'The Rock Farm'

The Finnish actors who were part of the cast, accompanied by directors Tuire Hindikka (left) and Patrick Spradlin, met with CLC President Larry Lundblad on Aug. 9 before returning to Finland. Playwright Donna Salli of the CLC English faculty, stands behind her young Finnish acting friends, Susanna Kohonen, Kerttu Pyy, and Emma Mustaniemi.

Central Lakes College instructor-author Donna Salli's play "The Rock Farm" was performed for a full house Aug. 5 in the Dryden Theatre on the Brainerd campus, marking the next chapter in a continuing collaboration between area theater artists and those from Joensuu, Finland. The play, which is about the Finnish-American culture of the Upper Penninsula, was staged for 225 guests in Ironwood, Mich., two nights later. It has gone through three separate production cycles. "What started out as a vague notion talked about at the dinner table has become an international phenomenon," said Patrick Spradlin, CLC Theatre director. "The Rock Farm" began with essays and poems written by Donna and never intended for the stage. The collections of stories from her childhood, along with poems inspired by an extended Finnish family living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, were discovered by Finnish theater director Tuire Hindikka during a visit to Brainerd. Tuire brought a group of actors from her Floppi and Fiasko theater companies to CLC for a weeklong residency in 2007. While in Brainerd Tuire read Donna's writings and urged her to adapt them to a script. "The Rock Farm" was translated into Finnish and given its world premiere performance in 2008 -- in Finland. Tuire returned to Brainerd last October with a troupe of actors to perform "The Rock Farm" for local audiences. The play also was performed in English by a group of local actors under the direction of Erik Steen. Playgoers first saw the play in English, then witnessed the Finnish language version.

Conference presenters

Central Lakes College employees Connie Frisch (right), director of nursing, and Pamela Nelson, online learning coordinator, presented at the international “Fusion 2010: Architects of Education” users conference July 12 at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Centre in Chicago. Accompanied by Michael Amick, dean of academic and technology service at CLC, Frisch and Nelson presented “Your Student Nursing Clinical Orientation Begins in Desire2Learn.” Their audience included attendees from Canada and Australia as well as the U.S. They have developed a new service for nursing students in collaboration with area health-care providers of clinical training sites. The result is a clinical orientation done online before students reach the clinical site. Valuable clinical time is saved by providing orientation materials through Desire2Learn course tools. Partners include Brainerd Lakes Health, Brainerd; Lakewood Health System, Staples; Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, Crosby; Riverwood Healthcare Center, Aitkin; and Community Behavorial Health Hospital, Baxter.

International students

Central Lakes College is hosting nine students in the Community College for International Development program during the 2010-11 academic year. They arrived Aug. 1 to meet their mentor families, who maintain regular contact with the students and participate in activities to augment the time at CLC. The students reside near the Brainerd campus. The students include (front) Jaka Mahendra, Indonesia; and from left standing, Bradley Van der Zandt, South Africa; Jose’ Sergio Cardoza Salguero, El Salvador; Hugo Ruano Diaz, Guatemala; Renata Barreto, Brazil; Muraty Harsono, Indonesia; Dulce Perez Herrera, Guatemala; Miguel Porras Cruz, Guatemala; Djamaluddin Paratmadi, Indonesia. They are pictured with Student Activities Director Erich Heppner (third from left) at the home of CLC Admissions Rep John Richardson, where they introduced themselves to one another and got acquainted with their mentor families. Two German exchange stduents are also coming to CLC, arriving on Aug.10. Joan Jenkins is the international student coordinator, working out of our Admissions Department.

Remodeling on target

Jeremy Johnson of Gull Lake Glass placed new door-side window panels in the larger, high-tech classroom E318 on the Brainerd campus. The room had been E317 and E319 but now will accommodate 40 students with its increase of about 10 feet, said Bruce Eide of the maintenance staff.

Central Lakes College remodeling projects are nearing completion as the new academic year approaches. Almost $1 million in construction and renovation involves new heating and ventilation for much of the east side of the Brainerd campus as well as the Staples robotics and weight room areas. For the first time, rooms such as the physics lab and the gym will be air conditioned. A 48-person computer lab linked to the new math curriculum replaces E 313 and E314 in Brainerd, and a central handling unit for all the new HVAC occupies what had been the office of instructor Mark Platta (E311). A large, high-tech classroom (E318) replaces E317 and E319. There is new paint, new glass, and new carpet along with the new air handling system. The new Staples vidoegraphy production program gets an all-new, state-of-the-art studio and production space to use the latest technology. The Chalberg Theatre renovation will continue into October, but all other areas of construction are on schedule for completion by the first day of the fall term, Aug. 23.

Construction zone

The campsues of Central Lakes College, Brainerd and Staples, are in the midst of major renovation projects schedueld for completion for the Aug. 23 start of fall semester classes (with the exception of Chalberg Theatre, set to be ready sometime this fall). The east wing of the Brainerd campus, including areas in the math and sciences area and the gymnasium, are getting new heating and ventilation systems, with lots of ceiling work involved, as well as ductwork. A new math-oriented computer lab with 48 stations is taking shape in what formerly were rooms E313 and E314. Seats have been removed from Chalberg Theatre as part of that $500,000 project to make a high-tech classroom space as well as comfortable viewing for dramatic arts performances.

Enrollment up

Central Lakes College in Brainerd and Staples will start the 2010-11 academic year on Monday, Aug. 23 with a fourth straight year of enrollment growth. As of Aug. 2, 3,723 students had registered, including 2,305 full-time (at least 12 credits). More than 2,500 enrolled for the fall term are returning students. Fall enrollment is 12.7 percent ahead of the same point last year. New at CLC this year will be two-year degrees in theatre performance, videography production, child development/American Sign Language, applied engineering, viticulture, enology, and dental assisting. The latter program retains a diploma option, as do videography, viticulture (grape growing) and enology (wine production). The college has added an Honors Associate in Arts degree for qualifying liberal arts and sciences scholars. Several certificate programs have been added in a manufacturing-related collaboration with eight other schools in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Hands-on technical courses are available to earn certificates in automation, machining, manufacturing, production, and welding. CLC has added a mechatronics diploma program to put students on a path toward technician careers involving mechanical and electrical systems.

'Harvey' auditions

Central Lakes College Theatre in Brainerd will hold auditions for “Harvey” on Tuesday, Aug. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Bob Dryden Theatre. The production’s cast will require six men and six women ages 16-65. The show will perform in the Dryden Theatre Oct. 6-17. This comedy, written by Mary Chase, is the story of easy-going Elwood P. Dowd and his imaginary friend Harvey, a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall rabbit. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1945 and was adapted into a classic movie starring Jimmy Stewart in 1950. This film version even landed on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years... 100 Laughs” list in 2000 at Number 35. For information, contact director Dennis Lamberson at 218-855-8202 or email dlambers@clcmn.edu