Art on the Fox Festival judged by Art Hand and Tom Vician

Art Hand and Tom Vician, Art Instructors, recently judged collections at the Art on the Fox festival in Algonquin.  Artists were judged on all submissions as a whole rather than on individual pieces.  The two-day festival consisted of 40 booths with an assortment of media including ceramics, photography, jewelry, paintings, glass, and stone.  We are proud to have Art and Tom serving the community while being wonderful representatives of McHenry County College!

I'm thinking of changing my smile - Art Installation at the Dole Mansion by Erin Coleman-Cruz and Christina Gregor

The second and third floors of the 1860’s Dole Mansion have been transformed by Art Instructors, Erin Coleman-Cruz and Christina Gregor. The art installation, “I’m thinking of changing my smile,” is open for viewing through June 24. Congratulations are in order for our colleagues. Their countless hours of hard work and dedication should not go unnoticed. Please attend to see how the Dole has been recreated through this collaboration.

Dole Mansion
401 Country Club Road
Crystal Lake, IL

http://collaborateeccg.blogspot.com/

http://www.lakesidelegacy.org/index.html

Pat Zokal, Department Chair of Counseling, serves students through professional development

Pat Zokal, Department Chair of Counseling, will be very busy with professional activities this summer. She is taking six semester hours of graduate course work, including a "Family Counseling" course. This will increase her understanding of family dynamics issues our students face, which are often a source of strain or support affecting their success. Pat is also enrolled in an Education course, enabling her to incorporate additional creative activities into her teaching. Pat’s professional development will directly impact students and employees, as she will integrate what she has learned into her seminars and professional development classes.


In additional to professional development, Pat will also be serving students through the completion of the Career Decision Making MCC webpage. The current "Career Resources" page will be replaced by a new, more self-directed "Career and College Major Decisions" webpage with different options for students (choosing a major) and community members (making a career change).

Thank you, Pat, for your dedication to continuing professional development and to serving our students!

Matt Irie - Spirit Fingers Exhibition

Congratulations to Matt Irie, Art Instructor, on his upcoming exhibition of recent paintings, Spirit Fingers, at the Wright Museum of Art at Beloit College. Spirit Fingers will be exhibited from June 11, 2011 through July 22, 2011. The opening reception is on Saturday, June 11 from 4:30 PM until 6:30 PM. Please attend to support Matt and to see his amazing work!

www.mattirie.com

Wright Museum of Art
Beloit College
700 College Street
Beloit, WI 53511

Congratulations, Matt!

MCC Team Wins First Place in the Suburban Chicago Intercollegiate Catapult Contest

Congratulations to the McHenry County College team who captured first place in the third annual Suburban Chicago Intercollegiate Catapult Contest. The MCC team, which consisted of sisters Laura and Anna Gallagher and Stuart Dwyer, took first in the accuracy competition by connecting on three 35 foot shots, finished second in the precision event, and took fourth in the distance event to finish first overall out of 12 teams from McHenry County College, College of Lake County, Harper College, and College of DuPage.


The College of DuPage Team #2 tried to mount a ferocious comeback in the distance event by hitting a 100 foot bull’s-eye, but that was not enough to overcome the all-around effort by the MCC team.

The MCC Catapult was designed by Laura Gallagher as part of the requirements for her Engineering Graphics course.

Pictured from left to right - Anna Gallagher, Stuart Dwyer, Laura Gallagher

Skyway STEM Poster Competition 2011

MCC Student Nisha Patel and MCC Math Instructor Heidi Haegerich
Other MCC student entrants were: Ralph Davis, David Patel and Lee Dowsett

MCC is one of the eight member colleges of the Illinois Skyway Athletic and Co-Curricular Conference. Friday, April 8th, MCC hosted the second annual Skyway STEM Poster Contest. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering & Math. Students from Waubonsee Community College, College of Lake County, Moraine Valley College, Oakton Community College, Prairie State College & MCC have submited research projects to be judged. The poster board competition received 40 submissions from 70 student participants representing the categories of math/technology, biological science and physical science.


MCC Instructors Marla Garrison (Biology), Steve Socol (Chemistry), Heidi Haegerich (Math) all worked tirelessly to organize and host this competition. Talia Koronkiewicz, Coordinator of Student Life & Campus Activities, also worked long and hard arranging the event.

Peter Johnson and Rick Delaney, students of  Instructor Jack Brezinski (Computer & Digital Media), gave a robotics demonstration and address.  Nisha Patel and Ralph Davis were mentored by Marla Garrison (Biology). David Patel is a student of Adjunct Instructor Ed Coty (Physics) while Lee Dowsett is a student of Adjunct Instructor Steve Burks (Chemistry). As Haegerich noted, "They now have an experience that will serve them well in college and graduate school. Students got to do independent research on a topic of their choice, deepening their understanding, bringing Math and Science to life, and allowing them to make connections to the real world."

Congratulations to Katherine Midday, Outstanding Full-time Faculty of the Year 2011

We are very proud to announce that our colleague, Kate Midday, is the MCC faculty's 2011 nominee for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association's Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Member Award. This award recognizes the exceptional accomplishments of Illinois' full-time community college instructors. Kate has been with MCC since 2004 when she was hired as an English instructor. She currently teaches a learning community course Laughing You're Ass Off: the Written and Spoken Arts of Comedy, (English Composition II/Speech), as well as a Women's Literature course.

Kate is the Learning Communities Chair, President of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges, and Faculty Advisor for the Cheshire Cheese Literary Society.  As an ardent advocate for women's issues, Kate works tirelessly through the Women's History Month Committee to present and promote the Annual Women's Film Festival at MCC, now in its sixth year.  Her colleagues and her students praise her as a dedicated and innovative instructor.

Here are the previous winners who have represented MCC:
2010 Janet Scott
2009 Jay Geller
2008 Thomas Takayama
2007 Bruce Spangenberg
2006 Paul Hamill
2005 Don Curfman
2004 Lillian Roy
2003 Susan Galloway
2002 Carol Chandler
2001 Brian Sager
2000 Suzanne Wallace
1999 David Hill
1998 Jim Gould
1997 Lynn Lourie
1996 Robert Weck
1995 Scott Persky
1994 Mark Eckel
1993 Robert Sanborn
1992 Judith Williamson
1991 Greg Alfus
1990 Mary Kurtzman
1989 Janice Young
1988 Jim Trefzgar
1987 Dick York
1986 Dora Tippens

Art exhibition by Mark Arctander and Matt Irie: MCC represented at Waubonsee Community College

New paintings by Mark Arctander and Matt Irie will be shown in the Arrowhead Room Gallery at Waubonsee Community College in Spring Grove, Illinois from January 20th the February 20th, 2011. Gallery hours are 8:00 am to 9:00 pm Monday - Friday and 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday. Phone 630-466-2964.
Images shown below: Juicy Sluice by Matt Irie and Hand Shadow #32010 (Deer) by Mark Arctander

Closer to home, stop by Gallery One in the MCC Library and view Recent Work: MCC Art Department Faculty Exhibit now through February 23rd. Among works by other MCC art faculty, Mark and Matt share additional works including more hand shadow oil on panels by Mark: Desert Plant #2 and Eiffel Tower with Matchstick. Matt exhibits another of his acrylic latex panels, Hamillflage and a unique display entitled Gifts, a screenprint with paper, cardboard and ribbon.

Instructor Elaine Whalen encourages creativity with classroom presentations

This is not your everyday Weight Watchers meeting! Each semester students in instructor Elaine Whalen’s Nutrition for Wellness (HFE 250) class research popular fad diets and present their findings to the rest of the class.

Two of Elaine's more creative students role play during their presentations!  Tom is leading the Weight Watchers meeting.  His teammates acted as participants asking questions at the meeting, thus educating the rest of the class about the Weight Watchers diet: the pros and cons, the health benefits and risks, safety and effectiveness, etc.

Micah (standing next to instructor, Elaine Whalen) is a stick of butter, representing the Atkins Diet.

Instructor Sheila Venkataswamy shares Hinduism with local high school students

On October 29^th, 2010, sociology instructor Shiela Venkataswamy presented “The Hindu Way of Life” to the Ancient Civilizations class at Prairie Ridge High School.  The presentation was a part of the Indus Valley Civilization unit taught by Mr. Joseph Terhaar. The focus of the presentation  was how Hindu religious principles governed and continue to govern the day-to-day lives of Hindus in India. Topics included caste, sacredness of cows, belief in rebirth and karma, and the worldly nature of Hinduism which has helped Hindus adjust to changes brought about by globalization. (submitted by S.V.)