KCC invites community on trip to see Alvin Ailey Dance Theater

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey's Revelations. Photo by Nan Melville.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Photo by Nan Melville.

Kellogg Community College’s  Student Life office invites students and community members alike to participate in a field trip to Chicago to see performances by the nationally acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on Saturday, March 16.

The event will begin at 2 p.m. at the Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago. KCC’s bus will leave for the theatre at 9 a.m. from the Circle Drive at the front of the college’s North Avenue campus, 450 North Ave., Battle Creek, and will return to campus at approximately 10 p.m. that evening.

The cost for the trip, which includes transportation and a ticket to the show, is $40 for community members and KCC employees and $30 for KCC students. Lunch is not included and ticket purchases are non-refundable.

“Every year the Student Life office provides opportunities for our students to participate in activities off campus to help enhance their college experience,” said Rose Dulaney, secretary of Student Life at KCC. “In previous years our students traveled to Chicago to attend plays; this year marks the first time I can remember that we are offering our students a chance to experience performances by such a renowned dance group.”

In addition to viewing the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performances, participants will have two and a half hours of free time to explore downtown Chicago.

People interested in going on the trip can register in the Student Life Office on KCC’s North Avenue campus until 5 p.m. Friday, March 15. For more information about the trip, contact the Student Life Office at 269-965-3931 ext. 2634 or email studentlife@kellogg.edu.

For more news about Kellogg Community College, view our latest press releases online at www.kellogg.edu/daily/category/press-releases.

KCC to host silent march honoring legacy of Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King, Jr., right, pictured on March 20, 1960, during an appearance in Battle Creek. Photo courtesy of KCC alumnus Kurt Thornton.

Martin Luther King, Jr., right, pictured on March 20, 1960, during an appearance in Battle Creek. Photo courtesy of KCC alumnus Kurt Thornton.

Kellogg Community College will celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., by hosting a silent march for students and community members beginning at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29.

The march will begin outside the C Classroom Building near Spring Lake on KCC’s North Avenue campus and will wind around campus toward the Miller Physical Education Building before concluding at the reflecting pools at the main entrance to the campus.

TaNisha Parker, manager of Student Life at KCC, which is hosting the event in collaboration with the college’s Service Learning Office, said the march will allow participants time to reflect on the positive contributions King made to the country.

“Dr. King’s vision, his dream, helped ignite a flame of justice and equality for all,” Parker said. “It is important to remember and celebrate Dr. King’s dream because the struggle to achieve it did not end with his passing; the struggle continues today.”

Following the march, individuals will have the opportunity to sign an “I have a dream” banner across from the Records and Registration desk with comments highlighting positive aspirations for KCC and society as a whole. The banner will then be displayed on campus.

KCC will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, on Monday, Jan. 21, when all campus locations and offices will be closed.

For more news about Kellogg Community College, view our latest press releases online at www.kellogg.edu/daily/category/press-releases.

Holiday Carols event to feature student, employee singers

A Christmas tree in KCC’s Roll Building.

Kellogg Community College will continue its fall Coffeehouse Concert Series with a Holiday Carols event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Customer Service Desk next to the security station on KCC’s North Avenue campus.

The event will feature six different KCC students and employees singing three to four holiday carols in half-hour sessions. The event is open for any student or employee to participate, and lyrics will be provided.

Those interested in singing during the event should sign up with Academic Advisor Kathy Barney in room 108 of the Ohm Information Technology Center.

What holiday carol is your favorite? Share yours in a comment!

Keep up to date with what’s happening at Kellogg Community College by following this blog, our Facebook page and our Twitter feed.

Stress Busters events set to help students relax before finals

A student gets a free massage during the Stress Busters event held in April at KCC.

Kellogg Community College  is providing students an outlet for some of the pressure they may be feeling in advance of final exams in the form of Stress Busters events scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 4 and 5.

Activities planned include coloring stations, advising to go, free chair massages from licensed massage therapists, and free snacks, all of which will be offered at two locations on KCC’s North Avenue campus in Battle Creek: the atrium near the courtyard of the Roll Health and Administration Building, and the third-floor lobby of the Lane-Thomas Building.

Academic Advisor Michael Houston said the events, which are sponsored by the college’s Student Life Office, are a great way to help students relax before finals, which are usually held around the second and third weeks of December.

“The Stress Busters event is for KCC students and is designed to relieve some of the stress and tension associated with finals week,” Houston said.

Fall Semester classes at KCC end Dec. 17 and Spring Semester classes kick off on Jan. 18.

For more information about Stress Busters at KCC, contact Academic Advisor Michael Houston at 269-565-2628 or at houstonm@kellogg.edu.

Members of KCC baseball team give back to their community

Nearly two dozen Kellogg Community College baseball players spent a recent Friday morning packing boxes of food and working with elementary school students to make blankets for veterans.

Sophomore centerfielder Jake Miller was among the players at the headquarters of Community Action, where the team helped package 900 boxes of food for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to distribute to low-income people in the region.

“It’s huge,” Miller said of the team’s effort. “It’s huge for the community and it’s huge for our baseball team. Everyone respects our team more because of this.”

Miller and the others are no strangers to volunteer work. Team members volunteer weekly at the area nonprofit student-athlete support service New Level Sports, helping youth with their homework, playing games and eating dinner with them and sometimes just hanging out with them to talk about their days.

“It’s always fun helping those kids out,” Miller said. “They always have rough days at school and we help cheer them up.”

On the other side of town that Friday morning was Derek Yoder, who, with another group of players, was assisting Renee Purdy’s fourth graders at Urbandale Elementary. They made blankets and cards the kids would later take to veterans at the local Veterans Affairs facility.

“Whenever opportunities come up we usually take advantage of them and help out where we can,” Yoder said. “It’s really important. It gives us a chance to get out in the community.”

Purdy said they were expecting volunteers as part of KCC’s Bruins Give Back volunteer event, which is held three times a semester at area locations, but they didn’t know the volunteers would be student-athletes until they arrived.

“We didn’t know they were coming, and when they walked in in their blue (KCC) shirts the kids were excited,” Purdy said. “They’ve been awesome. They’ve done 20 quilts in an hour and a half.”

Nine-year-old Isaac Turner said he was excited the players stopped by. Usually his class would be spending that time studying, Turner said.

“This is better than reading because we’re doing things,” he said.

And the kids weren’t the only ones enjoying themselves.

“I’ve never made a blanket like this before in my life,” Yoder said, fabric draped across his lap. “But it’s been fun.”

For more information about the baseball program at Kellogg Community College, visit www.kellogg.edu/athletics/baseball/index.html.

For more information about the next Bruins Give Back events, which are scheduled for Dec. 14, visit www.kellogg.edu/socialscience/servicelearning/projects.html.

Register now for Nov. 9 Bruins Give Back volunteer events

If you’re looking for a way to get more involved in your community, serve with fellow Bruins and get a free lunch and T-shirt in the process, Bruins Give Back is for you.

Bruins Give Back is a volunteer event that occurs three times each semester and is open to all Kellogg Community College students, faculty and employees to participate.

A service learning event hosted with the college’s Student Life office and community organization HandsOn Battle Creek, the second Bruins Give Back events are scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, Nov. 9.

Participants have four service options to choose from:

  • The Haven of Rest Ministries, 11 Green St.: Volunteers will help clean up after a meal, help set up for a meal and help serve a meal.
  • Urbandale Elementary, 123 N. Bedford Road: Volunteers will help fourth graders make fleece blankets to give to a community partner.
  • Homeless Health Fair, 11 Green St.: Volunteers will help organize the 2012 Homeless Health Fair by packing bags of food for the homeless to take with them as they leave the fair. Participants will meet at Haven of Rest.
  • Community Action, 350 N. 22nd St.: Volunteers will help pack boxes for the food distribution efforts of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

To sign up to participate in a Bruins Give Back event, visit www.kellogg.edu/socialscience/servicelearning/registerServLearn.html.

Participants will receive an email after they sign up asking which location they would like to serve at. On the day of the event, participants will meet at their chosen locations.

For more information about this or future Bruins Give Back events, contact Kellogg Community College Service Learning Manager Kate DeGraaf at degraafk@kellogg.edu or at 269-965-3931 ext. 2211.

Pictured above, Bruins Give Back participants pack boxes for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) at Community Action during the first Bruins Give Back events of the semester in October.

KCC to celebrate Native American heritage with Nov. 13 event

Kellogg Community College will celebrate Native American Heritage Month with a Native American Storytelling event scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, in the third-floor lobby of the College’s Lane-Thomas Building, 450 North Ave.

The event, which is sponsored by KCC’s Student Life Office and is free and open to the public, will feature presentations by members of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, a federally recognized Potawatomi Indian tribe based in Calhoun County, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Storytellers from the tribe will include Barry Phillips, an education specialist; Lonnie Marshall, who will speak about Native American culture and language; and Beth Moody, who will speak about traditional Native American medicine.

Speaking from 1 to 2 p.m. will be Larry “Pun” Plamondon, an Indian author and activist who lectures high school and college students on the radical politics of the 1960s and 1970s.

“Native American Heritage Month is an important celebration for KCC and Student Life because it is a nationally recognized month that honors the history and contributions of the native people of America,” said TaNisha Parker, manager of Student Life at KCC. “Here at KCC we value diversity and the opportunity to educate our students culturally.”

The event will be held in place of Student Life’s regular Coffeehouse Concert Series as a way to observe Native American Heritage Month.

For more information, contact Kellogg Community College’s Student Life Office at 269-965-3931 ext. 2634 or at studentlife@kellogg.edu.

Pictured above is a sunrise over Spring Lake on a recent morning on KCC’s North Avenue campus.

Coffeehouse Concert Series returns with folk, hip-hop Oct. 16

Kellogg Community College will continue its fall Coffeehouse Concert Series with performances by folk group Earth Shine and hip-hop artist SupreFly Illy on Tuesday, Oct. 16, by the reflecting pools on the college’s North Avenue campus.

Earth Shine, made up of Tammy Williams (guitar, vocals), Stephen Williams (fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals), and Jim Hoyt (bass, vocals) will perform from 10 a.m. to noon. SupreFly Illy, a Detroit native who produces cross-genre hip-hop, will perform from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

TaNisha Parker, manager of Student Life at KCC, which is sponsoring the event, said the office tries to diversify the type of performers at the concerts to better appeal to a wide variety of students.

“We chose these artists because they are great performers, and the two different music types help us to reach more students,” Parker said.

The event will also include freebies and giveaways for students, including a drawing for a free Kindle Fire for students who participated in KCC’s current Foursquare promotion.

“The Coffeehouse Concert Series is a great way to see up-and-coming artists,” Parker said, “and for students to get free stuff from the Student Life office.”

For more information about the event, contact KCC Student Life Manager TaNisha Parker at 269-965-3931 ext. 2600 or at parkert@kellogg.edu.

Pictured above, rap duo Flight 57 performs during a Coffeehouse Concert Series event in September.

Enter for a chance to win prizes during National Student Day

The Bruin Bookstore, Service Learning and Student Life at Kellogg Community College are celebrating National Student Day at the bookstore today until 2 p.m. The event is designed to celebrate students that take the time to do volunteer work.

Students can stop by the bookstore to enter a drawing for a chance to win a free tablet or iPod shuffle (pictured above); create a video highlighting their volunteer experiences; and pick up freebies including snacks, wristbands and more.

For information about upcoming Kellogg Community College events, check out our Bruin Beat events calendar at www.kellogg.edu/events.

Free T-shirt + free lunch + service = Bruins Give Back

If you’re looking for a way to get more involved in your community, serve with fellow Bruins and get a free lunch and T-shirt in the process, Bruins Give Back is for you.

Bruins Give Back is a volunteer event that occurs three times each semester and is open to all Kellogg Community College students, faculty and employees to participate.

A service learning event hosted with the college’s Student Life office and community organization HandsOn Battle Creek, the first Bruins Give Back events are scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, Oct. 12.

Participants have three service options to choose from:

  • Community Action, 175 Main St., Battle Creek: Volunteers will help pack boxes for the food distribution efforts of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which are scheduled for November.
  • Woodlawn Preschool, 1175 W. Territorial Road, Battle Creek: Volunteers will help finish filling in the mural painting on the outside of the school building.

To sign up to participate in a Bruins Give Back event, visit www.kellogg.edu/socialscience/servicelearning/registerServLearn.html.

Participants will receive an email after they sign up asking which location they would like to serve at. On the day of the event, participants will meet at their chosen locations.

For more information about this or future Bruins Give Back events, contact Kellogg Community College Service Learning Manager Kate DeGraaf at degraafk@kellogg.edu or at 269-965-3931 ext. 2211.

Pictured above, Bruins Give Back participants volunteer at the Food Bank of South Central Michigan in Battle Creek in April.