A new nurse aide (aka Certified Nursing Assistant, or CNA) training program at 91短视频 Lancaster is providing job opportunities for those interested in the entry-level nurse aide position while meeting the needs of the numerous nursing homes in Lancaster County and surrounding regions. The program is the brainchild of Mary Jensen, vice president for enrollment and strategic growth at 91短视频, who sought out a solution to the shifting healthcare needs in the pandemic-laden summer of 2021 while serving as associate provost of 91短视频 Lancaster. 鈥淲e had one of the first RN to BSN programs in the Lancaster region and had developed a reputation in healthcare. While it became apparent during COVID that workers were leaving healthcare, there were also people who still needed jobs and wanted to work in healthcare, but had to start at the ground.鈥�

Jensen consulted with the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, members of her team and 91短视频 administration to research the viability of a scaffolded workforce development plan that involved partnering with area nursing homes to provide their employees with CNA, LPN, RN and BSN training. The results of this long-term strategy revealed a positive economic and educational impact to both 91短视频 and Lancaster County, one of the largest retirement regions in the nation. So, in the fall of 2021, Jensen began the process of acquiring approval from the state of Pennsylvania to run a CNA program. A short time later, she was offered her current position in Harrisonburg, so would become a supporter of the project from a distance.

Christine Sharp, who was named executive director of 91短视频 Lancaster in June 2022, led the Lancaster team through implementation of the CNA program. She continued conversations Jensen had started with executives from local nursing homes鈥攁nd before long Landis Homes, Mennonite Home and Fairmount Homes had signed on as partners. The three nursing homes donated most of the equipment鈥攊ncluding six hospital beds鈥攆or the classroom-turned-lab that was created to spec at 91短视频 Lancaster by its resourceful staff in October 2022; an onsite lab was required as part of the state application process for administering a CNA program. 鈥淚 love working in partnership,鈥� shared Sharp. 鈥淚t鈥檚 powerful for the school. It鈥檚 powerful for the community. And it鈥檚 powerful for our partner organizations.鈥�

With partnerships in place, Sharp shifted to hiring instructors to teach the CNA training classes that would begin in January 2023. Seasoned nursing professionals Carmen Miller and Bernice Reynolds 鈥�21 stepped in to fill the two spots required to get the program up and running. Miller agreed to teach in a part-time capacity. Reynolds, who graduated from 91短视频 Lancaster鈥檚 RN to BSN program and had Miller as an instructor, accepted an offer to teach part-time in January before moving into a full-time role as director of the nurse aide training program in March. Both women were required to take a course through Penn State to become certified to teach classes at 91短视频 Lancaster as part of a strict set of state standards for CNA instructors.

Launching a program

After a nine-month process, 91短视频 Lancaster received state certification鈥攁nd Sharp and staff worked with Landis Homes, Mennonite Home and Fairmount to fill training slots for the brand-new, six-week CNA program. Cohort 1 launched with 10 Landis Homes employees in January; cohort 2 followed in March with five Mennonite Home and five Fairmount employees, and cohort 3 got underway in May with three employees from Mennonite Home, one from Fairmount, and one from Pleasant View Communities鈥攁 new nursing home partner. The program, which prepares employees to take both a written and skills nurse aide exam through Credentia for state certification, totals 120 hours and is divided into three parts: classroom/theory (45 hours), lab (35 hours), and clinicals (40 hours).

According to Reynolds, classroom instruction entails PowerPoint presentations, handouts, activities, and videos related to body systems, abuse, vital signs, pain levels, and 鈥渟ome 50 skills of daily living鈥� (23 of which are Credentia skills) including washing the hair, handwashing and bathing. Lab time involves students practicing these skills on mannequins or on each other before working directly with the nursing home residents during clinicals. Sharp says a benefit of the partnerships is having clinical sites, which is an integral part of the training.

The need for nurse aides is so great that partners pay to send their employees through the CNA training program while also paying them their hourly rate, which can range from $18-$24. Mennonite Home even offered CNA candidates a $10K sign-on bonus, paid over two years, to fill its second shift. 鈥淚t was so fortunate that 91短视频 Lancaster鈥檚 partnership and the sign-on bonus came together,鈥� said Justin Lewis, HR recruiter and former CNA at Mennonite Home. 鈥淭here is a huge demand in healthcare for CNAs, and 91短视频 has helped us fill our vacancies.鈥� Lewis added that the Monday/Wednesday/Friday training schedule allows for a work-life balance with two days in between to 鈥渞ecoup, study, or potentially work.鈥� (91短视频 Lancaster has since added an eight-week Tuesday/Thursday training option.)

Ramsuze Pierre was hired by Mennonite Home as a CNA after working in a fast-paced position as a technologist assistant at Lancaster General Hospital. 鈥淚 wanted a slower-paced environment and the opportunity to get to know my residents,鈥� said Pierre, who went through cohort 2. Pierre says she learned medical terminology and the importance of learning residents鈥� routines, body changes and mood swings in the CNA training program. 鈥淲e learned everything that was on our exams,鈥� declared Pierre. To date, 100 percent of students have passed the Pennsylvania state written exam, and 93 percent have passed the skills portion of the exam.

Tiffany Millner had been working as a laundry aide at Fairmount for nearly a year when she learned that CNA classes for cohort 2 would be held on MWF evenings, which fit her schedule. She applied, interviewed, and landed a CNA position with Fairmount, who sponsored her training. 鈥淚 feel like I made a good choice by switching [jobs],鈥� shared Millner, who says she 鈥渕issed taking care of people鈥� after having looked after her mom for five years before her passing in 2022. 鈥�91短视频 Lancaster鈥檚 program was amazing. Ms. Bernice (Reynolds) and Ms. Carmen (Miller) were excellent teachers and broke down our questions until we understood the answers.鈥� Millner says she learned physical skills like how to 鈥減roperly stand and hold your resident鈥� to social-emotional skills like 鈥渕aking residents feel important and letting them be as independent as they can be.鈥� She also grasped why as a laundry aide she had folded washcloths in fourths: because nurses use a clean area of cloth for each body part!

Meeting a need

Since starting in January, 91短视频 Lancaster鈥檚 training program has hosted celebrations of completion for three cohorts of students who are serving as CNAs in Landis Homes, Mennonite Home, Fairmount, and Pleasant View Communities. United Zion and Hospice & Community Care have signed on as partners, and several other nursing/senior care organizations have reached out to partner with 91短视频 Lancaster. Reynolds is hiring additional instructors, and three more cohorts are scheduled for 2023 to meet the nursing home needs and demand for the course by high school students and community members.

鈥淚 have a passion for the program because it has the capacity to change people鈥檚 lives,鈥� said Reynolds. 鈥淥ur nursing home residents deserve to be treated abuse-free with dignity and respect, and this program addresses the proper way to care for residents. It also recognizes a CNA job as a profession, can impact earning power, and is a stepping stone to other educational and professional opportunities in healthcare.鈥�

With a model of success in place, 91短视频 Lancaster will continue to assess the marketability of an LPN training program and other offerings. Millner says she is satisfied with her CNA status for now, but that 91短视频 Lancaster should still start an LPN program. Pierre is 鈥減raying鈥� for such a program. Whatever the future holds, Jensen believes 91短视频 Lancaster is living into its mission to 鈥減repare people from all walks of life for the workforce.鈥� She says the CNA program 鈥渄iversifies what it means to be educated at 91短视频鈥� and 鈥渟olidifies 91短视频鈥檚 place in Lancaster County as a partner who is seen as innovative, flexible, and willing to work with people to meet actual needs of the community.鈥� 

This article was published in the聽Spring/Summer 2023 Crossroads magazine.

Roger E. Mast, men’s soccer coach and professor of physical education at 91短视频, is now “Dr. Mast.”

He is one of two collegiate soccer coaches in Virginia to hold a doctorate, both of whom live in Harrisonburg, Va.

The other is Tom Martin, men’s soccer coach at James Madison University.

Mast began pursuing his doctorate in “educational leadership in higher education” in the fall of 2000 with Argosy University, an institution in Sarasota, Fla. Argosy specializes in distance and online education.

The show will be presented 7 p.m. Friday, Mar. 16, in Lehman Auditorium at 91短视频.

In this play, Cooper, currently a Harrisonburg resident and voice instructor at 91短视频, once lived a far more glamorous life.

Blessed at birth with an amazing vocal instrument, a strong work ethic, and a Type A personality, she spent her youth as a rising star, pleasing audiences and impressing critics, and was shamelessly thrilled to do so.

Jennifer Anne Cooper in full diva regalia at the Florida Grand Opera.

By age 28, Cooper was poised on the threshold of international Diva-dom, celebrating hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of contracts and preparing to sing 12 lead roles with top opera companies in Europe and North America.

Then – in a wink of fate’s eye – the gift that seemed divinely given was gone, and the proverbial party was over.

Pianist Michael Santana, director of the Chesapeake (MD) Choral Arts Society, is Cooper

Ruth Brunk Stoltzfus and Ella May Miller, both of Harrisonburg, received plaques and letters of commendation during the annual “church leader appreciation banquet” held in Martin Chapel as part of the annual at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Ervin Stutzman, seminary dean and Phil N. Helmuth, executive director of development and church relations, made the presentations.

The ceremony featured a narrative of the development and growth of the “Heart to Heart” radio program, incorporating archival photos and sound clips. Presenters were Melodie Miller Davis, writer-producer with Mennonite Media, and Paul M. Schrock, retired Herald Press book editor who was editor of “Alive,” a publication of Mennonite Broadcasts, forerunner of Mennonite Media.

Ruth “was probably the first Mennonite woman on the airwaves with a regular program. This was truly amazing, considering what society was like in the 1950s for women, technology and the Mennonite Church,” Davis said.

The idea for the program germinated while the Stoltzfus family was living in Scottdale, Pa. Ruth Stoltzfus discussed the idea of a radio program for women with her husband, the late Grant M. Stoltzfus. They contacted a nearby station, WCVI in Connellsville, and were first told that “there’s no available time.”

But, when the station manager heard the idea, he offered Ruth a six-month contract, beginning that same week.

Heart to Heart

The program needed a name, immediately. Grant asked Ruth what she hoped to do on the broadcast, and Ruth said, “I want to share ideas, tell stories, read poetry and just talk heart to heart.”

“There’s your name – Heart to Heart,” Grant responded. On the air, she referred to herself as “Your Friend Ruth.”

The program began in June 1950, one year before the official launch of what became “The Mennonite Hour” radio program in early 1951. Heart to Heart came under the supervision of Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc., in Harrisonburg in 1956.

After leaving the broadcast, Ruth Stoltzfus continued in church ministry, pastoring Mennonite congregations in Toledo and Pandora, Ohio and Richmond, Va. She was the first woman to be ordained in Virginia Mennonite Conference in 1989 at the age of 74 and received the “distinguished service award” from 91短视频 that same year.

Ella May Miller became “Heart to Heart” speaker in 1958 and served in that role until 1976. During this time, she wrote eight books, started Heart to Heart fellowship groups and went on numerous speaking assignments.

Although Ella May said she “had no experience in radio work, other than preparing and broadcasting a weekly Sunday school lesson WEMC-FM,” she said that “the reason the Lord used Heart to Heart so successfully was I focused on a target audience – just one woman. It made it more personable.”

John L. Horst, Jr., retired 91短视频 physics professor and a cappella music specialist, led attendees in singing verses of the Heart to Heart theme song, “Love at Home,” to open and close the tribute.

Master of ceremonies Jim Bishop interviewed both women during the program and also interacted with Richard Weaver of Harrisonburg, who was recording engineer. The broadcasts were produced for many years in a converted chicken house on S. College Ave. in Park View.

The studio “had the best technical quality available at that time,” Weaver said. “Persons in the recording field came from as far away as Nashville and New York City to see this setup.”

‘Ministering to Each Other’

Weaver said that he “treasured the opportunity” to work with both women, not only because they were capable speakers who generated considerable audience response and requests for prayer and literature, but also because “we often wound up ministering to each other.” Weaver was recording engineer for Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. for 25 years.

At its height, Heart to Heart was carried on 261 stations in the U.S. and Canada in 15-minute weekly and 5-minute daily versions, including Harrisonburg radio station WSVA.

The women were joined on the platform by two of their children, Kathy Stoltzfus Fairfield of Bridgewater, Va., and Ernest Miller of Minneapolis, Minn. They reflected on their mothers’ radio ministry and noted ways that they lifted stories out of their respective family situations but “used different names” in the examples.

Miller admitted, however, that as teens they coped because “we (kids) rarely listened” to their mother’s programs.

Ella May felt it was time to leave the program in 1976 and did transitional programs with a new speaker and a new program, “Your Time,” with Margaret Foth as speaker. Foth continued this program, while broadening the issues base, for another 10 years.

“These two ordinary but extraordinary Mennonite women used their natural abilities, gifts and passions to serve God and the church in some pretty creative and risky ways,” Davis said to close the tribute. “Both felt it was a privilege to have been part of this media work for the church, and those of us who still work in this arena still consider it a great privilege.

“People are still being challenged and changed. People are still encouraged, like Ruth and Ella May expressed, to experience the Jesus way of forgiving love.”

Daniel B. Suter, professor emeritus of and developer of the at 91短视频, died Dec. 24, 2006, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community where he was a resident. He was 86.

Dr. Suter joined the science department at 91短视频 in 1948 and eventually became head of the biology department and pre-med advisor. He retired in 1985.

, completed in 1967, was named after Suter “in recognition of his leadership in the development of the school’s science/pre-medical program and his influence among students during his teaching years.”

Doctor of the Year

During his tenure, 91短视频 students had an acceptance rate of more than 85 percent into medical, dental and veterinary schools, well above the national average of 40-50 percent. He was named “Doctor of the Year” in 1985 by the Mennonite Medical Association and the Mennonite Nurses’ Association.

The board of trustees of 91短视频 established the Dr. Daniel B. Suter Endowed Biology Chair on Sept. 19, 1986 in honor of his distinguished teaching career and “contributions to academic excellence and the highest standards of personal and spiritual maturity in the .”

Dr. Roman J. Miller, who joined the 91短视频 faculty in 1985, was named first appointee to the Suter Chair.

“When I arrived at 91短视频 as an associate professor of biology, Dr. Suter was gracious and helpful as I began teaching some courses that he had taught and assumed premedical advising responsibilities in a program that he had largely developed,” Dr. Miller said. “Through his excellence in teaching and carefulness in advising students, Dr. Suter created a legacy of influential premedical training.”

Dr. Daniel B. Suter and wife Grace at Daniel’s 80th birthday party, April 2000, in the Suter Science Center.

Servant of the Church

Suter was ordained a minister in Virginia Mennonite Conference in 1951 and served as pastor of Gospel Hill Mennonite Church and later Weavers Mennonite Church in Rockingham County. He also served the broader church as a visiting minister and teacher. He spoke in many settings on the harmful effects of alcohol use and abuse on the body and on “the biology of aging.”

He served as secretary of Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions and as a board member of both Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media) and VMRC.

Suter was a skilled woodworker and strong advocate of church music, promoting singing from the “Harmonia Sacra,” a songbook edited and first published by Joseph Funk of Singers Glen, Va., in 1832.

Suter was a graduate of Eastern Mennonite High School, Eastern Mennonite College, Bridgewater College, Vanderbilt University and the Medical College of Virginia, where he received a Ph.D. in neuroanatomy in 1963.

Divine Placement

91短视频 President Loren Swartzendruber noted that Suter was offered a faculty position at UVa. at three times the salary that 91短视频 had paid him. Suter felt compelled to return to 91短视频 because “I believed that’s where the Lord wanted me to be.”

Asked if he had any regrets, his response was “No, not really, although it was difficult at times. I’m grateful when I think about the more than 300 physicians, dentists, and other health care workers who are serving all over the world that I helped to train.”

He married the former Grace Fisher on June 23, 1941, who preceded him in death on Dec. 8, 2003. He is survived by two daughters, two sons, one sister, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was held Dec. 29, 2006 at Strite Auditorium of VMRC, with internment at Weavers Mennonite Church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daniel B. Suter Endowed Chair at 91短视频, 1200 Park Rd., Harrisonburg, VA 22802 or online at or by phoning (800) 368-3383.