Holocaust survivor speaks to packed house at Germanna

Holocaust survivor and Virginia Holocaust Museum co-founder Jay Ipson spoke to a packed house Monday at Germanna Community College's Fredericksburg Campus in Spotsylvania as part of a GCC History Department event.

Holocaust survivor Jay Ipson speaks at Germanna's Sealy Auditorium on Monday.

Germanna Assistant Professor of History Katie Eskridge arranged to have Ipson speak. He stayed for an hour after his formal talk, answering students' questions.

He was raised in Lithuania, placed in a concentration camp at age  6 in 1941 and escaped with his parents in 1943. He arrived in Richmond with his parents in 1947, when he was 12.

Ipson has been appointed by Gov. McDonnell to his Virginia Israel Advisory Board.

He has been a board member of the Anti-Defamation League.

 A standing room only crowd heard Holocaust survivor
Jay Ipson speak during a history department event.

Judi Bartlett elected VCCA president for 2014-15

Judi Bartlett, Germanna Community College's Stafford County Center Coordinator, has been elected president of the Virginia Community College Association for 2014-2015.
Bartlett was previously an Associate Dean of Instruction at Germanna. She also teaches Web design and other technical courses at GCC. She has 15 years experience in higher education.
Prior to that, she was a technology analyst for the federal government, where she helped the General Services Administration prepare for the year 2000 rollover problem, also known as Y2K and the Millennium Bug.
Bartlett has mentored students in Germanna's Great Expectations program, which helps young people who are aging out of the foster care system complete high school, gain access to a community college education and make the transition to living independently. She has served on Germanna's faculty senate as a non-voting member and is a member of the college's Threat Assessment Committee.

Germanna Stafford County Center Coordinator Judi Bartlett

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Eyewitness to be part of Germanna JFK event

GERMANNA TO HOST EYEWITNESS FOR NOV. 5 DISCUSSION IN OBSERVANCE OF THE
50th ANNIVERSARY OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY’S ASSASSINATION

When shots rang out at Dealey Plaza on Nov. 22, 1963, Jack McNairy was a Dallas high-school student who watched as President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade sped away.  A Secret Service agent asked the 18-year-old McNairy to give him a ride to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Once there, McNairy stared in disbelief into the president’s blood-splattered limo moments before the Secret Service ordered it cleaned and sent it back to Washington. McNairy interviews played a key part in the Discovery Channel's 2008 investigative program, "Inside theTarget Car."  What McNairy saw seems to support the Lee Harvey Oswald as lone gunman theory reinforced by Larry Sabato in his new book "The Kennedy Half-Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy."

Jim Martin was a young newspaperman covering President Kennedy’s assassination from a Washington perspective.

Germanna Community College history instructor Dan Carter will moderate a discussion with McNairy and Martin and GCC Asst. Prof. Stuart Smith will explain the political climate that led to the president making his fateful trip to Dallas. A discussion with the audience will follow.

The event, which is open to public, free of charge, will be held at Sealy Auditorium in the Workforce Building at Germanna’s Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2013.

An interactive video feed in room 114 at Germanna’s Locust Grove Campus  and room 118 at GCC's Daniel Technology Center will allow student and area residents in those locations to watch and hear the event live and ask the panelists questions.

Stafford County approves land for permanent Germanna Center

      

Germanna Community College moved a step closer to a permanent center in Stafford County last night when the county's Board of Supervisors approved development and land needed for the project.
 GCC President David A. Sam has said of Stafford: “We are here to stay. We are here for the long haul. Stafford County is one of the best places for us to partner in terms of workforce development… We expand to meet the needs of our communities.”
  Stafford, the county with the largest population in Germanna’s service area, is a logical place for GCC to grow, he said.
 The permanent center would be another in a series of steps in raising Germanna’s profile in Stafford to meet community needs, beginning with the Stafford County Center (which has exceeded its 1,000 student capacity) in August 2009 and the GCC Automotive Center in August 2012.
When a permanent center opened, the college would close those facilities, which are rented, and consolidate at the permanent site southeast of the intersection of U.S. 1 and Hospital Center Boulevard.
 Dr. Sam has said Germanna would respond to the needs of Stafford’s growing, evolving business community at the permanent center with, among others, professional and technical studies programs, workforce business and professional development courses and homeland security-related courses including cybersecurity
 



A conceptual drawing shows what a permanent  Germanna
location in Stafford County may look like

Don't miss College Transfer Tour 2013

Don't miss the 2013 College Tour Wednesday from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. at the Locust Grove Campus and noon to 2 p.m. at the Fredericksburg Campus in Spotsylvania and at Spotsylvania Towne Center from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Prof. Davyda Hammond, Middle College's Shavanta Hayes honored

Germanna Community College Engineering Prof. Davyda Hammond and Germanna Middle College Program Administrative Assistant Shavanta Hayes were honored with Virginia Community Colleges Association Showcase Awards Oct. 4 at the 31st Annual Conference at the Virginia Beach/Norfolk Hotel and Conference Center.

Prof. Lisa Murphy,  Prof. Davyda Hammond (right) during
 Germanna President's Leadership Academy graduation 

Criteria for faculty awards are:

 Excellence in teaching
 Significant contributions to education in general
 Significant contributions to the community college

DR. DAVYDA HAMMOND, who received a Faculty Showcase Award, was nominated by Prof. Lisa Murphy, who wrote:

“Since her arrival in August of 2011, Davyda Hammond has revitalized the Engineering program at Germanna. She brings practical engineering experiences into her classroom, including frequent use of a 3-D printer to build student designs, and a visit by a local engineering firm to help the students create concrete samples and test their strength.

  “In addition to expanding learning opportunities in her lab, she introduces her students to the world beyond their campus. As the founding sponsor of the Applied Engineering Club, she took a student team to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Student Professional Development Conference at the University of Virginia, where they competed against junior and senior students from five university engineering programs, and placed in all of the competitions. She also led students in competing in CANstruction, a combination engineering challenge and service project in which students collected canned food for the local food bank and used it to create structural art.
“Dr. Hammond’s leadership extends beyond the lab and classroom. She has created a second track for the Germanna Community College engineering program to include electrical as well as mechanical engineering."
   "…Dr. Hammond is interested in providing practical learning experiences and research opportunities for Germanna engineering students. She is also interested in increasing the involvement of underrepresented groups in STEM careers."
   She received the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award for her work with the Germanna Applied Engineering Student Club. She is also a graduate of the Germanna’s President’s Leadership Academy, a year-long program designed to develop rising leaders and she attended the Chair Academy in April 2013.
   In addition to her teaching duties, Dr. Hammond continues to conduct research focused on the health impacts of urban air pollution. Her most recent publication, “Cardiovascular impacts and micro-environmental exposure factors associated with continuous personal PM2.5 monitoring”, is under review by the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.
  Dr. Hammond has a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine and a B.S.in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University.
  She is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the International Society of Exposure Science, and the American Public Health Association.
  
Criteria for staff awards are:
Significant contributions to education in general
Significant contributions to the community college

Shavanta Hayes, second from right, was nominated by
 Middle College Director Carolyn Bynum (right)

SHAVANTA HAYES received a Staff Showcase Award.
She is pursuing an associate’s degree in Business Administration at Germanna.
She was nominated by Middle College Director Carolyn Bynum, who wrote:

"Ms. Hayes graduated from GCC’s Middle College Program in 2008 while working full time in retail. Upon completion of Middle College, ,she continued to work full time and pursue an associate’s degree in business.
“In 2010, she applied for the Middle College Administrative Assistant position and was unanimously chosen because of her passion for the program.

“Even though her position as administrative assistant is in itself a full-time job, she serves as a mentor, advisor, role model, and advocate for Middle College students and is able to inspire them in ways that no other staff member can because she has been where they are. She encourages them to strive to be the best that they can be. She sets a shining example to all who are willing to push themselves and strive for a better life."

Upon her graduation from Germanna in May of 2014, Ms. Hayes plans to transfer to Hampton University to pursue her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration. She has served on Germanna’s Black History Month Committee and Commencement Committee. She has been a recipient of the Doris Buffett Sunshine Lady Scholarship for two years and of the Ray and Joyce Zachmann Scholarship.

Germanna Today TV goes inside GCC's Virtual Hospital

The latest Germanna Today cable TV episode hosted by GCC President David A. Sam and Prof. Ashley Anglin features a tribute to the late Dean of Nursing Mary Gilkey and a look at the college's Virtual Hospital.