Nov. 17, 2023 | Stay Connected, Stay Informed | |
While the nation awaits Thanksgiving weekend football games or WWE Survivor Series, NETC students fiercely competed in annual turkey bowling Nov. 16. | |
NETC annual tradition brings fierce competition between students | |
|
Dozens of competitors rolled the turkey.
Only a few walked away with prizes.
Northeastern Technical College’s annual turkey bowling competition returned Nov. 15 on the Cheraw campus bringing out A-games everywhere.
What is turkey bowling?
Ten bowling pins are placed on one side of Building 200’s commons area. A student hefts a frozen turkey as if it was a bowling ball. If all the pins are knocked down, then the student wins a prize.
Simple enough.
Not really.
There’s an art to turkey bowling and requires training a few months in advance. The gobblers don’t simply slide down the linoleum flooring but can suddenly turn in 45-degree angles dodging the pins, or full stop halfway.
“Since a frozen turkey doesn’t have finger holes like a typical bowling ball, it makes it a little more challenging,” said NETC Student Activities Coordinator Leigh Ziebell. “Each student had their own approach on how they planned to “bowl/toss” the turkey. It doesn’t require much training, but prior bowling knowledge and skills help tremendously.”
Turkey bowling has been part of the Cheraw campus culture for more than five years, said NETC Head Librarian and Turkey Bowl historian.
“The yearly event is vital to student life as it is one event that brings students from all majors together to interact and learn from each other. Watching students' competitive nature come out as they compete for prizes and bragging rights is entertaining,” he said.
Approximately 50 students competed, making it one of the largest intramural sporting events on any NETC campus.
| |
Turkey bowling requires training and proper form to heft 15 pounds across the floor. | |
Currently, turkey bowling is not a recognized sport under the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), which NETC’s esports, golf, and cross-country teams play under.
“Bowling is an official NJCAA sport,” said NETC Athletic Director Tyler Nolan. “Turkey bowling, however, is not. We might have to present the case for them to add it.”
Of those competing, there were 10 winners bowling a strike and winning a gift card.
“The gift card incentive increased some friendly competition amongst the students,” Ziebell said. “The majority of the turkey bowlers were simply happy to be taking part in such a fun and different activity to take their minds from final exams for a little bit.”
Winning turkey bowlers were Jalen Bostic, Daquan Burch, Ke’Asia Hailey, Chelsey Haire, Heather Newsome, Brandon Norton, Amanda Rodano, Kaleigh Thompson, Miniya Tyson and Hailey Vaughn
| |
Inside a regulation turkey bowling ball. | |
|
|
NETC Foundation is a non-profit organization providing student scholarships and assists in capital, emergency and equipment expenses. | | | |
NETC Welding Instructor Cory Botelho programs the VTREX 360 virtual welding machine in his Pageland campus class. | |
|
NETC uses virtual reality
to train in the real world
| |
|
Helmets on.
Welder on.
Enter virtual reality?
Northeastern Technical College’s welding program utilizes a VTREX 360 welding simulator for beginners as well as a tool to help correct students' technique with pinpoint accuracy.
The VTREX looks and operates like a welding rig using MIG and TIG welders that simulate the vibrations and sounds of their real-life counterparts.
“This equipment is especially useful for students who are starting out. It measures their angles and speeds and displays them to them through the helmet and goggles and they can see how to adjust their work,” said NETC Welding Instructor Cory Botelho.
Students don a welding helmet that is equipped with interior googles that display to the wearer a 360-degree view of a worksite (locations can be switched from a powerplant to a desert base to a class environment.
What the student sees through the VTREX goggles can be seen on a monitor, Bothelho said.
| |
|
VTREX measures the user’s speed, work angle, arc length, position, and travel angle.
“When I point out to the student that they are moving too fast and slow down, we can go to the VTREX and the student can see how fast they are welding and make adjustments,” Bothelho said.
Bothelho is seeing a difference with his students catching on and seeing the science behind how they are welding and how they can make corrective changes by seeing the measurements of what they are doing.
Welding is essential in constructing buildings and bridges, ensuring the stability of these structures. In manufacturing, welding is used in everything from automobiles to aircraft to appliances and electronics.
Welding involves joining materials, usually metals, through the application of heat and sometimes pressure, to create a strong and permanent bond.
NETC offers classes for Arc Welding (MIG), Flux Cored Arc Welding, Tungsten Welding (TIG), and Fabrication Welding, on its Pageland campus.
Students entering NETC’s welding program can learn a variety of welding techniques that can lead them to needed fields in a wide variety of industries.
| |
In one of the VTREX "worlds" a co-worker can be seen welding on scaffolding. | | |
|
|
NETC offers certifications in the following areas:
- Welding ARC
- Welding Flux Core
- Welding MIG
- Welding TIG
NETC's Advanced Welding certificate provides students entry-level training and practical skills in Oxy-Acetylene cutting and brazing, SMAW (Arc), GMAW (MIG), FCAW (Flux Core), and GTAW (TIG) in ferrous and non-ferrous metals, including purge welding of sanitary process pipe. These skills are your gateway to an Associate's in Applied Science degree in General Technology-Welding.
| |
'I made dean's list; I never made honor roll' | |
How Ella Burch took control returning to school pursuing her dream career | |
|
A dissected sheep’s kidney resonated on campus.
It was not the kidney itself, but the enthusiasm behind Northeastern Technical College student Ella Burch’s Facebook post about her experience in biology lab.
Burch, 31, of Cheraw, is enjoying learning while juggling family life (husband and two children ages 5 and 1) as well as working as a CNA while going to school.
Interview after interview with individuals attending NETC published here, Burch’s post is the epitome of the core value of you, our students.
Burch emphasized in her post about NETC’s Instructor Richard Bailey's Biology 210 lab that she is having fun “learning and growing in a field that I believe I have been called to do.”
“We were learning about the body and during lab we learned that a sheep’s kidney is similar to a human kidney,” Burch said. “I was the first one to come up to see. I learned that a sheep’s kidney is like a human kidney. I had so much fun that night!”
About a third of NETC’s students are 25 and older – many are well into their 30s and into their 40s and all paths people take back to school have many different starting points.
One student returned to the workforce years after an injury at a plant, for example.
A mother and daughter entered classes together.
One of the Veteran’s Day speakers is 64 and in the middle of becoming a radiology technician at a different school.
The common thread is self-improvement.
| |  |
|
Many students, if not the majority of this group of our students, decide it is time to take control and make a change.
Burch left what she called “dead end jobs” after consulting her pastor in her mid 20s.
“I’ve always worked odd end jobs and one day – I was in my 20s -- my pastor told me ‘you know there's a difference between a job and a career?’ I wasn’t thinking about a career. Nobody asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she said.
After her conversation, and prayer, Burch took the first leap and returned to school to become a certified nursing assistant.
With many students, she caught the “learning bug” and delved into her studies and her hard work is paying off.
“I made the Dean’s List; I never made honor roll,” she said. “My children are the light of my life. I didn’t want to be the parent who tells them that you can be whatever you want to be and not have anything to show them. I want to be a good example for them.”
Burch is preparing herself to be accepted into the RN program at NETC; it is a competitive process with grades and test scores carrying weight.
“I have gone back to retake classes to make my chances greater getting into nursing school,” Burch said.
Nursing offers a wide range of avenues to pursue, Burch hasn’t settled on which direction to take.
“I’m indecisive about what area to go into. There’s so many. I’m enjoying learning and taking this one step at a time,” Burch said.
| |
Need a lift?
PDRTA offers public transportation routes Cheraw, Dillon,
and Marlboro County. Buses routinely stop at NETC Cheraw Campus.
Find your Route!
| |
|
NETC Medical Assistant student Monica Davis, 39, of Cheraw, practices blood drawing on a simulation mannequin at the Dillon Campus. | |
|
After delivering her third child, Cheraw native Monica Davis’s experience in the hospital caused an epiphany.
“Nobody was in the room with me,” said Davis, 39, who is wrapping up clinical hours through Northeastern Technical College’s Medical Assistant program.
“The nurse who attended me was sweet and caring. I want to give the same feeling she gave me to other people.”
Becoming a nurse was tucked away in Davis’s mind for years, but then she decided to do something about it and enrolled at NETC.
Davis completed the CNA/Phlebotomy portion of NETC’s Medical Assistant program and is juggling parenthood, work, classes, and clinical work required by the program.
Davis doesn’t travel far from home working required hours at CareSouth’s campus in Cheraw.
“We work as a team; if one is behind, another will help get them caught up,” she said.
Medical Assistants are unlicensed professionals who physicians can delegate tasks as well as coordinate patient scheduling and manage patient records.
| |
|
Students who begin the NETC Medical Assistant Program typically complete the program with certifications for Certified Nursing Assistant, Phlebotomy, and Medical Assistant.
Labor studies have shown a need for about 400,000 home health care providers by 2025 and 200,000 new nurses annually until 2026 to replace those retiring.
To sign up for the medical assistant program, students must:
- Complete 22 credits with a minimum grade of average of 2.0 in all 22 credits for Nurse Preparatory Certificate program.
- Submit results of annual tuberculin skin test (TST) and current Basic Life Support—Provider (BLS) by the American Heart Association.
- Submit information and fees for background checks and toxicology screenings.
For more information visit www.netc.edu or call 800.921.7399.
| |
|
Click the EKG machine
to see the requirements for NETC Medical Assistant Program.
| |
Interested in entering the medical field? Look into CNA/Phlebotomy as a starter position. | |
Interested in becoming a Registered Nurse? Click on the RN logo to see its course pathway. | |
Veteran and NETC alumnus Drew Biddlecome, 41, of Mt. Croghan speaks to welding students Nov. 14 on the Pageland Campus about pursuing goals and purpose regardless of age. | |
Veteran, NETC welding alumnus discusses career change | |
|
After a tour during the Iraq War as a U.S. Marine followed by 16 years as an infantryman in the U.S. Army, retired veteran Drew Biddlecome thought he could settle down.
That didn’t last long.
Biddlecome, 41, enrolled at Northeastern Technical College a few months after retirement looking to learn welding to build onto and modify a truck – a cheaper alternative than contracting the services – and quickly fell into his second profession.
“I learned that at my age, I can’t stop and not do anything,” he said.
During the day, Biddlecome works at Douglas Machine Shop in Mt. Croghan area of Chesterfield County; the veteran told welding students during Nov. 14’s Veteran’s Day Social at the NETC Pageland campus.
Biddlecome enlisted in the U.S. Marines and left the branch after four years and a combat tour in Iraq; his goal was to become work for the New York Highway Patrol, but only made it partially through the process competing among thousands of applicants during three-year hiring cycle.
| |
|
He decided to return to the military with the plan of hitting the 20-year mark to lock in retirement when he enlisted in the U.S. Army.
Biddlecome retired from active-duty military in March 2022 and enrolled at NETC in August of the same year wrapping up his welding courses during the summer of 2023.
We he retired, he caught the “drag racing bug,” as he described it, and wanted to learn to how to customize and build his own vehicles.
“A few weeks after putting down the welder, I contacted (NETC Welding Instructor) Cory Bothelho to see if anybody was looking for an employee,” he said.
NETC connected Biddlecome with Douglas Machine Shop where he works as one of the four company welders.
Once a week, Biddlecome returns to the Pageland campus for prep and testing to become certified in the various types of welding.
“If you have the ambition and desire to do something, don’t let anybody stand in your way,” Biddlecome said. “Don’t think you can’t make a change no matter what your age.”
| |
Four ghosts, singers, and a change of heart
NETC Theatre Club performed Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol Nov. 16 at the Cheraw Campus. The troupe starred Colby Quick as Scrooge and was directed by Lisa Morman-Patterson, who sang as part of the performance. The NETC Theatre Club has one more performance on the road 8 p.m. Nov. 21 at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center located at 130 Tryon St., Charlotte, N.C.
Click here for directions!
Watch Cheraw performance here!
| |
| |
|
Giving Thanks at NETC
Northeastern Technical College faculty and staff gathered Nov. 14 in Building 200 slowed down to enjoy a covered dish lunch and company ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays.
| | |
|
Student Services takes class
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Consultant Margaret Burdette concluded her time on the Cheraw campus by working with the Student Services Division on learning outcomes.
| |
Esports: Call of Duty breaks even, Warzone Duo teams takes hits | |
|
CALL OF DUTY 4v4
NETC had BYE/WIN Week in Week 4, bringing their record to 2-2.
In Week 5, NETC took Dallas College, again; this time, they were the second team.
"Each game was very close and could have went either way," said NETC Esports Head Coach Tyler Nolan. NETC lost 3-0.
"There were quite a few mistakes that cost NETC Game 2 and Game 3.
Even with those mistakes, these games came down to the wire. Clean those up, and we're looking at an easy win." Nolan said.
Current record is 2-3 with one week left in the season.
"The team will need to win that their last match to have any chance of making the playoffs," Nolan said.
| |
|
OVERWATCH
NETC took on Southwestern Oregon Community College in Week 4 of Overwatch.
NETC lost 0-3, once again, however, the matches were much more competitive, said NETC Esports Head Coach Tyler Nolan.
"I can tell the team has learned from their losses and are playing more together," he said.
The record after four weeks is 0-4
Building off the competitive matches in Week 4, NETC carried that momentum into Week 5 against Wallace State University.
"After dropping Game 1 that literally came down the last second, NETC rallied off three straight wins to pick up their first victory of the season, 3-1," Nolan said. "It has been a successful learning experience for the Trailblazers this season.
Watching these guys play in Week 1 vs now is a night and day difference.
They played as a team and had great communication.
Although playoffs are likely out of reach at this point, I'm excited to see how the team plays in the final match of the season."
Current record is 1-4.
| |
|
WARZONE
NETC's team of Victor Barrington and David Hancock took on Dallas College - North Lake in both Week 4 and Week 5.
"They have an A and a B team, and we just so happened to get matched up against them in back to back weeks," said NETC Esports Head Coach Tyler Nolan.
In Week 4, NETC lost a heartbreaker 2-1.
Bringing their record to 1-3 after four weeks.
In Week 5, NETC once again lost another close one 2-1.
Both weeks, NETC had a chance to bring home a win and could easily have 3 wins on the season.
"We are still making some very fixable mistakes that cost the team each game," Nolan said. "We will need to clean up those mistakes as they will have to win their last 2 matches of the season in order to have a chance to make the playoffs."
Current record is 1-4.
| |
Subscribe to NETC Esports: Goal 100 | |
| Monday | 6:30 p.m. Fortnite No-Build (Tier 3) | | Tuesday | 6 p.m. Super Smash Bros. (Tier 1)
7 p.m. COD 4v4 (Tier 2) | | Wednesday | 6 p.m. Madden (Tier 1)
6 p.m. Overwatch (Tier 2) | | Thursday | 7:30 p.m. Valorant (Tier 3) | | Friday | 6 p.m. COD: Warzone2 (Tier 2-3) | | |
CHERAW CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION MAP | |
|
Construction will create changes to entries,
walkways and parking on the Cheraw Campus.
Access on the east side of campus can be made through the 200 Building, the 300 Building gate and the east entrance of the 500 Building. The construction area will block access and parking at the 800 Building and west side of the 500 Building.
| |
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Northeastern Technical College provides affirmative action and equal opportunity in employment for all qualified persons regardless of race, color, sex, - including the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, national origin, age, religion, or disability.
Find Your Career Here!
| |
|
| Nov 1-22 | Food Drive | | Nov. 23-24 | Thanksgiving Holidays | | Nov. 28 | Area Commission Meeting | | Nov. 29 | Open House 4-6 p.m. Cheraw | | Nov. 30 | Pinning Ceremony Cheraw | | Dec. 7 | Winter Graduation | | Dec. 14 | Areai Commission Meeting | | |
Trying out some free AI image generator programs. The prompt: Northeastern Technical College's mascot Blaze, a wolf, riding a motorcycle with flaming wheels. | |
From Craiyon. Not ready for prime time. Looks like someting from a fever dream. | |
From Hotspot. Bruh. I'm not a fox. | |
From Promeai. I can live with it. | |
|
NORTHEASTERN TECHNICAL COLLEGE
1201 Chesterfield Highway Cheraw, SC 29520
www.netc.edu (843) 921-6900
| | | | |
