Author: Eric Pesola Page 1 of 9

The 46th Annual Commencement celebration at the Rappahannock Community College Warsaw Campus took place on May 11 and saw 400 students earn diplomas or certificates. This group of graduates will be able to jump into the working world and begin their career of choice or transfer to a four-year school to continue their education.

Dr. Elizabeth Hinton Crowther, president of RCC, spoke and set the stage for the evening, by highlighting the accomplishments of her school, including the scholarships the RCC Educational Foundation give each year; the new Military Friendly status of the College; the high ranking of the RCC Nursing program and more. Crowther also highlighted the achievement of the RCC Technology Department, announcing that the team earned a Digital Community Colleges Survey honor for being the #2 ranked community college for using a range of technologies to improve services (with 5,000 or fewer students).

Crowther then gave the stage to a member of the Class of 2018, Brittany Ward, of Gloucester, who shared her story of failure, success, and leadership as she pursued her goal of becoming a professional nurse.

Ward’s story inspired many, including U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) who referenced her journey more than once during his keynote address.

For Warner, Ward’s story of failing twice as she made her way to the top of the RCC Nursing program and ultimately graduation. Warner shared how he failed at “life” three times before getting involved in the development of the cellular industry, and thanks to hard work and insight, he was able to help form the NEXTEL corporation, which eventually was acquired by Sprint.

“Through my success in business and success in politics, none of that would have been possible if I had not I hadn’t been willing to try, but also to take the consequences of failure,” said Warner.

“As Brittany said, there is nothing wrong with failure, as long as you’re able to get back up and get back into the game,” he said. “I hope you’ll take those same kinds of chances and risks as well.”

Throughout his story, Warner shared three points that he wanted the graduates to hear and remember. Not fearing failure, staying engaged in the national conversation and political process and never “forget to call your mother.”

“The truth is — you didn’t get here alone,” said Warner. “There’s someone out there in the crowd who encouraged you along the way.”

“After [graduation], go find them. Don’t tweet them, don’t Snap Chat them, don’t Facebook them … go call them and thank them and tell them that you love them.”

Crowther then took the stage to honor longtime RCC English professor Glenda Lowery, of Tappahannock, proclaiming her a professor emeritus, in honor of her 37 years of service to the College.

Once that completed, the moment all had been waiting for began.

As the students heard their names called, they left their seats to accept their diplomas. For many, it was the first step in a longer journey, like the RCC Nursing ADN and PN students, who will continue on with NCLEX testing and additional training. Over 110 ADN and PN graduates crossed the stage, the most ever for RCC’s top-ranked Nursing program. Others, like the four students who earned a Certificate in Diesel Technology at the RCC Site in New Kent County, will dive into their careers immediately.

Still others, like Kainen Phillips, the student from Essex County who earned all As and one B during his time at RCC will transfer his credits to Virginia Tech in the fall. Phillips, who portrayed the RCC mascot, Squall the Seagull for two years, hopes to be able to continue his mascotting and become the Hokie, changing from a seagull to a turkey.

At the end of the evening, as graduates celebrated with their families, all agreed that the time sacrificed to earn their degree, diploma or certificate was well worth it.

This was originally written for Rappahannock Community College.

Each year, Rappahannock Community College chooses a member of the faculty to carry the mace in the commencement ceremony. The mace, for RCC, is not a weapon but an ornamental symbol of authority carried by an honored member the staff. For commencement this year, that honored faculty member is Professor Bob Parker.

Parker, who has worked at RCC since 2002, is beloved by many students past and present for his wry wit and excellent abilities to explain and break down complex mathematics. Through this 16-year tenure, Parker has amassed a huge list of awards and accolades, both from within RCC and from outside organizations.

He moved to the Northern Neck from Virginia Beach in 1996, when he started teaching math and coaching golf at Northumberland High School. Since that time, he has also become a significant force in scouting throughout the region.

“I am currently a unit leader in Northumberland and the District Chair for the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula Boy Scouts,” says Parker. “I also will be serving on the National STEM scouting subcommittee starting this June and have worked at the last two Boy Scout National Jamborees in the STEM Area.”

STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,” which is a major push among many educators across the country. So, it is fitting that Parker works within the scouting ranks to make STEM learning an emphasis.

Parker says that the most rewarding part of his job at the College is helping to make sense of math to his students who would not otherwise “get it.”

“Working with students to overcome struggles with math both inside the class and outside the classroom,” says Parker, is what motivates him each day.

While he’s the respected go-to guy for math at RCC, his wife, Patricia, serves nearly the same type of role at Germanna Community College. You can bet that the subject of “math” is a common one during dinner at the Parker house.

“Patricia and I have served on many state committees together,” he says. “We are very similar in our teaching style, so we are able to bounce ideas off of each other.”

The Parkers have two sons, who are both Eagle Scouts and graduates of Northumberland High, and both took dual enrollment classes at RCC. Their eldest son Ryan is an Occupational Therapist in Harrisonburg, while their younger, Adam, is a junior at the University of Utah.

In his free time, Parker enjoys camping, restoring a family home that has been in his family for 150 years and “occasionally playing golf.”

This was originally written for Rappahannock Community College.

Glenda Lowery started her career at Rappahannock Community College in the Summer of 1979. She’s still at it.

This Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the RCC Warsaw Campus during the 2018 Commencement ceremonies, Ms. Lowery will be officially recognized as a professor emeritus, which recognizes her nearly 40 years of service to the College.

Looking back on all of those semesters, the Tappahannock native will tell you that she hadn’t planned to be at RCC for so long but is very happy that it turned out to be the case.

“I was going to VCU, and there was a masters degree called teaching in the community college,” she says. “I had to do an internship at a community college. So I walked into Mr. [Wallace] Lemon’s office and plopped myself down and said ‘can I do my student teaching here?’ and he said ‘fine’.”

She began teaching English for RCC full time in September 1981 and just ended her run at the end of 2016. But she’s done with RCC just yet. For almost a year, Lowery has been assisting Dr. Glenda Haynie on some projects, including massive college reaccreditation project. She is also involved in the upcoming 50th Anniversary of RCC, which will begin on January 9, 2020.

“Through the 50th anniversary, we can go back and look at former students and what they have done and celebrate that,” she says. “I am looking forward to that!”

Lowery says that the biggest change in the classroom was “obviously” the technology. Computers and devices like the iPhone made teaching and learning completely different.

“When you think about it, we were still using typewriters and Xerox machines when I started,” she says. And it was those tools that she and her students used to create the old RCC newspaper, which was called The Gull.

“For several years [The Gull] was based on just the Warsaw Campus,” says Lowery. “But when I started teaching at the Glenns Campus too, I would go there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was a project-based class called English 198, and I had two groups of students.”

Through the newspaper class and the many others she taught, one thing remained constant for her.

“I enjoyed interacting with the students and watching them grow and progress and take other classes and graduate,” she says.

And it was that drive which carried her through the 37 years of service, which is now responsible for pushing Lowery into a new type of relationship with RCC — becoming one of the few faculty who have been honored with emeritus status.

“I am humbled by it, and I would like to continue to be an ambassador and a representative of the College,” says Lowery. “It helps me maintain my ties here.”

Lowery has been married for almost 29 years. She and husband David have one daughter, two grandchildren and have always had dogs and cats.

“And I am trying to get chickens,” says Lowery.

“I think that RCC is a great institution and I think it’s a great place to work,” she says. “I have been here so long; I must have liked something about it!”

“There are people here that I feel like I’ve grown up with and they are part of my family,” says Lowery. “I’ve seen people here get married and have children then grandchildren. This place has a great culture and a great atmosphere.”

“I hope that we can help as many students as we can — I know we’ve helped a lot.”

This was originally written for Rappahannock Community College.

On Friday, January 26, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam visited the Glenns Campus of Rappahannock Community College. Though his visit was brief, the governor toured the campus and was able to see some of the new initiatives underway at RCC.

Dr. Elizabeth Hinton Crowther, president of the College, met Northam as he exited the helicopter. He greeted the faculty, students, and staff who gathered outside the main entrance to catch a glimpse of Virginia’s 73rd governor.

Dr. Crowther, who has known Northam since he was a representative for Virginia’s 6th District, which included the Eastern Shore (Northam’s home) and Mathews County (part of the RCC service region), took the governor on a tour through the main campus building with stops at the new Culinary Arts lab, the new Industrial Manufacturing and Engineering Lab and into the welding lab.

As he visited the Culinary Arts Lab, which is scheduled for completion in the next week or so, the governor met Chef Hatley Bright and told her that he would return as soon as the lab was complete so one of her classes could “cook him something.” Bright blushed and said that she “absolutely” would invite him back.

Next, the governor toured the newly redesigned Industrial Manufacturing and Engineering Lab, which will be used both by for-credit academic programs, as well as the programs run by the RCC Workforce Development team.

“It’s important to get folks into these Workforce Development [programs] for training our youth — but not only youth — but training everybody for 21st Century jobs,” he said.

Finally, Gov. Northam visited the RCC Welding Lab, where he met students from Mathews and West Point High Schools, who are working on industry credentials which would prepare them for careers in after graduation. The governor paused to take a few photos with the students, including a few “selfies.”

As he left, Gov. Northam, he thanked all for coming out to greet him and remarked that his visit to RCC was his first visit to a community college since becoming governor.

Upon that remark, many in the audience wondered aloud “why was RCC his first pick?” Student Ariana Dragone said, “it’s because we’re awesome!”

This was originally written for Rappahannock Community College.

It started on the evening of Friday, November 3, when the huge white trucks rolled into Richmond County Elementary School’s parking lot. Out of these trucks came thousands of articles of medical supplies and equipment unloaded by an army of volunteers. Like the specialized teams who support a military force, these hundreds of volunteers were all on a 48-hour mission — to provide as much free health care as possible.

For five hours, the volunteers carted dental supplies and vision equipment, sheets and blankets and countless other items into the brick building. They transformed the gymnasium into a 25-unit dental clinic, complete with space for its x-ray team. Halls were waiting areas, which led to rooms of miniature medical clinics and vision examination bays. Soon a mammography truck pulled up. Folks arrived prepared to give flu vaccines and even more people, who were not trained in the medical arts, pitched in. All worked to help RAM of Virginia achieve its mission.

RAM, short for “Remote Area Medical,” is a non-profit organization started in 1985 with the intention of bringing healthcare to those who have none. The RAM organization has served more than 700,000 individuals since its inception, delivering $112 million in medical services.

While the national RAM organization serves much of rural America and beyond, Virginia is lucky enough to have its own spinoff group, RAM of Virginia, that set up shop in Warsaw to provide service to the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula residents without regular access to health care services.

As the moon shone over the school Saturday morning, the line of those seeking service stretched far past the steel-covered walkway into the dark. A large white paper, duct taped to the wall read that patients could request flu shots, physicals, medication and nutrition education, HIV testing, mammograms, podiatry, vision, hearing testing and other services.

Donald Payne of Westmoreland County and Tammy Kimble of Saluda have never met. Donald works for a small auto body shop, and Tammy works for a multinational cleaning services firm, neither of them have health insurance through their employer.

“We were there at 4 a.m., and I was 253, and my brother was 257 in line,” says Payne. “Once we got inside it was a pretty good wait. Dental was already filled up.”

Payne was there to have his teeth looked at by a dentist, something, he admits that he’d been either putting off or did not have the time for. On the way, he figured it would be a filling, but the dental team decided to take the tooth out instead.

After that, Payne mentioned that he’d been having some problems with his foot.

“This girl said she had just seen the podiatrist; she told me that I should go see him too. I didn’t know there was going to be a podiatrist,” says Payne. “He messed with my foot and asked me about it.”

The podiatrist gave Payne an injection, which helped a lot, especially in his line of work in the automotive field.

Tammy Kimble also needed a little help. She was having trouble with her vision and she tried over the counter reading glasses, she struggled with headaches, tension, and blurry vision. And if affected her work and the ability for her to care for her grandchildren.

“I hadn’t been to the eye doctor for over 20 years. I know that is really bad on my part,” she says. “When I went up there for the RAM, that was the only thing I had on my mind — getting my eyes checked.”

Kimble waited for her turn and went through three rooms of examinations. The doctor found that her left eye was giving her trouble due to cataracts and other issues. From there, the RAM of Virginia vision team crafted her new glasses on the spot. She even got to pick out the style of the frames.

“I like to be on Facebook at night,” she laughs. “I know that’s not very good. But my eyes have been feeling better, and there’s no more tension in my forehead.”

Dr. Victoria Molnar Weiss was the top tactician who guided the RAM of Virginia army through its Warsaw mission. Dr. Weiss and her small group of RAM professionals were, in large part, responsible for coordinating the operation and ensuring its success.

RAM of Virginia relies on local volunteers to secure a landing space and provide logistical support. For this operation, the job fell to Carrie Lewis, a member of the nursing department at Rappahannock Community College.

To borrow a Northern Neck term, Lewis is a “move-here,” meaning that she lives in the area but was not born here, but Lewis has lived here since sixth grade and considers Warsaw to be her hometown. For Prof. Lewis, having the opportunity to bring health care to her home and to serve those who she lives with for the second time — RAM of Virginia partnered with RCC in 2015 — is a real gift.

Lewis says that the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula of Virginia have very high rates of need, especially for medical treatment.

“We looked at the data and the statistics on poverty in our region,” says Lewis. “Some of it was based on the number of kids who apply for assistance services for lunches. And if they are having trouble serving lunch at home, then there’s not a lot of extra money for glasses. If we can’t afford the basics, then we cannot afford the medical necessities.”

Lewis started coordinating the 2017 RAM clinic as soon as the 2015 clinic wrapped up. For almost two years, Lewis and her partners in the RCC nursing faculty team, Ellen Koehler, Becky White, Sara Headley and Leslie Lantz, put together a game plan for this November’s event. They worked tirelessly to seek potential partners who could donate funds, food or time, and sometimes all three.

Some of that prep work went to the students in the nursing program who volunteered their time to support RAM. Students worked with other volunteers or moved medical equipment to the school, while others coordinated the golf carts and trash cans. That task was done by nursing student Emily Kuhn of New Kent County.

“I was the part of the facilities coordination,” says Kuhn. “I called to see what kind of outside services were willing to donate their services, like Waste Management and W.C. Lowery’s.”

Kuhn knew of the RAM organization and was excited to be a part of this clinic.

“I saw a RAM documentary, and I wanted to be a part of it for several years,” she says. “It was cool to play a small part. I grew up in a family where we ministered to everyone, no matter what, especially people who are less fortunate. It’s something you do.”

While some RCC students operated in the logistical space, others were on the front lines of treatment. Lynn Louise Payne was one student who got to put her nursing skills to the test.

“In the morning, I was actually on triage, and we performed blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and also blood glucose checks,” says Payne. “We also did a little interview with the patient.

“We would ask them what their latest immunizations were, and if they had any drug allergies like penicillin. We’d also get a medical history, like if they had heart problems or a history of seizures or stroke.”

Payne and her nursing assistant would investigate the patient’s needs and point them in the right direction for where they would get care.

“We would fill out the information, and we had a runner who would pick up the card, and the runner would know that they were ready to go to the next station … dental, medical or vision,” says Payne, who found the work tough but the experience incredibly rewarding.

“I loved it,” says Payne, who lives in Mathews. “It was a wonderful way to go out there and do something. We use the nursing process whenever we’re in clinicals, but it was wonderful to be able to practice that in person.”

Kuhn and Payne were among a number of RCC students who came to volunteer. That list includes Myrtle Atwell-Sholl, Madison Bates, Sarah Camacho, Alex Clark, Chris Dunn, Jamie Garcia, Katelynn Headley, Kirsten Harvey, Hannah Hayes, Inigo Howlett, Lesley Hunter, Dakota Kuca, Nikki Marshall, Brook McLeod, Merri Grace Sabo, Tyler Seay, Courtney Shelton, Christy Steensma, Lindsey Vanleliveld and Kim West.

RCC nursing graduates came to pitch in as well, including Chad Forrester, Yanelys Harper, Blanca Lopez and Caleb Stone.

The College had volunteers of all stripes throughout the clinic from Chef Hatley Bright, Rhett Moore and Martha Rest who operated the volunteer cafeteria; the nursing faculty including Susan Perry and Health Sciences Dean Charles Smith were all on site to lend a hand. Other RCC staffers who helped include Marlene Cralle, Canice Graziano, Lisa Hill, Therese Johnson, Charlene Jones, Kimberly Kent, Bob Parker, Sarah Pope, Karen Turner, Kathy Van Landingham, Rebecca Guest, Chris White and Hutt Williams.

And RCC’s most prominent staff member rolled up her sleeves too to pitch in for the clinic. President Elizabeth Hinton Crowther pulled a wagon around the school on Saturday afternoon offering sandwiches, apples, and water to those who waited for treatment. Dr. Crowther smiled and greeted all, and explained that RAM for RCC was a “labor of love.”

As the sun set on Sunday afternoon, all of the equipment, supplies, and volunteers left Richmond County Elementary School. Lewis admits that she cannot say where all 580 volunteers came from, nor can the organizers with RAM of Virginia.

“The organization has such a good reputation that people just show up,” says Lewis. “They just sign up online, even if they’re not from the area. We were able to give them all a role.”

After all the white trucks hit the interstate, 696 people received free medical treatment of one type or another through Nov. 4-5. The value of that treatment in dollars was $249,582, but for those who do not have access to healthcare, it was worth so much more.

“Between me and my husband, we have 19 grandchildren, and I babysit ten of them in the summer — and in the summer, we go everywhere together,” says Tammy Kimble, whose eyes are now working as good as they have been for years.

“I just wanted to say thank you all so much for having the program.”

This was originally written for Rappahannock Community College.

Cole Bristow will tell you that he lives in a small town in a rural area. His school is small, and the band he plays for is “proportionately” small as well. This becomes clear on Friday nights at the football field at Essex High School, when the band is performing, and the flute solo can be heard very clearly. That is because there are only two flutists in the band, one of them is named Cole Bristow.

While Cole and his family enjoy their life on the Middle Peninsula, living in the “country” has not affected his educational options, thanks to Essex High School’s partnership with Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School (CBGS) and Rappahannock Community College.

Since his sophomore year, Cole travels to the RCC Warsaw Campus in the mornings to attend CBGS classes. These are categorized as “dual enrollment courses,” which means that Cole will be earning credit toward an associate degree, and they will be transferrable to the next level, at the four-year school of his choice.

Cole is excited about working on his college credits while in high school. He says that thanks to this opportunity, he will be able to enter a four-year university as a junior, and excel to a masters degree more quickly.

“Currently I’m one credit away from being able to get my associates,” says Cole. “I am one PE credit away. I’m on track.”

In this, his senior year, Cole is taking physics, calculus and marine and environmental science, which, he says, is essentially oceanography. These classes appeal to him, and his career aspirations of becoming a meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study hurricanes and how to better track and image them.

“I like science and math,” says Cole. “I want to research energy and maybe find new renewable energy sources, besides the ones we currently have.”

The experience for Cole and CBGS at RCC has been very positive.

“I like the curriculum here,” he says. “High school is okay, and all, but the curriculum here is so much more challenging and engaging. If you put in the work into it, it’s extremely rewarding. Also, it’s really fun as well, if you enjoy learning.”

His immediate next step after graduation next spring are still a bit of a mystery, and Cole will not say where he wants to transfer his credits to. In fact, he has been hedging his bets.

“Maybe U.Va. but I am not sure,” he says. “I have over 30 college t-shirts from many different schools.”

For the next few months anyhow, Cole is balancing his days as an Essex High School, CBGS, and RCC student, homework doer, video game player, Netflix watcher, son, brother and one of just two flutists for the Trojans’ marching band.

“You might hear me at the games,” he laughs.

This was originally written for Rappahannock Community College.

The Center for Digital Education (CDE) announced the winners of its 2017-18 Digital Community Colleges Survey, and Rappahannock Community College was again among the winners. This year, RCC brought home a second-place ranking in the small college category. This marks a positive move for RCC since CDE ranked the College 3rd over the past two years.

“This evaluates how we stack up against our colleagues from across the country — in our case, community colleges with under 5,000 students,” says Tim Hoffman, an eLearning Specialist in RCC’s Technology Department.

Hoffman served as the primary information collector for RCC. He worked with the rest of the Technology team to answer and submit the survey. All of the questions required all members of the team to have input.

While Hoffman is happy with RCC’s new ranking, he’s not sure exactly what pushed the College up to the number two spot. Hoffman and his colleagues do not get specific items on which they are graded in from CDE.

“They ask many questions differently each year,” says Hoffman. “This year a lot of what we were talking about was the design of our many of our systems, including the website and other learning applications.”

Though he’s not sure what the ranking liked about RCC exactly, Hoffman says that he and the team will continue to innovate and find new solutions for making the learning experience better.

“Not all technologies are mandatory, but we have a lot of different tools that can be used,” says Hoffman.

“Our classes aren’t just ‘show up and write down notes.’ We have a lot more interactive materials that go along with them.”

The Technology Department at RCC includes Hoffman, Michael Anthony, IT Security Officer; Rhett Moore, Network Technician; Dave Newsome, Network Operations Manager; Drew Metz, Network Technician; Benjamin Smither, Evening Technician; Brandin Thompson, Network Technician; Kathy Vanlandingham, Administrative Assistant and Joe Wolski, Network Technician. At the time of this ranking, the team included Dr. Virginia Jones, who served as RCC’s Dean of Technology, but now is employed at Patrick Henry Community College.

The survey revealed insights about community colleges’ technology priorities in general. Colleges surveyed indicated that mobility devices/app support is their top priority for the coming year, followed by cybersecurity tools and testing, website redesign/updates, upgrading classroom technologies, digital content and curriculum, and disaster recovery/business continuity.

All accredited U.S. community colleges are eligible to participate in the Digital Community Colleges Survey within three classifications based on enrollment size.

This was originally written for Rappahannock Community College.