Physical education meets physical therapy every week at Ozarks Technical Community College. The College’s physical therapist assistant program has added a fitness component to its curriculum to focus on self-fitness for future PTA graduates. “The philosophy of the PTA program addresses the role of health and wellness in society. One of our program goals is…
This fall, the Health Information Technology program at OTC became the first HIT program in the state to be offered completely online. And judging by the enrollment numbers of this first year, the move has been a good one. The program is at capacity with between 250 and 300 declared majors enrolled in either full…
Employers have been concerned that college graduates don’t know how to communicate well, especially when it comes to writing. So, after years of research and classroom work, OTC developmental English instructor Jennifer Dunkel has been able to help assess students’ readiness for college-level writing. A new assessment program has been put into place in the…
When Tim Noel found himself bouncing from part-time job to part-time job, it was his mother and the state’s MoManufacturingWINs program at Ozarks Technical Community College that changed his life. As his frustration in being unable to find full-time work grew, his mother, Rebecca Noel, an accounting clerk in the technical education and special academic…
The road to educational success has taken Wade Southwell from living on the streets of San Francisco to the classrooms of OTC. And thanks to the relationships he struck up with faculty and staff at OTC, Southwell will soon graduate and move on to Brown University to study international relations. After graduation from Brown, Southwell…
Do you know the answers to the following? What are the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution called? What economic system is used in the U.S.? How many justices are on the U.S. Supreme Court? If you don’t know the answers, you might not pass the U.S. citizenship test that local immigrants study for…
In 1999, only one university in the country was tobacco-free. That same year, OTC decided it would join the California institution and begin taking steps to banish tobacco products from all of its campuses and centers. In August 2003, OTC officially became tobacco-free and on Wednesday, it will mark the milestone with a celebration at…
Jennifer Dunkel insists on preparing students for their next English class instead of just passing them along without the necessary skills to take the class. As a result, the OTC instructor has developed an English boot camp that helps incoming students prepare for testing to see what level of English instruction suits them best. For…
Nate Doran studied graphic design, digital arts and photography at Ozarks Technical Community College and as a result, he now operated The Big Slice N.Y. Style Pizzaria. “By degree warped into a food career,” said Doran, who graduated from OTC in 2011 with an associates degree in graphic design. After finding a limited job market…
When Jeff Johnson performs with his group Sunset to Burns, he combines his teaching skills as a member of the OTC faculty with his homegrown musical skills. The result is a unique blend of bluegrass folk music that has found a home in the Ozarks. Johnson, who teaches audio engineering in the Electronic Media Production…
For Dillon Welch, representing Ozarks Technical Community College in the national SkillsUSA competition in Kansas City was too important of an event to miss. So even when he sustained a serious leg injury in a motorcycle accident about two weeks before the competition, Dillon made it to the event in a wheelchair. “They put in…
OTC will open two new facilities next month – the OTC Table Rock Campus and the OTC Waynesville Center. It will mark the start of new educational opportunities in those two regions and bring to a close a challenging couple of years for two OTC administrators – Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services Rob Rector and college Architect Harlan Hill.…
Ryan Nichols picked the right table when he attended a jobs fair at OTC earlier this year. “I went right to the Chase table. It was the first interview I had and they hired me,” said Nichols, who graduated in May with a business and marketing degree. Today, Nichols is finishing his orientation training with…
At first glance, a simple park bench doesn’t appear to be much of a symbol for taking a stand on world issues. But a final project by this spring’s students at OTC’s Middle College did just that – transforming a wooden bench into statements on local and world issues. This spring, students in the Middle…
Taking a classroom to a real-world setting isn’t easy but when done correctly it’s a win-win for the student and the business. OTC’s culinary arts program has taken its first step in offering students that practical work experience this summer in an arrangement reached between the college and owner of Vintage Veranda Team Room at…
Sarah Byrd would like to be a chef who teaches as well as cooks for people so they can learn and appreciate the healthy side of food. “My goal is community outreach and educating people,” the 23-year-old OTC culinary arts student said. But first, Byrd will pack her knives and lead a contingent of 24…
With the opening of summer semester classes today, the OTC Mobile Hearing Lab will prepare to go on the road to offer hearing instrument science training to students at St. Charles Community College and at OTC. The mobile lab was developed through a grant from the federal Department of Labor. A grant from Gov. Jay Nixon’s Training for Tomorrow paid for…
Nigel Holderby will never forget the events of July 8, 2011, that changed his life and his career forever. Even today, as Holderby ponders the incident, the OTC graduate gets a hitch in his voice as emotions bubble up. “That one event altered my future,” he said speaking for students in a speech he gave…
Two years ago, Amado Antonini and his brother, Ronald, came to Ozarks Technical Community College from Venezuela to get their GED. Now, after two years in the College’s Honors program, Amado Antonini is about to continue on his dream to become an engineer. He received word by email earlier this month that he had been…
Dennis Peters, OTC’s Veteran Student Services representative, has a bullet from the Civil War sitting on his desk that he looks at every day. “It sits right under one of my monitors so, when I type, it is in my line of sight. It helps remind me that someone, somewhere is in a position to…
OTC instructor James Sheldon went out of his way recently to emphasize “long” in the term long-distance learning when he conducted a class from the Bahamas last week with his students who were sitting in a science lab at the Richwood Valley campus. Shelton, who teaches environmental science and biology, was in the Bahamas earning…
Anyone heading out to a job interview wants to look their best to make a good impression but so some, owning a professional outfit can be a challenge. But a group at Ozarks Technical Community College is trying to assist those in need of professional clothing with a drive to collect suits, dressing shirts, dresses…
When the lights go up later this month on OTC’s presentation of “Clue: The Musical,” there will be some deep sighs of relief. The effort of the College’s Fine Arts Department to put on its first musical production in six years of stage performances has been filled with lots of hard work by students and…
Nick Kennedy can’t remember the last time he went to the zoo. He thinks he might have been 7 or 8 years old. But Kennedy isn’t likely to forget his most recent trip to the Dickerson Park Zoo, which he took last week with other students in his OTC biology class for a behind-the-scenes look…
The fourth-annual OTC Community Day will offer visitors a chance to experience how to survive a zombie attack, donate to a worthy cause and check out the latest in beautifully restored cars and trucks. Community Day is April 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the OTC Springfield Campus. Dozens of programs will conduct…