We believe that the best way to learn the art of leadership is not merely through the obtaining and executing of good information and technique but through embodiment 鈥� entering into the wild drama and dance of pursuing life with one another on behalf of others. Each of you brings a richness of vision, ability, and desire. Embracing the fullness of who you are, we invite you to participate and to create on behalf of 天美视频 community. Student life at 天美视频 is a living collage reflecting the vision, interests, passions, and personalities of our students!

Student Groups at 天美视频 are peer-facilitated communities designed to connect and resource students in relation to their shared interests or identities. There will be opportunities for our new students to begin getting connected to student groups during Community Weekend and Fall Residency.

Underrepresented student groups are spaces wherein students gather with others who share similar experiences and perspectives related to underrepresentation around their culture and/or identity. We know that it can be costly and exhausting to engage in contexts where one is underrepresented. Student group gatherings offer space for processing, conversation, and deepening connections. These groups expand students鈥� network of support, help students to grow their capacity to learn and thrive in relation to their culture or identity, and provide resources for engaging in learning spaces and future professional contexts. We currently have the following three groups BIPOC Student Group (centers underrepresentation around race/ethnicity); LGBTQIA+ Student Group (centers underrepresentation related to sexual orientation and/or gender identity); and Access (connects students who have neurodiversities, disabilities and/or chronic pain).We are currently looking for students interested in joining the student facilitation teams for these three groups. If you would like to get involved, contact Becca (rshirley@theseattleschool.edu).

Interest-based student groups allow students to cultivate connections based on shared areas of interest. These groups ebb and flow depending on student desire and capacity. We currently have one active interest-based student group called Sage, which gathers students who are returning to school later in life, after a long time away, often while caring for their families or aging parents. Examples of interest groups from the past include an Artists鈥� Council, Lit (student print publication), and Eagle & Child for Theology students.

Student Leadership is a team of students who volunteer to serve the student body as a whole, and meet on a weekly basis. This team is not elected, but open to all who have a heart to serve and to cultivate community together. Our mission is to foster student engagement in our learning community by facilitating collaboration, conversation, and mutuality among students, staff, and faculty. We practice active listening, turning towards one another, and cultivating trust and belonging in all our shared spaces. We seek to recruit a diverse team that represents as much of the student body as possible. Student Leadership hosts seasonal gatherings like Fall Vespers and Community Dinners, and engage ad hoc projects in collaboration with the other student group leaders, faculty, and the Student Services team throughout the year. . Anyone interested in joining Student Leadership can do so at two points in the year: in August, and in January. The initial term of commitment is one academic year from the month during which one has started. For more conversation about student leadership, email studentleadership@theseattleschool.edu or at Becca (rshirley@theseattleschool.edu).

Read more about Student Groups and Student Leaderships here.

The Student Leadership team is eager to meet you and we are planning some fun opportunities for students to get to know one another during Community Week and Fall Residency September 10-13! Look for us in the blue t-shirts around campus on September 10!

The post Student Life at 天美视频 appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

But how do we orient and connect when students and classmates are joining at different times, from different places, with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and identities, and with varying degrees of ease related to technology and access?

These questions have shaped much of our work within the Student & Academic Services team (SAS) in recent months and years. If you are a new student at 天美视频, I would imagine that questions like these have shaped your experience as well. Some of you in the 2024 cohort started taking classes this winter or spring. Others have just enrolled and are figuring out how to access student email and wondering where to get textbooks. Some have begun connecting during our monthly summer zoom coffee or happy hours. And some are also supporting children starting school while you prepare to start school yourself. Wherever you are today, however you are feeling about starting classes in September, we are here for you. We value your presence, our relationship with you, and the ways you will shape this learning community.

For many years we’ve held a tradition of asking our incoming cohort to reflect on who they are as they begin their degree program, and to introduce themselves creatively using a simple sheet of paper. This non-graded “Who Am I?” assignment is a way of collectively representing the people, perspectives, and stories that make up your incoming cohort.

During the fall term, we hang these compositions in an art installation in our Community Gallery on the 3rd floor of the school building. Afterward, we gather these pages into a portfolio and archive them alongside nearly two decades of cohorts who have participated in this assignment. We return to these portfolios every year as we are sending our graduating cohort, inviting them to look back at the person they were when they started, and to see the host of alumni that surround them as a great cloud of witnesses. These pages are a cherished part of our community鈥檚 story.

How to complete the Who Am I? assignment:

New students, here is your task: Using any media of your choice, answer the question Who are you? We invite you to consider three categories as you reflect and introduce yourself through this assignment: Who are you as an embodied listener, a meaning maker, and a community healer?

You may be as creative as you’d like: collage, paint, sketch, color, write a poem, a song, a story, include your picture or a picture of those people, places, or things you love. . . or don’t. In the case of a song or poem you are free to make an audio recording of yourself but please also prepare an image that connects to it, whether it is the lyrics or some other visual representation of you that can hang with the collection in the third-floor gallery

This assignment is due on September 11th. Bring it with you when you come to campus for Part 2 of New Student Orientation. We will spend some time sharing these pieces with one another that afternoon. We will then hang the visual pieces in the third-floor gallery for you to see and interact with when you come to campus. And, after the fall term, we will gather and keep these pieces in the portfolio archives alongside past cohorts.

If you have questions about this assignment, feel free to post them in the discussion in the Frameworks & Intersections group in Populi or email me directly at rshirley@theseattleschool.edu.

For a bit of inspiration, we鈥檝e included a smattering of Who Am I? pages from past cohorts below.

The post Your First Assignment appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

And even as we savor this lingering summer sweetness, anticipation is growing for the arrival of fall.. The staff, faculty, and student leadership at 天美视频 are deep in the work of preparing for the coming school year, planning events to welcome and orient new and returning students into our learning community!

The Student & Academic Services Team is here to support our incoming students as you prepare to begin school this fall. We will be your hosts for New Student Orientation, and will continue to journey with you throughout your degree program.

Becca Shirley, Manager of Student Life Programs, she/her (rshirley@theseattleschool.edu). You will hear from me about details related to New Student Orientation as well as community-wide gatherings, such as our fall Community Weekend and other student life events throughout the year. I work with our student leadership teams to cultivate pathways of connection for students and your families. I also work with our underrepresented student groups to provide resources, support, and connections for our underrepresented students (BIPOC students, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, non-Christian students, international students, etc.). I am available for one-to-one conversation on campus or on Zoom whenever you have questions or concerns or need someone to talk to. I also manage the Nourish Market campus store and am available there on a regular basis.

Ligaya Good Avila, Academic Programs and Financial Services Manager, she/her (lavila@theseattleschool.edu)

Ligaya is the primary point of contact for manages Financial Aid for all students, and is available to help with any financial questions. (low-residency and on campus). Ligaya is also the Residency Coordinator for low-residency students. If you鈥檙e enrolled in a low-residency program, you will receive emails from Ligaya ahead of each residency with information to help you plan logistics for your travel, schedule, and lodging.

Mac Martin, Academic Advisor, she/her (mmartin@theseattleschool.edu)听

Mac is available to discuss course planning and scheduling throughout your time at 天美视频. She is here to make sure you are on the path that is best for you!

Daniel Tidwell-Davis, Manager of Accessibility and Vocational Programs, he/they (dtidwell@theseattleschool.edu)

Daniel works one-to-one with students around licensure, vocational discernment, accessibility, and academic accommodations. If you have an academic accommodation related to a learning or physical disability and have not yet talked to Daniel, make sure to with him soon!

Kelsey Wallace, Registrar, she/her (kwallace@theseattleschool.edu)

Many of you have likely been in touch with Kelsey as you have enrolled and begun registering for classes. Email Kelsey if you have questions related to forms, academic policies, course planning, or school/life balance. .

Altogether, the Student & Academic Services team (affectionately known as SAS) works to ensure that students are holistically and equitably supported as they engage in their learning at 天美视频. Students who have a question or concerns can reach out to any SAS team member and we will be glad to help you find what you are looking for.

We are so glad you are here! And we look forward to seeing you soon!

The post New Students鈥揗eet Your Matriculation Team! appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

As we begin each academic year at 天美视频, we practice a number of communal rituals and rhythms that help us to prepare the relational spaces in which we will learn and grow together. Some of these rhythms are playful and fun while others invite deeper contemplation and engagement. Our own unique experiences and pathways will vary: some of us will be learning entirely on campus, while others will predominantly learn in online classrooms with seasonal campus visits. Meanwhile, from season to season and year to year, we will cultivate shared rhythms that grow our sense of connection to and belonging with one another as one learning community.

This week, Paul Steinke, who shepherds the student body along with the Office of Students & Alumni team, will send you an email inviting you to several events: (Re)Orientation, Community Dinners & Fall Vespers, and Convocation & Community Cookout. These community rhythms鈥攕hared by students, staff, faculty, alumni, and our families鈥攚ill be opportunities for us to pause, reflect, orient, and transition into the year together. Convocation & Community Cookout is a ritual by which we officially welcome incoming students into the fold of this learning community. See Paul鈥檚 email for more about these community-wide events, and RSVP for (Re)Orientation on the event page.

New Student Orientation for both low residency and on campus students will overlap with these wider community rhythms, and will provide distinct opportunities for you to arrive and orient together as new students within this learning community.

A reminder of all important dates, with Community Rhythms in bold:

August 25, 2021: Frameworks & Intersections online course begins – All members of the 2021 cohort

September 14, 2021: On campus orientation – 2021 on campus MACP cohort

September 15, 2021: (Re)Orientation – All students

September 29-October 2: Fall Residency – 2021 low-residency cohorts

September 30, 2021: Community Dinners & Fall Vespers – All students

October 2, 2021: Convocation & Community Cookout – All community

Looking forward to sharing these community rhythms and rituals with you!

The post Communal Rituals & Rhythms at 天美视频 appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

If we listen, allowing ourselves to receive their comings and goings, the rhythms of change in the earth鈥檚 seasons invite us deeper into our own journeys of growth and transformation. Wild, wise, and profoundly complex, our Mother the earth has much to say to us about hope, about loss, about rest.. about patience, forgiveness, and faithfulness.

And whether we feel awe and gratitude for the earth鈥檚 stunning beauty, rejoicing in festivals of pumpkins, cider, and soup鈥� or we feel sadness looming as in the darker, colder, wetter days鈥� or perhaps some mixture of both鈥� the rhythms of the earth will carry us. The day will dawn once again, the rains will water the earth, and the sun will continue to surprise us.

These rhythms in life both soothe and sustain us. Some, like the beating of our hearts and the waves of the sea, remind us to breathe. Similarly, communal rhythms offer rest and containment; reminders that we are connected and held.

Here at 天美视频, we steward our own collective rhythms as we listen and learn to move together from season to season.

Some of these rhythms are daily: The bells that ring at nine.noon.three; the brewing of coffee; our bodies鈥� invitations to eat at regular intervals; the faces we see and moments we share in our comings and goings on campus.

Some of these rhythms are weekly: The community newsletter in our inboxes every Monday morning; Communion happens in the chapel at 11:30am every Wednesday, and we meet in classes week to week.

And some rhythms are seasonal: Fall begins with the Welcome Back BBQ, Neighborhood Dinners, Vespers, and Convocation; continues with Thanksgiving Vespers; the Community Christmas Party; winter and spring continue with internships and projects; the Spring Banquet; and Commencement.

Amidst all of these other rhythms, our Student Life Cycle Gatherings offer rhythms of containment that are designed to meet you in your journey as a student at strategic points along the way, allowing space for conversations and connections that will help you orient to resources that are available to you and to the work that is before you. Find more information about these gatherings here.

If you are new to our building, we welcome you and invite you to get cozy with us. We look forward to knowing you and having your presence shape who we are and who we are becoming.

To learn more about community rhythms at 天美视频, register to join us for Preview on November 2.

The post Why Community Rhythms Are Important at 天美视频 appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.