News 2008-9

Multimedia Installation is Big Bang Glorious
A year in the making, HCC's first multimedia installation, Big Bang Glorious, lived up to its name. Recent graduate Dan O'Neil ’09, creative partner Dan Taibbi, and a cadre of friends transformed the C-building corridor for the June 19 evening event, which drew a crowd of approximately 200 visitors.

Creating a Culture of Change and Cohesion

Early College High School

With an impressive 96% graduation rate, and 91% of its grads headed for college this fall (with approximately 130 college credits earned along with their high school diplomas), ECHS is clearly doing something right.

Celebrating Nursing!

Awards Week and the traditional pinning ceremony were some of the highlights of the year for graduates from HCC's Nursing program.

Silent Pizza
ASL/Deaf Studies students, students who are Deaf, interpreters, captionists, and members of the Deaf community: Don’t miss this summer's Silent Pizza gatherings, held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, June 24, July 22, and August 26 in the HCC Courtyard at the picnic tables (if rain, inside the Student Lounge between Donahue and Frost). Bring your own beverage. Pizza is free, but please RSVP to dgeoffroy@hcc.mass.edu to make sure we order enough!

Free college prep course for adults

Want to earn a college degree but need help getting ready? Holyoke Community College and the Community Education Project will offer a free, 14-week course to help adult learners prepare for college. Register now!

Two awarded internships at Brookhaven

Physics major Rod Klich and engineering major Adebayo Adeyemi have each been awarded a $4,000 summer internship at Brookhaven National Laboratory; the first time that HCC has had two summer internships at a national laboratory. Both of these outstanding students were winners of the Sharma Scholarship last year.

Cougars regional champs, place in the nationals

For the second straight season, the HCC Golf team went undefeated in the region (18-0 in 2008, 12-0 in 2009). The Cougars won the Regional Championship and qualified for the National Championship (held in Chautauqa, NY, June 2-5), where they placed ninth out of 13 teams. Congratulations, Cougars!

Kittredge Mini-Grant funds diverse dreams
HCC students Hunter Foote and Heidi Martin-Coleman wrote detailed and persuasive applications that garnered each a Kittredge Mini Grant to further their entrepreneurial goals.

Have you ever wondered what’s inside your computer and how it works? Students in Tracy Corless' Computer Concepts & Applications class can tell you, thanks to a $1.9 million National Science Foundation grant* to the Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE), of which HCC is a member.

Pizza & Movie
ASL/Deaf Studies students, students who are Deaf, interpreters, captionists, and members of the Deaf community: Don’t miss the Silent Pizza Gathering this Friday, May 8!

Wigs for Kids Cut-a-Thon at HCC
Donate your ponytail, get a haircut, help children with hair loss! Medical treatments, illness, and burns can leave children traumatized—by the event and by subsequent hair loss. Join HCC’s Unity Club Wigs for Kids Cut-a-Thon on May 6 and make a difference!

Free community college? Join the conversation!

Governor Deval Patrick is among those who have called for expansion of public education to include two years of free community college for every high school graduate in the state. Last month, the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, (PHENOM) published a report titled, "Making Free Community College a Reality."  Join PHENOM members and members of the HCC community to discuss this report and next steps, Wednesday, April 29, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. in building C, room 139.  Note: The report has been posted for students on the Student Forum and for faculty and staff on the Courtyard.

As professor Gary Beluzo conducts field research in the redwoods, sequoias, chaparral, grasslands, deserts, and coastal systems of California, HCC students and faculty are following him as part of a Virtual Ecology Expedition.

Professor awarded Fulbright-Hays. HCC professor Rubaba Matin has been chosen to participate in the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program this summer. Matin will travel to Jordan and Oman.

HCC engineering major Timothy Coyle will spend the summer learning research methodology and exploring space-related technology at the University of Massachusetts, thanks to a science fellowship from the NASA Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium.

The HCC Players will present Kafka's The Trial, Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25, at 8 p.m. in the Leslie Phillips Forum. Admission is $8 for seniors and students with ID, $10 general.

Organizations in the Pioneer Valley seeking job skills training for employees can take advantage of the new “Lunch and Learn” workshops offered by the Kittredge Center for Business & Workforce Development at Holyoke Community College.

Thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Citizens Bank Foundation, Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center students were able to take important next steps in their education.

Marvin Stamm and the Amherst Jazz Orchestra, conducted by UMass music professor David Sporny, will kick off the two-day festival with a concert in the Leslie Phillips Forum,

8 p.m. Friday, April 3.

"Redefining Deaf"film and filmmaker at HCC. Activist and ASL advocate Ryan Commerson will be at HCC for the screening of his film.

Are you a link in the chain of paper waste at HCC? Instead of lounging on a beach in Florida, Student Senate President Erica Pelletier and Vice President Robert Phillips spent their spring break tackling the problem of paper waste at HCC.

Adult learners and LAALC_Adult_Literacy_Day staff from Holyoke CommunityCollege’s Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center traveled to the State House in Boston on Thursday, March 12, to take part in Adult Literacy Awareness Day.

Want to attend college but need help getting ready? Register now for a free, intensive prep course, Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., April 7-May 28, at HCC.

Not your issue? Think again!

Creating a safe, respectful environment at HCC is everyone’s responsibility. Register for TransCampus, and learn what you can do to make HCC an inclusive, welcoming place to learn and work.

Dualities: an exhibit by Bernard Banville, will be at The Taber Art Gallery March 9 through April 9.  An artist’s reception will take place March 25, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Young @ Heart Comes to HCC! The internationally acclaimed Young @ Heart chorus will perform at HCC on Wednesday, March 25 at 11 a.m. in the Leslie Phillips Theater/ Forum. How to get tickets?

Success!
With the nation and region clamoring for healthcare professionals, these recent graduates from the Jump Start Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program have bright prospects.

HCC's fifth year of participation in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival was a big one! Students garnered awards and recognition in competition with schools from across the northeast.

Putnam Scholarship now at HCC

A family with deep roots in Springfield has chosen to redirect its national scholarship fund for African-American and Latino students exclusively to graduates of Springfield public and charter high schools—and has selected the HCC Foundation as administrator.

HCC President Bill Messner joined Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan, Congressman John Olver, Senator Michael Knapik, Representative Michael Kane, Richard Doyle of FTA, Mary MacInnes of PVTA, and Peter Picknelly, Peter Pan/Picknelly family representative, for a groundbreaking ceremony on January 26, for the Holyoke Multimodal Transportation Center and Picknelly Family and Adult Education Center on Maple Street in Holyoke.

Grant helps HCC bring women, underrepresented minorities into Information Technology careers

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded a $1.9 million grant to extend the Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE), of which HCC is a member.

HCC offers free college prep course for adults

Want to earn a college degree but need help getting ready? Holyoke Community College and the Community Education Project will offer a free, 14-week course to help adult learners prepare for college, February 2 – May 8.

Awards recognize effort, help student's business grow

HCC student Chrissy Costigan has always dreamed of being a professional photographer. Hard work, an award from the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, and a Kittredge Center Mini Grant are helping her dream come true.

HCC’s Latino/International Student Association brought the vibrant music and communal spirit of "Parranda" to the college with traditional holiday Spanish music, and flags representing all of the Latino countries in the world.

Student Leader Recognized

HCC student Robert Phillips garnered media attention for his community activism and nonstop workload. The Amherst Bulletin caught wind of Phillips after he received the Dean Sullivan Award for outstanding leadership at the annual Massachusetts Community College Student Life Association this fall.

Who are the homeless?
What is the impact of hunger & homelessness on our communities? Students at Holyoke Community College dedicated the week of November 17-21 to exploring and generating increased awareness of these issues—with surprising results.

Study groups help multicultural nursing students succeed

Nursing is a challenging program for native English speakers—but for those whose first language is Chinese, Japanese, Swahili, French, Spanish, Russian, Polish or Khmer, it can be daunting. Study groups organized by the Multicultural Nursing Club are making a difference.

Women's Soccer Makes History

For the first time in its history, the Holyoke Community College Women’s Soccer team advanced to the NJCAA Division III Final Four National Soccer Tournament.

ABE College Transition program awarded grant

HCC’s Adult Basic Education College Transition program, together with the Community Education Project, was awarded $80,000 by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, to implement the Transition to College and Careers program.

Building alumni relationships increases giving, earns media attention
The national publication, Community College Times, highlighted the outstanding fundraising work of HCC Alumni Council President Gloria Lomax '75 and Director of Alumni Relations Joanna Brown. The two have forged strong bonds with alumni, and substantially increased alumni giving.

The Vagina Monologues

comes to HCC! The Obie Award-winning play by Eve Ensler will be performed in the Leslie Phillips Forum on Wednesday, February 25, at 11 a.m., and Thursday, February 26, at 7:00 p.m.

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John Calhoun: Paintings & Drawings

HCC's Taber Art Gallery features an exhibit of the work of artist and teacher John Calhoun, through February 26.

HCC Professor Alix Hegeler calls the windowless domain of the campus print room, the Bat Cave. The current Tabor Art Gallery exhibit, “Bat Cave Expatriates,” is a tongue in cheek, tip of the hat to their former teacher and mentor by artists Michael C. Barrett, Christopher Blair, and David Czupryna, three HCC expatriates/alumni. More...

Twenty five students in HCC's Health, Fitness, and Nutrition classes attended "Bodies: The Exhibition," in New York City on December 3. The exhibit, consisting of more than 200 specimens of whole bodies and individual organs, reveals the complex systems of organs and tissues that is the human body.  A process of acetone and silicon immersion followed by vacuum sealing and hardening prevents the bodies and organs from decay. This method provides students with an unprecedented opportunity to view and understand their subject.

HCC students, faculty and staff gathered and sent more than 750 Beanie Babies to Beanies for Baghdad, an organization that delivers toys to American troops for distribution to children in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo. The troops enjoy the positive interaction with the children, and the children, of course, love receiving these toys. Thanks to all who contributed!