CLC to host international students

For the 2011-12 academic year at Central Lakes College, Brainerd and Staples, Minn., eight Community Colleges for International Development students and two Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals German students will be enrolled. They will arrive the first week of August and be welcomed by mentor and host families ready to establish lifetime friendships. The students are Carlos Solano Monestel, Costa Rica; Nqobile Mahlangu, South Africa; Karmila Seran, Indonesia; Abhirup Barua, India; Naresh Chunara, India; Irshad Hussain, Pakistan; Imran Samuel, Pakistan; Chanice Hector, South Africa; and Germans Antonio Brauer, Saxony; and Franziska Losch, Baden-Wuerttemberg. For information, contact Joan Jenkins, at 218-855-8263 or jjenkins@clcmn.edu

Want to host a young German?

Central Lakes College is looking for hosts to accommodate two young German students for the 2011-12 academic year. The students: 1. Antonio Brauer, 21, a native of Leipzig who would like to study engineering and enjoys sports (especially rowing and jogging), politics, and aviation. He is eager to share what he knows of German and European culture and to understand American culture. 2. Franziska "Franzi" Losch, 22, of Esslingen, which is a southern city of more than 90,000 near Stuttgart. Since 2008 she has been an apprentice as a Management Assistant in Informatics at Daimler-Chrysler, where her duties involve pricing and product management of Mercedes-Benz truck parts. She enjoys swimming, riding motor bike, reading fiction, botanical work, and gardening. The two are participating in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals, a scholarship program that includes studies at a college and a six-month paid internship in their career field. Hosts may be individuals, couples, families with children, and grandparents. Hosts can request a monthly stipend of up to $225, provide two meals a day, a private bedroom, and integration into daily life. Participants help in the household and participate in family activities and celebrations. The CLC contact is Joan Jenkins, 218-855-8263, jjenkins@clcmn.edu or contact Beth Uding at 212-497-3512, buding@cdsintl.org

Grant for virtual welder

The Welding program at Central Lakes College has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council to purchase a Lincoln Electric Virtual Reality Welding Training System. The virtual welder training system will be used as a student assessment tool as well as in recruiting and as a secondary educator training tool, according to instructor Michael Reeser. It is an immersive, three-dimensional system featuring realistic environments and producing cutting-edge solutions to meet costly and growing training needs. The system is expected to be in use when the 2011 fall term begins at CLC.

Concert on the Lawn

The Central Lakes College European Tour Band, under the direction of Steve Anderson, will perform its 2011 Tour Concert on Saturday, July 16 at 6 p.m. on the south lawn of the Brainerd campus. The concert is free and open to the public. The band will depart on Monday, July 18 for 11 days in Central Europe with concerts in Prague, Karlovy, Vienna and Budapest. The 44-member CLC Community Concert Band will perform a program of Americana with selections by George Gershwin, J.P. Sousa, Morton Gould, Frank Tichelli, and one by a former member of the band, Jeff Liebsch. Audience members are encouraged to bring picnic dinners to enjoy while listening to the concert. There is ample parking along Mississippi Parkway at the concert site. See you all there.

SBDC donations

The Small Business Development Center based at Central Lakes College in Brainerd reports that it has received $11,500 in donations in recent weeks. The Initiative Foundation, Little Falls, made a cash grant of $10,000, reports Greg Bergman, SBDC director. “The Initiative Foundation has been a long-term supporter of the Small Business Development Center,” said Bergman. “They recognize the value of small businesses in Central Minnesota to our economy.” Mid-Minnesota Federal Credit Union has made a $1,000 donation. “We appreciate the support of financial institutions like Mid-Minnesota Federal Credit Union,” Bergman said. “They are great partners in supporting small businesses in our region.” Farmers and Merchants Bank of Pierz made a $500 donation. Bergman said: “We appreciate the support Farmers and Merchants Bank of Pierz has committed to the SBDC to help small businesses in our region.”The mission of the Central Lakes College Small Business Development Center is to improve economic growth in Minnesota by providing assistance to small businesses in order to increase the number of new business start-ups, expand existing small businesses, and reduce the number of small business failures.

New employees

New employees announced by the Human Resources Department at Central Lakes College include Ann Chouinard of Aitkin as the Check & Connect Coach and Curtis Pribnow of Mankato as a Law Enforcement instructor. Ann will work as a team member with the Check & Connect grant personnel, Occupational Skills Program staff, counselors, advisers, disabilities services staff, faculty, family members, and students in support of academic and social competencies. Curtis fills a fulltime teaching post in the Criminal Justice program starting with the fall semester. Ann has a BA in social work and experience in child and adult protection, life skills training, and housing management. Curtis has taught at South Central Technical College, Hibbing Community College, and Rasmussen College. He has a master's degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Paul Bremer has accepted the vacant college lab assistant position in Welding. Paul has a wide background in manufacturing and is also a former law enforcement officer. He has substitute taught in the Welding program.

Tour de Staples raises $700

The Tour de Staples 5K Walk/Run, sponsored by the Staples campus Student Senate of Central Lakes College, has raised $700 for the CLC Veterans Resource Center. Sixty-five runners and walkers participated in the May 7 event held near the Staples campus, where volunteers also received donations for the Staples All-Veterans Park. Ranging in age from 9 to 70-plus, walkers and runners either competed for fast times and prizes or enjoyed a leisurely pace in groups or teams for whom funds had been pledged. Everyone received a T-shirt and refreshments. The top 5-kilometer finishers were (men) 1. Wes DeLong, 18:14; Chris Hanson, 20:47; 3. Mike Cullen, 23:47; and (women) 1. Staci Schultz, 22:30; Carrie Beachy, 23:30; and Jesci Rydbom, 25:29. The event, which will be held again in early May 2012, was created to further substantiate CLC’s ranking as one of 31 military-friendly colleges. The publication G.I. Jobs provided the designation in a 2010 survey of schools doing the most to embrace American’s veterans as students. Tyra Osvold, assistant, and Dan Davidson, veterans representative, were pleased to learn of the donation on behalf of the center. Erich Heppner, director of student life, made the presentation.