Students Boost Wellness By Tracey Estes and Tamra Bayens

“Good morning boys and girls. I am so excited about being here today. During the next few minutes you are going to learn about germs and why it is so important to wash your hands,” says the nursing student. This is how Jefferson Community and Technical College’s (JCTC) nursing students begin their community service learning presentation. Each semester JCTC’s nursing program’s community service learning project conducts health classes for students at the John Paul Academy elementary school (JPA) in Louisville.

Mary (Mickie) Watts is an advisor for the nursing program and is responsible for developing the project. “We were attending a workshop down in Elizabethtown, Ky. It was part of the Kentucky Patient KCTCS system and they were building a community. We thought that was so wonderful because it helps them to have a new experience, it also helps them interact with students in a different place other than a hospital, like a school. So I started filling out topics then I asked the faculty at the school if they would like to have our students there and they said yes,” explains Watts. Students at the John Paul Academy are brought over to the Community Center for a wellness check. A wellness check is one that is done at a location other than a hospital. “The community service learning experience exposes the JCTC students to situations and health issues in other ‘well’ environments. The community is able to observe our JCTC students critically thinking and acting,” says Watts.

JPA students are led from their classrooms over to the Community Center. The children are weighed, given an eye exam, a scoliosis screening and have their height recorded. The students are separated according to their age group. The JCTC students are given scripts of questions to ask the children. The faculty provides support and encouragement for the students. Watts says that JCTC nursing students are expected to carry flash cards and visual aids to help them.

Watts believes that it is important for JCTC nursing students to see what being a professional is about. “I think that it is good for the community to see what JCTC nursing students look like as they come out into the community. It is also good for the students to learn to be comfortable in speaking professionally to other populations and for them to give back to the community” says Watts. They also take away “what it means to prepare a nursing plan and to cover significant points in 30 minute presentations” Watts continues.

For the classes, JCTC students are divided into groups and given scripts as teaching guides. They write the children’s evaluations on individual cards and this information is confidential. It will not be shared with JPA or JCTC students except for the teachers. After this, the students are escorted back to their classrooms.

The JPA students will be taught about nutrition and the importance of exercise, burn prevention, smoke detectors, scald prevention, and basic fire safety. They will also be taught about poisons. The JCTC students conduct these classes. Part of the classes is in a question answer format where JCTC students ask the children questions and then the college students will answer them. “Can you tell me a way poison can get in your body? It can be something you swallow, get on your skin, breathe in, get in your eye, or you get from a sting or bite. So remember if you ever do not know what something is (The JCTC student holds up the sign ‘ALWAYS ASK FIRST’).” Watts also says, “In some ways, it could be similar to a health fair but we limit the topics.”

“This is at the end of the semester but it could be at any time. Every one of them will have a community service learning experience while attending JCTC” says Watts. “I have had some wonderful comments from the schools. A principal at Audubon Elementary called me and said that he and the faculty were very pleased.”

Watts also speaks about the importance of positive reinforcement. “Usually our students will also do things like give them treats such as a pencil or bring a small candy bar and they like that.” She also says the students at JPA could receive help if they needed it and they know that the JCTC students will be friendly.

Making a Difference By Tracey Estes and Fallon Tinney

The Change Makers Grant Program gives students of Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC) living in the four most challenged neighborhoods in Louisville the opportunity to receive a four-year college education by helping the students overcome obstacles that prevent them from continuing their education. These students struggle to get and stay in school due to transportation, childcare, work, and family issues.

The program began in January 2009 with 24 students who live in the neighborhoods: Smoketown, California, Phoenix Hill, and Shelby Park. In these four neighborhoods, about 50 percent of the students attending Jefferson drop out in the first semester. Dr. Amelia (Amy) Stewart, associate professor at JCTC teamed with Jill Adams, assistant professor at JCTC, in developing the proposal for the grant program.
“One of the things we want to do is to keep the students from disappearing. A couple of things that we have discovered are that many students in Louisville start college at Jefferson. So in a way, we are the gateway to higher education. In these four neighborhoods, about 50 percent drop out in the first semester. We are trying to bridge the gap for these high risk students,” says Stewart. “The students in these neighborhoods often can’t get to class because of transportation, no job to pay for day care, no health care for them or their family” Stewart explains.

“The people in the neighborhood see the college as a way to change their economic status,” says Stewart. The research shows that even with a two- year degree an individual can earn $140,000-$360,000 more over a lifetime. Stewart adds, “We will help these students to have as many resources as possible to help find them a job.”

Sharon Bass, a student in the program, says “this grant is helping me to excel and achieve success. Growth and communication lead to empowerment.” Tiffany Beeler, another student in the program says, “This grant is opening doors and opportunities for me.”

The Change Makers Grant is a collaborative effort between the Community Foundation of Louisville (CFL), UPS Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) to provide assistance with the human, social, and economic issues students face. For 2009, the partnership between the Change Makers Grant Program and CFL, AECF, and the UPS Foundation, has awarded $750,000 in grants to fund the programs and projects involved with Change Makers. JCTC’s project provides each student a mentor to work with to help solve these issues. The program also works with ULTRA (the U of L Transfer Program) to ensure that students continue their higher education after graduating from JCTC. “We have arrangements with U of L so students don’t just get dumped there; they actually get the support they need there,” says Stewart.

For the past decade, CFL awarded 220 grants totaling 3.8 million dollars to programs and projects designed to help children’s school success. The UPS Foundation is dedicated to enriching lives by creating healthy communities through education, economic development and new opportunities. AECF also focuses on helping children coming from tough neighborhoods. Alex Spoelker, the Director of Community Philanthropy for the CFL, encourages “all students to get involved to make positive changes in their neighborhood.”

“The great thing about the program is the people in the neighborhood try to help each other with these different issues,” says Stewart. “Nonprofit work is my favorite kind of work because nonprofit agencies help people when they need it,” says Adams. There is now a waiting list for the program.

Art Students Sculpt Their Future By Abby Reed

Jefferson Community and Technical College has recently paired with Spalding University to create a degree completion program specializing in arts administration. Dr. Amy Stewart, head of JCTC’s art administration program, is credited with establishing this program.

Art Administration teaches students how “art can function as business,” Stewart explains. “It covers everything from hosting a fundraising event to hosting an art exhibition.” The first semester Stewart gets to know her students and their interests takes them on outings at museums and venues around the city, and then the second semester Stewart uses her resources and connections to place the student in an internship at the venues they visited around Louisville. “I love getting to know every student personally and connect them to an individual who can further their ambitions,” Stewart says, “It’s my favorite part of my job.”

Stewart thrives in this position. “Amy Stewart’s background at the Speed and other professional venues enhance her credibility and helps students not only in the area of education but in career placement,” says associate professor Charlotte Hubrich. Stewart communicates with different galleries and exhibits in Louisville getting site visits, and recommending students for internships, “it requires a lot of hard work and dedication,” Stewart says.

And its not just dedication that makes Stewart the perfect person for this position, she also cares not just for her students, but for all the JCTC students who put forth an effort. “I mentioned to Dr. Stewart that I was an art major once in passing, and a few days later I received an e-mail from her inviting me to an outing to the Speed, “says JCTC student Torey Rasmussen.

It’s not just Amy Stewart who puts forth an effort in this program though, “our (JCTC) students are not afraid of hard work. Most of our students are on financial aid, so they don’t expect to be a curator on the first day (of an internship). They are willing to Xerox or run errands and on several occasions students have been asked to continue working after the internship is over.” The students get involved in other programs and often “bring a lot of creativity and insight to the table,” Stewart says.

This program not only enhances student’s abilities, but also helps our community. The students in this program are very diverse, coming from all types of ethnic and financial backgrounds. This impacts the stereotypical view of an art student, because the majority of these students are not Caucasian. It shows that not only people from wealthy backgrounds are interested in the arts.

The degree completion program through Spalding University allows students to transfer and carry over credits earned through internships. It allows students to “continue to find work in local art institutions” Stewart says. The program can really help disadvantaged students pursue a career they would not otherwise have pursued.

Amy Stewart always knew she loved the arts. She grew up in New York and led a very conservative life. Her parents required her to have a chaperone on dates, and after high school she was shipped to South Carolina to attend a private college. She majored in clarinet performance and minored in art, but after graduation she realized that her true passion was teaching the arts. “Finally as an adult I went back to school, by myself, against my father’s wishes,” Stewart says.

After completing her education, Stewart landed a job in art education at the J.B. Speed Art Museum. As her seminar grew in size she realized her passion for helping disadvantaged art students. Eventually a spot at JCTC opened in the fine art program and she jumped at the chance to merge her two passions into one job.

Amy Stewart’s dedication and passion for students and the arts has helped many excel in the art industry around the city. The art administration program is “open to anyone who has an interest in art,” Stewart says. As a first step, students should enroll in Art Administration 100. Stewart also invites anyone to come and visit her office located in the VTI building room 107. She is willing to help any student become involved in the arts, and encourages all interested students.

A Semester in Barbados? You'll Need More Than Sunscreen By Jeremy Lane

I didn’t wake up this morning thinking about going to Barbados. I rarely do. That is, until talking with Professor Morgan Broadhead about the Barbados Student Exchange Program. The program gives Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC) students the opportunity to live and learn a semester at Barbados Community College, for JCTC rates. Two students will fly over, and live with one of 65 host families the Barbados College have listed, and take classes during a time frame similar to JCTC’s. The island, surrounded almost entirely by beaches, is used to resort temperatures, mostly between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

However, to be one of the two students privileged to go to Barbados, one should not be thinking about the beaches. Barbados Community College, in the English educational tradition (Barbados became an English commonwealth state in 1966), has a high standard for its classes and its students. Professor Broadhead chuckles, “Their B and C students come over here, and usually get all A’s easily.” Likewise, JCTC students are often surprised by the standard of education there. “Most the Barbados students are taking seven courses, getting 21 credit hours per semester.” The JCTC students typically take four courses with some difficulty. Most classes at Barbados Community College have a comprehensive exam, covering the whole semester’s work that counts for fifty to sixty percent of one’s grade. This can be a bit intimidating for JCTC students.

The classes JCTC students can take in Barbados fall mostly under general education requirements, but many with a Caribbean twist. A class required by the program is Caribbean Politics in Society, which Professor Broadhead feels is an immersive class. Where better to take this course, I ask? Another suggestion from Broadhead is Historical Methods, a “very hands-on class”, where students will find themselves outside often, learning about archaeological techniques. They will also learn to handle old documents, aside from the field work. “We tell Barbados [college] a range of courses the students would like to take.” Mostly the available courses fall under general education requirements.
“The homes are generally older couples with some extra space for a student.” Most Barbados students live at home, due to the high rates for housing, and a lack of space on the small island. A visiting student’s host family receives a stipend for the student, which guarantees a visiting student at least a bed to sleep in and food to eat. “I ask the students to help as much as they can… to give their host twenty or thirty dollars for groceries, or if they can, cook a special meal for them.” The students pay JCTC rates to attend the school, so no foreign tuition rates apply. The other primary expense is the round trip ticket, which could range from $400 to $900.

Professor Broadhead is an advisor for the program. His wife, Ann, is the director, “but she works from home, so all the questions come to me,” says Broadhead. The actual exchange program has been running since fall 2007, but between 1997 and 2005, 135 students accompanied Morgan and Ann Broadhead to Barbados for a fifteen day period (receiving three credit hours) for a short period of total immersion into Barbados.

JCTC students can look for posters for the program that should be popping up shortly. Applications won’t start until the fall semester, but the information will be building up. Of this year’s applicants, four of the nineteen are still in consideration. Four interviews take place initially in the fall semester, and then four more occur in the following spring semester. “We stress maturity. If you say [during the interviews] ‘Ooh, The drinking age is sixteen there!’ or just ask about how to get to the beaches, then your head’s in the wrong place.” The final interview involves a panel with at least one person from the Barbados school, which can be “nerve wracking for students who have never done that sort of thing before,” explains Broadhead.

On the other hand, two Barbados students visit JCTC for a semester. Unlike Barbados’ list of 65 family homes, however, the Broadheads have a lot of difficulty finding a place for the exchange students to stay. “We spent all last summer digging. We found them, though!” This, of course, would also be a great way to get some cultural diversity in your life. One host family from last year’s is taking a year off, “just to see what an empty nest is like,” says Broadhead. So, if you’re interested in travel, experiencing some Calypso culture, college credit, plus resort temperature and countless beaches, check your JCTC walls for coming information, or visit Professor Morgan Broadhead in the Seminary building- west wing.

Communication Interns Get Hands On Experience By Malaika Catching

College is hard for many students. Long lectures, 10-20 page papers, and exams are just some of the struggles that go along with college life. There is however a shining light (besides graduating) that appeals to many students and it is interning. Interning can change or confirm your career choices.
Jefferson Community and Technical College’s Department of Communication has an internship program. This semester there are four students involved in the program. These students are interning at Adhawks Advertising and Public Relations, Brain Injury Association of Kentucky, and Main Line Broadcasting.

Professor Mona Leonard is the internship director and chair of the communication department. According to Leonard, “Jefferson Community and Technical College had the internship program in place, but the program languished for sometime. There were also no guidelines set.” She established guidelines and marketed the program. The existing guidelines are you must be approved by the internship director, have a minimum GPA of 2.0 and it is recommended that you have taken COM 101, COM 181, JOU 101, ENG 101 and ENG 102 before enrolling. Even then you are not guaranteed placement into the program. The program only has five students interning at a time. After placement, she requires that students maintain a work log, portfolio of their work, and write an academic paper.

Leonard says “the most challenging thing in the program is matching students with the internship opportunity they’re most interested in.” Placement is also affected by the nearby universities. Some media outlets that accept interns are more likely to take students from a university rather than a two-year college. Despite that Leonard says, “JCTC’s communication internship program is very successful. Since 2006, the communication internship program is at 80 -100 percent enrollment. We’ve placed students at Public Radio Partnership, Creative Alliance Advertising, WDRB TV Fox 41, and Clear Channel Radio. These media outlets had never accepted JCTC communication students before.”

Tianna Thompson is a communication major and is enrolled in the internship program. She is working at Adhawks Advertising and Public Relations. She received an email from professor Leonard about the program and she emailed right back because she was interested. Thompson says, “I didn’t intend on working for the Adhawks Agency in the beginning. However, working at Adhawks Advertising and Public Relations has been all that I’d expected.” Thompson previously interned at the Brain Injury Association of Kentucky in public relations and enjoyed it so she was interested in interning again. Thompson prepares press releases and does proof reading, editing and setting up events. Thompson is now working on an event called the Cross Cultural Summit. She says,” I definitely believe that working at Adhawks is a helpful experience for the future.” Thompson believes that “interning at JCTC is a very positive thing and I hope more students will get involved in the program.” The internship program has confirmed Thompson’s career choice. Thompson says, “The hardest thing to do there is just learning the ins and outs of the business but the easiest is writing. Writing comes easy to me.”

Fallon Tinney is another student in the internship program working at the Brain Injury Association of Kentucky. She heard about the internship program from professor Leonard. She says she didn’t have a specific request for placement. Tinney says, “Working at the Brain Injury Association of Kentucky is a different experience, but I’m learning a lot.” Tinney started in her internship in public relations in February. She enjoys her placement because its gives her valuable public relations experience for her future. “I believe this is a helpful experience because I get to network, get my name out there and get hands on experience in communication and business” she explains. Tinney is going to school full time and working so one of the difficult things for her is getting the number of hours required completed for the semester. She says, “The easiest thing is they don’t judge me. They just want to teach me.”

Main Line Broadcasting has been accepting interns from JCTC since 2006. Prima Moorman and Tiana Middleton are two communication majors who are interning there now. Moorman began in the previous fall semester working at Main Line Broadcasting and has been hooked ever since. Moorman got started by replying to Leonard's email to communication majors. She wants a career in urban radio so she preferred working at the local station B96.5, which is owned by Main Line Broadcasting.

Moorman says, “I didn’t know what to expect but I thought it was going to be more challenging.” Moorman loves this program because it has boosted her confidence in her career plan of radio. Her work consists of updating the entertainment and community calendar for two stations, doing various filing and on air experience. Moorman states, “It’s not hard for me because communicating comes easy. The hardest thing is not being able to ride with them to events.” Tiana Middleton has just recently been accepted into Main Line Broadcasting and has wanted to be a part of this program for a long time. Middleton says, “I’m excited to be there. The only difficult thing for me is getting to know different aspects about the business.”

I participated in the internship program in 2008 and can say that I loved every minute of it. I also had the fortunate opportunity to intern at Main Line Broadcasting’s B96.5. I learned so much of the radio business that’s behind the microphone. I reported to Valerie Sickles (her photograph is inserted), director of community and urban affairs at Main Line Broadcasting and she was a great teacher. I learned everything from sound set up, on air production, promotion, and public affairs. I couldn’t have asked for a better program.

Communication majors should take advantage of the internship program at JCTC. The guidelines are not impossible and if you are a focused person this would be a great opportunity. When you intern you get to learn a lot of things about a field that you didn’t know before.

Portrait of a Winner By Tiffany Beeler

And the contest winner is…Terry Thomas! On April 17, Jefferson Community and Technical College’s department of communication’s faculty chose Thomas as the winner of the annual Graduation Speaker Contest. Thomas delivers the graduation speech at JCTC’s Graduation on May 11. She receives $100 and the 2009 Maria B. Miller Speech award.

Thomas was born in Louisville, Kentucky but moved to Southern Illinois in 1980. She returned to Louisville in 2004 with her husband and daughter. Her husband died in 2005. A year later she decided to pursue her dream of an education at Jefferson Community and Technical College. She was accepted into the Nuclear Medicine program in 2007. “The reason I chose the Nuclear Medicine program was due to the fact my husband had many Nuclear Stress Tests and I was fascinated by the procedure. I felt I could be a benefit since I knew what it was like from both sides as a family member of a patient and a technologist,” explains Thomas. She graduates with a 4.0 GPA with an associate degree as a Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist.

Thomas has also won other awards such as, the Paul Cole Scholarship from the Society of Nuclear Medicine (2009), the Norton Healthcare Scholarship (2007, 2008, and 2009), The Samantha Ann McDonald Scholarship (2008) and the Professional Business Women’s Scholarship (2008).

Pura Fe Brings World Music to JCTC By Matt Marshall

As Pura Fe was adjusting her slide guitar during sound-check, the Jefferson Community and Technical College student body and faculty gathered in the lobby of the Hartford building. Fe, an award-winning Native American musician, took the stage on April 16 before a large crowd for the annual JCTC Cultural Arts festival. The theme for the 2009 event was Native American culture, and offered a variety of performances, exhibits, and teaching lessons. But the event that caught the eye of many was Pura Fe’s performance. Students and teachers crowded the lobby of the Hartford building to listen to Fe’s Native American contemporary music, which has brought her to the forefront of mainstream music.

“This has been a great turnout and a spectacular event for me to perform in. The students and school have created a great Native American vibe in presenting the festival to the people,” Fe said.

Taking time out of her schedule, the students at JCTC got a rare glimpse at Fe and her musical act, as it is not too often that one witnesses an award winning musician in JCTC’s backyard. Fe, a winner of a French Grammy for her “Tuscarora Nation Blues” album in 2006, showcases some of her tracks from that album such as the popular “Rise of Tuscarora Nation,” and others such as “Great Grandpa’s Banjo,” “You Still Take,” and her newest song called “Red, Black, and Blues.”

Fe said, “I wanted to give the campus a little flavor of what Native American blues and folk music can be like, and how I transformed it into something more contemporary for them to follow.”

Many of the students in attendance enjoyed what Fe came to do, and that was listening to great Native American music while receiving a bit of education at the same time. Fe provided the student body and faculty with tracks that can identify her native roots and culture as still being alive and relevant in today’s society.

“The goal today is for me to bring world music and rhythm to Louisville and for the campus of Jefferson Community and Technical College’s Cultural Arts Festival. I also wanted the people to get a hint of where I come from, such as my Tuscarora roots in North Carolina,” Fe explained.

Fe explained that her music is more of a blues and shuffle-rhythm genre, with touches of gospel and its modulation of what Indian’s call “Stomp Dance.”

In Fe’s well-known and award-winning song, “Rise up Tuscarora Nation,” she mentioned to the crowd that she wrote the song for her nation and what happened to them in the past, such as being key escorts to the slaves in providing safe passage in the Underground Railroad. “Many people do not know that the Native American’s had influence and had been a great help to those in passage on the Underground Railroad,” Fe said.

Fe also portrayed some of her most intimate childhood roots and stories in the song, “Grandpa’s Banjo”, which she wrote for her great uncle. She said that the song is based on the many songs her grandma used to write and sing to her as a young girl. The vocal loops in the track gave a great contemporary vibe to the crowd, which they loved.

During the course of her next song, “You Still Take,” Fe takes more of a political approach in the meaning of her song and what she wanted it to represent.“This song is about the world and its natural resources, and how they have diminished so greatly before our eyes. The vocals are a bit more eco-political and preaching-like,” Fe said.

After performing “You Still Take” Fe decided to drop the newest of her songs that is yet to be released. The song called “Red, Black, and Blues,” is a song filtered with her vocals and the layering of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Deer Clan singers, exploring the contemporary and Gospel side of Fe’s talent. “This song is not only new to me, but obviously to my fans and the crowd today. I just wanted to have fun and cap the day off well,” Fe said.

It seemed as if the crowd at JCTC agreed fully with Fe on that. After her forty-five minute performance the crowd generously applauded.