Inspire your students
Mennonites, as a general rule, are a hard-working people. Most are content to live the general path that the Mennonite life follows: grow up, make money, get married, have kids, and so on. Many never stray far from this norm - it is after all also the North American dream. The unfortunate thing is that many Mennonite children don't realize their potential. Many believe that they are limited to the status quo of their home community, that they don't NEED to get a good education, that their dreams couldn't become reality.
Below are a number well known Mennonites who may inspire our students. It's up to us as educators to give our students wings!
Below are a number well known Mennonites who may inspire our students. It's up to us as educators to give our students wings!
James ReimerJames Reimer is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. Reimer was selected by the Maple Leafs in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
Number: 34 Height: 6' 2" Weight: 208 Catches: Left Born: 15 Mar 1988 (Age 25) Birthplace: Morweena, MB, Canada https://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPT_enCA454CA454&q=James+reimer http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473503
The Canadian trio has opened shows for Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes and Reba McEntire, earning a solid reputation as a must-see live act. High Valley’s last album, “Broken Borders,” was named Album of the Year at the 2007 GMA Canada Covenant Awards in the country category while their hit “Back to You” was honored as Country Song of the Year. High Valley has also been among the nominees for Group of the Year at the Nashville-based Inspirational Country Music Awards.
The Canadian-born siblings grew up in Alberta on a farm in the rural community of La Crete. The Rempel family relocated to Canada in a rather unusual fashion when the siblings’ paternal grandfather loaded his family onto a truck and drove them from Mexico to Canada. “Our parents were both born in Mexico in a Mennonite colony where they rode horse and buggy and had no electricity,” says Brad. “Then our grandfather bought an old gray truck and as a result, he got kicked out of the colony because that was against the rules to have a vehicle. So he packed up the family and immigrated to Canada with the family in the back of this truck. There were two families, four adults in the front and 20 children on the box and that’s how they made their move all the way to Canada.” http://highvalley.wordpress.com/bio/
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Premier
President of Executive Council Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs MLA for Swift Current Brad Wall was first elected Premier of Saskatchewan in the November 2007 provincial election. His government was re-elected in the 2011 provincial election with 64 per cent of the popular vote – the highest percentage of any political party in Saskatchewan history. http://www.gov.sk.ca/cabinet/wall/
Cindy Klassen is Canada’s Olympic star. At the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Cindy, a Winnipeg native who trains in Calgary, became the first Canadian to win five medals at a single Winter Olympics. She won Gold in the 1500m, Silver in the1000m, Silver in the Team Pursuit, Bronze in the 5000m and Bronze in the 3000m.
Cindy also captured an Olympic Bronze medal in 2002 making her the most decorated Canadian Olympic athlete in history, with a total of six Olympic medals. http://www.cindyklassen.com/ |
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mennonites for more well known Mennonites. Please feel free to list additional Mennonite folks that you believe students would find inspiring in the comment/blog section to add to this page at a later date.