Frank Farmer, a founding member of the Ozarks Technical Community College Board of Trustees, has passed away at the age of 89. Farmer served on the OTC Board of Trustees from 1990 until his retirement in 2007. Mr. Farmer was named a Trustee Emeritus upon his retirement. The OTC Springfield Campus is home to the…
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…
UMB Bank has established the Society of Manufacturing Scholarship at Ozarks Technical Community College, which is available for students pursuing a degree in drafting, machine technology or welding. “We hear that companies need skills labor, and kids are into technology. The hope is that we can connect young peoples enthusiasm for technology to running high-tech…
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…
Students at the OTC Richwood Valley campus, as well as the public, can now enjoy a hearty breakfast or lunch at the new Cafe 101, which is in operation on the Christian County campus. Chick-fil-A sandwiches are the featured product at the cafe, the only location in Christian County to offer the popular products. “We’ve…
George Lamelza, college director of web services at Ozarks Technical Community College, was recognized by the Missouri Community College Association for his innovative website design at a ceremony held in St. Louis in late 2013. Mr. Lamelza and Dr. Hal Higdon, chancellor of Ozarks Technical Community College, received the association’s Technology Innovation Award, which is…
Gabe McLaughlin sees the irony in being picked as the subject for a story about National Career and Technical Education month. About 14 years ago, McLaughlin was a student at Hillcrest High School who took automotive classes at OTC. Today, the 30-year-old has come full circle and is teaching those same classes for OTC…
Contributors Mark Miller College Director of Communication Phone: 417.447.2655 Email: millerm@otc.edu Laura French Coordinator of Public Information Phone: 417.447.2659 Email: frenchl@otc.edu
The Instructional Technology Council (ITC) has recognized OTC Mathematics Instructor Marylynne Abbott and OTC’s Online Blackboard Support for Excellence in eLearning. ITC is an organization that advances distance education through research and collaboration and by sharing best practices among its member institutions. OTC’s Online Blackboard Support is the 2014 award recipient for Outstanding Technical Support…
Ozarks Technical Community College will host a free FAFSA Frenzy event on Sunday, Feb. 9, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the OTC Springfield Campus, 1001 Chestnut Expressway. The event, which is designed to help prospective college students to file their FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, will be held in the…
With the new year comes a new way of obtaining a high school equivalency degree but it will also cost more. A number of states, including Missouri, have adopted the High School Equivalency (HiSet), also known as the HSE, after a new version of the GED was found to be too expensive for those wanting…
The calendar has turned to 2014 and faculty, staff and students at OTC who are looking to be a little healthier this year can find it in a number of offerings. The OTC Springfield Campus has a fitness center that anyone connected with the College can use. According to Michael Pena, assistant to the vice…
Mark Miller, former veteran Springfield TV news anchor, has been named the new College Director of Communications for Ozarks Technical Community College. Miller replaces Joel Doepker, who became vice president for external relations at East Central Community College in Union, Mo., late last year. “In today’s knowledge-based economy, everyone can benefit from the breadth of…
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…
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John Clayton, college director of research and strategic planning at Ozarks Technical Community College, has been named chair of the Mid-America Association for Institutional Research (MidAIR). MidAIR is a regional organization of institutional researchers dedicated to improving and disseminating research of concern to institutions of higher education. MidAIR serves Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas,…
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…
When Brie Jenkins was growing up wither five sisters and three brothers on a farm in Pittsburg, Mo., she spent a lot of time with her father and grandfather who ran a custom structural steel company in town. It was there that Brie, a student at OTC, learned about the world of welding. “I was…
Her speech was only 233 words long but the message produced many more words of reaction when she was finished. Racheal Hunt, who was a student in OTCs Middle College several years ago, spoke at a recent College Development program about her time at OTC and how it changed her life. “I found my life…
The bullying was so bad that Corey Coffman left high school in her junior year. But when she came to OTC to earn her GED, she was awarded free credits to take a class at no cost. She enrolled and was the first in her family to go to college. Now, she is on her…
The darkened Room 211 in Lincoln Hall was filled with the screams of injured students, wounded in explosion set deliberately to hurt people. Paramedics and EMTs from CoxHealth made their way through the destruction and mayhem to see who was severely injured and who could make it to a triage area set up nearby. “Ok,…
J. Howard Fisk, Ozarks Technical Community College Trustee, and Zachary Zweigle, Lead Instructor for World History and World Geography and Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Advancement, Student Affairs and Workforce Development at OTC, were elected to the Missouri Community College Association Board of Directors at the recent MCCA annual convention in St. Louis. He…
The bullying was so bad that Corey Coffman left high school in her junior year. But when she came to OTC to earn her GED, she was awarded free credits to take a class at no cost. She enrolled and was the first in her family to go to college. Now, she is on her…