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Our Snapshot of the Month
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Congrats to
A-B Tech's Student Culinary Team for placing third at the
2015 ACF National Competition last week in Orlando! Not only was this A-B Tech's first all-woman team, but we're also proud to report that every member is a Foundation scholarship recipient. We're proud of what you've accomplished!
A huge thanks to McKibbon Hotel Management, Inc., and Aloft Asheville for sponsoring this year's team!
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We're pleased to announce that two spring graduates will have brand new email addresses this fall - emails that end with @Carolina.edu and @NCSU.edu. That's right! The two women supported over the last two years at A-B Tech were recipients of the Alice D. Hamling Foundation Scholarship. Ashley and Caitlin were accepted by two flagship state universities: UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.
With that amazing announcement comes this one: these two scholars will again be supported by an Alice D. Hamling Foundation Scholarship as they each earn a Bachelors degree. We remain grateful to Volunteer and Mentor Jim Hamling and his family for making these life-changing scholarships possible. The next good news is that there will be, beginning this fall, three Alice D. Hamling Foundation Scholarships for the next awesome A-B Tech Scholars!
A-B Tech supporters are changing the world, one, two, or three (or more!) students at a time! We wish the incoming class all the best and congratulate each member on making a very wise choice: education!
Sincerely,
Sue H Olesiuk
Executive Director
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A-B Tech Receives NSF Grant to Increase Skilled Workers
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A-B Tech Community College has been awarded an $898,198 grant from the National Science Foundation to support a project to improve technician training and increase the number of highly skilled workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) priority areas.
"Skilled Workers Get Jobs 2.0: Appalachian Impact" builds upon the results of a previously funded NSF pilot project at the college that evaluated strategies to retain more female college students in two-year technician preparation programs. Over a three-year period, the college increased the number of female students in the specific STEM programs from 12 to 19 percent. The project also worked to improve all technician training.
Pamela Silvers, former Computer Technologies Chair and coordinator for the pilot project, will now focus her work on leading and managing the new grant project as its principal investigator. Steven Marcus, Networking Technology Instructor, Jim Sullivan, Civil Engineering/Geomatics Technology Chair, and Rachael Tipton, Computer Integrated Machining Instructor, are co-principal investigators.
"There is a critical shortage of skilled workers in Technology and Engineering jobs. Increasing female enrollment and persistence in these programs will address this regional problem," Silvers said.
The project will serve more than 4,000 undergraduate students, pre-college students, college faculty and pre-college faculty over a three-year period. The objectives are to increase the percentage of female students who enroll in the targeted technician programs by 15 percent per year and to increase the fall-to-fall retention rate of the female students.
To read more about this exciting grant funded initiative, click here.
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| Local Business Spotlight: All Pets Animal Hospital Employs A-B Tech Graduates |
It never ceases to amaze us just how many of our A-B Tech graduates are spread throughout our many and varied local businesses and professional fields here in Asheville. Most recently, we were excited to learn about an A-B Tech connection at local veterinary practice
All Pets Animal Hospital and Rehabilitation Center.
All Pets opened in 1993 with one veterinarian, a part-time veterinary technician and a receptionist. Twenty-two years later the practice has grown into one of the most respected in the area with 28 staff members, including seven vet techs - four of whom are A-B Tech graduates
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Delia, an All Pets Animal Hospital and Rehabilitation Center veterinary technician and A-B Tech graduate, demonstrates one of the perks of working at an animal hospital.
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Claudia, Office Manager for the hospital, says she has always been pleased with the vet techs they have hired from the A-B Tech's
Veterinary Medical Technology Program. She finds them eager to continue to learn and enhance their skills. Since the graduates are normally from the area, they easily fit into the mesh of the other hospital employees which is important in such a fast-paced environment. She remarked, "We've really benefited from the A-B Tech vet tech program. We've gotten some wonderful employees."
Thank you to All Pets and all of our local businesses that provide employment opportunities for A-B Tech graduates. We appreciate all you do for the community!
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Thank You To Yesterday's Tree!
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We'd like to extend our thanks to Yesterday's Tree for organizing a month-long fundraiser supporting A-B Tech students! As we mentioned in our July Newsletter, Yesterday's Tree opted to mark their 30th anniversary with a charity raffle benefiting the Yesterday's Tree Scholarship Fund through the A-B Tech Foundation, which was established to assist students in A-B Tech's Emergency Services' Fire Protection Program.
Thank you to Peggy Yarborough and all at Yesterday's Tree; your support makes a difference!
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A-B Tech Retiree Clint Smoke gets in the spirit!
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ABCCM Supports A-B Tech Student
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We're excited to report that A-B Tech student
Nikky Yanofsky received a $500 scholarship from the
Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) to help her complete her degree in Computer Information Technology and to widen her opportunities for well-paying jobs.
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A-B Tech Student Nikki Yanofsky (right) poses with
Susan Garrett, Coordinator with ABCCM (left)
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Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) leads the national Opportunities for Women in Non-Traditional Employment (OWNE) effort to encourage women to enter fields where they can use their technical and hands-on skills to get into careers that pay high wages. Locally, the program is run by ABCCM as an affiliate of OIC of America. OWNE is a national initiative funded by the Walmart Foundation.
The fund pays for education and work-related expenses for women of any age who meet income eligibility and employment requirements. Programs that qualify include Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration and EPA Certification, Automotive Systems, Civil Engineering, Commercial Driver's License for truck driving, Computer Integrated Machining, Construction Management, Electrical Wiring, Mechanical Engineering and others.
To find out if you are eligible, please call
Susan Garrett at ABCCM at
828-259-5310.
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NC State Employees
Combined Campaign
Designation Code #3803
Combined Federal Campaign
Designation Code #75833
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2015
A-B Tech Foundation Board
of Directors
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Michael Kryzanek, 2015 Chair
Associate, PKF Consulting USA
Appraiser, Province Valuation Group, Inc.
Chris Young, 2015 Vice Chair
Clean Environments
Young Office
K. Ray Bailey
President Emeritus, A-B Tech
Joe Brumit
Brumit Restaurant Group
Tracy Buchanan
CarePartners
Dr. Sandra Byrd
Retired, UNC Asheville
Pat Carver
First Citizens Bank
Rhonda Devan
Vice President, Business & Finance and CFO, A-B Tech
John Ellis
Novus, Bowers, Ellis & Watson Architects
Jack Ferguson
Retired, Lowe's
Charles Frederick
TD Bank
Allan Gerson
Retired, Palm Beach State College
Darryl Hart
Hart Funeral Services, Inc.
Richard Hurley
Retired, Square D Company
Dennis King
President, A-B Tech
Thomas Maher
Pisgah Investments, LLC
Michael Meguiar
GE Aviation
Bill Murdock
Eblen Charities
John Oswald
Mills Manufacturing
Ray Rapp
Retired Dean of Adult and Graduate Studies, Mars Hill University; Former Member, NC House of Representatives
Mary Ann Rice
NCSECU
Dr. Lary Schulhof
Retired, Physician
O'Neal Shelton
Madison County Chamber of Commerce
Steven Sizemore
Northup McConnell & Sizemore, PLLC
Ann Skoglund
Beverly-Hanks & Associates
Ray Spells
Retired, Wells Fargo Bank
Ron Storto
Biltmore Farms
John Winkenwerder
Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites Asheville
Pat Wood
Budweiser of Asheville, Inc.
David Wyatt
Retired, Madison County Schools
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Office of College Advancement Staff
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