Author: Teresa McCreery

ELLISVILLE –Four Jones College administration and faculty members were part of the 10^th class of the Mississippi Community College Leadership Academy.  JC’s Assistant Vice President of Instructional Affairs, Julie Atwood; Director of Practical Nursing, Teresa McDonald, MSN, R.N.; Radiography Program Director, Mandy Pearson M.S. R. T. (R) and former Adult Education Director, Michael Yarbrough graduated with 34 additional members of the MCCLA in May. These graduates are the state’s answer to preparing for the leadership needs of the community colleges according to the program’s coordinator, Dr. Howell Garner. Pearson said she’s grateful to the state and Dr. Garner for this type of training.

“I appreciate the dedication of Dr. Howell Garner to the development of leaders in the college system. This has been a wonderful experience collaborating and building relationships with community college professionals from across the state of Mississippi. Through this experience, I have gained valuable knowledge and skills from experienced leaders to apply as I grow and develop in my profession,” said Pearson.

The MCCLA program provides an internal look at how the Community College system in Mississippi has developed into a world-class educational system. College president’s offer their insight, experiences and advice in an open forum to prepare these future educational leaders. The professional development training for leadership roles ensures the continuity of competent leaders for Mississippi’s higher education needs.  All 15 of the state’s community colleges and several universities send at least two candidates to the year-long program where leaders meet for three, two day-long sessions. Participants are also required to read seven books and work with a group on a research project.

“There were many important things I learned from this experience; however, I consider one of the most important to be, ‘Seek first to understand, then to be understood’ from the book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,’ written by Dr. Stephen Covey. This method aids in producing healthy communication between parties,” said Pearson.

Besides the knowledge gained during the last year from the state’s educational leaders, McDonald said she also appreciates the new network of friendships.

“This was a great experience with phenomenal leadership and knowledge from Dr. Garner, Dr. Smith and other college presidents across the state. We had the opportunity to cultivate professional relationships and friendships with other educational leaders in the state. I feel this was an invaluable experience and it has enhanced my role as a leader for our institution,” said McDonald.

Additionally, Atwood said the MCCLA is an invaluable opportunity for everyone working in the community college system.

“Not only did I develop a deeper understanding of the rich history of Mississippi’s system of community and junior colleges, but also the readings and discussions allowed me to view leadership from a much broader perspective. The program taught me more about leadership and it gave me great insight on how I can apply that personally at Jones College,” said Atwood.

Graduates of MCCLA’s professional and leadership training can earn up to nine-college graduate credits in the Education Leadership program at Mississippi State University, which is also a sponsor of the MCCLA.  Other colleges and universities also accept these credits in their doctoral programs. The Academy was designed and implemented by the Mississippi Community College Foundation with support from the Stennis Institute of Government at MSU as a method of addressing the need for a leadership succession plan. Jones’ newest students, Claire Ishee, admissions counselor and Bobcat Brigade sponsor and EMT and director of the paramedic program and healthcare simulation, Benji Sessums MS NREMT-P, CC-EMTP, began the program in June.

 

ELLISVILLE – Jones College’s physical plant director and Mississippi School Plant Management Association Board member, Joe Everett recently attended the MSPMA state conference in Flowood. The organization of about 500 maintenance, housekeeping, grounds, health, transportation and safety operations, energy management and environmental stewardship employees from pre-school, elementary and secondary levels as well as community and senior colleges and universities, met to exchange ideas on best practices and challenges.  Members heard from Pearl River Community College President, Dr. Adam Breerwood as their keynote speaker. They also learned about their purpose through this professional development opportunity for school plant management personnel through proper management practices related to school operations and maintenance. Representatives also attending from Jones College were Michael Bradshaw-assistant to the president for facilities management and from the maintenance department, Jason Bonner, Milton Newell and Mike Tisdale.

ELLISVILLE –Three Jones College students returned to Mississippi as gold medalists after winning first place in the Engineering Design and Technology category in the National SkillsUSA competition in Louisville, Kentucky.  C.J. Hoodless of Ellisville, Preston Hammonds of Leakesville and Lakelin Smith of Lucedale secured a “poor man’s” patent for production on their “Standi-Strap” after winning the state competition in April. Now, it’s even more likely the gold medalists will see their creation on the shelves after beating the five competitor teams from Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

“This was unreal for us personally and to represent Jones on the national stage at SkillsUSA,” said Hammonds. “This competition gave us an opportunity to apply our skills and talent to produce a product we’re really proud of and we know the Standi-Strap serves a practical purpose. We will make a few improvements before we mass market it.”

As avid musicians, this year’s team was inspired to create the guitar strap and stand, and they proved once again, Jones students are the team to beat in this newly introduced competition category.  The freshmen spent a lot of time preparing and researching for this competition to come up with something anyone could relate to and appreciate.

“We knew when we first met in class that we could work together on this project and be successful.  We all had a part in the process, from creating, tweaking to each presentation before judges. I’m glad our efforts have allowed us to be successful on a national level,” said C.J. Hoodless.

The students said their instructors guided them throughout the process to prepare for any competition. Civil engineering technology instructor, Ryan Hearn said he sent the team back to the “drawing board” when their efforts could be improved. Leading by example and pushing them further than they thought they could go, Hearn witnessed their determination as the team continually sought ways to make their product better. Both Hearn and CAD-engineering technology instructor, Karen Kirk stressed, while the Jones instructors were very involved in the process, the Standi-Strap is the students’ invention, including the original design idea.

“Mr. Hearn and I had unique and different roles with this team event. I taught this team 3D modeling and printing and assisted them with printing and drawing/model refinement. However, Mr. Hearn helped them understand how to gather, interpret and report data, how to make a presentation which had to include a detailed record of their design process in the form of a notebook, create a bulletin board display and a PowerPoint presentation. Each of these forms of communication had specific requirements which are listed in the technical standards for this contest,” explained Kirk.

All three students are majoring in CAD-engineering technology. However, Hammonds will continue in this field and plans to major in mechanical engineering at Mississippi State University after graduation from Jones College next May. Hearn coached the students through the product development and competition using engineering processes while applying the technical skills Kirk taught the students.

“Our instructors at Jones and even some of our high school teachers trained us for this project,” said Lakelin Smith. “We are successful today because our teachers helped sharpen our skills to pursue projects like this.”

Jones won the first year in the new engineering design and technology category at the 2018 state competition. The invention of a manual trash-compactor for the garbage can by a different team earned seventh-place honors at the national SkillsUSA competition. The 2019 team kept the winning streak alive by capturing first place in the engineering design and technology category at the SkillsUSA state competition in April. They ensured their spot at nationals by not only winning but by also earning the judge’s score of 80 percent with a required 70 percent or above. Their invention also had to pass inspection with industry leaders. At the SkillsUSA National competition, this year’s team impressed everyone by scoring 90.5!

“I’ve met some motivated students in the past with inventions but this group was special partly because of their outstanding belief in their product and desire to win. They were confident in every aspect of the process and I pushed them to pursue the best design and they exceeded my expectations. Their passion for their product sold every one they talked with,” said Hearn.

The guitar strap/stand is made of three-inch wide by four-inch squares, printed on a 3D printer and linked together to a piece of nylon and leather strap bindings to attach to the guitar. To switch from a strap to a stand, an aluminum rod is inserted through the squares and is attached to the base stand, which was also made from the 3D printer. The squares can be customized with logos and colors. The links on the strap can be removed or more can be added. The base also has an additional use.

“There’s a safety feature we wanted to include in our invention after talking to electric guitarists who perform in bands. Any extra cord can be wrapped around the base stand which is part of the guitar strap on the guitarist’s back and out of the way,” Hammonds explained. “They won’t trip over their cord with our Standi-Strap.”

The national, award-winning team members received gold medals, a voucher for free, 3D software and an Amazon gift card. The freshmen team hopes to return to SkillsUSA competition next spring with another product to defend their national title. However, receiving national recognition for this years’ winning invention, the students said, is priceless.

Also competing nationally was JC freshman, Savannah Holifield of Soso who earned 10th place in the Architectural Drafting competition. Joseph Blake Pryor, a freshman from Laurel, landed in 11th place in Extemporaneous Speaking and freshman, Daniel Patterson of Sumrall earned sixth place honors in Automotive. The SkillsUSA National Competition was held June 24 through 28, giving hundreds of student competitors real-world experience and recognition for their skills.

 

ELLISVILLE –Twelve Jones College students attended the Phi Beta Lambda National Conference in San Antonio, Texas and returned with national honors.  The Management Analysis & Decision-Making team of Tyler Rouse of Lucedale, Owen Cote of Sumrall and Daniel Easley of Laurel placed fourth in the nation. This same team also placed ninth in the Financial Analysis & Decision-Making competition. Kaleb Ashmore of Sumrall placed seventh in the nation in computer programming.

“It was truly an unexpected opportunity to be able to represent Jones in this way.  It was an incredible way to close out our time at Jones. Many great memories were made!” said Easley.

Other top honors came from the Network Design team of Trent Norris of Ellisville and Grant Valverde of Enterprise who placed seventh in the nation. Mendenhall’s Tara Williamson was a Top 15 finalist in the Hospitality Management competition.

“It was a long road to get to nationals and I’m happy we competed at this level. Just standing on the stage was an honor and to be able to represent Jones made this even more special,” said Rouse.

Jones College PBL Advisor, David Ray was especially proud of his students’ perseverance to continue competing among the nation’s top students.

“I was very proud of our student’s accomplishments,” said Ray.  “We had six top-ten winners which is a continuation our tradition of excellence at the national level. For the last ten years, we’ve seen more students rise to the top. This is a testament to the hard work put forth by the students and their level of instruction here at Jones. These students worked hard to get to San Antonio and to watch their efforts pay off as they received recognition among 2,000 of their peers is very rewarding.”

Also attending the national conference was JC networking instructor, and PBL advisor, Mitch Dubose. He and Ray agree, “This group of students was one of our favorite groups because of the student’s intense drive to succeed. They all did a great job representing Jones College.”

Other students competing on the national level include Alyssa Pearce of Columbia. She competed in Job Interview. Melissa (Camille) Hankins of Laurel competed in Accounting Principles and Entrepreneurship Concepts. Zachary Busby of Laurel competed in Help Desk. Stephen Grantham of Hattiesburg competed in Computer Programming, and Dylan Meeks of Ellisville competed in Sports Management & Marketing and Contemporary Sports Issues. Each of these twelve JC students placed first or second in the state PBL state conference and competition in February to qualify for the national competition in June.