CONNECTThe official newsletter of South Arkansas Community College • El Dorado, Arkansas • Spring 2015

More than 300 students will be recognized as graduates during Spring Commencement at 7 p.m. on May 15 at the El Dorado Con-ference Center.

The guest speaker will be Arkansas Community Colleges ex-ecutive director Bill H. Stovall III.

Stovall assumed his position in 2013 when the organization of in-state community colleges was known as the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges. Before that,

Stovall was a special assistant and chief of staff for several former Ar-kansas House Speakers. Previously he had been a state legislator and a quorum court justice, in addition to being a small business owner.

He is a graduate of the Univer-sity of North Carolina-Greensboro with a master’s degree in liberal studies, of the University of Arkan-sas-Little Rock with a bachelor’s degree in political science and of Pulaski Technical College.

Stovall to address graduating class

Stovall.

Fifth annual GLAMS conference coming upAbout 275 eighth-grade girls from 16 schools

spread over seven counties will be on SouthArk’s West Campus on May 12 for the annual Girls Learning About Math and Science conference.

Roughly another 100 volunteers, including session speakers, also will be in attendance for what in its fifth year has grown to be an event that has received state and regional attention.

GLAMS aims to introduce eighth-grade female students to the possibilities of science, engineering and mathematics fields that they might not otherwise consider. Female professionals in these fields hold sessions that include visual demonstrations. The day also is marked by challenging experiments and team-building exercises.

The conference is a partnership effort between SouthArk and the El Dorado Education Foundation, supported by a host of donors and in-kind contributors.

Participants in last year’s GLAMS event work on building a tower out of index cards.

FROM THE

PRESIDENT

PAGE 2 SPRING 2015 CONNECT

Spring is a time for closure, new beginnings—and appreciation for a life in higher education

As the end of the spring semester comes to a close, college life is a bevy of culminating activities.

Arts in April showcased student talents and accom-plishments with music recitals, chorale performances, art exhibits, literary readings and publications and film showings. The Phi Beta Lambda student business or-ganization has successfully competed at the state level

and is preparing for national com-petition this summer. Student and employee recognition ceremonies, health-science program pinning ceremonies, and spring commence-ment all celebrate accomplishments, endings and new beginnings for our students, graduates and our faculty and staff.

Our newsletter highlights the many activities in the life of South Arkansas Community College. As the academic year closes, we also pause to recognize the significant contribution of two faculty mem-bers: Dr. Carolyn Langston and Ms. Bettie Ann Mahony.

These two faculty icons of higher education in Arkansas began their teaching careers 40 years ago at the inception of Southern State College-El Dorado, which eventual-

ly became SouthArk. Ms. Mahony’s grammar, English composition and literature courses; and Dr. Langs-ton’s business, accounting and economics courses

have contributed to the lives of so many students and graduates of SouthArk. They not only taught, but have contributed to the very fabric of the college history, traditions and infrastructure. They have left a legacy in south Arkansas through the thousands of students who they have taught, encouraged, touched and prepared for their future professions and lives.

Many area business owners, managers, accoun-tants, health-care workers and others sing the praises of these faculty members. Not only have they con-veyed knowledge and stimulated learning, but they also have left a legacy through giving by establishing endowed scholarships, which will give future students the opportunity to pursue their goals and dreams—both for careers and improved quality of life.

I hope that you will join with the SouthArk fam-ily in thanking Dr. Carolyn Langston and Ms. Bet-tie Ann Mahony for 40 years of dedicated service to the college, to the community and especially to our students. Words cannot express our deep appreciation and thanks for your many years of dedicated service. Thank you!

New facilityThis is architectural rendering of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Center, which will be located on the East Campus. The SouthArk Board approved construction of the new facility in an April meeting. The build-ing will house portions of SouthArk’s existing manufacturing programs as well as non-credit corporate training. The project still is in its early stages.

Mahony.

Langston.

CONNECT SPRING 2015 PAGE 3

For Jay and Whitney Brown, the month of May is a celebration of old and new.

Six years ago as high-school sophomores, they began dating. This month, she is graduating from SouthArk’s physical therapist assistant program. Hus-band Jay will graduate from SouthArk’s occupational therapy assistant program in August.

Whitney Brown—then Thurmon—and Jay Brown began school at SouthArk in the fall of 2011. In the beginning, the duo had only vague ideas of what they wanted out of their college experiences. After com-pleting a few nursing observations, though, both real-ized that helping others was their passion.

It wasn’t long before both found the programs best suited for them, Jay Brown said. He added that the rewards for him are great.

“I help clients do something that they haven’t done for years due to an injury,” he said. “I teach them how to use equipment and learn how to do something they never thought they would do again.”

His wife echoed his sentiments about patient rela-tionships.

“I like to see their progress. I like to see from day to day how much better people are and to know that I am actually doing that,” she said. “I am changing someone’s life for the better.”

The OTA and PTA programs are in fact considered among SouthArk’s most rewarding, in terms of expe-riences and financial gains of employment. But they also are among the most challenging. Both are com-petitive programs and require many hours of educa-tion, training, observations and internship time. Just being accepted into the programs is a high hurdle to jump.

And while both were wrapping up prerequisites and prepping program applications last spring, they added wedding planning to their to-do list. They married in March of 2014.

Both received good news and were accepted into their respective programs a year ago, and then faced all of the rigors of exhausting hours in class, difficult examinations and study time. When clinical intern-ships got underway, the newlyweds also learned what it is like to live apart: While Whitney was able to stay

in El Dorado, Jay had to move to Little Rock for a rotation.

“He has a way of always picking me up,” she said. “I am a worrier. He is my rock. He just keeps me go-ing.”

Whitney Brown recently passed the state board for licensure. Her husband is in his final clinical rotation. Both now are applying for jobs and determining their next move as a couple. After August, for the first time since they started dating, neither will be in school.

“We have been together all the way through,” Jay Brown said. “We have been doing all this work that we knew it would be worth it in the end.”

Jay Brown, left, and bride Whitney Brown.

Love...and therapyBoth halves of SouthArk couple find their calling in rigorous health-science programs

PAGE 4 SPRING 2015 CONNECT

Music professor Victoria Harden, center, is surrounded by well-wishers in a reception following the Choral Society’s Totally Mozart concert at First Presbyterian Church, part of Arts in April. The reception was hosted by the Founda-tion.

Imagine that you have to procure an item of great value within an hour, but have no money with which to obtain it—instead, you have to barter, but at the start you have only one item of miniscule worth.

That is exactly where students of Gabbie Williams’ SouthArk Success course found themselves recently. They were separated into two groups, and each group was given only one paper clip with which to start trad-ing.

“I have done this activity before and I wanted them to experience it,” Williams said. “There really are good people still in the world. I kept telling them you will be surprised at what you get. They didn’t believe me.”

As a team-building exercise, each group had to take its paper clip and trade it in for something of greater value, then trade that new item for something else of even greater value. The goal was to have the team with the highest-valued item, but the students couldn’t use money in any way—bartering only.

“It helps students with critical thinking. They have to think outside the box,” Williams said.

One group started with a paper clip and ended with mosquito repellant and a high-intensity light (valued at $50). The other group came riding back to SouthArk on an El Dorado Fire Department fire truck.

When they got back, proud of their accomplish-ment, the members of that group walked into the classroom and said “you need you to come outside to

see it,” Williams said.“As soon as I walked outside the fire truck pulled

up honking its horn,” she said. “I was thinking ‘No way they pulled this off,’ but they did.”

SAS challenges students to grow, build their com-munity and learn how to succeed in college and the workforce, Williams said.

“I want them to grow. I want to see them grow,” the instructor said. “I don’t want them to be the same person they were when they started this class.”

Students in Gabbie Williams’ SouthArk Success class, along with the El Dorado firefighters and the fire truck received as part of the paper-clip challenge.

Exercise shows potential value of a paper clip

Employee Fund DriveFrom left, Employee Fund Drive captains Lesley Drum-mond, Val Lewis and Gabbie Williams draw names from among all SouthArk employees who donated money to the SouthArk Foundation in the annual campaign. Several gift cards were given as prizes.

Totally Mozart