Grand Canyon University

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 Learning Lounge is making an immediate impact on students at Westwood Elementary. Based on first semester test results, 50 percent of the third and fourth grade math students improved by one to two grade levels as opposed to no grade level growth among students at a control group school. Targeted lessons developed by Learning Lounge leaders and implemented in small group instruction by GCU students, known as LEADs (Learning Advocates), are paying off.

John Iannarelli worked some high-profile cases when he was with the FBI — the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the Oklahoma City bombing. He spent some time Wednesday speaking with students about his work with the FBI and qualities that make a good leader. Iannarelli was on campus as part of the Provost Speaker Series.

College of Education students from Grand Canyon University are taking advantage of an innovative pre-service resident teaching program that enables them to create and implement lesson plans and work directly with students on an accelerated basis. These benefits are evident at Westwood Elementary, where GCU students are putting educational theory into practice.

GCU’s Academic Excellence Site (AES) partnership with Westwood Elementary is multi-faceted, from a pre-service resident teaching program to the Learning Lounge, Canyon Professional Development, Leadership Coaching and Parent View. Among the many positive results: Westwood students are building skills, gaining momentum and developing a vision for higher education.

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.

Among 30 speech and debate teams, GCU finished runner-up to Concordia University of Irvine, Calif., on Sunday at the Sunset Cliffs Classic Tournament at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Jess Kennedy, Tommee Gleason and Xanthia Clow led the speech team. Kennedy won two events in the novice division and was named the second-ranked speaker of the tournament. Gleason clamed a pair of third-place finishes and reached the finals in two other events and Clow placed third in two events. Two debate pairs (Matthew Calderwood-Grace Laidlaw and Ben Kuykendall-Joseph-Madere) advanced to the top eight.

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.

When students identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle to fit in socially, GCU leaders collaborate with solutions. In Part 2 of GCU Today’s series, Dr. Tim Griffin, Pastor and Dean of Students, Dr. Sherman Elliott, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the father of a son on the spectrum and Student Disability Services director Beth Jamison discuss their experiences supporting students on the spectrum.

As Grand Canyon University grows, more students arriving on campus are identified with autism spectrum disorders. Efforts to welcome and include these students occur naturally on a campus where students look out for each other. Intentional efforts are expanding all across campus, from faculty members to Student Disability Services staffers who have implemented a new program, ASD Connection, to boost social and academic support. Part 1 of GCU Today’s series on the University’s approach to students on the spectrum includes the viewpoint of Austin Forney, a GCU junior who shared the highs and lows of navigating college life.