In our effort to keep you informed about Three Rivers College, attached is this month's President's Perspective e-newsletter from College President Dr. Devin Stephenson.

Link To: July 2012 Three Rivers College Newsletter

 
To be placed on the mailing list , please email tjohnson@trcc.edu.

POPLAR BLUFF – Three Rivers College has been accepted as a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium.

“Three Rivers’ membership in SOC affirms their commitment to fair, equitable, and effective policies and practices that recognize and deal with the special conditions faced by military students,” said SOC president Kathy M. Snead, in a letter to college president Dr. Devin Stephenson.

“This will give us an opportunity to better assist our growing veteran population,” said Laura Milligan, Director of Financial Aid at Three Rivers.  “I am very excited.”

SOC Consortium colleges serve the National Guard, reserves, new recruits and veterans, in addition to more than 500,000 active-duty servicemembers. “The SOC designation is like a memorandum of understanding between colleges and veterans,” said Milligan.   “Three Rivers is letting veterans and their dependents, as well as other colleges and the community, know that we are military-friendly, and that we will work for and with our veterans to ensure a smooth transition from the military life to college life.”

According to Milligan, the SOC Consortium has principles and criteria in place that are designed to assist veterans and military personnel with applying for financial aid, registering for classes, and other tasks necessary to attend college.  As an SOC institution, Three Rivers fits these criteria.

“One of these principles is that the college will recognize training or experiences that servicemembers have already undergone, and accept that as class credit,” explained Milligan.  “For example, if a veteran or servicemember has already been through basic training, this would count toward certain P.E. classes at Three Rivers.  If you’ve survived boot camp, you probably don’t need to take the ‘Lifetime Wellness’ health class.”

Milligan also encourages current and incoming students who are veterans or active military to call the Three Rivers Welcome Center at (573) 840-9605, and set up an appointment to speak with financial aid and veterans advisor John Fuller.

“John will meet with students one-on-one to discuss benefits, financial aid, academic advisement and so forth,” said Milligan.  “John is a Three Rivers graduate and a veteran, so he’s the ideal person for the position.   Our goal is to make John’s desk a ‘one-stop shop’ for servicemember and veteran students.”

“The SOC designation is a positive step in our goal of making Three Rivers College a place for veterans,” stated Fuller.  “This is the first step among many to come for our returning and past heroes.  I look forward to working with them in helping them gain their educational goals.” 

Milligan, Fuller and other Three Rivers staff are also planning special veterans’ orientations for incoming students who have previously served in the armed forces.  Other activities at Three Rivers that are centered around vets and military personnel include USO-style dances and special veterans’ appreciation basketball games. 

For more information, find the Student Veterans Association of Three Rivers College on Facebook, or visit TRCC.edu.

POPLAR BLUFF - Three Rivers College has announced that Richard McGill has been named interim Dean for Career Education and Workforce Development, overseeing career and technical programs and workforce training.

“I’m excited and honored to have the opportunity to serve in this role,” said McGill. “This is a field that’s familiar to me, but there’s still a lot for me to learn. Luckily, there is a great staff in place to assist with the transition. There are a lot of great things that (retiring Director of Workforce Development) Bud Joyner and the other division chairs did with the technical programs, and I just want to build upon the success Three Rivers has already had.”

“Mr. McGill has been with the college since July of 2011,” said Vice President for Learning Dr. Wes Payne. “Richard served in the Student Support Service and Educational Talent Search programs and on numerous special projects including the writing and submission of a $3 million Department of Labor grant currently being considered for funding.”

Prior to joining Three Rivers, McGill spent 12 years at Sikeston Career & Technology Center working as the lead administrator for adult and community education. He was also previously employed at the Missouri Department of Higher Education, working as a compliance officer and working on the statewide transfer and articulation agreement initiative.

McGill will complete his education specialist degree in career and technology education administration from the University of Central Missouri in the Spring 2013 semester. He plans to transfer to the University of Arkansas to complete a Doctorate of Education in workforce development. He currently holds a master’s degree in public administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications, both from Southeast Missouri State University.

“One of my immediate goals is to spread awareness to the secondary schools about our transfer agreements,” said McGill. “We’re making some changes to those, and we’ve received very positive feedback so far. We hope that this in turn will grow the number of students in our diversified technology programs. Another big goal is just making sure that we continue to meet the needs of business and industries in the Southeast and South-Central Missouri regions.”

McGill and his wife of 14 years, Teresa, live in Sikeston with their two children, Isabelle and Truman.

A search will be conducted to fill the position permanently in the Spring 2013 semester with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2013.

For more information about Three Rivers, including information about career and technical programs and workforce training, please visit TRCC.edu.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – KRCU Public Radio announces plans to air John Wesley Harding’s “Cabinet of Wonders,” a variety show recorded live at the City Winery in New York. It features an exciting mix of musicians, authors, comedians and other artists.

Imagine you're in the audience of a talent show put on by your friends, your very talented, critically acclaimed friends. They sing, read from their novels, tell jokes, make you laugh, make you think and keep you entertained. That's the “Cabinet of Wonders,” hosted by musician and author John Wesley Harding.

This hour-long radio show will air on Saturday mornings at 11 a.m. beginning Aug. 4. The program features performances from Ted Leo, Josh Ritter, Craig Finn and Nicole Atkins, and readings from authors John Hodgman, Patrick McGrath and Rick Moody. As host John Wesley Harding puts it, "the time is right for a little variety."The New Yorker described the program this way, "A vaudeville night that combines music and literature, resulting in one of the finest nights of entertainment this city has to offer."

KRCU General Manager Dan Woods said, “This is the second in a series of new pilot programs that NPR (National Public Radio) has produced. We are excited to offer this new program to our listeners and ask them to contact the station and let us know what they think of ‘Cabinet of Wonders.’”

As Southeast Missouri’s NPR station KRCU strives to continuously excel in providing the highest quality public radio programming to southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day from the campus of Southeast Missouri State University on 90.9 FM in Cape Girardeau and 88.9 FM in Farmington and Ste. Genevieve.

By: Taylor Eggimann
ShowMe Times Staff Writer

Brooks Propst, son of Darrin and Molly Propst, is a 15 year old trombone player for the DHS band and he got to take part in the 2012 Missouri Lions Club All-State Band. Scott Rybolt, the band director at Dexter, had sent in a letter of recommendation for Brooks and the Dexter Lions Club sponsored his trip.

On June 24th, he went to Fort Leonard Wood to take part in the four-day band camp. The band director was a retired music director for different bands in Jefferson City, Steve Eubanks.

On June 28th the band of 70 Missouri band students gave a farewell concert for their parents. After that the group rode buses to St. Joseph to perform in a concert there and then on the Cameron, MO to perform for veterans at a Veteran's Home.

The teens didn't just play music and march the whole trip, they got to do a little sight-seeing along the way too. From Cameron, they went to Rapid City, S.D. It was the 4th of July at this point and the band visited Mt. Rushmore and marched in a parade. The next place they were supposed to go to was Colorado Springs, CO, but because of the wild fires they had to change their plans. They then went to Omaha, NE and did some more sight-seeing.

After being home for two weeks Propst and his family went to Warrensburg, MO to march in the All-State Lions Club Band at the half-time show of the Lions Club All-Star Football game. While at the game there were some other DHS stars out on the football field. Tyler Miller, Cody Stevens, and Zach Long were all All-Star Football players who were chosen by the Lions Club.