From Good to Best
“Good, better, best: Never let it rest, until your good is better, and your better is best!” When Marilyn (DeBoer ’69) Clauss shares her motto for learning and life, it sticks in students’ minds and encourages them to be like their teacher: always learning.
“When we think we’ve accomplished something, we can always learn more,” says Clauss. That dedication earned her the 2009 Educator of Character Award, given by Iowa Character Counts, which honors innovative character development.
Clauss retired from 36 years of teaching in 2006. All but two of those years were spent teaching second grade in West Des Moines, where she continues to substitute teach regularly.
Clauss practices lifelong learning herself. She earned a master’s degree in special education from the University of Iowa and an administration certification from Drake University.
She also serves on the board of the Storybook Project, which promotes literacy by enabling incarcerated parents to read to their children. As a member of Meredith Drive Reformed Church, Clauss volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and assists African refugees transitioning into the community.
by Emily Hennager ’06
Track Authority
Officiating 30 high school and college track and field meets a year over four decades, Cornie Wassink ’73 has seen athletes like Olympic decathlon gold medalist Brian Clay recognized for outstanding achievements. In December, Wassink was also honored—inducted into the Iowa Track Officials Hall of Fame.
Northwestern’s planned giving director, Wassink got his start in track officiating in 1970. A work-study job preparing Northwestern’s cinder track before meets led to opportunities to clerk for officials and eventually assume other responsibilities.
He co-founded the Iowa Association of Track Officials and has edited its procedures manual for 10 years.
Wassink has also officiated seven other sports. He continues with cross country, having worked three NCAA Div. I national championships, and with football, where he has officiated 48 high school playoff games. He was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Officials Hall of Fame in 2008.
But track and field is special to Wassink. “What’s particularly nice is the camaraderie,” he says. “The athletes develop friendships with kids from other schools, and at state and national meets, they pull for each other.”
Named the state track official of the year four times, Wassink serves as the assistant head umpire at the Drake Relays. He has worked eight NCAA Div. I national track championships and been referee at five NAIA national championships.
by Duane Beeson
All She Needs
By the time Stacey O’Hara ’94 penned songs for her Christian pop album All I Need, nominated for an Indieheaven Momentum Award in 2008, her life had been an exercise in proving the title track’s theme.
Raised in Sioux City, Iowa, by her mother, the singer/songwriter grew up on welfare and lived in low-income housing.
“We had times of not knowing where the next meal would come from,” she says.
In 2006, O’Hara moved to Franklin, Tenn., just minutes from “Music City” Nashville. Both she and her mother—who went back to school in her 40s—secured teaching positions in the same school district. “Life is way too short. It’s important that family live near each other,” says O’Hara.
O’Hara performs regularly with her church’s worship band and continues to gather material for her next album.
All she really needs, she says, is music, family, strong church ties, and the Lord to see her through.
“It’s amazing how far God has brought us,” O’Hara says. “From being on welfare and having nothing to becoming college graduates—things that so many years ago we would have never thought possible. Here I am, following my dream.”
by Amy Scheer
Flying High
“Minds of men fashioned a crate of thunder, Sent it high into the blue …”
Andrew Hugen ’02 may not know all the words to The U.S. Air Force song, and he doesn’t actually fashion the thundering crates flown by USAF pilots—he helps finance them.
Hugen joined Boeing after graduating from Northwestern and is now a business manager for the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) Low-Rate Initial Production. He acts as the liaison among the various finance functions at Boeing and the U.S. Air Force, which operates more than 200 of the C-130 aircraft.
AMP involves removing the cockpit analog controls of the decades-old C-130s and replacing them with digital displays in order to extend the operating life of the planes.
Boeing is currently finishing the development phase of the program, waiting on final tests and authorization from the Air Force.
Hugen says it’s a thrill to work for a company connected to the front lines of U.S. defense and security. “Across the runway from my project is the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter—a bigger military cargo plane you sometimes see on the news or hear about with relief efforts. To know people at our company built that, you definitely feel a sense of pride.”
by Sherrie Barber Willson ’98
Classic Comments
All comments are moderated and need approval from the moderator before they are posted. Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Comments posted do not reflect the views or values of Northwestern College.