June 7, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Mike Roche, who assisted generations of Grand Rapids Community College student-athletes as athletic trainer, is being honored by having athletic scholarships named in his honor. Roche has served GRCC students for 28 years. His departure, a year after receiving the National Athletic Trainer of the Year from the National Junior College Athletic Association, is one of several changes in the GRCC Athletic Department as the program wraps up the 2021-2022 year. Roche earned national honors for his focus on athletic training, pandemic wellness protocols and keeping GRCC student-athletes safe and physically prepared during a pandemic season both historically challenging and successful. In addition to supporting about 150 athletes each year in partnership with physicians and medical specialists, Roche’s duties included overseeing student trainer interns, NJCAA compliance requirements, equipment and uniforms for all of the college's teams. He also taught athletic training classes for GRCC. "GRCC's athletics programs wouldn't be as historic without the guidance and leadership of Mike Roche," women's basketball coach David Glazier said. Michael Roche A.T.C. Athletic Scholarships next year will be awarded to one GRCC student-athlete on each of the program’s eight teams. Students are selected by the Athletic Department. People can donate to the scholarships at grcc.edu/donate. The baseball program is losing two longtime coaches after a season that included a second-place conference finish and a third-place regional finish. The team also celebrated a 17-game win streak that was snapped in the late rounds of the NJCAA Region 12 tournament. Carl Pohlman is retiring from coaching after serving his last four years under head coach Mike Eddington, primarily working with the pitching staff. His plans to spend more time with his wife, children and grandchildren, travel more, and volunteer for various causes.   Pohlman’s career includes three years at Aquinas College as associate head coach and 17 years at Muskegon Community College, winning more than 500 games. "I am grateful to Coach Eddington for allowing me to work with the team for the past four years," Pohlman said. "He is a great coach and an even better man.  GRCC is well served for having him as their head coach!  He bleeds Raider blue! I will miss the players and the daily interaction with the team and the coaching staff and I will continue to support the Raiders anyway that I can." Mark Rasmussen is transitioning from assistant baseball coach to assistant golf coach during the 2022-23 school year. It will be the fourth sport he has coached at GRCC, previously working with men's and women's basketball teams. Rasmussen also coached baseball for seven years at Ottawa Hills High School, for nine years at Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School, for four years at Forest Hills Central High School and for five years at Aquinas College. "My time working with the coaching staff and all of the players has been unforgettable," Rasmussen said. "I'm truly going to miss watching the players grow and develop into better people and baseball players. Moving on, I am excited to be able to work with one of my best friends, John Forton and help the golf team compete for a national championship."

June 6, 2022,  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Some of John Hallacy’s favorite GRJC memories are tied to his time on the swim team, which finished third in national competition in 1982 and fifth in 1983. Start at GRCC and go anywhere. Every former student has a story to tell about how GRCC gave them the education and opportunity to be successful. “The team was pretty good,” he said in a 2014 interview. “We were very competitive, and we’re practicing every day, so it really helped me set a schedule, as far as studying.” Being on the team boosted his confidence, as did his classwork. “The education was challenging,” he said. “The professors I had were very positive, very encouraging, and they really built up my confidence in what I could do and what I thought I could accomplish.” Hallacy received his associate degree in 1983 and then a bachelor’s degree at Western Michigan University and a law degree from Valparaiso University.  After working as a prosecuting attorney, he became a judge for the 10th District Court in 2009. Throughout his career, he has worked to improve the justice system. As a Calhoun County prosecutor, he started a diversion program that gives first-time juvenile offenders the opportunity to have their criminal charges dropped if they successfully complete the program, He also has been honored for his efforts to get funding to provide nurse examiners in sexual assault cases. He has served on the Michigan Parole Board and started a sobriety court in 2010. “When I went to community college, if you had told me that I would be sitting on a bench in Battle Creek, wearing a black robe, pounding a gavel, I wouldn’t have thought that possible,” said Hallacy, GRCC’s 2014 Distinguished Alumnus. “But Grand Rapids Community College helped me make it possible. “It’s just the beginning. It can be the beginning of a long path that can take you in any direction you want to go.” Let GRCC help you start your story. The first chapter starts at grcc.edu/apply .    

Lynn Prince is all-in on “Team English” at GRCC – she’s proud of her department’s investment in getting to know students in order to prepare them for future classes and careers. “Right from the start, GRCC has always felt like family to me,” she said. “There is a wonderful camaraderie within the English department faculty and adjunct faculty. I love collaborating with people--sharing ideas and best practices; I also love working with college students; they are invested in their future. It's a privilege to be a small part of the forward momentum in their lives; they have so much potential! I always miss them when classes end-- my goal is each class feels like a family, too.” Prince teaches English Composition 101 and 102, and IRW 099 Accelerated Composition. And she is confident any English course a student takes at GRCC will empower them with important skills for the career path they have chosen. “The English Department works diligently to stay current,” Prince said. “We recently adjusted course requirements, content and textbooks to better meet the needs of transferring students. We have integrated reading and writing (IRW) to get students through their required courses more quickly. After much research and training, we have created an innovative program: IRW 099 ‘A-comp’ paired with EN 101 for students with high aptitude and motivation.” Prince is dedicated to her discipline and teaching. But she changed her major in college three times before she landed on the one for her.  “Different jobs, classes and mentors helped guide me into English Language Arts and teaching,” she said. “I finally decided to be a teacher when I was invited to be a camp counselor one summer during college. After that, I was hooked. Working with kids united my purpose and passion; it seemed like a culmination of my natural skills and interests. I always tell students that they have a purpose and passion, too. They can narrow it down with the things they do not want to do, but to be open for the surprises and other careers they maybe didn't think of or jobs that aren't even created yet.” Prince earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in English and Secondary Education with a Social Studies Composite Minor from Hope College. She taught English at Caledonia High School, and earned her Master’s degree in the Art of Teaching with an ELA focus Aquinas College. From there, she stepped into teaching at GRCC.  “I think I was well prepared as far as theory and practice,” she said. But teaching and grading writing--really investing in coaching students' thinking and English Language Arts growth--takes an incredible investment of time and emotional energy,” she said. “Teaching is also much more than just the classroom interaction with students, it's all the behind the scenes work that takes additional time and effort. It's worth it, but my first few years of teaching I didn't have very good work-life balance. Then after having my own kids, I figured it out quickly! Prince also learned from the example of her mentor, Dr. Leslie Wessman from Hope College. “She was instrumental in my education,” she said. “She was brilliant; with her innovative learning design and brain research, she modeled everything in her classroom that she was trying to teach us. We learned not only by example, but because she knew each one of us personally and she gave great advice. She believed in me before I believed in myself. She saw a trajectory for my life and encouraged me until I saw it, too. Thank you, Dr. Wessman!”  

June 2, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Although Erin Windemuller and his daughter Hannah were not able to be together at GRCC’s graduation ceremonies, both said it was still a thrill to together become part of the Class of 2022. And they did have a graduation party together, Erin said with a smile. Graduating at the same time was a milestone neither Windemuller ever expected. Erin first began at GRCC in 1993, fresh out of high school. He gave college a couple of years but left without completing a degree. “I was not a very good student and did not apply myself,” he admitted. Hannah’s path was more conventional. After her high school graduation, she too went on to GRCC where she studied marketing and completed her associate degree in the traditional fashion. Their journeys intersected when Erin, three decades after his first attempt at college, decided it was time to finish what he’d started. “The Futures for Frontliners scholarship enabled me to continue my education,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised and happy to be able to receive this scholarship, and it spurred me on to finish up an associate degree.”  Futures for Frontliners is a state program that covered the cost of in-district tuition for people who worked in essential fields during the state’s COVID-19 shutdown. A similar program, Michigan Reconnect, is available for residents age 25 and older who have not completed a college degree. Additional information is available at grcc.edu/reconnect . In 2018 he returned to GRCC to pursue his associate in Applied Science HVACR, setting up the scenario in which he and Hannah could both become GRCC degree holders in ‘22. “I had a job in the property maintenance field and saw the value in earning a degree in HVACR,” Erin recalled. “It also was important for me to finish what I had started in 1993. I wanted to prove to myself – and with the encouragement of my family – that I could finish with a degree.” It was a thrill, Erin said, to finish the degree and to cross the stage and celebrate that accomplishment. “It had been 29 years since I had walked across a stage to receive a diploma,” he said. “My wife and kids pushed me to do it. I was hesitant being an older student, but they told me that I had worked hard for it, and it will be an encouragement to the younger graduates that you are never too old.” One of those younger graduates, Hannah, fully agreed. “Graduating at the same time as my dad was such an honor,” she said. “Watching him work on his homework and encourage me at the same time was such a blessing. Knowing that we were in this together helped both of us continue to work hard at our schooling and try our best. I’ve watched my dad consistently work hard his whole life. I’m very proud of my dad and everything he has accomplished. I know he will continue to use this knowledge the rest of his life and will also keep gaining more.”  Such words mean a lot to Erin. The GRCC degree is important to him, and he knows it will have a positive impact on his future and his career. But he also said the impact of finishing what he started extends to the next generation, and that means the world to him. “The impact of you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to,” he said simply. “Learning is not just for the young. It is a lifelong journey. That is how we grow and evolve.” Hannah has fully absorbed her dad’s mentoring and modeling over the years.  Recalling her GRCC career, she said: “I’m always looking for a challenge and ways to further my knowledge. Going to GRCC was a great way to do this. In my experience when you learn something new, you just want to keep learning. This momentum of learning has given me a new confidence.” This story was reported by Phil de Haan.  

May 31, 2022 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Up to 25 Grand Rapids Community College students will be able to get United States passports for studying abroad through a grant from the Institute of International Education. The IIE American Passport Project, in its second year, is intended to increase participation and diversity in study abroad programs, giving all students access to the academic and career benefits of international experience. GRCC, one of 40 colleges and universities selected for this second cohort, will identify 25 students in the TRIO/Student Support Services program to participate. TRIO is a federally funded program that provides academic advising, tutoring, financial guidance, counseling and other supports to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds. A United States adult passport costs $165, a price that can put studying abroad out of reach for many students. “A passport is an essential tool of mobility for our students,” said Anna Maria Clark, academic advisor for GRCC’s TRIO program. “So many current events around the world today continue to show us that we live in a global society, and lack of experience within our global world will only continue to perpetuate our world’s inability to work together to solve problems. “A passport, learning a new language, and study abroad go hand in hand in providing our students with essential experiences they, in turn, will be able to apply to their studies and professional lives.” AAA Kentwood-Grand Rapids has also committed to providing 25 sets of passport photos for free to the 25 GRCC students. GRCC is restarting its Study Away program, which shut down temporarily because of the pandemic. Past trips have allowed students to work in health care in Costa Rica, study literature in Spain, and learn about the cultures of Morocco, Greece and France.

May 30, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – It’s the kind of place where everybody knows your name. “The Veterans Center is always my first stop when I get to campus,” said CJ Norton, who served in the U.S. Marines and is now enrolled at Grand Rapids Community College. “When you meet another veteran there for the first time, it’s like an instant connection … you know you’ve gone through similar circumstances.” Start at GRCC and go anywhere. Every student has a story to tell about how GRCC gave them the education and opportunity to be successful, with support services available to help them through. GRCC’s new Veterans Center on level G2 of Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall opened in October to serve as a single point of contact for students who served in the military, connecting veterans with campus resources, including financial aid, advising and disability support. It’s also a place to call their own on campus. “The other veterans I’ve met there have been great. I met another former Marine who I studied physics with, and another guy who I work out with every morning I’m on campus,” said 26-year-old Norton, of Wyoming. Norton enlisted in the Marines at age 17, serving four years as an embarkation logistics specialist at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. After his 2016 discharge, he returned to West Michigan and tried GRCC for the first time. “I was still sort of transitioning from the military and I just couldn’t handle college,” he said. After years working security, waiting tables and odd jobs in warehouses, Norton decided to follow in the tracks of a childhood friend pursuing an engineering degree. He re-enrolled at GRCC in 2019 and is making progress toward his own engineering degree. “I’m super happy with how I’m doing in school now,” he said. A big part of that is thanks to GRCC’s Veterans Services team, which Norton said goes above and beyond the call of duty to support military and veteran students at every stage of their academic journeys. It was the Veterans Services staff that told Norton about Michigan Reconnect. Michigan Reconnect is the largest effort in state history to ensure that Michiganders who are 25 or older and don’t have a college degree have an opportunity to earn an associate degree or skills certificate, with the cost of in-district tuition covered.   “As soon as they told me about Michigan Reconnect, I applied for the scholarship and immediately qualified. It was a huge weight off my shoulders,” said Norton, who’s transferring to Grand Valley State University this fall to continue his engineering degree. The Veterans Center is helping GRCC expand its partnerships with state and local veterans’ agencies, helping students access benefits and support in the community. It’s also making veterans in the community aware of opportunities at GRCC to earn credits for degrees or transfer and in-demand career skills. Norton said the center fills different needs for veterans. “If you want to go there and study, you can study,” he said. “If you want to talk with another vet, you can do that. If you want to play video games with a buddy, you can do that. There are people there to help you in whatever you might need. “I see it as such a bright light, and I feel like if other veterans go in there they’ll feel the same way.” Students can connect with the Veterans Center by phone at (616) 234-2578, and by email at  veterans@grcc.edu . Additional information is available online at  grcc.edu/veterans This story was reported by Beth McKenna.

May 27, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- After 10 years of teaching Grand Rapids Community College nursing students as an adjunct faculty member, Fred Comer, MSN RN reached his goal of teaching as a full-time faculty member at GRCC. Comer values the unique population of students who come to a community college. “I appreciate the variety of students, and the various walks of life they come from, when starting their life journey at GRCC,” he said. “They are students of different ages, backgrounds, and life experiences. You could have in your class students who are first-time college students, adults that are returning to finish school after life halted their educational journey, and students that are starting a new career path.” Comer’s students see his commitment to their success as he teaches them. His classes might not be easy, but he is making sure his students graduate with skills to land them a job in a demanding field. “Professor Comer is caring, willing to help, and has a very calm demeanor,” shared one of his students. “He creates a comfortable atmosphere and will answer any question you have. He is a great listener and really wants you to succeed.” Being accessible to students in and out of the classroom is key to Comer’s support of their success. “ In this virtual world it is important to be accessible to students,” he said.“I flex my availability, and am willing to meet with students outside of my scheduled office hours. This has meant answering a few more emails over the weekend or staying after class an extra 30 minutes to an hour to allow students to ask questions or practice a skill.” Comer switched careers in his 30s, from biology to nursing, and wishes he would have made the decision sooner. “This would have given me many more years to serve as a nurse and nursing professor instead of entering a great profession in my mid 30s,” he said. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Biology, Comer earned a bachelor’s degree, and then master’s degree, in nursing. Look for Comer this fall, teaching Introduction to Practical Nursing Concepts, Health Illness Concepts for the Practical Nurse I, Health Illness Concepts for the Practical Nurse II, Application of Basic Nursing Skills, Health Illness Concepts II, Health Illness Concepts III.

A School News Network feature -- Goofy, funny and random items have become fodder for Abby Haywood’s cartoons, which include appearances by a vintage Garfield phone and a huge rubber duck. But she also draws inspiration from serious material: news headlines and issues affecting the world and teenagers. Her bubbly, big-eyed characters provide commentary on relationships, the pandemic, politics and more, serving as an outlet for her own perspective on things. “I kind of just latch onto anything that I think is kind of funny,” she said. “I try to make fun of it, I guess, with pictures.” Abby graduated from East Kentwood High School this week, and has been dual enrolled at Grand Rapids Community College, working on The Collegiate , the campus news outlet. She created a cartoon about a character listening to CDC guidelines and removing her mask before noticing an enormous virus labeled “Delta Variant” looming ahead. Another features a student tallying up major costs for a community college course after boasting about “saving so much money.” Abby is a two-time national winner of Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for cartoons published in The Collegiate. She earned the Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoons scholarship in 2021 for an editorial cartoon about President Trump. The award recognizes three students nationally who exhibit exceptional skill in editorial cartooning and provides each with a $1,000 scholarship. She is invited to attend the national awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York this summer. Abby has also won several other awards for her illustrations through the Scholastic competition. East Kentwood art teacher Le Tran has watched Abby develop her craft. “Abby’s style is definitely very distinctive and unique. She has a real vision and I love seeing how all of that comes together,” said Tran, a GRCC alumna. “When I see her work, it gives me a feel of looking at vintage art, and I feel like I am traveling back in time, yet her ideas are so relevant and connect with her peers.” Abby plans to continue courses at GRCC and to start at Grand Valley State University in the fall to pursue illustration and eventually make it a career. A Pandemic Outlet A longtime art student, Abby got involved in editorial cartooning as something to do while she was staying at home during the pandemic. Her mom, Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood, a former Grand Rapid Press journalist who is the adviser for The Collegiate, approached her about getting involved with the paper through cartooning. She started during the summer of 2020. “I was like, ‘You know what? This is actually kind of fun,’” Abby said about seeing her work published. She describes her style as influenced by American cartoons and anime. She remembers as a young child watching Pokémon, pausing the screen and drawing the scene. Last school year in AP Art, she created her biggest project to date, a 30-page cartoon book, called “Love with Strings Attached.” She won a Scholastic Gold Key award for it. Whether it’s a personal issue or one grabbing the headlines, Abby said illustrating is a great way to work through her thoughts about what’s going on. “There’s a lot of stuff happening. I don’t journal or anything. It gives me an outlet to be like, ‘OK, things are happening. I’m going to draw a picture,” she said. “Hopefully, it’s funny and it’s going to help me process what is going on. (For others), it can maybe make it less intimidating than a news story. They can just see a picture and be like, ‘Oh, yeah! I know what’s happening.’” Publishing also helped her connect with others during the school closure. “Everybody knows virtual school and being stuck at home – the pandemic in general – sucks. It’s not fun. There was a lot going on. Everybody was in kind of a bad place, mentally. It was really important when I was literally physically stuck in my house, just to be able to do something.” She’s learned her comics resonate with others who see themselves in the characters and experiences, from having anxiety about making phone calls to uncertainty about life in a pandemic. Friends and even strangers at Grand Rapids Zine Fest, where she had a booth, have told her they can relate. “A lot of people would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, my gosh! I love this one. I experience this!’” This story was reported by Erin Albanese of the School News Network.

May 26, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- What does the Futures for Frontliners scholarship mean to GRCC graduate Jason Reckner? Well, there’s his recently completed degree in Tooling and Manufacturing for one. He said without the scholarship he probably would not have finished that degree. There’s also the work he was doing as an HVAC technician for a local hospital. That work was definitely made better by his GRCC degree, he said. And, oh yeah, there’s that new job he just took. That position, which came with a nice raise, will see him doing maintenance, repairs and diagnostics on injected plastic mold machines, including being directly involved with installing and setting up the latest expansion of his new employer, West Contract Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based West Pharmaceutical Services. That job, he said, would not have happened without his GRCC degree. “I have always been very mechanically inclined, a problem solver,” he said. “But I would never have gotten this interview, let alone the actual job, without having my degree. Yay for Futures for Frontliners!” Futures for Frontliners is a state program that covered the cost of in-district tuition for people who worked in essential fields during the state’s COVID-19 shutdown. A similar program, Michigan Reconnect, is available for residents age 25 and older who have not completed a college degree. Additional information is available at grcc.edu/reconnect . Futures for Frontliners, he added, was critical in that it removed the largest obstacle that previously had stood in his way: money. “I was motivated when I saw a chance to open my possibilities with this scholarship,” he said. And he admitted he had a little extra motivation at home. “I also felt it was very important that my daughters see me graduate and be a part of the hard work it took to get it all done,” he said. Those daughters have seen him for the past few years as Coach Jason, a dedicated softball and basketball coach for their teams in Northview Little League and elsewhere. They now can also see him as a college graduate, and that brings a smile to his face as he talks about it. “For them to see what happens when you’re given an opportunity, and that if you meet that opportunity with hard work and dedication you can flourish, is pretty special,” he said. Jason first started taking classes at GRCC in 2009, transferring in credits he had earned during a short stint at Defiance College after his 1992 high school graduation. A graduate of Morenci Public Schools, he headed to Defiance to play baseball but ended up on academic probation after, he said, spending too much time on baseball and not enough on academics. He soon slid into a career in construction. “It was what I grew up with and felt comfortable with,” he said, “but I was never really pushing my limits or excelling in other areas.” He got married in 2008, and they began their family in 2010 which put a halt to his first return to the classroom. But, as his daughters got older, Jason felt more and more of a push to finish the degree he had begun almost three decades earlier. When the Futures for Frontliners program was announced there were no reasons not to make it work he said. “Education is very important, but it is very hard to validate a degree that you are not completely sure will pay off,” he said simply. “This program was a way to have no excuses to make it happen.” This story was reported by Phil de Haan.

May 26, 2022 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Two incoming Grand Rapids Community College students will start their higher education journey debt-free after being selected for a new GRCC Foundation scholarship through a partnership with local districts. Gabriel Gloria, a Jenison High School senior, and Sophia Vincent, a Caledonia High School senior, are the first recipients of the GRCC Foundation Board of Directors Excellence Scholarships. The award covers tuition and all fees associated with registered classes for a full academic year. High school counselors nominated students, with one student each from Kent and Ottawa counties, receiving the scholarship. Counselors were asked to consider academics and a variety of factors including barriers and obstacles the student has faced, involvement in community service, and leadership activities or qualities. “This has proven to be a wonderful partnership with counselors in West Michigan schools,” said Dr. Kathryn Mullins, vice president of College Advancement and executive director of the GRCC Foundation. “Our foundation board members know very well the struggles our students face and are thrilled that this new scholarship offers another way to help them attain a life-changing education.” Gloria plans to study finance and business administration at GRCC. For him, the new scholarship is important to keeping his college experience debt-free. “I’m humbled and appreciative of the fact that my high school counselor felt that I was deserving of this prestigious award,” said Gloria, who plans to continue working part time for Meijer. “I was extremely excited and blown away by the generosity of this scholarship and what it will provide.” Vincent will major in early childhood education at GRCC. “This year, another student and I committed to devoting our afterschool time on Monday nights to assist a local elementary school teacher in setting up her classroom, cleaning, and creating lesson plans,” said Vincent, who has also worked as a nanny and swim instructor. “This not only liberates her of stress and time but also enables us to gain more experience in the early education field.” The GRCC Foundation plans to distribute $1.4 million in more than 300 scholarships this year to over 1,000 students. More information about the foundation – including ways to contribute to a life-changing GRCC education – can be found online .