Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / SVCC incoming President Dr. Jon Mandrell

Transcript

SVCC incoming President Dr. Jon Mandrell · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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Speaker 1: Of talk line here at w i XN Radio. Good morning,
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Speaker 1: I'm Steve Marco. It is time for our monthly look
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Speaker 1: at news and information from Sock Valley Community College. We
0:08
Speaker 1: reserve the first Thursday of the month for our good
0:10
Speaker 1: friends from Stock Valley Community College to come aboard and
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Speaker 1: tell us all about happenings at SBCC. This is a
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Speaker 1: special report from FM ninety five one at AM fourteen
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Speaker 1: sixty wix in because we have some very special guests
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Speaker 1: joining us today to again grace our airwaves for this
0:26
Speaker 1: October twenty twenty five edition of SOWK Talk. First of all,
0:29
Speaker 1: as always, the marketing director of Sock Valley Community College
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Speaker 1: is live on board with us today here at w
0:34
Speaker 1: i x IN. His name is Jim Groat, and he
0:36
Speaker 1: is with us today at AM fourteen sixteen FM ninety five.
0:38
Speaker 1: I'm good morning, certain morning, Steve.
0:40
Speaker 2: Excited to be here again, but excited. I'm happy, happy
0:44
Speaker 2: to be here, but also sad to be here that
0:46
Speaker 2: this will be our final SOK Talk together. Yes, but no,
0:49
Speaker 2: I love being here as always.
0:51
Speaker 1: Always a pleasure having you on board, Jim, And I'm
0:55
Speaker 1: not sure about the direction of our program or where
0:57
Speaker 1: it's headed. You know, down the line. But the hope
1:00
Speaker 1: will continue our reports and news and information as always
1:03
Speaker 1: from Sock Valley Community College. But yes, it will be
1:07
Speaker 1: the last time that Jim and I will be together
1:09
Speaker 1: here at de WI.
1:10
Speaker 2: And it's been an absolute pleasure. I mean I've been
1:12
Speaker 2: you know, just the past year with you and that
1:14
Speaker 2: kind of stuff. I have to tell you, it's been
1:16
Speaker 2: an absolute pleasure. And this being my first radio experience
1:19
Speaker 2: and having you kind of a control of the helm there,
1:23
Speaker 2: You've been fantastic to work with. So I appreciate it.
1:25
Speaker 1: I appreciate the kind words, and thank you so very much.
1:28
Speaker 3: Jim.
1:28
Speaker 1: You have brought along a couple of special guests. Please
1:34
Speaker 1: you do the honors.
1:35
Speaker 2: Well I have for the audience out there. To my right,
1:39
Speaker 2: I have doctor David Helmick, the current president of Sock
1:42
Speaker 2: Valley Community College, and then to his right we have
1:45
Speaker 2: doctor John Mandrel, the future president of Sock Valley Community College.
1:49
Speaker 2: So we're excited to have them. I wanted to have
1:51
Speaker 2: those two on to kind of be with our final
1:53
Speaker 2: Sock Talk with the with Steve Marcos. So I just
1:57
Speaker 2: want to bring them along and chat a little bit
1:59
Speaker 2: a little bit about day history and you know what
2:01
Speaker 2: he kind of enjoyed over his last ten years over
2:03
Speaker 2: at Sock and then talk to John a little bit
2:05
Speaker 2: about kind of his experience from a child being at SOCCAT.
2:10
Speaker 1: So now it's going to be a president story today
2:14
Speaker 1: with doctor mandrel I understand. So that's coming your way, friends,
2:18
Speaker 1: don't change the dial because we've got some really neat
2:22
Speaker 1: news coming our way from SoC Valley Community College and
2:25
Speaker 1: we're going to talk to both presidents, doctor Helmick and
2:27
Speaker 1: doctor Mandrel As are again good friend, Doctor David Helmick
2:33
Speaker 1: completes his tenure at Sock Valley Community College and so
2:37
Speaker 1: we'll talk to doctor Helmick about his tenure. And of
2:39
Speaker 1: course just newly elected doctor John mandrel is our new
2:44
Speaker 1: Sock Valley Community College president coming to board. Uh and
2:47
Speaker 1: so I'm excited to have both gentlemen with us today
2:49
Speaker 1: here at w.
2:50
Speaker 2: So I'm just going to do one quick announcement and
2:52
Speaker 2: then we're going to turn it over to them so
2:54
Speaker 2: they can people can hear about it. So we just
2:55
Speaker 2: have one announcement of just our open houses next week
2:59
Speaker 2: to come visit this. This is our first kind of
3:01
Speaker 2: open house done this way. It's been a while since
3:03
Speaker 2: we've done an open house at the college. We did them,
3:06
Speaker 2: you know, pre COVID, but now we're starting back up again.
3:09
Speaker 2: But before we used to invite universities and that kind
3:12
Speaker 2: of stuff along, but this time it's just an open
3:13
Speaker 2: house to learn all about SOCC. So it's next Tuesday
3:16
Speaker 2: from five to six thirty. I'll be serving up some
3:19
Speaker 2: ice cream and that kind of stuff. But we're going
3:21
Speaker 2: to have all sorts of departments there, faculty members there,
3:24
Speaker 2: I mean early childhood.
3:28
Speaker 1: Wow, and just drew a blank there.
3:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, wow, I'm like, oh, my psychology, and a lot
3:35
Speaker 2: of departments there. The financial aid advisors will be there.
3:38
Speaker 2: We're also going to have FASTPA kind of help in
3:43
Speaker 2: one of the rooms. So if you will have computer
3:45
Speaker 2: set up, you need help to fill out the FASTPA,
3:47
Speaker 2: We're gonna have people there help and do that. And
3:49
Speaker 2: if you're an impact student, you have to fill out
3:51
Speaker 2: the FASTPA as part of the recommended you know, part
3:53
Speaker 2: of the program is fieling on the FASTPA. So now's
3:56
Speaker 2: the time to do it. So we'll have people there
3:58
Speaker 2: on staff to help out. So come over next Tuesday
4:01
Speaker 2: five to six thirty.
4:02
Speaker 1: Tuesday, next Tuesday, five until six thirty. This is again
4:06
Speaker 1: an open house at Sock Valley Community College, the opening
4:10
Speaker 1: up facilities and areas at SVCC public obviously.
4:14
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, right, everybody. Everybody's welcome. I mean, come check out. Students,
4:19
Speaker 2: not just high school students, not just graduating high school students,
4:21
Speaker 2: but anybody who's interested in even our community education like
4:25
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. So anybody's interested in learning more
4:27
Speaker 2: about the college. We're gonna have all sorts of people,
4:30
Speaker 2: departments out there and that kind of thing.
4:31
Speaker 1: Absolutely please, you know, make it a point that because
4:35
Speaker 1: these are rare, you don't see you know, college open
4:37
Speaker 1: houses take place again on a regular basis, but it's
4:41
Speaker 1: it's fortunate.
4:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're trying to back up to yah, just kind
4:45
Speaker 2: of open up the college and let people walk in
4:46
Speaker 2: and just ask it any questions you want and check
4:49
Speaker 2: out all the different departments and that kind of thing.
4:51
Speaker 1: So, okay, Tuesday five until six thirty, Sock Valley Community
4:54
Speaker 1: College to the place, please open house and we'll be
4:56
Speaker 1: reminding you of that from here until they're right here
4:59
Speaker 1: on f I N fourteen sixty W one accent. All right,
5:03
Speaker 1: thank you, John. We are going to hand the microphones
5:05
Speaker 1: over now to first of all, our current Sock Valley
5:09
Speaker 1: Community College president who has decided to call it a day. Correct,
5:15
Speaker 1: your doctor David Helmick is with us today, and doctor
5:18
Speaker 1: Helmick again, it has been a pleasure visiting with you
5:23
Speaker 1: for the years that you have been with us, how
5:25
Speaker 1: many with soccer communities.
5:27
Speaker 4: I'm into my eleventh year, eleventh year, and you and
5:29
Speaker 4: I have been doing this for a while, and I
5:31
Speaker 4: have always enjoyed.
5:32
Speaker 1: That well, and I appreciate you coming in and sitting
5:36
Speaker 1: with us, you know. And as I mentioned, as John mentioned,
5:38
Speaker 1: our final talk line that I will be involved with,
5:41
Speaker 1: Hopefully we won't be, you know again, moving too much,
5:45
Speaker 1: but we'll have to wait and see how things go.
5:47
Speaker 1: But yes, this will be my final talk line with
5:50
Speaker 1: our good friends from Socck Valley Community College. So it's
5:52
Speaker 1: kind of bittersweet for me, but again it's got to
5:54
Speaker 1: be exciting for you, sir, as you have completed I
5:58
Speaker 1: believe a very successful tenure at SOROKO. Thank you.
6:00
Speaker 4: And it's not over yet. I will be staying in
6:04
Speaker 4: my position until the end of this actemic year, and
6:06
Speaker 4: then sometime in May or June we'll officially do in
6:09
Speaker 4: the transition to John and no better person we could
6:11
Speaker 4: have selected than doctor John Mandrew of course is doctor
6:15
Speaker 4: Kelly Mandrel as well. So at the college we actually
6:17
Speaker 4: refer to John as doctor Mandreu the Lesser, as opposed
6:21
Speaker 4: to doctor Mandreu the Greater, who is who is Kelly.
6:24
Speaker 4: But but of course I'm referred to as doctor Helmick
6:26
Speaker 4: the Lesser because doctor Linda Helmick would be doctor Helmick
6:29
Speaker 4: the Greater. So John and I have that in common
6:31
Speaker 4: as well.
6:33
Speaker 5: Not understing me doctor Homick sense of humor, right.
6:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, yeah, that's that's one of the things that
6:39
Speaker 1: he has been blessed with and he has again meeting
6:42
Speaker 1: and greeted us with. Is that great personality that not
6:46
Speaker 1: only does does doctor Helmet you know, show it in
6:49
Speaker 1: his personality with us here at w AX. But you're
6:52
Speaker 1: you're you again, your tenure, your your body of work,
6:55
Speaker 1: doctor Helmick. Congratulations, thank you, thank you very much. It
6:58
Speaker 1: has been and I'm sure you know we could we
7:01
Speaker 1: could dissect it, for I only have you know a
7:04
Speaker 1: couple of you know, amdates. I wish we could dissect
7:07
Speaker 1: it more. But in your tenure at Stock Valley Community College,
7:11
Speaker 1: doctor Helmt, you have to be proud of the you know,
7:14
Speaker 1: advancements that you've made, the pieces that you put in
7:18
Speaker 1: place at Stock Valley Community I am very proud.
7:20
Speaker 4: When Lynd and I moved here from Kentucky, our hope
7:24
Speaker 4: was to stay eleven years, just because that was sort
7:27
Speaker 4: of worked with with our retirement ages. And and I've
7:31
Speaker 4: been very fortunate, you know, have a great board, very
7:34
Speaker 4: supportive board, wonderful faculty staff, and and we've been able
7:37
Speaker 4: to do some things. So I think it's about time.
7:40
Speaker 4: But this is what the plan was. And when I
7:43
Speaker 4: think about and you know, there are programs and all
7:45
Speaker 4: that we'll talk about, but I'm just very proud of
7:48
Speaker 4: the culture at SOCC. The faculty and staff at SOCCER,
7:52
Speaker 4: I think truly are committed to the mission of the
7:54
Speaker 4: college and are very very proud.
7:56
Speaker 3: To be the community's college.
7:57
Speaker 4: So to me, SOCCAL Community College represent best of what
8:00
Speaker 4: a community college should be.
8:02
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and yes, we are going to talk about some
8:05
Speaker 1: of those products that Doc Doctor Helmick has put in
8:08
Speaker 1: play with the rest of the organizations obviously and everybody
8:11
Speaker 1: you know contributing, you know, to Makesock Valley Community College
8:15
Speaker 1: the success story that he has been. But you, sir,
8:18
Speaker 1: have also served during a very tumultuous time. Our COVID
8:21
Speaker 1: nineteen pandemic went through while you were president of Sock then.
8:25
Speaker 4: Well, and before that was a budget impast exactly. And
8:29
Speaker 4: folks at college remind me that we've never had a
8:31
Speaker 4: budget impass, that we've never had COVID until I was here.
8:34
Speaker 4: So I don't know if I'm the cause or not,
8:37
Speaker 4: but you know, you'll remember there was a year and
8:39
Speaker 4: a half where we had no state budget exactly. Yeah,
8:41
Speaker 4: and we were projecting out our budgets just a couple
8:44
Speaker 4: of years away from being bankrupt. So we had all
8:46
Speaker 4: kind of very serious conversations about how we can tightener
8:50
Speaker 4: belts and extend revenues, you know, find new ways of
8:54
Speaker 4: doing things. And actually, I think it was really very
8:56
Speaker 4: important to sort of bring us together as a faculty
8:59
Speaker 4: and staff and born or to make sure we maintained
9:02
Speaker 4: what we valued, for example, adult education, because that has
9:07
Speaker 4: partly grant funded many colleges in the state. Pause or
9:11
Speaker 4: adult education program we did not, because we know adult
9:14
Speaker 4: education is at the core of our mission providing access
9:18
Speaker 4: and the SBDC. We had just worked with governments and
9:23
Speaker 4: banks in the Salk Valley to submit an application for
9:26
Speaker 4: the SBDC Small Business Development Center. Yes, and then all
9:29
Speaker 4: of a sudden there's no money. And for the first year,
9:32
Speaker 4: even though we were running deficit, sought funded that the
9:35
Speaker 4: first year by ourself because we knew the importance of SBDC,
9:39
Speaker 4: And then after that year we were able to get
9:41
Speaker 4: that grant. And so the college is still providing some
9:44
Speaker 4: support along with banks, et cetera. And the SBDC is
9:47
Speaker 4: a phenomenal service to this area. So those would be
9:51
Speaker 4: two during the budget deficit that I would emphasize. And
9:55
Speaker 4: then COVID, you know, COVID. What I think was best
9:59
Speaker 4: about COVID too. Things One is our faculting staff pivoted
10:02
Speaker 4: so quickly to doing things virtually, and many colleges had struggle,
10:08
Speaker 4: you know, internally to get folks to do things. Our
10:11
Speaker 4: faculty staff just said, we need to do what's best
10:13
Speaker 4: for the students, the best for the community, and we
10:15
Speaker 4: did that. And also we were able to do that
10:19
Speaker 4: and keep politics out of it. Our board of trustees
10:22
Speaker 4: does not bring politics into the boardroom. We do not
10:25
Speaker 4: bring politics into the college. We do what's best for
10:28
Speaker 4: the community, for our students, and we were able to
10:31
Speaker 4: navigate that really very difficult situation, but we were able
10:35
Speaker 4: to navigate that very seamlessly, we think.
10:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, Again it seemed to move even though we
10:42
Speaker 1: had to shut down a lot of activity at the
10:46
Speaker 1: campus itself overnight. Exactly this happened, you know, within days.
10:52
Speaker 1: It wasn't you know ours days that we had to
10:54
Speaker 1: make some very serious decisions and at stock Valley Community
10:59
Speaker 1: College you did and again it worked. It worked. That
11:04
Speaker 1: was the payoff because you're still using you know, those
11:09
Speaker 1: items that we had to install during COVID nineteen and
11:13
Speaker 1: the pandemic. We're still using some of that today.
11:17
Speaker 4: You have to in twenty twenty five or you're not
11:19
Speaker 4: a contemporary institution.
11:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're talking about online learning, you know, it's
11:25
Speaker 1: basically zoom meeting. Exactly all of that came in Like
11:28
Speaker 1: really did all of that came into play during that
11:31
Speaker 1: time period?
11:31
Speaker 4: Right?
11:32
Speaker 1: And again yeah, serving during that time head.
11:36
Speaker 4: If I can mention two other things very briefly, and
11:38
Speaker 4: I'm sure we'll get into more detail. One is the
11:41
Speaker 4: soft Flight community leadership program that we started in my
11:44
Speaker 4: first year. We got leadership from the Dixon at that time,
11:50
Speaker 4: it was a Dixon Chamber, then became Dixon Chamber, Main Street,
11:52
Speaker 4: Soft Valley Area Chamber and the Rock Falls Chamber and
11:58
Speaker 4: we came together and we decided we're going to form
12:01
Speaker 4: a leadership program for adults and our tenth we're into
12:06
Speaker 4: our tenth year, a tenth cohort. They met just yesterday,
12:09
Speaker 4: and I think that's really been important for the community
12:13
Speaker 4: to encourage folks to get to know the community better
12:17
Speaker 4: and to sort of grow your own so that we're
12:20
Speaker 4: very proud of. And then of course we have to
12:22
Speaker 4: talk about the Impact Program under doctor Lori Cortes's leadership,
12:26
Speaker 4: and it was in two thousand and seventeen, I think
12:30
Speaker 4: it was where she was new with the foundation and
12:33
Speaker 4: I said, Laurie, we need something big, and she went
12:36
Speaker 4: out and did her Lori Cortez thinking and came back
12:38
Speaker 4: with this idea. And then over a couple of years,
12:40
Speaker 4: working with the Foundation, working with the board, we developed
12:43
Speaker 4: this Impact idea, which I think is the most revolutionary thing,
12:49
Speaker 4: the greatest economic development engine to hit the Souk Valley
12:53
Speaker 4: sense of forming of Socclay Community College. We have Impact
12:57
Speaker 4: students from Fulton Prophesstown at the college now because they're
13:00
Speaker 4: a pilot program right and the next fall there will
13:03
Speaker 4: be students from throughout the district who will be having
13:07
Speaker 4: earned their tuition at stalk Likes New College to the
13:10
Speaker 4: Impact program.
13:11
Speaker 1: Absolutely, this is just one of the hallmarks of doctor
13:15
Speaker 1: Helmick's tenure at Stock Valley Community College. So'll congratulate. That
13:19
Speaker 1: is just a great list. And this is just the
13:23
Speaker 1: tip of the iceberg. I mean, like I said, we
13:25
Speaker 1: could we could probably dissect a lot more. Unfortunately we
13:29
Speaker 1: just I wish we had more time to do this,
13:31
Speaker 1: but we but we I wanted to you know, touch
13:33
Speaker 1: on those items. And you mentioned the important items during
13:36
Speaker 1: your tenure that of course you'll be remember by you know,
13:41
Speaker 1: you really will, you know in putting and not only that,
13:44
Speaker 1: doctor Helmick, but you know the impact that you had
13:47
Speaker 1: on our community that you have you're not gone yet,
13:50
Speaker 1: you still have on our community. Really, I mean you
13:53
Speaker 1: have made your point to you know, be a community
13:56
Speaker 1: minded person. You have you know again moved in the community,
14:00
Speaker 1: done so much for other organizations. Uh, you know, am
14:04
Speaker 1: seeing at you know, all the candidate's forums, you know
14:08
Speaker 1: comes to mind, you know off the top, you know,
14:10
Speaker 1: and things like that that you love to do for
14:13
Speaker 1: the community.
14:14
Speaker 3: Well, thank you.
14:14
Speaker 4: And John does the same. He just does the same
14:17
Speaker 4: ones as I do. That. I was very proud to
14:19
Speaker 4: be on the KSB board and I'm on the OSF board.
14:22
Speaker 4: Very proud about that. Uh Dixon one, remember Dixon one.
14:26
Speaker 1: That's right.
14:27
Speaker 4: My first time to meet most of the community members
14:30
Speaker 4: around here was I volunteered to be on that board
14:32
Speaker 4: and the first meeting, I didn't know where to go.
14:34
Speaker 1: I didn't know where the courthouse was.
14:35
Speaker 4: I went to the old old building.
14:38
Speaker 1: It was locked. I didn't know where to go.
14:40
Speaker 4: But you know, meet people like Jim Reid and Gary
14:43
Speaker 4: Gelbach and Mike Vanier, all these you know, wonder for
14:48
Speaker 4: wonderful leaders, and we were able to bring the chamber
14:52
Speaker 4: and Main Street together and what a phenomenal organization that is.
14:55
Speaker 1: Absolutely and this was all kind of during COVID is.
14:58
Speaker 4: No, this was this is two thousand, this is pre COVID. Okay,
15:01
Speaker 4: this was twenty fifteen, sixteen, just.
15:03
Speaker 1: Before you know that. But it connected and really kind
15:06
Speaker 1: of you know, connected everything, you know when we when
15:08
Speaker 1: we went into that time. So yes, some really great
15:11
Speaker 1: community efforts. Thanking you, sir, you know have been involved
15:14
Speaker 1: with as well. Doctor David Helmick our guest today on
15:17
Speaker 1: our sock Talk Talk Line along with incoming president doctor
15:21
Speaker 1: John Mandrel. Doctor Mandrel, congratulations to you ser on being
15:25
Speaker 1: appointed our next president of Sock Valley Community College. It
15:28
Speaker 1: must be exciting for you.
15:29
Speaker 6: It is, it is. It is the greatest honor in
15:32
Speaker 6: my life.
15:33
Speaker 3: I know.
15:33
Speaker 6: It's it's the news for about two weeks now, and
15:36
Speaker 6: Dave's been nothing but a great mentor to me, a coach.
15:40
Speaker 6: And it's hard to believe it's been eleven years already,
15:42
Speaker 6: you know, it's hard to be it's been sixty years
15:44
Speaker 6: for the college. This year, Yeah, we're celebrating our.
15:46
Speaker 1: Taf to you, that's right. You know, it's a very
15:49
Speaker 1: interesting time that all of this is kind of coming together,
15:52
Speaker 1: you know, with the announcement from doctor Helmick of stepping down,
15:56
Speaker 1: you know, at the end of his term next year.
15:58
Speaker 1: But in the sixtieth anniversary yere you just mentioned, doctor
16:02
Speaker 1: of excitement at Sock Valley Community Sixty years. Sixty years,
16:06
Speaker 1: you know, is not long really for an educational facility.
16:10
Speaker 1: It really isn't you know what you can look back
16:12
Speaker 1: in you know, all of the harvards and centuries for
16:17
Speaker 1: sixty years and look what we've done in sixty years
16:20
Speaker 1: with our Community College. It's great. I mean, it's got
16:23
Speaker 1: to be fantastic for you really to continue the tradition
16:27
Speaker 1: it is.
16:27
Speaker 6: You know, I couldn't be in a better situation stepping
16:30
Speaker 6: into the presidency. I have big shoes to fill, but
16:32
Speaker 6: we're very well positioned at the college. And Dave said
16:35
Speaker 6: it very well, it's our community and our culture that
16:38
Speaker 6: is the priority and what makes us great.
16:41
Speaker 3: So when I talk to folks out in the.
16:42
Speaker 6: Community, the thousands of students and parents and families that
16:47
Speaker 6: have been a part of SoC it's so positive and supportive,
16:49
Speaker 6: and we're so proud of that. And the reason for
16:51
Speaker 6: that is just it's our collaboration. It's teaching and learning
16:55
Speaker 6: is number one. It's our partnerships, the relationships that we formed.
16:59
Speaker 6: And we're really excited about this next chapter. Of course,
17:03
Speaker 6: with the things that doctor Homik has mentioned, the Impact program,
17:05
Speaker 6: that's very exciting, the growth of our new programs. If
17:09
Speaker 6: you've not been out to our campus recently, invite everybody out.
17:13
Speaker 6: We change quickly, you know, it's just sort of inherent
17:15
Speaker 6: to our mission. And physically the kies that's changed too.
17:18
Speaker 6: It's it's very impressive. It's beautiful.
17:20
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, that is a kind of a continuing work
17:24
Speaker 1: in progress right now, right, I mean, that's that's continuing right.
17:27
Speaker 6: Model, right now, that's every way yep. For our new
17:29
Speaker 6: scenography program. Yes, there's there's two examples of changes right there,
17:32
Speaker 6: a new program in a new space, and that's basically
17:35
Speaker 6: opening here in the next week or two, we hope.
17:37
Speaker 1: Now, doctor Mandrel, Before we get any further, I've got
17:40
Speaker 1: to go back to what Jim brought up at the
17:43
Speaker 1: first portion of this program, and that was kind of
17:45
Speaker 1: your trek through your trek to Sock Valley Community College,
17:54
Speaker 1: and I understand it started at a very young age.
17:58
Speaker 1: Talk about this.
18:00
Speaker 6: Tell the story. I'll try to tell the story as
18:02
Speaker 6: short as I can. There's an old saying by Mark Twain.
18:05
Speaker 6: I apologize for the long message I've had found to
18:07
Speaker 6: write a short one. I'll try to be as concise.
18:11
Speaker 1: You'll be fine. We got time for this. I want this,
18:14
Speaker 1: you know, it's a great story for it.
18:17
Speaker 6: So you know, I'm a product of the college. I'm
18:19
Speaker 6: very proud of that. I've been there since a young
18:21
Speaker 6: age when my when my own mother went there, she
18:24
Speaker 6: did not finished high school. I was the youngest of
18:26
Speaker 6: three boys, and she said, I'm going back to school,
18:28
Speaker 6: and she brought me along and she would drop me
18:29
Speaker 6: off a childcare.
18:30
Speaker 4: How old were you done?
18:31
Speaker 5: I was four four years old, So I don't have
18:34
Speaker 5: five hundred credit hours, I promise you.
18:38
Speaker 6: But you know, that was when the college made its
18:41
Speaker 6: first impression on me. And I really just thought of
18:43
Speaker 6: the place as this castle on the countryside, you know,
18:46
Speaker 6: and people, even at four years old, were shaving my life.
18:50
Speaker 6: And when I came back as a student, the childcare
18:53
Speaker 6: was still there, and the director was still there, and
18:56
Speaker 6: she and I knew each other well, and she had
18:58
Speaker 6: me become her student worker. So connected verry well there,
19:03
Speaker 6: even with the president's assistant at the time, Deb Dillo
19:06
Speaker 6: for those who know her, Yes, her kids were in there,
19:08
Speaker 6: so we all became friends. And through being a student there,
19:12
Speaker 6: I met my wife and in a government class and
19:17
Speaker 6: years later, yes, I proposed to her in the parking
19:20
Speaker 6: lot where we used to meet every day.
19:21
Speaker 1: Wow, this is great.
19:23
Speaker 4: Tell us about the bench.
19:24
Speaker 1: The bench.
19:25
Speaker 3: So there's there's a bench outside the old bookstore.
19:29
Speaker 6: For those who know where the old bookstore is, it's
19:31
Speaker 6: now our new adult that area. We used to meet
19:34
Speaker 6: there every day as well, and I want to take
19:37
Speaker 6: that bench with him someday.
19:38
Speaker 3: They told me that I've written my name on the
19:39
Speaker 3: bottom of it.
19:41
Speaker 5: We have pictures of our kids on that bench too,
19:43
Speaker 5: so it's a special spot for us.
19:45
Speaker 3: Very good.
19:46
Speaker 6: So after transferring, after transferring to Westernolla University, a major
19:51
Speaker 6: law enforcement, I knew I wanted to do something involved
19:53
Speaker 6: working with the community very closely. I loved my time
19:55
Speaker 6: in law enforcement. I worked for Oregon Police Department. Really
19:57
Speaker 6: never thought i'd leave there, and then one day the
19:59
Speaker 6: phone rang from SAKY again. They said, you want to
20:00
Speaker 6: teach a couple of classes as an adjunct professor, and
20:03
Speaker 6: so that would be great. You know, I just always
20:05
Speaker 6: wanted to serve the college and every way that I could,
20:08
Speaker 6: and that quickly led to being a full time faculty member.
20:11
Speaker 6: And I left faculty for administration and kept coming back
20:15
Speaker 6: to school, got my doctorate, and now I'm in this role.
20:18
Speaker 1: So for you good.
20:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, it's been the common denominator in my life,
20:22
Speaker 6: Like so many thousands of alum that have.
20:23
Speaker 3: Been there, there's so many of us that want to
20:25
Speaker 3: keep coming back from more.
20:26
Speaker 1: You're right, a common denominator. I like that. That's a
20:29
Speaker 1: great term to use. Doctor, you know when it comes
20:31
Speaker 1: to Stock Valley Community College, because people that attend the
20:34
Speaker 1: college just seem to return, you know, for other reasons,
20:39
Speaker 1: you know. And and there you go. I mean this
20:42
Speaker 1: you talk about, you know, being connected.
20:45
Speaker 3: For it's our community and it's our culture. That's why
20:48
Speaker 3: we thrive.
20:49
Speaker 6: It's the experience that you get there through the relationships
20:52
Speaker 6: and the partnerships that we have together in the Sock Valley.
20:55
Speaker 1: Got to talk about the police Academy. Yeah, obviously, you
20:58
Speaker 1: know that was one of your projects that you put
21:00
Speaker 1: into place at Sock Valley Community College. Yeah.
21:03
Speaker 3: You know, I worked in the field and when I went,
21:04
Speaker 3: I had to go three hours away.
21:06
Speaker 6: And just all of our all of our programs have
21:08
Speaker 6: advisory councils of industry members. So our criminal justice one
21:11
Speaker 6: was saying, we really need more local training for police academy.
21:14
Speaker 3: It's hours away.
21:15
Speaker 5: And if you look at the map of police cads
21:17
Speaker 5: in the state of Illinois, there's seven of them.
21:18
Speaker 3: We're now the eighth.
21:20
Speaker 5: There was nothing in the center part of the central
21:23
Speaker 5: area of the state.
21:23
Speaker 6: All the way to the northwest. The closest one was
21:25
Speaker 6: east of Chicago. I want to pour down to Springfield
21:28
Speaker 6: Champagne decator. So even as a faculty member, some of
21:32
Speaker 6: us thought this could be a really good opportunity for
21:33
Speaker 6: the college if we could ever just advocate hard enough
21:36
Speaker 6: for it and get the authorization. We were denied several times,
21:40
Speaker 6: but under Doctaholmi's leadership, I said, he and I discussed.
21:44
Speaker 3: I said, I think there's a new way to go
21:45
Speaker 3: about this. Just start engaging more people with it.
21:48
Speaker 6: We went to Springfield and went to some state board
21:50
Speaker 6: meetings and really advocated for the college just where we
21:53
Speaker 6: were as a region and support we have for the program.
21:57
Speaker 6: A long story short. They came for a visit and
21:59
Speaker 6: they were impressed with the sock value like we are.
22:02
Speaker 6: We even had great housing partners next door with north
22:05
Speaker 6: Ridge Property and Chris Brantley. That's a real big need
22:08
Speaker 6: for it because our officers do stay for four months.
22:10
Speaker 6: It's part of the program right together. So that program,
22:13
Speaker 6: we knew it was going to be great, but it
22:15
Speaker 6: has even exceeded our expectations. Jason Lomondola, Rebecca Flynn and
22:19
Speaker 6: their staff have just done amazing work with creating that program.
22:23
Speaker 3: It is one of the best in the state.
22:24
Speaker 4: Now.
22:25
Speaker 3: I'm proud to.
22:25
Speaker 1: Say that absolutely, and again and we have a weight lift. Absolutely,
22:29
Speaker 1: that's the thing that you have a wait list, and
22:32
Speaker 1: it's not surprising and it's good to see that. It's
22:35
Speaker 1: good to see that happening. You know, again in law enforcement,
22:38
Speaker 1: we had a time there where you know, things were
22:41
Speaker 1: kind of pensive as far as law enforcement was concerned.
22:44
Speaker 1: But it's nice to see that.
22:46
Speaker 6: One of the big questions when we pursued it was well,
22:47
Speaker 6: are people going to continue to go into this field?
22:49
Speaker 6: And I said, we need people to continue to go
22:51
Speaker 6: in this field. And I feel like the sokway is
22:53
Speaker 6: we can get this done and we can rally around this.
22:55
Speaker 6: We would not be here without the sport of our community,
22:58
Speaker 6: our police agencies, sheriffs, doctor Helmick, the board. Like we
23:02
Speaker 6: really brought everyone to the table and showed them who
23:05
Speaker 6: we are as a stock Valley.
23:07
Speaker 1: It sounds to me, doctor Mandrel that you want to
23:09
Speaker 1: continue this connection. You want to continue obviously with the
23:13
Speaker 1: programs established and you know carry forward. Is that is
23:16
Speaker 1: that what your plans are? I mean, what do you
23:19
Speaker 1: foresee as you know, future of Stock Valley.
23:21
Speaker 3: Came yeah, I mean we've got a wonderful ecosystem going
23:23
Speaker 3: right now. We've got the Impact Program.
23:25
Speaker 6: It's going to continue to feed all of our all
23:28
Speaker 6: of our programs, many of all of which are in
23:30
Speaker 6: great need public service right now, no matter which way
23:33
Speaker 6: you look at it. Teaching, healthcare, law enforcement, those are
23:36
Speaker 6: areas that our community needs. Those are lifeblood programs where
23:40
Speaker 6: our industry members are saying, send us as many as
23:43
Speaker 6: you can. We're trying to keep up right. So Impact
23:46
Speaker 6: program will continue and we're very proud of that. As
23:49
Speaker 6: doctor Helmick mentioned, it is a revolutionary program and we're
23:53
Speaker 6: just getting started. So we're excited to see this next
23:55
Speaker 6: year when all of the high schools make their way
23:57
Speaker 6: to us having gone through four years of community service.
24:00
Speaker 6: So addressing the teacher shortage is a real big need
24:04
Speaker 6: right now. We're working on that with some partners from NIU. So, UH,
24:08
Speaker 6: four year access is a big deal for us. We
24:10
Speaker 6: want to continue to provide access to four year degrees,
24:13
Speaker 6: whether that's working with partners or we get state authorization
24:16
Speaker 6: to have four year degrees on our campus.
24:17
Speaker 4: We would love that opportunity in particularly the BSN.
24:21
Speaker 6: In particularly nursing yep, yeah, yeah, the health, the health field,
24:24
Speaker 6: we are a well positioned for some of those which obviously.
24:26
Speaker 1: Stock Valley Community College has always you know, had a
24:29
Speaker 1: hall market. I mean this has been a hallmark area
24:31
Speaker 1: of stck Valley Community College. Is the health area.
24:34
Speaker 3: Healthcare program, Well, they're growing.
24:36
Speaker 6: We're looking at respiratory therapy now as maybe our next
24:38
Speaker 6: program to create.
24:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, so so again carrying forward, it sounds like doctor
24:44
Speaker 1: mandrel obviously the programs that have been in place are
24:48
Speaker 1: in place now and again developing programs like you just
24:53
Speaker 1: mentioned physically, we're you know, in the process of improving
24:57
Speaker 1: the campus itself at Stock Valley Community Yeah.
25:00
Speaker 5: You know, I find the college to it's very mission
25:02
Speaker 5: to be very nimble.
25:03
Speaker 3: You know, as soon as we hear there's a need,
25:04
Speaker 3: we're on it. Yeah.
25:06
Speaker 1: That that again, all of this comes into play doctor
25:10
Speaker 1: David Helmick, doctor John Mandrel. Our current president at Stock
25:13
Speaker 1: Valley Community College is doctor David Helmick. Our incoming president
25:16
Speaker 1: is doctor John Mandrel. There with us today at w
25:18
Speaker 1: Y Extent and marketing director Jim Growth has joined us
25:22
Speaker 1: as well for this very special talk line that kind
25:26
Speaker 1: of wraps up my gatherings with our friends from Stock
25:30
Speaker 1: Valley Community College. It's bettersweet for me to again, you know,
25:35
Speaker 1: be you know a part of my last broadcast with
25:37
Speaker 1: Stock Valley Community College. But I can tell you, gentlemen,
25:40
Speaker 1: both my daughters went to Sock Valley Community College graduated
25:44
Speaker 1: with their degrees at Stock Valley Community College. My oldest daughter,
25:48
Speaker 1: of course, served as a marketing director at Stock Valley
25:52
Speaker 1: Community College for some years. My youngest daughter went on
25:56
Speaker 1: to again get her degree in some an science and
26:00
Speaker 1: now she is in education in our local area. So
26:04
Speaker 1: I can test friends that my family is just as
26:08
Speaker 1: close as you know, everybody else here at Sock Valley
26:11
Speaker 1: Community College. Even though I didn't get the opportunity. I
26:14
Speaker 1: wasn't from out of state to attend Stock Valley Community College,
26:17
Speaker 1: but I was closely connected.
26:19
Speaker 4: You still can, Steve.
26:24
Speaker 1: I have to think about that doctor helmet. But you know, yeah,
26:28
Speaker 1: you know there are opportunities you know, like you just
26:31
Speaker 1: you know, even for seniors. The college is, like you
26:36
Speaker 1: gentlemen have just stated, it's not just for young students
26:41
Speaker 1: wanting to achieve their goals, you know, in life, but
26:45
Speaker 1: you know, the expansion into you know, serving the community
26:50
Speaker 1: in so many different areas from young to old.
26:53
Speaker 5: Really right, I find community College will be one of
26:56
Speaker 5: the most dynamic places on it.
26:58
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
26:58
Speaker 6: You have students from all walks of life learning all
27:01
Speaker 6: different disciplines and subjects. It is an incredible place.
27:04
Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely, and I can't think of a better place
27:07
Speaker 7: you know, to again lend you know, your knowledge if
27:11
Speaker 7: you have, you know, if you want and desire that
27:14
Speaker 7: to you know, you know, join Stock Valley Community College
27:18
Speaker 7: in their efforts because they'll invite you.
27:21
Speaker 1: And we have talked about this before, Jim, you know,
27:24
Speaker 1: as far as you know, getting people.
27:26
Speaker 2: In, getting people to help teach them class, talked about
27:30
Speaker 2: community community education absolutely.
27:32
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know. So so again it's it's a campus
27:36
Speaker 1: that's it's built for the community, and it's an institution
27:40
Speaker 1: that's built for the community. And it's not just for
27:43
Speaker 1: our local area. This has expanded into northern Illinois. We've
27:48
Speaker 1: taken it the extra mile, don't you think, I mean
27:50
Speaker 1: I I do, uh.
27:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, particularly some of the programs you mentioned.
27:54
Speaker 1: Police Academy absolutely in the state yea.
27:56
Speaker 6: Really we try to tend to just our regional officers first,
28:01
Speaker 6: which we do, but we have officers coming as far
28:03
Speaker 6: away as Quincy, Illinois.
28:04
Speaker 3: Now, which is four hours away.
28:05
Speaker 1: Yeah.
28:06
Speaker 5: Yeah, so that makes us very proud that they would
28:08
Speaker 5: seek us for that.
28:08
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely. I think again, what we have established and
28:13
Speaker 1: the sixty years, I'm not sure how knowledgeable we are,
28:19
Speaker 1: you know, going back way back to sixty years ago
28:21
Speaker 1: and finding out on well what you know, the roots
28:24
Speaker 1: of the college were. But I'm sure they were, you know,
28:27
Speaker 1: thin to start.
28:28
Speaker 4: But look what we come, you know in this But
28:31
Speaker 4: under the leadership of Pete Dillon, those roots, I mean
28:33
Speaker 4: the soil was tilled, very fertile soil, and Pete Dillon
28:38
Speaker 4: and the other founders knew what they were doing.
28:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and yeah absolutely, And since that time we
28:44
Speaker 1: have just it's been an amazing ride, it really has.
28:49
Speaker 1: And we have been fortunate here at our radio ranch
28:52
Speaker 1: to be a part of the ride with our information
28:56
Speaker 1: that goes out, you know, to our listening audience from
28:59
Speaker 1: our good friends at Salck Valley Community College. Doctor Helmt,
29:03
Speaker 1: you know, wrapping up your tenure at the end of
29:06
Speaker 1: the term next year. Any plans, you know, we we.
29:11
Speaker 4: We are developing plans.
29:12
Speaker 3: My wife and I.
29:13
Speaker 4: We love our home, we love our neighborhood, we love
29:16
Speaker 4: our community, we love the Sock Valley. We truly love
29:18
Speaker 4: the Sock Valley. But there are four things the Salk
29:22
Speaker 4: Valley does not have. And those are four grandchildren, okay,
29:27
Speaker 4: and you can relate to this, and our four grandchildren
29:30
Speaker 4: live in Minnesota, Okay, so we will go back a
29:33
Speaker 4: bit reluctantly. But we actually have already purchased a house
29:37
Speaker 4: that we're renting out in Northfield, Minnesota, and our two
29:41
Speaker 4: youngest are currently youngest grandchildren. We're hoping there will be
29:44
Speaker 4: some more. They're elementary school is only a few blocks away,
29:48
Speaker 4: so they'll be able to walk to our home afterwards.
29:50
Speaker 1: Excellent, excellent. That's that's you know, that's that's the magic
29:54
Speaker 1: really really that you talk about in wrapping things up
29:58
Speaker 1: and moving to that next level. And I think it's
30:01
Speaker 1: a level that you move towards. It's a step up,
30:04
Speaker 1: it really is. And I congratulate you, sir, thank you
30:07
Speaker 1: on what you've done for our area, what you've you know, again,
30:12
Speaker 1: accomplish and achieved. It's been an amazing rine and I
30:15
Speaker 1: think it's fantastic and we just wis you. Wish you
30:19
Speaker 1: much success with your next thank you journeys and same
30:22
Speaker 1: to you, Steve Well. I appreciate that and we'll see
30:26
Speaker 1: how things work out. Like I said, bittersweet, you know,
30:29
Speaker 1: wrapping things up with this gathering today, but hopefully we'll
30:33
Speaker 1: continue our coverage of Sock Valley Community College. Doctor Mandreu though,
30:37
Speaker 1: to kind of put the wraps on things, you know,
30:40
Speaker 1: moving ahead after you take over, you know, in twenty
30:43
Speaker 1: twenty six, you know, promoting all of the good things
30:46
Speaker 1: going on at Sock Valley Community College. It seems like
30:49
Speaker 1: we're on you know, a high road, you know, as
30:51
Speaker 1: we move forward, right.
30:52
Speaker 3: Very much so we're in great hands.
30:55
Speaker 6: I'm so excited again to succeed doctor Helmick, looking forward
30:59
Speaker 6: to that chapter of the Impact Program. Our faculty and staff,
31:02
Speaker 6: our community are just incredible and that's what makes who
31:04
Speaker 6: we are and that's not going to change now. And
31:07
Speaker 6: one thing will change though, I should know. I will
31:09
Speaker 6: miss discussing the Bears and Packers.
31:11
Speaker 3: Oh oh oh, oh oh. I'm going to miss the
31:16
Speaker 3: heck out of the guys.
31:16
Speaker 5: And I will not be able to walk down his
31:18
Speaker 5: office to discuss.
31:20
Speaker 4: So, John, during my tenure here, the Bear and the
31:22
Speaker 4: Packers have played twenty times. How many games of those
31:25
Speaker 4: twenty you have the Bears won? Yeah? Yeah, there is
31:28
Speaker 4: an answer, John, and we know the answer. Yeah, yay.
31:31
Speaker 1: Here we go, well with that.
31:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, time to close the show.
31:37
Speaker 4: Okay, the answer is three three out of twenty the
31:41
Speaker 4: Bears beat the Packers.
31:42
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, and any any comeback there. Doctor, he'd like to.
31:48
Speaker 3: Say in his last kickoff, he let the entire college
31:51
Speaker 3: know that as well. And I thought it was great.
31:56
Speaker 1: You know, that's how well we work together with your
31:59
Speaker 1: education where we experience, you know, with what you put
32:02
Speaker 1: together in your career across our Stock Valley area. I
32:06
Speaker 1: think we're good hands. Moving ahead.
32:08
Speaker 5: Well, you said the word right there, it's experience.
32:10
Speaker 6: I want everyone to have as great of an experience
32:13
Speaker 6: in their life at our college as.
32:15
Speaker 1: I have had Soft Valley Community College again for sixty years.
32:20
Speaker 1: The celebration continues this year, and we'll be celebrating for
32:24
Speaker 1: many many years. I know, with all of these great
32:26
Speaker 1: programs that have been put in place, with this gentleman
32:28
Speaker 1: right here, doctor David Helmick, and with this gentleman right here,
32:31
Speaker 1: doctor John Mandrel leading the way and all. Yet, we
32:35
Speaker 1: don't want to forget our marketing director because as Jim mentioned,
32:39
Speaker 1: it's been a pleasure, you know, having you on board, sir,
32:42
Speaker 1: and hopefully we can we'll do our darness to continue
32:46
Speaker 1: our coverage.
32:46
Speaker 2: Here' be fantastic, Steve. It's like I said, it's it's
32:49
Speaker 2: been a great year, you know, the year that I've
32:52
Speaker 2: gotten to come on your show and that kind of stuff.
32:54
Speaker 2: It's been absolutely fantastic. So I appreciate you having.
32:56
Speaker 1: Me on well. And lots of good things still coming
32:58
Speaker 1: our way from Stock Valley Community College. Don't forget the
33:00
Speaker 1: open house next week at Stock Valley Community College that
33:03
Speaker 1: will be on Tuesday. Jim Groat, doctor David Helmot, doctor
33:06
Speaker 1: John Mandreau. Gentlemen, we thank you so very much. It's
33:09
Speaker 1: been a special gathering today here at Wixon and we
33:12
Speaker 1: appreciate you us.
33:12
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you Steve for gradulates