Debra is focused on the nursing profession. She started at MxCC by completing the emergency technician (EMT) program requirements, passing the test, and becoming licensed in 1997. Then she returned to MxCC and completed the Certified Nursing Aide program and received certification in 2004. Debra earned her Licensed Practical Nurse Certification in 2005. She has worked in nursing homes for Middlesex Hospital Homecare. She is studying now for her Registered Nurse licensure.
Steve is studying Business Administration and Ophthalmology Design and Dispensing. He has taken on many leadership roles at MxCC: he was Student Senate President and served on the College Council, Library Advisory Committee, and the Human Services Student Association. He coaches a children’s soccer team and says his inspiration to succeed comes from wanting to provide a good life for his daughter.
A Thank You Message from a Scholarship Recipient……..
“I was surprised and deeply moved to receive the notification of the scholarship award of $2,000. On behalf of my community, I wish to thank you most sincerely. Your support of MxCC and the educational values it holds is a wonderful commitment. My time at Middlesex Community College has been fruitful, and I appreciate the “small school” setting and the excellent professors on staff.”
A.R.
“Long Distance” … A Special Educational Media Production Project
The Foundation was proud to be involved in a unique and exciting project. In cooperation with the Broadcast Communications department of the College, the Foundation received a special grant of $50,000 from the New York Community Trust, Q Fund. The funds were used to offer a special media production course that would enable advanced students to work side-by-side with media professionals on a professional project – in this case a pilot for a situation comedy TV show, called Long Distance. The script was chosen from among several submissions in a scriptwriting competition and students were selected in an application process. The project was supervised by Doug & Barbara Rogers, former producer/directors in Hollywood, who have worked on such shows as the Mary Tyler Moore show and Rhoda. They collaborated with Professors Richard Lenoce, John Shafer, and Rick Eriksen of the Broadcasting and Multimedia programs. Other media professionals from the Connecticut region also were hired. The story of the project involved a relationship between two characters living on opposite sides of the country who are trying to maintain their relationship using virtual reality technology and the Internet. The virtual reality idea required the use of many special effects which allowed faculty and students the chance to show-off our digital production capabilities. A special preview was held at Wesleyan University’s cinema. The project was deemed a total success by everyone involved and the finished pilot was viewed by television professionals in Los Angeles.
Media Arts Workshop
The Arts and Media faculty and students developed the 2002 Media Arts Workshop (MAW) and it promised to be no less exciting than the situation comedy pilot, Long Distance, produced in 2000. It was produced in partnership with Connecticut Public Television for possible airing on Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) and other public television affiliates. The project’s goal was to produce an educational, yet entertaining, program for young women to develop their own leadership skills by examining the lives of three Connecticut women, their struggles, as well as their accomplishments.
Sixteen students were selected to participate in the MAW where they received intensive on-the-set professional experience under noted professionals. The project once again was headed by our resident Hollywood producers and educators, Barbara Carroll Rogers and Doug Rogers, professors Richard Lenoce and John Shafer, and CPTV producer Maura Martin. Professionals from CPTV acted as teachers and production department heads with students working as members of the professional crew. MAW served as an honors course in the Arts and Media program. Many of the MAW participants have gone on to work directly in the film, television, and digital media industries due in large part to this educational experience provided by the Foundation.
MAW was supported by the MxCC Foundation and its donors. A sizable donation from The New York Community Trust-Q Fund was matched by Foundation members and area businesses who believed in the goals of the project. CPTV also provided matching funding in the form of in-kind services funded by a “Connecting the Assets” grant from the Ford Foundation.
“Connecting the Assets” was a CPTV initiative that connected public broadcasting with community agencies as program and digital media providers. MxCC was the first community participant to develop a broadcast program as part of this initiative and served as a national model for PBS in developing community partnerships. The College was invited to participate in this initiative by former MxCC Director of Media Services, Harold Kramer, one of the founders of what became the Broadcast program. Several Foundation members tirelessly worked to raise the matching funds. Their contribution and belief in the MAW Women’s Leadership project, as well as those of our donors, cannot be overemphasized.
A Presidential Scholar………..
Shannon, an Exemplary Citizen and a Foundation Success Story!!
“Shannon accomplished a great deal in her community in the fields of education and the environment,” said Dr. Wilfredo Nieves, college president. Dr. Nieves feels confident that Shannon will be making history in her own right some day.
In her community of East Haddam, Shannon was involved with various music and theater groups, which led to performances in cities including: London, Boston, and Washington, D.C. After graduating from Nathan Hale-Ray High School in East Haddam in 1996, Shannon was awarded a scholarship by the International Rotary Club to study music and science at the Sophia’s College for Women in Bombay, India for a year in 1997. Since returning to the U.S., Shannon has devoted many hours volunteering as a member of the Land Trust of East Haddam, served on the founding committee for the re-established East Haddam Fair, worked on the campaign trail for a local politician, and helped the Preservation of Rural Character Committee of East Haddam propose architectural review standards for the town.
Shannon spent a great deal of time doing field research at the East Haddam Rotary Club’s skating pond property. “I have worked closely with experts from the University of Connecticut’s New England Wildflower Society, the Nature Conservancy Working Group, Invasive Studies Interns from Rutgers University, and the East Haddam Rotary Club to study the unique ecosystems at the pond,” she reported. “The project evolved from a requirement for graduation for the University of Connecticut’s Master Gardener Program. Thirty hours of required community service turned into hundreds of hours of field research.” Shannon also participated in a micro inventory, implanting biological control of invasive species, and a recording of wildflower species.
It’s this commitment to the environment and her participation in local government that led to Shannon’s applying for and receiving a legislative internship in Hartford. “She was active in applying her civic citizenship even before her academic achievements,” said Richard Patrick, chair of the Social Sciences Division at MxCC. “She was directly active in assisting her candidate in gaining office in her hometown and has thus demonstrated herself to be an individual who puts her convictions into practice for the benefit of others and her community. Shannon is an exemplary representative of community college students.”
