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Friday, Sept. 22, 2006

CAPP OPENS MWCC STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER AT FITCHBURG HIGH SCHOOL

By Kimberly B. Caisse

President Asquino speaks during the grand opening of the MWCC Student Success Center at Fitchburg High School.

The College Access and Preparation Programs celebrated the opening of the MWCC Student Success Center at Fitchburg High School Monday, Sept. 18. The center, located near the school’s guidance offices, features a network of computers that students will use during and after school.

Participants in CAPP’s GEAR UP 2011 program set up the computers and installed software. They were recognized for their efforts by Fitchburg Mayor Dan Mylott, who presented them with certificates of appreciation.

“This is about you,” MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino said to the GEAR UP students.

Asquino, Fitchburg School Superintendent Andres Ravenelle and Fitchburg High Principal Richard Masciarelli spoke about the importance of the ongoing collaboration between MWCC and Fitchburg Schools in winning the grant that made the Student Success Center possible. State Rep. Emile Goguen talked briefly about the importance of education and AT&T Foundation representative Dave Mancuso said the grant is an investment in the future high-tech workforce.

In July, the AT&T Foundation awarded $100,000 in grants to the GEAR UP program to provide teacher training and remedial education to better prepare at-risk and English as a Second Language students for the MCAS exams. MWCC’s GEAR UP 2011 program provides over $760,000 per year in services to the classes of 2011 and 2012 of the Fitchburg Public School System.

A $50,000 grant, which created the Student Success Center, aims to prepare students for college by using technology to address the gaps in learning currently challenging these students. The program will provide materials, technology and staffing for in- and after-school-based enrichment and remediation programs designed especially for those students struggling with the MCAS exam and mastering English as their second language.

Another $50,000 grant is dedicated to enhancing teaching and learning functions through the use of instructional technologies, providing up to 50 Fitchburg High School teachers with training on how to increase teachers’ use of technology in teaching, including common assessments, evaluations and content based strategies.

For more information about the college’s GEAR UP program and other CAPP programs, contact CAPP Executive Director Kristin Sweeney-Moore at (978) 630-9323.

More MWCC News:

• 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.

• Danny Waugh from North Brookfield High School fills out a form at the Bentley College booth during the NEACAC College Fair hosted at the Fitness & Wellness Center Wednesday, Sept. 20.

  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.
• The First Connections Mothers Group’s weekly meetings are held every Friday. At the gatherings, which take place Fridays in the Children’s Room at Levi Heywood Memorial Library from 10:30 a.m. to noon, attendees discuss topics such as feeding, sibling rivalry, temper tantrums, appropriate toys, traveling with children and how to choose a daycare provider. All mothers and their babies are invited. For more information, contact MWCC Professor Nancy Duphily, the meeting facilitator, at duphi@yahoo.com or (978) 630-9233. Duphily will be assisted by MWCC nursing students as part of their service-learning project.
• 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.
• There is still time to register 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 Center for Democracy and Humanity at MWCC and the Montachusett Opportunity Council will kickoff the 2006-2007 What’s Next? Speaker Series on Friday, Oct. 6 with a panel discussion entitled “The Many Faces of Poverty.” The panel, featuring local and state leaders, will be moderated by Charlotte Kahn, director of The Boston Foundation’s Boston Indicators Project. The event, which is being held from noon to 2 p.m. at The Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster, is free and open to the public. A complimentary lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required; contact Eveliz Rivera at (978) 630-9324 or erivera@mwcc.mass.edu.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Art Department is pleased to announce that the “Golden Apple Pottery” exhibit, showcasing the work of MWCC alumna Natalie Ann Gardner, 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.
• 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 Campus Police will hold a R.A.D. Basic Self-Defense course for women Tuesday, Oct. 10 through Friday, Oct. 13 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gardner campus. The cost is only $25. Instructors are certified through Rape Aggression and Defense Systems. To register, please contact Officer Melissa Garneau at (978) 630-9150.
• Register now for fall youth swimming lessons at the MWCC Fitness & Wellness Center. Saturday lessons begin on Oct. 14 through Dec. 2. The cost is only $30 for members and $42 for non-members. To register, visit the center’s main kiosk. For more information, call (978) 630-9212.