May 26, 2023, PLYMOUTH, Ind. – Grand Rapids Community College's golf team finished in 19th place at the NJCAA Division II National Championship on Friday after four rounds of play at the Swan Lake Resort Black Course. "The results were short of what we wanted, but the Raiders were proud to represent the community of Grand Rapids and GRCC," coach John Forton said. "We never gave up at any point, it just wasn't our week." Kirkwood Community College, from Iowa, dominated the competition, with all four rounds under 300, and finished eight strokes ahead of Parkland College to win the national title. After rounds of 314, 319, and 325, GRCC finished play with a score of 322 strokes on Friday, finishing 19th of 22 teams. Its total of 1,280 was four strokes better than Muskegon Community College and 62 strokes better than Glen Oaks Community College, who also represented Region XII in the national tournament.  The team also had 24 total birdies. Freshman Drew Harrington (81-75-79-80) was the team's most consistent golfer during the week and led the team with a score of 315. Conner Oman (74-87-83-77) led the team with eight birdies and finished with a 321. Brad VandenHout (81-83-79-80) had seven birdies and finished with a 323.  Sam Foss (79-80-84-89) and Ty Marchlewki (80-81-88-85) respectively finished with scores of 332 and 334. The team won the MCCAA Western Conference championship this year, marking its 14th straight title. It also won the NJCAA Region XII championship for the ninth time and third time in its past four seasons. Harrington was the Western Conference medalist and received All-Conference and All-Region honors. He also was named the Western Conference Freshman of the Year. Marchlewski was also a member of All-Region, All-Conference and All-Freshman teams; finishing seventh in the conference, 12th at the MCCAA Championship, and fourth in regionals.  Oman and VandenHout finished out their sophomore years in good fashion. Oman placed second at the MCCAA Championship to earn himself All-MCCAA honors for the second consecutive year and finished tied for 13th in the region and 12th in the conference.  VandenHout made the All-Conference team after finishing fifth in the conference.  He also was tied for 14th in the MCCAA Championship and tied for 23rd in regionals.  Foss also finished out a great career at GRCC. He finished tied for 13th at regionals, tied for 14th at the MCCAA Championship and also was a participant in last year's national championship.    This story was reported by Ben Brown.

May 26, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Sara Kiliszewski has always known she wants to help her community. Growing up she admired her aunt, a nurse with a strong passion for helping others.  “I wanted to be like her. I wanted to help people in the community, be a part of something bigger and make a difference in a person’s health and healing,” Kiliszewski said.  She became a licensed nurse and began taking classes for a master’s degree in nursing education.   “Once I started training new nurses, I realized that I loved teaching more. I wanted to be a part of teaching and shaping the next group of nurses,” Kiliszewski said.  She knows the importance of having a strong support system of co-workers, friends, family, and instructors. At GRCC she is able to support future nurses as they work together to learn.  Kiliszewski says she is impressed by the commitment that faculty have toward meeting the learning needs of each student. The students are also committed to collaboration and working together to make sure no one is left behind.  The experience that students get in the nursing program is outstanding. They spend time in classrooms, simulation labs, and clinicals assisting real patients. The program provides students with not only the opportunity to become a licensed nurse, but the confidence and skills to succeed in the healthcare field.  The nursing program is incredibly proud of recently graduated nursing students who have established a very high passing rate of the NCLEX Licensure Exam. GRCC’s passing rate over the past five years has been well over the national average.  Kiliszewski encourages students to pursue a career that they are passionate about, and to be unafraid to ask for help. GRCC faculty enjoy helping students more than anything. More information about the nursing program can be found here.

May 26, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Students graduating high school next month don’t have to wait for fall to start their college journey, with openings available in Grand Rapids Community College’s second summer semester. About 1,600 seats are available in classes during GRCC’s second summer semester, providing opportunities for students to start earning credits for a new credential or to stay on track for graduation. And with online offerings, students can take GRCC with them this summer wherever they go. The second seven-week summer semester starts on June 27, with many classes available in person on the Main Campus in Grand Rapids and at the GRCC Lakeshore Campus. And about half of the classes are offered in an online format, making it convenient to take classes with you this summer whether you are headed Up North, to the lake or staying around town. It’s also easy to schedule around home and work responsibilities. “The second summer semester is a great opportunity for students graduating high school to get their first experiences with college classes,” said Lori Cook, GRCC’s associate dean of Access and First Year Success. “The classes also are perfect for students attending four-year colleges and universities to save money while earning transferrable credits.” Classes are available in a wide variety of subjects, including Computer Information Science, Chemistry, Biology, History and Communications. Summer classes are popular with students who attend four-year colleges and universities because they can transfer credits from GRCC’s more affordable courses back to their home school. Additional information is at grcc.edu/guest , and students should always check with their home institution’s course equivalency guide. Eligible students are able to use Grand Rapids Promise Zone scholarships to attend GRCC, including enrolling as guest students. The Promise Zone covers tuition and expenses. Additional information is at grcc.edu/promisezone . Residents 25 and older with a college degree can attend through the Michigan Reconnect program, which covers the cost of in-district tuition. Additional information is available at grcc.edu/reconnect . Potential students can start the enrollment process at grcc.edu/apply and can contact the Enrollment Center by phone at (616) 234-3300 and by email at enroll@grcc.edu and be connected to their personal enrollment specialist.

May 25, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A half century or so ago, American schools introduced a short-lived concept called “the new math.” It didn’t last. But this baseball season at Grand Rapids Community College, new math often was necessary to calculate the offensive output of twins Fernando and Andres Rivera-Calderon. For instance, when the Raiders swept Muskegon Community College in a May doubleheader, the equation was 2 x 3 = 12. As in two brothers, three grand slam home runs (two for Fernando and one for Andres) and 12 total runs batted in.   And while GRCC baseball records go back a long way, there’s no entry for grand slams by twin brothers in a doubleheader. So, for now, it’s safe to say the Rivera-Calderon twins own that category. They also own a special place in GRCC coach Mike Eddington’s heart after a 2023 season that saw the twins combine to hit .344 (86 hits in 250 at-bats) as GRCC went 35-14 overall and won an MCCAA Northern Conference Championship at 23-2 record and an MCCAA championship before falling in the regionals to two nationally ranked foes. “They’re hard-working kids who do well in the classroom,” Eddington said. “I’m curious to follow them going forward and see how they do in baseball and in life. Really, it’s pretty amazing to see what they had to overcome to where they are now. They’re good people, and I will miss them.” Francisco and Andres came to the United States from Puerto Rico in 2014 when they were already 12 years old. Their stepdad had taken a position as a physician in Carson City, and the boys ended up at Greenville Middle School, knowing only the English they had gleaned in a monthlong program in nearby Belding. It wasn’t much, they recalled recently. But they did speak the language of baseball, as their stepdad reminded them. “The only thing you have right now is your bat,” Fernando remembered him telling them. “Let your bat do the job.” “We could play baseball,” Andres said. “We started practicing when we were 3 and were on our first teams (in Puerto Rico) when we were 7. So, we had that.” Despite their acumen on the diamond, they weren’t really recruited significantly coming out of Greenville High School. A senior season wiped out by the pandemic didn’t help matters. But Eddington, a former star at GRCC and Michigan State, was one of the coaches who reached out to the twins. Fernando came first, and, a year later, Andres joined him on campus after a year at Adrian College. Last year, Fernando missed most of the season because of injury, so the 2023 campaign was the first full season the twins played together, and they made the most of it. “Coach had faith and trust in us, and we were able to play together, which was amazing,” Fernando said. They also were amazed by their GRCC academic experience, they said. Both graduated last month with associate degrees – Fernando in Sports Management and Andres in Business Administration – and both are headed in the fall to New College of Florida to be closer to their parents (who now live on Florida’s east coast) and to be able to play baseball in warmer weather again. “We never really got used to playing baseball in the cold,” Andres said with a laugh. “We’re thankful to have that chance again.” Both are also thankful to the many people who guided them at GRCC. They mentioned not just GRCC baseball coaches, including Eddington, but also numerous professors and staff members who went out of their way to help the recent immigrants not just survive but thrive. Said Fernando: “We can’t name them all because we would forget someone, but the people we met along the way at the college, we owe them a big debt.” Still, they said, their love for the college probably is surpassed by their love for baseball. “Baseball for me, of course, is everything,” Fernando said. “It’s like therapy: Once I gain that field, everything else I forget.” And Andres feels the same way. “Everybody in life will go through a tough time,” he said. “But baseball, I feel it prepares you for that. It teaches you that you have to deal with failure. In baseball, when you hit, you fail seven out of 10 times. So, you have to deal with that.” This season, the failures were fewer and the successes more frequent, both as individuals and as a team. GRCC's season included an MCCAA Northern Conference Championship with a 23-2 record, an MCCAA championship and a 35-14 overall record.  Fernando led the team in hits, runs, doubles, home runs, total bases, slugging percentage and RBI at the plate, plus stolen bases for good measure. Andres was close behind in several categories. But neither player focused on the individual numbers this season. “We definitely feel like we improved as individuals because of GRCC and the coaches,” Andres said. “We had great practices, got a lot of swings in. But we grew as people too, as students, and it was great to be part of such a winning program at GRCC and to be there together as brothers.” Indeed, for Fernando and Andres Rivera-Calderon, their winning formula this season was easy: It simply equaled 1 + 1 + GRCC. This story was reported by Phil de Haan.  

May 24, 2023, PLYMOUTH, Ind. – The Grand Rapids Community College golf team is tied for 17th place after two rounds of the NJCAA DII National Championship tournament. The tournament, which runs through Friday, May 26, is being held at the Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Ind. GRCC posted a first round score of 314 and a second-round score of 319, with Drew Harrington leading the team with a 156. Harrington shot a 3-over par on Wednesday. Sam Foss has a score of 159, Ty Marchlewski and Conner Oman each have a 161 and Brad VandenHout has a score of 164. This story was reported by Ben Brown. 

May 24, 2023, PLYMOUTH, Ind. – The Grand Rapids Community College golf team is in 16 th place in a field of 22 teams in the first round of the NJCAA DII National Championship tournament. The tournament, which runs through Friday, May 26, is being held at the Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Ind. GRCC posted a first round score of 314, with Conner Oman leading the team with a 74. Sam Foss shot a 79, Ty Marchlewski shot an 80, Drew Harrington and Brad VandenHout both shot an 81. The team, which has won 13 consecutive conference titles, continues today.

May 22, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College students fell just shy in getting their meal or edible packaging blasted into space, but their signatures will soon be orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station. Two teams of GRCC students were finalists in the NASA HUNCH competition, presenting a meal and a plan for edible packaging to astronauts and other judges at the Johnson Space Center in Houston last month. The GRCC projects were not selected as winners, but Dr. Werner Absenger, the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education's program director, said. "The GRCC students, who developed meal and packaging ideas explicitly for space travel, being selected as finalists by the NASA HUNCH program, is a tremendous validation of their work's merit, during which they gained valuable insights, interdisciplinary research, and collaboration skills across culinary, environmental, and space industries." Absenger said the four students - along other NASA HUNCH teams -- were asked to sign their names and the name of the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education on a stowage locker that will be placed aboard the space station. “How cool is that?" Absenger said, who served as a coach of the GRCC Raider Fuel teams, along with Chef Jennifer Struik, a GRCC instructor. Culinary students Katie Bird and Devon Vanderwall participated through a partnership with the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District’s Careerline Tech Center. They were one of nine schools competing as finalists, and presented a recipe for Austrian style steak soup following strict dietary guidelines.  Bird and Devon Vanderwall prepared their dish for judges including Jessica Watkins, the fifth Black woman to travel into space, and the first to join a space station expedition. She recently completed a six-month stay on the space station. Biomedical science engineering students Abby Tichelaar and Cole Herring, competed through a partnership with the Kent Intermediate School District’s Launch U program. They devised a plan for edible cargo transfer boxes that hold nutrition bars, and at the end of their life cycle could be upcycled into an edible solution, such as gummy bears, recycled, or downcycled into plastic components. Tichelaar and Herring pitched their plan to experts including astronaut Victor J. Glover. He recently served as pilot and second-in-command on the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Resilience, and served as flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 64. Students learned about the variety of careers within the culinary world, and how they drew upon skills from other subjects to create their meal and packaging plans.

May 19, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Brice Emery was once a student in the Automotive program at Grand Rapids Community College. Fifteen years later he is teaching the classes he once studied.   “I always had a desire to come back to GRCC to teach,” Emery said, “When a former boss referred me to this job, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity”.  Emery teaches the Automotive Job Training courses. This 18-week program prepares students for an entry-level position as state-certified automotive technicians.  The program involves a rigorous 32 hour week class schedule, lots of hands-on training, and certification tests for state licensing.  At the end of the 18 weeks, students are prepared to enter the workforce, or continue their education to receive an associate degree.   “Job Training is unique because it gives students the ability to gain hands-on experience and master tasks that other programs may not,” Emery said.  Emery’s favorite part of coming to work is being surrounded by supportive people. Fellow instructors are helpful and supportive in sharing teaching strategies.  The supportive atmosphere is contagious as well. Students can often be found helping each other out when working on vehicles. One unique characteristic of the Automotive Job Training program is that new groups of students start every few weeks. As a result, classes often include students who are just beginning their education as well as students who are close to completing their certification. These students are able to work together and learn from each other.  Emery encourages students to try new things and find a career they love. “Don't be discouraged if what you thought you would love turns out to be different than your expectations,” Emery said. The good news, GRCC has career opportunities in a variety of disciplines for students to explore. As well as faculty and staff who are excited to help students discover their path.  More information about the Automotive Job Training Program can be found here.