< Previous2017 COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY The 55th Annual Graduation Observance Fayetteville Technical Community College’s annual commencement was held on May 19, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. at the Crown Coliseum. FTCC welcomed Glenn Adams, chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, as the keynote speaker. Adams told graduates not to be discouraged by difficulties. “There will be failures for all of us,” he said, “but they will dim in the light of your successes.” “ I urge you not to forget what accomplishment feels like.” — Glenn Adams, Commencement Speaker 2,458 Total graduates of the 2017 Commencement Ceremony 4,022 Total number of duplicated graduates at the 55th Annual Commencement Ceremony 255 Graduates of Adult High School & High School Equivalency Programs 77 THE RETURN OF TROJAN ATHLETICS In April 2017, FTCC celebrated its first year of intercollegiate athletic competition in more than 40 years. The 2016-2017 season was piloted under athletics director Michael Neal, with coach Eric Tucker heading the women's basketball team, coach John Michael Cole leading men's and women's golf, and coach Brian Hurd overseeing men's basketball. The season’s annual highlights included the Men’s Basketball win over UNC-Chapel Hill's Junior Varsity team, the Men’s head-to-head golf defeat of NCAA Member La Roche College, the Women’s Golf win at the Fall Cougar Classic including Low Medalist Lora Walters, and the Men’s Golf win at the Spring Cougar Classic. FTCC is expected to add more athletic teams during the 2017-18 season. 8 Trojan Athletics Aundraya Doyle Jonathan Henderson Trojan of the Year Awards Aundraya Doyle Women's Basketball Jonathan Henderson Men's Basketball Kimberly Beamer Women's Golf Andrew Harmon Men's Golf Kimberly Beamer Andrew Harmon SUPPORTING THE ARTS Whether it's graphic design, painting, ceramics, culinary arts or any of the many art programs we offer at FTCC, we seek to give our students an education that inspires them to dream bigger than they ever imagined. Curriculum Advancements Gardens and Greenhouses A look into the Culinary Arts Program at FTCC We took a minute to sit down and chat with Nadia Minniti, We are also planning to eventually become accredited by the Chef and Instructor with the FTCC Culinary Arts Program, American Culinary Federation (ACF). At the same time, we about the future for a community-based, sustainable, and would like to bring to fruition our goal of having a culinary locally sourced curriculum. garden with a greenhouse. Finally, we would like to grow our culinary club, Future Culinarians of America. Tell us about the program and our students What are some key principles and learning milestones The Culinary Arts Program mission is to provide Fayetteville you want to teach your students? with skilled and employable individuals in the food service Besides cooking skills, students need to learn soft skills. In field. We have a good relationship with restaurateurs in our over-technological society, people do not know how the greater Fayetteville area and in surrounding towns and to interact with each other anymore. We teach them how counties; our relationship has kept us abreast of employment to communicate effectively in a work environment and the needs in the community we serve which guides us in our work ethic necessary to be successful in our field. direction as an academic program. Our program has worked with the Horticulture Department Our ideal student is a person who enjoys an energetic on various occasions. We have also collaborated with the workplace, a person with stamina and attention to detail and Carpentry Department in the preliminary planning of a a person with an open mind who wants to learn the skills culinary garden that will be planted in raised beds. necessary to be successful in this industry. How are you focusing on sustainability and the future? Culinary Arts has been at FTCC for more than 20 years. What are some ways we continue to grow this We make an effort to use local purveyors for our ingredients program, and what are some of your primary goals? and supplies whenever possible. Moreover, we made We are actively recruiting in the high schools through the teaching about sustainability an integral part of the Farm High School Connections program. Many high school to Table class through field trips to sustainable farms and students who take entry-level classes continue their restaurants, speakers who are experts on sustainability, education with us once they graduate high school. We are and by teaching students how espousing sustainability in a also in the process of creating a recruiting video restaurant has the potential of leaving a very small carbon highlighting our students and instructors in a lab footprint. We would like to grow our program by adding environment. Finally, our culinary club is also a great more certificates, such as a Baking and Pastry and a Farm to recruiting tool as it represents our program during culinary Table certificate. events in the community. 11 11 A MIDLIFE CERTAINTY Looking into the life of an exceptional nursing student Cindy Bates joked with herself about what she would do in a midlife crisis. She would either buy a sports car or change careers? She chose the latter. She worked for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety for 16 years. She oversaw housing units for inmates at the Avery-Mitchell Correctional Institution. In July 2017, she earned her practical nursing license after graduating from the Spring Lake Campus program. Excelling in the program made Bates wish nursing was her first career choice. Throughout the course, she volunteered at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center on Ramsey Street, spending time with veterans. One pa- tient always said to her, “I am a Marine.” “I love being around people and doing things for them,” she said. “People need people, and that doesn’t seem to be the norm anymore. When it comes to being sick, we’re more alike than we think. We all need someone to lean on in our bad times – and I like being that person. Being able to help them helps me.” Taking the college’s practical nursing course helped Bates find a sense of peace and understanding in the deaths of her parents, roughly seven years apart. Her mother succumbed to an aggressive brain tumor. Her father endured a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia before he died. “It was not knowing or understanding what they were going through at the time with their conditions,” she said. “In my mind, had I been doing this or known this, I felt I could have caught this a lot sooner. I really want to help people when they’re sick.” Between the losses, Bates’ nephew was born in 2007. “It was just a miracle to see something like that, him being born,” she said. “I just have one sister, and one nephew. Seeing his birth gave me a whole new focus.” Her focus to excel showed. Bates’ peers at the Spring Lake campus voted her class president. She described the instructors, such as Monique Wallace, as “phenomenal.” Cindy Bates “I pray that I can be a fourth of the nurse that she is,” Bates said. Completing the practical nursing program marked the first step for Bates. She’ll begin working as a Nursing Assistant II with Cape Fear Valley Med- ical Center’s cardiac arrest patients. She also wants to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing with hopes of working in neurology. Bates credits her mother and father as the inspiration for choosing that focus. “I wasn’t your typical 18-year-old student, but I never felt older,” she said. “You’re never too old to follow your dreams. And FTCC can make those dreams happen for you.” At 52 years old, Bates has found her niche. “We all need someone to lean on in our bad times – and I like being that person. Being able to help them helps me.” - Nursing Graduate Cindy Bates 12 Curriculum Programs Partnership Milestones Te view from FTCC Health Programs A partnership with CVS brings new opportunities to veterans pursuing clinical training at FTCC CVS Health presented a $5,000 gift in February 2017 to the FTCC Foundation for the CVS Health Veteran Scholarship. The scholarship is for veterans and their family members who are enrolled in health-related programs at the College. Preference will be given to students who are enrolled in nursing or pharmacy technology programs, with annual awards of $1,000. FTCC and CVS Health also entered into a community partnership to create an Externship Agreement which allows current pharmacy technology students to complete clinical training at local CVS Health locations. Additionally, a $25,000 gift was made to the College to renovate the pharmacy technology laboratory with all of the industry’s and CVS Health’s latest training enhancements. These enhancements will provide an opportunity for students to train and work in the most up-to-date pharmacy surroundings in the industry. 100% 100% 100% Dental Hygiene pass rate on the Physical Therapist Assistant pass rate Associate Degree Nursing pass National Board, first attempt percentage on first attempt rate on the first attempt of the NC LEX test 14 Nixon and Love 'I AM DETERMINED' First women graduates from the CDL Truck Driver Training in 2017 Tracey Love and Bricknie Nixon have many things in common. They live in Cumberland County. They're parents. They share a family bond as aunt and niece. They also achieved an accomplishment together – the first women to graduate from our CDL Truck Driver Training program this year. Before the course started, Nixon's father died. Nixon said her aunt was a blessing on the road, helping her grapple with the loss of her father and earn her license. “I buried my dad the day class started,” Nixon recalled. “His last words to me were, ‘No matter what comes my way, I am determined.’ Those words help me out on my good days and not- so-good days.” Love and Nixon drive as a “team” for Stevens Transport and, so far, have traveled to more than 20 states. Love credits her niece with being “the brains” of their partnership. “It’s a blessing to be with family in the truck,” Nixon said. “I couldn't imagine being in it with anyone else, having family support while you’re out there on the road. It’s an experience.” Corporate & Continuing Education Spotlight Airframe & Powerplant A program geared toward the military community skilled in aircraf maintenance Fayetteville Tech is one of a handful of campuses within the North Carolina Community College System to offer an Airframe & Powerplant course. The 11-week program prepares its students to obtain their official Federal Aviation Administration certification as aircraft maintenance technicians. In this job role, technicians are skilled at inspecting aircraft engines in addition to performing, supervising, and completing preventative maintenance. By course’s end, students would have completed more than 120 hours of training and learning, preparing them to take the FAA’s written, oral, and practical tests to obtain their license. Many of the course’s students are transitioning out of the military or veterans; all must have at least 30 months of concurrent working experience in airframes and powerplants. “This course is heavily rooted in the military,” said FTCC’s Director of Customized & Industry Training Greg Moore. “With our relationship with the military, it’s another avenue (for veterans) to transfer to the civilian side. If you’ve ever been a mechanic in the military and you want to continue doing this, this is one way. There is a need in North Carolina for this type of certification.” Scot Smith with Cape Fear Aviation Maintenance serves as the course’s instructor. He owns a small facility repair shop near the Gray's Creek Airport. He and his father oversee the students’ work on small airplanes during the course. “The students have the knowledge and understanding of what they have to do, and they are perfectly capable,” Smith said. “We are helping them hoist over this part before they go to the next level. I like where this class is going and help- ing students get their A&P license because once they’re out of the military, it gives them something to fall back on.” Since 2013, up to 70 students have completed the Airframe & Powerplant course. Some students have gone on to work for aviation fueling companies or serve as airport managers since taking the prep course. One of those students was Joseph Sharpe. He served in the US Army for 20 years and worked as a Black Hawk helicopter mechanic. He said working as a mechanic in the military was “one of the best career moves” for him. A colleague told him about the course which piqued Sharpe's interest. He received his A&P license in March 2017. “It broadened my scope as a mechanic but also gives a true appreciation for the world of aviation,” Sharpe said. “And the instructors, like Scot Smith, are phenomenal.” Sharpe admitted he never had an “obsession” with airplanes until he became a mechanic. He became fascinated with being able to see an aircraft he worked on leaving the ground and flying. There’s one rating Sharpe would give FTCC’s A&P course: an A+. “FTCC took care of us,” Sharpe said about himself and his classmates. “I would recommend this course tenfold over. I would recommend this to anyone pursuing a career in aviation. It’s a great refresher, a great course.” 15 Next >