ways to make spiritual life at Shenandoah unique and powerful,
educational and inspiring.”
The creative energy of Shenandoah’s students inspired the Office
of Spiritual Life to launch a food-service program in partnership
with Sodexo, Shenandoah’s foodservice provider. Through Hungry
Hearts, food is collected from Sodexo and taken to the Salvation
Army, where it’s served to individuals from the Winchester
community. Working with the Office of Spiritual Life, students
also use their creativity to raise funds and gather volunteers for the
Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter (WATTS), where they
serve dinner and celebrate community with the guests who need a
warm, safe place to stay during the coldest months of the winter.
Losgar credits their experiences as Shenandoah students with
helping to develop the creative energy that sparked the vision of
OfficialSalmon and enabled them to bring their dreams to life.
“My education is theatre-based, and that has helped fuel my
imagination as I segue into fashion,” said Losgar. “Socially,
Shenandoah was very demanding, so my networking skills
skyrocketed as far as fostering relationships with other artists and
other business people. Having the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of
Business there helped me meet business-minded individuals as well
as creative types, so the options to develop our business are endless.”
Spirituality Expressed Through
Creativity
Creative energy is
both the spark that
inspires Shenandoah
students to explore
their passions and
the force that
energizes the
expression of
their individual
talents and gifts.
The nurturing
of creativity across
campus plays an
important role not only in
helping students shape their
careers, but in the growth and expression of their spirituality.
Dean of Spiritual Life Justin Allen, M.Div., D.Min., believes
Shenandoah’s focus on creativity and diversity empowers students
with the confidence to contribute their own rich and authentic
gifts to the experience of worship.
“Each year our University Chapel at Noon is different because the
gifts of the students who participate in worship are unique,” said
Dr. Allen. “One week we’ll have a student tap dance to ‘Grace Like
Rain,’ and the next week we’ll have a student acting out the story
of the healing of a paralytic man. Students preach, sing, dance,
write liturgy, act, design worship and use their gifts in many other
22
“The creative energy of Shenandoah’s students makes anything
possible and makes us a more loving and caring community,”
said Allen.
Creativity as the Current for Healing
“I once read that ‘creative energy is the electric current that
drives all things,’” says Shenandoah Physical Therapy faculty
member Edward Schrank, Ph.D., PT. As a physical therapist, Dr.
Schrank understands how creative energy guides both his work
with patients and his interactio ns with students in Shenandoah’s
physical therapy program.
For the past nine years, Schrank has taught the department’s only
online, doctoral-level course, “Starting Your Own Private Practice
in Physical Therapy,” designed to prepare students with the nutsand-bolts knowledge they need to become successful, autonomous
physical therapists. Although the program’s distance format offers
challenges in faculty-student interactions, Schrank uses discussion
boards and a variety of assignments to engage students in creative
thinking and to challenge some of their preconceived ideas about
their abilities.
“This is an online class, so there’s not a lot of personal interaction,”
said Schrank. “It’s through the discussion boards and through the
assignments that students find something that sparks their passion
about private practice. One of the first assignments they complete
is an aptitude test to become an entrepreneur. What’s always really
interesting is finding the students who had no idea they have this
aptitude to go out on their own, to be bold and creative. There’s
always that student who comes back to the discussion board with
a high aptitude for entrepreneurship and never knew it, and is
excited to think about the possibility of being the type of person
who starts his or her own practice.”
For Shenandoah’s physical therapy students, Schrank’s course
fosters the creative energy and critical-thinking skills they’ll need
to create innovative solutions in their individual practices. As their
final assignment, students create a business plan for their physical
therapy practice. Beyond preparing students for the logistics of
running their own business, the assignment allows them to explore
and view their career goals from a new perspective. As Schrank
stresses, this creative energy is an essential part of daily practice
for physical therapists.