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John Nunes, Ph.D., associate professor of business administration, was named the Pacific Union College 2014 Educator of the Year at a special Colloquy program dedicated to honoring the college’s excellent faculty and highlighting the important work happening each day as teachers and students interact in the classroom. Nunes was elected the Educator of the Year entirely by student vote, and this year marked the highest participation in student voting since the award began in 1984 at 50 percent student body participation. Nunes joined the PUC faculty in 2011 after over 25 years building and leading teams in sales, operations, and general management roles for privately-held and Fortune 500 companies. He specializes in leadership, management, strategy, and behavioral economics, and serves the students of PUC as not only a teacher, but as a mentor as well. After a short speech by the 2013 Educator of the Year, Asher Raboy, the identity of the 2014 honoree was revealed. Nunes made his way to the church platform to the cheers and applause of the student body and his faculty peers. Department of business chair Rodney Hardcastle was the first to step to the microphone. Hardcastle described Nunes as the Energizer Bunny because of...

Pacific UnionCollege’s women’s volleyball program is excited to announce off- season campsand clinics for girls from Napa County between the ages of nine and 18. Headcoach Brittany Brown and PUC collegiate players will host two Sunday clinicsand a week-long summer camp focusing on the fundamental skills of volleyballfrom beginner basics to more advanced levels.Brown, a Calistoga,Calif. native, was voted 2013 California Pacific Union Conference Coach of theYear. In her four years as head coach at PUC, Brown led the women’s volleyballto a stellar record ending in league championship contention in the 2013season.A 2005 NapaCounty Player of the Year, Brown played collegiate volleyball at Azusa PacificUniversity, competing in the NAIA national tournament in every season sheplayed. Brown has coached for NBC volleyball campus, at high schools, and athigh level club programs. During her club coaching years she spent timeteaching private lessons and collaborated with world-class coaches.Brown now bringsher incredible coaching experience to the Napa Valley by leading these clinicsand campus. “Camps and clinics are a great way to get involved with the localcommunity and promote the sport of volleyball,” she says. “Coaching theseclinics and camps keeps PUC volleyball engaged and sharp as we pursue theChampion of Character and our own growth...

Pacific Union College’s office of enrollment services has launched a new ministry called Connect to share the spiritual experience at the college with churches, schools, and other groups within the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Connect is coordinated by Larry Graack, an enrollment counselor at the college. Graack, a PUC graduate and former youth pastor at the Placerville Seventh-day Adventist Church, is excited about the opportunity PUC students will have to share their faith, grow in their talents, and worship together with the larger Adventist community. “Our mission statement is that as Christ’s disciples we serve with spiritual authenticity while promoting a valued relationship with PUC and above all, a dynamic connection to our Creator,” said Graack. “We hope to serve with innovative ministry, communication, and discipleship.” Graack is already travelling throughout the Pacific Union with the campus ministries personnel, talented student and faculty speakers, and gifted musicians that make up the ministry team. Connect ministry is working hard to establish relationships with all sorts of audiences, sharing the PUC spiritual experience with them and inviting youth and young adults to get involved with that experience as PUC students. Using the talents God has given them, the Connect ministry...

Beginning in mid-February, students in Pacific UnionCollege’s Individual Taxation class participated in the Volunteer Income TaxAssistance (VITA) program at the Up Valley Family Center in St Helena, Calif.The students prepared tax returns for free for people that earned less than$58,000 per year, applying what they had learned in the classroom as part of aservice-learning project that allowed them to grow their skills while providinga valuable service to members of the community.As of March 19, the twelve PUC students and 4 othercommunity volunteers had prepared and submitted 144 tax returns for Napa Valleyresidents who visited the St. Helena site of the Up Valley Family Centers,formerly St. Helena Family Center. In early February, the students received IRScertification, and soon after began seeing clients under the supervision ofNorma Ferriz, site and operations manager for Up Valley Family Centers.Ferriz estimates that nearly 90% of the people who takeadvantage of the program receive a refund. “This is all money that isreinvested in the community so that is great,” she said. In 2013, a group ofPUC and community volunteers prepared 165 tax returns, bringing back more than$313,900 in total refunds to families and individuals in the community. “In2014, thanks to the participation of volunteers from St....

Susan Dix Lyons is familiar with social innovation. The founder and Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit Clinica Verde is active every day in making the world a better place. Lyons and her organization improve the lives of families living in poverty through clinical care and nutrition and health education at a sustainably designed health clinic in Boaco, Nicaragua that serves 14,000 patients per year. During the winter quarter of 2014, Dix Lyons drew on her experience with Clinica Verde as well as her earlier work as a journalist and editor to teach a Pacific Union College course on Media and Social Innovation. “I wanted to give the students an opportunity to see how rich with possibility their lives are,” Lyons shared, “and how important it is that they become ‘doers’ in society. People who not only imagine how the world can be better, but who have the confidence and resolve to participate in the solutions.” Lyons herself is one such ‘doer,’ and has been recognized for the work she leads at Clinica Verde. At an event held in San Francisco on February 26, she was honored as an Unsung Hero of Compassion for aiding others without expectation of reward....