Vol State

The big news for the fall semester at Volunteer State Community College is the tuition-free program for adults called Tennessee Reconnect. It’s designed for adults who don’t already have a college degree. They can take classes full or part-time in all of Vol State’s academic areas. It includes day, evening and online courses. There are some stipulations and additional eligibility requirements. For details, and a simple list of how to get started, people can visit www.volstate.edu/reconnect.

The Sumner County Middle College High School graduation ceremony was held on Saturday at Volunteer State Community College. Students in the program take college classes at the Vol State campus in Gallatin as high school students. Thirty-one students earned their high school diplomas. Eleven of those also received associate degrees from Vol State.

Volunteer State Community College is offering two Mechatronics evening courses at the Highland Crest campus in Springfield this coming fall semester. It comes as Vol State expands partnerships with area companies, including Electrolux Home Products. Mechatronics professionals are the experts who design, program, repair, and maintain state-of-the-art robotics and computer-aided equipment in today’s fastest growing industries. Electrolux representatives recently toured the Vol State Mechatronics lab in Gallatin.

Students of many ages and backgrounds shared a moment of accomplishment on Saturday as they celebrated graduation at Volunteer State Community College. They were joined by hundreds of family members and friends at the Pickel Field House on the Gallatin campus for the commencement ceremony. Adult students are a big part of the Vol State family and they often face even more hurdles on the road to that college degree. Keonya Milam of Gallatin was honored as the Outstanding Spring Graduate.

The sun was shining as students, faculty, staff, and visitors celebrated Earth Day on Friday at the Cookeville Higher Education Campus (CHEC). The educational event featured environmental science displays, speakers, and documentary films. CHEC students designed interactive activities highlighting fun recycling techniques. Vol State at Livingston students also participated in the Earth Day activities. The projects came from a variety of classes, ranging from Chemistry to Education.

Summer classes at Volunteer State Community College are starting earlier this year, May 21. The change comes with new summer class terms. The college is offering three-week, six-week, and twelve-week classes. The reason is to have less overlapping of class terms, which allows students to take more classes, and earn more college credits over the summer. The different session lengths, and start dates, are designed to fit around family holidays and other summer events.

Volunteer State Community College English major, Jessica Levine, recently received two national awards for her writing from Sigma Kappa Delta (SKD), the English Honor Society for Two-Year Colleges. Her poems “What I Don’t Tell My Brother” and “Lamenting Chapter 10.176” won first and second place respectively in this year’s SKD national writing contest. Levine, who lives in White House, traveled to Cincinnati to receive her award at the Linda Kraeger Awards Luncheon during the annual Sigma Kappa Delta Convention. Levine is the SKD chapter president at Vol State.

Volunteer State Community College hosted more than 200 science students, from schools across the area Saturday, as they competed in the regional Science Olympiad competition. Thirteen schools sent teams to the regional event. They included Croft Middle Design Center, Hillsboro High School, Tennessee School for the Blind, Friendship Christian, Donelson Christian Academy, Franklin Road Academy, Knox Doss Middle School, St. Bernard Academy, St.

The work of lettering artist and graphic designer Lisa Lorek Quine will be on display at the Volunteer State Community College Art Gallery in January and February. The Cleveland based artist’s presentation has ranged from coloring books and murals to magazine covers and gallery shows.