Bonnie Miller Smith Hometown: Hettinger, ND Current Home: Hettinger, ND Major: English; Vocal Music Performance Additional Education: B.S., Dickinson State University; M.A. NDSU Email: bonnie.smith@dsu.nodak.edu Excited to attend Concordia College, I came to learn and to sing. Classes with Drs. Prauznitz (English), Anderson (Philosophy), Svendsbye (Reformation) and Miss Halvorsen (Voice) stay with me yet. In a 35-year career, I taught English, drama, speech and related courses in Hettinger; Advanced Comp; dual-credit Interactive Television courses for area schools, and English and Communication courses online for Dickinson State. A Class B drama coach, I directed and produced over 90 plays of various runs for school, church and community. Under my direction, students earned eight Class B State Championships, six State Runners-up titles, 15 Regional Championships and placed in the top four at State all but two other times, with many students receiving individual medals. As student yearbook advisor, I coached students to four Division II NIPA Sweepstakes trophies and 21 Special Recognition trophies. My writing students continued to sweep the North Dakota State Fair Writing Awards. A North Dakota Teacher of the Year, 1994, I was also North Dakota Speech and Theatre (NDSTA) Teacher of the Year, NDSTA Class B Drama Coach of the Year three times and am a member of the NDSTA Hall of Fame. In 1998 I received the highest alumni achievement award for DSU, the Golden Hawk Award. In 2000 I studied in China on a Fulbright Summer program, with later educational trips to Russia and Iceland. I represented North Dakota at NASA’s International Space Camp, at the National Ed Goals 2000 Teachers’ Forum in Washington, DC, at the North Dakota Educational Goals 2000 and at the North Dakota State Fair. I served as an FDA Patient Rep for ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s and collagenous colitis, and started the first Spondylitis Association of America Support Group in the Northern Great Plains. Believing it is what we give that matters most, I continue to be involved in volunteer work, supporting what I learned in Concert Choir from Paul J. Christensen about the “ripple effect.” Enjoying time with family and friends and getting to know people from other cultures, I am a lifelong learner who enjoys reading, writing, yardwork, photography and hiking. My husband, Norman, my duet partner of 51 years, and I have two children, Steven and Kristen, both Concordia grads, and seven grandchildren.
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