Holiday cards created by student organizations and Penn College departments, artistically delivering “Season’s Greetings” across the campus community, went on display Monday on the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center lawn. (The first 32 photos are from student groups, followed by nine entries from college offices.)
“God bless these students and their instructors,” the manager of the Lycoming County Veterans Memorial Park project said this past weekend, presenting a pair of awards honoring Penn College’s involvement with the expansive monument in Williamsport’s West End. Army veteran John O. Markley offered those remarks early Friday evening during a brief, informal ceremony attended by a number of construction students and instructors Harry W. Hintz and Glenn R. Luse. He also thanked “two more people who made it happen” – college President Davie Jane Gilmour and Carol A. Lugg, dean of construction and design technologies – who helped the commission realize its 15-year dream by greenlighting the off-campus enterprise. Lugg and Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs/provost, were presented with plaques “in grateful recognition of your enduring commitment and leadership to the ongoing improvements and expansion of the stone wall and memorial brick display” at the West Fourth Street park. Work continues at the site, which is scheduled to be dedicated during next year’s Memorial Day weekend.
Students in the Fundamentals of Nursing course learned more about the experiences some of their future patients will face, courtesy of a donation of excess medical supplies after a faculty member recovered from a serious health issue. Dulcey J. Frantz, assistant professor of nursing, underwent chemotherapy for bowel cancer and had to use an ostomy bag. “Fortunately, she was able to have a reversal to her ostomy and is doing well,” explained Tushanna M. Habalar, instructor of nursing, who teaches the course. Since she no longer needs the bags, Frantz donated her extra supplies to the class. Every student applied an ostomy bag – with applesauce in it to simulate a bowel movement – and wore it for 24 hours, journaling about the experience. An ostomy is a surgical procedure in which an artificial opening is made to permit the drainage of waste products either into an appropriate organ or to the outside of the body.
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Middle school and high school educators got a close-up view of the offerings at Penn College on Friday, courtesy of the College & Career Readiness Conference, hosted by the college’s College Transitions and First Year Initiatives Office. The educators, many of them school counselors who serve as an important resource for students as they consider their futures, toured Penn College’s academic facilities and attended sessions geared toward middle school educators, high school educators, and the skills gap in advanced manufacturing.
About 40 students in Technical Drawing-Related Disciplines classes (CCD237) recently took a field trip to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s District 3 office in Montoursville, where alumni employees showed them real-world examples of road and bridge design, along with firsthand applications of cutting-edge technology. Presentations were offered by William C. Harrison III, a 1999 graduate in electronics technology: computer automation maintenance emphasis, assigned to PennDOT’s Computer Aided Design and Drafting Support Unit; and Jonathan R. Richardson, a 2007 surveying technology alumnus, employed as a survey technician. Their insight supplemented material in the course, which is required in Penn College’s two-year engineering CAD technology and four-year engineering design technology degrees. Katherine A. Walker, assistant professor of engineering design technology; and Shane A. Schreck and Kendra N. Tomassacci, instructors of engineering design technology, accompanied the students. “We are very fortunate that our local employers provide opportunities to visit their facilities, as it is very beneficial students connect their classroom experience to real-world applications,” Walker said.
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The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives was among state legislators who visited Penn College on Thursday afternoon, touring several academic laboratories in the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies. Comprising the group were Speaker Michael C. Turzai (R-McCandless), Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Lock Haven), Rep. Clinton D. Owlett (R-Wellsboro), Rep. Jeff C. Wheeland (R-Williamsport) and Neil R. Lesher, Rep. Turzai’s chief of staff. During the lawmakers’ 90-minute stay, school administration and faculty – along with Workforce Development personnel – introduced them to welding and metal fabrication technologies, advanced manufacturing, and plastics and polymer engineering technologies. Facilitating the visit were President Davie Jane Gilmour; Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs/provost; Patrick Marty, chief of staff and assistant to the president for college relations; and state Sen. Gene Yaw, chair of the college’s board of directors. Others on the tour included Lycoming County Commissioner-elect Scott L. Metzger and Fisher Mining Co.’s John A. Blaschak, one of the college’s corporate partners and a member of its Visionary Society.
A pre-winter tradition continued Wednesday at the General Services building along Reach Road, where employees and students celebrated Penn College’s rich diversity by fashioning 41 oversized wooden holiday cards. The completed handiwork will be installed outside the Breuder Advanced Technology and Health Sciences Center shortly before Thanksgiving, and a lighting ceremony – which will also illuminate the main campus decorations and a veterans tree near Madigan Library – will accent the display at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4.
With wintry weather possible even in fall, the time is ripe for faculty/staff and students to get (re)acquainted with the college’s guidelines for emergency closings, delays and early dismissals. Keep your cellphone charged, your gloves and boots handy, and your subscription to the PCT Alerts messaging system up-to-date. And, above all, make safe and sound decisions about traveling in poor conditions.
Liz Miele and Hannah Ramsauer recently hosted Historic Preservation (BSD410) students on a site visit to the adjacent properties that comprise “Herdic Row” in Williamsport: the Peter Herdic House restaurant, Peter Herdic Inn and a third building that was recently purchased by the Miele family.
“It is always so valuable to get the students out of the classroom to reinforce topics discussed in class,” said Rob A. Wozniak, an associate professor of architectural technology (who also provided photos). “While on site, Ms. Ramsauer shared her love for the history, including some of what was done to restore the structures.”
“Jeff Repko was the ideal choice for our first artist-in-residence in the ‘Material Matters’ series as his work combines traditional materials with digital fabrication methods,” said Penny Griffin Lutz, director of The Gallery at Penn College. In addition to a public reception for his exhibit, “In Proximity,” Repko’s five-day residency (Nov. 5-9) featured workshops in the gallery and The Dr. Welch Workshop: A Makerspace at Penn College. “His artistic vision was a perfect fit for Penn College’s community of makers,” Lutz added. “He took advantage of the equipment in the makerspace to begin a new sculpture, and he enjoyed the one-on-one time he spent with students, educators and the public during hands-on workshops. Jeff felt so welcomed by our campus community!” “In Proximity” is on display through Dec. 11 in The Gallery at Penn College, on the third floor of Madigan Library. Hours are 2 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. The gallery is closed Mondays and Saturdays and will be closed Nov. 27-Dec. 1. The “Material Matters: Past, Present, Future” series will include two additional short-term artist residencies over the next two years and is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Saturday’s Community Challenge attracted over 400 participants from seven states and raised close to $20,000 – breaking both participant and financial records for the annual event supporting the Salvation Army of Williamsport.
“The Community Challenge attracts so many good-hearted people, from running champions to first-time hikers who are looking for a supported challenge through beautiful and rugged terrain,” said Michael J. Reed, an event organizer and Pennsylvania College of Technology’s vice president for academic affairs/provost. “Over 17 miles of trails are used for the event, and we change the courses every year so participants experience a new challenge and get exposed to more of the beautiful landscape. Our volunteers put in so much time and effort to ensure everything goes as planned. This year was a lot of fun with many smiles, strong feelings of accomplishment, and only a few bumps and bruises. The cause, coupled with the unique race experience, truly made Saturday a special event.”
On this Veterans Day, PCToday honors the Penn College students, faculty and staff who have served (or continue to serve) the United States.
Katie L. Mackey, academic skills specialist at Pennsylvania College of Technology, is one of 15 new inductees into the YWCA Northcentral Pennsylvania’s Women of Excellence program.
“While Katie’s commitment to improving the lives of others is evident through her work at Penn College since 2005, Katie’s value of service to others has been a theme throughout her entire life. Katie is selfless in all of her interactions,” her college nominator wrote. “She role-models the values of Woman of Excellence in her professional and personal roles. Katie’s resume illustrates the broad impact she has through our community, from working to create a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for students at Penn College, to the United Way, Family Promise, their children’s activities, and more.
“We are so grateful that she chooses to spend the majority of her day at Penn College, where she is respected and highly valued.”
The artistry of 12 Pennsylvania College of Technology students and a professor is gracing the new office and gallery space of Lycoming Arts, 46 W. Fourth St.
As part of a Wood Sculpture art elective, the class crafted masks, inspired by a study of African masks. Each mask was hand-carved with chisels, mallets and rasps, and the students were encouraged to experiment with shape, color, texture, mixed media additions and other design elements.
Penn College students and faculty were recently invited by Doug Cassatt, of the Lehigh Hanson Heidleberg Cement Group, to tour the company’s Fleetwood Cement Manufacturing facility. “The students were introduced to the sophisticated process of cement production by an extremely knowledgeable Lehigh Hanson staff, from the raw material in the quarry to the final packing facility where the product is loaded and transported by truck or rail,” said Joseph F. DiBucci, a concrete science technology major and president of the ConCreate Design Club. The plant boasts numerous recycling processes – water pumped from the quarry provides an active supply for the borough, for instance, and 7,000 to 10,000 tires per day are used as a heat source – and $16 million was spent for equipment to cut down or eliminate carbon emissions in the production process. The Berks County facility is equipped with a “state of the art” lab to analyze the chemical makeup so the customer is given the best product possible. “One of the main attractions was the horizontal rotary kilns that broke down the raw material to clinker at a temperature of 2,500 degrees,” added DiBucci, from Glenshaw. “The visit was an eye-opening experience that demonstrated the amount of work that is required to produce cement, the most widely used building material in the world.” The tour was followed by a luncheon and discussion. The college’s School of Construction & Design Technologies offers a two-year degree in concrete science technology, unique to the East Coast.
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