Pratt Community College Named Top Ten Community College in the Country

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February 19, 2015

In September, Pratt Community College was named one of the Top Ten Community Colleges in the Country by SmartAsset.com, a blog that uses software and data to solve financial problems.

A college education is increasingly important in order to get and keep a job in the current information-oriented world, while at the same time, college costs are rising. SmartAsset evaluated approximately 700 public community colleges across the country in order to find the best investment.

“To determine the best we wanted to figure out which colleges offered a low cost education, good return on investment and high success rate,” says the company website. “To measure the cost of education we looked at in state tuition for one academic year. To measure return on investment we looked at the ratio of starting salary for graduates to the cost of the education. To measure success rate we looked at the percentage of students who enroll at the community college, graduate and then go on to transfer to a four-year institution. Using these three factors, we ranked the community colleges by how many standard deviations they outperformed the mean in each category. It gave us a list of the top ten community colleges in the country.”

Pratt Community College graduates make 22.8 percent more than their college expenses as a starting salary, and has a 54 percent graduation and transfer rate.

Watkins new Director of Nursing

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February 19, 2015

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credit – Pratt Community College

After working at the college for two and a half years as a nursing instructor, Kay Watkins saw many changes that were needed so when offered a promotion, she jumped on the opportunity.

“I saw issues as an instructor and wanted to be proactive in getting those resolved,” she said. “I also thought we could do some things differently to better help the students.”

Watkins took over as Director of Nursing at the beginning of January and said since then the two things she has already started working on are getting all the faculty to do things more uniformly so students know what to expect in each class and working to improve the pass rates.

Watkins has a office on both Pratt and Winfield’s campuses and splits her time between the two.

“I’m having a lot of fun with the new position,” she said. “It is challenging and rewarding at the same time.”

Before coming to PCC to teach first and second level courses, Watkins worked as a nurse in the ICU and ER for 27 years, many of those years in management.

While working in the field, Watkins said she saw issues with people coming out of school not being prepared.
“I knew when I saw the issues people were having right out of school that I wanted to start teaching so that I could help fill that void,” she said.

At the age of 11, Watkins decided she wanted to be a nurse when her dad had open heart surgery. She begged to go into the ICU, even though she was too young. Her mom finally got her in and Watkins said she knew as soon as she saw her dad that she was supposed to be a nurse.

Watkins received her undergraduate degree from Cook County College in Gainesville, Texas. To get her degree paid for, Watkins joined the Army for three years and was part of the military police.

When she’s not at work, Watkins enjoys being out in her garden and canning. She also has a miniature American Eskimo dog that keeps her busy and is getting her doctorate in nursing from Chamberlin College of Nursing.

She also has a son and two grandchildren that she enjoys spending time with.

Butler men maintain conference lead with home win over Cloud

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February 19, 2015

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credit – Butler CC

EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler overcame a halftime deficit against Cloud County to remain unbeaten at home on the season and maintain their lead in the Jayhawk West.

The eighth-ranked Grizzlies, down seven at the half rolled past Cloud County in the second half of a 64-52 victory. With the win, Butler is now 26-2 overall and 12-2 in Jayhawk West play – still a game ahead of Barton, which is now 11-3 after holding off Colby by a 75-73 score at home on Wednesday.

Butler led 11-6 early after a slam dunk by Lamar Wofford with 12:41 to play in the half, but the Grizzlies went nearly five minutes before getting another point, that coming on a free throw by Chris Howell with 7:44 to play in the half.

The Grizzlies fell behind 19-17 before getting four straight points on a bucket by Robert Joiner and then two free throws by Caelan Neal to lead 21-19 with 3:30 left in the period.

Butler, however, would not score again in the first half. Cloud scored the final nine points of the period to lead 28-21 at the break.

Butler started quickly in the second half and tied the game 32-32 with a pair of Chris Howell free throws.

The Grizzlies took the lead for good on a basket by Howell with 12:56 to play, followed up 30 seconds later by a 3-pointer by Travis House that made it 39-35.

Four straight points from Kyle Steward pushed the lead to double digits for the first time at 48-37 with 9:10 to go.

Cloud would cut the gap to five points later in the contest, but a bucket and free throw by Lamar Wofford with 2:51 to play put Butler back up 58-50 and Cloud would not challenge again.

Chris Howell led Butler with 14 points off the bench, while Lamar Wofford finished the night with a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Robert Joiner added 11 points for Butler.

The Grizzlies shot 43 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Cloud 35-30 while also forcing 24 Cloud turnovers.

Butler will now play its final road game of the season when it travels to Liberal on Saturday to take on Seward. It will be a matchup of the two teams who have combined to win the past five Jayhawk West titles.

Butler Theatre Presents Premier of Original Children’s Play

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February 19, 2015

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Butler Community College

Butler Community College Theatre will present the premier of “Band Together – An Alvin the Alligator Adventure,” an original children’s play written and directed by Butler’s Lead Theatre Professor Bob Peterson, on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. in the College Theatre on the El Dorado campus. The ticket price includes a post-show onstage sarsaparilla sipping meet and greet with cast members.

The play is a continuation of Alvin the Alligator’s adventures, this time in a trip to the Wild West as Alvin and friends teach the audience the value of teamwork.

“We’re excited to bring this new “Alvin” adventure to the stage,” said Peterson. “The excitement of the Old West in this latest escapade gives him new antics, while finding a life lesson to share with the children.”

In addition to Saturday’s public performance, Butler Theatre offers free student matinee performances during the week to area school groups. Last year’s production served 1,958 students from 13 area schools and one homeschool group. Seating is limited. School groups may make reservations by contacting the Fine Arts Office at 316-322-3325.

Butler sophomore Kevin David Norfleet of Wichita has the lead role as Alvin. Other cast members include Tarah Pearson of Wichita as Loretta Lou, Haylee Couey of Wichita as Kid Rascally, Brandon McKinney of Wichita as Sidekick, Jay Dee Schafers of Marion as Miss Kelly, Tyler Franklin of Wichita as Big City Professor of Music, Jeremy Buoy of Valley Center as Mayor Mayer, Brianna Keene of St. Louis, Mo. as Miss Patsy, and Niki Green of Wichita as Mrs. Mayor Mayer.

Bernie Wonsetler of the theatre faculty is the scenic and lighting designer and Sam Sparks of the theatre faculty is the costume coordinator. Tad Gilbert of Andover is the stage manager and Hallie Cook of Leavenworth is the sound designer.

The Butler Fine Arts Box Office is open 1 – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Reservations can be made by calling 316-322-3262 or online by visiting www.butlercc.edu/boxoffice. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children and senior citizens.

The Butler Theatre Department produces four productions each year and offers full tuition and book scholarships to qualifying students in both performance and technical theatre. Interested students should contact Bob Peterson, [email protected].

Tax-free savings

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February 18, 2015

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By Amelia Arvesen

KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — Kansas could become one of the first states to implement a new tax-free savings program that would allow people with disabilities to save more for their futures.

In Tuesday’s House Children and Seniors Committee meeting, Kansas representatives advanced House Bill 2100 to the floor.

The bill cites the federal ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) Act, signed by President Barack Obama in December. People who become disabled before the age of 26 can save for college while still receiving federal aid.

Rep. Erin Davis (R-Olathe) said supporters will lobby in the coming months to get the bill passed.

“It’s providing the disabled to be somewhat self-sufficient and have some savings for things that insurance or Medicaid or Social Security Disability doesn’t cover: housing, transportation, education, in addition to medical needs,” Davis said. “It’s providing some independence for them.”

Current legislation allows individuals with disabilities to save $2,000 a year but HB 2100 would hike that amount to a $14,000 yearly limit. Savings in the accounts would not count toward Medicaid eligibility, and any amount under $100,000 would be excluded for Social Security disability eligibility, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

Rep. Willie Dove (R-Bonner Springs), who serves as vice chair of the committee, said a disability does not disqualify a person from making rational decisions, including whether to attend college.

“One of the things that I have seen personally is that individuals who need the extra care before they get to the point where they have assistance offered to them, it’s not enough,” Dove said. “A lot of these individuals want to make decisions on their own.”

Davis said because no other state has participated in the program, the true fiscal impact is still unknown. She said regardless of the fiscal impact, the tradeoff is great because it provides people a means to care for themselves.

The bill garnered no opposition in a hearing last week, where U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, (R-Overland Park) provided testimony in favor of the bill.

It will be sent to the Speaker’s office who will determine whether it will be voted on.

Amelia Arvesen is a University of Kansas senior from San Ramon, California, majoring in journalism.

Rural Messenger

Rural Messenger

Pratt Community College Named Top Ten Community College in the Country

Watkins new Director of Nursing

Butler men maintain conference lead with home win over Cloud

Butler Theatre Presents Premier of Original Children’s Play

Tax-free savings

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