This Month - May 2009

Visual and Performing Arts Merge

(front row, left to right) Kaleb Freeman, docent Sharon Lund, Emily Robbinson, Colton Pasquale and Jackson Thaemert look at Dancing Coyotes by Diego Romero in the Dean E. Thompson Gallery.

Cover: Karen Gerety Folk, curator of art education, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, and Angel Mercier, program director, Carlsen Center ArtsEducation, developed Stages and Studios, a new program that combines visual and performing arts for students.

Imagination Soars with SAS n a warm spring day, 90 fourth-graders from Starside Elemen-

O

tary School, De Soto, experienced a full day of visual and

performing arts on the JCCC campus as part of the pilot program for Stages and Studios: All Arts Day, a partnership between the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and the Carlsen Center education programs.

The day owed its success, in part, to the organization of JCCC staff, Starside teachers and parents, volunteer docents and professional actors and, in part, to the creativity and imagination of 10- and 11-year-olds.

“I thought the day went very well,” said Karen Gerety Folk, curator of art education, Nerman Museum. “The kids loved it, and there was a lot of energy on campus.”

“It was gratifying to have the fourth-grade students on campus giving life to the partnership. The students were very excited and deeply involved in both the performance and visual arts,” said Angel Mercier, program director, Carlsen Center ArtsEducation.

2 •

Mercier and Folk are responsible for the creation and implementation of SAS, securing program funding, developing study guides and activities according to Kansas curricular standards for theater and visual arts, precisely organizing students’ time schedules and even mailing an orientation CD in advance to each

Starside teacher to familiarize students with the layout of the JCCC campus and museum spaces.

Students arrived for a 9:45 a.m. performance of Spirit Horse, a play that explores family bonds and Stoney First Nations traditions, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center.

“The play was about fighting racism,” explained student Haydn McGrew.

After lunch, students were divided into four groups for the visual arts portion of the day, which included two tours and two hands-on activities.

One docent-led tour took students to Native American art on the second-floor gallery of the Nerman Museum and Regnier Center, and the other tour focused on animals in art on campus.

In between tours, students created two art projects – a 3-D collage of an imaginary animal created from geometric shapes and a Model Magic clay coil vessel incorporating animal figures.

“Art can be unusual,” said Liza Elwell, student, politely when asked what she thought about campus art.

Students returned to the Carlsen Center from 2-3 p.m. for small-group tours of theater and backstage spaces and a “talk back” with Spirit Horse actors.

Karen Gerety Folk led fourth-graders in making a 3-D collage of an imaginary animal.

During the talk, students were asked to reflect on the music, set, cultural symbolism and implications in the play. Then students had their chance to ask questions and make comments like “Why did you use four actors to play 32 roles?” and “The pits is for people who forget their lines.”

ent topics for different schools, pending available funding. The pilot program was funded in part by donations from private individuals and by the Carlsen Center ArtsEducation program and the Nerman Museum.

Teacher Kristl Llamas said the children seemed to like the day, especially since there were lots of hands-on activities to keep them involved.

“We want to continue offering SAS programs to students who do not otherwise have exposure to the arts,” Mercier said.

“We are excited about today because we have students who have never had the chance to go to a museum or a theater,” said Chris Cappel, Starside art teacher.

Folk and Mercier say they plan to continue SAS with programs four times a year with four differ-

“This program combines the best of what JCCC’s arts venues have to offer children in the community,” Folk said.

Tamara Kingston, key stagehand, takes students through the theater department’s scene shop.

Lucas Dunn creates a coil vessel in the Museum’s studio classroom.

3 •

Legal Studies Makes a Case for Technology ove over, Perry Mason. Wake up, Judge Judy. The practice of

New Classroom

M

Legal studies faculty Norma Stratemeier, Jay Nadlman and Anita Tebbe are shown here in the new electronic classroom.

Starting in the 2009 spring semester, JCCC’s paralegal training program opened a dedicated classroom in room 379 of the General Education Building with 22 computers boasting high-speed Internet connections, wide-screen monitors and the latest law office software. An open house for the electronic classroom will be held 4-6 p.m.

Friday, May 8.

law has gone electronic, and so has JCCC’s paralegal training.

Gone are the days of poring over volumes of leatherbound books in a law library. Now students have instant access to a complete body of state and federal statutes and cases through WestLaw and LexisNexis from their classroom desks. In addition, students gain hands-on experience with the most popular law office programs including Summation, CaseMap and TimeMap. “Some attorneys are not that computer literate, especially in regards to the new legal software, so they really depend on paralegals for assistance,” said Anita Tebbe, professor, and chair, legal studies. “Anymore, you can’t really be a paralegal without this kind of training.”

“The electronic classroom allows our graduates to leave the program ready to use the latest software and equipment, and prepared to adopt new forms of technology as they become available,” said Jay Nadlman, assistant professor, legal studies.

4 •

Tebbe anticipates an increased number of working paralegals returning to JCCC for classes because they need this legal software training.

Current legal studies faculty credit Mike Pener, professor emeritus, with the idea of a two-phase project to make JCCC’s paralegals more competitive in the job market.

The first phase is the electronic classroom, and the second is a courtroom simulation lab.

Courtroom plans call for a three-judge bench, witness stand, jury box, court reporter seat and observation area – all equipped with the latest technology for showing video depositions and evidence presentation.

Tebbe says the courtroom will provide a revenuegenerating facility that could be used by outside law firms for mock trials or arbitration sessions, host actual proceedings by an appellate court or trial courts, which are accessible to the public, and allow for realistic student instruction and performance. Legal studies faculty are working with the Workforce, Community and Economic Development branch toward the courtroom’s implementation.

“As the role of the paralegal expands, they need access to the latest research and analysis technologies,” said Norma Stratemeier, legal studies professor. “Our graduates need to be versed in law office and courtroom software.”

For more information about the paralegal program, call Tebbe at 913-469-3184 or atebbe@jccc.edu.

Playground Takes a Recess

W

ho doesn’t remember their first playground, where swinging was almost like flying, and the top of the slide was the summit

of Kilimanjaro? Adults think it’s child’s play, but experts in early child care education like Sara McElhenny, program director, Hiersteiner Child Development Center, know that outdoor play develops socialization, fine and large motor skills, imagination, exploration of the senses, respect for nature and cognitive skills.

So after 19 years, the HCDC is replacing its playground with nature-based outdoor learning centers designed by landscape architects Bowman Bowman Novick. The play area, scheduled to be completed in August, will be divided into three age groups: ages 1-2½, 2-4 and 3-6.

Of course, safety is the primary issue, as well as physical issues like accessibility, privacy, drinking fountains and protection from the sun and wind. However, the child in all of us will appreciate the fun elements – water play features, embankment slides, musical instruments, tire swing, hollow log, net climber, willow hide-aaways and gardens.

“This is going to be a good learning environment for children, full of things to do,” McElhenny said.

The new play area has been a dream of parents and HCDC teachers for about four years. Early fundraisers included t-shirt and HCDC cook-

book sales and faculty/staff gifts. The project catapulted with $296,000 from the 2008-09 JCCC budget and $20,000 from the M.R. and Evelyn Hudson Foundation. Donations of $16,000 are still needed to realize a full wish-list of amenities like prairie shades, wooden playhouse, berm embankment slides and the top priority – a rubberized surface that is softer and, in the long term, requires less maintenance than the alternative – engineered mulch.

HCDC Members of the Allen County Community College baseball team disassembled the old playground equipment for use by the city of Elsmore. photo credit Craig Sands

Demolition of the site took place in February, thanks to the donated services of McAnany Construction. The Allen County Community College baseball team disassembled and moved the old equipment, which was sold to the city of Elsmore.

At this writing, construction was due to begin in April with a community planting planned for fall, optimal planting time for trees, with willow bulbs slated for spring 2010. Look for chalk marks on campus sidewalks this summer as children play at alternative campus sites during spring and summer.

“I want children to enjoy the outdoors, to know who lives out there, and how to take care of it.

Children need to get away from the computer and television and use their imaginations,” McElhenny said. (left to right) Teachers Shay Griffin, Lisa Havens and Jeni Smith lead 2½to 4-year-olds on a walk past the empty playground before renovations begin .

5 •

Partners and Protégés Staff

t’s hard being the new kid on the block, especially when the “block” is

I

a college with 20 buildings, almost 1,000 full-time employees, 1,400

part-time employees and 18,000 students. To ease NKOTB syndrome, JCCC’s Staff and Organizational Development office has revived its Partners and Protégés program that pairs new administrative assistants with experienced ones.

Betty DiCostanzo (left) mentored Janele Sumner (right), who in turn is partner to Donna Wallace.

Debbie Ross, administrative assistant, Police Department, and Joan Curtis, administrative assistant, computing sciences/information technology, make a good pair; Curtis has Ross’ former job.

Starting in the spring 2009 semester, 10 pairs of administrative assistants enlisted in the mentor program, which requests a yearlong commitment.

“I am thrilled with the program,” said Sally Gordon, administrative assistant, Staff and Organizational Development, who facilitates the program. “Our partners have been employed at JCCC for a number of years, and protégés benefit from their experience. It allows new administrative assistants to network with people outside their work area and see the campus as a whole.”

Initially, Partners and Protégés was instituted by Cathy Misenhelter, manager, Staff Development and Human Resources Systems, and Dr. Helen Burnstad, former director, Staff and Organizational Development, in 2003. The program became inactive but was reinstituted in the wake of a new hiring wave after the recent retirement of many longtime administrative assistants. Gordon interviews protégés and pairs partners according to interests. The partners encourage involvement in college activities and meet with their protégés on a regular basis.

“If a new person has a question, they feel comfortable in having someone to ask,” Gordon said.

During her first year, Janele Sumner, administrative assistant, social sciences and social services, was mentored by Betty DiCostanzo, administrative assistant, science, now retired.

“A mentor is a good reference point. Betty told me where to go and who to see when I needed direction. She introduced me to people across campus, and I attended Office Professionals League meetings with her,” Sumner said.

Sally Gordon, who facilitates Partners and Protégés, talks with her protégé Norma Delaorra, administrative assistant, auditing.

6 •

Now Sumner has taken on the role of partner, mentoring Donna Wallace, administrative assistant, information services.

The partnership provides more than orientation information. Protégés encourage short- and long-term goals and discuss ways new people can learn through classes and seminars. It also provides friendship.

“Betty and I started meeting a couple of times a month for lunch, then we started walking every day we could. We still get together when Betty is on campus. Our partnering turned into a friendship,” Sumner said.

Second Service

T

he community college system in this country provides people a unique opportunity for a fresh start. Marianne Jones and Becky

Students Becky Wassmer (right) and Marianne Jones returned to JCCC for classes and tennis.

Wassmer have raised their children and decided to enroll at Johnson County Community College this spring to learn a new trade. Jones is an interior design major, and Wassmer, who has been accepted to the University of Kansas School of Nursing, is taking some of her prerequisite courses at JCCC. What neither expected was to be two of the key players on JCCC’s women’s tennis team coached by Glen Moser.

Jones was asked to join the team after striking up a conversation with Moser during her son’s Tae Kwon Do tournament at JCCC. Jones was wearing a John Newcombe t-shirt, and Moser noticed and asked about it. As they continued to talk, Moser found out she was a level 4.0 United States Tennis Association player and jokingly asked if she would like to join the team.

When she informed him she was a student, Moser assured her his offer was serious.

Wassmer’s journey to the team roster was similar. A level 4.5 USTA player, Wassmer knew assistant coach Grant Priddy. When he found out she was coming to JCCC for her classes before nursing school, he asked if she would be interested in playing for the team this spring.

Both their families were very excited and supportive, and their teammates have been very accepting as well.

“I am just thrilled to have this experience,” Jones said.

Wassmer expressed the same feeling. “It has been a wonderful experience and it is exciting to be part of this team.”

Moser has high expectations for his two new “veteran” players. Both are projected to play in the upper half of the singles lineup and could be paired together in doubles play.

“We are very fortunate to have them join us this season,” Moser said. “They give us opportunity to contend in our matches this season and continue our streak of reaching the national tournament.”

Story by Tyler Cundith

7 •

Graduations Scheduled JCCC will have its commencement exercises at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 15, in the JCCC Gymnasium. Dr. John E. Roueche, director of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin, will be the speaker.

The GED graduation is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, in the JCCC Gymnasium.

Other graduations are: I Respiratory Care, 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, Polsky Theatre I Nursing Pinning, 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, Yardley Hall I Honors Graduation, 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, 211 Carlsen Center I Dental Hygiene, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14, Polsky Theatre I Cosmetology, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, Polsky Theatre I LPN Pinning, 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, Polsky Theatre A reception follows each graduation.

Dr. James Leiker, associate professor, history, led the faculty procession at the 2008 graduation.

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 12345 COLLEGE BLVD OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

ThisMonth This Month at JCCC is published nine times a year by Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210-1299; 913-469-8500, fax 913-469-2559. www.jccc.edu This Month at JCCC is produced

by College Information and Publications and the Office of Document Services.

Editor: Peggy Graham Photographer: Bret Gustafson Designer: Randy Breeden When planning your estate, remember Johnson County Community College. For more information, call Emily Fowler, JCCC Foundation, 913-469-3835.

For more information about commencement exercises, contact the Student Information Desk at 913-469-3807.

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID Johnson County Community College