Social dance class at MMCC

From the campus of MMCC

HARRISON – It’s time to dust off your dancing shoes.  As part of its ongoing series of personal interest workshops, Mid Michigan Community College will be offering Social Dance classes this spring. 

There are two identical courses being offered - each includes eight classes.  One class will be held on Tuesdays starting April 13 and the other will be held on Wednesdays starting April 14.  Each class runs from 7 to 9 p.m. in the new Fitness and Recreation Center on MMCC’s Harrison Campus.  Participants will have an opportunity to learn the waltz, foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, polka, and swing dances. 

These classes are $70 per couple and are open to the public.  Call the Community Learning Center at 386-6617 for more information or call 989-386-6659 to register.  These classes fill up fast, so register early.

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Kirtland named to community service honor roll

ROSCOMMON – The federal Corporation for National and Community Service recently announced that Kirtland Community College was among the more than 700 institutions recognized by being honored by the CNCS on its 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary Service Learning efforts, including a commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.  

“Kirtland recognizes the importance of the role of community service in preparing its students to be engaged citizens,” said Kirtland president Dr. Tom Quinn. “We believe that a community college has a responsibility to be a leader in modeling civic engagement for its citizens. This is especially important in our rural area where our closest university partners are many miles away.”

Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

“Congratulations to Kirtland and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, CNCS chief executive officer. “Our nation’s students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service.”

Nick Holton, a math instructor and Service Learning coordinator at Kirtland, said the local two-year college has a long history of reaching out to the communities it serves. But, he said such efforts have taken on new meaning in recent years.

“Within the last few years, we have made a concerted effort to increase the college’s impact on our local communities so that our students gain even more valuable community service experience,” Holton said.

In the past year, though its Service Learning program, the college has partnered with River House Inc., a four-county agency based in Grayling that seeks to assist victims of domestic violence and homelessness in Crawford, Oscoda, Ogemaw and Roscommon counties. Kirtland hosted a special balloon launch last fall to remember victims of domestic violence in Michigan, and then held an “Empty Bowl Project” even to raise money and awareness about the region’s poverty issues.

“We are excited to get this recognition for our recent emphasis on addressing the problems of poverty in our area,” Holton said. “Our recent partnership with River House has brought a whole new level of civic engagement for our students.”

Kirtland is also working on its first international Service Learning trip in early May, with students traveling to take part in various community projects during a week-long stay in Guatemala. Holton said college officials are hoping such trips will become an annual event to help expand student exposure to concerns, such as poverty, in other countries.

“One goal is to provide an international experience for our students,” he said. “Our students increasingly need to see that they are part of a bigger world. They are no longer able to hide out in their little corner of northern Michigan.”

Overall, the CNCS honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, 115 were named as “Honor Roll With Distinction” members and 621 schools as “Honor Roll” members. A full list of those honored is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

The CNCS is a federal agency that engages more five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs. The Honor Roll is a CNCS initiative in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is presented during the annual conference of the American Council on Education. 

For more information on Kirtland’s service learning efforts, visit online at http://kirtland.edu/service/ or call 989-275-5000, extension 412.

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M-TEC offers NEC 2008 code update

The M-TEC on the Harrison campus of Mid Michigan Community College will be offering a National Electrical Code (NEC) 2008 Update class.  Journeyman and Master electricians are required to receive training on the NEC updates prior to renewing their electrical licenses. The NEC class will be held on March 18-19 and again on April 15-16.  Each two-day training runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  The workshop fee is $185 and includes lunch, an update book, and other materials. 

Call the M-TEC at (989) 386-6614 for more information and to register. 

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Trout in the classroom

By JIM SMITH

The national Trout in the Classroom program is expanding locally thanks to efforts of the Mason-Giffith Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Here, TU member Jim Wilkinson helps in the Grayling Middle School seventh grade classroom of Carrie Wilkinson by cleaning a trout tank.

Staff writer

Visit Carrie Wilkinson’s seventh grade class at Grayling’s Middle School and you will be treated to an aquarium swarming with Brown Trout fingerlings; one more time the Mason-Griffith chapter of Trout Unlimited has a winner with its innovative “Trout in the Classroom” program.

Piloted locally last year in the Mio Public School system, the national program proved itself extremely successful in teaching students what it takes environmentally and habitat-wise for a population of trout to grow and mature. The ultimate goal is to create student awareness and appreciation for the delicate balance nature maintains in our natural trout streams.