Penn Valley honors top scholars, advocates

The end of the school year marks a time when Penn Valley pauses to pay tribute to those who've made amazing progress. Convocation honored the best and brightest students as well as faculty and staff who've made remarkable contributions to the campus.

Awards presented included: Applied Language Recognition, Project Success Student Achievement, Student Ambassador College Service, Homors, Outstanding Student Leader, Outstanding Athletes, Outstanding Contribution to a Special Interest Group, Outstanding Student Advocate, Academic Achievement, President's Appreciation, President's Citation and Outstanding Contribution to the College.

Student Ambassadors were recognized for another great year of service.

Jorge Ruiz received the Outstanding Student Advocate award.

Associate Dean of Students Carroll O'Neal proudly shows off her Special Recognition award for nearly 45 years of service. 

Veronica Highley, Futures Program Director, proudly accepts the President's Citation award for Truman Medical Center's partnership with Penn Valley.

Assault proves urgency of partnership with Truman Medical Center

It started out as two nonprofits engaging in the good ole fashioned bartering system – free space in exchange for free services. But a crisis showed why this partnership was necessary for both institutions.

Truman Medical Center needed additional space for its behavioral health programs. MCC-Penn Valley needed to offer mental health services to its students. So Truman Medical Center Behavioral Health’s Futures Program moved onto the fourth floor of MCC-Penn Valley’s Campus Center building on Sept. 13.

“It only made sense for two urban institutions like Penn Valley and Truman to come together. We both serve the same population who has multiple challenges and disparities,” says Bernard Franklin, MCC-Penn Valley president.

Then on Sept. 14, MCC-Penn Valley Dean of Instruction Al Dimmitt was viciously assaulted minutes before a scheduled press conference with Governor Jay Nixon.
Veronica Highley, director of the Futures Program at Truman, says many students visited their offices in the days after the attack.

“We didn’t hear from many students who said they didn’t feel safe at Penn Valley anymore,” says Highley. “Many of the people who came to us shared how the incident triggered a lot of past issues. They talked about how they thought they had deal with past traumatic issues in their neighborhoods, in their homes and this incident caused those memories to resurface.”

The partnership allows Penn Valley students to get a free assessment and two visits with Truman counselors. If additional visits are necessary, Truman will work with students to identify payment programs and options. In return, Truman gets office space to serve its existing clients – many who are youth who have never been on a college campus.

“For many of our clients, neither they nor anyone in their family has gone to college. By coming to Penn Valley and stepping foot on a college campus regularly, it makes the dream of going to college a reality instead of a far-off place,” says Highley.

The partnership was also discussed in a recent issue of The Kansas City Star.