Category: News

Mothers Against Drunk Driving hosted a fundraising 5K walk at KC, Saturday, March 31.

During the awards ceremony several teams were recognized including Top Team and Top Earner.

After the ceremony, walkers began their circuits of the campus finishing back at Miller Plaza.

Featured at the walk was a pinwheel garden where those who had lost loved ones could write a special message to them.

Several local vendors who work with victims or educate young people on the dangers of drunk driving, were in attendance.

MADD was founded in California on September 5, 1980 by Candace Lightner now based in Irving, TX.  The goal is to prevent more deaths due to drunk driving accidents like the one that killed her 13-year-old daughter, Cari on May 3, 1980.

The mission statement for MADD states: to end drunk driving, help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes, and prevent underage drinking.

The 24 hour victim line is 877.MADD.HELP

There is at least one MADD office in each state of the US and at least one in each province in Canada.

There are currently over three million members to date. Of that number, 742 teams, with 4,781 participants have raised $1,247,743.

All money raised stays in the community to stop these 100 percent preventable crimes.

The local chapter is in Tyler. Their number is 903-534-6000.

The KC Dance Department will hold an open scholarship audition for dance majors at 10 a.m. Saturday,  April  8, at the Parks Fitness Center, PE 106.

The audition is based on a class which will include ballet, modern dance, and jazz. No prepared material is necessary. Required dress for the audition is a leotard and tights (with a change of biker shorts for modern portion) with ballet shoes, jazz shoes or bare feet.
The scholarship will cover four courses in Ballet and Tap & Jazz, two courses in Modern, and one course in both Improvisation/Composition and Dance Appreciation. KC offers an intensive course of study for the beginning student, as well as those who have had more extensive training.

Upon graduation, KC students are prepared to enter the professional world or to continue their studies at a four-year college where courses could transfer in Fine Arts, Physical Education and Dance Education.
Scholarship awards are based on talent, ability, potential, financial need and the student’s interest in continuing professionally as a dancer, teacher or in a related area.

A scholarship student must fulfill the course requirements of a dance major and maintain at least a 2.5 GPA in all college courses. Scholarship students must also be active members of the KC Dance Club. The scholarship is renewable for four semesters with amounts up to $500 per semester.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Randolph C. Watson Library will begin accepting food for fines on Monday, April 17. Any student who owes a fine on a library book may bring several containers of shelf stable food or personal hygiene items to the circulation desk to pay for their fine. Books that have been lost will not be able to be paid for in this manner.

As the end of the semester is fast approaching, any student who has unopened, shelf stable items in their dorms, may donate those as well.

Donations may also be brought to the Office of the Vice-President, Room 165 in the Devall Student Center.

The food pantry is open to all KC students who do not live on campus. Students will need their I.D. to see Dr. Jenkins.

The following is a list of items needed. (Please, no green beans or Ramen noodles.):

•  Canned meals such as soup, chili, spaghetti or ravioli
•   Tuna
•   Dry pasta
•   Spaghetti/pasta sauce
•   Hamburger Helper or other “one pot” meal starters
•   Packaged pasta or noodle side dishes such as Knorr, Uncle Ben’s, Zatarain’s
•   Breakfast items such as Pop Tarts, instant oatmeal, cereal, pancake mix
•   Baking mixes such as Bisquick, and those for muffins and cornbread or cakes
•   Canned fruit
•   Rice
•   Instant mashed potatoes
•   Peanut butter
•   Personal hygiene items such as bar soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste

 

Question: How did you get started in this business/industry? 

Ethan: We started as student workers. A friend of mine who was in theatre told me they were looking for a hand and made a lateral move and pushed me into that position. I had an interview and got the job.

 

Q: What is the process for working on Revels? Is it a lot of pressure and how do you deal with it? 

All: It’s a lot of long nights. We have put 522 hours into working on it. Different ideas and concepts come in early and we get asked for our input. There are a lot of logistics to being backstage and it tapers down to figuring out what is possible and what isn’t.  It is not just us, though. It has taken an army to get everything to come together. Communication plays a big part; anticipating needs and listening when people talk. Knowing that they will ask you a question and having an answer ready or a solution.

 

Q: What appeals to you the most about working backstage?

All: It keeps us busy. There’s a lot of critical thinking and problem solving involved and we enjoy it.

 

Q: Has anything ever gone wrong that led you to improvise or act quickly?  

E: A lot of things can go wrong. There was one incident where we had dimming lights completely shut down and we had to rent an electric iron lung.

Jesse: Another time the curtains got hung up and we had about 30 seconds to straighten it out. We try our best to keep any mistakes hidden. You don’t want it to be noticeable to the audience. It is also my job to help if one of the girls gets injured. They know I used to be a paramedic so I help them enough to get through the night and back on stage.

 

Q: What’s the hardest part of working on the production/show? 

E: Sleep deprivation. We all have our vices to get through it; coffee, Red Bull etc.

 

Q: Would you ever expand into a family business outside of Kilgore? 

J: We have a business already; Stage Left.  We decided on that name because we started out there. [stage left or house right is the right side of a stage facing the audience.]

E: I have toured part of Texas and played different events [on stage performances]. It just depends on what is needed. I prefer to be backstage. 

 

Q: What is it like working with your siblings? Do you work well together? 

E: We were all home-schooled. We’ve been working together for a long time and we usually know what the other is thinking or how they’re going to do something.

J: Ethan and I worked together in a candle shop. It was my first job. He was 18 and I was 15. If he tells me he needs something done, then he knows it will get done and doesn’t have to worry about it.

Sam: We trust one another and hold each other to high standards.

 

Q: Do you have any other interests? 

E: We all play music. We grew up in a very musical family. It is how I find my solace. We have talked about incorporating live music into shows.

S: I like syncopated and complex music that I can analyze and dissect or study; music theory.

 

Q: What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? 

All: Our parents always taught us to leave a place better than we found it and we want to leave our mark on Dodson Auditorium. Dodson is an old building and we’ve removed a lot of its quirks. We built the stage and added the sound booth. Everything was spread out before and we decided it was better to be together in one area.

 

 

 

KC Fire Academy graduated 18 students during its 100^th graduation celebrated Wednesday, March 29. The ceremony was preceded by a reception hosted for all former KC Fire Academy students, instructors and members of the previous 100 classes. About 60 people attended, including a firefighter musical ensemble.

The former students, many who now hold jobs as firefighters and their instructors, enjoyed reminiscing about how the Academy has progressed since its beginnings in the late ‘80s. The KC Fire Academy was first started in August 1989 by Dennis Cage (retired Kilgore Fire Chief), Leon Glass (former chief of Longview Fire Department) the late Ronnie Moore, and the late David Buress. The Academy had 22 students in its first class. Around 1995, it expanded and began accepting students from Canada.

Of this class’ graduates, seven were from Canada. One of the students, Andrew Pike, from Yukon, Canada, talked about how expensive attending a fire academy up north, although he hopes to return home and find a fire-fighting job there.

During the reception, current lead instructor, Mike Fennell was presented with an award from Harleton Fire Department honoring him for the contributions he has made to the KC Fire Academy. Fennell said it was important to remember where the Academy came from since its humble beginnings in 1989, and to remember where they were and where they are going.

“Kilgore College Fire Academy has a rich, deep-seated tradition in the fire service. And we want to carry that on,” he said.

The academy is recognized as one of the top fire academies in the country and they have had students from all over the world come to the academy, he added.

“We’ve had students come from Canada, Guam, South America, the Bahamas, Europe, the Middle East,”  Fennell said.

Ricky Lasky, an emergency services consultant, motivational speaker and former chief of the Lewisville Fire Department gave a speech at the graduation ceremony. Lasky talked about the reputation of the Academy being one of the best in the nation.

“They teach with passion here,” he said. “It’s all about being a public servant; it’s all about the higher cause, the higher purpose.” Lasky said. His speech embraced the intensity and quality of training KC academy provides. Lasky said so many community colleges and fire departments offer fire training programs but KC fire academy was outstanding.

The KC Fire Academy is recognized by the state as an impeccable program and it is accredited by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and the State Firefighters and Fire Marshals Association. KC fire academy offers three or four classes per year. They have a limit of 25 students per class. The classes last about 12 weeks.

 

 

KC student Tina Marie Reed brought home Photographer of the Year among Div. 2 schools at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association meeting held March 30-April 1 in Dallas. In their respective divisions, the Ranger Yearbook took third in Overall Excellence and The Flare Newspaper received honorable mention in Overall Excellence against two-year colleges and four-year universities across the state.

In on-site competition, Reed, Longview sophomore, placed third in news photography. Reed, along with Tiffany Johnson, Longview sophomore, received an honorable mention in 2-person photo essay. The Flare newspaper received honorable mention in Best of Show. In all, 442 students, representing 45 schools competed head-to-head in 25 events during on-site contests. Students also had the opportunity to choose from more than 50 workshops presented by professional journalists and instructors over a two-day period.

In previously published work, KC students won 10 awards for the Ranger yearbook, including three firsts for photography. The Flare newspaper staff received 17 awards, including first place finishes in feature photo, photo illustration and opinion page design. The Flare Magazine finished in competition with a second place in photo illustration. KC is the only junior college in its yearbook and newspaper division, competing against medium-sized universities such as Rice, Southern Methodist, Stephen F. Austin, Sul Ross, Tarleton and Midwestern, among others.

 

Individual awards are:

• Elijah Banks: 2^nd-Newspaper Sports News Story, HM Sports Page Design

• Tiffani Branch: 2^nd-Newspaper Picture Story

• Devin Brooks: HM-Yearbook Information Graphic

• Rain Cohn: 3^rd-Newspaper News Photo

• Victoria Gilchrist: 1^st-Yearbook Photo Story, 1^st -Yearbook Academic Photo; 1^st-Newspaper Photo Illustration, 2^nd-Newspaper Picture Story

• Tiffany Johnson: 1^st-Yearbook Photo Story, 2^nd-Yearbook Opening Spread, 3^rd-Yearbook Information Graphic; HM Newspaper Sports Action Photo

• Lauren LaBoyteaux: 1^st-Yearbook Photo Story

• Paulin Libebele: 1^st-Yearbook Photo Story

• Meaghan Morton: 1^st-Newspaper Opinion Page Design; 2^nd– Newspaper Feature Page Design, 2^nd-General Magazine Illustration; 3^rd– Newspaper Editorial, 3^rd– Newspaper Sports Column; HM-Newspaper General Column

• Richard Nguyen: 1^st-Yearbook Photo Story, 2^nd– Yearbook Sports Action Photo; 2^nd-Newspaper Picture Story

• Tina Marie Reed: 1^st-Yearbook Photo Story, 1^st-Yearbook Feature Photo; 1^st-Newspaper Feature Photo, 2^nd-Newspaper Ad Design, 2^nd-Newspaper Picture Story

• Sam Rodriguez: 1^st-Newspaper Photo Illustration

• James Shrewsbury: HM Newspaper News Feature Story

• Da’Jah Thompson: 2^nd-Newspaper Sports Feature

• Staff- 3^rd-Yearbook Student Life Package, Yearbook Title Page; 3^rd-Newspaper Special Edition

 

Tiffany Johnson was the editor of the 2016 Ranger Yearbook. Kathryn Agee was the editor of The Flare during Spring 2016. Meaghan Morton was the editor of The Flare during Fall 2016.

TIPA is the largest and oldest state collegiate press association in the nation. It was established in 1909 to recognize excellence in Texas collegiate journalism.

 

The first newspaper was printed in 1690 in Boston, Massachusetts. Printer Benjamin Harris published “Publick Occurrences” without the special leave and license needed and the paper was confiscated and destroyed.

•Less than 100 years later, on January 4, 1739, Elizabeth Timothy became the first female in the American colonies to become the sole publisher of a newspaper. Upon the death of her husband, Timothy took over her husband’s duties at the “South Carolina Gazette.” She would remain in this position for the next seven years before handing the reigns over to her son.

•Anne Newport Royall is usually considered to be the first American newspaper woman. She began her newspaper career in 1831 when she wrote and printed “Paul Pry” from her home. She was 62.

In her pit bull, confrontational style, she wrote against government corruption in Washington. She is credited with being the first woman to interview a president and in fact, interviewed all of them from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln at some point during or after their careers.

In 1837, Sarah Joseph Hale became the literary editor of “Godey’s Lady Book” at the age of 40. Hale lobbied to make Thanksgiving a national holiday and also spoke out against universities for not offering advanced degrees to women.

•The “New York Herald Tribune” offered Margaret Fuller a position in 1846. When she accepted, she became not only the first female staff member for a major daily newspaper, but also the first American female book reviewer. She said “The especial genius of women I believe to be electrical in movement, intuitive in function, spiritual in tendency.”

•Jennie June was the pseudonym used by Jane Cunningham Croly. In 1854 she began writing a column for the “New York Sunday Times” titled “Parlor and Side-Walk Gossip.” This column earned her the distinction of becoming the first syndicated woman columnist.

•Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in 1864. Her journalism career began when she wrote a letter to the editor of the “Pittsburgh Dispatch” in response to an article. He liked her style and offered her a job. Bly is best known for her trip around the world and for a 10 day, voluntary stay in an insane asylum. Her world trip was in competition with Jules Verne’s book, “Around the World in 80 Days.” She only took 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds.Arthur Brisbane, just days after her death in 1922, said she was “the best reporter in America.”

•Foreign affairs became the fodder for writer Dorothy Thompson. She was the first journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934. She began writing for the “New York Herald Tribune” in 1936. In 1939, she was covered by “Time” magazine and was called “one of the two most influential women in America, second only to First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.” She was given the title “First Lady of Journalism” for her tireless reporting of the realities of Nazism.

•The first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism was Anne O’Hare McCormick in 1937.

These brave women fought for and won their place in the male-dominated world of journalism. Their hard work, dedication and sacrifice is still honored today. With only about 37 percent of journalists being women, the fight continues.

 

 

March is Women’s History Month, a month to celebrate women in our society who have contributed to the advancement of the world.

Established in 1978 by the Education Task Force of Sonoma County Commission in California, the “Women’s History Week” celebration takes place around the week of March 8, International Women’s Day. When other communities learned of the success of the Sonoma celebration, similar celebrations quickly spread around the nation. In a presidential message in 1980, President Jimmy Carter designated March 2 to 8 National Women’s History Week.

“From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation.” Carter said. “Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

In 1986, there was a state-by-state action to change the week to a month; in March of 1987, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month.

Here is a list of first ladies, inventors, and leaders of the Women’s Rights Movement.  This list is small in comparison to all of the women who have made contributions. These women can inspire future generations to keep reaching for their dreams and to keep improving rights for all women. These women who came before us made great sacrifices to get us where we are today.

 

First ladies –

 

•Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962) Women’s and Civil Rights, Diplomat, Author, Columnist, and U.S. First Lady. Active in politics, she changed the role of the first lady. She was one of the first public officials to publicize issues through mass media, and also married to 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt.“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face …You must do the thing you think you cannot do,” Roosevelt said.

 

•Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929 – 1994) Journalist, publisher, and U.S. First Lady. Known as “Jackie” she is noted for bringing style and elegance to the White House. In her earlier years, she was a columnist for the Washington Times – Herald.  Married to 35^th U.S. President John F. Kennedy, she transformed the White House into a museum of American history to inspire public service and patriotism.  After the assassination of her husband President Kennedy, grief-stricken, she showed incredible strength by standing beside Johnson as he was sworn in to office while still wearing her pink blood-stained dress. She became senior editor at Doubleday Publishing after the death of her second husband Aristotle Onassis.

 

•Pat Nixon (1912-1993) Children’s Activist, U.S. First Lady. Took up the cause of volunteerism. Married to 37^th U.S. President Richard Nixon. As First Lady, she opened the White House to be more accessible.

 

•Hillary Clinton (1947 -) Women’s Rights Activist, Government Official, Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. First Lady. She worked several decades for children and women’s rights in America, and also ran as a presidential candidate in 2016. She is married to 42nd President Bill Clinton.“Yes, there are still ceilings to break for women and men – for all of us. But don’t let anyone tell you that great things can’t happen in America. Barriers can come down. Justice and equality can win. Our history has moved in that direction. Thanks to generations of Americans who refuse to give up or back down,” she said.

 

Women’s Rights – 

 

•Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) Women’s Rights Activist, Civil Rights Activist, Teacher, Journalist, Editor and Publisher. Anthony worked for the abolitionist movement to end slavery. After the Civil War, Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton focused on women’s rights and created the National American Woman Suffrage Association.  “It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed this Union,” Anthony said.

 

•Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) was a women’s rights activist who worked toward the legalization of birth control and educated women about sex. “No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother,” Sanger said.

 

Inventors –

 

•Margaret Knight (1838-1914) Came up with a safety device for textile looms after seeing a faulty piece of equipment injured a fellow worker. She gaind her first patent in 1871, a machine that cut and glued the bottom paper in shopping bags. Before the invention, workers would have to do it by hand. In her lifetime, she received 27 patents.

•Melitta Bentz (1873-1950) Created the coffee filter system, Bentz, which received a patent in 1908. The business is still running today.

•Katharine Burr Blodgett (1898-1979) was a scientist, inventor and the first woman to receive a Ph. D in physics at Cambridge University. She was the first woman to be hired by General Electric. She contributed to military needs for gas masks, smoke screens and a new technique to de-ice airplane wings. She also came up with the glass that is used for lenses in cameras and movie projectors. It is also essential for eyeglasses, car windshields and computer screens.

 

 

 The KC Fire Academy will celebrate a milestone March 29 with its 100^th graduation ceremony in Van Cliburn Auditorium on the Kilgore campus.

KC will host a reception prior to the ceremony from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Bert E. Woodruff Adult Education Center for all former fire academy students and instructors.

Following the reception, 18 students will graduate with the 100^th class at 6:30 p.m. in Van Cliburn Auditorium.“We look forward to reuniting with former instructors and students in the meet and greet before the ceremony,” said Mike Fennell, KC Fire Academy’s lead instructor. “We invite them to bring stories with them and have an opportunity to meet the two graduation speakers.”Speakers at the graduation will be Rick Lasky and Dennis Gage.

Lasky is an emergency services consultant, author, motivational speaker and former chief of the Lewisville Fire Department. Originally from the Chicago area, Lasky worked in various capacities for police and fire departments in Illinois and Idaho before moving to Lewisville, where he was the city’s fire chief for 11 years. He retired as chief in 2011 to become a full-time consultant and educator. He has written one book and co-authored another.

Gage retired from the Kilgore Fire Department in 2013.  He began working at the KFD in 1979, working his way up to become fire chief.  He retired from the department in 2013.  That same year he was named Texas’ Firefighter of the Year by the State Firefighters’ & Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas. The KC Fire Academy began in 1989 under the direction of Mike Earley who led the academy until his retirement in 2011.

For more information on the KC Fire Academy visit www.kilgore.edu/fire-academy or call Mike Fennell at 903-746-5388.

 

 

For the fifth year of the local ‘East Texas Arts Experience,’ KilGogh’s volunteer committee – part of the Kilgore Main Street Program – is crafting an evening art stroll and all-day arts festival downtown March 31 and April 1.

In addition to the year’s private, pre-festival exhibition, organizers are bringing back family-friendly KidsGogh outdoor art activities as well as a full line-up of live performers and a Cinema Under the Stars showing of a new Disney blockbuster.

First up, the exclusive Friday evening event brings back KilGogh’s annual art and wine exhibition, distributing local artists and artisans throughout businesses and restaurants along Main Street and North Kilgore.

Admission for the private showing is $40 per person, available to adults 21-and-older, and includes wine samples from East Texas vineyards, select hors d’oeuvres, live music and an array of artwork from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, March 31. The ticketed event falls a day after the 163rd anniversary of the birth of the festival’s namesake, Dutch post impressionist Vincent van Gogh.

Tickets are available for pre-purchase at KilGogh.com/pages/Tickets or at Facebook.com/KilGogh.

Activities on Saturday, April 1, begin at 11 a.m. downtown, free and open-to-the-public. Participants can expect a litany of activity including various artists showcasing and selling their exhibitions as well as hands on art projects for children and adults to enjoy.
The art festival has organized a student art competition built around a theme titled, “Goghing Places,” which was chosen by the festivals featured artists, including Mary Lou Rhodes,an Overton ISD art instructor who won Best in Show in 2016.
Other artists include KC dance group, Industry Dance Company, who will take the stage to entertain and dazzle attendees. As the event winds down an after dark showing of Disney’s “Moana” will be projected on a screen courtesy of Longview-Kilgore Cable TV.
The art festival is partially sponsored by Longview-Kilgore Cable and the Kilgore Herald and facilitated by local volunteers. Artists taking part in the event also help contribute a portion of their sales into the festival.

The summer semesters, Summer I and Summer II will be billed as one term in order to optimize financial aid and scholarships.

Payment for all semesters, if registered for more than one semester during the summer, has to be made by May 3 to avoid all semesters being dropped for non-payment; however, if necessary, students may register and pay for semesters individually.

For questions about financial aid, contact the financial aid office at 903-983-8217.

Early registration payment deadlines:

May mini-mester- May 3

Summer I-May 3

Summer II-June 28