Pacesetter - Spring/Summer 2010 - Campus Notes

Nursing students participate in H1N1 clinics

Nursing student Reshonda Eldridge administers an H1N1 vaccine to a fellow student during the kc clinic in November.

As part of Kettering College’s involvement in the Academic Nursing Coalition for Disaster Preparedness, more than 90 nursing students participated in H1N1 clinics conducted by Montgomery and Clark counties late in the fall semester. They helped as needed at the sites, providing assistance with paperwork and administering vaccinations. The nursing students also were part of H1N1 clinics held on campus for Kettering College students, faculty and staff in November.

Kettering College Health Careers Fair draws employers from across the country

More than 160 students, alumni, faculty and staff attended the Kettering College Health Careers Fair, held on campus in March. Geared for kc students and alumni, the event featured 18 vendors who came from all over the nation to recruit Kettering College graduates.

“It’s harder than it used to be to find a job in health care, but health care education is still a terrific bet,” said Charles Scriven, Kettering College President. “The research suggests that down the road, it will again be hard to find people for available jobs. People with health care credentials will be in high demand.

“Our students may get work quickly, or they may need to build relationships for the future. The Health Careers Fair was a crucial opportunity for them to get to know the people they need to know, right now.”

Bead for Life event raises money for impoverished women

Jill Evans shows off some of the items for sale at the Bead for Life event.

Kettering College English professor Jill Evans organized an event in December that raised approximately $5,000 for the Bead for Life (BFL)
organization. Based in North America and Uganda, BFL has partnered with industrious women living in extreme poverty. The women make vivid beaded jewelry out of recycled paper, and that jewelry is sold at events around the world. All net profits from BFL sales are invested in projects that fight poverty and improve access to health care, affordable
housing, vocational training and entrepreneurial development through micro-credit.

The College is planning to conduct another sale next December.

Eye Doc in a Box seminar teaches evangelism through eye care

Service Learning Honors Program students Rudy Der (human biology), Milfred Abraham (radiology) and Debra Filbrun (nursing) practice some of the skills they learned at the Eye Doc in a Box seminar.

In preparation for the Service Learning Honors Program’s spring mission trip to Belize, Kettering College sponsored a seminar on how to run eye clinics in Third World countries.

Fourteen kc students and faculty members attended the seminar, featuring Denver optometrist David Curtis, founder of the Eye Doc in a Box organization. Curtis started the program after he discovered on a 1999 mission trip to India that despite years as a practicing optometrist, he didn’t know how to run an eye clinic in a place without electricity and other modern conveniences. After several mission trips, he figured out a system that worked, and he set about sharing it so that lay people could deliver high-quality services in their mission work while spreading the love of God. The Kettering College students learned how to perform eye examinations and fit prescription eyeglasses while using eye care as an evangelism tool. “

I saw students engaged, excited and motivated to go forward and bring the gift of sight and the gift of God to the people of Belize and of future mission locations,” said Laura Willis, assistant professor of nursing and coordinator of the Service Learning Honors Program. “The students even planned a day to practice what they learned in preparation for their trip.”

Students from Curtis’ seminars have provided care to more than 20,000 people in need.

Dayton Businessmen’s Association awards nursing scholarships

	Division of Nursing director Beverly Cobb and associate director Cherie Rebar with Mike Karpiak, Dayton Businessmen’s Association president, and nursing students Maryellen Harbaugh, Kim McCutcheon and Kelly Lawson.

Late in the fall semester, the Dayton Businessmen’s Association awarded three Kettering College nursing students with $1,000 scholarships. Candidates needed to be in the associate degree nursing program, have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher and be committed to staying in the Dayton area as nurses after graduation. The organization awards scholarships to students at all the Dayton-area colleges; nominations are made by the nursing department chairpersons at the schools.