The Open Petal

The

Open Petal April 2014

Johnson County Community College

Literary efforts flourish

Culinary students win gold

Shining a light on dementia The Open Petal | 1

The

Open Petal April 2014

The open petal is a symbol of JCCC’s openness to new concepts and ideas as it strives to serve each member of the community.

Editor Diane Carroll

The View From Here

Associate VP, Marketing Communications Julie Haas Senior Graphic Designer Randy Breeden

C ontents Photo by Nicholle DeMoss

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Photographer Susan McSpadden Writers Melodee Blobaum Anne Christiansen-Bullers Tyler Cundith Writer/Editor Tim Curry

The Open Petal is published four times a year by Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210-1299. It is produced by Marketing Communications and the Office of Document Services. To find the magazine online, go to jccc.edu and search for “The Open Petal.”

To subscribe or to offer a comment, call 913-469-8500, ext. 3886.

Stay in touch with JCCC by visiting jccc.edu, or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JCCC411 or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/ JCCCtweet.

Or you can connect by visiting jccc.edu and clicking on “Connect with JCCC,” where you can also subscribe to JCCC Update, an email newsletter sent twice a month.

When planning your estate, please remember Johnson County Community College. For more information, call the JCCC Foundation at 913-469-3835.

Andy Anderson

I

often hear that we must prepare students to live in an information age, an observation usually followed by a reminder that high tech jobs are major drivers of the economy. In education, these observations lead to considering how best to prepare students for the future.

At Johnson County Community College, the art of writing remains central to that discussion.

Discussions of writing usually focus first on the composition curriculum. Of course, some of the issues in composition seem timeless as attention to grammar never goes away. The grammar hotline at the JCCC Writing Center receives phone calls from as far away as New York – occasionally even international calls come through asking about standard edited English. Effective writing, however, is no more just following grammar rules than fine cooking is just following old recipes.

Studying composition at JCCC includes courses designed for culinary students, writing for the workplace, and online composition courses that bring international students from countries such as Morocco, Russia, China and Japan into real-time, shared spaces with JCCC students and faculty.

20 Features 4 The art of writing

In Every Issue

8 Nail-biting competition

College writing in an age of technology takes JCCC students into classes focused on digital narratives and interactive media. Our journalism students compose stories that demand teamwork between those in video performance and others learning video production techniques.

Journalism students still write for the print news, but also for the Web and radio. A new curriculum will soon bring together students in information technology, business and journalism to study web technologies, multimedia, interactive media and marketing.

Because technology brings us immediate contact with audiences, unintended as well as the intended, we must always be sensitive to the messages we compose and to the understanding we draw from the messages we encounter. We must learn to be generous readers as well as thoughtful writers.

13 He tried KU, then came here

The popular distinctions drawn between applied sciences and the liberal arts must be examined carefully so that the world we compose does not lose the rich dimensions of our humanity. The value of information emerges from the stories we compose and from the stories we critique.

Whether composing for the college’s literary magazine The Mind’s Eye or the Hare and Bell, an academic journal dedicated to showcasing writing from all disciplines, JCCC students are being introduced to critical lessons in composition.

18 Supporting sustainability

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Initiatives benefit students.

Culinary students take on rivals.

12 Turning away from gangs

Automotive program changes a life.

Student found JCCC a better fit.

14 Colleges trade history teachers Both sides like the results.

16 Professor Cantwell’s book

It’s on Merle Haggard’s music.

17 Professor Williams’ book

Andy Anderson Vice President, Academic Affairs/Chief Academic Officer

21

It’s on poet Langston Hughes.

Alumnus continues work.

19 Cohen Community Series

Country singer Tracy Lawrence performs May 3.

2 The View From Here

20 Alumni/Foundation

Foundation awards scholarship.

21 Continuing Education

Training deals with dementia.

22 Campus Life 24 Sports

Volleyball program finds success.

26 The Rear Window

On the Cover Jane Blakeley, a student on the editorial board of a new academic journal, came up with the idea to call the journal Hare and Bell. The journal’s first issue will come out in May. Photo by Susan McSpadden The Open Petal | 3

Academic journal lifts writing community “to next level” Students benefit from literary initiatives

By Diane Carroll and Anne Christiansen-Bullers

Kathryn Byrne, director of the Writing Center, and James Leiker, professor of history, meet with student editors for Hare and Bell.

W

hen Austin Hoffman heard that the director of the Writing Center at Johnson County Community College was looking for student editors to work on a new academic journal, he decided the opportunity was too good to ignore.

Hoffman already was a student editor with the college’s creative writing journal – Mind’s Eye – and he enjoyed that. But he knew that working for Hare and Bell would be valuable training for him when he transferred to the University of Missouri-Kansas City to pursue a double major in sociology and philosophy.

“There’s a really strong writing community here at Johnson County Community College,” the 21-year-old said. The academic journal “just takes it to the next level.”

Hare and Bell, which will carry only student-produced research articles that cite sources, is the latest writing initiative at the college. Its first issue will debut this spring.

Other recent efforts to foster exemplary writing on campus include the addition of “embedded tutors,” who attend developmental classes with students as a student and then lead study sessions afterward, and the creation of a “writing community” that encourages writers to read their work out loud to a roomful of their peers.

Hoffman thinks the new journal will have a big impact on campus. When a professor tells a student that his article is good enough to be published, he said, “That really empowers students.”

JCCC student Megan Gladbach works as a tutor in the Writing Center.

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Hare and Bell Kathryn Byrne, an associate professor who directs the Writing Center, proposed the idea of a scholarly journal to administrators to showcase the excellent academic writing that students produce. She hopes it will spotlight the importance of writing in all disciplines and inspire professors to assign more writing work.

“Writing is the currency of all commercial and creative endeavors,“ Bryne said.

Hare and Bell, which will come out annually in a print/Web format, will acknowledge and celebrate strong writing. The journal’s editorial board, made up of faculty and students, will judge the submissions. The top three entries will carry prize money of $500, $300 and $100. The names of the first winners will be announced in May. “An A or B or C is all very nice, Byrne said. “But to actually see that you can get money for writing is very important.”

The prestige of appearing in the journal also could help a student earn a scholarship or get into the four-year university of his or her choice.

The editorial board considered numerous names before settling on Hare and Bell, after the college’s iconic sculpture by that name. The suggestion came from Jane Blakeley, a student on the journal’s editorial board.

“The Hare and Bell is in the center of the campus, as much as you can be in the center here,” said Byrne, explaining Blakeley’s rationale. “So it’s kind of the nexus for all of the disciplines.”

The Open Petal | 5

Surrounding the sculpture are buildings that house classrooms for business, science, liberal arts – all fields that ideally will be represented in the journal. The hare symbolizes immortality, a concept that connects with written words – which never die. And a bell is associated with foundry work or blue-collar labor. The task of writing is similar in that it can be an everyday effort.

“The minute Blakeley justified why it should be called that, we immediately all thought it was perfect,” Byrne said.

Embedded tutors Besides serving as a student editor for Hare and Bell, Blakeley works as an “embedded tutor” for students who need help with their writing skills.

Blakeley is part of a special supplemental instruction (SI) program that JCCC’s English department began a few years ago. The program pays writing tutors to take classes along with students who need help strengthening their academic skills.

The program was named the 2013 innovation of the year at JCCC. A peer tutor will: • Model how a student prepares for class • Model how a student performs in class • Plan and lead out-of-class study groups • Invite students to actively participate in both classes and study groups • Gain a social connection to others in the class, which can lead to successfully finishing the class and enrolling in other classes in the future That social connection may be paying off. The Office of Institutional Research at JCCC surveyed students who took English 102 with an embedded tutor versus those who took traditional classes without a tutor.

The SI English 102 section, a class called Writing Strategies, had a 100 percent completion rate (meaning students stayed in the class until the very last day) and an 86 percent success rate (meaning students received an A, B, C or P, which indicates a passing grade).

Conversely, English 102 classes taught without supplemental instruction had an 81 percent completion rate and only a 34 percent success rate.

“This effort is to allow students to have more opportunities to be successful,” Byrne said.

Tutors are embedded in developmental classes in math, reading and writing because developmental classes are where students are most susceptible to becoming dejected and dropping out. They are placed in developmental classes because they are not yet working with college-level skills.

“A typical developmental education student was never a good student, or else they are nontraditional students who have forgotten their skills. Tutors model good student behavior,” Byrne explained. “They show that it’s okay to stop and ask the teacher questions.”

6 | The Open Petal

The tutors also lead study groups outside of class, initially acting as organizer and teacher but quickly changing to facilitator and observer once the group is cohesive and functioning. The goal is to have developmental education students understand the importance of study groups and to be able to create their own the next semester. Sometimes the instructors offer extra credit for attending SI labs. Sometimes they drop a low test score.

Blakeley has her own incentive program: candy and games.

“I try to make study sessions fun,” she said. “I start with anything that promotes social interaction. Team games are usually a great way to start.”

Community of writers When Justin Filina stands before a group to read a poem or part of a short story that he wrote, his mouth feels as dry as sand in a desert.

“I don’t know why every time I read all I can think about is a glass of water,” said the 24-year-old, who plans to transfer to the University of Kansas in Lawrence once he finishes his studies at JCCC this spring.

So does he plan to keep reading even though it’s a bit nervewracking?

“Absolutely. It’s part of being in a community. And I think for any writer looking to evolve there needs to be an aspiration for more than just seeking an audience for applause. An audience needs to be sought for connection, critique – anything to help the writer develop the process.”

Filina is a regular at the Creative Writing Campus Reading event that is now in its fourth year. It is held in the Student Center, Commons 319, from noon to 12:50 p.m. on the last Wednesday of the month in September, October, November, February, March and April. Everyone is welcome.

The idea for the readings came from Sam Bell, an associate professor of English who joined JCCC in 2010.

In the beginning, Bell read first to break the ice. Then she recruited faculty members from the English department to take their turn at it.

Bell thinks it’s helpful for students to see their teachers reading really personal work that they have written. Some students have shown up just to hear their teacher’s work.

Each participant gets about five to 10 minutes to read whatever he or she has written – poem, essay, short story, novel segment or screenplay.

Only applause is allowed at the end of a reading. Filina gets his feedback by chatting with professors and students afterward.

Bell said the readings have drawn students from various backgrounds and socioeconomic classes.

“It’s really a supportive environment,” she said.

Step into a writer’s world Hare and Bell A new student academic journal to be published annually Invites articles that include source citations First issue comes out in May 2014 Advisor: Kathryn Bryne, kbyrne4@jccc.edu, 913-469-8500, ext. 3497

Mind’s Eye A student literary magazine published annually Invites poetry, fiction, essays, screenplays, art and photography Next issue comes out in May 2014 Advisor: Thomas Reynolds, treynold@jccc. edu, 913-469-8500, ext. 3935

Creative Writing Campus Reading Read your writing to the group Noon to 12:50 p.m., Student Center, Commons 319 Last Wednesday of the month in September, October, November, February, March and April Organizer: Sam Bell, sbell26@jccc.edu, 913-469-8500, ext. 4950

National Literary Competition League for Innovation in the Community College Student Literary Competition Invites submissions that include poems, fiction, one-act plays and essays.

Contact: Reynolds (see above)

JCCC Writing Center Free one-on-one tutoring for all writers Self-help software on grammar and speech Access to various materials for writing improvement Grammar HOTLINE, 913-469-4413 for quick questions Opportunity for qualified students to be a tutor and get paid for it LIB 308, 913-469-8500, ext. 3439

Student editors Mary Alice Coulter and Austin Hoffman review articles submitted for publication in Hare & Bell.

The Open Petal | 7

Culinary students hone skills at John Joyce competition

By Melodee Blobaum

Judges Albert Imming, (from left), Keith Keogh and William Franklin wait to be served as spectators watch from the windows.

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ith chefs working simultaneously, you might expect to hear some clatter and chatter.

But it’s quiet in this kitchen. So quiet that you can hear the sound of the judge’s shoes squeaking against the tile. Knives thunk as onions are diced; julienned potatoes make a soft thwack against the plastic container as a judge jiggles the dish to see all the pieces.

There’s a stillness, a spareness of motion as young chefs roll out dough to line a tart pan and stir pastry cream. Few movements are wasted.

The concentration of the competitors in the John Joyce Culinary Competition student skills salon is palpable.

It takes extreme focus to compete against perfection. ***

The student chefs who compete in American Culinary Foundation approved competitions have a single goal: Culinary perfection. Perfect timing, perfect execution, perfect plates of food.

That’s what it takes to walk away with a gold medal from any such competition, including the 15th annual John Joyce Culinary Challenge and Salon held at Johnson County Community College’s Hospitality and Culinary Academy in January.

JCCC culinary student Danette Fortner waited anxiously with her cart of cooking utensils and ingredients for her turn to compete in the individual challenge on the first day of the John Joyce Culinary Challenge.

8 | The Open Petal

This is not like television show cooking competitions with surprise ingredients and planned-on-the-fly menus that end with a single winner, said Jerry Marcellus, JCCC professor

of hospitality management, who is the chairman for the competition. Competitors know months in advance which categories will be part of the competition, and most will have spent weeks preparing their menus, over and over again, practicing against the standards established by the ACF. It would be theoretically possible for every single competitor and team to earn a gold medal, since they’re competing against a standard rather than each other.

“Everyone comes in with a perfect score,” said Keith Keogh, corporate vice president for culinary operations for Ameristar in Orlando, Fla., and one of the John Joyce competition judges.

But perfection rarely lasts long. A messy work area, sanitation mistakes, flavoring that’s just a little off, poor technique with a knife: it all takes its toll. Even posture can be telling, Keogh said. Chefs doing knife work without their feet planted firmly beneath them won’t make the precise cuts that are needed for a gold medal product.

Knife skills and posture are very much on display in the skills salon that starts the student team competition. The young chefs work like a relay team, with each member taking one of four tasks: cut apart a whole chicken; fillet a fish; julienne, tournée, peel and dice vegetables; or prepare pastry cream, roll out dough and peel and section an orange. As one team member finishes the assigned task, the next stands ready to step up to the counter with a tray of equipment and ingredients needed for that phase of the relay.

Team members blindly draw the task they’ll be doing, so everyone has to be in top form, ready to perform every task.

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Culinary professor Jerry Marcellus briefs JCCC’s team on rules, timing and guidelines before competition begins.

“When the team starts practicing, everybody does all the skills over and over again,” said Eddie Adel, JCCC assistant professor of hospitality management and one of the culinary team’s coaches. “Then they practice as a team, tag-teaming for 80 minutes.”

When the time is up and the judges have marked their clipboards, the three competing teams gather close to hear the judges’ critique and advice. Choose your competition ingredients carefully, they’re told. A perfectly shaped tomato is easier to peel; a smaller potato will be quicker to julienne.

Use the right tool for the task. Sharpen the knife.

“Learn good habits early on because they’ll stay with you,” Keogh tells the student chefs. “Getting from gold to perfection is really, really hard.” ***

The work surfaces start out bare, a long expanse of stainless steel. Ingredients and equipment are moved from steel carts to the gleaming counter purposefully and precisely. Cutting boards are aligned with knives, ingredients placed at the ready, as the chefs build their workstations. They check and double-check, making sure all is ready for the 90-minute dance that’s about to begin.

“Johnson County Community College, your time starts now.”

And with those eight words, the curtain rises on an intricate culinary ballet. Knives flash. Vegetables are diced. Oil sizzles.

Chefs move from workstation to stove to refrigerator to sink and back again with practiced choreography that shows the 10 | The Open Petal

Former JCCC culinary student Richard Hoenshell receives his critique after his dish is judged in the Individual competition.

hours they’ve spent preparing for this moment.

It takes a lot of practice and teamwork to compete against perfection. ***

The team gets a boost from the alternate. Far from being the not-quite-good-enough-to-cook team member that the title implies, the alternate serves as the unofficial conductor of the unfolding ballet. Raquel Kramer, a third-semester student in the JCCC culinary program, is the JCCC culinary team’s alternate on this day.

“I make sure everything stays on time and on task,” she said.

“I make sure people have everything they need.”

That might mean grabbing an ingredient from the refrigerator for one chef, or closing the oven door after another removes a dish. When a team member cuts her finger, Kramer’s there with an adhesive bandage and finger cover.

Always, being the alternate means keeping one eye on the time. Every 15 minutes, Kramer calls out to her team the time remaining before their first dish must leave the kitchen for the judge’s table.

Coach Adel said that the alternate might better be termed the sous chef, the traditional second-in-command of a restaurant kitchen.

“A strong alternate will keep everyone on time and in line,” he said. “The team chooses the alternate, who sometimes is a key player in the team’s success.”

Teamwork is essential. Matthew Phillips, a fifth-semester student in the JCCC culinary program, was responsible for the fish appetizer the team prepared in January. But he also chopped most of the vegetables and herbs used in the entrée.

Phillips wasn’t sure he wanted to be part of the team when he was invited to apply for it. He’s glad he said yes.

“I’ve learned a lot,” Phillips said.

Jessica Seely didn’t have to be asked twice. A fifth-semester student in the JCCC program, she participated as an individual in the John Joyce competition held in 2012. Beyond the knowledge and skills she’s gained, she treasures the friendships she’s made with former, current and future team members – as well as the other teams in the competition.

Competition results The John Joyce Culinary Competition held at JCCC in January drew 16 entrants for individual competition, and three teams for the team competition.

The JCCC culinary team earned a gold medal; a team from Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Neb., earned silver; and a team from the Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute in Little Rock, Ark., earned bronze.

“The Omaha team is amazing,” she said. “They’re like our sister school.” ***

And it all comes down to this. Four identical plates, three shared by the judges, the fourth set out on display.

Does the plate please the eye as well as the palate? Are the portion sizes reasonable? Is the food tasty? Does it have a nice texture? Are the ingredients compatible?

Is it perfect?

Judges Albert Imming and Roland Schaeffer try to relieve the stress of JCCC’s Nam Ahrens with a laugh as he narrowly completes his plate in time during the individual competition.

The Open Petal | 11

‘Finding something better’ Student Vicente Silva leaves violent gang life for automotive future

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers

By Diane Carroll

Vicente Silva says the automotive program has become a second home for him.

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icente Silva didn’t think he would graduate high school. College seemed completely out of the question.

Then two things – two good things – happened in a life otherwise filled with drugs, gangs and violence.

The first was the Mill Creek Center, now renamed and remodeled as the Olathe Advanced Technical Center. The center’s automotive program gave him a purpose and a passion.

The second was meeting Gloria Rosso, a counselor at Johnson County Community College. Silva had come to Transition Day, a fact-finding session for students like him at Mill Creek Center who had already earned JCCC course credits while enrolled at the center.

Silva already had received 11 college credits via the Career Pathways program and Ginny Naglic, transition specialist for Career Pathways, was holding the door wide open, hoping students would continue college coursework.

“I thought I would come over and just check it out,” Silva said.

“When I’m somewhere new, I just like listening. I’m a shy-type person, but I like to observe and see how things go.”

Naglic introduced him to Rosso. “She said, ‘Hey, this is Gloria. She speaks Spanish.’ She invited us over and started telling us how things work here.”

Silva listened.

“She convinced me, so right then, we filled out a (college) application,” Silva said. “She tried – no, she didn’t try, she did – she made a personal connection. She said, ‘Here’s my card.

Come see me,’ and she’s been working with me ever since.”

Silva said he grew up in Kansas City, Mo., and joined a gang at age 12.

“Gangs are a part of that culture,” he said. “I ended up getting pretty involved in it to the point where drugs passed

12 | The Open Petal

High school salutatorian appreciates what JCCC offers

through me, fights were initiated through me. It’s not something that I feel proud about, but I’ve learned this was a process that I had to go through,” he said.

“I look back on it now, and I ask myself, ‘What was I thinking?’”

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adik Rahic breezed through high school. He didn’t study much and still got mostly A’s. He was the salutatorian of his senior class when he graduated in 2010 from J.C. Harmon High School in Kansas City, Kan.

He spent nine months in a juvenile detention center.

Rahic assumed that college would be just as easy.

The turning point came when Silva was shot – once in the arm, once in the leg – as revenge for his gang’s shooting of a rival gang member in a territorial dispute.

He was wrong.

“When I was in the hospital, not a single friend showed up,” he said.

His worried parents moved the family to Olathe in hopes of escaping the gang influence.

“I knew, the only thing I can do to get out of this is to find something better,” Silva said.

He calls the Mill Creek Center “a gift from God.” “The teachers pushed me into the (automotive) program, and it’s been a second home for me ever since,” he said.

Silva spoke of his experiences in a speech at the Olathe Technical Center dedication. Since then, he’s shared his story many times more: to newspapers, to the college’s video department and to other students.

He now works long hours as a mechanic at Burnett Automotive, scheduling classes at JCCC around his paying job. “I now know everything’s possible; $1,000 goes into my savings account every month…so that I can reach my goals.”

He’s saving up for automotive tools (“and tools are not cheap,” he said) and tuition and room and board for a bachelor’s degree in automotive technology at Pittsburg State University.

Silva said he’ll add some business and technology classes, too.

“Time flies when I’m working on cars,” he said. “I love it. I feel really lucky to be here.”

He took 18 credit hours during each of his first two semesters at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and often worked 30 hours a week. In short order, the C’s and D’s and even F’s rolled in.

“It was definitely a struggle,” said the 21-year-old, who now expects to graduate in May from Johnson County Community College and go on to study pharmacy. “They even put me on academic probation.”

Rahic flunked two courses that year. He took a semester off and then enrolled at JCCC in January 2012.

“I would definitely recommend for people to come to JCCC first before going to KU just to get the feel of college,” Rahic said. “I am experiencing the same level of classes as I would at KU but it is just in a more close environment with more interaction with the teacher, and I think that is very helpful.”

Rahic, who took some big lecture classes at KU that had hundreds of students, said that he realizes now that he was not prepared for the rigors of college. He didn’t study as much as he should have, he said, and he worked too many hours at his part-time job. At JCCC, he’s cut his work hours down to about 15 a week and put his priority on homework.

He also enrolled in Strategic Learning Systems, a one-credit course that lasted for six weeks. Now when he takes notes in class or reads a chapter for class, he reviews the material later to flesh out the key points. When a teacher repeats material, he makes note of it, figuring it is going to show up in a test.

The strategies resulted in “automatic improvements,” he said.

Sadik Rahic plans to pursue a degree in pharmacy.

Adjunct Assistant Professor Ann Fielder, who taught the learning strategies class that Rahic took, said that Rahic was one of the best students she has had. “He used every strategy that I taught him and aced history as a result,” she said.

Rahic was nearly 2 years old when his family fled Bosnia during the Bosnia War. His mother and siblings remember running through woods to escape gunfire and grenades.

They went to Germany, where they stayed until after Rahic finished second grade and then came to America, where they became U.S. citizens. They first settled in the Chicago area, where they had family connections, and eventually followed Rahic’s sister to Kansas City.

After graduating in May, Rahic hopes to be accepted into a pharmacy program at either KU or the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His long-term goal is to run his own pharmacy.

Rahic has two nieces and two nephews who are big Jayhawk fans and want to go to KU. One of his nieces wants to follow in his footsteps by also pursuing a pharmacy degree, so he’s been talking with her about how well he is doing at JCCC. It’s too early to say where she will go to college, he said, but “I think she will be smarter than me.”

The Open Petal | 13

Trading knowledge JCCC history department reinvigorates instructor exchange with KU Story by Anne Christiansen-Bullers

O

n one side of the county line, a history professor with years of experience looks longingly to ivycovered walls that enclose students who love history almost as much as she does.

On the other side, a graduate student searches for a place where he can learn to teach what he loves, because even though he may be an expert scholar, he’s still new to teaching.

Johnson County Community College and the University of Kansas have broken through that county-line boundary to form a teaching exchange that is of benefit to both institutions.

Since the 1990s, JCCC has sent a history professor to KU to teach one upper-level class on the Lawrence campus, and KU has sent a graduate student to teach an introductory class in history to JCCC students.

“The arrangement has worked quite well,” said Vin Clark, professor and chair of the history department at JCCC. Two goals are accomplished, he explained. First, the JCCC professor is challenged by teaching a higher-level class, usually in his or her area of expertise. The professor also gets a chance to experience university life and to use scholarly resources at KU. Second, the graduate student experiences his or her own classroom, which can be a very different experience than being a teaching assistant. Additionally, the JCCC professor traveling to KU acts as a mentor to the graduate student.

“There are so many benefits for our own faculty members to participate,” Clark said. “Additionally, it’s one way to get good people here at JCCC. We’ve hired candidates from the exchange because we know first-hand the level of their teaching abilities.”

Jay Antle, executive director of the Center for Sustainability at JCCC, was first hired as a history professor at JCCC after a successful stint teaching as part of the exchange in spring of 1997, followed by a few semesters as an adjunct professor.

“I enjoyed the exchange a great deal,” Antle said. “I was impressed by JCCC, and Chuck Bishop, my mentor teacher, had some very practical solutions to improving my teaching.”

Sarah Boyle, associate professor of history at JCCC, taught a class at KU last fall as part of an exchange program.

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Antle said he initially thought he would be more suited to

Shelby Callaway, a graduate student at KU, taught a class last fall at JCCC.

working at a university where he could conduct research.

After the exchange, he realized the community college was a better fit.

“I realized that teaching is my passion,” he said. “Coming here solidified my belief.”

The exchange went into hiatus for a few years before it was reinvigorated in the fall semester of 2013. Sarah Boyle, associate professor of history at JCCC, taught at KU, and Shelby Callaway, a graduate student at KU, taught at JCCC. Before the exchange, Callaway taught Indigenous North American History at KU and worked as a teaching assistant at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Ga. Callaway said having Boyle as a mentor would prove invaluable. “The culture at every school is different, so it’s nice to hear what someone who’s been in a similar position found useful or ineffective when it comes to teaching, engaging students, or navigating an organization as large as JCCC.” At KU, Boyle taught a 300-level class focusing on the Great Depression and the New Deal. Though her dissertation research was in 19th-century history, Boyle said she still enjoyed teaching an entire course about one specific time period.

“Just for my own edification, it was a wonderful experience,” she said.

Boyle, currently in her eighth year at JCCC, said the chance to study and assign readings outside of the usual textbook was an additional bonus of the upper-level class.

“The exchange is a good program,” Boyle said. “It creates a great relationship between the educational institutions.”

The Open Petal | 15

David Cantwell’s Merle Haggard

Langston Hughes book looks at letters from his mother

JCCC professor writes book on polarizing country music star

By Tim Curry

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers David Cantwell says he has been a lifelong fan of Merle Haggard’s music.

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ometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint how an author gets an idea for a book. For David Cantwell, adjunct professor of English, he remembers exactly when he was drawn to the subject of his latest book, “Merle Haggard: The Running Kind.”

In 1970, when Cantwell was 9 years old, he headed off to the local Safeway to buy his first 45. (For those under 40, that’s a small plastic disc on which a single song was recorded.)

“The record I wanted was Merle Haggard’s ‘The Fightin’ Side of Me,’ but they were sold out,” Cantwell said. “So I ended up buying my second pick, which was Edwin Starr’s ‘War.’ It would be hard to imagine two records more different in terms of their content.”

While Starr’s “War” asked the question, “War: what is it good for?” and answered with a resounding “absolutely nothing,” Haggard’s song was its opposite. Its lyrics demanded America stand and fight.

“I was too young to understand those political differences, but I came to understand them soon enough,” Cantwell said.

“I just liked both records because I thought both records sounded cool,” he said.

Cantwell describes himself as a “lifelong fan” of Haggard’s music, even if at times he didn’t agree with Haggard’s message.

“I found myself talking back to his music, saying ‘I disagree with that’ or ‘I think that’s wrong, Merle,’ but still singing along,” he said. “His songs are so catchy, and he’s such a 16 | The Open Petal

clever and pointed songwriter.”

Cantwell describes his book as a “critical monograph rather than a biography.” Instead of just examining Haggard’s life, which Haggard himself has done in two autobiographies, Cantwell chose to write about Haggard’s music and the conversation it creates with listeners.

As a senior editor of the music magazine No Depression for 15 years and a writer for publications before and after that, Cantwell had the opportunity to interview Haggard several times. “I used some of that (information) in the book, but I’m much more interested in how his music feels, how it creates, and its artistic effects, and how those effects have been important culturally.”

“Merle Haggard: The Running Kind” is part of an ongoing series on American music published by the University of Texas Press-Austin. Other subjects of the series thus far are Dwight Yoakam and Ryan Adams.

Though Haggard hit the height of his fame during the 1960s and ‘70s, Cantwell said the themes of Haggard’s music clearly still resonate today.

“When we look at America today and we see a country that is divided between the right and the left, we see these competing conceptions of what it means to be American and what it means to be free,” he said. “What I want people to take away from the book is that divide, particularly in country music, begins with Merle Haggard.”

Cantwell has taught “Literature of American Popular Music” at JCCC for four years, but he’s been teaching composition classes at the college since 1989.

“I really like teaching, especially in discussing music, because I learn from my students,” he said.

Carmaletta Williams, professor of English, has a second book out on Langston Hughes.

C

armaletta M. Williams, professor of English and African American studies at Johnson County Community College, has published her second work on the author and poet Langston Hughes.

Co-edited by John Edgar Tidwell, professor of English at the University of Kansas, the book “My Dear Boy” examines the role that the correspondence he had with his mother Carrie Hughes had on his works.

In a review, Pam Kingsbury of the Library Journal wrote, “The book successfully attempts, for the first time, to reveal the ways in which Hughes responded to his mother’s letters through his own art rather than through his written replies... While reminiscent of other complicated familial relationships in literature, this title is essential for scholars who are interested in Hughes’s work and the Harlem Renaissance.”

The book employs the Family Systems Theory method in order to reach an understanding of Hughes and the relationship he had with his mother. The theory views the family as an emotional unit, Williams said.

When one looks at family dynamics – the relationships people develop in a family – the focus shifts from the individual to the family as a whole and the processes by which the members of the family interact with one another, Williams said. It allows scholars to take a closer look at the evidence usually gathered and applied to one member and see how that person has contributed to the relationship.

Williams said of Carrie Hughes, “When she was growing up, she was ‘the Belle of Black Lawrence’ and seemed happy and active as long as her father was alive but when he died things

started going downhill for Carrie.

“Lost in that downhill skid was a commitment to family, especially to her son Langston. One of his lifelong desires was to have a close mother-son relationship. That really never happened… We look at her letters to him and his response to her in his work. There are very clear parallels once Family Systems Theory is applied as the heuristic to guide understanding.”

As for the appeal of Hughes himself to Williams?

“I think what I love most about Langston Hughes is that he turned his back on his father’s money in order to be part of the black community,” she said. (His father was a successful lawyer and rancher in Mexico.)

“Hughes was raised in Lawrence, Kansas, in very poor conditions by a very strict grandmother who would not attend social events, including church, because of segregation. His father wanted to send him to Europe for a classical education but Langston needed more. He needed people, all kinds of people, but especially black people.”

Looking ahead, Williams will continue to teach and write.

“Right now I am working on my next project which is named ‘A Mother Still’ about motherhood and enslaved women during antebellum slavery,” she said.

Other works by Williams include “Langston Hughes in the Classroom: ‘Do Nothin’ till You Hear from Me’” and “Of Two Spirits: American Indian and African American Oral Histories.”

Tidwell’s previous books include “Montage of a Dream: The Art and Life of Langston Hughes,” “After Winter: The Art and Life of Sterling A. Brown” and “Writings of Frank Marshall Davis: A Voice of the Black Press.”

The Open Petal | 17

One man’s trash …

Country star Tracy Lawrence to perform at JCCC

Alumnus Eric Nelson thinks composting is ‘sexy’

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers

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JCCC graduate Eric Nelson helped start the college’s on-site composting program.

ric Nelson admits that he’s in the minority with this opinion, but he sticks by his conviction that composting is “sexy.”

Nelson, an alumnus of Johnson County Community College, helped start the college’s on-site composting program, which diverts 75,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill each year.

Part of his job at JCCC was to help with community outreach, so he led tours where the highlight of the tour was the compost pile.

“I explained the scientific process to them that maybe was a little bit weird to them. ‘You mean to say you’re taking food trash and making it into dirt?’

‘Yeah, I think that’s pretty sexy, don’t you?’

Most people don’t, for some reason,” he said, laughing.

Nelson is now a student at the University of Kansas, majoring in environmental studies with a minor in business.

He is a crew leader for KU Recycling and works for the success of Rock Chalk Recycle at KU, a program that urges recycling at every sporting event at the college.

His days of running composting operations are no more, since KU doesn’t have an on-site facility. Instead, Nelson said, KU contracts with Missouri Organics from Liberty, Mo., to pick up food waste from six dining halls.

“I’d like to get to composting on campus,” Nelson said. “But we are working to increase our organics diversion [from the landfill].”

Nelson said the experiences he gained while enrolled at JCCC have really helped him in his new role at KU. When he started at JCCC in 2011, he was a college dropout and aspiring musician who decided to try out the culinary arts program.

He’d worked as a cook in a restaurant since he was 15 (“because that’s what you do during the day when you’re in 18 | The Open Petal

a band,” he quipped), and he thought he’d strengthen his skills for his day job.

By Diane Carroll

Soon, thanks to a job as a compost technician that he landed with the Center for Sustainability, he became more interested in what went off the plate than what went on it.

“I was not a picture-perfect environmentalist at first,” Nelson said. “I started out by drinking lots of, ahem, ‘soda,’ not recycling, and driving a band van that got 10 miles to the gallon.”

With the help of Michael Rea, project manager for the Center for Sustainability, Nelson learned all about the science of good composting.

“This was my first real grown-up job. I was actually wearing slacks to the office. That didn’t last long, though. When you’re working in compost and having to change your clothes twice, three times a day, your wife starts getting really upset with you about the amount of laundry that’s coming through,” he said.

He learned to speak in front of crowds by presenting at conferences. “I was used to getting up in front of people (as a musician), but it was always in noisy, smoky bars, not someplace where it’s quiet and everyone is listening. I was so incredibly scared. I played music for thousands of people – not scary at all. But to get up in front of those people, see their faces, questioning ‘What have you got?’ That was scary.”

Rea said he’s delighted to have Nelson as an advocate and spokesperson for sustainability and composting.

“He has such a way with audiences,” Rea said. “And he’s eager to share what he’s learned with others. He was a great addition to our program.”

In the future, Nelson said he may run his own composting business, if the pressures of entrepreneurship don’t get in his way. Of his potential degree, he said, “I’m 31 years old.

I still don’t know what I’m going to do with it … but past experiences lead to future success.”

S

inger Tracy Lawrence, who helped shape the sound of country music during the last 20 years, will perform on Saturday, May 3, at Johnson County Community College.

The country star will appear at 8 p.m. in the Carlsen Center’s Yardley Hall. His appearance is being supported by the college’s Cohen Community Series.

Tickets, which are $30 and $40, are available through the JCCC Box Office at 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc. edu/TheSeries. A limited number of $75 VIP tickets will be available for purchase through the JCCC Foundation. The VIP ticket incudes premium concert seating and admission to a pre-show meet-and-greet with Lawrence.

Lawrence has one of the most recognizable voices in country music. He has sold more than 13 million albums. Twentytwo of his songs hit the Billboard Top 10 charts and 18 singles hit No. 1.

Tracy Lawrence will appear at Yardley Hall on Saturday, May 3.

past and “Radios” pay tribute to his success as one of the most-played artists on country radio.

The new album is a testament to how his music continues to evolve. The 11-song collection features some of his most progressive music to date.

While recording the album, Lawrence knew that he needed to push the envelope and take his creativity to a new level.

“We ended up recording the album in two parts – that’s just how it worked out,” Lawrence said. “I started recording in the direction to make a more traditional country record. But as time progressed, I needed to explore and challenge myself musically. I wanted to go deeper and try a more edgy and progressive sound that reflected where I was going next. The combination really worked well for me and I think it will appeal to many different types of country music fans.”

Songs such as “Paint Me A Birmingham,” “Time Marches On,” “Alibis,” and “Find Out Who Your Friends Are,” have inspired a whole generation of entertainers and fans. Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan frequently pay tribute to the singer live in concert by playing his double-platinum hits.

The Cohen Community Series was inaugurated in 2008 through a gift from Jon Stewart, a member of the JCCC board of trustees, college alumnus and former president of Metcalf Bank, in honor of the late Barton P. Cohen, president of Metcalf Bancshares, vice chairman and general counsel of Metcalf Bank and an attorney with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP.

Lawrence’s latest album, “Headlights, Taillights and Radios,” shows off a new side of him, one that could ignite a new generation. It carries a signature meaning for the artist: “Headlights” look to the future, “Taillights” celebrate the

Previous presenters have included Vince Gill, Phil Vassar, Diamond Rio, George Will and Marcus Buckingham. All proceeds from these events go to JCCC scholarships and educational programs.

The Open Petal | 19

Miss Johnson County First-ever pageant winner awarded $1,200 scholarship from JCCC Foundation

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers

A voice in the darkness of dementia

By Stacy Boline

P

enny Shaffer speaks a valuable language few have mastered.

She knows how to communicate with people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other brainbased disorders that make it more difficult for them to remember, think clearly and in many cases care for their own basic needs.

Meagan Johnson is using her JCCC Foundation scholarship to take online courses.

M

eagan Johnson has been named the firstever Miss Johnson County, receiving a package of prizes that includes a $1,200 scholarship to Johnson County Community College offered by the JCCC Foundation.

“Since I’m traveling so much now, being an online student makes a lot of sense. When I’m visiting friends in Manhattan, or going to an event in Topeka, or if I have a few hours at home in Leavenworth, I can pick up my laptop and work on my classes,” she said.

Johnson (yes, her name is Johnson) had entered other scholarship pageants throughout high school in hopes of attaining enough scholarships to fund her own education.

Amy Carlson, executive director of the Miss Johnson County Scholarship Pageant, said she thinks Johnson will do an excellent job as the first Miss Johnson County.

“I had a goal in mind,” she said. “I wanted to pay for my own college, without taking out loans and without having to ask my parents to pay. Scholarship pageants were one way I could do that.”

“Meagan convinced the judges that she was ready for the job of Miss Johnson County and would do everything in her power to serve our community,” Carlson said. “As soon as she was crowned, she visited the Olathe Chamber of Commence, then participated in the Natalie M Fashion Show that helped raise more than $55,000 for local schools.

That was all in the first week.”

Her path to JCCC started with the horrific “crunch” of her wrist bone during cheerleading practice at Kansas State University.

“Cheer was my life,” she said. “But two weeks before tryouts, I suffered an injury to my wrist, and after surgery, I was supposed to have a 100 percent recovery. It didn’t work out that way.”

She stayed enrolled at K-State, but without cheerleading to engage her in campus life, she decided to look at taking online classes. While K-State offered many of the classes that she needed for her major in family studies and human services, JCCC offered online classes she couldn’t get from K-State.

She enrolled in two online classes from JCCC before she even won the Miss Johnson County crown. She said she was ecstatic to win the crown and – in essence – those two classes, since the scholarship would cover the cost of tuition.

Johnson has another two classes already picked out – one for summer 2014 and another for fall 2014.

20 | The Open Petal

Her schedule remains busy. In addition to taking online classes at JCCC and K-State, she volunteers at CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for children) in preparation for her future career as a social worker. She also makes appearances throughout the state as Miss Johnson County and is preparing for the Miss Kansas ceremony in June.

The winner of that pageant represents the Sunflower State in the Miss America pageant.

How does she manage to keep up such a schedule?

“Time management skills,” Johnson said. “I don’t know where I picked it up, but I have excellent time management skills, and I schedule my time wisely.”

Shaffer, JCCC’s director of Health and Human Services, and three of her colleagues are trained and willing to teach others a language of compassion while performing vital daily caregiving tasks in a five-day certificate course that is designed as a port of entry to caregivers and nurses.

The journey families take after diagnosis is like no other.

Much suffering is caused due to the lack of understanding.

Often times, dementia causes mood swings and changes one’s personality. Behaviors you would have never expected surface, and it can be hard to believe you are in the company of the same person you’ve known for many years.

“There still exists a tremendous lack of real understanding about this illness, what it is and what it is not and no nursing curriculum fully covers it, yet,” Shaffer said. “A diagnosis is given and medications prescribed, but very few are ever taught where these illnesses will take the person and their friends and loved ones.”

There is a beacon of hope at JCCC for families who deal with a loved one’s chronic, disabling health conditions.

Since the Dementia Care Certificate: A Comprehensive Walk Through Caring for Someone With Dementia began in spring 2009, more than 235 people have completed it. They included family members, nurses, social workers, physical therapists, nursing home administrators, registered dietitians (one who went on to start her own adult care home) and nurse aides.

“I have had numerous encounters with families who have told me that what they learned in the class made all the difference in being able to manage their loved one at home for a greater length of time,” Shaffer said. “They didn’t take things personally because they knew it was the disease talking and not their loved

Penny Shaffer teaches how to care for someone suffering from dementia.

one; they knew how to manage difficult behaviors and they knew more about the medications the doctors were prescribing and what they were for. And mostly, they understood better how to relate to their loved one ‘in the moment’ even though the loved one wouldn’t remember they had gone to visit them.”

Shaffer was able to teach her customized curriculum with the support of JCCC Continuing Education and a grant from the International Longevity Society. She is also able to financially assist families in need with a partial tuition reimbursement.

In 2010, on behalf of the college, Shaffer accepted the Exemplary Award from the National Council for Continuing Education and Training. Other institutions have wanted to replicate her curriculum but couldn’t due to lack of training for their instructors. Shaffer has held training in several settings including nursing homes, long-term care facilities and home health agencies. It also has been offered through JCCC’s contract training opportunities.

“Teaching this course has been and continues to be the most satisfying thing I do at JCCC,” she said. “It is one of those transformational experiences. .

New class on dementia In this new class offering, Managing Difficult Behaviors in Seniors with Dementia and Delirium, join Penny Shaffer as she helps attendees explore the world of dementia and delirium from the inside out.

Health professionals have an opportunity to earn continuing education credits. Class will be from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24. Call 913-469-3140 for more information.

The Open Petal | 21

Online Exclusives

CAMPUS LIFE Datebook April 18-25, Earth Days Friday to Friday, week-long celebration of sustainability.

Highlights include a treeplanting project on north campus on Tuesday, April 22, and a farm lunch buffet on Wednesday, April 23, with produce from the campus farm. Buffet: $5. Visit www. jccc.edu/sustainability/ events or send questions to sustainability@jccc.edu.

April 25-27 and May 2-4, The Cripple of Inishmaan , presented by the JCCC theatre department. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Polsky Theatre.

Free.

May 2-3, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday and noon to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Eighth Annual American Indian Health Research and Education Alliance’s “Our Nations Energies” Health & Wellness Pow Wow. Dance contests,

arts and crafts vendors and free health screenings. For more information, visit www. aihrea.org. Gymnasium and Fieldhouse. Free admission.

May 6, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, “The Rising Sun” academic concert presented by the JCCC music department, Polsky Theatre. Free

May 3, 8 p.m. Saturday, country singer Tracy Lawrence, sponsored by the college’s Cohen Community Series.

Yardley Hall. Tickets: $30, $40.

Call the JCCC box office at 913-469-4445 or go online to jccc.edu/TheSeries.

May 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday, Campus Craze, COM Plaza and Fountain Square. Sponsored by Campus Activities. Free May 7, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, choir concert presented by the JCCC music department.

Polsky Theatre. Free

Here are a few stories that are available only online. To check them out, go to www.jccc.edu and search for the words in the headlines.

June 13, 8 p.m. Friday, Victor & Penny and their Loose Change Orchestra appear as part of JCCC’s Light Up The Lawn Series, front lawn of Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, northeast corner of the campus at College Boulevard and Quivira Road. Lawn chairs, blankets and coolers are welcome. (No alcohol, please.) Free

Well on her way

Kate Keegan used JCCC’s Quick Step program to earn 27 college credit hours before graduating from high school. Now the Spring Hill High School graduate is on the fast track to reach her goal of working as a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit at a children’s hospital.

On stage For tickets and information about these and other events sponsored by the Performing Arts Series, visit jccc.edu/TheSeries or call the JCCC Box Office at 913-469-4445.

Brasil Guitar Duo 8 p.m. Friday, April 11 Yardley Hall

Diavolo 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 25-26 Yardley Hall

Church Basement Ladies “A Mighty Fortress Is Our Basement” 2 and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, May 20-22 Polsky Theatre

22 | The Open Petal

The student activities and information desk located on the first floor of the Student Center has been officially renamed as the student welcome desk. In addition, a second welcome desk has been set up in the Carlsen Center near the college box office. If you’re on that side of the campus and have a question, ask one of the student ambassadors staffing that desk.

Learn fine arts at JCCC The college offers a range of credit classes in the fine arts department.

They include courses in sculpture, photography, painting, ceramics, drawing, digital imaging, metals and silversmithing.

An accomplished group of faculty artists share their expertise and enthusiasm for the visual arts with students in well-equipped studios and labs.

Writer and inspiration

Nicole Swenson wrote a children’s book based on the story of her uncle, who was deaf. “Mime for Michael” shares how he overcame his disability and became an accomplished mime and painter.

Swenson, who overcome obstacles herself, earned a certificate in sign language from JCCC in 2012.

‘Need help?’

Those signs you’ve seen with that question came about through the initiative of Katherine Karle, assistant professor of English. They are located at three stations on campus to help students who are struggling with personal issues such as homelessness or abuse or drug addiction. Check out the stations outside Carlsen Center 231; on the second floor of the Commons at the entrance to the Student Center and in the hallway outside LIB 227.

Style show Fashion design student Jamye Marie Thompson joins her models onstage Feb. 28 during the fashion merchandising and design department’s annual student fashion show in Polsky Theatre.

Thompson and 12 other designers shared their work in a production called “Timeless.”

At the Nerman “Contemporary American Indian Art · The Nerman Museum Collection,” will be on view through Sunday, May 18. The exhibition features 55 works produced by 43 artists. It celebrates the museum’s decade-long commitment to build a major collection of contemporary American Indian art. For more information, visit nermanmuseum.org.

Welcome to JCCC!

Wendy Red Star (Crow)

“Fall, Four Seasons Series,” 2006 Archival pigment print on Museo silver rag on dibond, 35.5 x 37” Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

Diego Romero (Cochiti Pueblo) “Large bowl depicting Cochiti feast dance gold rim with water and corn design,” 2011 Native clay, native clay slips and commercial gold, 15 x 6” Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

Jackie Larson Bread (Blackfeet) “The Cover of the Rolling Stone,” 2011 Buckskin, beads, paint and laptop sleeve, 16 x 13 x 1.75” Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

Photo by Susan McSpadden

The Open Petal | 23

SPORTS

Recruiting choices lead to volleyball team’s success

By Tyler Cundith Coach Jennifer Ei huddles with her team before a match.

J

ohnson County Community College had a foundation for success when Jennifer Ei took over the reigns of the program in 2008. Her two predecessors are in the NJCAA Volleyball Hall of Fame. But, in her time as the Lady Cavaliers head coach, Ei has helped Johnson County further strengthen its hold as one of the premier volleyball programs in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

In her first season, Ei coached Johnson County to a runner-up finish at the NJCAA D-II Championship. In the five years that have followed, she has guided her teams to four more NJCAA Tournament appearances, four more top 10 finishes, including a second-place finish in 2010 and a third-place finish last fall.

Ei, a five-time district coach of the year, attributes her success to recruiting good student athletes while providing them with an environment that helps them to succeed.

“I believe to have success requires recruiting intelligent, hard-working and coachable student athletes,” Ei said. “The players we bring in are talented in volleyball, but our success comes from each player listening and working hard to be their best. It’s not always the most talented players who truly succeed. The players who are team-oriented, smart and willing to step outside their comfort zone are the players

24 | The Open Petal

who truly succeed here. Give me an athlete who listens and is coachable, and I can train them.”

Ei’s track record over her six seasons proves she can get them to play at a higher level. To date, Ei has compiled a 172-45 record, good for a .793 winning percentage. Through six seasons as JCCC’s head coach, Ei has mentored six NJCAA All-America performers, including five first-team selections, two AVCA All-Americans, seven NJCAA All-Tournament, 18 All-Region/District and 22 All-East Jayhawk Conference selections, including two conference MVPs. Off the court, Ei has coached eight NJCAA Academic All-Americans, and the last five falls, nearly 80 percent of her team registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better, best among all the teams at JCCC. Ei also takes pride in that her teams have qualified for

The 2013 volleyball team shows off its hardware after winning the district tournament.

nationals in five of her six years, but the year her team did not qualify had a profound effect on her coaching approach in 2013.

“It was a hard and humbling experience in 2012 when we did not make it to the national tournament, but it taught me to learn how to enjoy the moment and all the accomplishments of our past teams,” Ei said. “I took it for granted and this year I saw it as a journey. We grew as a team and learned how to be a family and how to be resilient. This year’s team members were excellent listeners, and they continued throughout the season to improve. We had great sophomore leadership and determination to do whatever it took to get to the national tournament. Once there, we took each match at a time and enjoyed our success along the way.”

At this year’s championships, JCCC began the tournament with a 3-0 win over Hagerstown Community College and followed with a 3-1 win over Des Moines Area Community College later on opening day. In the semifinal round Nov. 22, the Lady Cavaliers fell in four sets to No. 2 seed Parkland College, but rebounded for a 3-1 win over Oakland Community College in the third-place match on Nov. 23.

“I felt like the team played really well against Hagerstown,” Ei said. “Then we had to play against Des Moines Area who is a good team and pushed us. In the end, we played together to reach our goal of making it to the final four. We played hard against Parkland in the semis, but we made a few too many unforced errors to get the job done. It is very tough to compete the next day for third place once you have lost the opportunity to play in the national championship, but they played with pride to capture the third place in the nation. I am very proud of this team.”

Coach Ei is a five-time district coach of the year.

The Open Petal | 25

THE REAR WINDOW Winter’s thaw leads to spring, baseball and wet parking lots with cool reflections.

Theater students rehearse Feb. 20 for a performance called “Four X Tenn,” Tennessee Williams one-act plays.

Academic shows are free and open to the public.

Mpho Kekana tries to unravel two rolls of crepe paper in one minute during “Moment to Own It,” a Jan. 16 Welcome Week activity based on the popular game show “Minute to Win It.”

Photos by Susan McSpadden

Worth a look back

L

earning comes first at JCCC, and students stay engaged in numerous pursuits. From the classroom to the stage to a Model United Nations competition in St. Louis, students found ways this winter to nurture their talents.

The Model United Nations team poses after receiving an Outstanding Delegation Award, Delegates’ Choice Award and three Honorable Mention awards Feb. 19-20 in St. Louis.

Library staffers Carla Kuzmich, Cindy Stephens and Sunita Gandhi dress mannequins in clothing from the 1800s in the photo studio on Feb. 20. The college is documenting every piece of clothing in a collection it maintains from that era.

Track and field athlete Shawn Laurent wins the men’s heptathlon Feb. 20 with a point total of 4,488. The sophomore’s score ranks as the second highest recorded in team history.

Russ Hanna, professor/chair of game development, works Feb. 26 with students on their task lists in a gaming class in the Regnier Center.

For more photos, visit www.facebook.com/JCCC411. Or connect with Facebook and Instagram by going to the college home page at jccc.edu and clicking on “Connect with JCCC.” 26 | The Open Petal

The Open Petal | 27

NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE

12345 COLLEGE BLVD OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

PAID

Johnson County Community College

One Community.

One College.

One Goal.

Exceeding expectations is a driving force at Johnson County Community College. Our philosophy of excellence – excellence in meeting the needs of students and the community – constantly advances us closer to this goal.

JCCC’s work in progress includes: •8 4 percent of students responding to a satisfaction survey said they would enroll at JCCC again; 83 percent said they were satisfied with the JCCC experience.

•9 3 percent of JCCC’s career program completers find a job within six months.

•9 3 percent of participants in an Overland Park Chamber of Commerce Foundation study had a “favorable” opinion of JCCC; 68 percent had a “strongly favorable” opinion.

Change your life through learning.

Change your life at JCCC. 12345 College Blvd. | Overland Park, KS 913-469-3803 | www.jccc.edu