Sioux Center, Iowa — A Sioux County liberal arts institution is being honored by the extension service of Iowa’s land grant university.
Dordt University in Sioux Center has been awarded an “Excellence in Partnership to Iowans” award for the Northwest region by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and will go on to be submitted as a nomination for the state-level award. Dordt officials tell us three Dordt staff and faculty were recognized as part of this nomination: Dr. Nolan Van Gaalen, emeritus professor of engineering; Gary De Vries, agriculture department instructor; and Vicki Vermeer, business department assistant and director of the Center for Economic Education.
Beth Bunkers, who serves as the youth program specialist for ISU Extension and Outreach for Cherokee, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, and Sioux counties says that she nominated Dordt University for Excellence in Partnership to ISU Extension and Outreach. She says that Dordt has been an outstanding partner in STEMfest, multi-regional livestock, and “Your Future at Work” events.
She says these events provide elementary and high school students opportunities to learn and explore a variety of areas, outside of their classroom learning.
De Vries says, “We thank ISU Extension for giving our students the opportunity to have an impact on the broader community. We encourage our students to be lifelong servant-leaders in the communities that they live.”
Dordt has offered an annual STEM festival for middle school students and a Precision Ag Day for high school students. The institution is also in the process of adding events for fourth and fifth graders about showing livestock.
Dr. Leah Zuidema, vice president for academic affairs says that Dordt’s partnership with ISU Extension enables outreach from Dordt University to our broader community, including opportunities for younger students from our region. She says that the ISU Partnership makes it possible for younger students to benefit from the expertise of Dordt faculty members while learning more about exciting developments in science and agriculture. Zuidema says, “This is another opportunity to share a Christ-centered perspective with our community as we lead young people in exploring God’s world.”
Vermeer says, “It’s always nice to work with the people at ISU-Extension. They are creative, resourceful, hard-working, and fun to work with. I mostly work with them on the ‘Your Future at Work’ event for high school sophomores. ISU-Extension helps with logistics, planning, and resources. Their contributions help turn a good event, into an excellent event.”
