Press conference

[From DREAM, pg. 1]

“We have adopted a vision around student success and completion,”

Pierce President Kathleen Burke said. “We say we like to see more caps at commencement.”

Caps was also described by Burke as a double entendre. Its second meaning was C.A.P.S., an acronym for completion, accountability, partnerships and success. The acronym targeted attention on Pierce’s teaching plan, Burke said.

“Pierce College has a long history of focus on student success,” Burke said. “Achieving the Dream really added to our repertoire that we were already building.” Pierce had been moving down this path for almost a decade, Burke said. It had implemented studentsuccess driven programs like Reading Apprenticeship, Academic Success at Pierce (ASAP) and Statway.

Pierce wanted to find something to add to what it was doing when it went to the first Achieving the

Dream conference, Burke said. That’s when Pierce learned about a program that was focused on orientation, and when it adopted GO Days.

GO, an acronym for get organized, get oriented and get onboard, had another meaning to Burke.

“I like to say, ‘get on with it,’” Burke said.

GO Days was designed to help new students succeed. Data showed that new students who got direction when they started college were more successful than those who did not, Burke said.

“It’s one more tool in our tool belt,” Burke said. “This gave us a leg up on things focused around issues of orientation.”

The leg up came from hard work by faculty and staff. But Joanna Zimring Towne, Pierce’s career center director, was the “heart and soul” behind GO Days, Burke said.

“It’s a proud moment for the college,” Burke said. “It’s been a lot of people, a lot of hard work.” portable buildings,” Sande said. “There are classrooms, a rehearsal room, shops for costumes, shops to build our sets.”

The department has also used a tent as a makeshift performance venue.

“We were fortunate that the school provided us with that and with all of (the rented buildings),” Sande said. “The music department, during this renovation, had to go do all their programs and concerts off campus because the theater tent is not large enough for an orchestra.”

The tent has been an adequate temporary replacement for the theater department, but has had its share of shortcomings, particularly its size.

“The tent is okay, but it’s difficult to work around it, especially if you have a scene with different actors,” Theater major Abby Soskin said.

Harvestand Fun and frights descended on for its tenth anniversary and final Attractions include haunted corn maze, which give Halloween adrenaline fix. Each year, the environmental message spelled reads ‘Pierce Farm 10 Years.’ The friendly activities such as a carousel, hunt of throughout the maze 26 and runs through Sunday, Nov. not to renew the McBroom family’s and the center will cease all activities

Copy: Nick McNamara

and Horrors

the Pierce College Farm Center final Halloween Harvest Festival. haunted houses and a zombie-infested Halloween junkies a chance to get their the corn maze has had a different spelled out in the corn, but this year it The festival also features family carousel, tractor rides, a scavenger and more t he festival began Sept. Nov. 2. Pierce College has elected family’s lease for the Farm Center activities on December 26, 2014.