Pellissippi State President L. Anthony Wise Jr., right, congratulates Chief Executive Officer David Reynolds of Home Federal Bank on the 2022 TBR Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy.
Home Federal Bank’s longtime support of Pellissippi State Community College has earned the Knoxville-based bank the 2022 TBR Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy.
The award, announced March 30 in Nashville, recognizes individuals and organizations that have given special assistance to at least one Tennessee Board of Regents institution. TBR governs the state’s 13 community colleges and 27 technical colleges.
Pellissippi State President L. Anthony Wise Jr. nominated Home Federal Bank for the award, citing its rich history of outstanding community service and exceptional integrity. The college has received more than $114,000 from Home Federal Bank since 1986, he noted.
“Home Federal Bank has been a key partner in growth,” he said. “Pellissippi Sate has depended on their support to jumpstart new initiatives. In fact, Home Federal Bank was one of the first businesses in our community to establish an endowed scholarship through the Scholars Today and Tomorrow program, and that scholarship has provided awards to students for 28 years.”
Other significant contributions from Home Federal Bank over the years have helped Pellissippi State:
Renovate a historic high school in an urban setting into the college’s Magnolia Avenue Campus;
Establish the Nursing program; and
Build the Bill Haslam Center for Math and Science on the Hardin Valley Campus.
“Home Federal Bank’s generous support has served as a driving force for innovation,” Wise said. “In addition to their philanthropy, volunteers from Home Federal Bank also have served for many years on the Pellissippi State Foundation’s Board of Trustees.”
“Education and career preparedness are essential to a vibrant, healthy community and economy,” said Home Federal Bank Chief Executive Officer David Reynolds. “Investing in education is not just the right move, but it is also smart economics. Education brings about increased insights and opportunities for students, and we are really grateful to be part of that work with Pellissippi State.”
For more information about Pellissippi State, visit www.pstcc.edu or call 865.694.6400.
Welding Technology is one of Pellissippi State’s 28 career programs students can explore at a showcase April 9.
Prospective students of all ages are invited to explore in-demand occupations at Pellissippi State Community College’s Career Program Showcase.
The free event will be held 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 9, on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville.
Pellissippi State offers 28 career programs designed to get students out of school and into the workforce in two years. Those who attend the Career Program Showcase can choose up to three different programs to explore with hands-on sessions hosted by Pellissippi State faculty.
Options include everything from Computer Information Technology, Criminal Justice and Culinary Arts to Media Technologies, Nursing and Welding Technology.
The Career Program Showcase on April 9 also includes opportunities for prospective students to
Meet with Financial Aid and learn about scholarships;
Speak with four-year universities about how seamlessly Pellissippi State credits transfer; and
Win a $250 scholarship from the Pellissippi State Foundation.
“Prospective students have so many options to choose from, so we wanted to provide this opportunity for them to experience what they will learn in these programs and to meet other students and faculty,” said Leigh Anne Touzeau, assistant vice president for Enrollment Services. “We want students to feel connected to Pellissippi State so that they can get off to a great start in their future career.”
Calling all comic book enthusiasts! Whether you’re a vendor, collector, artist, cosplayer or just a fan, you’re invited to join Pellissippi State Community College at the school’s first comic-centered event on its Magnolia Avenue Campus.
The Mag Comic Expo will be held 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at 1610 E. Magnolia Ave., Knoxville. Admission is free, and costumes are encouraged.
The Mag Comic Expo is still accepting vendors. There is no table fee, but vendors are required to participate through donating goods, presenting a workshop or sitting on a panel discussion.
Magnolia Avenue Campus faculty and staff wanted to try a different approach to promoting literacy. The Mag Comic Expo is sponsored by a Pellissippi State Libraries grant.
“Comic books bridge boundaries such as race, religion and social economics,” said Naomi Williams, longtime Magnolia Avenue Campus librarian who retired this semester. “They also promote social belonging and creativity, build literacy skills, support reading comprehension and enhance the learning process of non-native English speakers.”
The event will include food, discussion panels, contests and information about the two-year career programs offered by Pellissippi State on each of its five campuses.
“This is a family friendly event with plenty to offer for all ages,” said Associate Professor Grant Mincy, one of the organizers of the Mag Comic Expo. “If you are a fan of comics, graphic novels, movies, art or pop culture in general, we would love to see you enjoy yourselves on our campus.”
To register, visit https://loom.ly/aCASZbs. Deadline for the event’s Vendor’s Market, Exhibitor’s Hall and Artist Alley is Thursday, April 14. Guests, including those who want to participate in the expo’s costume contest, are also asked to register, though there is no deadline to do so.
Pellissippi State Community College students take the spotlight this month in a series of art exhibits and concerts that are free and open to the public.
All events will be held on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, with art exhibits in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery and concerts in the Clayton Performing Arts Center. No tickets are required.
Juried Student Showcase
Mondays-Fridays, April 4-15, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Spring Instrumental Concert
Thursday, April 7, 7 p.m.
Spring Jazz Concert
Tuesday, April 12, 7 p.m.
Design for Web and Print Student Showcase
Mondays-Fridays, April 18-22, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Spring Bluegrass Concert
Thursday, April 21, 7 p.m.
Animation Student Showcase
Mondays-Fridays, April 25-May 13, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Spring Choral Concert
Thursday, April 28, 7 p.m.
The Arts at Pellissippi State includes visual arts exhibits as well as theatre and music performances. The series highlights the talents of Pellissippi State students and faculty and provides venues for other artists and musicians to bring their works to East Tennessee.
To request accommodations for a disability for this or any Pellissippi State event, call 865.539.7401 or email accommodations@pstcc.edu.
Scott Clark will receive Pellissippi State’s Distinguished Alumni Award at the Pellissippi Strong luncheon.
Pellissippi State Community College will honor two of its outstanding alumni at an April 20 event that benefits the college’s Greatest Need Fund.
Scott Clark, an algebra teacher and head track coach at Powell High School, and Candace Viox, owner of Water into Wine Bistro and Lounge, will receive awards at the college’s annual Pellissippi Strong luncheon, presented by FirstBank. The event will be held 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at the Hilton Knoxville Airport, and individual tickets are $50 and include lunch. You can purchase tickets or select levels of sponsorship here.
“We are delighted to help honor Pellissippi State’s distinguished alumni,” said Brent Ball, Knoxville president of FirstBank. “It shows both the amazing work they are accomplishing in the community and the real value of education. The time you spend in school will pay dividends your entire life.”
Clark will receive Pellissippi State’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2022. Presented by FirstBank, this award highlights an outstanding graduate in recognition of significant professional achievement and service to the community. Clark graduated from Pellissippi State in spring 1999 with a general Associate of Arts that allowed him to transfer to a four-year university.
This is the latest in a long string of honors for Clark, who has been named Powell High School’s Teacher of the Year, Rotary Club of Knoxville’s Teacher of the Year and Knox County Schools’ High School District Teacher of the Year in addition to receiving the Powell High Alumni Association’s Distinguished Faculty Award. He is the son of Pellissippi State Accounts Payable Manager Debra Clark.
“Whether I was taking academic classes, playing intramural sports, competing in math league competitions or working on community service projects with Phi Theta Kappa or with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Pellissippi State provided the foundation that I needed to be successful both personally and professionally,” Scott Clark said.
Candace Viox will receive Pellissippi State’s Peggy Wilson Volunteer Alumni Award on April 20.
Viox will receive Pellissippi State’s Peggy Wilson Volunteer Alumni Award. Sponsored and announced by Discovery Inc., this award highlights an outstanding graduate in recognition of extraordinary service to the Pellissippi State community. Viox graduated from Pellissippi State in spring 2014 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Business/Hospitality Management.
Crediting Pellissippi State with the skills and knowledge she needed to open her business, Water into Wine, Viox has continued to give back to the college, speaking to Hospitality Management classes. Viox advocated creating an Entrepreneurship concentration within the college’s Business program, which launched in spring 2022. She also has served on Pellissippi State’s Culinary Arts and Business/ Hospitality Management advisory boards for several years.
“I love sharing about my industry to eager students who are considering Hospitality Management as their career path,” Viox said. “I am also grateful for the ears of the faculty, and Pellissippi State President L. Anthony Wise Jr., when I shared my vision for an Entrepreneurship program. So many adults want to open their own business, or be their own boss, and do not have a clear path on how to make their dream their reality. I am so thankful that Pellissippi State considered my proposal and created a unique offering that can assist those adults in our community who strive to own their own business.”
In addition to celebrating Pellissippi State’s alumni award winners, the Pellissippi Strong luncheon will feature Retired Air Force Col. Paula Penson, an adjunct instructor at Pellissippi State, who will kick off the event by sharing her remarkable story. Raised in deep poverty, Penson joined the military to get away from home, but later attempted suicide. She has married and divorced three times, held her 17-year-old son as he died from injuries sustained in a car accident and survived cancer. And yet she persisted, serving 40 years in the Air Force before retiring in January 2015.
“My mother taught me that education is the only guaranteed road out of poverty, and even though she died when I was 18 years old, I never forgot it,” Penson said.
Kelle Jolly, Chris Durman and Sean McCollough will present a music-filled presentation on the life of Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong.
Join Pellissippi State Community College in celebrating the life and art of Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, an “Appalachian Original.”
The event, hosted by Pellissippi State Libraries Appalachian Heritage Project, will be held 2-3 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, on Zoom. While the celebration of the internationally acclaimed musician, painter and storyteller from Campbell County, Tennessee, is free and open to the public, those interested are encouraged to register in advance to receive an email with instructions about joining the webinar.
Armstrong (1909-2003) is renowned for a lifetime of playing jazz, blues, folk and country music. Along with his mastery of 22 musical instruments and seven foreign languages, Armstrong is considered one of the nation’s finest Black string-band musicians, having received the National Education Association’s National Heritage Fellowship and the Tennessee Governor’s Folk Heritage Award.
“Music is intrinsic to life in Appalachia, and this event is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the work and legacy of Howard ‘Louis Bluie’ Armstrong,” said Mary Ellen Spencer, dean of Library Services.
The April 20 celebration will be led by musicians and educators Sean McCollough, Kelle Jolly and Chris Durman, who will discuss Armstrong’s life and influences as well as his impact on the music of the United States and his significance to the Appalachian region. A Q&A will follow their presentation.
Durman is an associate professor and coordinator of the George F. DeVine Music Library at the University of Tennessee. Jolly, “The Tennessee Ukulele Lady,” is a music entertainer and educator who shares stories and songs from the South, including traditional African American music of blues, jazz, spirituals and folk. McCollough is a musicologist, musician, producer and festival organizer who teaches Appalachian Music, the History of Rock and Introduction to Western Music at UT. All three are involved in organizing and performing in the annual Louie Bluie Music and Arts Festival at Cove Lake State Park in Campbell County.
“Howard ‘Louie Bluie’ Armstrong was a truly unique individual, but he was also representative of the diversity, talent and creativity that have long characterized the people of Appalachia — defying many of the stereotypes that still exist today,” said McCollough. “I hope that as people learn about Armstrong, they will begin to move beyond the stereotypes and be inspired to be their own ‘Appalachian original.’”
Celebrating Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, an Appalachian Original is part of Pellissippi State Libraries Appalachian Heritage Project, which is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Project offers quarterly programming and scheduled exhibits that support the enhancement of the Appalachian Collection, which will move to the new Strawberry Plains Campus library when it opens in fall 2022.
For more information about this event or the Appalachian Heritage Project, contact Strawberry Plains Campus Librarian Allison McKittrick at almckittrick@pstcc.edu.
Pellissippi State students Michael Spurgeon, Breck Fulmer and Ethan Turbyfill, from left, rehearse “The Little White Duck.”
The third time’s a charm for a group of Pellissippi State Community College students, who will travel to Scotland this summer to perform in the world’s largest arts festival.
The group, led by Theatre Arts Professor Charles Miller, was scheduled to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2020 and 2021, but had their plans upended by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Now that the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies has resumed its study abroad programs, the students will preview what they will be performing in Scotland on Pellissippi State’s Hardin Valley Campus this week.
“Three by Nigro” — three never-before-seen short plays by acclaimed playwright Don Nigro – will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16, in the Goins Building Auditorium. Admission is free, though donations to the college’s Theatre Arts program will be accepted.
“This preview will give us an opportunity to practice and get some feedback ahead of the festival,” said Miller, who is directing “Three by Nigro” as a world premiere in Edinburgh.
“Three by Nigro” runs just under an hour, with festival acts allotted 70 minutes to set up, perform and break down, which necessitates having minimal sets. The three plays include “Sappho at the Edge of the Abyss,” “The Little White Duck” and “Popcorn at the Odessa.”
“There will be probably 50 other shows being performed at the same time at the festival, but Nigro is a very well-known playwright,” Miller said, adding that the 10 Pellissippi State students are not only acting and running tech for the plays, but also will be responsible for “hustling tickets,” dressed in costume and handing out fliers in an effort to get festivalgoers in the door to see the show.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe includes more than 1,000 acts giving 50,000 performances over a 3 ½-week period in August, Miller noted. The festival, commonly known as the Fringe, bills itself as “an explosion of creative energy from around the globe” including “theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children’s shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events.”
“Edinburgh is about the size of Knoxville, so picture every available space from UT to Old City converted to theatres,” Miller said. “Bars, church basements, empty storefronts, street corners – there are literally hundreds of venues with performances going on from 9 in the morning until past midnight.”
The Pellissippi State group will give one performance a day from Aug. 8 through Aug. 15 at the Lime Theatre in the Greenside venue. When the students are not performing, they are required to see other performances to receive academic credit for the study abroad program.
Students participating include Catherine Blevins, Breck Fulmer, Hannah Fournier, Madeleine Trout, Michael Spurgeon, Caden Elliot, Ethan Turbyfill, D.J. Washington, John Samuel McCrary and Nick Grady. Sound and set design is by Professor Claude Hardy.
“Three by Nigro” is part of The Arts at Pellissippi State, which includes visual arts exhibits as well as theatre and music performances. The series highlights the talents of Pellissippi State students and faculty and provides venues for other artists and musicians to bring their works to East Tennessee.
To request accommodations for a disability for this or any Pellissippi State event, call 865.539.7401 or email accommodations@pstcc.edu.
Pellissippi State Professor Tammie Bolling has been awarded a Fulbright to research and teach in Ireland this fall.
Professor Tammie Bolling, chair of Pellissippi State Community College’s Computer Information Technology program, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Ireland for fall 2022.
Bolling will complete research to ascertain the acceptance and use of digital health care innovations in Ireland while also lecturing at Atlantic Technological University, formerly Letterkenny Institute of Technology, and mentoring a master’s level student there. She is the first Pellissippi State faculty member to be selected by the Fulbright program – and the first woman teaching at a Tennessee community college to do so.
“I’ve known about the Fulbright program since I was an undergrad at the University of Virginia, and it’s something I truly wanted to do,” said Bolling, who taught for 17 years at Virginia community colleges and is in her 22nd year with Tennessee Board of Regents institutions. “This has been on my bucket list since then, and just now, the timing seems right.”
Fulbright scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to the United States, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.
Bolling already encourages Pellissippi State students to study abroad as the England program coordinator for the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies, but she hasn’t visited Ireland, she said.
“There are probably 400 different Fulbright opportunities across the world, but I narrowed it down to three or four in Computer Science and sent out for a letter of invitation,” Bolling explained. “The school in Letterkenny reached out to me within 20 minutes to set up a meeting.”
Bolling’s research in Ireland will look at engineering, computer science and health care processes — from cloud technology and mobile apps to data storage and data security.
“Health care innovations is an interdisciplinary program, a merging of everything, and that’s me,” said Bolling, who has a Master of Business Administration with a dual degree in Healthcare Management, a doctorate in Educational Leadership, a master’s in psychology and a graduate certificate in Health Administration Management. “This program at Atlantic Technological University was a fit from the beginning because it combines all my areas of study.”
Bolling is excited to be a Fulbright scholar this fall and will be happy to return to Pellissippi State and share what she learned.
“I’m a first-generation college student, and I want students to know that even first-generation college students can succeed to complete their dreams,” she said.
For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Media Center by telephone 202-632-6452 or e-mail ECA-Press@state.gov.
Registration is open for Pellissippi State Community College’s Lifelong Learning classes this summer. Lifelong Learning classes are open to anyone 18 or older and offer the opportunity to stay active, get creative and learn something new.
Have fun with returning favorites such as:
Beginner Pickleball Clinic: Pickleball brings people of all ages and skill levels to the court. Combining elements of tennis, badminton and pingpong, and played on a badminton-sized court with a paddle and plastic wiffle-style ball, players are close enough to socialize while playing, making it easy to learn and a great game for meeting others. This summer’s beginner clinic with Toe the Line Pickleball Clinics starts Thursday, June 9.
Basic Digital Photography: Professional nature photographer and instructor Keith Bozeman will teach you how to effectively use the features of your digital camera to take sharper and more professional looking photos. Each week, you will learn various elements of photography including exposure, composition, lighting and color theory with weekly photo assignments for hands-on practice and immediate feedback. Basic Digital Photography begins Tuesday, June 14, and is offered on Zoom.
Welding for the Hobbyist: Learn how to create your own decorative and functional pieces like tables, shelves, garden art and more in Grace Gish’s five-hour introductory welding class. Using the process of GMAW-MIG welding, Grace teaches general welding safety procedures, equipment operation and how to cut and grind metal as you create your own custom piece during the class. Her classes are offered one Saturday a month during the summer: June 4, July 9 and August 6.
New classes include
Charcuterie Board DIY: Tips & Tricks
Jewelry Stamping
The Hobby-Machinist: Introduction to Metal Mill & Lathe
Introduction to Screenwriting
Writing for Blogs, Magazines & Websites
Retirement Income Planning
Live Without Pain & Inflammation
Finding Calm and Presence in Daily Life: An Introduction to Mindfulness
Conversational Italian
Korean Alphabet Fundamentals
Korean Language & Culture: Level 2.1
Five Lifestyle classes geared toward helping you make or save money including 250 Legitimate Home-Based Business Ideas and Extreme Couponing 101
To view the complete list of lifelong learning classes offered this summer or to register for a class visit www.pstcc.edu/bcs. For more information, contact the Business and Community Services office at 865.539.7167 or bcs@pstcc.edu.
Tserendejid Batsaikhan will graduate this week with her Associate of Applied Science in Nursing, eight years after moving to the United States from her native Mongolia.
“I was somebody in my country. When I moved here, I was nobody.”
That’s what it felt like to Tserendejid Batsaikhan when she arrived in the United States from her native Mongolia eight years ago. Although she had a degree in radio communications engineering, Batsaikhan did not speak English and found herself having to take manual labor jobs like many immigrants.
Now, Batsaikhan is graduating with her Associate of Applied Science in Nursing from Pellissippi State Community College and has accepted a job with Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, contingent on passing her state licensing exams this summer. This is, Batsaikhan believes, her “second chance” at creating the life that she wants.
“I had years to think about what I wanted to do here, and I picked the medical field because it was what truly interested me,” explains Batsaikhan, who studied radio communications engineering in her home country because that’s what her parents suggested. “With the difficulties I faced, I cried so much I used all my tears up, but I wanted it so much that I pulled through.”
Learning English was the first piece of the puzzle that Batsaikhan needed to put into place. She initially picked up phrases by working as a server in a restaurant and watching movies every night to memorize the language. She estimates she watched the same movies hundreds of times; the 2010 film “Letters to Juliet” was her favorite.
“There is not a Mongolian community here, so nobody else speaks my language,” she adds. “I had to speak English every day.”
After two years of learning English on her own, Batsaikhan came to Pellissippi State, eager to start college classes. She was told her English was not quite where it needed to be, but she was not deterred, taking two years of English for Speakers of Other Languages classes while juggling multiple part-time jobs.
“(Associate Professor) Chester Needham pours himself into his students,” Batsaikhan says of Pellissippi State’s ESOL program coordinator. “He made it so comfortable for us to pursue an education, and he made us feel that we are no different than American students.
“We had 20 people in my first ESOL class here, and we were all from different countries with different accents, speaking broken English,” she remembers. “The whole class was chaos because we had a hard time communicating what we wanted to say, but Professor Needham welcomed us.”
Batsaikhan found Pellissippi State to be a welcoming place for international students, and she particularly enjoyed learning about her fellow students’ home countries at the college’s International Culture Festival each fall.
After two years of ESOL classes, Batsaikhan was ready to start her Nursing prerequisites, but learning medical terminology when she was still learning English made Batsaikhan feel defeated.
“I went into my Anatomy and Physiology class, and I couldn’t understand a thing that was said; it felt like a foreign language on top of a foreign language,” Batsaikhan explains. “I went into (Associate Professor) Toby Russell’s office, and I cried. I thought I should give up. But he told me that this is a new vocabulary and to treat medical language as a new language I was learning.”
Batsaikhan spent hours and hours translating her lessons — “If 10 words were in a sentence, I might know two or three,” she notes – and she felt constantly behind, but Russell helped her. Two years later – four years into her journey at Pellissippi State – she was accepted into the college’s Nursing program, where she completed two semesters of clinicals at Sweetwater Hospital and two at Parkwest Medical Center.
“I loved seeing cool stuff, especially surgery,” Batsaikhan says. “The most challenging rotation was the ER because the orders were verbal and moved so fast.”
Six years after Batsaikhan first set foot on a Pellissippi State campus, she is graduating with her Nursing degree. She plans to start her job in Methodist Medical Center’s Post Anesthesia Care Unit after she takes her state boards this summer.
But first Batsaikhan will celebrate this milestone with her mother, who is coming from Mongolia for her daughter’s graduation. It will be the first time Batsaikhan has seen her mother, who is an epidemiologist, in four years.
“Our country are nomads, but I’m the only one in my family who went abroad,” Batsaikhan notes. “I eventually want to get my master’s in public health and travel, but my true desire is to move home and teach medical English at the medical school there. I can use what I learned here to make it easier for them.”
