End gender-based violence. Join us for a screening of 'Half the Sky.'

Please join us tonight and tomorrow for free screenings of the documentary film, Half the Sky.

January 28 and 29^th, 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

Sealy Auditorium

Free refreshments will be provided

Half the Sky is an inspiring journey into the lives of women around the world, and the amazing transformations they make not only for themselves, but for their families and their communities.  Learn how women worldwide have overcome unthinkable challenges such as sex trafficking, gender based violence, and forced prostitution through education and economic empowerment. 

The screening of this film was initiated by a recent Germanna graduate, Laura Mahan.  She saw the film and was inspired to participate in this global movement to turn “oppression into opportunity for women worldwide”. 

Come to one night or both to learn about the issues and what you can do right now to help.  Be inspired!!

--Jamie B. Lennahan

Assistant Professor of Political Science

Germanna Community College
jlennehan@germanna.edu

540-834-1936

SkillUpVa: Improve. Advance. Succeed.

To maintain our status as a top state for business, Virginians must learn and continually sharpen the skills required to drive innovation and job creation across the Commonwealth.

Bill Freehling of The Free Lance-Star writes about SkillUpVa:

Germanna Community College’s Center for Workforce & Community Education and FredXchange have put together a new program called SkillUpVA that aims to give area residents the tools they need “to drive innovation and job creation” in Virginia.
A number of workshops geared toward startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs are planned this winter and spring on topics such as analyzing business data, developing an Internet strategy, keeping down costs, IT infrastructure and scaling an enterprise. In addition a “Business Development Summit” (BizDev Summit) is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Feb. 13 at Germanna’s Spotsylvania County campus.

         More about SkillIpVa from Freehling's Fredericksburg.com Business Insider blog  

Aerojet Rocketdyne gift supports Germanna Engineering Program

The GenCorp Foundation has made a gift of $8,300 to the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation, with $4,000 to be used for engineering scholarships and the rest to support the engineering program.

The GenCorp Foundation is the philanthropic arm of GenCorp, the parent company of Aerojet Rocketdyne. With its giving focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education, the GenCorp Foundation supports the communities where the company has a business presence.  

  Denise Guest, Dean of Technical and Professional Studies
  at Germanna Community College, accepts gift from Brian 
  Wheatley, director of manufacturing operations at 
  Aerojet Rocketdyne in Orange, to the GCC Educational
  Foundation.

“On behalf of Aerojet Rocketdyne in Orange, the GenCorp Foundation is pleased to support Germanna Community College and its students,” said Juanita Garcia, Executive Director of the GenCorp Foundation, which is based in Sacramento, Calif. 

GCC’s engineering program, which allows local students to earn an associate degree designed for transfer and also offers career studies certificates developed to enhance workforce skills, had grown to 228 students by fall 2013. In August, a new electrical engineering track was added to the established mechanical engineering curriculum to provide more academic options for students.

“As Aerojet Rocketdyne continues to grow, we need skilled engineers and technicians to work on our aerospace and defense programs,” said Brian Wheatley, director of manufacturing operations at Aerojet Rocketdyne in Orange.  “Investing in local community colleges and universities like Germanna helps guarantee a trained and qualified workforce we can draw from in the future.”

Denise Guest, Dean of Technical and Professional Studies at Germanna, said: “Aerojet Rocketdyne and GenCorp’s generosity will help local students pursue careers in engineering, a field in which our nation and our area needs expertise to remain economically competitive. Our relationship with Aerojet Rocketdyne helps us fill ‘skills gap’ jobs in our service region.”

Dr. Davyda Hammond, Germanna engineering professor, explained that because GCC has guaranteed admission agreements with both the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech: “If you get at least a ‘B’ in all your engineering and science and math classes at GCC and an overall GPA of 3.2, you’re guaranteed admission into the schools of engineering at UVA and Virginia Tech. They get so many applications that automatically knowing you’re getting in is a real advantage.”

 In November, Dr. James Groves of the UVA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science told Germanna engineering students that for the last two years in a row (2012 and 2013) the top graduate in the UVA engineering program was a Virginia Community College System transfer student.   

Germanna serves the counties of Orange, Culpeper, Madison, Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George and Caroline and the city of Fredericksburg. The college has campuses in Locust Grove and Spotsylvania and centers in Culpeper and Spotsylvania.  www.germanna.edu

The Germanna Community College Educational Foundation, Inc. was established in 1983 to foster and promote the growth, progress and well-being of the college and its students. A continuing priority is to ensure that all students, including those with financial need, have an opportunity to receive an education. www.germanna.edu/educational_foundation/index.asp

Aerojet Rocketdyne is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader providing propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense, strategic, tactical missile, and armaments areas in support of domestic and international markets. GenCorp is a diversified company providing innovative solutions to its customers in the aerospace and defense, energy and real estate markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies' websites at www.Rocket.com and www.GenCorp.com. 

Dr. Gilbert Coleman, lifelong educator, passes

Our deepest sympathy goes out to the family of Dr. Gilbert Coleman, a Germanna faculty member and administrator for two decades. He will be missed.

NASA dream comes true for Germanna engineering student

When Germanna Community College student Jade Thompson was a student at H.H. Poole Middle School in Stafford County she took an aptitude test.
She had to look up "aerospace engineer," but the result seems to have been right on the mark.

Prof. Davyda Hammond and Jade Thompso

"It had to do with space, which I already loved," she says.

 Half a dozen years later, Thompson, an engineering student at Germanna, has been accepted into the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars program. After 20 hours of pre-work in the program, the 2010 North Stafford High School graduate was selected to move on to participate in an exploration team project directed by NASA engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Feb. 26-28.  
To get this far, she had to design a Mars Rover project that could make the trip to the Red Planet in less than a year, staying within a $500 million budget.
 “Smaller, cheaper, faster,” was the key, she says, because of budget constraints. 
“Jade is a diligent student with great academic potential,” says Dr. Davyda Hammond, one of her engineering professors at Germanna.  “She has taken full advantage of the opportunities to learn and develop herself in and outside of the classroom--which has served her well in terms of her grades and her exposure to ‘real-world’ engineering.  She has a very bright future, and we are very proud to have her as a student.”
 Cheri Ober, Germanna’s internship coordinator, helped Thompson hook up with NASA.
 “I’m very excited for Jade since this has been a dream for her since middle school,” Ober says.
 Thompson will graduate from Germanna in May and plans to transfer to the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech to continue her engineering studies.

Register Now for Startup Weekend Fredericksburg

John Sechrest, founder of the Seattle Angel Conference, Co-Organizer of the Lean Startup Seattle, and Global Facilitator will be the facilitator for Startup Weekend Fredericksburg Jan. 17-19 hosted by Germanna Community College's Center for Workforce and Community Education at GCC's Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.


Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs, with events in over 100 countries and 580 cities around the world.

The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. 

The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback. 

Budding entrepreneurs found companies, find cofounders, meet someone new or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5 job. Everyone leaves the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups. If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register now.  --Startup Weekend
 
'

Germanna Student Activities presents comedian Ron Placone Jan. 28

Germanna Community College Student Activities will host comedian Ron Placone at 11 a.m. noon on Jan. 28 in room 134 of the Workforce Building at the Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania. Ron Placone Placone takes the audience on a tour "through a contemporary media landscape where advertisers, owners and special interest groups come first and the general public comes dead last." His one-man show, "Madness in the Message,"  jabs what he sees as corporate mass media manipulation. He developed it as a graduate school project on his way to earning a master's degree in communications. Lunch will be served at the event, which is free.

Germanna Chief Branch appointed to Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice

Outgoing Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has appointed Germanna Community College Chief  of Police Craig Branch to the Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice.

GCC Police Chief Craig Branch

Chief Branch, a Chesterfield County resident, is vice president of the Virginia Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.

He has overseen Germanna's transition from a security department to a campus police operation.

Contact: Paul Shanks

Phone: (804) 225-4262

Email: Paul.Shanks@governor.virginia.gov

Governor McDonnell Announces Board and Commission Appointments

RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell announced additional appointments to three Virginia boards and commissions. 

Board Appointments

Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice

·         Craig Branch of Chesterfield, Chief of Police for Germanna Community College

·         Steven S. Kast* of Chesapeake, President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of the Virginia Peninsula 

·         Diana Harris Wheeler of Orange, Commonwealth Attorney for Orange County

Fair Housing Board

·         Erica Woods-Warrior of Hampton, Director of the Peer Educator Program at Old Dominion University

Board of Veterans Services

·         Colonel J. Patrick Murray, USA (Ret.) of Alexandria

*Denotes re-appointment