The Open Petal | 1

Johnson County Community CollegeSeptember 2013

Culinary building opens

The

Open Petal

President outlines

priorities

Gates grant supports effort

to cut costs

2 | The Open Petal

The name of JCCC’s magazine – The Open Petal – refers to the open petal in

JCCC’s logo (that’s the outlined petal at the bottom). The open petal was an

important element of the old logo, and so we carried it over to the new one as

a symbol of the college’s openness to new ideas. As the new president of Johnson County

Community College, I’m looking forward to the new ideas that our faculty, staff and students

will generate this year. The college has a rich history of innovation and promoting new

initiatives that benefit our students. We look forward to continuing this tradition.

In these early days of my term as president, my intention is to focus attention on the college’s

pursuit of excellence. I’ll ask faculty and staff to work together as we identify key performance

indicators regarding student success, community responsiveness and fiscal responsibility that

will help JCCC maintain the level of quality and the position of leadership we’ve achieved

so far. The best way to do this is through a shared focus. By emphasizing “One Community,

One College, One Goal,” where everyone knows and is focused on our priorities, we can

move forward together to accomplish our shared objectives.

I’m excited about the opportunities we at JCCC have to make a real difference in the

community and in our students’ lives. If we can capitalize on these opportunities and

achieve success together, the future of our college is bright. We look forward to sharing those

opportunities in the pages of this magazine throughout the academic year.

Sincerely,

 

Joe Sopcich

President

The

Open PetalSeptember 2013

EditorDiane Carroll

Associate VP, Marketing CommunicationsJulie Haas

Senior Graphic DesignerRandy Breeden

PhotographerSusan McSpadden

WritersMelodee BlobaumAnne Christiansen-BullersTyler Cundith

Writer/EditorTim 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.

The View From Here

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.

Joe Sopcich

The Open Petal | 3

20

14

18Features 4 Presidential plans Accountability will be key.

8 Culinary delights Tour building at Oct. 6 dedication.

12 The cost of college Gates grant supports initiative.

13 Scholar shares work Film follows lives of spiritual leaders.

14 All about Morocco Documentary shows its beauty.

16 Historic restaurants Professor leads 18th & Vine tour.

18 Lace Up for Learning New run/walk set for Oct. 13.

20 Faculty Senate New group tackles issues.

In Every Issue 2 The View From Here

28 Alumni/Foundation Graduate helps Haitian orphans.

29 Continuing Education New course trains truck drivers.

30 Campus Life

32 Sports Athletes look to opening days.

34 The Rear Window

On the CoverAs Joe Sopcich begins his first academic year as president, he is committed to providing the best possible education at the most efficient cost.

Photo by Susan McSpadden

C O n T E n T S

President shares life stories, vision for collegeBy Diane Carroll

4 | The Open Petal

Joe Sopcich participates in the college’s graduation ceremony in May.

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Some have been single moms. Others have lost their jobs. And quite a few were squeezing by financially.

Those are some of the students Joe Sopcich has taught in his Introduction to Business classes.

“They are on a mission,” said Sopcich, who became president of Johnson County Community College on June 1. “They are not here to go to football games. They are not here to party at the frat and sorority houses. They are not here because of a legacy in their family. They are here because they are serious about education. They are trying to get what education can provide – and that’s a step up.”

As Sopcich begins his first academic year leading the largest community college in Kansas, he is committed to providing that step up for all students.

“I really believe in what the community college does,” he said. “There is a real mission behind it. That’s the beauty of working in a place like this. I don’t know anyone here who would prefer to work at a four-year college because we are proud of what we do.”

His goal is to offer the best quality of instruction and the best student and community services in the most efficient manner dollar-wise. And he hopes to validate how the college stacks up against other community colleges nationwide with research data on performance indicators such as retention, graduation rates and cost per student.

“Taxpayers and legislators are demanding accountability,” he said, “and that’s the kind of

information that needs to get out there. People have to know where we stand.”

Sopcich joined the college in 1992 as the executive director of institutional advancement. He was the executive vice president and chief financial officer when the board of trustees selected him May 9 to succeed retiring Terry Calaway.

The presidential search committee received about three-dozen applications from candidates across the country, including presidents of League for Innovation schools, said Melody Rayl, chair of the search committee and president of the board of trustees at that time.

“As we went through that process and interviewed that highly competitive pool, it became apparent to the search committee that Joe just rose to the top,” Rayl said. “He had the experience, the knowledge of our institution and most importantly the leadership skills to guide the college through the next decade.”

The path takenSopcich gave himself low odds on being selected as president.

In these types of presidential searches, he told college staff during his application period, only 8 percent come from the financial side. And only 20 percent are chosen from in-house.

“That gives me about a 15 percent chance, which is pretty slight,” said Sopcich, one of three finalists at the time. “But I think that’s a good thing. I like being an underdog of that kind. And I think that says a lot for the trustees of this college and for the selection committee to have provided me with the opportunity.”

6 | The Open Petal

The 58-year-old has been rooting for the underdog since he was a youngster growing up in Independence. He and his dad listened to Notre Dame football games on the radio on Saturdays and tuned in for the highlights on television the next day.

They identified with the Fighting Irish, players who often came from hard-working immigrant families like theirs. Then, too, the Sopcichs were Catholic as is the University of Notre Dame.

After graduating from William Chrisman High School, Sopcich enrolled at Notre Dame.

Life-changing experienceSopcich had what he called a life-changing experience while on a 10-month student trip to Santiago, Chile. The priests there ran social programs for children living in the slums; their objective was to understand and discuss the reality of poverty in the Third World.

Sopcich and several other students lived with the families in the poblaciones. He remembers wooden shacks that stood for miles and children with extended bellies. Those who missed a day of kindergarten ran the risk of no food that day.

“At the end of the 10 months, I lost 25 pounds and had a slight strain of hepatitis,” Sopcich said.

Sopcich graduated with a degree in American studies. He could not find a job so he moved back home with his parents. He weighed trucks working nights at the oil refinery in Sugar Creek where his dad worked and saved his money to return to Notre Dame. This time, he was going for a master’s of business administration – a degree that could land him a job.

He got the MBA, and then joined an advertising company in Chicago called Leo Burnett. That’s where he met his wife Stacy. Over the decades, the firm had created iconic brands such as the Marlboro Man and Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger. Sopcich became an account manager for Morris the Cat.

Training ground“The Burnett experience has shaped everything about me,” he said. “Because it was privately held, it was very efficient and very well managed. It was amazing – it was ingenious how they did it. If you didn’t perform you were gone or you decided it was not what you wanted. The hours and the pace were grueling. You just acclimated and you really learned the difference between good supervision and bad supervision. I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum and that was another major influence. You learn how you like being treated and how you should never treat people...It was the best training ground a person could get.”

In the back of his mind, however, were those children in Santiago.

“I had lived with people who had eaten meat only on Christmas and Easter,” he said, “and now I was working on a cat food account.”

With Stacy’s support, he eventually joined a nonprofit. Then the two decided they wanted to raise their children in Kansas City.

In 1992, while meeting with a former director of the Mid-America Arts Alliance in Kansas City, he learned about an opening at JCCC for an executive director of institutional advancement.

Sopcich met that day at the college with former executive director Jackie Snyder. She told him he needed to submit his application by the end of the day because the job opening was closing the next day.

Sopcich got his materials together, rushed over to the Kinkos on Johnson Drive in Mission and sent them in.

Vision for the collegeSopcich sees the college as the heart and soul of the county.

On the one hand, he says, it’s like one giant community center. One day, singer Sheryl Crow might be at Yardley Hall. The next day, area business leaders might meet at the Regnier Center or volunteers could be picking tomatoes at the campus farm.

And, while the college prepares students to go on to four-year universities, it also offers classes in automotive technology and off-site leadership training for companies.

With all of the diverse ways the college interacts with the community, Sopcich said, the challenge is to unify all of the groups with a common goal.

“So it’s one college, one community and one goal,” he said.

“It is really important to build consensus and get everyone on the same page,” he said, adding that the absence of a common goal can be one of the reasons that companies and institutions fail.

Main goalThat brings him back to his main goal: Providing the best quality of education in the most efficient manner cost-wise. He wants to identify a handful of peer institutions – colleges similar in size and mission – and try to outperform them with key performance indicators that can be measured, such as graduation rates and cost per student.

“Then we can watch as we rise up in the standings,” he said.

JCCC’s National Higher Education Benchmarking Institute already is working on identifying performance indicators and researching how much it costs to educate a student. This spring, the institute received a $432,357 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to further its research.

Rayl, who led the search committee, said that Sopcich challenged members of the committee and the board of trustees to justify the claim that the college is one of the best community colleges in the nation. His position was if we are going to make that claim we need to be able to back it up, she said.

“As the board was considering what we really wanted to focus on in the coming years, student success was at the top of our list,” Rayl said. “So were very impressed with his overall philosophy.”

Sopcich said that achieving the goal of being the best would

The Open Petal | 7

be his biggest challenge.

However, he said, “the most important thing when we talk about our biggest challenges is to understand how well equipped we are to take them on.

“I believe that we’ve got a terrific board of trustees, we have an outstanding faculty, we have a fantastic staff of professionals who are working to help promote this college and to serve its students and we’ve got a community that believes in education and that is willing to support it. So when you have all of that working for you, I think it gives us a really good opportunity to make headway on those challenges.”

On his early months: Sopcich said he expected to do a lot of listening. “You can’t just ride in and start doing everything. Even though I am an internal person, I still need to listen because I presume I will hear different things now than I have heard before.” He said he would be encouraging staff to always ask themselves if there is a better way to get the job done.

On the budget: “Our biggest challenge came from the local side when property values went down. We took a hit in 2008. Now valuations are going back up so that is good. When you look at things over the past couple of years, we’ve done a pretty masterful job of using the reserve funds. And so now it’s simply like anything else – you have to step back and look to the future and we feel pretty good about it.” If state funding gets cut in the future, he said, it would hurt. But the college gets only about 15 percent of its revenue from the state, he said, so cutbacks there are not as severe as they would be if state funds made up a larger share.

On enrollment and growth: Enrollment went up significantly during the economic downtown but has slipped the last three semesters. Perhaps the declines are simply a correction, he said, but you always want to increase enrollment. Competition among universities for students is stronger than ever, he said. “We would like to see nice steady growth. You don’t want to lose market share.”

Trustees said that Sopcich’s history with the college would help facilitate a seamless transition with community leaders, stakeholders and college personnel.

“We all know Joe from his years of service to the college,” trustee Greg Musil said, “and so we know of his loyalty, we know of his character and we know of his integrity.”

Another beneficial asset that Sopcich brings to the table is his wife Stacy, Musil said. “She will be a great first lady and ambassador for the college.”

Rayl said she believes that it’s important for anyone in a leadership role at the college to have contact with students in the classroom because that is really what the college’s mission is about.

Sopcich said he plans to continue teaching.

He likes to open a semester by asking his students to share something about themselves.

“It’s amazing when you hear the challenges that some of our Artist Stan Herd is known internationally for his earthworks.

About Joe Sopcich• Grew up in Independence down the street from

Harry Truman’s home.

• Earned a bachelor of arts and master in business administration from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate from the University of Kansas.

• Joined JCCC in 1992 as executive director of institutional advancement.

• Was serving as the college’s executive vice president and chief financial officer when the board of trustees selected him as president on May 9.

• Family includes wife Stacy and children Eli, 22, who works at an advertising agency in New York City and Kate, 20, a student at KU.

Dedication, commitment led to culinary academy

By Melodee Blobaum

8 | The Open Petal

Lindy Robinson, who oversees the Hospitality and Culinary Academy, enjoys lunch after leading a tour of the building last spring, when it was still under construction.

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The hospitality management program at Johnson County Community College has long relied on a secret ingredient to

give it a successful flavor.

Sometimes it’s homegrown. Sometimes it’s imported. It comes in lots of sizes and types.

The ingredient?

People. Founders who went the extra mile to get the program started in the 1970s. Instructors who are dedicated to their work. Students who love the program enough to come back and be instructors themselves.

People like Jerry Vincent, who came to JCCC in 1973 as the school’s food service director, but also had hopes for starting a hospitality management program.

People like Pat Sweeney, who was one of the first full-time culinary instructors and who believes that commitment to the program is what makes it great.

People like Lindy Robinson, JCCC dean of business, who holds an associate’s degree from the JCCC hospitality program along with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ottawa University, and who worked in the industry and then returned to JCCC to become first an instructor and then the program’s chair.

All of them, along with others, have helped bring the program to where it is today: Moving into a new building called the Hospitality and Culinary Academy. The public is invited to the building’s dedication and open house on Sunday, Oct. 6, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Vincent recalls then-business division director Jim Vomhoff making a promise in 1973 when Vincent arrived at JCCC: If Vincent could get the food service program operating at a profit, then Vincent could offer a hospitality management certificate.

In 1975, nine students began their training in a basement kitchen in the Commons building, sharing space with food service.

The culinary academy, awaiting finishing touches in July, will be open for fall classes.

10 | The Open Petal

Again, Vomhoff made a promise to Vincent: if those nine students completed the one-year certificate program, JCCC would make it a two-year degree.

“It was step by step,” Vincent said. “First, I had to get those nine students to complete the program.”

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chef’s Association, the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation, was considering developing a chef apprenticeship program. Penn Valley Community College in Kansas City, Mo., already had a hospitality management program. Leaders there agreed that the metropolitan area could support two hospitality management programs and supported the idea of a similar program at JCCC. As a result, JCCC became one of the first community colleges in the nation to undergo the accreditation process with the ACF.

Last year, the JCCC hospitality management program was recognized as one of only three in the nation continuously accredited by the ACF for 25 years. It’s one of only 28 in the nation recognized as an exemplary program by the ACF Education Foundation Accrediting Commission.

By the mid-1980s, the program had outgrown the single kitchen in the Commons. When the Office and Classroom building opened, it included two culinary labs.

The program continued to grow, and more kitchens were added over the years, with the most recent addition, located

in room 133 of that building, the first to include gas stoves, Robinson said.

In August, the program moves into its own building, featuring five culinary labs, an innovation kitchen and a culinary theatre, as well as a dining room and

office space. All of the kitchens include gas stoves, which is a highlight for Robinson.

As the program grew, instructors were added: John Drysdale, who taught management classes; Sweeney, who taught in the basement kitchen; John Joyce, who arrived via the Marriott hotel and had worked for British Airways and who helped establish the culinary team’s winning tradition.

Vincent’s work with the ACF and Drysdale’s work with the International Hotel and Restaurant Association helped build JCCC’s reputation, Drysdale said, but it was the culinary team that put JCCC on the culinary map.

“When the culinary teams started winning, all of a sudden other schools, academia nationwide, started taking notice of Johnson County,” Drysdale recalled.

Vincent added, “In the very beginning, if we said we were from Kansas City and were in culinary, everybody would laugh a little bit. But soon everybody quit laughing.”

The culinary team is the only one in the nation that has competed in the R.L. Shriver Apprenticeship competition for all 20 years of that competition’s existence. In 2000, the culinary team was chosen to compete at the world Olympics in

“In the very beginning, if we said we were from Kansas City and were in culinary, everybody would laugh a little bit. But soon everybody quit laughing.”– Jerry Vincent

On the spring tour of the building were former trustee Bob Drummond, trustee Stephanie Sharp, Lindy Robinson and trustee Melody Rayl.

The Open Petal | 11

Germany, where they finished in second place, and members have traveled extensively internationally, Robinson said.

Those international invitations don’t come by chance. Robinson said JCCC culinary teams are invited to compete because the competition sponsors know the students will show up ready to compete at a high-quality level. She credits the coaches with the team’s excellence.

Vincent credits the program’s success to the quality of its instructors.

“What made the program known was the quality of the instructors who worked to make the graduates a little stronger than some of the other programs,” he said.

Sweeney agreed that faculty was committed to the students and their work as instructors.

“The instructors put the extra effort in,” he said.

Typically, an instructor might be asked to be in class 15 hours a week and hold office hours five hours a week, Sweeney said. But culinary instructors need at least another 15 hours a week to prepare for class, ordering food and setting up the kitchen, then logging additional hours grading papers and checking log books.

“Commitment is what made the program,” he said. “You can have all kinds of passion, but you have to give the commitment to it. If you have the commitment, the program will be a success.”

Vincent also gave credit to the program’s support staff. Judy Boley, for example, who recently retired as the program’s administrative

assistant, kept track of the paperwork for apprenticeships.

Though JCCC’s culinary program graduates work in restaurants around the globe, some, like Robinson, return to JCCC to teach the craft to a new generation of students. Jerry Marcellus, professor of hospitality management, and Edward Adel, Jason Gray and Aaron Prater, all assistant professors, are all program graduates who returned to JCCC to teach.

Regardless of where they studied, each of the teachers has one thing in common: they’ve worked in the industry.

“They know what it would take for someone to be successful,” Robinson said. “They’re tough with students. They don’t give them byes.”

JCCC’s hospitality management grads don’t just benefit from rigorous classroom and kitchen-lab experience. Whether they’re graduates of the chef apprenticeship, food and beverage management or hotel and lodging management program, Robinson said the students work in the industry while they go to school. Chefs log 6,000 hours in professional kitchens over the course of the three-year chef apprenticeship programs.

That’s 2,000 more hours than the 4,000 required by the ACF and the Department of Labor, but Robinson said it’s what the industry expects from JCCC grads.

To help students get that work experience, JCCC works with restaurants, hotels, hospitals, country clubs, casinos, assisted care facilities, convention centers and more, placing students in roughly 125 workplaces that meet the college’s standards.

See the new building The new Hospitality and Culinary Academy, which opened with the start of the fall semester, will be dedicated at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6, in the building on the east side of campus. Food and activities will be offered throughout the afternoon, as well as a free gift for all visitors.

Become a Friend with Taste

The JCCC Foundation presents “Friends with Taste,” a culinary membership group with benefits that include culinary events and online recognition.

The group offers three membership levels:

Devotee ($100): includes invitations to exclusive Friends with Taste events.

Aficionado ($250): invitations to Friends with Taste events and advance notice of special culinary events.

Connoisseur ($500): invitations to Friends with Taste events, advance notice of special culinary events and recognition on the Friends with Taste web page.

Friends with Taste memberships will support scholarships for JCCC hospitality and culinary students, assist with team expenses at culinary competitions and support innovative work in the new building’s classrooms, such as visits from chefs.

For more information, contact Roseanne Becker, program director, campaigns and gifts, at 913-469-8500, ext. 2718.

12 | The Open Petal

With the support of a Gates Foundation grant, Johnson County Community College has undertaken an initiative to develop and implement a benchmarking system that will

allow community colleges to assess the cost of 18 activities related to teaching, student services and academic support.

The effort includes an incentive for faculty and administrators to streamline costs by allowing them to carry over at least part of the savings for other instructional needs, said project leader Patrick Rossol-Allison, director of JCCC’s National Higher Education Benchmarking Institute.

“Community colleges are not likely to get more funding over the next decade and that means we have to use the existing resources that we have and make sure we use them in a way that benefits students the most,” Rossol-Allison said. “Information about community college costs can lead to a better understanding of where efficiencies can be achieved.”

The initiative, named Maximizing Resources for Student Success, has the word “student” in its title for a reason, said Jason Kovac, JCCC’s executive director of academic initiatives.

“The project is student-focused,” Kovac said. “We’re collecting this data so colleges become more efficient, so that students don’t have to experience tuition raises every semester, so communities don’t have to suffer tax increases every year. We’re hoping to help peer institutions think critically and creatively about how they do what they do and ultimately help some students in the process.”

Improving efficiencies, Rossol-Allison said, could help higher education leaders meet President Obama’s 2009 challenge to produce the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Community colleges are in a unique position to respond to the challenge, Rossol-Allison said, because of their affordable tuition, open admission policies and flexible course schedules.

In March, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded

a $432,357 grant to the benchmarking institute. Working with the institute will be the Delta Cost Project, based in Washington.

The Kansas Board of Regents and 10 community colleges, including Kansas City’s Metropolitan Community College, had agreed to participate in a pilot of the project. Other colleges were being recruited. Since 2004, more than 450 community colleges have participated in prior research projects led by JCCC’s benchmarking institute.

The first priority will be creating a data collection tool. Once that is completed, the Delta Cost Project will work with community college chief financial and academic officers to produce a guide to help colleges understand how to use it.

The benchmarking tool will help college officials determine a cost for faculty activities such as course planning, teaching, tutoring, advising and grading. In the area of student services, they will assess the cost of 10 activities, including the costs of providing financial aid, testing and career planning. In the area of academic support, officers will assess the costs of providing computer support, library services and tutoring.

“Most college budgets are the size of a phone book with many pages and numbers in it,” Rossol-Allison said. “In those budgets, we are able to see how much we spend. What we don’t know is how much instruction and student services at community colleges really cost.”

To remove any sense of competition among colleges, the individual results of each college will not be shared with participating institutions.

“We want to give colleges the tools to improve at their own pace, with their own tools,” Rossol-Allison said. “There’s no incentive to cheat.”

The institute has until February to build the project, Rossol-Allison said, and he expects to begin collecting data around that time. He hopes to report the results next summer.

Gates grant fuels effort to reduce costsBy Diane Carroll

Patrick Rossol-Allison

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Filmmaker Cynthia Lukas brings her documentary Globalized Soul to

Johnson County Community College for a special showing at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, followed by a panel discussion on religion and peace initiatives.

Globalized Soul: Stories from the Tipping Point to a New World was filmed on five continents and begins at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. The piece then follows the lives of spiritual and religious leaders, ending in a rare Abrahamic reunion of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Nazareth.

The film will be screened in Hudson Auditorium in the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. At the film’s end, Lukas will answer questions from the audience and sit with a panel of local spiritual leaders and scholars to discuss religion and the pursuit of peace in a globalized society.

“I think we all realize that we live in a globalized society, that we are all alike in more ways than we are different, and that is the unifying message,” Lukas said.

The film includes commentary from Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Sister Joan Chittister and the Rev. James Trapp, among others. The accompanying music is by Enya, Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass.

Admission is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.

Lukas, a former instructor at a community college in Arizona, will be visiting JCCC as part of the college’s scholar-in-residence program. In addition to the screening, she will be honored at a 6 p.m. reception Sept. 18 in the atrium of the Regnier Center, and she’ll visit various JCCC classes on Sept. 19.

Dennis Arjo, professor and chair of the philosophy and

religion department, said Lukas’ visit will help students and community members explore the diversity of religions and cultures throughout the world.

“The film has broad appeal, and is very visually engaging. And it’s a nice way to explore

significant questions in an immediate way,” Arjo said. “The approach is very ecumenical, discussing how religions over-lap and how they can cooperate. It’s definitely not divisive.”

JCCC’s philosophy department annexed the field of religious studies only three years ago. Before then, religion classes at the college were offered, but they lacked ownership. With philosophy’s recent “adoption” of the classes, Arjo thinks this scholar-in-residence will be just the start to community events at JCCC regarding peace and religion.

“Often people don’t know much about certain religions beyond saying, ‘I know that people of this religion dress a certain way’ or ‘These people have dots on their foreheads,’” Arjo said. “I think we need to get beyond that and into more substantive areas and see where people disagree, where they agree and where they overlap. The world is much more diverse, and religion is a great part of that.”

Globalized Soul was chosen as the featured film for the 30th anniversary of the United Nations International Day of Peace, and since then, it’s been screened at various interfaith conferences, colleges and universities.

Lukas said she loves coming to colleges to share her film. She was a teacher at a community college in Arizona for 20 years before she began filmmaking with partner Kell Kearns.

“I love students,” Lukas said. “I love the college atmosphere, and I love the fact that we’re able to offer this inclusive film about diversity around the world.”

Do you have a ‘globalized soul?’Documentary focuses on world’s cultures and religions

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers

Cynthia Lukas

“Often people don’t know much about certain religions beyond saying, ‘I know that people of this religion dress a certain way’ or ‘These people have dots on their foreheads.’ I think we need to get beyond that …” – Dennis Arjo

14 | The Open Petal

The exquisite world of beautiful Morocco College scholar to present documentaries she created

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers

Professor Stephanie Nuria Sabato will show her films at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26.

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Morocco’s beauty and culture will be the focus of the first College Scholar presentation for 2013 at Johnson County Community College.

Morocco! The Exquisite and the Challenged will include short films and a brief lecture by Stephanie Nuria Sabato, professor of graphic design at JCCC who was a Fulbright Scholar to Morocco.

The public presentation will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, in Hudson Auditorium in the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. A reception for Sabato will precede the event at 6:30 p.m. in the Atrium of the Regnier Center.

Describing her films as “crystalline moments in time and space,” Sabato said she plans to show four documentaries. The films are set to Moroccan music acquired during her travels. Image and sound merge to transport the viewer into the world she experienced.

Three of the films will tell the story of a place, one each for the cities of Rabat, Essaouria and Fes, while the fourth, titled On the Road: Morocco, shares with the audience Sabato’s overland journey throughout the country.

“I feel so fortunate to be given the opportunity to go on that Fulbright trip,” Sabato said. “What a great gift to be included. Who wouldn’t celebrate such an opportunity – to tour the country with a Moroccan host, to meet incredible people, to meet other scholars in Morocco whom I’ve become friends with and collaborate with to this day.

“The word I kept using, and it just keeps coming up, is ‘exquisite,’ in every way,” she said, and hence the title of her presentation.

“I wanted to give these movies to the college as a gift, and share them. I don’t think those moments are meant to just be grasped and held for oneself. They’re meant to be shared,” she said.

Sabato said she took thousands of photographs during that 2008 trip, using her eye for design in both the composition of the photos and the visual components of the film.

Even with that many source photos, Sabato said the films seemed to put themselves together based on the memories in her head.

“I see things in a certain way,” she said. “It’s very spacial, but there’s more to it than that. There’s a whole archetypal element where I feel the space, I hear the sounds, so for me I make visual connections along with music that results in visual storytelling.”

She’ll also be addressing the culture of Morocco and how it seeks to form its own unique identity. Due in part to its location on the coast of northwest Africa, Morocco has been influenced by Middle Eastern, African and European cultures as will be evidenced in the visual work presented.

“It’s so beautiful. When we were there, the country had been in a 15-year drought. You could feel the thirst of the land. Yet the dryness of the landscape was powerful and primal. Then, an oasis would appear – like a mirage – and you ask yourself, ‘Where did this come from?’ It really is quite literary, like a tale in 1001 Arabian Nights.”

She presented three of the four films at an international conference in California in 2012.

“Moroccans who were there at the conference came up to me with tears in their eyes, saying ‘Thank you so much for what you’ve shown of our country,’” Sabato said. “It was really touching … I believe that everyone should know more about each other. Peace through the arts is possible.”

Sabato has a master of fine arts in visual communications. She has lived overseas off and on the last 20 years, setting up homes in the Middle East, Europe and India. She also hosted two scholars from Morocco while they visited JCCC and worked with students.

The College Scholar program at JCCC showcases faculty excellence in research fields that go beyond the classroom to make scholarly contributions to knowledge within the professor’s academic discipline.

Learn about the history of food in Kansas CityProfessor shares her research on historical dining in her hometown

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers

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Chesterfield Club (with Sanderson’s next door), 320 E. 9th St., Kansas City, Mo., courtesy Chuck Haddix, Stomp Photographs, UMKC Special Collections

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Food history has been a research niche for Johnson County Community College’s Andrea Broomfield, but up until now, her culinary curiosity has taken her to the East Coast and to Europe.

This fall, her historical research will keep her closer to home as Broomfield, professor of English, discusses the food history of Kansas City.

Broomfield, one of two College Scholars for fall semester 2013, will be offering two engaging presentations: an historical culinary tour of the 18th and Vine district Oct. 25 and a reception and lecture on the history of food in all of Kansas City Oct. 29.

For the tour, JCCC vans will depart the college at 2:30 p.m. Oct 25 to take participants to the iconic 18th and Vine district from 3 to 5 p.m.

“Touring the area gives people the importance of actuality,” Broomfield said. “Standing on the street corner imbues one with a sense of the place’s importance, even if that place isn’t there anymore.”

Broomfield will lead the culinary walking tour. (For more information on signing up for the tour, contact Tom Grady, faculty development coordinator, at 913-469-8500, ext. 3370, or at tgrady@jccc.edu.)

Some of the restaurants that defined the district have closed, but others, such as the legendary Blue Room, remain in business. Jazz and the Negro Leagues of baseball are celebrated in museums in the area, but food of the area can be overlooked, Broomfield said.

“The area had amazing food,” she said. “But what complicates the issue is that we’re talking about a place people were forced to live,” she said, referring to the forced segregation of blacks from whites.

“The district is a result of the bad race relations of Kansas City, but it also allows us to look at the positive consequences of the area,” Broomfield said.

“The 18th and Vine district was the area where African-American community leaders could come together,” she said,

and it introduced a new palate of flavors to white visitors who may have come for the jazz but stayed for dinner, too.

The entirety of Kansas City’s culinary history will be the topic of Broomfield’s Oct. 29 presentation. After a 6:30 p.m. reception in the Atrium of the Regnier Center, Broomfield will speak at 7 p.m. in Hudson Auditorium of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. The public is encouraged to attend.

She plans on providing a quick food history of the metro from its purpose as a supply stop on the Santa Fe trail to its heyday as a purveyor of fine cuts of beef before seguing to a discussion of restaurants.

“The whole purpose of Kansas City – geographically – was to outfit people to move west,” she said. “People came to Westport (as opposed to loading up on supplies in Independence, Mo.) because there was only one river to navigate instead of the two in Independence. And so Westport was built to respond to that supply need.”

She’ll introduce the audience to six different restaurants and explain how their history reflects the history of the Kansas City area.

One example, Broomfield said, will be The Golden Ox, a steakhouse created near the stockyards for farmers who brought their cattle to market.

“It’s the first steakhouse in our collective memory, so of course its history is important,” she said.

For Broomfield, who grew up in northern Kansas City, Mo., and graduated from the University of Kansas, studying Kansas City cuisine is a chance to compare her hometown to her other research. She’s written about food as it relates to class distinctions using the meals aboard the Titanic and the restaurants of England in the early 1900s.

Even in seemingly egalitarian America, class, race and income is reflected in food choices, she said.

“These restaurants are incredibly important to help understand the culture of Kansas City,” Broomfield said.

Hotel Muelhbach Westport Room Nifty & Dandy Club Street Hotel with Blue Room

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Joggers pass by the college’s red barn on the west side of campus during an event last year.

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Think you can run faster than a 58-year-old?

Here’s your chance to lace up your running shoes and find out.

Johnson County Community College will present the inaugural Lace Up for Learning 5K Run-Walk on Sunday, Oct. 13. The race starts at 8 a.m. and the 3.2-mile course loops around the JCCC campus. Proceeds from the race benefit scholarships for JCCC students.

And that’s where the 58-year-old runner comes in. Joe Sopcich, 58, the new JCCC president, plans to run in the race. He’s agreed to donate $1 for scholarships for every person who finishes ahead of him in the race.

How fast do you need to be? In two 5K races in 2012, Sopcich finished in 25:36. That was 82nd overall in one, 100th overall in the other. Surely you can beat that, if you start training right now.

Even if you don’t beat the president’s time, you’ll still be helping students at JCCC, as all race fees will benefit scholarships. The entry fee is $22 online (plus a $3 online convenience fee) through Friday, Oct. 11, or at packet pick-up on Saturday, Oct. 12. The cost is $30 on race day. There will be discount pricing for those registering as a team.

If feeling good about helping others isn’t enough to make you sign up, consider the swag that accompanies the race: a T-shirt for every runner or walker, a special gift for all race finishers and free food for everyone.

But you don’t have to stop there. JCCC is looking for race sponsors. Various sponsor levels are available — $500, $1,000 and $1,500 — with opportunities to reach the running audience. If you would like to be a sponsor, please contact Kate Allen at the JCCC Foundation at 913-469-2712 or kateallen@jccc.edu.

All about the raceRace start: 8 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 13

Race location: Johnson County Community College, Overland Park

Cost: $22 online (plus $3 convenience fee) through Friday, Oct. 11, or at packet pickup Saturday, Oct. 12

$30 on race day, Sunday, Oct. 13, at JCCC

Packet pick-up: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Garry Gribbles Running Sports, 119th and Quivira Road

Other information: • Chip timing

• Certified 5K course

• Medals to top three finishers in each 5-year age group. Awards to top overall male and female and the top masters male and female

• T-shirts for all runners

• Special gift for all race finishers

• Free food for everyone

Registration and information is available at www.jccc.edu/laceup5K

Inaugural 5K run-walk supports student scholarshipsBy Melodee Blobaum

20 | The Open Petal

For the first time, Johnson County Community College will open the academic year with a faculty organization that represents all instructors, including

those who are part-time.

Faculty voted to establish the Faculty Senate during the spring 2013 semester and then elected 26 of their peers as senators. Five of the senators are adjuncts, faculty who work part-time.

“The faculty felt that there needed to be something that would unquestionably represent all faculty members and all adjuncts,” said Vincent Clark, Faculty Senate president and professor/chair of history and political science. “They wanted an organization that would deal with all issues of concern to the faculty, especially academic issues, and give faculty another means in which to participate in shared governance.”

Before the semester ended, the senate compiled a list of issues that it plans to work on during the 2013-2014 academic year. It includes researching the appropriate ratio of full-time to part-time faculty, streamlining college-wide committees, and consulting with the instructional deans’ council and the president’s cabinet on prioritizing full-time faculty replacements.

The list also includes creating proposals for merit pay and modifying the rank system, establishing a relationship of trust and shared governance with the board of trustees, and researching health-care insurance for adjuncts.

Senate leaders hope the senate will be seen as the first point of contact for the administration and other entities on campus that seek faculty input.

“We are looking at trying to be a true voice for every faculty member,” said Irene Schmidt, senate secretary and an adjunct professor of foreign language.

The senate’s constitution states that the senate was designed be a forum for faculty to contribute to the development of broad college policies and initiatives. Its leaders say it will complement and not replace the college’s existing institutions such as the Faculty Association and the Educational Affairs Committee.

The Faculty Association will continue to serve as the collective-bargaining unit for full-time faculty, and the Educational Affairs Committee will continue to handle curriculum matters related to changes in courses, degrees and certificates. The senate’s makeup includes representatives from both of those groups.

The Faculty Association will still serve as the faculty’s voice in contractual matters, said Deborah Williams, president of the Faculty Association. The senate is in its formative stage and “how it evolves will be determined by how we define it,” she said, “and to a large extent how receptive the board of trustees and administration are to it.”

“At the very least, the Faculty Senate can play a really important role in an advisory capacity on matters of importance to the faculty,” she said. “I like that it provides

Members of the JCCC Faculty Senate meet last spring to talk about issues they want to address this year.

Faculty join to address their mutual concernsBy Diane Carroll

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a forum for adjunct issues to be voiced. I look forward to working cooperatively with the Faculty Senate.”

Nathan Jones, who attended senate meetings during the spring semester while he was chair of the Educational Affairs Committee, said the committee was never set up to deal with important yet tangential issues such as campus safety, air quality or land usage. In the past, he said, “I have been pushed by some faculty members to take up these non-curriculum issues and I have refused.

“They would argue, ‘But these issues are important and need to be discussed by faculty.’ True. But not by Ed Affairs. Fortunately, we now have a Faculty Senate which is an excellent legitimate venue for discussing issues outside the curriculum review process.”

The idea of establishing the senate surfaced in fall 2011 when former JCCC President Terry Calaway asked why the college didn’t have one during a meeting of the Faculty Association. The association set up a task force to investigate the possibility of creating a senate and by fall 2012 had the makings of a proposed constitution.

After Calaway announced that he would retire in summer 2013, the rush was on to hold senate elections and get the organization up and running, said Marsha Cousino, a senator and professor/librarian.

“It’s been a really fast and somewhat chaotic start but things are up and running and I see a great amount of enthusiasm from the people who are participating,” Cousino said before classes ended last spring.

Most colleges the size of JCCC have a faculty senate, the task force’s research showed. The faculty senates at the state universities in Kansas meet together regularly, Cousino said. She hopes that JCCC’s senators will be welcome to join them.

“We’ve been missing out,” Cousino said. “There is a huge direct line of communication that we have never been a part of. A lot of our students feed into the University of Kansas, Kansas State and Pittsburg State so truly there are a lot of common interests.”

While the senate’s power will be limited, it will be free to address virtually any issue of concern.

“Where the Senate Faculty will go in the future is re-ally up to the faculty here at JCCC,” Cousino said. “If they want it to be meaning-ful, it will be.”

These are some of the senate’s 26 members.

Faculty Senate members for 2013-14Rhonda BarlowChristine ButaVincent ClarkMarsha Cousino Dave DavisBrenda EdmondsDave EllisDamon FeuerbornMaureen FitzpatrickHugh ForbesSteve GiambroneMelanie HarveyTerry HelmickJames HopperTom HughesDiane KappenKay KingCherie LeikerJim LeikerTheresa McChesneyRon PalcicLorie PaldinoBob ParkerIrene SchmidtJennifer VasquezJoe Weis

Farm to table in practiceFood from JCCC’s campus farm feeds students and staff

By Anne Christiansen-Bullers

Stephanie Ballantyne volunteers at the campus farm.

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Atop a rise in the northwest corner of campus, rows and rows of green onions pop through holes cut in landscape fabric. Nearby, circles of herbs battle for a chance to reach sunward.

In only a matter of weeks, if the weather cooperates, these precocious plants will have traveled from the Horticultural Science Building, where they began as pinpoint seeds, to the enriched soil just south of College Boulevard, to the eager hands of students studying sustainable agriculture.

From there, it’s only a short walk to the kitchens of Dining Services in the Commons basement. Chefs there perform the magic that makes produce into food, and voila! The circle is complete.

In microcosm, Johnson County Community College is participating in the farm-to-table movement.

Mike Ryan, community outreach manager for the JCCC farm, said providing produce to Dining Services at JCCC has been one of his goals since he helped start the farm in 2010.

Jay Glatz, manager of dining services, said he has appreciated the exchange as well. “The prices they’ve set are very

competitive, and you don’t have to guess how long the produce has been sitting around,” he said. “You just know it’s fresh.”

After the drought of 2012, it’s hard to get any real average production figures from the 2-1/2 acre farm. (“Last year was dismal,” Ryan laments. “Let’s not even talk about last year.”)

But the year before, when Mother Nature seemed in a grow-ing mood, Dining Services bought 255 pounds of produce from the campus farm, according to Glatz.

This year, Ryan sat down with Dining Services’ new head chef, Marc McCann, and asked him what he’d like to be able to buy from the farm. McCann said he chose items that are difficult to get from the local produce supplier.

“If you choose items in limited quantities – such as heirloom tomatoes – the supplier might run out before you get your order, or you might be promised a certain amount one day, only to have them delay the order. That’s tough when you have a catered dinner planned, and you need those tomatoes,” he said.

McCann also suggested some unique varieties of squash

Students help out during a campus farm workday.

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Preserving the produceOne challenge Dining Services faces in using produce from the campus farm is that much of the produce is harvested during the summer, when the number of people on campus – and the potential for hungry customers – drops by 52 percent.

The solution? Chef Marc McCann requested varieties of vegetables and herbs that were easy to freeze. He and his staff will then use the produce when students return for the fall semester.

The biggest problem with preserving the produce is not in the preservation itself; it’s dealing with customer attitudes toward what food looks like without artificial dyes.

“We can make tomato sauce from some varieties of frozen tomatoes, but without the dye the jarred sauces add, our sauce is more of an orange than a bright red,” McCann said. “Thankfully, with more people seeking out healthier food, they’re realizing that’s what the sauce is supposed to look like in its natural form.”

and herbs so he could test his culinary muscles. Items like “purple ruffled basil” and “white eggplant” rarely appear on the usual produce list, but they’re being custom-grown on the JCCC farm.

“We’re like everybody; we get into a rut,” McCann said. “This gives us a chance to try new things, experiment with new tastes, maybe deal with a vegetable we haven’t addressed before and use it creatively.”

It also gives students a chance to try out “new” growing methods that are sometimes just a throwback to the old way of doing things.

“I’d say about 95 to 96 percent of what we’re teaching out here are methods from 100 years ago,” Ryan said. “What we’re doing can be compared to residential gardening, but just on an exponential scale.”

Students who are enrolled in the sustainable agriculture entrepreneurship certificate program are required to work at the JCCC farm for one-third of their class contact hours.

Planning, planting, harvesting, delivering, marketing, selling and bookkeeping are a part of any sustainable ag business, so students learn by doing.

Tom Shepard, a sustainable agriculture student with 13 acres south of Topeka, said he dreams of one day opening his own gardening and produce business. He already grows onions, garlic, potatoes and asparagus, and 20 new fruit trees recently joined the old orchard on his property.

He learned a new way to plant onions to keep the weeds down, using landscaping fabric instead of a more traditional mulch of straw or other organic matter.

“I’ve tried all types of gardening over the years,” Shepard said. “In fact, in class here I’m known as ‘the old guy.’ But I’m always willing to try something new, even if some of these ‘new’ methods are 50 years old.”

Victoria Anderson, another sustainable ag student, said, “It feels good to get my hands dirty – both literally and figuratively – in this business. I enjoy being around like-minded people who have different approaches to gardening. There’s a real camaraderie that is also being ‘cultivated,’ and I like that,” she said.

Volunteers pick peppers by the peck.

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This ‘city slicker’ runs the JCCC campus farm

You’d expect a guy with the nickname of “Farmer Mike” to have been born into a family of farmers, perhaps someplace out in western Kansas or Nebraska.

But you’d be looking in the wrong direction. “Farmer Mike” Ryan, community outreach manager for the 2.5-acre farm on the Johnson County Community College campus, is from suburban Chicago. And he has a bachelor’s degree in English, not in agriculture.

But, as Ryan explains, “I’ve always been really good with my hands, and I’ve liked fixing things and getting dirty.”

In fact, it was during his enrollment in a welding class at JCCC that he heard about the college’s emerging sustainable agriculture entrepreneurship program. He enrolled in the very first cohort.

The class worked in the fields of the Kansas State University Research and Extension Center in west Olathe, miles from the JCCC campus. The space was large, but the commute was long.

When the decision was made to move the practicum experience onto the JCCC campus, Ryan was hired to manage the farm.

“The buck stops with me,” he said. “I oversee the daily operations of what happens on a farm. I plan, I plant, I manage the equipment. It’s not so different from what you’d see on any other farm.”

Of course, Ryan’s “farmhands” are different. They’re students – most from the very sustainable agriculture entrepreneur certificate program from which he graduated.

“I love working with the students,” he said. “We have different types of students coming through our program. Some just want to learn to grow food, but there’s a wide range in people’s goals; they’re not just all wanting to sell at the local farmer’s market.

“Some are very big into food equity and see food as a means for social justice,” Ryan said. “Others are learning about agriculture for faith-based ministries, usually because they want to go out and do missionary work. They recognize that learning how to grow food is part of a greater social movement.”

Ryan also said some students are drawn to agriculture for the same reasons the farmers have been drawn to it for centuries: the focus on creation, the solitude in communing with nature and the chance to be your own boss.

“I really enjoy seeing the students become more sure of themselves,” he said.

Stu Shafer, professor and chair of sustainable agriculture,

Farmer Mike

said of Ryan, “Sharing the same kind of non-farm background as many of our students, Mike relates to them very well and shows them that lack of experience is not an absolute barrier to a successful career in sustainable agriculture.”

The outreach part of Ryan’s title means he also provides tours of the farm to community groups and discusses with them the philosophy of sustainable agriculture.

For one recent community event, 220 sixth-graders descended onto campus as part of a school field trip.

“We talked about the locality of our food and the importance of healthy eating choices,” he said. “I’ve gotten to work with so many different age groups, so many different kinds of people. That’s what makes this a great job.”

Kim Criner, sustainable education and engagement coordinator for JCCC, works with Ryan on these types of educational programs.

“I am always impressed with how versatile Mike is at engaging all types of farm visitors, from grade-schoolers to administrators,” she said. “And he always reminds our campus constituents, ‘This is the Campus Farm. It’s your farm. So come on out anytime.’”

Mike Ryan

26 | The Open Petal

On a windy spring day, Johnson County Community College dedicated its latest acquisition of art

– an earthwork called Kansa.

Lawrence artist Stan Herd created the indigenous design, which uses the earth as its canvas and plants as its paints. Collaborating with him on the project were numerous people and departments from the college, including the Center for American Indian Studies, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and the Kansas Studies Institute.

The site is situated on a quarter acre of land on the west side of the campus between the outdoor horticulture garden and the road leading to the sports parking lots. Perennial plants give the artwork some consistency but horticultural science students and others will use annuals to experiment with changing the look for every growing season.

College dedicates Kansa

Aerial photo by Jon Blumb

At the ceremony were Jim Leiker (from left) with the Kansas Studies Institute, Terry Calaway, former college president, artist Stan Herd and Bruce Hartman with the Nerman Museum.

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College dedicates Kansa

Ron Brave chants a prayer of thanks for all involved.

Robert IronEyes uses sage as a way to “create an opening” and cleanse the mind of all bad thoughts.

Stan Herd creates earthworks around the world. The design incorporates flowers and other plantings.

28 | The Open Petal

What she thought might just be another office job turned out to be a way to help Haitian orphans and make a real difference in the world for JCCC

alumna Julie Glowacki.

Glowacki graduated from Johnson County Community College’s business office technology program with an administrative assistant associate’s degree. She now works with the non-profit organization Danita’s Children based in Orlando, Fla.

The goal of Danita’s Children is to improve the lives and living conditions of Haitian children, especially the 8 percent of all children in Haiti without parents.

“Through my network, I learned of a position within Danita’s Children. No one seemed to know what the position was, only that it was in an office and they were looking for someone with ‘office skills,’” she said.

Due in large part to the skills she learned while at JCCC, she got the job. But not all her work has been in the office. She recently traveled to Haiti with Danita’s Children founder and CEO Danita Estrella-Watts to learn firsthand what the organization is doing to help Haiti.

According to the nonprofit’s website, Danita’s Children:

• Provides homes for 110 orphans. More homes are being built so that number can increase.

• Funds a school for 350 Haitian students.

• Runs a food program that provides 18,000 meals a month.

• Operates a Christian church serving 500 people.

• Finds medical care for Haitian children. A dental clinic is up and running, a medical clinic is being built and a children’s hospital is planned when funds are available.

Glowacki is project coordinator for the Won by One sponsorship program for Danita’s Children. Donors agree to give $29 a month to sponsor a specific child in Haiti, and that money is used to feed, clothe and medically treat that child.

“I oversee the sponsorship program and am heavily involved in project management,” Glowacki said. “I could not be happier here and am daily using the skills the whole (business office technology) department at JCCC taught me. Really, there is no class that I took at JCCC that is not playing into my success today.”

Glowacki said she uses Excel and Microsoft Word daily, and she learned to use both of those programs at JCCC. “I have friends who have graduated with their bachelors’ degrees in business who are working in things like telemarketing because instead of learning practical skills, they learned business theories so they don’t know how to do anything and can’t get a job.

“The first two weeks on my job, Danita emailed me to tell me how great I was doing and that she had been told I was possibly the best hire they’d ever made,” she said. “I attribute what they are seeing to my education at JCCC.”

For more information on business office technology, visit www.jccc.edu/businessofficetechnology or contact Mary Hedberg, department chair, at 913-469-8500, ext. 3109. 

Office program leads to helping orphans in HaitiBy Anne Christiansen-Bullers

Julie Glowacki works for a nonprofit based in Orlando, Fla.

Johnson County Community College is putting the pedal to the metal on a new program that could get a big 10-4 from wannabe truck drivers.

The Commercial Driver’s License-Class A program offers five weeks of training for future drivers of big rigs, preparing them for entry-level positions in the trucking industry.

Students will spend 100 hours in the classroom and 60 hours behind the wheel of a truck, learning to shift, back up and handle 18-wheelers, as well as getting instruction in safety and operating procedures.

Phil Wegman, JCCC program director of skills enhancement, said the training matches a pair of needs in Johnson County.

“People in the community need jobs,” he said. “And the trucking industry needs drivers.”

The demand for drivers is expected to grow with the opening of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe intermodal and logistics park in southern Johnson County. Goods arriving there by rail will move on across the country by truck.

“The park could have as many as 7,000 trucks in and out each day,” Wegman said. “A tremendous number of drivers will be needed.”

He expects that the program will attract a lot of second- or third-career students, as well as veterans. The requirement that drivers be 21 years old for interstate driving may reduce the number of younger students, although 18-year-olds can drive trucks if they don’t cross a state line.

The program fee is $3,895. The program is approved by the Workforce Investment Act; some students may qualify to have the fee funded through KanWorks.

JCCC is partnering with Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City to offer the program. MCC already offers the program and is providing the trucks, instructors, curriculum and simulator while JCCC provides the classroom space for the program in Johnson County.

The simulator is housed in a trailer and gives students experience shifting before they get behind the wheel of a real truck, Wegman said. The trailer will be stored in the same area where the college houses motorcycles for motorcycle driving classes; it will move to a parking lot when in use.

Arrangements are still being made for a truck-driving range, required when students get behind the wheel of a real truck for training.

Students interested in the program must meet a number of requirements, including attending an information session at JCCC, holding a valid driver’s license and a valid Commercial Learner’s Class-A permit, and holding a high school diploma or GED. They also must pass a drug screening within 30 days of the start of the class, pass a Department of Transportation physical, complete a criminal background check, and allow the college to obtain a current motor vehicle record from their state of residence.

By Melodee Blobaum

Learn more about the programA free information session will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23, in room 270 of the Regnier Center, for the five-week program that begins Monday, Oct. 21. Sign up for the information session by calling 913-469-2323 and asking to enroll in CRN 24020.

new hub triggers training

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A new program starting in October will train students to drive big rigs.

C A M P U S L I F EDatebookSept. 11, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Shane Lopez speaks on Making Hope Happen, presented by the Polsky Practical Personal Enrichment Series, Polsky Theatre, Free.

Sept. 18, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Filmmaker Cynthia Lukas presents her documentary Globalized Soul: Stories from the Tipping Point to a New World followed by a panel discussion on religion and peace initiatives. Hudson Auditorium, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Preceded by a reception at 6 p.m. in Regnier Center Atrium. Free.

Sept. 26, 7 p.m. Thursday, Morocco! The Exquisite and the Challenged, JCCC Professor Stephanie Nuria Sabato presents her films and a brief lecture on Morocco, Hudson Auditorium, Nerman Museum, 6:30 p.m. reception, Regnier Center Atrium. Free.

Oct. 6, 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dedication of the new Hospitality and Culinary Academy located on the east side of campus off Quivira Road. Free.

Oct. 9, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Cara Filler speaks on Be Their Parent, Not Their Friend, presented by the Polsky Series. Polsky Theatre, Free.

Oct. 18-19, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Beyond the Diagnosis: Autism Across the Life Span, sponsored by JCCC and the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training at the University of Kansas. At JCCC’s Regnier Center. For registration and other information, visit ksautismconference.org.

Oct. 24, 2:30 p.m. Thursday, JCCC vans leave college to take participants on historical culinary tour of 18th and Vine district led by English Professor Andrea Broomfield. Contact Tom Grady at 913-469-8500 ext. 3370 or at tgrady@jccc.edu. Free.

Oct. 29, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Professor Andrea Broomfield speaks on Kansas City’s culinary history. Hudson Auditorium, 6 p.m. reception, Regnier Center Atrium. Free.

Nov. 9, Saturday evening, Some Enchanted Evening, black-tie fundraiser for the JCCC Foundation. Lynn Mitchelson, who has been named Johnson Countian of the Year, will be honored. Overland Park Marriott Hotel. For tickets, visit jccc.edu/foundation.

Nov. 13, 7 p.m. Wednesday, A Celebration of Latino Veterans, Polsky Series, Polsky Theatre. Free.

Nov. 14, 7 p.m. Thursday, An Evening with Deepak Chopra, Yardley Hall, $37.50 and $55. Call JCCC Box Office at 913-469-4445.

Nick Charles7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15Polsky Theatre

New Dance Partners8 p.m. Saturday/Sunday, Sept. 27-28Yardley Hall

Ricky Skaggs/Bruce Hornsby8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25Yardley Hall

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.

Jackie Saccoccio Portrait (Insist), 2013 Oil and mica on linen, 106 x 79” Collection Shorenstein Properties, New York, NY

At the NermanJackie Saccoccio’s Portrait (Insist) will be on view until Sept. 8 as part of an exhibit called Polychrome Fiction. The other two works are part of the museum’s permanent collection. For more information about the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, visit nermanmuseum.org.

30 | The Open Petal

Amy Sillman Elephant, 2005 Oil on canvas 60 x 96”

Keltie Ferris Man Eaters, 2009 Oil, spray paint, acrylic and oil pastel on canvas 80 x 80”

Campus celebrityRapper Phil Jones writes his own songs and has an extensive fan base.

Mentoring matteredDental hygiene faculty inspired Pat Walters to get a bachelor’s and master’s degree.

JCCC jumpstartCollege Now and summer classes helped lead Lindsay Reed to a job at Fossil after graduating from Kansas State University.

Designing a futureCasey DenBleyker, who graduated with an as-sociate’s degree in graphic design, landed a job as creative director at Social Driver in Washington, D.C.

No plug? No problemThanks to student Taylor Hall, you can now charge your laptop, tablet and cell phone at a solar-charging station set up outside the Commons Building.

Online ExclusivesThere are so many ways to fit in at JCCC. Check out the ways these people took by going to jccc.edu, typing in his or her name and clicking on the top link.

Nice spot to studyThe campus has lots of nooks and corners where students can enjoy the solitude or concentrate on an assignment. This bright spot with a great view is in the Regnier Center.

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Photo by Susan McSpadden

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Women’s and Men’s Cross CountryFirst meet for women and men: Saturday, Aug. 31, at Baker University, Baldwin City, Kan., Maple Leaf Invitational.

The JCCC women’s cross country team repeated as conference and region champions in 2012. The Lady Cavaliers edged Allen Community College by three points to claim first place. This marked the 18th conference championship and 10th region title in team history. Three Lady Cavaliers finished among the top 15 finishers and that earned them All-Region VI honors. Jessica Thomas led the way placing sixth with a time of 19:38.1. Also in the top 15 were Emily DeLong at 10th place (19:51.8) and Michala Ruder at 14th (19:57.3). The Lady Cavaliers closed out the year by placing 12th at the NJCAA Cross Country Championship and sixth at the NJCAA Half Marathon.

“We knew all year that this was basically a match race between us and Allen, but we expected to win,” JCCC head coach Mike Bloemker said. “Allen’s coach likes for his teams to run aggressively in championship meets. All that week I told our team they needed to keep their composure and run as a team. Everything unfolded how I anticipated.”

The men came close to repeating as the East Jayhawk Conference champions, finishing runner-up behind Allen Community College. The JCCC men had just one runner earn All-Region VI. Kidus Bekele crossed the finish line in 15th place with a time of 26:18.4. That effort ranks as the second fastest in team history for JCCC’s new 8k course.

VolleyballFirst event: 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 at JCCC Gym against East Central Community College.

The JCCC volleyball team was a top 20 team all season long, and finished the year ranked 12th, with a 28-6 record. The Lady Cavaliers were also solid against other nationally ranked teams during the season, finishing 10-4. However, Johnson County saw its string of seven straight trips to the NJCAA D-II Tournament snapped as the Lady Cavaliers lost 3-0 to Cowley College in the Region VI Championship.

Women’s and Men’s SoccerFirst match for both: Thursday, Aug. 22 at Cloud County Community College in Concordia. Women play at 2 p.m., men at 4 p.m.

The women’s and men’s soccer teams began their seasons among the top ranked teams nationally, and while both fell just shy of retuning to their national tournament, it was a memorable 2012 campaign.

The Lady Cavaliers finished 13-8-1, reached the region semifinals and had five players named all-conference. Freshman Christianna Tran led the team in scoring with 53 points, was twice named the KJCCC Player of the Week, and was the NJCAA National Player of the Week one time.

On the men’s side, the Cavaliers reached the region title game for the first time since 2007 and finished 11-8-0 overall. They too had six individuals earn all-conference, and head coach Fatai Ayoade reached a milestone, becoming the all-time wins leader in team history. He has 159 victories over 13 seasons, three more than the previous leader.

As the fall semester gets underway at Johnson County Community College, fall sports follow. Here’s our rundown

on how fall sports fared last year, along with the first day of play this season for each team. For more

information, visit jccc.edu/athletics.

S P O R T S

Teams gear up for play

By Tyler Cundith

The women’s cross country team won the 2012 KJCCC Region VI Championship.

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Women’s BasketballFirst game: 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, against William Penn University Junior Varsity at Fort Scott Community College.

The JCCC women’s basketball team added another amazing chapter to its rich history in 2012-13. Under the direction of Ben Conrad, the Lady Cavaliers program posted its fourth consecutive 30-win season, and captured its second straight East Jayhawk Conference title. The 2012-13 Lady Cavaliers finished 30-2 overall, were ranked No. 1 in the final NJCAA D-II Coaches’ Poll, and was the top defensive team in the country for a third straight year.

Two sophomore players, DaShawn Harden and Kathleen Brisbane, were both selected as NJCAA and WBCA All-Americans. Harden was also named the MVP of the East Jayhawk Conference, a first in team history, and Conrad earned his second Conference Coach of the Year honor, and was a finalist for the WBCA National Coach of the Year.

Men’s BasketballFirst game: 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4, at Allen Community College, Iola, Kan.

JCCC men’s head basketball coach Mike Jeffers experienced a season like none other in his career in 2012-13. Before the season began, Jeffers lost his starting point guard to a season-ending injury. Other key injuries during the year left the Cavaliers short-handed. The Cavaliers finished 10-21 overall, but were competitive all season. They posted two big wins over Brown Mackie, this year’s region champion, and Highland, the region winner last year.

Sophomore Christian Hildebrandt was the team’s top player. He averaged more than 17 points per game, and was named all-conference and all-region. He also became just the 11th player in JCCC history to top 1,000 career points. He finished with 1,026 points.

Golf First match: 8 a.m. Monday, Sept. 9, at Quail Ridge Golf Course, Winfield, Kan.

The JCCC golf team registered its best season in history this year. They won five tournaments, won the overall conference title, and capped the year by recording the best finish in a national tournament, placing fourth overall. Individually, five players earned all-conference, two earned national all-tournament and one earned NJCAA second-team All-American.

Freshman Alex Forristal became the program’s third All-American after he finished in a tie for sixth at nationals. He shot 5-under (283) over the 72-hole championship, firing rounds of 69, 71, 71 and 72. He was tied for the lead following both the second and third rounds. His 283 total ties the second best recorded at nationals by a JCCC golfer.

Sophomore Mario Funcic, an 11th place finisher last year for the Cavaliers, finished a tie for 16th with a 1 over par 289 total. That score ranks fourth all-time at JCCC. Funcic is the first player in team history to earn all-tournament as a freshman and sophomore.

Sophomore Madelyn Osmundson was national outdoor champion in the javelin, and sophomore Jordan Ross nearly was a two-time national champion, placing second in the high jump indoors, and third outdoors. Sophomore Jessica Tingle placed third in the pole vault.

Coach Ben Conrad led his team to a 30-win season in 2012-13.

Freshman Alex Forristal finished in a tie for sixth at the nationals.

Photos by Susan McSpadden

Worth a look backNo matter the time of year, there are these constants: students engaged in competition, like those

on the volleyball court; students engrossed in learning, like those up close with the Life Flight

helicopter, and students valuing their accomplishments, like those who graduated last spring.

And, at JCCC, it all happens with outdoor art around us and an ever-changing landscape of color.

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Graduates from the May 14 GED ceremony watch for their loved ones from the Fieldhouse windows prior to the program in the gym.

The Golden Girls practice their routine in the gym in preparation for the National Dance Alliance competition in Daytona, Fla., April 10-14.

T H E R E A R W I n D O W

The culinary building takes shape last spring on the east side of campus.

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For more photos, visit www.facebook.com/JCCC411. Or connect with Facebook by going to the

college home page at jccc.edu and clicking on “Connect with JCCC.”

Adam Long, left, gives instructions to his Fundamentals in Photography class on June 6 before sending them out with their cameras on campus.

Lori Angello and Bethany Farres do the team’s signature jump on April 12 after earning a point in a volleyball game against Baker in the spring tournament.

Students involved in the Introduction to Careers in Health program on June 16 learn about the Life Flight Eagle emergency helicopter and its crew.

Tulips bloom May 2 in front of the Student Center.

Brian Khomsi soaks in the spring sunshine April 30 while studying for a physiology test in the courtyard.

This little guy hangs out April 17 in the courtyard.

Tim Brown, an assistant professor in railroad operations, leads a rail yard tour for National Academy of Railroad Sciences students June 5.

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Serving Kansas City with the widest variety of classical music, interviews with arts leaders and information about local events – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Another great way Johnson County Community College supports the arts in Kansas City!

Radio Bach is back!