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Automated Manufacturing & Machining Engineering Technologies Events Faculty & Staff STEM

Penn College ‘manufactures’ educational experience for teachers

Emily Wagner, a counselor at South Williamsport Area Junior/Senior High School, works on building a robotic arm during the recent Manufacturing Externship Camp at Pennsylvania College of Technology. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the camp exposed high school educators to various aspects of manufacturing, so they can communicate the promising career possibilities in that sector to their students.

With support from the National Science Foundation, Pennsylvania College of Technology recently “manufactured” a weeklong educational experience for 13 high school teachers and school counselors from throughout the state.

The Manufacturing Externship Camp revealed to educators the promising realities of manufacturing careers through several activities, including a robot-building exercise that they can replicate at their home schools. The camp is one of several Penn College initiatives – funded by a grant from the NSF’s Advanced Technological Education program – dedicated to growing the manufacturing workforce.

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Events Scholarships

Foundation’s Golf Classic adopts innovative format for 2020

A new format is in place for the 34th Annual Penn College Foundation Golf Classic – sponsored by Compass Group North America – a fundraising event that has generated more than 700 scholarship awards totaling nearly $900,000 in student support since its inception.

Adapting to ongoing pandemic restrictions, this year’s event enables foursomes to register and complete their rounds during the month of September at the Williamsport Country Club while enjoying a complimentary lunch on the course. Additionally, all teams will receive gift certificates for a “Let Le Jeune Chef Cater Your Friday Night” five-course, take-home dinner, along with a choice of individual player gifts. At the end of the tournament, there will be awards for the low individual and team scores on both a net and gross basis.

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July 14, 2020
Events Sports

Virtual ‘Wildcat Dash’ set for Aug. 5

Wildcat Dash

The Penn College women’s basketball and soccer teams will host the Wildcat Dash, a virtual 5K run/walk on Wednesday, Aug. 5, as a fundraising initiative for student-athletes. Participants will receive a printable race bib and a T-shirt, and competitive racers can submit their results for a chance at medals and other prizes. The cost is $15 for Penn College students or anyone 18 years old or younger, $25 for non-students older than 18. Register, lace up those running shoes, and get ready to dash with the Wildcats anytime and anywhere on Aug. 5!

July 7, 2020
Events

Bloodmobile nets more than 40 pints

American Red CrossForty-three pints of blood – 13 from first-time donors – were collected by the American Red Cross during a June 24 visit to Penn’s Inn. “The American Red Cross and College Health Services are so grateful to all our partners that continue to stand with us through the evolution of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),” health services director Carl L. Shaner said in an email to donors. “Your efforts have helped boost the community blood supply and ensure hospital patients have the lifesaving blood they need.” The next campus Bloodmobile, the first of the fall semester and a return to the two-day format, will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 2-3. Make an appointment today!

June 30, 2020
Events

Walking the walk

The procession (estimated to be at least a mile long) winds its way along Maynard Street, passing the college entrance.

Hundreds of local residents collectively and peacefully added to the national conversation about injustice, race and hateful speech on Friday morning, taking part in a “Walk About It, Be About It” event. The 7.42-mile march traveled from Memorial Park in Williamsport’s West End to Montoursville, passing by Penn College to connect with the Susquehanna Riverwalk. Chanting and carrying signs – and drawing supportive honks from motorists – participants set aside politics to focus on the “unity” within “community.”

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Events Faculty & Staff Students

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month to be observed in May

Penn College’s Office of Student Engagement’s outreach in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic continues with May’s designation as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Commemorative events, accessible through the Student Life page on Facebook, will include a Meditation and Mindfulness Workshop, armchair tours of museums, and a Culture Café to bring home a taste of Asian-inspired cuisine. A full schedule follows: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

May 4, 2020
Events Faculty & Staff Students

Virtual forum encourages student dialogue on diversity

Diversity discussiion set for April 20A discussion of diversity, to be conducted via Zoom, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, April 20. Craig A. Miller, associate professor of history/political science, will moderate the exploration of issues surrounding race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality on campus. Organizers anticipate a substantive conversation about developing and fostering a campus culture that promotes the well-being of all Penn College students: “If you’re an ally, advocate, a student from a minority population or someone looking to learn more about these issues, this forum is for you.” To obtain the meeting ID and password, email the Office of Student Engagement.
April 13, 2020
Events Faculty & Staff Students

Online activities enable Pride Week observance

Members of the campus community gather in the LEC Loop for last year's Pride Week kickoff.
Members of the campus community gather in the LEC Loop for last year’s Pride Week kickoff.

Undeterred by social distancing, the Office of Student Engagement has organized a weeklong menu of virtual activities to mark Penn College’s sixth annual Pride Week. The April 13-17 schedule includes a book club, craft instruction, aerobics and a discussion of the LGBTQ community’s depiction in the media – all held online in a blend of safety and solidarity. For more information, consult the full schedule: Virtual Pride Week 2020

April 9, 2020
Events

CAC finds new dates for pair of postponed acts

The Community Arts Center, a subsidiary of Penn College and one of the top performing arts venues on the East Coast, has announced the rescheduling of two more events displaced by the coronavirus shutdown. Gentri, “The Gentlemen Trio” marked by dynamic tenor harmonies, has been moved to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, and Steep Canyon Rangers, a Grammy-winning sextet that transcends its North Carolina bluegrass roots, will now perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. (Ticketholders who cannot attend those rescheduled dates are asked to email the Arts Center before April 30 to request a refund.)

April 6, 2020
Events

Grammy-winning, genre-smashing quartet to visit Williamsport

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones will bring their Grammy Award-winning talents to the Community Arts Center stage in Williamsport on Tuesday, March 24. (Photo by Jim McGuire)

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Béla Fleck canceled his spring tour due to the worldwide coronavirus crisis, with makeup dates yet to be determined.)

Groundbreaking, Grammy-winning quartet Béla Fleck & The Flecktones is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an extended tour that will stop by the Community Arts Center on Tuesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m.

With an impossible-to-pigeonhole sound, the innovative quartet blends a range of genres from classical and jazz to bluegrass, and African music to electric blues and Eastern European folk. Led by Fleck, who has been described by many as the world’s premier banjo player, the group enjoys a fervent fan following around the world and has played with equally excellent musicians the likes of Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt and Sam Bush.

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March 9, 2020
Events Faculty & Staff Students

I spy something awry

A cast of true characters

The Oxymorons improv troupe recently returned to campus for an espionage-tinged Murder Mystery Dinner in the Mountain Laurel Room of Penn College’s Thompson Professional Development Center. “Leap of Fate,” a fittingly named Student Engagement event held on February’s quadrennial extra day, involved a cadre of cutthroat spies clawing to the pinnacle of their profession. Chef Michael J. Ditchfield and three of his culinary arts technology students (Jacob G. Clarke, of Wilmington, Delaware; Keowa M. Clemens, of York; and Kaitlyn M. June, of Muncy) prepared this year’s winning menu of dishes named for principals in the evening’s shenanigans.

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College Transitions Events Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Plastics & Polymer

PlastiVan’s playful outreach benefits dual-enrollment students

SPE PlastiVan educator Elizabeth Egan shows a model of a polymer – a molecule with many parts bonded together.
SPE PlastiVan educator Elizabeth Egan shows a model of a polymer – a molecule with many parts bonded together.
Students from Upper Dauphin Area High School use their fingers to mix glue and borax, creating a fun putty. The fingers were essential to provide heat for the endothermic chemical reaction.
Students from Upper Dauphin Area High School use their fingers to mix glue and borax, creating a fun putty. The fingers were essential to provide heat for the endothermic chemical reaction.
High schoolers add oil to water to test a plastic material used to absorb real oil spills in lakes and oceans.
High schoolers add oil to water to test a plastic material used to absorb real oil spills in lakes and oceans.
Taking advantage of their chemical knowledge, students stick a skewer through a balloon – with the help of lotion to make the skewer slip between the molecules in the latex without popping the balloon.
Taking advantage of their chemical knowledge, students stick a skewer through a balloon – with the help of lotion to make the skewer slip between the molecules in the latex without popping the balloon.

SEKISUI SPI, a Bloomsburg-based thermoplastics company, sponsored three days of opportunity for young learners to experiment with polymers via a visit from the Society of Plastics Engineers’ PlastiVan. PlastiVan educator Elizabeth Egan talked with Penn College NOW students from seven high schools who visited over two days. Penn College NOW is the college’s nationally accredited dual-enrollment program, which provides Penn College classes to high school students in their schools, where they receive both high school and college credit for the courses. While on campus, Egan taught the high school students about the history, chemistry and uses of plastic through fun experiments. The students also toured the college’s plastics education facilities, where they interacted with faculty and students, and the campus. The PlastiVan also spent a day at the annual Science Festival on campus Wednesday.

March 6, 2020