Learning the ins and outs of class car restoration can be costly and time-consuming for beginners. But Stephen Biermann, dean of technical education at OTC, believes a new the new Classic Car Restoration workshop being offered this summer can offer those who have been thinking about fixing up some classic car a chance to learn…
Brice Clark may not look it, but he’s been in business almost half his life. Thanks to his class work and the A+ scholarship at OTC, he’s been able to become an even better business operator. Clark started his DJ music business Spark Sound & Entertainment when he was in the eighth grade and decided…
The $2,500 first-prize check couldn’t have come at a better time for OTC student Dylan Hall of Nixa. Hall was working two jobs and selling his plasma in order to make ends meet when he learned he had was the grand-prize winner in the Missouri Lottery’s “Tools 4 School: The A+ Giveaway” promotion. The random…
By Stephen Arringdale Its a normal day for OTC student Amber Attaway. She carries the same hopes, desires and ambitions as her classmates to do well in her classes. There is one difference. Amber has been blind from birth and she is accompanied at the OTC Springfield campus with her service animal Macie, a quiet,…
When Wade Southwell had a chance to come from San Francisco to Springfield, he took it. When he had a chance to attend OTC, he took that, too. Now, with a chance to spend a year in South Africa, the OTC student will take advantage of that opportunity as well and head there this summer…
Every graduate who walks in Thursday’s OTC Commencement at JQH Arena will have a story of accomplishment and self-fulfillment when they receive their degree or certificate. But few will eclipse Alex Heisterman’s pure joy when he receives his associate transfer degree. Listen for Alex’s name toward the end of the program. Alex is autistic. He…
Kelly Peachey wanted to be a pediatrician since she was in grade school. Now, with the help of the new Innovation Campus – Health Professions Academy at Ozarks Technical Community College, the 17-year-old from Glendale High School has received a big boost toward achieving her goal. “The Academy has been very good preparation for working…
As the spring semester rushes to a close, the OTC Fine Arts department is offering a pair of public performances to add to the calendar. On Tuesday, the OTC Choirs will present “American Songs: A Tribute to Our Nation’s Composers” at 7 p.m. at the Springfield Art Museum. “Concert goers can expect to hear everything from…
Phillip Nolan was known as the man without a country. OTCs Katherine Mantonya can be called with the student with two countries. Mantonya will be leaving in a less than two weeks for Brazil, her second homeland, and where she lived for many years while her father worked as a second-generation missionary. He also grew…
What may seem to be serious science to some is fun to others and both fun and science will be on display later this month at the fifth-annual OTC Community Day on April 26. Jared Durden, an adjunct physics instructor at OTC, and other science students will be demonstrating their homemade hovercraft and a second…
There are plenty of movie plots based on someone breaking a sophisticated code of a government agency, and instead of prosecuting the culprit, the agency offers him or her a job. That wasn’t quite the case when it comes to Cory Benda, but it was close. Benda, who works full-time as an information technology server…
Lessons learned by college students take place outside the classroom as well as inside as a group of occupational therapy students from OTC recently learned. Nearly two dozen students traveled to Jefferson City last month to participate in “OT on the Hill Day.” This was a day of advocacy sponsored by the Missouri Occupational…
The spark inside Jason Bills to excel at his craft is matched only by the sparks that fly from the metal when he applies his welding torch to the material. Bills, a welding student at OTC, will take his talents to the state SkillsUSA competition April 3-4 where he will try to repeat at the…
The fifth-annual OTC Community Day will get off to a running start this year with the first Community Day 5K run to benefit the OTC Foundation Scholarship Fund. The run will take place at 8 a.m. April 26, with the course starting and finishing on the OTC Springfield Campus. Community Day will begin at 9…
Rob Dixon didn’t know what to expect when he walked into a classroom for the first time this semester to teach an introduction to American government and politics class at OTC. The executive vice president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce was a new part-time instructor at OTC and knew the subject was…
Booked for Lunch is a book club open to the local community hosted on the OTC campus. The club invites faculty, staff, students, and the general community to join together to read “The Heart and the Fist: The education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy SEAL,” by Eric Greitens. Karen Foresee, who is…
Snow Popus has been overcoming obstacles her entire life. After leaving school in the third grade, she came to OTC to gain her GED. Now, Popus serves as president of the newly created OTC Science Club. She is on her way toward eventually earning a doctorate in teaching and a medical degree in osteopathic remedies…
Normally, its a new type of class that gathers attention among students, but this time, its a new classroom that has everyone talking at OTC. The classroom is located on the second floor of Information Commons West and is used for English classes. What makes it different is the moveable desks and the computer monitors,…
Ben Blaques time at OTC was well spent and helped contribute to creating a death-defying act that he has taken to the East Coast. Blaque, a Kickapoo graduate, took classes in auto refinishing, drafting as well as welding, before following the entertainment bug. “I love to build things, make stuff for cars. I was also…
The older gentleman sat quietly on a chair as an OTC student began probing in his ears. The man, known as Jerry, was a patient in the Hearing Instrument Science lab at OTC for an examination after he suddenly had pain in his ear after dental surgery. The student, Sarah Woods of Springfield, was examining…
When representatives from the Springfield chapter of Habitat for Humanity came to OTC looking for help in developing a video commercial, Taylor Patterson and Corbin Livingston jumped at the opportunity. “I said to myself, ‘I can whip something up,’” said Livingston, a student in the colleges Electronic Media Production program. Both are in the EMP…
Ashley O’Neal will never be accused of wasting time. The OTC student uses nearly every moment of every day either working multiple jobs, assisting in the support of an ailing father, going to school full time or being a major part of the leadership of the colleges honors society. “My dad taught me to work…
There is an emotional tug that Chef Paul Trout feels when he talks about the origins of the Holiday Peace Table event, held each year by the Culinary Arts Department at OTC. “It came out of a class I was teaching at Delta College in Stockton (Calif.),” Trout said. He abruptly stopped talking and excused…
Jo Fritts and her husband, Steve, both instructors at OTC, have been associated with the college’s Alpha Psi Tau chapter of Phi Theta Kappa chapter for so long that its hard to remember when they werent involved in some way with the honors society. And their work continues to increase and produce great dividends for…
A lot of times twins will go their separate ways when it comes to picking a career. But twins Allison and Alissa Rowden and even older sister Amanda of Strafford are studying healthcare in the Health Science Program offered to junior and senior high-school students at OTC. “It was just something we all wanted to do…