Eight CLC Videography students nominated for 2015 Midwest Emmy Awards

Eight Central Lakes College Videography students were nominated for the 2015 Midwest Emmy Awards.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – Upper Midwest Chapter announced the nominations March 9. 

The 2015 Upper Midwest Regional Student Production Awards, or “The Midwest Emmys,” is a regional event with divisions for high school, college and professional video production work. The region includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. The winners
will be announced April 12 at the Radisson Blu Hotel at the Mall of America.

CLC Cultural Thursday to Highlight Somali immigrants in Minnesota

On Thursday, April 2, Central Lakes College will be hosting a Cultural Thursday event at noon in Chalberg Theater. Amal Hassan (a Somali community leader pursuing her Masters at SCSU in Early Childhood Special Education and Social Responsibility) and John Shanoff (a multilingual interpreter and a student in the Central Lakes College AD Nursing RN program) will be speaking on the topic of Somali Immigrants in Minnesota. 

CLC’s Kari Frisch Receives National Award for Excellence in Online Learning

Central Lakes College instructor Kari Frisch recently received national recognition for earning the 2015 Distinguished eLearning Educator award. Only six faculty in total were recognized. Frisch was also one of two instructors from that group chosen to receive the ITC 2015 Award for Excellence in eLearning Outstanding eLearning Faculty. 

Give Kids a Smile Day 2015

The annual Give Kids a Smile event at the CLC Brainerd campus served 64 children for tooth polishing, fluoride treatments, x-rays, oral hygiene instructions and dental exams. The dentist who participated were Dr. A. Rutman, Dr. C. Roberts, Dr. J Hiebert and Dr. C. Johnson. 

Fifteen Dental Assisting students participated in the event and another six students volunteered at Rose Country Dental in Pillager. 

Other volunteers included five licensed Dental Assistants who were CLC graduates and two Registered Dental Hygienists.

In addition to the Give Kids a Smile event, 260 toothbrushes were collected through a trade-in program. This event was sponsored by and partially funded through the MN Dental Association.

CLC Instructor Wins "Poetry on the Wall"

The Crossing Arts Alliance  “Poetry on the Wall 2015”  event was celebrated with a reception, poetry reading and announcement of the winners at  the Franklin Arts Center on February 21. The event featured an exhibit of 52 poems with regional poets reading their selected work.

CLC Instructor Donna Salli was awarded first place for her poem “Flames." 

VESTA Student Wins Award

Luke Sombke was awarded the Elmer Swenson 2015 Scholarship at the Minnesota Grape Growers annual Cold Climate Conference. Luke is in the CLC Viticulture and Enology programs and is currently working at Danzinger Winery in Wisconsin. This is the second year he has been won this $1000 award which is offered to full-time students who work with cold hardy grapes.

Photo: Luke in action taking a sample from a wine tank for analysis.

Traveling CNC office mill opens world of manufacturing to high schoolers

A new high-tech piece of equipment will bring the world of advanced manufacturing into the classrooms of 23 area high schools.

It's called a computer numerical control (CNC) office mill, and it allows operators to cut materials like metal at different depths using computer controls.

The CNC office mill was brought in through a partnership between Central Lakes College (CLC), the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce and several industry businesses.

It was unveiled Wednesday at Brainerd High School where it will stay in the classroom of industrial arts teacher Brian Bordwell for the next few weeks before making its way to Staples High School.

Story courtesy of the Brainerd Dispatch by Jessie Perrine. Read more.

Pathway to Nursing in Pine River

Beginning in January, Central Lakes College began offer nursing classes at a new satellite location in Pine River. The spring semester 2015 classes began on January 13. The classes offered at the Pine River site are Nursing Assistant Class - 3 Credits and the Home Health Aide Class - 1 Credit .

A designated scholarship fund was created for any student taking classes at the Pine River site. 

American Advertising Federation Awards Announced – CLC Students Display Talent

CLC students had a great showing at the 2015 American Advertising Awards held at the Paramount Theater in St. Cloud on January 24. 

CLC photo imaging students brought home 7 silver and 4 gold awards for their photography entries. Graphic design students grabbed 2 silver and 4 gold for their creative work. 

CLC Robotics Students are in High-Demand

Jeff Keyes, Arnie Anderson and Barry Norenberg from Bosch Packaging recently came to the Central Lakes College (CLC) Staples campus to give a presentation to students of the robotics program and to interview the second year students. Bosch needs to fill multiple positions and internships in their Shell Lake and New Richmond locations. 

CLC Announces Fall Honors List

Central Lakes College, Brainerd and Staples, has announced its 2014 fall semester honors list. 


The President’s List includes 249 students who earned a grade-point average of 3.75 to 4.0 while enrolled 
for at least 12 credits. 
The Dean’s List includes 263 students who earned a grade-point average of 3.25 to 3.74.

Merry Tuba Christmas a "Booming" Success

The CLC Music Department sponsored its annual "Merry Tuba Christmas" on Saturday, December 6 at the Westgate Mall in Brainerd. The low brass ensemble was directed by Steve Anderson, CLC Instrumental Music Instructor.

Merry Tuba Christmas is a low brass player tradition going back to 1971 when it started in honor of Bill Bell, one of the greatest tuba players and teachers. Low Brass Players gather in groups ranging in size from a few to several hundred all over the United States each Christmas to celebrate the season and the art of low brass playing. 

Military Advanced Education Selected CLC as a Top School

Military Advanced Education (MAE) has awarded Central Lakes College the designation of a Top School in its 2015 MAE Guide to Colleges & Universities, measuring best practices in military and veteran education. The Guide will be released in the December issue of MAE, and will be available online at www.mae-kmi.com. 

The Guide presents results of a questionnaire of the military-supportive policies enacted at more than 600 institutions including private, public, for-profit, not-for-profit, four-year, and two-year colleges. From community colleges to state universities, online universities and nationally known centers of higher learning, MAE’s 2015 Guide to Colleges & Universities arms students with information about institutions that go out of their way to give back to our men and women in uniform. 

New Scholarship Fund Created to Support CLC Students

Clareen Eklund created the endowed Lester and Clareen Eklund Scholarship Fund with the Central Lakes College Foundation in memory of her husband. 

Lester and Clareen Eklund retired to the Brainerd area to enjoy the outdoors - hunting, fishing, and traveling. Lester passed away in 2013 after a long battle with cancer. Lester received his education at the Dunwoody Institute as a non-traditional student after serving in the Navy for 2 years during World War II. Lester started his career with the State of Minnesota Natural Resources in International Falls, MN and retired from the City of Minneapolis as a heavy equipment mechanic. Clareen worked in accounting for various agencies until retiring to the Brainerd area. 

CLC Diesel and Heavy Equipment Students Honored

The 2014 Fall Celebration recognized and honored students graduating from the Heavy Equipment Operations and Maintenance Program and Diesel and Heavy Equipment Technician Program. 

The guest speaker for this year's celebration was Patrick Hockett of Kindred Plumbing & Heating Incorporated. CLC Student Representative Hunter Fairchild also provided remarks during the ceremony.

Cultural Thursday: Alutiiq Language and Culture Revitalization Efforts from Southern Alaska

On Thursday, December 4, 2014, at noon in the Chalberg Theater, Central Lakes College will be hosting its fourth event in this year's Cultural Thursdays Series.  Staples native Michael Bach will join us viavideo conference. He will speak on his work in assisting the Alutiiq peoples of southern Alaska to revitalize their language and culture.As a senior in High School, Bach lived in the Canary Islands (Spain) off the coast of Africa as an American exchange student.  He then went on to the Monterrey Defense Language Institute, where he learned the Pashto language and served our nation in Military Intelligence.  He went on to earn his B.A. in Languages and International Studies, at the College of St. Scholastica and his M.A. in Northern Studies from University of Alaska Fairbanks this May, 2014.

CLC Celebrates Native American Heritage Month

Central Lakes College will be holding several activities over the month of November in Celebration of Native American Heritage Month.

About Native American Heritage Month

What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.

CLC Student Selected for 2014 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship

Jackson, MS – Bradley Aaesen (Brainerd/Baxter), a student at Central Lakes College, has been selected to receive a $1,000 scholarship from Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society as a 2014 Coca-Cola Leader of Promise Scholar. 

Selected as 2014 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholars, 207 Phi Theta Kappa members have been awarded a total of $207,000 in scholarships. Chosen from more than 900 applications worldwide, the scholars receive scholarships of $1,000 each to further their associate degree studies. Independent judges evaluate the applications based on scholastic achievement, community service and leadership potential. 

CLC Wins Regional Tournament

The CLC Raider volleyball team beat Itasca 3-0 in the Region 13B championship game on Saturday and will advance to the NJCAA Division III national tournament. The Raiders won six straight games in the tournament beating Hibbing on Friday. 

The Region 13B champion Raiders will travel to Rochester, MN to play in national tournament November 14-15. 

Nominations Accepted for Educator of the Year

The MnSCU Board of Trustees is now accepting nominations for Educator of the Year Award for Excellence in Teaching. This award is an honor bestowed upon Minnesota State Colleges & Universities faculty to acknowledge and reward exceptional individual professional accomplishment and to encourage ongoing excellence in teaching. Central Lakes College (CLC) has been fortunate to have so many wonderful, caring, engaged and outstanding faculty in its ranks. Indeed in recent years, several of our faculty have been successfully recognized through this award.