OCTOBER 6, 2015
John W. Clark Center Will Serve Area Workforce
The Workforce Solutions building at Ashland Community and Technical College has been formally named the John W. Clark Training Center.
Workforce Solutions provides workforce training, skill assessments, short-term career programs, community education classes and business start-up support through The Entrepreneur Center and the Ashland Area Innovation Office.
“Mr. Clark has been very supportive of college initiatives to enhance college programs and support student learning,” said Dr. Kay Adkins, ACTC President and CEO. “His gifts are literally helping us build for the future.”
Clark recently made the first lead gift to the college’s BuildSmart Campaign to renovate the original College Drive building and has committed a total of $233,157 to Ashland’s Workforce Solutions building.
An Ashland area native, he founded and owns John W. Clark Oil Co., a company that has 66 stores in four states. For several years he has helped fund ACTC scholarships and many college activities, including the Young Women Lead Conference and the ACTC Foundation Golf Scramble.
Clark was appointed to the ACTC Board of Directors in 2012. He has served with Foundation Board members on the Selection and Enlistment Committee and the Leadership Awareness Committee for Ashland’s BuildSmart Campaign.
Workforce Solutions unit moved into the building at the Roberts Drive West Campus last spring. The building naming was approved in September by the KCTCS Board of Regents. The naming request was made by President Adkins and endorsed by both the ACTC Board of Directors and the Community & Technical College Foundation of Ashland Inc.
This is the third ACTC building named for a college supporter and honoree. Previously named buildings are the Goodpaster Building on the College Drive Campus and the Guy & Lisa Spriggs Child Development Center near the College Drive Campus.
KCTCS President Meets with Business Leaders
Dr. Jay Box, President of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), visited ACTC September 30 to enlist the help of business and community leaders in planning for the future of the system.
In a morning, he conducted a Regional Innovation Roundtable session where area business and organization representatives were asked to outline their needs for educated employees and other KCTCS services that will help them compete in the national and international economy. Their input will be incorporated into the goals and expected outcomes of the KCTCS 2016-2022 Strategic Plan.
The Roundtable session was supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help plan for change and innovation in education to meet future needs.
In an afternoon session, Dr. Box introduced the Fuel the Force Advocacy Campaign to increase state support for the KCTCS colleges in the state’s next biennial budget. KCTCS has lost $38.5 million in state funding since 2008 and has dropped from 3rd to 11th place in funding among the 16 Southern Regional Education Boards’ two-year colleges.
The Advocacy Campaign asks “Business Champions” to help legislators understand the critical role that community colleges have in the supporting the success of businesses and organizations in their communities. Information on the Campaign is at: http://fueltheforceky.com/.
ACTC was the first in a series of visits by Dr. Box to all 16 KCTCS colleges this fall.
Ghost Story Authors Will Be at ACTC
Kentucky authors Roberta Simpson Brown and Lonnie E. Brown will be at ACTC Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. to talk about their latest book, Holiday Hauntings: Twelve Months of Kentucky Ghosts.
For some time, the Browns have been collecting holiday ghost stories during their travels around the state, and the results were published August 28, 2015 by University Press of Kentucky.
Many of the stories were experienced by the Browns firsthand or were told to them by family and friends. Others were collected from people they met.
From a ghost abiding by the pinching rules of St. Patrick’s Day to a brokenhearted spirit on Valentine’s Day, the book brings to life local tales of paranormal activity every month of the year.
Each section of the book includes a brief history of the holiday under discussion. From Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Veteran’s Day, there are few holidays that are unrepresented.
In addition to tales of haunting, the Browns reveal many Appalachian legends and their importance to the storytelling tradition. For the Browns, sharing these stories is about more than the excitement of being spooked. Stories bring people together, and ghost stories can do this all year long.
Roberta Brown is a retired teacher and the author of many books including The Walking Trees and Other Scary Stories, Queen of the Cold-Blooded Tales, and Scared in School.
Lonnie Brown is a musician and author of Stories You Won’t Believe. He also coauthored Spooky, Kooky Poems for Kids and Spookiest Stories Ever: Four Seasons of Kentucky Ghosts with his wife Roberta.
The free reading and book signing will be in the Mansbach Library at the College Drive Campus in Ashland. The event is sponsored by the Library to recognize Kentucky writers, and it’s scheduled in time to set the mood for Halloween. For more information, contact Director of Library Services Pam Klinepeter, 606.326.2254 or email: pamela.kleinpeter@kctcs.edu.
ACTC Grad Honored by KY Veterans Hall of Fame
ACTC graduate John T. Kimpston was one of 12 Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) students recognized by the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) on September 26 in Frankfort.
The KVHOF was established to honor Kentucky military veterans and to educate others about their outstanding accomplishments. KCTCS students were recognized for the first time this year.
Kimpston graduated from ACTC last May with an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Nursing with distinction. He was nominated by the college for this recognition based on his accomplishments in service of his country and his achievements as a student.
He enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school in Nebraska. After serving four years, he joined the Coast Guard and served from 1984 to his retirement in 2002 as a Chief Petty Officer (E-7). He and his wife Patricia S. Kelley then moved to this area to be near her mother.
He was working in a maintenance job when his own mother became ill. While helping with her mother’s hospice care, he was told that he had the skills to become a nurse. He took this advice seriously and came to ACTC to work on a nursing degree.A Russell resident, he is now working as an RN at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital.
Kimpston is enjoying his new career thanks to the G. I. Bill. “The G.I. Bill makes a world of difference,” he said. “It is a great benefit that all veterans should use, even if they think that their current job is okay. A college degree gets you in the door – and helps you stay there.”
This semester, ACTC has 63 veterans and reservists and 24 dependents enrolled as students. For more information on veterans benefits for college, contact Craig Pleasant, advisor and Coordinator of Veterans Affairs, 606.326.2275 or email: craig.pleasant@kctcs.edu.
