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North Iowa Area Community College recognized 41 student leaders at the 19th annual Pathways to Success luncheon held April 16 in the Muse-Norris Conference Center at NIACC.  Honorees were nominated by NIACC faculty and staff for their academic achievement, positive attitude, character, teamwork and ability to inspire others.  The event also featured a keynote address by 2009 Outstanding Alumna Dr. Norma Cook Everist, Class of 1958.

Everist shared her pathway to success with student honorees.  Drawing on her experience as a widely known lecturer and author, Everist developed seven points for students to use as a compass for life when they begin their journey after NIACC. 

The building block for Everist’s seven points - Be known as someone others can count on and work towards mutual accountability - describes a character trait Everist acquired as a student at Mason City Junior College (NIACC).  “To be mutually accountable is to respect people with whom you live and work.  It honors the relationship,” said Everist.  This was a lesson Everist learned when she worked at Weber Carpet company while attending Mason City Junior College.

Using accountability as the corner stone, Everist then listed six additional points for the students to use as they journey forward:  help create and maintain healthy environments for people to be different together; walk through doors that are open only a crack and open them wider for others to enter; start out on a pathway and just keep on walking; remember that communication is a circle – an idea is not really ours until we have shared it; and be engaged globally in seeking justice for all, service to others and love that liberates.

Amidst the civil rights unrest of the mid-1960’s, Everist and her young family were transferred to Detroit.  Living in inner city Detroit, after the riots in 1967 there was much fear.  Accompanied by her then two-week old son, Joel, Everist went around the neighborhood getting to know her neighbors, publishing a block newsletter, and helping to create community.   The spring after Everist and her family moved to St. Louis, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.  This tragedy re-ignited social unrest across the United States, but the foundation of a healthy environment fostered by Everist and her son eliminated the sense of fear in their neighborhood.

After receiving her Associate of Arts degree in 1958, Everist went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts degree from Valparaiso University; Master of Arts in Religion from Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis); Master of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School and her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology.

Everist began her teaching career at Yale Divinity School.  She has been teaching at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, since 1979 where she is Professor of Church Administration and Educational Ministry.  Everist and her husband, Burton, have three grown sons, Mark, Phoenix, AZ; Joel (wife, Rachel), Mason City; and Kirk (wife, Rebecca), Dennison, TX, as well as three grandchildren. 

Students honored at the event included:

Alexander
Chance Frerichs, Marissa Vierkant

Belmond
Taylor DePeuw, Joan White

Britt
Sarah Everett, Trella Warburton

Cascade
Calvin Rea

Charles City
Amanda Andrews, Torey Stallsmith

Clarksville
Kimberly Vest

Clear Lake
Alysha Olson

Forest City
Cory Champney

Garner
Misty Fandel, Daniel Ihrke, Kelly Weigel

Graettinger
Courtney Hanson

Grafton
Tiffany Braun, Jared Johanns

Manly
Robert Arnold, Jr.

Mason City
Ryan Adams, Kristy Byrd, Christine Funk, Laura Holtz, Alan Kading, Angela Merriam, Logan Smith, Heather Snell

New Albin
Andrew Beck

Newhall
Drew Hagen

Nora Springs
Scott Birkedal, Theodore Pappas

Northwood
Emily Christian, Justin Nerlien

Osage
Kyle Lutz, Teresa Shaw

Rudd
Steven Wyborny

Thompson
Bradley Kemnitz

Waverly
Jason Schweer

Camp Verde, Arizona
Aaron Hancock

Chicago, Illinois
Krystal Durr

Adelaide, Australia
Christopher Clausen

NIACC’s 19th annual Pathways to Success event was sponsored by the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors and the NIACC Student Senate.

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