MWCC News & Events: What's Up at the Mount

MWCC's weekly e-newsletter

Friday, May 5, 2006

MWCC Announces 2006 Service Above Self Award Recipients

By Kimberly B. Caisse

Dr. Alberta Saffell Bell

Mount Wachusett Community College announces the three outstanding community leaders who will receive the 2006 Service Above Self Awards at the college’s 41st Commencement, Thursday, May 18 at 6 p.m. in the Fitness & Wellness Center. The Gardner News President and Publisher Dr. Alberta Saffell Bell, Leominster Credit Union President and CEO Jack Caulfield and Tim Richards, founder and owner of the Orchard Hills Athletic Club, will be honored for their significant contributions to MWCC and the 29 North Central Massachusetts cities and towns that make up MWCC’s service area.

“Our students can look to these three individuals as prime examples of business leaders who are also dedicated community leaders,” said MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino.

In addition to her leadership of The Gardner News, Bell serves as a board member or trustee for a variety of state and area organizations, including the Massachusetts Newspaper Publisher’s Association, Friends of Children, Academy of Dance and Theatre, Fitchburg Art Museum, the Lifelong Learning Institute for Enrichment at MWCC, Thayer Symphony Orchestra, Community Health Center and the North Central Essential Charter School.

Bell’s prior community service includes the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce, Fitchburg State College, Gardner Museum, Private Industry Council, Greater Gardner United Way, Heritage State Park, Chair City Friends/Heritage State Park, Montachusett Girl Scout Council, Nashua Valley Council Boy Scouts, HealthAlliance and Square II.

Bell, a native of Nashville, Tenn., holds a bachelor of science degree in biology and a master’s degree in zoology from Tennessee State University and a doctorate of dental surgery from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Her early work experience includes working as a teacher or instructor for the Metro Nashville Public Schools, Tennessee State University and University of Maryland, Camp Casey. After completing her doctoral program, she joined the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer with the rank of captain. She ended her 10-year career as a practicing dentist with the Army in 1986, with the rank of major, when she settled in the Boston area, met and married the late C. Gordon Bell, then publisher and owner of The Gardner News.

Bell has two children, Tiffany Marie and C. Gordon Bell II.

Jack Caulfield

Caufield joined Leominster Credit Union as Interim President/CEO in June of 1992 after working 13 years in the banking industry. He was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the community-based credit union in November of 1993.

His commitment to the community is evidenced by his leadership positions in many organizations in the region. These affiliations include the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, Habitat for Humanity of North Central Massachusetts, the Workforce Investment Board of North Central Massachusetts, and the Boys and Girls Club. Jack is also currently serving as co-chair of the City of Leominster’s Library Fundraising Committee, and serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Central Credit Union Fund, which provides services to small credit unions throughout Massachusetts and surrounding states.

Caulfield is a 1979 graduate of Babson College.  He was awarded a master’s degree in finance from Bentley College in 1983.

He is a resident of Wayland, where he lives with his wife, Cathy, and their daughter, Delia.

Tim Richards

Richards founded the Orchard Hills Athletic Club in Lancaster. In 2002, he also founded the nonprofit Boys & Girls Club of North Central Massachusetts. Today, the Boys & Girls Club has two locations: one in Veterans Center in downtown Leominster, and the other in the Parkinson Gym of Fitchburg State College. When it opened the first club in Leominster, the organization had an average daily after school drop-in rate of 10 children. Now, 210 children visit the two clubs each day after school. In September 2005, the club’s board of directors gave him the permanent title of “Founding President” and “Lifetime Director.”

Richards also is a trustee of Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, a trustee of Fitchburg Art Museum, director of North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, director of The Fay Club in Fitchburg, received the Philanthropist of Distinction Award by the Association of Fund Raising Professionals of North Central Massachusetts in 2002, received the Fitchburg State College’s President's Award in 2006, and a founding director of the International Health and Racquet Sports Association 25 years ago and 1989 recipient of its Distinguished Service Award.

He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University - School of Engineering in Ithaca, N.Y. and received the Hamilton Watch and Cornell Engineer Awards for best combination of Athletics, Academics and Activities.

Richards’ athletic accomplishments include being ranked many times as an amateur player in the New England Tennis Association, running the Boston Marathon five times starting at age 57, and running in 12 others in the U.S. and Europe. In addition, at age 60, he hiked to the summit of Mt. Whitney in Sierra Nevada, Calif., the highest point in the lower 48 states.

He lives with his wife, Sheila, in Lunenburg. They have seven children and nine grandchildren.

 

MWCC, Gardner Schools Approve Gateway to College Program

By Janice Battista

The Gateway to College dropout recovery program, being launched this fall at Mount Wachusett Community College, was officially approved by the two partner schools on Tuesday, May 2, when MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino and Gardner Schools Superintendent Carol Daring signed the Memorandum of Understanding.

President Daniel M. Asquino and Gardner Schools Superintendent Carol Daring

The early college high school initiative is being carried out by means of a $300,000 planning and startup grant provided by Portland Community College in Oregon, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and their partners, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. MWCC is the only college in New England and the 9th in the country to be selected to participate in this program.

“We all know the importance of education,” Asquino said. “It’s the great leveler of society. We are passionate about getting kids into college who otherwise might not get there. And we’re very, very proud and honored to be one of the first nine colleges to replicate this program. We’re really excited not only for what this will do for our area, but Massachusetts as a whole.”

Daring welcomed the new program with similar enthusiasm. “It’s a rare opportunity to be able to reach out to a severely underserved population, those who have dropped out of a high school or are at risk of dropping out of school. It’s really about hope. I see this as a chance to offer hope for the future to students for whom the usual high school experience has simply not worked. They must be prepared to demonstrate a commitment to continue their education, but the Mount personnel will be there to support their efforts.”
Young people age 16 to 20 who have dropped out of a Massachusetts high school or on the verge of dropping out are eligible to apply for the program, which provides the opportunity to simultaneously earn high school and college credits, complete a high school diploma and earn an associate’s degree or college certificate in an academic area of their choice – with all costs paid including textbooks, except for a one-time, $10 MWCC application fee and a $25 Gateway fee per semester. The program will begin with 40 students with the goal of expanding service each year to reach a total of 300 students by the fall semester of 2008.

The program is designed for students who have a strong desire to return to school. Students from any Massachusetts town or city are eligible to apply. MWCC is partnering with the Gardner school system and Gardner High School would award the high school diplomas.

An orientation for interested applicants will take place at MWCC on May 22 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Gardner campus.

 

North Central Nonprofits, Government Team Up to Benefit Community

Senator Robert Antonioni

More than 70 representatives from North Central Massachusetts nonprofit agencies and local, state and federal government offices gathered at the Gardner campus on Friday, May 5 to discuss ways to enhance services to area residents. The networking meeting and panel discussion, “Finding Solutions: Nonprofits and Government Working Together,” was presented by MWCC’s Institute for Nonprofit Development and the North Central Nonprofit Network, and sponsored by the Dolphin Resource Group.

“We believe that the nonprofit sector is a valuable resource for building a healthy community here in North Central,” said Joanne Foster, coordinator of the institute at MWCC. By strengthening the communication between nonprofits and government and coordinating the delivery of service, the two sectors can better reach their primary goal of assisting residents with a variety of support services, added Susan Ostberg, of the North Central Nonprofit Network.

Senator Robert Antonioni emphasized the mutual role nonprofit organizations and government share in serving the needs of the community. “Your constituents are my constituents,” he said.

The two-hour event featured a panel discussion, moderated by Michael Vito, president of Michael A. Vito Associates, a government and media relations firm, and former acting state director and regional director of the office of U.S. Senator John F. Kerry. Participants were Patricia Pistone, economic development coordinator for Congressman John Olver’s office; Wendy Wiiks, economic development coordinator for Senator Robert Antonioni’s office; Alan Agnelli, legislative aid to Representative Robert Rice, Alida Herring, executive assistant, town of Winchendon, and Rebecca Bialecki, executive director of the North Quabbin Community Coalition.

 

Practical Nursing Students Teach Healthy Habit to Children

Practical Nursing student Heather Fischer sprinkles “glowgerm” powder onto the hands of elementary school students during a health fair at Johnny Appleseed School in Leominster. The service learning project emphasized the importance of frequent hand washing as a preventive measure against viruses.

MWCC students who, in June, will be the first graduating class of the new Practical Nursing program in Devens, brought their expertise to elementary school children during a health fair at Johnny Appleseed School in Leominster on Friday, May 5. As part of a service learning project in instructor Collene Thaxton’s class, the PN students demonstrated the importance of frequent hand washing as the best protection against colds and the flu. The nursing students sprinkled “glowgerm” powder on hundreds of little hands, which revealed germs when placed under an ultra violet light. The future nurses also prepared posters, handouts and other educational material and raffled off gift baskets filled with healthy prizes as part of the project.

Children found the hand washing booth to be “fun,” “informative” and sometimes “disgusting” when the UV light detected germs on their hands. MWCC students volunteering at the fair were Amber Luddy, Heather Fischer, Kellie Sakounmoung, Jeanne Lirette, Sandy Walsh, Joe Maore, Collette Mundele and Lindsey Arnold.

In April, additional Devens practical nursing students presented a similar program at Sky View Middle School in Leominster. Volunteers in that effort were Heather Simms, Nichole Melanson, Mary Cicero, George Muiruri, Harbert Mlay, and Hayford Klufio.

 

Forty Seven MWCC Students Named to 2006 Who’s Who List

Forty seven MWCC students have been selected as national outstanding campus leaders and will be included in the 2006 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges.

The students were selected based on their academic achievement, service to the community, leadership in extracurricular activities and the potential for continued success. They join an elite group of students from more than 1,000 higher education institutions in the United State and several other countries. The tradition of recognizing noteworthy college students in a Who’s Who biographical volume began in 1934. In 1966, the first edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior colleges was published to recognize the achievements of outstanding students in two-year colleges.

Students named from MWCC this year are: Caitlin Barclay, Cherie L. Becker, Amy B. Delanger, Cynthia D. Berlied, Selena A. Berlied, Jean M. Bills, Anne M. Blake, Abby L. Brockelbank, Gail F. Brooks, Matthew E. Brown, Rose M. Campbell, Erica J. Connor, Johannah W. Contis, Charity A. Cooley, Sharon A. Coombs, Peter E. Dekant, Joana M. Dos Santos, Laurie L. Ernst, Kristie A. Foley, Jason T. Forbis, Katie M. Forgues, Jacqueline A. Herron, Christine M. Johnson, Kathleen M. Kelly, Donald Kitzmiller, Lindsey M. Larry, Isaura Luna, Mychal A. Machado, Kerreye D. Marcoux, Heather J. Meattey, Tuan H. Nguyen, Gregg R. Pappas, Amber M. Pfeiffer, Erin E. Pfeiffer, Mai C. Pha, Shannon M. Poole, Serena L. Russo, Katie E. Salerno, Charlene M. Shaver, Sonya L. Shelton, Sara L. Sherritt, Christine M. Stymiest, Meghan A. Thayer, Angela M. Verheyen, Jack Wilson, Stacy M. Wilson and Jennifer Wright.

 

First Amendment Contest Heralds New Communications Program

To celebrate the formation of the Communications concentration under Liberal Arts and Sciences, faculty in the Telecommunications, Computer Graphic Design and English departments held a First Amendment contest for students.

Students in the Broadcasting and Electronic Media Operations and Management course taught by Vin Ialenti, Bob Mayer’s Digital Photo Art course, Print and Web Portfolio Presentation with Kristine Jordan and Paul Swerzenski, and Sue Goldstein’s Journalism 101 course, participated in the contest.

Students were asked to interpret the First Amendment through the medium connected to their course. Judges for this contest were John Fielding, Sue Blake and Nichole Carter.  Most of the entries can be viewed in the display cases outside of the library.  The Broadcasting entries can be viewed at blackboard by using “freespeech” as the user name and password.

Cash prizes of $50 and $25 were awarded this week to first and second place winners, funded through a grant from the College Media advisor’s Association. The winning entries were in Broadcasting: Nataliya Cancel, first place, Maurita Bernier, second place, Kelly Medeiros, honorable mention; Digital Photo Art: Jordan Altobelli, first place, Kate Davidson, second place, Brad Hardy, Honorable Mention, Maryann Morse Penniman, Honorable Mention; Print/Web Portfolio: Stephanie Connor, first place, Jeni Pernaa, second place, Sonya Shelton, Honorable Mention; Journalism 101: Krista Traffie, first place, Tom Strazdas, second place, Danielle Reeder, Honorable Mention.