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

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Friday, Sept. 15, 2006

AMAZING HERO ARTIST INSPIRES MWCC STUDENTS

Amazing Hero Art artist Rob Surette stands with his portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Theresa. The college plans to auction off these portraits to benefit student scholarships and civic engagement activities.

By Kimberly B. Caisse

More than 250 students gathered in the cafeteria to witness Amazing Hero Art artist Ron Surette paint larger-than-life portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, John Lennon and Martin Luther King Jr. on Wednesday, Sept. 13.

Three of the portraits—Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King Jr.—will be auctioned off at a later date to benefit student scholarships and civic engagement activities. The portrait of John Lennon will hang in the Student Center.

Surette has inspired audiences with Amazing Hero Art at more than 2,000 venues worldwide in 12 years.

MOUNT WACHUSETT COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION DINNER TO HONOR OUTSTANDING STUDENTS

By Kimberly B. Caisse

Outstanding students who have been helped by the MWCC Foundation will be honored at the Annual Foundation Dinner on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. at the Colonial Hotel & Conference Center in Gardner. The foundation will also give Kimberly Blanchard, an active volunteer in North Central Massachusetts, the 2006 Harold E. Drake Jr. Citizen of the Year Award.

“These students are a testament to the outstanding learning environment we’ve sustained at Mount Wachusett Community College,” said President Asquino. “For 20 years now, students have been telling me about the positive impact a professor or a staff member or a team of faculty and staff has had on their college education. The positive influence of even one person is often all a student needs to reach their full potential.”

The MWCC Foundation awards many students with scholarships based on their high grade point averages, community service, extra-curricular activities and demonstrated financial need.

Angela Verheyen is one of these students. A 2005 graduate the general studies program, Verheyen is now a student in the college’s new Dental Hygiene program at the HealthAlliance Burbank campus in Fitchburg.

Verheyen, who lives in Orange with her husband and their four children, received the first Ellen Daly Dental Hygiene Scholarship this year. The scholarship helped Verheyen purchase books and supplies for the current semester.

“The challenges that have been put before me have ultimately made me achieve more than I ever anticipated,” she said. “I feel that everything I have achieved has been through a combined effort of a supportive family, a college that cares about the success of [its] students and professors [who] provide an education comparable to a university.”

This year’s Harold E. Drake Jr. Citizen of the Year, Kimberly Blanchard of Ashburnham, has been involved in the North Central Massachusetts community for many years. Blanchard serves on committees and boards of many local nonprofit organizations and lends her photography and multimedia presentation talents to the Multi Service Center in Leominster and ARC Community Services in Fitchburg.

For more information, contact MWCC Foundation Executive Director Darlene Morrilly at (978) 630-9276 or dmorrilly@mwcc.mass.edu.

TICKETS ON SALE FOR ‘MISS NELSON IS MISSING’

Theatre at the Mount will present the musical production of “Miss Nelson is Missing” for one performance only on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. Based on the book by Harry Allard with music and lyrics by Joan Cushing, “Miss Nelson is Missing” is a play to be enjoyed by all ages.

The play begins as the unruly students of Room 207 misbehave very badly. As paper airplanes whisk across the room and spitballs stick to walls, the students unknowingly drive their sweet teacher Miss Nelson away. The next day, the mean-spirited Miss Viola Swamp takes over the classroom. After enduring mounds of homework, the classroom begins to value their old teacher and devise a plan to find her and bring her back.

The cast for “Miss Nelson is Missing” includes Doug Dame as Adam; Tyler Simahk as Gregory; Heather DeRoy as Cheryl; Jessica Berube as Allison; Sue DiRusso as Miss Nelson/Viola Swamp; Chuck Berube as Pop Hanson/Mr. Blandsworth/Detective McSmogg, and Lynn Dumais, Abby Ouelett, Jason Garceau, Alyson Foisy, Andrea Rutkowski, Kaara McHugh, Dylan Anderson, and Meagan Dame.

Tickets for the production are $4. To purchase tickets call the Theatre at the Mount box office at 978 632-2403 or online at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.

More MWCC News:

“Trivia King” Morgan White leads a Constitution Day trivia show in the cafeteria Friday, Sept. 15. His appearance was sponsored by the Student Life and Financial Aid offices.

• The Art Department is pleased to announce that the “Golden Apple Pottery” exhibit, showcasing the work of MWCC alumna Natalie Ann Gardner (http://www.goldenapplepottery.com/artist.html), will be on display in the glass cases of the East Wing Gallery, located in the Raymond M. LaFontaine Fine Arts Center, from Wednesday, Sept. 13 through Thursday, Oct. 5. After graduating from MWCC, Gardner developed her own line of functional ceramics and set up a studio in Maine. She is a dedicated potter and creates most of her pieces using the potter’s wheel. Her work is included in many exhibitions and galleries throughout New England. For more information, contact Art Professor Joyce Miller at (978) 630-9221 or jmiller@mwcc.mass.edu.
• Representatives from more than 160 colleges and universities will be at the annual New England Association for College Admission Counseling College Fair at MWCC Wednesday, Sept. 20. The fair, hosted by the Admissions Office, will run from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Fitness & Wellness Center and is open to the public. It is geared toward high-school juniors and seniors from the college’s service area. For more information, contact the Admission’s Office at (978) 630-9110 or admissions@mwcc.mass.edu.
• In observance of Constitution Day, the panel discussion “Perspectives on the Fourth Amendment” will be held Wednesday, Sept. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the North Café. The panel will focus on the following questions: What are unreasonable searches and seizures? What is probable cause? Is profiling constitutional? The panel will feature interim Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. John Fielding, Professor of History and Political Science Dr. Oliver Hooper and Paralegal Program Associate Professor Jim Korman. The event is free and open to students, faculty and staff, and the public. For more information, contact Fielding at (978) 630-9295 or jfielding@mwcc.mass.edu.
• Gateway to College, one of MWCC’s College Access and Preparation Programs, offers high-school dropouts and students on the verge of dropping out of high school an opportunity to earn a diploma in a college-like setting and earn college credits. Massachusetts residents who meet the program’s eligibility requirements may apply. Information sessions for the session that begins in January 2007 will be held on Monday, Sept. 25; Wednesday, Oct. 11; Monday, Oct. 23; Monday, Nov. 6; and Monday, Dec. 4. To register for an information session or to request materials, call (978) 630-9481 or (978) 630-9450, or visit http://www.mwcc.edu/services/CAPP/default.html.
• Do you have an idea for a new business or nonprofit organization? Do you want to start it in North Central Massachusetts? If you answered yes to these questions, now is your chance to turn that idea into a business plan for cash and other prizes. It’s all part of MWCC’s second annual Business Plan Competition. You’ll be among the group of innovators seeking to win up to $18,000 in cash and up to $10,000 in services to help you start a business or nonprofit in the region. Applications and final business plans are due Monday, Sept. 18. Semi-finalists, finalists and the grand-prize winner will be announced in November. Learn all the competition details and get an application at http://erc.mwcc.edu or call (978) 840-3221 ext. 206.
• Theatre at the Mount will hold the new Young Actor’s Workshop for teenagers in grades 9 through 12 this fall. This program takes teens on their first steps toward stage stardom as they learn how actors begin with a script and end with the creation of the stage’s most memorable characters. Participants will explore acting methods, script and song analysis, audition techniques and scene work. Taught by Emily Ragusa, the workshop will meet on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. from Sept. 27 to Dec. 6. Registration is available at the MWCC Enrollment Services office, or contact Professor Gail Steele at (978) 630-9162 for additional information.

• President Asquino speaks to the staff of Massachusetts community colleges who attended the Community Colleges Leadership Academy hosted by MWCC Thursday, Sept. 14 and Friday, Sept. 15.

  Register today for the second annual Community Builders conference on creating positive social change. It will be held Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Leominster from 7:15 a.m. to noon. The keynote speaker will be Bill Shore, founder of Share Our Strength, the nation's leading organization dedicated to wiping out hunger. The cost of early registration is only $25 per person. After Wednesday, Sept. 13, registration will be $30. Scholarships are available. The registration fee includes breakfast, program materials and a copy of Shore’s book “The Light of Conscience.” Community Builders is a partnership between MWCC and the United Way of North Central Massachusetts and is part of the college’s Center for Democracy and Humanity. For more information, contact Community Builders Coordinator Karin Oliveira at (978) 840-3221 ext. 201 or koliveira@mwcc.mass.edu.
• MWCC Foundation, Inc. will honor Kimberly Blanchard of Ashburnham, an active volunteer in North Central Massachusetts, as the 2006 Harold E. Drake Jr. Citizen of the Year Award recipient at the Annual Foundation Dinner Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Colonial Hotel in Gardner. Outstanding MWCC students who receive Foundation scholarships will also be honored. To attend the dinner, contact Diane Hamilton at dhamilton@mwcc.mass.edu or (978) 630-9387. Tickets are $75 per person. The event begins at 5 p.m.
• The grand opening of the Garrison Center for Early Childhood Education and Molly Bish Institute for Child Health & Safety will be held Thursday, Oct. 12 from 3 to 5 p.m. The new building will double the size of the current childcare facility run by MOC Child Care & Head Start services, provide observational classrooms for Early Childhood Education students and serve as a clearinghouse for information on child health and safety. The center is the first project funded in part by MWCC’s first-ever capital campaign. For more information, contact MWCC Foundation Executive Director Darlene Morrilly at (978) 630-9276 or dmorrilly@mwcc.mass.edu.
• Dr. Diane Beers, the author of "For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United States," will speak in the Leo & Theresa LaChance Library and sign copies of her book Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 125. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Library at (978) 630-9125.
• Tickets are on sale for a murder mystery dinner benefiting the MWCC Alumni Association Friday, Oct. 27 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Colonial Hotel. The Hat Trick Mystery Theatre will present “The Ghost of Mad Table Manor.” The event will feature a cocktail hour with cash bar from 6 to 7 p.m. followed by dinner and the show from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $35 per person. For tickets or more information, please contact Alumni Association President Missi Sargent at (978) 630-9273 or msargent@mwcc.mass.edu.
• MWCC has launched the new Clinical Laboratory Science program. Students enrolled in this program will learn how to use sophisticated biomedical instrumentation and computers to analyze blood and other body specimens. Information sessions will take place Wednesdays Sept. 27, Oct. 18, Nov. 15 and Dec. 13 at 3 p.m. in the OBS Conference Room on the second floor of Heywood Hospital. Prospective students interested in attending the information session are asked to call the Admissions Office at (978) 630-9110 (TTY (978) 632-4916), or send an email to admissions@mwcc.mass.edu. Information about the new CLS program also is posted on the college Blackboard website called CLS Information Center. To access more information, go to https://bb.mwcc.edu and then enter “cls” as both the username and password.
• Tickets are on sale now for Theatre of the Mount’s next musical, “Noises Off,” for $18 for evening performances and $15 for matinees. Called “the funniest farce ever written” by New York critics, “Noises Off” will be performed by on Friday, Oct. 6, Saturday, Oct. 7, Friday, Oct. 13 and Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. To reserve tickets, call the Theatre at the Mount box office at (978) 632-2403 or purchase tickets online at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.