Pennsylvania College of Technology recently held a grand reopening celebration for Nature’s Cove, one of its 10 dining units.
Nature’s Cove updated its dining room with new cabinets and countertops, a larger soda fountain and updated merchandising coolers, additional seating with new dining room chairs, and a fresh coat of paint.
Furthering a partnership that has thrived for nearly a quarter century, the Caterpillar Foundation and a consortium of regional dealers recently delivered $82,000 in support of students and curriculum at Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center.
“We are pleased that Caterpillar Inc. and its dealers have continued to support our students and the college,” said Brett A. Reasner, dean of transportation and natural resources technologies at Penn College. “Their contributions support student scholarships and provide a positive impact on our ability to keep current technology in the classrooms and labs.”
A parent’s proud endorsement of a Penn College education, which propelled his son into an imminent career as a landscape designer, kicks off a Pennsylvania Farm Show video from state Sen. Gene Yaw. The legislator – who chairs the college’s board of directors – sat down with state Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding, father of a 2016 landscape/horticulture technology alumnus. Elliot C. Redding carried his two-year degree to Penn State, where he will graduate with a bachelor’s degree later this year. Watch PCToday for photos from the 103rd annual expo, at which the college was a weeklong presence.
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.”
A pair of scholarships established by a Lancaster County excavating and paving firm will assist students enrolled in diesel and automotive majors at Pennsylvania College of Technology with their education costs.
B.R. Kreider & Son Inc., based in Manheim, has funded the “Pin Oak Service Center, a Sister Company of B.R. Kreider & Son, Inc. Diesel Technology Scholarship,” and the “Pin Oak Service Center, Automotive Technology Scholarship.”
Penn College’s decades-old tradition of large-scale holiday cards on the campus mall got an impressive add-on for the 2018 season: a massive toy soldier jointly fashioned by automotive restoration majors and manufacturing students in instructor Roy Klinger’s metal-shaping classes. “We were trying to think of something we could build to go with the holiday cards, and we came across an image of a 12-foot-tall toy soldier,” said Arthur M. Wright IV, an automotive restoration technology major from Woodbridge, New Jersey. “We figured we would give it a try because it could end up looking really cool!” A group of students from the manufacturing program assisted restoration majors with drawing and designing the toy soldier. The inner structure is mostly plywood arranged to help support the weight of the towering statue, Wright said, while the outer shell is completely made of aluminum. “The restoration students made paper patterns of the shapes provided by the drawing that the manufacturing students prepared for us,” he explained. “We then shaped all the pieces using the skills and techniques that we were learning in our metal-shaping class. The project really helped us display the skills that we had been working so hard to develop.” It was a total team effort to complete the project, he said, estimating that it took all of four three-hour classes to fully realize their shared vision. “When we came in the Wednesday morning of the card-lighting ceremony (Nov. 28), we didn’t think we were going to be able to get it done,” said Wright, who also shared some of the students’ photos. “Most of the soldier was still in pieces, with no paint. But thanks to the guidance and leadership of our teacher, we were able to get everything finished before the ceremony started!”
Reflecting the increasing use of aluminum by automakers and affirming the value of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s industry partners, Dent Fix Equipment has donated a self-contained aluminum dent-repair station for use by the institution’s collision repair and automotive restoration students.
“This equipment package provides all the necessary tools to complete aluminum repairs to an industry standard,” said Shaun D. Hack, instructor of collision repair. “This adds value to the collision repair technology, collision repair technician and automotive restoration technology majors by adding skill sets that will be desired by potential employers.”
The annual Poinsettia Sale at Penn College’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center greenhouse is underway, and runs until all plants are sold. The hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays (closed Saturday and Sunday), and all sales are on a first-come, first-served basis. Inventory is limited this year and is expected to sell out fast! There will be no early sales or holds, and everything is “cash and carry.”
A 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible has been given to Pennsylvania College of Technology by a Monroe County man who owned it for nearly 50 years.
Paul Hoffman, of Saylorsburg, donated the vintage vehicle – in its original Peacock Blue – for use by automotive restoration technology students.
Six landscape/horticulture technology students and a Pennsylvania College of Technology faculty member recently traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, for a pair of prominent industry events.
The Penn College group attended the Green Industry & Equipment Expo (GIE+EXPO), the nation’s largest trade show in that field, and LANDSCAPES 2018, a premier networking and educational conference.
Students in Erich R. Doebler’s Wildlife Management class (FOR245) recently visited Montour Preserve, which is managed by the Montour Area Recreation Commission, to learn more about wildlife, nature preserves and the regulations associated with operating such facilities. “This was an excellent opportunity for the students to see in person various birds, ducks and mammals that we have discussed and learned about in the classroom and lab settings,” said Doebler, a member of Penn College’s forestry faculty. Additionally, the class went to Lake Chillisquaque to understand the importance of that human-created lake and its history, and learned about the various fish species found within. Commission director Bob Stoudt kept the Visitor Center open for the students past 4 p.m. so that they could spend as much time as possible at the Danville site. “This is an excellent opportunity for any generation to learn more about wildlife and to simply relax and spend time in nature.”
State Sen. Patrick M. Browne, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Pennsylvania College of Technology on Thursday.
Browne, who represents the 16th District – which includes Allentown and other municipalities within Lehigh County – came to campus after presenting an election and legislative update at a breakfast sponsored by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
He was invited by fellow Appropriations Committee member Sen. Gene Yaw, who also serves as chairman of the Penn College Board of Directors. Yaw also hosted the Chamber legislative update event, held at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport.
Students in Erich R. Doebler’s Forest Products class this week visited the Danzer plant on Reach Road, one of the few veneer mills in Pennsylvania. The group met with Paul R. South, a 2016 forest technology graduate of Penn College. He discussed the process of buying logs, specifications, in-demand species and how the log purchasing process is conducted. The students were also given a tour of the facility, where they were able to see the sawmill, as well as the log banding, log cooking, surfacing, slicing, drying and packaging processes. About a half-dozen Penn College alumni are employed by Danzer, formerly known as Keystone Veneers Inc. “This is an exceptionally personal tour,” said the instructor (who also provided the photo), “and something right in our backyard that many do not get the opportunity to experience.”
Carl J. Bower Jr. recently took 18 of his landscape/horticulture technology students on a field trip to several sites in and around State College, including the one-acre Penn State Student Farm/Campus Supported Agriculture, the university’s greenhouse production facility, the Penn State Arboretum and one of the Forestry Building’s green roofs. After a visit to the Berkey Creamery, the group met up with Scott A. Burk, president of Scott’s Landscaping and Wheatfield Nursery (and a member of the college’s Landscape/Horticulture Technology Advisory Committee), and 2002 graduate Frederick B. Smithmyer, operations manager at Scott’s. They talked about various landscape projects on the University Park campus, including several green roofs and the arboretum, and finished the day with a tour of Wheatfield Nursery and Scott’s Landscaping, where the group encountered even more Penn College alumni.
Photos by Bower, assistant professor of horticulture
Fall Open House visitors had unfettered access to Penn College’s vibrant campuses Sunday, as today’s faculty/staff, alumni and students provided them with a tantalizing view of a very real and credible tomorrow. All six academic schools put out the welcome mat through information sessions, tours and laboratory demonstrations, and guests were encouraged to explore the institution’s myriad complementary services and activities.