GRCC employees do a great job of supporting our community through their annual commitment to the West Michigan Heart of United Way. Each month we are sharing a story that demonstrates the outcomes of your commitment.
Daily Archives: April 3, 2017
GRCC In the News, 4-3-17
Relatives pay tribute to man killed on highway trying to help friend
April 2, 2017; FOX 17
EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. A man who police say was killed while merging too slowly onto US-131 last month has been laid to rest.
… (William) Wilson-Wade had just started working as a sales associate at AT&T and was a 2010 graduate of Forest Hills Central. He previously attended GRCC and Central Michigan University.
Change Ups: Gaddy is Women’s Resource Centers new CEO
March 31, 2017; Grand Rapids Business Journal
… EDUCATION
… Grand Rapids Community College teamed up with Kent Intermediate School District on Launch U, a tuition-free early college program. Students in the four-year Launch U program will graduate with a high school diploma and a GRCC associate degree in mechanical design, tooling and manufacturing technology, or industrial technology. Launch U was created in partnership with local school districts, GRCC and area manufacturing representatives.
Attracting talent will be focus of Summit Up! Event
April 3, 2017; MLive
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce will host a Summit Up! event in which more than a dozen business leaders will discuss methods of attracting, developing and retaining talent.
… Other speakers will include Jacob Maas, CEO of West Michigan Works!, Kevin Stotts, president of Talent 2025 and Bill Pink, incoming president of Grand Rapids Community College.
Inside Track: Putting his mark on Grand Rapids
March 32, 2017; Grand Rapids Business Journal
Isaac Norris finds similarities between his love of music and his work as an architect.
… Meeting an architect with the same skin color at a young age showed him becoming an architect was possible, so his interests growing up from drawing and painting to building model cars all made sense as he entered the working world. He received an associate’s degree from Grand Rapids Community College before venturing to the University of Detroit School of Architecture now called University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture for a bachelor’s degree.
Q&A: Michelle Urbane Theater Manager, GRCC’s Spectrum Theatre
March 31, 2017; Revue
The Spectrum Theater, located on Fountain Street in Grand Rapids Community College’s campus, houses four theater troupes and is always bustling with activity. Managing all that activity is Michelle Urbane, theater manager. On top of managing the box office, Urbane directs and performs in shows and can always be seen running from one place to the next, always with a big smile on her face.
Comprehensive Therapy Center CWC Awards Finalist
March 31, 2017; WOOD TV
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Our next finalist for the Connecting with Community Awards is the Comprehensive Therapy Center.
… It started with a summer camp called Therapy and Fun, which meets three times a week during the summer, from June to August. This camp model allows therapists and volunteers to come together to provide dance, music, and reading to the children in the camp. Volunteers for the summer camp can be children as young as 5th graders. The camp recruits their volunteers from area middle and high schools, such as Kent Intermediate School District. They also have partnered with GVSU speech pathology graduate students, Davenport occupational program students, and the GRCC OT program to gain volunteers that can invest in their children.
Sponsor a grad!
For the past few years, we have asked for your help in meeting a couple of goals that were put in place for commencement. We wanted to increase the number of students that participated in the commencement ceremony, and we wanted to have faculty and staff sponsor 100 graduates by providing them a cap and gown. Thanks to many of you, we achieved both of those goals and we actually had a record number of graduates process last year at commencement.
Once again, this year, we want to make sure that every graduate that wants to participate is able to. We know that many students have told us that they are not able to participate in the commencement ceremony due to the cost of the cap and gown. As an institution committed to the success of our students, commencement is our time to celebrate the greatest success of all with our students – COMPLETION! And, I can think of no better way to celebrate the individual success of our graduates than by removing this one final financial barrier for our students – $31 to purchase their cap and gown.
Know that our students are overwhelmed when they hear that a GRCC faculty or staff member’s donation made it possible for them to participate in this important life event, an event that for many of these students, is the first such event in the history of their family!
To follow is a student quote highlighting the impact of this gift for her last year:
“I would like to first say thank you all for making graduation a blessing and fun! I would not have been able to walk with pride and joy on graduation day! I was actually hit by a car the week before graduation and all of the GRCC staff made me glad I came, they never once made me feel like a burden. I was only working part-time and did not have enough money for my cap and gown. The staff at GRCC helped me out with a cap and gown and I was able to return the gown for the next person. I felt truly blessed attending GRCC. Keep on doing an awesome job! Continue to let your staff keep blessing others like me! Thank you from the heart!” Earnette Wrancher, class of 2016.
And, here is a quote from a GRCC staff member highlighting why he gave to the Sponsor a Grad program last year:
“I remembered how I felt when I walked across the stage when graduating from Thames Valley State Technical College with my A.S. many moons ago and it felt natural to help ensure graduates aren’t denied the same experience for want of enough money to obtain their cap and gown.” Michael Passer, IT Enterprise Director
Please help us reward our students who have reached their graduation goals and participate in the Sponsor a Grad program today.
If you are interested in helping us, I ask that you commit to our Sponsor a Grad program – through your sponsorship, you agree to purchase a cap and gown for a graduate at the cost of $31 per set.
Know that there is no limit to the number of graduates you sponsor. You can make your donation by simply going online to make your payment. Or if you prefer, and would like to make a donation using a different payment method, you are welcome to contact the Foundation Office directly at x3939.
Thank you for all you do in support of our students and their success.
College Channel programming through April 7
The latest schedule, through April 7, for the College Channel includes the Salute to
Women ceremony.
Geology students take field trip to Indiana
GRCC historical geology students travelled to southern Indiana for a field trip to explore warm tropical waters. Unfortunately, the shallow inland seas that covered Indiana retreated hundreds of millions of years ago. Despite this temporal setback, students found ample evidence of these seas, including ripples from water lapping on ancient shore lines and the elusive Flexicalymene trilobite!
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Activities marking Sexual Assault Awareness Month begin next week:
Important message from the purchasing department
Periodically, college employees will receive phone calls from suppliers who are soliciting quick sales. The majority of these calls are scams. Sometimes it’s a truck load of print paper at an unbelievable price or printer cartridges, office supplies, janitorial supplies, or sometimes even energy. The list is endless. These solicitations may even contain “free” offer. Never accept items or commit the college if you receive one of these calls. If possible, don’t provide your name or any GRCC information. Always refer the caller to the Purchasing Department. Thank you for your assistance in protecting college assets.
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