Graceland's Spring 2025 Commencement will be held on April 27.
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As part of their efforts to help, students from the Graceland School of Nursing, Community Development Club and Enactus worked each of the Kansas City Chiefs’ home games offering wheel chair assistance.
This year, students worked a total of 10 home games along with a concert and have raised over $21,000. People for Guatemala, a nonprofit U.S.-based organization that raises money for Guatemala, helped the Graceland groups find a donor who matched what was raised for a total of over $40,000.
This will be the second school built in Guatemala since Associate Dean and Professor of Nursing Dr. Sharon Little-Stoetzel and her family began an initial fundraising effort in 2016. Little-Stoetzel explains that she and her husband were in the village of La Majada building stoves when it was casually mentioned by Lois Werner, the president of People for Guatemala, that the land “over there” was where the village wanted a school to be built. They just needed $20,000.
Upon returning to the U.S., Little-Stoetzel proposed the project to her daughter, Abbey, who was a Graceland student and a leader in the Community Development Club. Abbey brought the proposal to Max Pitt, faculty advisor to the club, and fundraising for the first school (La Majada) started in the fall of 2016. That year, the Graceland community worked six home Chiefs games as a joint effort between the School of Nursing and the Community Development Club.
“The work we do with the Chiefs has provided one school in 2017 in the village of Las Majada where there was no school previously,” commented Little-Stoetzel. “A middle school is being built in the village of Palo Blanco this summer. The previous school was overcrowded and had a combination of elementary and middle school students.”
The people involved may have raised the money, but the planning and leadership of the school is in the hands of the community members surrounding where the school is to be built. Pitt says of the people in Guatemala, “Their investment and leadership ensures that our efforts do not create dependency or toxicity. We are only doing a small part. They are leading and giving their all for the benefit of their children and their community.”
Chaperones (Max Pitt, Cindy Pitt, Ethan Pitt and Jordan Byrd) accompanied 10 Graceland students to San Martin Jilotepeque to celebrate with the communities of Palo Blanco and La Majada as they took the next steps in building their schools. The two NGOs, People for Guatemala and Hombres y Mujeres en Accion, are the bridge and the support to the communities. Graceland students worked and celebrated with the community members.
Sharon Little-Stoetzel brought nursing students to work in clinics, take Spanish lessons and collaborate with nurse practitioner students from Florida Atlantic University. They also conducted school screenings in La Majada and Palo Blanco. The nursing students spent one week in Panajachel (a transitional week) where they lived in homes, volunteered in clinics and went to Spanish school. The second week they worked in clinics and conducted well child checkups in the villages surrounding San Martin. Nursing students have the opportunity to differentiate between how nursing care is delivered in the United States and Guatemala. The experience is invaluable to see firsthand how poverty affects health in a third world country.
– Max Pitt, MBA, ’86
Associate Professor of Business
Horizons - Summer 2018
June 15, 2018
Dr. Jill Rhea was hired as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty effective July 1 following a national search assisted by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). She comes to Graceland with experience in both traditional liberal arts undergraduate education and in overseeing online, adult on-site and graduate programs.
Horizons - Summer 2018
June 15, 2018
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS & LEARNING: IT'S REAL! When I unpacked...
Horizons - Summer 2018
June 15, 2018
After asking students, alumni, faculty and staff what they would choose as their Graceland top 10, we pooled their answers to bring you this list of inspiring attributes that make Graceland the place we are all proud to call home.
Horizons - Summer 2018
June 15, 2018
It’s no secret that Graceland faculty are a focused bunch.
Their achievements are piling up, and the faculty bulletin boasts entries weekly. Graceland professors are not only excellent teachers, their scholarship is admirable. They’re keeping up with the cutting edge of their disciplines and bettering themselves to provide Graceland students with the opportunities and knowledge they need to succeed.
Horizons - Summer 2018
June 15, 2018
Commencement provides an opportunity to give recognition for outstanding accomplishments in the Graceland community.
Horizons - Summer 2018
June 15, 2018
We applaud many things at Graceland, but the crowning achievement is learning. Scholarship is the most important task of the university, and academic accomplishment is what we celebrate at commencement.
