Faculty Award Banquet 2010

   On the Friday before graduation, the SCC Faculty held their annual award banquet at the Whitmoor Country Club. This year the theme was "the Victorious 1940s" Here are just a few photos from the event.

The Master of Ceremonies for the event was Communications professor Darren Osburn, who entertained us with witty comments and short, haiku poems submitted  by some of the attendees.

SCC professor and radio DJ Michael Kuelker once again provided period music for the day's festivities.

Attendees were encouraged to wear period or patriotic costumes to fit the theme. Here Pam Cilek enjoys refreshments with Deb Phillips, appropriately attired in a bomber jacket and military cap.

I chose a zoot suit as my period outfit. Fortunately, no riots ensued. (Hispanics wearing such attire were attacked by LA residents and soldiers in the early days of World War II).

Michael Banks demonstrates his war exploits to President McGuire and Pam Cilek.

Kevin Patton and Bill Kristen discuss Jitterbug techniques.

Nursing faculty members pose with the retiring Nancy McGough.

Anthropology professor Will Griffin was one of 7 faculty members selected for promotion this year.

Mitch Harden receives his "Adjunct Faculty of the Year Award" from Jill Riethmayer, Dean of Business and Social Sciences.

Chris Breitmeyer gives the same award to Dot Peterson for the Math, Science and Health Department.

Barb Sullivan presents a college photo to retiree Nancy McGough.

Our other retiree this year was Nancy Greenwood, who also got a framed college photo.

The biggest award of the day went to Chemistry professor John Bookstaver. here he receives the "Faculty member of the Year" Award from President John McGuire.

Prom Night 2001

   Every spring, high school students experience an annual tradition, their senior prom. Dressed up in tuxes and long gowns, nervous adolescents awkwardly dance and socialize with each other in a decorated gymnasium. Of course, our college doesn't have a prom, but in 2001, someone decided we should have one. This college-wide event was held in the College Center gym and was complete with music, refreshments and beautifully-dressed couples. Many of the staff from the Learning Resource Center attended the event and people were encouraged to drag out their old prom pictures for a contest. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the pics as well as some taken that night.

Former Health Dean Pat Porterfield wore the classic "cats-eye" eyeglasses.

Former reference librarian Betty Warren's date was a dashing military man. Everyone loves a man in uniform!

Librarian Lori Nash's date was going for the leisure suit look.

Former librarian Lisa Shirey's date went with the traditional white tux.

Librarian Katren Krietemeyer and her date. She looks the same today!

Librarian Theresa Flett looks like a movie star! Her date looks like a young Tom Hanks.

Margaret O'Dea attended her prom with big hair.

Computer technician Kate Mikulin looks a little nervous to me.

Talk about nervous. Here I am with my prom date, my high school sweetheart, Madeline Kline.

Betty Warren still looks good in our updated prom photo.

I didn't know this couple but they were getting in the spirit of things!

Dance experts Stan and Linda were of course in attendance.

Former librarian Fran Stumpf's husband Ken was pretty stylish in his emerald green shirt and yellow tux.

I'm not sure how it happened, but Lisa Shirey and I were chosen Queen and King of the prom.

SCC Graduation 2010

   Probably the biggest event held here at SCC every year is our annual graduation ceremony. Before the construction of the College Center, it used to be held at Fort Zumwalt High School but now our gymnasium just barely accommodates the huge crowd of friends and family members of our graduates. This year was a little unusual since we oriented the seating differently to allow for ramps on both sides of the stage.

Here is a stitched picture showing the new arrangement.

Professor John Walker leads the college orchestra in some background  music before the ceremonies.

I wonder if it is somewhat boring for the musicians since they repeatedly play "Pomp and Circumstance" until everyone is seated and until all of the faculty and graduates leave.

Faculty members Dan Rezny and Bill Kristen discuss proper robing techniques.

Will Griffin and Joe Hartnett look ready for the day's events.

Deborah Crank-Lewis helps Hal Berry achieve the right look as Ron Pettus looks on.

This year was special because we had two members of the Learning Resource Center staff receive their diplomas. Here, a happy Kate Mikulin poses for a final picture.

Karen Krietemeyer from the LRC technical services department proudly poses with Scooter.

Scooter actually wasn't the main speaker (which would probably be difficult since Scooter doesn't speak at all) but he still likes to clown around.

Mea Culpa Time

   It was recently brought to my attention that my blog was somewhat ambiguous in regards to its sponsorship. At first glance, it might seem like it was officially connected to the college in some way since the college seal appeared in the blog header and it was described as being about life at the community college. Looking objectively at the blog, I realized that these criticisms were indeed fair and my flagrant misappropriation of the college logo gave the impression that I had some official sponsorship of my postings.
   In this light, I want to make clear that this blog is entirely my own doing and is not authorized by St. Charles Community College. My inclusion of the college logo into a graphic showing people smoking and drinking does not put our school into a positive light and I apologize for this obvious oversight. I was aware that there are rules about the appropriate use of college logos but in my creative excitement, I failed to see the implications of including it in my blog.
   With that said, I probably owe you a few words about why I am doing this in the first place. Having worked at SCC for over 17 years, I have accumulated a large archive of college history in the form of pictures, publications and videos. I have pondered for some time about ways to share all of this with others in the campus community.
   As you may already know, what we now call "social media" have come to supplant traditional web pages as the method of choice for putting information on the Internet. Many people have already learned that sites like Facebook and Blogger make it so much easier to do this. I recognized that a blog would be the best way to share my "information" and you are seeing the results. Since I create my postings on my own time and the information is not being held on a college server there is no burden on the college for doing it.
    Since I have begun I have received many compliments on my postings and a  number of faculty and staff have come to me asking me to show them how to do it, as well. (The offer still stands for any teachers reading this!)
    If you have looked at the blog, you already know that I am not a disgruntled employee looking to complain and kvetch about campus going-on. Instead, I am doing this because I love working here and I feel privileged to work with such a talented and dedicated group of people. My postings are an attempt to do something positive for SCC and I hope you will see them in the same light.

2009 Career Fair

   Back in January, the college sponsored an extensive majors/career fair in the SSB Auditorium. Although we have had similar events in the past, this was considerably larger and included representatives from all of the academic programs who helped the attending students to make smart choices about their future endeavors.

Joe Hartnett explains the benefits of the SCC Business program.

The Fine Arts department is looking for new students.

These glasses are not the newest fashion trend, they allow people with normal vision to see what a vision problem looks like.

Anyone with a brain would sign up for this program with Lisa Stoner.

This booth demonstrates the importance of healthy eating.

This healthy food looks yummy. Etiquette generally requires you to use dishes, though.

Former Foundation Director Edie Kirk helped out.

Even the Public Safety department had a table at the fair.

Mandi Smith collects evaluations from the student attendees.

Former Board of Trustee member Sally Faith explained the Bridgeway program to attendees.

Will Griffin was promoting the Anthropology program.