School News
Mr. Vergel is Commissioned
Alfredo Vergel, GNYA's Spanish and Religion I teacher, along with seven other educators of the Greater New York Conference, was commissioned to the ministry of teaching during the conference's annual united camp meeting.
Pr. Olivo, with Dr. Saturné and Mr. Vergel to his left, leads in prayer of consecration during commissioning service.
George Babcock, Atlantic Union College President, charged the commissioning candidates to reach for the stars as they behold Jesus and seek to ever more perfectly reflect his life, while Greater New York Conference President, Dionisio Olivo, led in prayer for the consecration of the newly commissioned teachers.
Mr. Vergel, a native of Colombia, joined the conference's educational system in 1999 after graduating with a bachelor's degree from Corporación Universitaria Adventista, Medellín, Colombia, in 1997, and working for a school year as a religion teacher at Colegio Max Trummer, a K-12 adventist school in Barranquilla, Colombia. He has worked at GNYA for over five years, during which he also obtained a master's degree in technology in education from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. His graduate studies have enabled him to contribute to the use of technology in the school, including the design and maintenance of the school's website.
Jerrel Gilkerson, associate director of education from the Atlantic Union Conference, and Dr. Richard Marker congratulate Mr. Vergel while Dr. George Babcock, left, awaits his turn.
Other educators commissioned on this occasion were Sheila Allen (Oakview Preparatory School), Sonia Barrett (Brooklyn Seventh-day Adventist School), Daniela Ciccopiedi (Whispering Pines Adventist School), Delrose Patterson (Brooklyn Seventh-day Adventist School), Luz Sanchez (Bronx-Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist School), Leila Santos (Whispering Pines Adventist School), and Maria Thomas (South Bay Junior Academy of Seventh-day Adventists). Present at the event was also Bordes Henry Saturné, former Greater New York Conference superintendent of schools, who received an official farewell to join Atlantic Union College as assistant to the president for administration.
The united camp meeting, a gathering that convenes members of all language and ethnic groups within the Greater New York Conference, is normally the occasion chosen for the commisssioning service, which was relatively well attended this year. This time around the program included musical selections and testimonies on the impact of adventist education from the King's Men, a highly talented men's choir from Atlantic Union College.
The North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church endorses the commisioning of teachers selected according to outlined conditions that include: (1) a lifelong commitment to the church's educational system, (2) at least six years of proficient service in education, (3) a keene sense of Christian resposibility for nurturing and leading students to accept Jesus Christ as savior, (4) consistently upholding Christ as the focal point of curriculum and instruction, (5) positive interpersonal relationships that help create an environment of social, spiritual and emotional stability, and (6) holding denominational professional certification.