News about Students

Alexander dealerships recognized for all-star support of students

Aubrey Alexander accepts a framed #9 Wildcat jersey, representing his Penn College graduation year.

The Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships, with 18 locations that employ a number of Penn College alumni, was honored Wednesday for its inspiring generosity and ongoing dedication to Wildcat Athletics. Through scholarship support, mentorship and other substantial contributions – including new scoreboards in Bardo Gymnasium – the Alexander family’s financial commitment was noted by the Wildcat Club as “creating lasting impact for our student-athletes and the athletic facilities they call home.” Among those on hand for Corporate Partner Day during a basketball doubleheader against the College of Saint Elizabeth was Aubrey Alexander, a 2009 business administration graduate and member of the Penn College Foundation Board of Directors.

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Downtown walk ushers in ‘Dream Week’

"Dream Week"

Penn College students and employees are encouraged to participate in “Dream Week” activities centered around the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, beginning with a Peace Walk through downtown Williamsport on Saturday, Jan. 19.

The walk will form at First United Methodist Church, 604 Market St., at 10 a.m.; transportation will be provided from the Bush Campus Center Loop at 9:30. Refreshments and a musical celebration, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” will follow in the church.

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SkillsUSA video features college’s all-female welding team

Produced by SkillsUSA, a “Diversity in Manufacturing” video features the state champion Penn College welding team of Erin M. Beaver, Joelle E. Perelli and Natalie Rhoades. The welding and fabrication engineering majors are helping to change America’s outdated ideas on what manufacturing is and what kind of person can find success, security and satisfaction in a manufacturing-related career. The video, added to the college’s YouTube channel, also includes insights from Volvo Construction Equipment North America.

Fall 2018 class of graduates listed

The roster of Fall 2018 graduates has been issued at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

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Fall ’18 dean’s list announced

Pennsylvania College of Technology has released its Fall 2018 dean’s list.

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Freeze-framing a day to remember

As faculty march to the stage, anticipation and fulfillment blend on a student's radiant face.

Pennsylvania College of Technology held its Fall 2018 commencement on Saturday, Dec. 22, in the Community Arts Center, bringing down the curtain − as winter officially arrives and the new year nears − on another season of academic success. The student speaker was Katherine Lynne Mertes, of Williamsport, who was awarded a bachelor’s degree in residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration. Also addressing the Class of ’18 was Joanna K. Flynn, associate professor of mathematics, who was presented with the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award in May. Civil engineering technology alumna Margaret A. Jackson received the Alumni Achievement Award during the ceremony, at which more than 300 degrees were conferred by college President Davie Jane Gilmour and Steven P. Johnson, president of UPMC Susquehanna and a member of the college’s Board of Directors.

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Student awards presented to Penn College graduates

Pennsylvania College of Technology presented student achievement awards to its Fall 2018 graduates.

A commencement ceremony was held Saturday, Dec. 22, at the Community Arts Center, Williamsport.

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Children’s ‘Wish List’ fulfilled by college family

Destined to make the holidays merrier for local boys and girls, gifts await pickup near the Student Activities Office.

Gadalla, an aviation maintenance technology major from Mechanicsburg, shuttles the colorful bounty to a transport cart ...

... and helps Steve Wenzel, gym coordinator at The Salvation Army, during the load-in.

The generosity of Penn College employees and students will once again benefit the greater campus community, as the Wish List Tree generated 80 gifts for local children aged 3 months to 12 years. The Office of Campus and Community Engagement facilitated donations, which were collected in the Bush Campus Center for pickup by The Salvation Army. Community Peer Educator David A. Gadalla organized the ornament gift tags, decorated the tree and helped load the presents for their joyful delivery.
Photos by Katie L. Mackey, director of campus and community engagement

Farm Show offers ‘inspiring’ look at college’s varied majors

School of Business & Hospitality majors from Penn College take part in a Student Cooking Challenge at the 2018 Pennsylvania Farm Show. All six of the college’s academic schools will again be represented at the Jan. 5-12 event, the nation’s largest indoor agricultural expo. (Photo by Davey Rudy)

Throngs of visitors will soon converge on Harrisburg to celebrate the commonwealth’s agricultural prominence, and Pennsylvania College of Technology students and employees will be there to help honor the event’s 2019 theme of “Inspiring Pennsylvania’s Story.”

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Winners announced in Penn College Food Show

As part of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s annual Food Show, culinary arts technology students Summer L. Showers, left, of Aspers, and Chelsea L. Gray, of Marysville, receive the Chef Eugene Mattucci Best of Show award for their “Game Meats From the Hunt” platter and charcuterie board.

Pennsylvania College of Technology recently announced the winners of its annual Food Show.

The Food Show provides a venue for students to share their final projects in several courses and to gain feedback from industry professionals who judge their work. At the same time, it offers a learning experience for high school students interested in hospitality-related careers, who make a visit to the show as part of a daylong campus experience.

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Concrete industry welcomes tomorrow’s workforce

Apropos the hands-on education in their school of choice, Penn College students were granted access to real-world equipment.

Students and faculty oblige their hosts for a fun photo op.

Penn College construction majors traveled to Malvern this month for an eye-opening perspective on the commercial concrete industry. Instructors Franklin H. Reber and Harry W. Hintz Jr. accompanied students from their Concrete Construction (BCT238) classes on a visit to Forcine Concrete & Construction Co. “The company took a lot of consideration into the presentation of what they do,” said Josh E. Rosenberger, of Chambersburg, a residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration major. “We got our hands on everything from power trowels to pump trucks to total stations. We sat through several information sessions throughout the day pertaining to Forcine and its sister company, Durable Surfaces. Coming from a residential background, I was flabbergasted to hear that they pour over 1,000 yards of concrete per day with a crew of five or six.” Students were permitted to operate equipment – both at headquarters and at a nearby site where a pour had just occurred – and were given an extensive tour of the facility. “Forcine Concrete is very encouraged to finally have found a partner in Penn College that is teaching the next generation work skills that we can utilize in our growing industry,” said Derek Cressman, president of Durable Surfaces, who, given the caliber of students that visited, said company officials look forward to maintaining the relationship with the college. Of the students in attendance, five are enrolled in the concrete science technology major that began during the just-ended Fall 2018 semester (and can be completed in only one year beyond a building construction technology degree). The first cohort of students from the new major will enter their internship experience this summer.
Photos provided

Students’ Africa-influenced art featured at CAC

A work by John A. Gondy, of Glenmoore, enrolled in residential construction technology and management: architectural technology concentration

On display through Dec. 22

Abstract artistry by Nowell H. Covington, a construction management student from Benton

Stabley's craftsmanship

Inspired by African tribal masks, artwork by students in wood sculpture classes taught by Penn College art faculty David A. Stabley and Brian A. Flynn is on display at the Community Arts Center through Dec. 22. Each student delivered a presentation and made sketches, then created a small-scale model in clay or Plasticine. They then hand-carved their masks out of pine blocks with mallets, gouges and rasps, encouraged by faculty to incorporate the principles of form, texture, color and pattern into their abstract designs.

Penn College electrical students help power park

Ian J. Chilcote, of Altoona, was one of 15 electrical technology students from tasked with installing electrical power.

Pennsylvania College of Technology electrical students powered their education throughout the fall semester by employing their skills at a regional park.

The 15 second-semester students installed electrical service at Lime Bluff Recreation Area in Hughesville. What began in the heat of August ended in December’s chill as the students worked about five hours a week at the complex.

“The work they did can’t be replicated in the lab due to the nature of it,” said Joseph R. Raup, instructor of electrical technology/occupations and teacher of the Construction Lab II-Commercial course charged with the project. “We don’t have the area to do the trenching and the underground type of work.”

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Civil engineering major earns one of four $2,000 awards

Derek M. Grose, of Watsontown, a civil engineering technology student at Penn College, has received a $2,000 award from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Central Pennsylvania Section.

A civil engineering technology student at Pennsylvania College of Technology is one of four to be recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Central Pennsylvania Section for outstanding academic achievement.

Among those presented with a $2,000 check at the section’s November dinner meeting, marking the 27th time that the awards have been presented, was Derek M. Grose, of Watsontown. Grose earned an associate degree in surveying technology in May and is scheduled to add a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering technology at the end of the Spring 2019 semester.

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Electrical students power their education at regional park

Second-semester students seeking an associate degree in electrical technology at Penn College installed electrical service to Lime Bluff Recreation Area in Hughesville throughout the fall semester. The 15 students gained four months of “real-world” experience as they provided lighting and outlets to a maintenance building and a park pavilion, granting a longtime wish of the East Lycoming Recreation Authority to bring electricity to the park. “They really saved us a ton of money, both in drafting and in electrical,” said Thomas Zavalydriga, project director for the authority. “I’ve been in management all my professional career and these students have done just an outstanding job from a professional … and a personal standpoint.”

Penn College is a special mission affiliate of Penn State