Penn Valley hosts successful financial literacy week!

A lucky Penn Valley student (left) is all smiles as she carts off her winning bag from Commerce Bank.

Students, staff and faculty sharpened their money skills during financial literacy week at MCC-Penn Valley. Nearly 140 students attended five financial literacy events throughout the week. In fact, roughly 75 students attended the Banking and Savings Fair on April 19.

Financial institutions from the area shared money savvy tips with Penn Valley students.

Nearly 40 prizes were awarded to students who attended the events. Employees were also invited to participate by answering questions about financial articles sent to them via email throughout the week. For answering the questions correctly, Project Success Academic Advisor Gieselle Deng won a $50 U.S. Savings Bond.

Gieselle Deng showed off her financial know how and scored the winning prize, $50 savings bond.

Here's to a financially savvy Penn Valley!

MCC Chancellor visits Penn Valley on day of announcement of new president

MCC-Penn Valley was anxiously looking forward to welcoming MCC Chancellor Mark James for his campus visit Tuesday. The visit was part of the chancellor's yearlong luncheon meetings with students, staff and faculty at each of the district's five campuses. But this visit was definitely far from ordinary because it was held moments after Penn Valley's new president, Joe Seabrooks, was announced.

"The vision was there. The passion was there," James stated as he explained his decision to appoint Seabrooks to the presidency.

James also praised Seabrooks for his open, honest communication style. "He's not going to tell you what you want to hear," said James. "He's going to tell you what you need to hear. And he has the courage to make decisions."

Seabrooks expressed gratitude for the appointment and excitement for leading Penn Valley. "We are so poised for greatness," he said. "We've been great for so long. Now we need to be phenomenal."

James also shared that he will make policy recommendations to the board on May 12. "In the end, I will do what's best for MCC in the long haul. It's a stark reality that we have to make serious changes to the way we've operated."

The chancellor said the decisions he will make will not be easy, but are necessary for MCC's future. "Failure is not in my vocabulary," the chancellor stated. "Student success is what MCC stands for. We need to make sure we're focusing on success at an excellent level."



Penn Valley President Joe Seabrooks shares his vision for guiding Penn Valley to new levels of excellence.

Chancellor James expressed his confidence in new president Joe Seabrooks.

Three BTC Teams Compete in Tiger Net Challenge

From Left: Micheal Richard, Carl Schmitt, Tim Kirk, Maurice Burk, and Francine Wild compete as Team Highlander in the 2011 Tiger Net Challenge Wednesday, April 27 at MCC-Business & Technology.  Twenty seven teams from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconson, as well as two teams from China, compete online in three areas: Quiz Bowl, Troubleshooting, and Router Wars.  MCC-BTC has three teams from the Cisco Networking Academy in this year's competition with Team Highlander, Team America, and Team Rag Tag.  More information about the Tiger Net Challenge is found here.

Team Highlander during Quiz Bowl section of Tiger Net Challenge.

LaBeth loves learning, laughing

Spend two minutes with Rodger LaBeth and one thing is clear: he enthusiastically embraces each day in his work as a professional development trainer at MCC. His ever-present smile and his perpetually-happy mood convey a genuine zeal for his career as an educator – and his love for lifelong learning.

It’s Rodger’s passion for his work that led to his nomination as April employee of the month for the Administrative Center.

Rodger’s 10 years at MCC was preceded by a career in collegiate and high school athletics. He worked as the football coach at Oak Grove High School and then in the same role at his alma mater, William Jewell College. His 20-year career at William Jewell included a stint as dean of physical education, athletics and facilities.

Rodger holds bachelor of arts degrees in biology and physical education from William Jewell and a master of arts degree in sports administration from Ohio University. He also completed coursework in the doctoral

VIDEO: MCC-Longview Faculty art exhibit

The MCC-Longview Faculty Art Exhibit wrapped up this past week, but the artists and minds behind some of the creations will still be on campus inspiring new artists to follow in their footsteps.

 Check out the video from the exhibit and see for your self.

BTC Selected One of Top 120 Colleges in US

MCC-Business & Technology has been honored as one of the 120 community colleges eligible for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

An expert panel has identified BTC as eligible to apply for the $1 million prize based on institutional performance, improvement, and equity on student retention and completion measures.

Business & Technology is the only MCC campus to be selected, and one of five Missouri colleges – joining Linn State, Crowder, North Central and Missouri State University-West Plains.

Applying for the next round will require documenting how we use data to continually improve student success, program offerings and our responsiveness to workforce needs. The Aspen Institute hopes that “by focusing on student success and lifting up models that work, the Aspen Prize will honor excellence, stimulate innovation, and create benchmarks for measuring progress.”

The $1 million will be awarded in December 2011.

Read more about the Aspen Prize here - http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/aspen-prize/eligibleinstitutions

Seabrooks appointed president of MCC-Penn Valley

MCC Chancellor Mark James has appointed Joseph Seabrooks, Jr., Ph.D., as president of MCC-Penn Valley.

Seabrooks has served as interim president of MCC-Penn Valley since December. He joined the five-campus college district in 2007 as president of MCC-Blue River. He has retained the MCC-Blue River presidency during his time as interim president of MCC-Penn Valley.

“During his interim assignment at MCC-Penn Valley, Dr. Seabrooks demonstrated a passion and vision that made it obvious he was the perfect person to assume the presidency of the Penn Valley campus,” said James. “I am confident that this appointment will mean great things for MCC-Penn Valley.”

Seabrooks will hold the interim presidency of MCC-Blue River until a permanent president is appointed. The college district will soon initiate a national search process to fill that position.

Seabrooks is well respected in the higher education community, having earned a number of local and regional awards for educational leadership. He spent 10 years at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in various roles, including director of minority student affairs and assistant director of alumni and constituent relations. He also worked at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville as assistant vice chancellor for student affairs before joining Metropolitan Community College.

Seabrooks earned four degrees from UMKC: an interdisciplinary doctorate in urban leadership and policy studies and education administration; an education specialist degree; a master's degree in higher education administration; and a bachelor's degree in psychology. He is a vocal advocate for urban higher education.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to play a significant role in building upon MCC-Penn Valley’s legacy of empowering students to make their aspirations and dreams permanent realities,” said Seabrooks.

Seabrooks' apppointment is effective today, Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

Map your campus

Do you know the fastest way to get from Parking Lot A to the Liberal Arts Building? Have you shared the secret short-cut through the Business Building?

Now you can share all of your campus navigation tips with the world (and maybe a few new students just learning the ropes) with the new Google Map Maker program.

Just log on with your Google account and you can start creating more accurate driving directions, walking directions and even biking directions on any map to any location in the world. More importantly, though, you can create maps of your campus that will give new students and visitors a better understanding of the layout before they have even set foot in a classroom.

But the Google Map Maker does more than just directions. Already students and staff have been building the MCC-Longview campus to mark individual buildings. So rather than aimlessly wandering campus looking for the right building, you can just Google your way right to the front door of your class.

(Hint: The Mel Aytes Education Center is actually behind the Business Building - but you know that already after checking the new Google Map Maker)

You can also show off some of your favorite places on campus - Cafe, Game Room, the hidden student lounge in the Business Building - by adding them to the map as well.

Let us know what you think and Happy Mapping!

MCC-Maple Woods Video Spotlight: Student Ambassadors

AIDSWalk Kansas City this Saturday

MCC students and employees have been working hard to collect money for people in the Kansas City Metro area who have HIV/AIDS. So far $4,582 in pledges have been made. Team MCC has 21 members and is still looking for more participation for the walk THIS Saturday at Theis Park.


You can join the team at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nancy-harrington/mcc/team

Faculty profile: Political science instructor Joe Volpe on electronic revolution

Political science instructor
Joseph Volpe

MCC-Blue River political science instructor Joe Volpe brought to The MCC Insider a discussion of the effects of current events on the MCC-Blue River community. His recent studies reveal that the revolution in electronic media has affected a revolution in political activism which reaches across the globe and into our own community, even as far as our classrooms and the personal lives of our students.

MCC-BR: Of all of the current events that would interest a political science instructor, what is it that you see sparking the most interest in students right now?

JV: The things that everybody wants to talk about are the government shutdown which may happen by midnight tonight [at the time of the interview], and all the revolts in the Middle East. This has been a huge topic… a lot of them, since they’re fairly young, and a lot of [the activists], like

MCC-Maple Woods Video Spotlight: Phi Theta Kappa

Penn Valley bids farewell to financial aid retiree!

MCC-Penn Valley's loss is the shopping mall's gain. That was pretty much the sentiment as financial aid staffer and self-proclaimed shopaholic Viki Duncan said farewell at her surprise retirement party. Surrounded by colleagues and family, Duncan reflected on her years of service and fun times.

Former Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Brooks wished Viki Duncan well.

Penn Valley student ambassadors assist with Haiti relief

It's been more than a year since the devastating earthquake ravaged the island of Haiti. While news coverage has decreased, the hard work of rebuilding the country continues.

MCC-Penn Valley Student Ambassadors answered the call to help the citizens of Haiti by hosting several fundraisers during the school year. The group hosted bake sales, garage sales and other events for the cause and presented a $500 check to Heart To Heart International to assist in the organization's Haiti relief efforts.

Ken Bevers of Heart To Heart accepted the donation and shared ongoing efforts the organization is hosting. He also said the organization would use the campus Student Ambassadors as an example as the group   reached out to colleges across the area in hopes of geting college students involved in world relief efforts.

Way to go Ambassadors!

Penn Valley to host veteran leadership presentation

Mike Pereira, director of fellowship programs for The Mission Continues, will speak on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater (ST 101) at MCC-Penn Valley.

He will share his inspiring journey of finding meaning and purpose in the civilian world after returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He will also discuss how his community college experience played a role in this transition.

The event is free and open to the public.

Career opportunity

CO# 11-053 AC Director of Career Education (Internal Only)

• posted on April 22
• will be removed from the website on May 5
• for more information or to apply: www.mcckcjobs.com/applicants/Central?quickFind=51314

 

I.W.I. hosts Customer Appreciation Night

Last week, the Institute for Workforce Innovation (I.W.I.) thanked Kansas City area companies in the annual Customer Appreciation Night at the Business & Technology campus. I.W.I. is proud to continue to be the go-to source for so many business consulting and training needs.

Fifteen representatives from a variety of companies and organizations came out to enjoy an evening of networking, food, prizes and guided tours of the BTC Harley-Davidson lab. The attendees included companies and organizations such as Hallmark, CertainTeed, ATK, Reit Management and Research, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Excelsior Springs Job Corps, and the Water Services Department of Kansas City, Missouri, reflecting the broad client base that MCC serves and will continue to serve.

Penn Valley graphic design students to showcase portfolio exhibit

MCC-Penn Valley graphic design students will exhibit their portfoilios April 26-May 13 in the Carter Art Center Gallery.

The exhibit will feature works by the following students: Justin Anderson, Jacelyn Combs, Nell Ditamore, Dianne Dowler, Audrey Erickson, Zachariah Folken, Ashley Gulley, Miranda Singleton, Rachel Thiel, Lavonya Walker, Mischa Warren, Cody Watson, Steve Wells, Emily Wilson, Barbara Heizman, Cia Houston, Donna Huston, Sarah Price, Garrett Joannes Rice, Andrew Roberts, Lee Shanteau.

The show will also include a First Friday reception on May 6th from 6 to 9 p.m. First Friday gallery hours: will be 1 to 9 p.m.

Exhibit Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 1-5 p.m.; Saturday: Noon-3 p.m.

For more information click here.

Penn Valley athletic banquet honors basketball players

Holding your own on the court and in the classroom can be a challenge. But that's what makes student athletes special. MCC-Penn Valley honored the Scouts and Lady Scouts basketball teams for a great season.

Athletic Director Marcus Harvey and Women's Basketball Coach saluted the team for their hard work and perseverance.

MCC-Penn Valley students awarded scholarships at annual show & sale

The Friends of the Carter Art Center Gallery continued the proud tradition of awarding scholarships to MCC-Penn Valley students whose works were displayed in the annual art show & sale.

Chris Spear is proud to receive a $300 scholarship for his work "Coffee Work."