MWCC's Weekly e-newsletter

Friday, March 11, 2005

APRIL’S ‘WHAT’S NEXT’ SPEAKER TO ADDRESS RACISM

By Kimberly B. Caisse

Tim Wise, a national lecturer and author on race issues, will be Mount Wachusett Community College’s fourth What’s Next Speaker Series presenter, Wednesday, April 20 at 4 p.m. at Fitchburg Public Library.

Tim Wise

Tim Wise travels around the country talking about a difficult subject for many Americans: white privilege. He knows about it first-hand. Wise grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and was raised by parents who believed in desegregation. They sent Wise to a mostly black preschool, and he attended integrated public schools. At Tulane University in the late 1980s, while protesting apartheid in South Africa, he took stock of what in his life could be traced to white privilege. He filled pages.

Since then, Wise has spoken to over 80,000 people in 47 states and on over 350 college campuses. He’s written many essays on race issues and two books on the subject that will be released this year. Wise works from the premise that most people don’t want to be racist. As a What’s Next Speaker Series guest, Wise will challenge residents of the Twin Cities area to confront their attitudes on race and to reject racism.

MWCC’s What’s Next Speaker Series provides free forums to examine problems and find solutions for area communities—together. Throughout 2005, the series will encourage provocative discussions on challenges communities face—health care, economic growth, public safety, education, civic involvement, housing and more. It will initiate the search for innovative answers and effective actions.

For more information, contact Kim Caisse, Amy Casavina Hall or Lea Ann Erickson.

ELIZABETH ELLIS’ WORK IN GARDNER COMMUNITY
EARNED HER AN UNSUNG HERO NOMINATION

	Elizabeth Ellis

By Adam Ewert

“You get to meet so many new people and cultures,” says Elizabeth Ellis, a senior at Gardner High School, about her volunteer work in the greater Gardner community. She is well known at Gardner’s House of Peace and Education, having contributed her time and energy to several programs during her high school career. In addition to helping with the HOPE lunch program, she volunteers at the summer school for four to six weeks every summer, seven hours per day, and will serve as a senior counselor this upcoming season, tutoring elementary school children in math, science, and a variety of hands-on activities. For Ellis, observing the change in personality of a tutored child is a simple reward for her work. “There was a girl who would barely talk” when she arrived at HOPE, and “now she’s the first to raise her hand in class.”    

As a National Honor Society member, Ellis is involved with many activities that benefit her school and community. She currently tutors a high school and middle school student in math for two to three hours every week and has worked on the Rotary Club’s highway cleanup initiative. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, Ellis aids the American Legion in a Meal Delivery Program for elderly citizens. Along with other high school students, she spent several hours during the holidays helping families in need by baby-sitting young children and allowing parents to find gifts for their kids. In the past, she has done Irish step-dancing in nursing homes and plans to perform later this spring at her school’s Multicultural Festival.  She also serves as Vice President of Diversity Works, a student group that aims to educate people about discrimination and racism, and is helping to produce a slide show to illustrate the harmful effects of graffiti messages and other examples of hate speech at school and in the community. “We want to show how much it hurts people.”

Campus Events:

• The Institute for Nonprofit Development at MWCC is hosting a free, two-day workshop “The Art and Science of Grantwriting” on Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants will learn about applying for and writing federal grants. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development instructors will cover such topics as securing 501c3 status, researching federal funding opportunities and building coalitions. The workshop is sponsored by the institute and HUD’s New England Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. To register, contact Joanne Foster at (978) 630-9591 or jfoster@mwcc.mass.edu.

• The Forest & Wood Products Institute at MWCC will host a three-day, intensive spray-finishing technology workshop in the Robert D. Wetmore Center, Gardner campus, on Tuesday, March 15, Wednesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The workshop is limited to 20 participants per class and costs only $550 per person (includes all materials and lunches). Participants will earn 16.5 professional development points. To register, contact Wood Products Workforce Development Coordinator Ken Hanson at (978) 630-9179 or khanson@mwcc.mass.edu.

• Over 300 high school sophomores from 11 local schools, including Gardner, Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Quabbin Regional, Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical, Athol- Royalston, Leominster, North Middlesex, Narragansett, Murdock and Oakmont Regional will participate in Sophomore Career Day on Tuesday, March 15. During this event, students will attend four career exploration workshops of their choice. The students get a chance to learn about all of MWCC’s programs. The Career Day is sponsored by the Admissions Office and the North Central Massachusetts Tech Prep Consortium. For more information, contact Jane Carney (978) 630-9310 or Lisa Williams (978) 630-9380.

• Forest & Wood Products Institute at MWCC will host a 10-hour OSHA safety training session Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wood Products Workforce Development Coordinator Ken Hanson will cover at least nine OSHA safety standards. The cost is only $198 per person and includes lunch. To register, contact Hanson at (978) 630-9179 or khanson@mwcc.mass.edu.

• MWCC, in partnership with the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, will present Career Fair 2005 at Holy Cross College, Hogan Campus Center, Worcester, on Tuesday, March 22 from 2 to 5 p.m. It is open to MWCC students and alums. The fair is especially geared to business and human services disciplines, but students/alums with other majors are welcome. Details and a list of participating companies can be accessed at www.cowc.org. Bring plenty of resumes and dress for success! For more information, contact Pat Brewerton at (978) 630-9254 or pbrewerton@mwcc.mass.edu.

• The MWCC Pacers, the college’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life team, are looking for 30 members for this year’s Relay on Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11. The 2004 Relay raised $758,000, the highest amount of the other 156 relays in New England. The Gardner Relay has raised over $5 million dollars since its inception 11 years ago. This year’s goal is to raise $800,000. Other benchmarks reached at the 2004 Relay include having 733 survivors walk the track, a number unheard of at any of the other relays, and being ranked No. 11 nationwide in funds raised (out of 4,200 relays). To join the MWCC Pacers, contact Sue Goldstein, JoAnn Brooks and Jan LeClair to get your relay packet.

• Registrations to take Cycle 4 classes at MWCC’s Gardner and Leominster campuses will be accepted through Monday, March 21 for Monday-Wednesday courses and Tuesday, March 22 for Tuesday-Thursday courses. The accelerated Cycle courses each run for three hours throughout the day and evening, twice a week for seven-and-a-half weeks. For a full list of Cycle 4 courses, check out http://www.mwcc.edu/current/cycle4.html on the Web or pick up a copy of the Spring 2005 Course Bulletin at any MWCC campus location. For assistance with registration, call the Admissions Office at (978) 630-9110.

• Sign up now for the next R.A.D. Basic Self-Defense Course, a 12-hour course for women only, at MWCC on Monday, March 21, Tuesday, March 22, Thursday, March 24 and Friday, March 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. The cost of the course is $25. To register, please contact Melissa Garneau at (978) 630-9150.

• The Lifelong Institute for Enrichment (LIFE) at MWCC is sponsoring a Robin Lane presentation of “Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis” on Thursday, March 31 at 2 p.m. at Best Western Royal Trade Plaza Hotel in Fitchburg. Tickets are on sale for $20 at MWCC’s Lifelong Learning office, room 163, or by contacting Lorraine Wickman at (978) 630-9176. In this compelling one-woman show, Lane reveals the real Jacqueline Onassis, the private woman behind the public mask, while keeping alive the mystique, the magic that was Jackie. Camelot lives again in this personal portrayal of a woman who found her way into the hearts of America.

• A classic piece of literature comes to Theatre at the Mount for 11 performances beginning on Thursday, March 31. “Honk! Jr.,” a part of the Broadway Junior Collection, is a musical version of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Ugly Duckling” written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Members of the cast represent students from 20 different local schools, plus a number of “home scholars.” Special performances for school groups will be presented on Thursday, March 31 at 9:30 a.m., Friday, April 1, Wednesday, April 6, Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8 at 9:30 a.m. and noon. Additional performances for the general public are Saturday, April 9 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. All seats are $6. For tickets and information call (978) 632-2403 or visit the Theatre of the Mount web site at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.

Lea Ann Erickson
Director of Community Relations
Mount Wachusett Community College
Phone: (978) 630-9322
Fax: (978) 630-9561
cell: (508) 517-5202
l_erickson@mwcc.mass.edu

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