SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – South Suburban College will be offering a Free Highway Construction Careers Training Program this spring at their Oak Forest Campus. Orientation and Assessment Testing will be January 30-February 1, 2018 at the Oak Forest Center, with the program set to begin on February 26, 2018.

The Highway Construction Careers Training Program has been implemented to increase the number of minorities, women, and disadvantaged individuals working on IDOT highway construction projects. The training consists of an intensive 12-week program to learn the skills necessary for acceptance into the highway construction trades and gives the opportunity for a career with high wage potential.

Career Opportunities Include:

• Cement Mason
• Electrician
• Pipefitter
• Carpenter
• Laborer
• Equipment Operator

Requirements:

• Valid driver’s license
• 18 years or older
• High School diploma/GED
• Interest working in the Construction Trades

Construction will always be needed for new buildings, roads, bridges, and other structures. Some of the more skilled construction careers such as engineer require higher education while others such as cement masonry can be learned as an on-the-job apprentice.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ssc.edu/hcctp, or call (708) 225-6042, or email hcctp@ssc.edu. Para Información En Español Llame: (708) 210-5740. The Oak Forest Center is located at 16333 South Kilbourn Avenue, Oak Forest, Illinois 60452.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL –At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees of South Suburban College held on November 16, Vivian Payne was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Trustee Jacqueline Martin. The vote was unanimous and Ms. Payne was sworn in immediately.

Payne, a Lansing resident of more than 23 years, presently serves as Lansing’s Village Clerk. She is currently President and past Secretary of the Lansing Business Women’s Association, past Executive Director of the Lansing Chamber of Commerce and past Secretary of the Planning & Zoning Board of Appeals. Payne is eager to represent South Suburban College District 510 which encompasses 18 villages.

She stated, “I’m extremely grateful to the Board of Trustees and Chairman Frank Zuccarelli for their expression of trust and support. As a former SSC student myself, I want everyone to know that I’ll begin each day with a commitment to ensure that our college continues to offer the widest range of academic options to help each student achieve their dreams.”

The college is located at 15800 S. State Street in South Holland, IL. For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – South Suburban College paid homage and showed its gratitude for all veterans by hosting their annual, “Veterans Appreciation Day” event in the Kindig Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, November 7, 2017.

The program opened with music major and second year SSC student Amy Watson, who sang a beautiful accapella rendition of the National Anthem which received a resounding ovation. Students, faculty, staff, and community members came to hear Commander Phillip Willis of the National Association of Black Veterans speak on “Freedom, Sacrifice, and Honor.” He told of his experiences and advised the audience to please “thank veterans for their service” as they have made an ultimate commitment to preserve the freedoms that we, as U.S. citizens, enjoy today. His speech brought applause and some tears as many thanked him afterwards.

A panel of SSC students and staff rounded out the presentation. They included:

• U.S. Veteran and Dean of Adult Education, Matt Beasland
• U.S. Veteran of Army National Guard and U.S. Navy, Odell Braziel. Mr. Braziel is an IT Programmer of SSC Network Systems
• U.S. Veteran and SSC Graduate, Pamela Dorsey
• Current Student and U.S. Veteran Waynemond Cotton

Mr. Beasland moderated the discussion and provided historical commentary. The panelists shared personal experiences and students asked relevant questions during the final question and answer portion of the event. A standing ovation was given to both the guest speaker and panelists and the event ended with camaraderie and well wishes for a better understanding of our Veteran population and the sacrifices they have made as “freedom isn’t free.”

For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – The South Suburban College literary and art magazine The Scriblerian has won three major awards from the American Scholastic Press Association. Scoring 960 out of a possible 1000 points, judged on content coverage, organization, design, presentation, and creativity. The magazine received a First Place with Special Merit award, with the judges stating, “Your magazine shows the superior efforts of talented and creative editors, writers, artists, layout/graphics/designers, staff members, contributors, and advisor.” Rick Jones, the advisor to The Scriblerian, said he was thrilled with the material presented in this year’s edition, which was the largest in the history of the magazine, at 128 pages, to celebrate its 35th anniversary year of publication and his own 25 years of sponsoring the magazine. He also praised the efforts of his editor, Stuti Sharma, and of his layout editor, Paul Braun. “We just had so many excellent submissions for fiction this year. I did not hesitate to include all the best ones, mostly from my creative writing fiction class students,” Jones stated.

In addition to that prize, the American Scholastic Press Association also awarded the magazine Outstanding Digital-media/Photoshop for Lee Shelby’s graphic design “History,” which shows prominent black men and women on a bus. The ASPA judge stated, “I love the concept, with different expressions for historical figures. It’s like a trip in time! Creative!” The other award was for Outstanding Fiction for a short story called “The Short Misadventures of the Doctor and His Companion” by Magdalene Janisse, a story which captures the Dr. Who, Torchwood, Supernatural, and Harry Potter universes in a creative tour de force. The ASPA judge stated, “Great to see someone who knows enough about the subject matter and characters while making the story understandable to non-Whovians. Fun and contemporary!” Jones said he thought the story was “Pure creative genius” as the author took suggested journal topics from his English 101 class and turned them into a creative piece of fiction, which also won Best Story at the annual Scriblerian Awards meeting in June. Jones said, “It deserved to win such an award as the story is truly outstanding, fun and creative.”

The ASPA also praised the publication by saying, “The Scriblerian is an amazing publication! You have published excellent works from your school population. Scriblerian is a model for those up-and-coming magazines and an inspiration for those that haven’t quite aced the necessary skills.”

In addition to Maggie Janisse winning the Best Story award locally, other awards presented to students at the annual Scriblerian meeting in June were for Best Art (Kathleen DeJong for “Paint Studio”), Best Essay (Flor M. Correa Vallejo for “The Value of a Toy”), Best Poem (Sofia Sayed for “The Starving Boy”), and Taliah Norwood for Cover Design. Magazines are available in the South Suburban College English office and library.

For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – On Wednesday, September 27, 2017, South Suburban College’s Office of Student Life, in collaboration with the SSC Latino Center, held a very successful “D.A.C.A. Rally” to engage and inform our students and the community concerning the recent presidential recension of D.A.C.A. (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Held in the Kindig Performing Arts Center, students and the community learned about the personal, social, and economic implications that the recent D.A.C.A. recension will have upon the estimated 42,000 D.A.C.A. recipients in Illinois and approximately 800,000 nationwide.

Information from the Center for American Progress survey was presented as well as viewpoints from Sociologist Roberto Gonzales of Harvard University and Dr. Joseph Gorin, a clinical psychologist who runs a fully Spanish and English speaking group practice in Washington, D.C. Applicable videos were also utilized to round out the presentation as the program ended with a robust question and answer session.

Faculty and administrators teamed up to present this rally and according to feedback from our students and the community, the presentation was welcomed and appreciated. Many students were pleased that the College hosted this event and they became emotional knowing how this decision would affect their families and the educational goals they have set for themselves. Students were also given “Defend DACA” call-to-action cards with information to contact Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to voice their concerns and ask them to support D.A.C.A.

For more information about SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – For over thirty years the Board of Trustees of SSC has recognized outstanding art students by purchasing artworks of excellence. The artwork becomes part of the permanent art collection of South Suburban College for use for in our college halls, offices, and galleries. To date there are over 200 student works proudly displayed around South Suburban College.

The selection process involves a jury of art faculty members who nominate artwork from the Fall and Spring Biannual Juried Student Art Exhibit. All selections nominated by the jury are individually evaluated on their merit and as examples of excellence of outcomes the Art & Design faculty have determined to be objectives for the art courses of our college.
Finalists for the college’s art collection are selected at the end of the spring semester and are presented to the Board of Trustees at the May meeting.

The public is welcome to visit our art galleries at no charge. The Dulgar Gallery is on the first floor. SSC Galleries are open at minimum Mondays through Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The galleries are closed on weekends and holidays. For more information, please call (708) 596-2000, ext. 2445 or ext. 2316, or visit www.ssc.edu/art. SSC is located at 15800 South State Street, South Holland, Illinois.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – When the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government wanted to document their tribe’s history, they turned to SSC professor Bruce Allardice. As part of the Tribal Government’s efforts to reclaim their heritage, the tribe set out to document the history of the baseball field on which tribal members had played baseball since (they thought) the early 1900s. Dylan Conduzzi, Aleut Community of St. Paul Tribal Government employee, contacted Professor Allardice, who conducts research on early baseball history for the Society of American Baseball Research and for Major League Baseball.

Prof. Allardice discovered articles in a little-known Connecticut newspaper which proved that Americans who used St. Paul Island had formed a baseball team from among the island natives in June of 1868—far earlier than anyone in the Aleut community had ever known! This is the first known instance of baseball playing in the state of Alaska, which had only become part of the U.S. the year prior. Prof. Allardice also tracked down the biographies of the team’s organizers.

The Aleut Community of St. Paul Tribal Government is honored to announce plans to commemorate the 150-year anniversary of the founding of the baseball club of St. Paul Island. To commemorate the long and rich history of baseball on St. Paul Island, the Tribal Government will be planning a series of events and programs dedicated to the history of the club and will honor the long and rich history of baseball for the St. Paul community.

Professor Allardice’s research can be found on the website, www.protoball.org. He’s entered almost 4,500 early (pre-1870) baseball clubs in the U.S. and 121 foreign countries. Baseball historian Larry McCray adds: “Bruce’s ability to dig up the earliest games and clubs constantly amazes us.”

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – Each year, the Illinois State Library recognizes the achievements of ten individuals who support the adult literacy effort in Illinois. The Spotlight on Achievement Awards go to five inspiring adult learners who have shown tremendous growth as they worked to improve their reading skills or to learn the English language, and are also presented to five adult literacy volunteer tutors who have shown great dedication as they assisted adult learners to reach their reading goals.

This year Gerald Chaben, South Suburban College literacy tutor, received one of these prestigious awards in a ceremony held May 8th at the Springfield State Library. Mr. Chaben was given a plaque, the Illinois Blue Book personally signed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, and three other books. The award was accepted on Mr. Chaben’s behalf by Raylynn Stokes, Literacy Coach of South Suburban College’s Adult Volunteer Literacy Program.

Tutoring for South Suburban College fifteen years and counting, Mr. Chaben has volunteered countless hours of instructional time with his adult learners. He believes that adult literacy is a vital component of society and feels that people with good literacy skills are more likely to have higher self-esteem, better health, better jobs and higher wages. Chaben is active in helping his students feel more confident in learning and bettering themselves, and always asks his learners what they need help with that day, whether it be class work or life skills. Gerald worked with one student for ten years, eventually raising her reading ability by five levels. This is one of the many examples of the dedication Gerald Chaben has for his students.

If you would like to register for a volunteer tutor training class, or if you know someone who could benefit from tutoring services, please contact Raylynn Stokes, South Suburban College Literacy Coach of the Adult Volunteer Literacy Program, at (708) 596-2000, ext. 2558, or email rstokes@ssc.edu. South Suburban College is located at 15800 S. State St., South Holland, Illinois.
For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718. Contáctanos al (708) 210-5740 o a Latino@ssc.edu.

Pictured: Raylynn Stokes, Literacy Coach of South Suburban College’s Adult Volunteer Literacy Program at “Spotlight on Achievement” award ceremony.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – In response to the growing Latino Community, South Suburban College has established the Latino Center for Information and Services. The Center is located in the Counseling Center Room 2350. The mission of the Center is to Help Latinos Achieve the Dream through education.

Our Center. . .

• Provides excellent customer service to prospective and current students and parents by providing interpretation (English/Spanish).
• Will be the “live voice” at the other end of the phone when a caller to SSC “presses 4 for Spanish.”
• Will escort prospective and current students and parents from office to office ensuring they understand the process and have the information in their native tongue.
• Provides interpretation services for college programs/departments on-demand.
• In collaboration with college staff, provides informational sessions for parents/students in Spanish.
• Maintains a scholarship database for Latino students, especially for Undocumented-DREAMer students.

Visit us on YouTube to watch an episode of “Bulldog Bites” highlighting the Latino Center Grand Opening at https://youtu.be/7nFgwZYZXEU. For more information, please contact us at 708-210-5740 or Latino@ssc.edu. Para información en Español comuniquese al Centro Latino (708) 210-5740 o a Latino@ssc.edu. For information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718. South Suburban College is located at 15800 S. State Street, South Holland, IL 60473.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL–South Suburban College recently hosted their annual Spring Tea Awards to recognize employees’ years of service, retirements, and announce the Faculty Appreciation Awards.

The SSC Faculty Appreciation Awards have now become an annual tradition under direction of college president Don Manning and vice president of academic services, Lynnette Stokes. “We have so many wonderful, talented faculty members at SSC,” said President Manning. “It is only fitting that we begin recognizing them appropriately with a formal expression of our appreciation.”

This year’s annual Faculty Appreciation Award recipients were:

Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year Award – Sandy Bein, Communications & Humanities
Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year Award – Vernita Lewis, Early Childhood Education Program
The Dr. Steven Springer Service Award – Jamie Welling, Life Science and Physical Education
The Dr. William E. McVey Teamwork Award – Corey McDonald and the Math Remediation Strategic Team (Beth Beno, Diane Grzezcka, Amy Kelly, Caleb Olaleye, Dave Anderson and Jazaer Farrar)
The Outstanding Community Educator of the Year Award – Erica Humphrey, Office of the Associate Dean of Academic Services

SSC’s 2017 retiring employees were recognized at both the Spring Tea Awards and the college’s May Meeting of the Board of Trustees. Chairman of the Board, Frank M. Zuccarelli, presented each of the retirees with gifts during the open meeting. “On behalf of the SSC Board of Trustees, I want to thank you for all of your many years of dedicated service. You will be missed dearly by the college and our students, and we wish you all the best.”

The following employees are retiring from SSC in 2017:

Rebecca Admave, BCI – 27 years
Maryland Eggleston, Career Development – 20 years
Jan Green, Student Development – 30 years
Mary Ann Larsen, Counseling – 27 years

Celebrating its 90th year, SSC is a fully accredited, comprehensive community college with locations in South Holland and Oak Forest. SSC offers over 50 career education and transfer programs awarding Associate Degrees, professional certifications and transferable credits. SSC also has numerous community outreach programs including Adult Basic Education (ABE), High School Equivalency (HSE), English as a Second Language (ESL), Continuing Education and a Business & Career Institute. For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – South Suburban College (SSC), with the assistance of Career Development Systems (CDS), hosted the 10th Annual South Suburban College Video Competition on Thursday, April 20, 2017, in the Kindig Performing Arts Center. The competition showcases talent from high schools as well as provides students with tours of the college’s facilities, including the television studio, audio studio and multimedia lab.

“It’s important for my students to tour South Suburban College because they just don’t realize how amazing facilities are so close to home,” said Eisenhower High School teacher, Jodi Pelini. Michael Jones, parent of Bremen High School senior/competition participant, Brittany Jones, felt it was beneficial for South Suburban College to host a video competition for high schoolers because students get familiar with SSC’s options. He was impressed with the variety of videos he saw at the event. Brittany and some of her classmates placed 3rd in the PSA and Music Video categories.

Ten high schools submitted entries to the competition including Bremen, Eisenhower, Hillcrest, Oak Forest, Richards, Shepard, Southland Prep, Thornridge, Thornton Township and Tinley Park. Students entered work in eight different categories: Commercial, PSA, Short Subject, Music Video, Live Multi-Camera Program, Creative Editing, News Story or Feature and News Program. The 69 entries were judged on aesthetic quality, technical quality, program design and overall effectiveness.

Angie Zavala, a senior at Eisenhower High School, took home two 1st place trophies and three 2nd place ribbons. When Zavala graduates, she plans to continue her education and has a goal of entering the film industry as a director. Zavala was ecstatic to see how many awards she won and said, “I enjoyed looking at my peers’ video submissions during the award ceremony the most.” Her partner on the music video submission that took 1st place was junior Brianna Smith. She wants to create a book series and adapt those books into film. Smith enjoyed watching video clips of nominees on the big screen to see how she can improve her submissions for next year’s competition.

In addition to the student awards, high schools competed for the Regional Award of Distinction. Eisenhower High School won this year’s award having the highest average score per entry. “I love the way the awards are announced,” said Pelini. “This competition allows students to take pride in their work and get recognized for hard work.”

The student awards for each category are as follows:

Commercial: First Place, “Cardinal AdBlock” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Cardinal Football: Are You Ready?” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “Betrayer” – Bremen.

PSA: First Place, “All it Takes is One” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “You Are Not Alone” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “Use Your Head” – Bremen.

Short Subject: First Place, “3.141592653 THE MOVIE” – Tinley Park; Second Place, “Siren” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “While it Lasts” – Tinley Park.

Music Video: First Place, “The Kids Aren’t Alright” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Striking Down” – Oak Forest; Third Place, “Tinnitus by Everyone Says” – Bremen.

Live Multi-Camera Program: First Place, “The Diary of Anne Frank” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Chaleisa Lately” – Hillcrest; Third Place, “So Late it’s Early” – Tinley Park.

Creative Editing: First Place, “Unite” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Life Undocumented” – Thornton Township; Third Place, “I am Eisenhower” – Eisenhower.

News Story or Feature: First Place, “Lexi” – Eisenhower; Second Place, “Worms” – Southland Prep; Third Place, “The Closet” – Eisenhower.

News Program: First Place, “Wildcat News” – Thornton Township; Second Place, “Ike Update” – Eisenhower; Third Place, “Talon NewsNet Channel 5” – Southland Prep.

For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – In honor of 2017 Court Reporting & Captioning Week, the National Court Reporting Association’s (NCRA) Student Committee challenged court reporting students to transcribe as many tests as possible during the week to qualify for a prize. First place was awarded to Angela Patla, a student at South Suburban College, Oak Forest, IL. Robyn Broyles a student at GateWay Community College, Phoenix, Ariz., earned second place, and Evie Morris, a student at the Court Reporting Institute of St. Louis, Mo., earned third place.

Under the contest’s rules, participants did not have to pass the tests, simply transcribe them. The first place winner Patla will be awarded a copy of NCRA’s RPR Study Guide, Broyles will have one leg of the RPR Skills Test covered, and Morris will receive a $25 Starbucks gift card.

Students who participated in the challenge were also required to submit a test verification form signed by both the student and a teacher.

“When I heard of the contest, I was debating on whether or not I should go for it. Winning the RPR Study Guide book was definitely something that pushed me in doing the contest,” said Patla, who won top honors by transcribing 31 tests during the competition.

“Although court reporting and transcribing came fairly easy to me since I started the program, I think participating in this contest helped a lot with my transcribing skills. It gave me a chance to feel what it was like to have a deadline on something like I would if I was on a job out reporting.”

Patla, who is almost through with 190 Testimony, is done with Jury Charge and is working on her 180 Literary. She plans to either freelance or work as an official court reporter when she graduates. She attributes her choice of court reporting as a career to her mother.

“My mom actually helped me choose court reporting my junior year of high school. I had no idea what I wanted to do. She mentioned to me a few different ladies in the area that we know who are court reporters. Right away I was interested, and I went to South Suburban’s open house. I couldn’t wait to graduate school and get started with the program,” said Patla.

For more information on the Court Reporting Program, contact LaTherese Cooke at (708) 596-2000, ext. 3217 or email lcooke@ssc.edu. For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – On March 15, 2017, the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) hosted its’ annual all-staff meeting at South Suburban College where President Don Manning welcomed approximately 210 CCDPH staff members. This is the second year that CCDPH has hosted the meeting at South Suburban College. SSC’s partnership with Cook County Department of Public Health provided technology, facilities, and invaluable staff support for making this meeting a success. This year, CCDPH focused on Strategic Planning, Quality Improvement and Health Equity throughout the Cook County.

The Cook County Department of Public Health was established on December 10, 1945 and is the state certified public health agency for Cook County with the exception of Chicago, Evanston, Skokie, Oak Park and Stickney Township. CCDPH serves approximately 2.5 million residents in 125 municipalities and strives to meet the public health needs of our suburban Cook County jurisdiction through effective and efficient disease prevention and health promotion programs.

For more information about SSC and its programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.