Kudos Report: November 2006

TThe ACC Jazz Ensemble, directed by Professor Tom Husak, performed Oct. 21-22 at the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi.

Associate Professor Prudence Arceneaux, Adjunct Professor John Herndon, Adjunct Associate Professor Joe Hoppe, and Professor Lyman Grant participated in the Southwest Writers & Artists Festival Oct. 24-26 at Texas A&M University.

Continuing Education Executive Dean Sandy Gaskin will represent the National Council for Continuing Education and Training on the Leading Forward Task Force for the American Association of Community Colleges.

Adjunct Dance Professor Darla Johnson was artist-in-residence Oct. 18-21 at Spelman College in Atlanta, where she led a modern dance class and participated in roundtable discussions. Johnson also showcased her dance “Poptart,” which is included in the Nov. 16-19 Dance Department performances at the Rio Grande Campus.

Dr. Mary Hensley, vice president of college support systems and ISD relations, gave College Connection presentations to the Board of Trustees for Jarrell ISD on Oct. 11 and Manor ISD on Oct. 18.

Don Miller, assistant professor of English Speakers of Other Languages, was featured speaker at UT-Austin’s first annual Deaf Awareness Day. His talk, “Deafhood,” centered on improving understanding of the deaf culture. The ACC Interpreter program and Deaf Studies Association also participated in the day’s activities.

STUDENTS

Patrick Griffin won first place in Java programming during the Oct. 19-21 Region 3 conference of the Association of Information Technology Professionals. Griffin credited his Java instructor, Computer Information Systems Professor Richard Baldwin. “My experience in (Griffin’s) class put me light years ahead of the competition as far as knowledge and experience with programming in Java go,” Griffin wrote.

Dance Department choreography students performed Oct. 4 at the Black Arts Movement Festival at the Carver Museum and Cultural Center. They included Ashley Card, Elizabeth DeLeon, Mohneesha Fuller, Rebeca Gamborino, Nikki Johnston, Laura Noose, and Carissa Topham.

Former student Jose M. Flores recently launched his career as film editor for “From Cotton Fields to Crossroads,” about the music group Los Lonely Boys. The movie opened at Austin theaters as a four-star must-see and is now playing in New York and other major cities. The son of English Professor Jose Flores, the younger Flores earned a bachelor’s degree in radio-television-film from UT-Austin after transferring from ACC. According to his father, one of the experiences that made his son “click” was attending the National Model United Nations Conference in New York as a student of Government Professor Judy Nwachie. The conference is an annual activity for Nwachie and her students.

COMMUNITY

John Manning walked the stage in May 1974 as part Austin Community College’s first graduating class. Today, Mr. Manning serves on the Lockhart ISD Board of Trustees but remembers his ACC roots. He recently provided a newspaper clipping of the inaugural ACC graduation.