoff of a three-part youth development program created by the Maryvale Revitalization Corporation, one of the University’s partners in transforming the community around GCU. About 750 Canyon Christians Schools Consortium Scholars also were there to volunteer and show their support. Said Dr. Jennifer Johnson, Director of Academic Alliances for Grand Canyon Education, “It’s yet another example of all of us wrapping our arms around all of the kids in the community to make sure they know about their opportunities and that people really care about them.”

Of all the commencement stories to come out of GCU in recent years, the metamorphosis of Jesse Dalla Riva probably is the most remarkable. Five years ago, he walked into a detox center determined to get off the streets — and off heroin. Now he’s a husband and father, is a supervisor at the Phoenix Rescue Mission and is about to get his degree. “He’s just worked so hard for it,” said his wife, Blake, fighting back tears. Reprinted from the April issue of GCU Magazine.

Hundreds of high school students on more than 40 teams descended Friday and Saturday on GCU Arena to compete in the Arizona West Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, where they unleashed their robots on the field of play. Their mission in the space-themed competition: Fill their spaceships with valuable payload using, of course, their robots. One group volunteering at the event was GCU’s Thunderbots. Said Thunderbots advisor Ed Koeneman, who teaches electrical engineering technology, “It’s important for high school students to see that college kids are continuing on in this fun world of robotics.”

A large gathering turned out Thursday night for the Latino Student Union’s meeting, which featured a talk by award-winning journalist Mary Rabago and a performance Costa Rican accordion player Tatiano Crespo, whose appearance at TEDxGrandCanyonUniversity was such a hit. It was just another sign of the success the Latino Student Union is having with its inclusive approach.

A mission trip designed to connect the people in Cape Town, South Africa, to their local churches instead transformed the faith of 15 GCU students. By spending their spring break in the township of Khayelitsha, they were able to gain a new perspective on how God’s love is found in faith rather than worldly things. Students participated in prayer walks and home visits and assisted with the Vacation Bible School program. “We encountered people who literally had nothing and had some of the strongest faith in God that I’ve ever seen in my life,” said one of the leaders on the trip, Sydney Wastradowski.

It was a science Saturday for fourth- through eighth-graders, who spent their Saturday morning making oobleck — an odd substance that acts like a liquid and a solid — building simple motors powered by batteries, deciphering code and programming robots. The workshop was organized by GCU’s Robotics Club in collaboration with K-12 Educational Development. About two dozen Thunderbots volunteered to work with the young students and foster their appreciation of science, technology, engineering and math at the club’s STEM Bonanza.

The GCU Robotics Club overcame a lot of challenges in the 2018-19 competition season — challenges that haven’t slowed down the club one bit. The Thunderbots are gearing up for their STEM Bonanza workshop on Saturday for fourth- through eighth-graders. They’ll be making oobleck, a slime-type substance that somehow acts as a liquid and a solid, and they’ll be unraveling codes with wheel cyphers. The Thunderbots are also getting ready to volunteer at the big FIRST Robotics regional competition at GCU Arena April 5-6.

Washington High School senior Juan Ballez has watched his father struggle with mobility in his hand and, for years, wished there was a way he could help. Now, on the cusp of graduating, he thinks he knows a way — by becoming a biomedical engineer. His dream of helping people, like his father, came closer to fruition Tuesday at GCU, when he found out he was one of 43 students in the neighborhood surrounding GCU to receive the Students Inspiring Students scholarship. “It feels like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Juan after receiving the scholarship, which covers four years of tuition and books. “… I was determined. I was like, I can’t have my parents pay for it (college). I don’t want that burden on them.”

Adrianna Gavazzo could have celebrated her eighth birthday anywhere — at her favorite pizza place, at an arcade or at a theme park. Instead, she told her mom she wanted to have her party at Run to Fight Children’s Cancer. She and about 50 of her family and friends gathered at Run to Fight on Saturday on the GCU campus for cupcakes and to hit the 5K course in honor of Cavazzo, who is now cancer-free. She was just one of hundreds of runners and volunteers who participated in the event, the largest Arizona race of its kind bringing awareness to pediatric cancer.

Students volunteering with GCU’s Homeless Ministry ventured out recently to St. Vincent de Paul to serve the homeless, giving haircuts and donated clothes and washing individuals’ feet. “These people are our friends, and we are so grateful to have the chance to love and serve them in the name of Jesus,” said communications student Anders Carlson, who helps lead GCU’s Homeless Ministry team.