Pursuing Aviation Opportunities

Scott Cutshall (’98) was recently promoted to vice president of marketing at TWC Aviation. Scott is responsible for pursuing new business opportunities and handling marketing and communication initiatives. After Biola, Scott attended flight school, earned four aviation licenses and became a certified flight instructor for several different levels of aviation. He worked briefly as a flight instructor for AFI in Fullerton, Calif., before joining TWC Aviation in 2000. Scott’s dream is for Biola to partner with AFI and begin producing pilots through a school of aviation. He got his start with TWC as a flight dispatcher and charter sales representative. In 2005, he opened a new office for the company in Orange County and became director of sales in 2007. Scott is married to Biola alumna Jennifer (Tierney, ’97) Cutshall. The couple lives in Yorba Linda, Calif., with their two daughters, Regan, 7, and Riley, 5. The Cutshalls are active at Rose Drive Friends Church and help lead its Awana program. Scott still plays soccer once a week as a reminder of his days as an athlete at Biola.

Promoting Excellence in Arizona Schools

Josh Tabor (’94, M.A. ’98) teaches algebra, AP statistics and statistical reasoning in sports at Canyon del Oro High School in Arizona. He was recently named one of five 2011 Ambassadors for Excellence for the State of Arizona. As part of this award, Josh had the opportunity to march in the Fiesta Bowl Parade. After graduating from Biola, he taught algebra and AP statistics from 1995 to 2007 at Glen A. Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights, Calif. Over the years, he has been heavily involved in the AP statistics program and has served as an exam grader for the past 12 years. He also served on the committee in charge of writing the AP statistics exam for four years. He leads workshops for other AP Statistics teachers throughout the country and wrote the Annotated Teacher’s Edition for the fourth edition of The Practice of Statistics. Josh recently wrote Statistical Reasoning in Sports, published by W.H. Freeman, which will be available in December 2011. He married his wife, Anne Tabor, in 2004 and their daughter, Jordan, was born in 2007. They attend Northwest Bible Church in Tucson, Ariz.

Leading a Major Ministry Conference

Gary Dixon (M.A. ’77) is co-chairman of the Northwest Ministry Conference in Seattle, Wash. He has spoken at ministry conferences for over 30 years and was asked to become the chairman of the NW Ministry Conference in 1998. At the time, the conference was in debt and had 600 attendees. Since his time on staff, the conference has grown to include over 400 churches and 3,000 attendees. In his effort to promote conference growth, Gary and his team paid attention to feedback from attendees and started gearing the conferences toward their interests. He learned that “activity produces vitality.” Part of his responsibilities include recruiting speakers and sponsors as well as handling all of the marketing. This includes writing handwritten letters thanking attendees for their support. He works with two other Biola alumni, Ken Pendergrass (’89, ’90) and Jan (Bergthold, ’88) Pendergrass. After graduating from Talbot, Gary served as a youth pastor and minister of education at Calvary Baptist Church in Huntington Beach, Calif. He also worked for 30 years as a consultant and manager for David C. Cook publishing house. He and his wife, Julie, live in Woodinville, Wash., and their daughter, Chloe, is a senior at Seattle Pacific University.

Designing Baby Blankets

Leslie (Anderson, ’84) Brogden developed and founded SwaddleBaby in 2003, which has also been branded as The Nurture Blanket. She patented the blanket after her daughter, Hayley, 7, was born. Leslie discovered that most other blankets were too small to effectively swaddle infants, so she created her own prototype. A majority of her business is conducted with hospitals and Women, Infant and Children (WIC) agencies. Consumers can also purchase the blankets directly from her website, www.swaddlebaby.com. Since launching her business, Leslie has encountered couples across the country using her blankets. More immediately after her graduation from Biola, Leslie attended Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1988 and earned her MBA. She also worked as director of marketing for restaurants such as Sizzler and Fosters Freeze. She began her own marketing firm and now manufactures in China and India. Leslie has recently been developing more products and hopes to begin advertising through infomercials in the future. She currently resides with her daughter in Fullerton, Calif.