Bravo Award, Length of Service employees recognized at special ceremony

For the first time the annual Bravo! Award and Length of Service awards were held in a special ceremony apart from the traditional fall Development Day. The ceremony was held in the Duncan Theatre on the Lake Worth campus Oct. 15.

"This is a very special occasion. These are our Oscars, if you will," Palm Beach State President Dennis Gallon said. "I surely appreciate the dedication that is shown by our employees on a day-to-day basis. I appreciate what you do."

Nearly 180 College employees were first recognized for their length of service, ranging from five years of service to 40 years.

The  2010 Bravo Award winners:

Grace Kolbe, assistant director of early childhood education at the Institute of Excellence in Early Care and Education, was largely responsible for the acquisition of grant funding to take Palm Beach County's professional development model for early child care practitioners and implement it on a state level. Kolbe dedicated considerable personal time to researching, creating and planning for the program, which will make education and training opportunities more accessible to early care and education providers. Her efforts have also resulted in state-wide recognition for the College and the Institute of Excellence in Early Care & Education.

Arleen Rooks is a student services representative on the Lake Worth campus. She is stationed at the information desk in the admissions lobby, directing students to the appropriate counter or the computers depending in the nature of their needs. As enrollment at the College has skyrocketed, the number of students Rooks serves has grown to overwhelming proportions. She frequently juggles multiple student inquiries while at the same time processing transcript requests, and assisting students on the use of Pantherweb, FACTS.org and Pay Print. Because each student has individual needs and stories, Rooks must have a first-hand knowledge of everything the College has to offer.

Science Department Specialists Samia Huda and Gary Moo Young were nominated for their efforts in preparing the lab space for the Natural Science building. Both nominees spent an enormous amount of time and energy identifying materials to order, placing the orders, receiving, and properly storing the items. Huda and Young came up with a plan to increase drawer space available for students' projects and worked with facilities to create the solution. The solution will maximize the number of lab classes in which students can work independently at their own workstation, thus enhancing the educational experience for each of them while minimizing students getting in each others' way during the lab activities.

SERVICE AWARDS

40 YEARS	30 YEARS	.
25 YEARS	25 YEARS	25 YEARS

20 YEARS

15 YEARS

10 YEARS

5 YEARS

Veterans Day Concert on Lake Worth campus features Army Signal Corp band

Signal Distortion, a nine-piece pop contemporary band from the U.S. Army Signal Corps Band based at Ft. Gordon, Ga. will perform two concerts Nov. 10 on the Lake Worth campus in honor of Veterans Day.

The band will play a rock/contemporary pop concert 11 a.m to 1 p.m. for faculty, staff and students, on the MLK Plaza.  There will be refreshments and activities during the concert.  For more information about the band, click here.

A second performance by the band at the Duncan Theatre will begin at 7:30 p.m. The evening concert, open to the public, will feature a more varied contemporary sound. General admission tickets to this concert are free and will be made available to the public, as well as Palm Beach State faculty, staff and students, beginning Oct. 25. Tickets are limited to two per person and may be picked up at the Duncan Theatre box office.

A special ceremony honoring one representative from each branch of the U.S. armed forces will take place during the concert. For more information call (561) 967-7222 or visit the Veterans Day website.

Link named best lawyer in peer-review survey

District Board of Trustee member Wendy Sartory Link has been included in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the real estate law category. Link is a partner in the law firm Ackerman, Link & Sartory, P.A. The firm, founded in 1996, has attorneys throughout South Florida with offices in West Palm Beach, Miami and Naples

The Best Lawyers list results from a rigorous peer-review survey of more than 3 million evaluations and is considered "the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice."

Barrett now a NCCER master trainer

Sandi Barrett, program manager for Trade & Industry Continuing Education on the Lake Worth campus, is now a National Center for Construction Education and Research Master Trainer.

NCCER is a not-for-profit education foundation created to develop industry-driven standardized craft training programs with portable credentials and help address the workforce needs facing the construction industry. Their mission is to build a safe, productive, and sustainable workforce of craft professionals

Barrett attended a four-day training seminar in Gainesville to obtain her master trainer credential.  She will now be able to train other instructors to receive their NCCER craft instructor credentials.

Belle Glade Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Students, faculty and staff participated in Breast Cancer Awareness Month activities on the Belle Glade campus. More than 90 students signed a pledge to help stop breast cancer at a table set up by students from Professor Kristy Taylor's health class, and pink ribbons were passed out to everyone on campus.

Belle Glade campus celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

A Miami-based mariachi band entertained faculty, staff and students on the Belle Glade campus courtyard with two hours of Spanish music, followed by a variety of ethnic food during the annual Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

SLC tutors, staff  hone skills to create the Great Student Experience

Did you ever stop to think that the conductor is the only member of the orchestra who does not make any sound?  This was the question posed to the nearly 200 tutors and staff members of the Student Learning Centers who gathered in August on the Lake Worth campus for the first-ever, district-wide tutor training in "Creating the Great Student Experience."

The attendees assembled in the Duncan Theater for training, beginning with a welcoming address by Associate Dean Susan Bierster. Shannon Whitman, senior human resource generalist, presented the College's "Creating the Great Experience" initiative.  Whitman stressed that in order for Palm Beach State College to provide a great experience to our students, working must also be a great experience for employees.  The audience was then treated to an excerpt from a video titled "Leadership: An Art of Possibility," in which Boston Philharmonic Conductor Ben Zander shared the message of leading by empowering others. 

The SLC employees then attended breakout sessions that honed their skills and provided them with credits toward College Reading and Learning Association certification.  The workshops covered topics such as helping students experience depth in literature and poetry; managing challenging situations posed by students; identifying the impact of learning styles and emotional intelligence on the tutor/student interaction; assisting students in areas of math such as truth tables and the Stats TI 83/84 calculator.

SLC tutor training has been a consistent part of the centers' professional development since 2003.  Each year it has been refined and expanded and now is the equivalent of a professional conference. 

New FACC Chapter officers elected

Congratulations to the new FACC Chapter officers, beginning Jan. 1, 2011!

Click here for the latest issue of Current for all of the details for the upcoming FACC convention held Nov. 16-19 in Jacksonville.

ASPIRA club signs the No Phone Zone Pledge

The ASPIRA Club at Palm Beach State has launched its No Phone Zone Pledge campaign to encourage individuals to refrain from texting or talking on the phone while driving. On Oct. 6, club members, students and College employees signed the pledge. ASPIRA's mission is to foster the social advancement of the Puerto Rican/Latino community by empowering its youth in the pursuit of educational excellence through leadership development programs that emphasize commitment to the community.

Click here to view the club's video on the No Phone Zone Pledge.

Stetson University names law library after Dolly and Homer Hand 

Stetson University College of Law, Florida's first law school, celebrated 110 years of legal education by naming the law library on its Gulfport campus after Palm Beach State College philanthropists Dolly and Homer Hand on Oct 2.

"Dolly and Homer Hand have nourished academic excellence at Stetson University for more than 50 years. We are grateful for their philanthropy and feel privileged to name the law library in their honor on our 110th anniversary," said Stetson University Dean Darby Dickerson.

Dolly Hand was the only woman in her 1949 graduating class and the youngest student to ever graduate from the College of Law. She is a 16-year trustee of Stetson University and a member of the College of Law's Hall of Fame. Her husband Homer has received Stetson Law's Distinguished Service Award and numerous civic awards.

The Hands are former Palm Beach State College trustees, and both were instrumental in establishing the College's Belle Glade campus.

The Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library was built on Stetson's Gulfport campus in 1998 and is one of the most advanced legal research centers in the southeastern U.S. The library houses more than 420,000 volumes, including a collection of statutes, court reports, journals and treatises. The academic law library also houses an archive of documents from the Nuremberg war tribunals, donated by Stetson's long-serving dean and judge at the tribunals, Harold Sebring.

Comings and Goings

Comings

Jodi Hart, purchasing manager, Lake Worth

Larry Leskovjan, safety & risk manager, Lake Worth 

Bridget Statler, administrative assistant II, Lake Worth

Marie Tattegrain, early learning teacher I, Palm Beach Gardens

Michael Williams, technical production specialist, Lake Worth

Transfers/Promotions

Jeanne Boettcher, financial aid advisor, Lake Worth 

Sharonda Burks-McGee, post secondary advisor, Lake Worth

Keita Simmons, career advisor/school coordinator, West Palm Beach

Drop Retirement

Roy Tonge, lead groundskeeper, Lake Worth

Goings

Paul Tyson, lead security officer, Lake Worth

Luisa Urena, career advisor/scholarship coordinator, Lake Worth 

In Memoriam

Barbara McCrae, a custodian at the Lake Worth campus for nearly 30 years, died Wednesday, Oct. 13, at Saint Lucie Medical Center.  She was 68 years old.

McCrae began working at the College in September 1980 and retired July 31 of this year.  Survivors include her husband, Jimmie McCrae, and mother, Evelyn Thorpe, both of Fort Pierce, and her sisters, Joyce Mosley of West Palm Beach and Carla Thorpe of Fort Pierce.

Visitation will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, at Stone Brothers Funeral Home, Fort Pierce.  The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the funeral home chapel, with burial to follow at Riverview Memorial Park, Fort Pierce.

With Sympathy

Condolences are extended to Susan Cox, associate administrative assistant at the Belle Glade campus, and Carolyn Nehls, Belle Glade bookstore manager, upon the death of their father, John J. Burns, on Oct. 3. Mr. Burns, 86, is also survived by his son Walter Burns of North Augusta, S.C. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jane Burns, and his younger son, John J. Burns, Jr. Contributions may be made in his memory to Hospice of Palm Beach County or to Medicana Nursing & Rehabilitation Center on Lake Worth Road.

Condolences also are extended to Monique King, employment specialist I on the Lake Worth campus, whose father, Frank Grady Dykes, passed away Sept. 29.

Please remember your colleagues in your thoughts and prayers. 

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