Video: MCC-Maple Woods Tri Beta Club Recruiting this Fall!

MCC-Maple Woods Environmental Clubs makes a big impart, Earth Day and every day

MCC-Maple Woods has committed to becoming a “greener” campus for the past couple of years, and students are doing their part to help as well: a group of Earth-minded individuals founded the Environmental Club and have been working to educate and inform the masses every since.

Club members have been active in promoting a green lifestyle and informing the campus about environmental issues – everything from where our food comes from and how it is produced to planting native grasses and trees on the campus lawn. The club has even constructed a green house and built a solar heating unit out of aluminum cans to heat it.

Student representatives for the club hand out plants and tree samplings to other students to encourage them to get on the green bus as well, hoping to make an impact beyond the campus as students, staff and faculty apply the information to their own homes.

MCC-Maple Woods students collecting donations for Harvesters

MCC-Maple Wood’s new student organization, the Student Leadership Council, is hosting a food drive for the needy families of Kansas City. Harvesters’ agencies provide assistance to nearly 60,000 people every week. Half of that number is children and elderly. If you would like to donate, there are 2 boxes located in the Student Center, one on the stairs leading to the Library, and one on the bottom floor of the Math-Science Building.

Student environmental initiative goes pro, seeks funding

Morgan Brown is an MCC-Blue River scholar who likes to keep it green. She has been developing an organization called Timberbred which is dedicated to providing environmental information to the public and eventually starting a fund to protect Mangroves, an important and quickly depleting part of the global ecosystem.

Mangrove trees and the swamps and forests that they support are nesting grounds for hundreds of species of birds. Their treetops make homes for monkeys and eagles. Around their midsections live monitor lizards and fishing cats. Among their stilted, water-bound roots live manatees, turtles, and fish. Mangroves even provide shelter to endangered species, such as bald eagles, American crocodiles, and hawksbill turtles.

The MCC Insider asked Timberbred founder Morgan Brown a few questions about the state of the environment and what

MCC-Maple Woods Spotlight: Gay Straight Alliance

MCC-Maple Woods' Phi Theta Kappans to get new advisor

After many years of successful co-leadership of Phi Theta Kappa, reference librarian Mary Northrup will step down as advisor for the two-year academic fraternity.

Stepping in to co-lead the Upsilon Xi chapter with energy and enthusiasm will be business faculty Jim Moes, who will also lead alongside testing center coordinator Kim Heft. Jim brings a lot of excitement for student learning and development to the international honor society.

MCC-Longview declares: My 'T' is for tolerance

The black 'My T is for Tolerance' shirts dotted the MCC-Longivew campus on Tuesday as students, staff and faculty honored a day that sends the message that hate and hostility is not acceptable here or any where.

Campus life and leadership was selling t-shirts all day as part of the global effort to promote International Day of Tolerance.

T-shirts are still available for $5 and can be picked up on campus all day.

Students honored at MCCA convention

The Missouri Community College Association (MCCA) recognized five students from MCC on Friday, Nov. 5, with Student Leadership Awards.

Jenn Mahurin – MCC-Blue River: Mahurin is president of the Student Ambassadors at Blue River and assists new students with enrollment and orientation. She plans to obtain a master’s degree in higher education.

Timothy Wilcox – MCC- Business & Technology: Wilcox completed a four- year apprenticeship at Ford and BTC. He has since earned several IT certifications, and is working on AAS degrees in several areas.

Jason Skinner – MCC- Longview: Skinner is the president of the student government association, a student ambassador and a new student orientation leader. One of his current focuses is on increasing student involvement in campus athletics.

Andrew Wilson – MCC- Maple Woods: Wilson serves as the president of the ambassadors group. He is active in student orientation and has given over 300 campus tours in his year and a half at Maple Woods. He is also a student worker in the office of admissions.

Sereptia Evans – MCC-Penn Valley: Evans is an honor student working on her completion of an Associate’s degree with plans to study veterinary medicine. She holds many leadership positions at Penn Valley and is involved in community service. Evans is a recipient of the Bloch Scholarship.

MCC-MW inducts new members to Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society

MCC-Blue River's Phi Theta Kappa honors new inductees

The Alpha Pi Sigma chapter of Metropolitan Community College - Blue River’s Phi Theta Kappa recently inducted over thirty area students into the honor society. To be eligible for induction, a student must have a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) and have completed at least 12 credit hours at MCC-Blue River in courses numbered 100 or above. Students must also maintain a 3.0 GPA to remain a member.

Membership in Phi Theta Kappa is a permanent recognition of a student’s hard work and academic achievement. The organization offers unique opportunities for scholarships, honors studies, leadership development and civic engagement. The significance of membership is recognized by other colleges, universities and potential employers.

The 2010-11 inductees are: Aaron Butz, Jordan Gowan, Abigal Brightwell, Kathleen Zeiler, Alexis McGhee, Kayla Hopkins, Angela Fields, Kristin Wright, Chante Campbell, Kristy Bailey, Charity Vitteto, Laura Harz, Charles Rockhold, Cristina Martinez, Crystal Brown, Laura Hankins, Daniel C. Lamb III, Lisa Aber, David Kinne, Micah Chrisman, Donovan Hill, Michael Slocum, Elisa Wood, Michael Brown, Gina Duffie, Shayla Nelson, Jacqueline Klenklen, Sherry Rosson, John Billings, Trey Turner, Jonathan Yuille and Zachary Lucas.

Phi Theta Kappa, founded in 1918, is recognized as the official honor society for two-year colleges by the American Association of Community Colleges. Among the Society's distinguished alumni are the late Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, astronaut Fred Haise and journalist Jim Lehrer.

For more information, visit www.mcckc.edu/blueriver.

MCC-Maple Woods inducts new Tri-Beta members

MCC-Maple Woods Phi Theta Kappa - Upsilon Xi Chapter welcomes new members

Blue River Theatre Troupe kicks off fall season

MCC- Blue River’s Theatre Troupe kicks off its fall season with “Black Box Theatre” on Oct. 12 & 14, in room 124 in the Arts & Sciences Building. The student performances which begin at 12:45 p.m., are free and open to the public. Enjoy the student artists’ showcase of scenes and monologues from plays written by American Playwrights. Refreshments will be served. For more information about these and other performances, call 816.604. 6676 or visit www.mcckc.edu/blueriver.

MCC-Blue River theatre students preserve childhood cancer legacy

In honor of Childhood Cancer month, MCC-Blue River Theatre students recently paid tribute to a brave young girl and her lemonade stand.

Alex Scott was diagnosed with cancer shortly before her first birthday. The day after her fourth birthday, she received a stem cell transplant and told her parents that when she got out of the hospital, she wanted to start a lemonade stand to raise money so doctors could help other kids with cancer.

By her eighth birthday Alex’s lemonade stand had raised over $1 million dollars. Unfortunately, Alex lost her own battle with cancer.

In memory of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, MCC-Blue River theater students Jacob Garr, Lee Roberts, Adrian Foster and Keith Zoellers recently spent the afternoon reading from children’s book inspired by Alex’s story and offering free glasses of lemonade as reminder of all the children still battling cancer.

“It’s really to carry on her legacy,” said the students. “We were not selling the lemonade to raise money, but to make people aware that childhood cancer is still out there and that’s the first step. Childhood Cancer awareness month may end in September, but we should all be aware, all the time.”

To find out more about Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation visit http://alexslemonade.org/ .

Get your game on! Gamerz Challenge Fall 2010

MCC-Blue River's new online and console gaming club, Gamerz, is holding its first gaming event on Saturday, Oct. 2 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the campus center.
Whatever your game....COD, Halo, WoW...come join us and show your stuff!

No charge or requirements to come and play!
Refreshments will be for sale to help benefit the club.

For more information call 816.604.6478 or visit www.mcckc.edu/blueriver.

Libraries, tutoring, counselors, Oh my! MCC connects students with campus resources

Full classrooms, lively student centers and lots of activities – students are back on campus at MCC-Penn Valley, MCC-Longview, MCC-Maple Woods, MCC-Blue River and MCC-Business & Technology. Campus life and leadership coordinators on each campus planned a full Welcome Week line up to get students back in the swing for the fall semester.



At Maple Woods, Misty Chandler, interim campus life and leadership coordinator, along with the Collegiate Activities Board, hosted a week full of events for students. A student resource fair, where students were able to visit with programs and organizations on campus; Student Center Day, an introduction to what the ultimate student hangout has to offer; a Welcome Back! Cookout with free food and games; and a Monarch Madness rally to get students fired up about the upcoming soccer season were all attended by new and returning Maple Woods students. For more photos of Welcome Week excitement, visit the MCC-Maple Woods Current Students Facebook Page for more photos of events!

Penn Valley's Welcome Week Block Party

11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Sept. 7-10. at the Campus Center

A Block Party Picnic featuring DJ SunUp Jones (Sept. 7)

Know Your Community Day (Sept. 8)

Not Yo’ Grandmama’s Bingo (Sept. 9)

Black Healthcare (Sept. 10)

Longview's Campus Resource Fair

9:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Sept. 8 outside the Campus Center

Students can get connected with campus organizations and resources.

Visit our website for more upcoming events!

Buy a book for a buck and support MCC-Blue River's Phi Theta Kappa chapter

The minute you enter Metropolitan Community College-Blue River’s Campus Center, you’ll notice two smiling faces beside several carts of books. The faces belong to Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society president Dawinderpreet Brar and Donald Alexander. Brar and Alexander are actually selling the used books for $1 to ensure “no books go to waste”.

Have you ever wondered what happens to books not re-purchased by the campus Book Store? Well, Blue River’s Phi Theta Kappa has cultivated an intriguing evolution that offers new life to pre-owned textbooks and other reading materials. Here's how it works: books not “bought back” by the Book Store are forwarded to the student organization.

After which, an interesting progression ensues.

Once they receive the books, Phi Theta Kappa sends them to retailer Better World Books, who then forwards them to needy countries around the world. Books that don’t make the Better World Books cut are returned to Phi Theta Kappa for on-campus sales like the one today.

Brar says “many of the books can be used for reference and personal reading." All books remaining from this week’s fundraiser will simply be given away to students for free. If, for some reason, unwanted books still remain, Phi Theta Kappa will send them back to Better World Books for recycling.

Both Brar and Alexander will be in the Campus Center until 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2. All proceeds will benefit Phi Theta Kappa.