Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2015 | Page 8
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WHEATON
student N E W S
Workout Performs Love’s
Labour’s Lost for Wheaton
Park District
Current students and alumni presented
Love’s Labour’s Lost to outdoor audiences
at Memorial Park in downtown Wheaton
August 29-30. An installment of the city’s
Shakespeare in the Park series, the production featured alumni spanning five decades
of the College theater group,Workout.
Wheaton’s director of theater programs,
Mark Lewis, estimates that approximately
1,000 people attended each night. “The
feeling in the park was truly amazing—
attentive audiences ready to laugh and
enjoy an evening together in a special
atmosphere,” says Lewis, who is also
associate professor of communication.
Rehearsals took place during a 10-day
theater camp at the Black Hills Science
Station in South Dakota. Some 50 current
students and alumni worked together at
the camp, offered regularly since 2003.
Wheaton Hosts Power Camp for Chicago Kids
Wheaton partnered with the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the Chickfil-A Foundation to host the first Chicagoland FCA Power Camp July 29-30, 2014.
More than 200 at-risk boys and girls from
10 Chicago neighborhoods, along with
30 from nearby suburbs, visited campus to
practice athletic skills such as agility, speed,
throwing, catching, and blocking. The camp
was the first event funded by the Chick-filA Foundation in a city outside Atlanta.
Thunder athletes, including quarterback
Reece Butler ’15, served as skill station
leaders and small group “huddle” leaders.
“[We’re] trying to just give them a day of
peace where they can hopefully see the
love of God,” he says, recognizing that
many of the campers come from neighbor6
W I N T ER
2015
hoods facing significant violence.
Campers participated in breakout sessions
on topics such as setting goals, making
wise decisions, choosing good influences,
and prioritizing higher education. Mike
Swider ’77, Wheaton’s head football coach,
presented the gospel message and the
Wheaton athletes shared their personal
testimonies.
Jim Johanik ’94, executive director of FCA
Chicago and a former Thunder co-captain,
says, “These kids learned today there is a
community outside their own that deeply
loves them and wants them to succeed. I pray
that the experience is a planted seed of hope
in their lives for years to come.”
Johanik is working with the Chick-fil-A
Foundation to sponsor another camp in 2015.
W H EA T O N . ED U / A L U M N I