Thiel Happenings

Thiel College Center for Speech-Language Services making connections to community

The Thiel College clinic within its Center for Speech-Language Services continues to welcome more clients by providing free assistance to those in need of speech, language, cognition, voice, and hearing screenings and evaluations.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College serving as a host site for Bike MS: Escape to the Lake 2022 event

Thiel College announces that it will be the overnight host in June for about 500 cyclists and volunteers as part of the Bike MS: Escape to the Lake 2022 fundraising ride that generates $500,000 annually to fight multiple sclerosis.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Brooks, Gilbert named Thiel College Student of the Month honorees for April

Thiel College announces Payton Brooks ’22, of Saegertown, Pa., and James Gilbert ’22, of Pearl River, N.Y., as the Student of the Month honorees for April.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Campus wide scholarship and arts Symposium is Thursday

Thiel College students present their research findings to the campus community through oral presentations or a poster session. Classes are canceled for the day in order for the entire campus community to attend and suport student learning and research. View the program below to see times and locations of specific presentations.

• Read the program to find out who, what, when and where the presesentations are.

For more information, contact Neil Lax, Ph.D.

Donut sale Tuesday to benefit equestrian team

The Thiel Equestrians will be selling donuts on April 26.

Faculty and staff can support Thiel Equestrians by sending someone an end of semester pick me up! Send a special message and a fresh, authentic Amish donut to someone (faculty, staff, or student) on campus. Cost is $3, which includes the donut, your custom message, and we will contact them to grab the donut on Tuesday, April 26.

For more information, contact Jenna Malnar to place your order before noon Sunday, April 24.

Also on Tuesday, April 26 Thiel Equestrians will be selling the fresh donuts in front of the Post Office entrance starting at 8 a.m. for $2.

Student News

Michelle Reefer ’90 shares her Thiel story

Michelle Reefer ’90 was the featured speaker at the April 13 Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar.  Michelle is the CEO of the Progressive Workshop of Armstrong County in Kittanning, Pa. and is the mother of Thiel senior Hannah Uschock ’22.

“Michelle grew up in the Lutheran church in a small town. The members of her church had gone to Thiel, so she had grown up hearing about the small, liberal arts college a lot. Nobody in her family had gone to college or pushed the college route on her, but she heard the Thiel choir sing once and knew she wanted to be a part of that.” Richard Crooks ’22

“She found Thiel because her pastor was a Thiel alum and her coworkers at the summer camp she worked at were Thiel alums as well. She was also fortunate enough to receive a scholarship from her church because she was going to Thiel which is very interesting because I actually received the same scholarship when I came to Thiel.” Dan Myers ’22

“She noted that a major reason she decided to attend Thiel because of many pastors knowing about the school, and her also loving the song, Beautiful Savior, that our choir sang. One of my favorite parts of this class is getting to hear the interesting ways people find Thiel and the stories behind them.”  Kate Sollers ’22

“Michele spent her first semester at Thiel trying to find where she fit in, Michele joined the choir, was involved in theater, and her second semester found her way into the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. Michele found her best friends in Zeta that she is still friends with to this day.” Emily Sears ’22

“Michelle had an incredibly unique story. She went from having no idea what career she wanted to go into after college, to having her dream job. I enjoyed listening to her stories because the field I want to go into is remarkably similar to hers. Working with mental health individuals is not always the easiest task, but it is for sure on of the most rewarding.” Maddison Neely ’22

“After graduating from Thiel, she wasn’t too sure what she wanted to do in her career, but she knew she wanted to be a leader and a mom. She worked in community homes with juvenile sex offenders, worked in case management, and eventually realized she wanted to be a behavioral specialist.” Adonis Scriven ’22

“She had always enjoyed working where she was able to help people, so she spent 20 years of her career working in mental health. She worked as a case director for many years, until an opportunity came up to be the CEO of PWAC.” Madeline DePalma ’22

‘Today Michelle is the CEO of Progressive Workshop of Armstrong County, Inc.  Her organization provides employment for adults with intellectual disabilities and it is clear that she has found her passion in helping these adults.” Angela Sorg ’23

“The most important thing that she learned from her career and having a staff to oversee was to always take care of the people of the people that work for you because they are the ones that take care of those you serve.” Abigail Cico ’22

“I think it was amazing how she is a go-getter and takes so many risks and is willing to try anything new. I loved her stories about after graduation when she got on a greyhound bus and traveled across the country. That is such a unique experience that in the present day is not the norm and definitely frowned upon.” Logan Long ’22

“She has done so many amazing things for her employees and the community. In conclusion, I want to take the information she taught us on and apply them to my business to become a better leader. I want to become a successful leader just like her when I grow my business in the future.” John Retton ’22

“Michelle espoused the need to be a good leader. To do this, a good leader had to recognize their shortcomings and be able to recruit and surround themselves with staff who could cover these shortcomings while they themselves covered theirs. Also, a good leader had to have a set of ethics and convictions and stick to them and recognize when it is time to leave a place when the company culture clashes with one’s convictions.” Owen Sa ’22

“I really enjoyed getting to hear the stories that helped Reefer get to where she is today. Some of which were not related to working. The main thing she noted was about traveling. She told us to “go have fun”. I really liked this because sometimes we get caught up in the work and forget that there are fun things to do. Whether it is finding a hobby, or traveling to new places, just get out and enjoy life.” Kate Sollers ’22

“One of my favorite things Michelle said throughout the night was “find what you’re passionate about”. I feel as the time is coming for many of us to graduate, we can be so focused on getting a job and not finding what we’re passionate about. I think Michelle eased a lot of the “graduation scares” many of us have been feeling.” Madeline DePalma ’22

“Her speech was very motivating as she outlined her career before, during, and after Thiel. One of the first things she wanted us to understand was that the people we meet at Thiel will be with us through the ups and downs of our lives. She expressed how caring about people and being kind to everyone equally will get you far in life.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“Michelle explicitly expressed to us the importance of fostering the friendships that we make in college because those are the friends that will be there for you in the best and worst times of our lives.” Abigail Cico ’22

Lessons Learned

• “Be willing to do anything you ask your employees to do.” Richard Crooks ’22
• “Go do something fun.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23
• “Always remember how you treat people when they’re young. It sticks with them.” John Ganiear ’22
• “Always look on the bright side of things, never let negativity take over a situation.” Logan Long ’22
• “Being a leader and being a boss sometimes do not mean the same thing.” Maddison Neely ’22
• “Whatever you job is do it to the best of your ability. Be the best at whatever you do no matter what the job is.” John Retton ’22
• “No matter how high you are on the ladder, always be willing to roll your sleeves up and do the job of the lowest rung if it needs to be done.” Owen Sa ’22
• “Never ask employees to do something that you aren’t willing to do yourself.” Logan Long ’22
• “What people say, whether positive or negative, can have an impact on us.” Adonis Scriven ’22
• “Stand your ground as a woman in a business leadership role.” Emily Sears ’22
• “Go do something fun. Life is too short to not do at least one adventurous thing after we graduate.” Kate Sollers ’22
• “Don’t stay in a position or a company that you’re not passionate about.” Angela Sorg ’23
• “Foster the relationships you have after college ends, because you never know which friends are going to help you down the road.” Trey Williams ’22
• “Serve others above self.” Jacob Zylka ’22

Dinner Dishing

• “I had the pleasure of sitting with our guest of honor who in all reality is one of my sorority sisters. Michelle not only served as a wonderful class speaker, but wonderful to individually speak with. Our table shared wonderful conversations the entire night, there wasn’t a quiet moment.” Madeline DePalma ’22
• “The food never disappoints. Having come from an Italian family, wedding soup is something I am very meticulous about. The wedding soup they served was spot on. I really enjoyed everything from this week’s dinner. It will be a hard one to top.” Maddison Neely ’22
• “Everything was accompanied by a wedding soup, an eggplant parmesan, and an absolutely fabulous tuxedo cake that was accompanied by a frothed cup of coffee.” Owen Sa ’22
• “Dinner this week was my favorite by far. The cake was the best dessert I have had in the class.” Emily Sears ’22

Jewett wins FAFSA filing contest

First-year student Jason Jewett ’25 won a $200 gift card for the E-Campus Bookstore by filing his Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Etc.

Communications collateral

Employees should update the logos used on institutional materials, including email signatures, letterhead, PowerPoint slides, etc. 

Thiel College has used the shield and wordmark combination as the official institutional logo for more than a year. They are the only approved logo for academic co-curricular and institutional use. Additional athletic logo packages are also available.

Email signatures, brand resources, and a job request form are all available online. A Dropbox folder has been set up with instructions and the materials necessary to create new email signatures. Employees can find other Thiel College-branded resources including letterhead, logos and PowerPoint slides in the same folder.

• Download brand assets.

Thiel College community members who need help with communications and marketing initiatives and collateral can now request those services with a job form. The request form is available on the communications and marketing webpage or linked directly below.

• Job request form

For more information, email the office.