TVCC-Henderson County Now

TVCC Cardettes Host Clinic

The Trinity Valley Community College Cardettes held their annual Dance Clinic & Performance Saturday on the Athens campus. The girls who participated, ranging in age from 5 to 10, spent the morning learning a routine taught by members of the Cardettes and then performed during halftime of Saturday’s basketball game between the Lady Cardinals and Jacksonville. This Saturday, Feb. 8, the Cardettes will host the first of three Collegiate Dance Workshops for dancers ages 16 and over. For more information, contact the Cardette office at [email protected] or call 903-675-6225 or 903-670-2641. Other workshops will be held on Feb. 15 and April 18.

Time for College Softball

softball tvcc

The Lady Cardinal softball teams begins the 2014 season with a doubleheader Saturday in Hillsboro. The Lady Cardinals, who went 33-27 last year and advanced to the national tournament for the first time in school history, are scheduled to play No. 5-ranked Howard College at noon and Hill College at 2:15 p.m. The Lady Cardinals will be led this season by sophomores (from left) Erica Jordan, Marci Seymour, Celeste Montoya, Kayla Cosby, Melissa Billingsley and Shelby Reddington. The Lady Cardinals’ home opener is scheduled Wednesday, Feb. 5, against Cisco at 1 and 3 p.m. at Cain Park.

6th Annual National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Rodeo

TVCC

By Jayson Larson/TVCC Public Information

Trinity Valley Community College welcomes the public to the 6th Annual National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Rodeo! The rodeo will be held Feb. 7-8.

Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. each evening at The Henderson County Fair Park Complex with slack beginning at noon Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. Each night during the rodeo performance, children can compete in a Calf Scramble to win prizes.
All proceeds generated by the rodeo are given back to the students to further their education.

General admission tickets are $5 each and may be purchased in advance at Lone Star Western Wear in Athens, or on the night of the performance at the gate. Free admission will be given for those with a current TVCC ID.

Each NIRA member college has its own club composed of student members and sponsored by a faculty adviser who supervises the club’s activities. Each year, a men’s team consisting of six members and a four-member women’s team is chosen from each school. These team members travel to the regional rodeos competing against other NIRA member schools. Those not chosen for the team may compete on an individual basis and still be eligible for all prizes except those given to the team. The top three contestants in each event from each of the NIRA’s 11 regions qualify to compete in the CNFR. The top two men’s teams and women’s teams also qualify from the regions.
Coming from as far away as Louisiana, the event will feature approximately 400
contestants representing 20 colleges and universities including: Hill College, Southwest Texas Junior College, McNeese State University, Trinity Valley Community College, Northeast Texas Community College, Lone Star Community College – Montgomery, Panola Junior College, Texas A&M University, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas A&M University – Kingsville, and Wharton County Junior College.

Several local hotels are offering competitive rates for rodeo competitors and families. Please contact the Holiday Inn Express, Best Western Royal Mountain Inn, and Super 8 to learn more. Don’t forget to mention that you’re with the TVCC Rodeo event to receive these special rates.

Our sponsors who make this possible are: Living For The Brand Cowboy Church, Henderson County Farm Bureau, Athens Bank, Kevin Lilly’s McDonalds, Citizens National Bank, Red Line Power Equipment, Best Western Plus, Holiday Inn Express, Super 8, ETMC EMS, Bent Bucket Ministries, Mark Roberts D.D.S., Miars Enterprises LP, Southside Feed, Reynolds New York Store, Mills Feed, First State Bank, Ag Power Inc., KCKL, Whataburger, Texas Farm Credit, Champion Genetics, TVEC, Heritage Land Bank, Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart, Lone Star Western and Casual, Athens Cleaners and Laundry, Prosperity Bank, Henderson Veterinary Clinic, Athens Tractor and Equipment, Athens Equine, Action Cattle Company, Spencer Hardware, East Texas Ag Supply, Athens Lumber and Supply, and Morton Small Animal Clinic.

TVCC Employee to Appear on Television After Big Catch

TVCC administrative computing employee Jason Hanson (left) took Fox 4 reporter and Lone Star Adventures host Richard Ray out in his boat on Lake Athens this week. Hanson recently caught a 13.78-pound largemouth bass on Lake Athens, missing the lake record by less than one pound.

By Jayson Larson/TVCC Public Information

Jason Hanson is pretty good at catching fish – big fish. One of his recent catches is gaining him some big attention.

Hanson, who works in Administrative Computing as an i5 Server Administrator at Trinity Valley Community College, will be featured on an upcoming episode of KDFW’s (Fox 4 Dallas) “Lone Star Adventures.” The weekly television segment features unique but close-to-home gems of the Lone Star State.

Hanson was visited by Fox 4 reporter and Lone Star Adventures host Richard Ray on Wednesday. Ray talked to Hanson about his recent catch – a 13.76-pound largemouth bass reeled in on a near-freezing morning on Lake Athens on Dec. 28, 2013. Hanson submitted his catch to the Toyota ShareLunker program, headquartered at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. Anglers can submit a largemouth bass to the program if it weighs 13 pounds or more. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department then uses the fish for spawning purposes.

Hanson’s catch – which was 27.75 inches long with a girth of 20.25 – remains the only ShareLunker submitted by a Texas angler so far this season (two are from Oklahoma, one is from Louisiana). The season lasts from October 1 through April 30). It’s also almost two inches longer than any of the other three current ShareLunker entries and the first submitted from Lake Athens since 1987. His fish missed the lake record by less than a half-pound. Only two other largemouth bass caught in Lake Athens were larger (the lake record is 14.19 pounds).

Hanson said he was a little nervous when he was first approached by Fox 4 about doing an interview for television.

“But he was a really cool guy,” Hanson said. “It was a really neat experience.”

Hanson said he has been told the segment will most likely air during the Fox 4 newscast either this Sunday night, Jan. 26, or next Sunday night, Feb. 2. If you miss it, you can find the Lone Star Adventures archives here.

Check out one of Jason’s recent hauls on YouTube.

TVCC Named Top College Third Straight Year

By Jayson Larson/TVCC Public Information

Being recognized as one of the best never gets old.

For the third consecutive year, the Washington, D.C.-based Aspen Institute has named Trinity Valley Community College as one of the top 150 community colleges in the nation. The distinction makes TVCC eligible to compete for the 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and $1 million in prize funds.

Ten finalists will be named this fall. Prize winners will be announced in early 2015.

TVCC was selected from a national pool of more than 1,000 public two-year colleges.

“Trinity Valley Community College and its faculty and staff are accustomed to achieving and maintaining excellence. This is once again validated by the recognition of being one of the top community colleges in the nation by the Aspen Institute,” TVCC President Dr. Glendon Forgey said. “After earning this honor the past two years, TVCC faculty and staff continue to work diligently and with great commitment to ensure that the college is among the best in the nation and that the college provides the resources necessary to make our students successful.”

The prize, awarded every two years, is the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges. It recognizes institutions for exceptional student outcomes in four areas: student learning, certificate and degree completion, employment and earnings, and high levels of access and success for minority and low-income students.

The Aspen Institute identified the top 150 community colleges through an assessment of institutional performance, improvement and equity on student retention and completion measures.

Nearly half of America’s college students attend community college, with more than 7 million students – youth and adult learners – working towards certificates and degrees in these institutions across the country.

“Community colleges have tremendous power to change lives, and their success will increasingly define our nation’s economic strength and the potential for social mobility for every American,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “This competition is designed to spotlight the excellent work being done in the most effective community colleges, those that best help students obtain meaningful, high-quality education and training for competitive-wage jobs after college. We hope it will raise the bar and provide a roadmap for community colleges nationwide.”

The 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence was awarded to co-winners Santa Barbara City College (California) and Walla Walla Community College (Washington). Valencia College (Florida) was the inaugural Prize winner in 2011.

For more information and for a complete list of the 150 community colleges, visit AspenPrize.org.