Thank you to all childcare providers in our community

Provider Appreciation Day is an annual celebration on the Friday before Mother’s Day that recognizes the work of child care providers, teachers and other educators of young children. Established by NAFCC in 1995 as a way to thank family child care and center-based providers, Provider Appreciation Day is now celebrated throughout the United States and around the world as a “thank you” to the people who educate, support and spend a tireless amount of time with our children.

The GRCC Child Development and Education Department supports our community childcare providers with education, monthly training, and peer to peer support.  We know childcare providers are:

Building our Community One Child at a Time

Learn from the Best: Thi Tran encourages students to enrich their college experience

Grand Rapids Community College adjunct psychology faculty member Thi Tran wishes he had known more about navigating funding, student services and academic options at University of Michigan when he was an undergrad. 

One of the most impactful things he learned after starting college was that working while he attended college was an option, and that it adds to the college experience.

“I am a first-generation student,” Thi said. “I did not receive any guidance from anyone and did not know how to seek out resources. I was also a student that was in the middle, not high achieving but not low achieving and oftentimes those students are forgotten.”

Thi shares these life lessons, while also emphasizing mental health awareness, with the students he teaches in PY 201 General Psychology. Teaching at GRCC was a personal goal for him because it’s the college that serves the community where he grew up.

“I have always wanted to be a part of GRCC,” Thi said “GRCC serves a large demographic of students in the West Michigan area.” He also shared that he values the diversity of the GRCC student body, and that the strength of the psychology department curriculum is that it emphasizes the scientific method. 

Thi also teaches as a part-time faculty member at Lake Michigan College and as an adjunct faculty member at Kellogg Community College. His other work outside of GRCC includes doing research in integrative behavioral health, sports psychology, and behavioral therapies. He also has experience in student affairs through his graduate assistantships, and in providing therapy at clinics, university settings and for Veterans Affairs.

Thi holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan. He attended Western Michigan University to earn an M.A. in Counseling Psychology and in Clinical Psychology, and he continues to study at WMU to complete a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

A career in psychology was an easy choice for Thi.

“I have been interested in psychology since high school,” he said. “I enjoyed learning about the mind, how it intersects with a variety of other subjects such as medicine, anthropology, sociology and sports.” 

Thi finds inspiration for his work in a few of his passions, such as sports and education. 

“Steve Nash the retired basketball player, now coach, is my hero because he has always been about the culture,” said Thi. “He was team oriented and about doing things for others. A person I admire is my current advisor, Scott Gaynor at WMU. He is always present, lives through his values, and truly acts as he speaks.”

Complimentary tickets to Kinky Boots & Networking

The LGBTQIA Think Tank has complimentary tickets to the OutPro Happy Hour & Theater event.

For tickets please submit your name, preferred pronouns, and email address to ODEI@grcc.edu by Monday, May 16.

OutPro is a professional group within the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce that promotes a welcoming culture in the West Michigan Community for LGBTQIA+ individuals and allies. OutPro offers opportunities for education and networking, with an emphasis on policy impact, and assisting businesses in creating a more inclusive and welcoming work environment for LGBTQIA+ individuals.

We’re excited to team up with the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre for our May OutPro event. We will gather for a happy hour at Lambert & Co’s rooftop patio to network and then head to the Civic Theatre for a showing of the Broadway musical “Kinky Boots”.
We will be joined during the happy hour by Bill Anderson Jr., the director of Kinky Boots. This is a Chamber event you won’t want to miss!

About the Musical
Charlie, a straight-laced business owner, and Lola, an ambitious drag performer overcome their differences and discover that if you change your mind, you can change the world. Charlie Price reluctantly inherits his family’s failing shoe factory. Uninspired by the work but desperate to succeed, Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola. Together, they produce a line of custom high-heeled boots to save the business. In the process, Charlie and Lola discover that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible. Inspired by true events, Kinky Boots, winner of six 2013 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) features a joyous score by Cyndi Lauper and a hilarious, inspiring book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein.

GRCC summer camps offer students in grades six through nine opportunities to explore careers through hands-on experiences

Students in grades six through nine can explore careers through hands-on activities and tour through a series of summer camps offered by the Grand Rapids Community College Workforce Training team.

Students can learn about careers in public works, construction, manufacturing, wood working and using drone technology in three-day sessions, some starting as early as June 21.

“These camps are a perfect opportunity for students to explore careers, gain hands-on experience, and meet people who are experts in their fields,” said John Van Elst, interim executive director of Workforce Training. “They also are seeing some of the real-world applications for math, science and other subjects they are learning.”

Public Works Camp runs July 26 to July 28, and Aug. 9 to 11, is open to students in grade six through nine and costs $25. Other sessions are for students in grades seven through nine.

Construction camp runs June 21 to 23, and costs $99. Woodworking camp is scheduled for June 28 to 30, and costs $99. Manufacturing camp is planned for July 12 to 14, and July 19 to 21, and costs $99. Drone technology camp runs June 21 to 23 in Grand Rapids and July 19 to 21 at the GRCC Lakeshore Campus, and costs $75.

The Public Works camp includes following water from the Lakeshore to a freshwater plant and a wastewater plant

“Behind every drop of water you use, there is a huge team of professionals dedicated to ensuring your water is safe and reliable,” said Hillary Caron, a chemist for Lake Michigan Filtration Plant. “The Public Works camp will be an exclusive, behind-the-scenes experience showing each step of the water and wastewater treatment processes and the available careers in an extremely rewarding industry!”

All camps have a limited capacity, and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Details are available at grcc.edu/camps.

Annual Fire Inspections

Annual fire system inspections are scheduled to occur the week of May 2 for all buildings on campus that have a fire suppression system.

Dependable Fire Protection is the contractor that will conduct the inspections and Facilities will be present to assist with the inspections.

Below you will find a tentative list of the buildings that will be tested each day. 

5/3

Ford Fieldhouse

Ford Natatorium

Calkins Science Center

DeVos Campus 

Campus police/ facilities

5/4

RJF

College Park Plaza

Bostwick Office Suite

5/5

Student Center

LRC

Music Center

Preschool

5/6

Lakeshore

Ramp A

Ramp B

Ramp C

Please be aware that these tests will require the alarms to sound briefly at each building – strobes will sound, people will not need to evacuate.

Reach out to me with any questions.

Abbot Kastanek

Associate Director of Facilities Management

Facilities l Grand Rapids Community College

Office: 616-234-2183 l Email: akastanek@grcc.edu

How to get your department webpages ready for Summer

As we’re wrapping up our winter 2022 semester, take a look at your department’s webpages to make sure everything is up-to-date for our start of summer 2022.

• Are there any deadlines or date-oriented information on your webpages that have passed or need to be updated?
• Is your bio/contact information still correct? If you want to make changes to your bio, simply log in at grcc.edu/user, navigate to your bio and submit the form for changes.
• Are there any outdated events that need to be hidden or new events that need to be promoted?
• Are your department’s office hours and contact information updated for holiday break and beyond?

Need help making these updates? If you’re a web editor, visit our Drupal User Manual or email webhelp@grcc.edu and we’ll be happy to assist you.

Thank you for helping us keep grcc.edu up to date for students and our community!