The digital magazine for faculty, staff, students and friends of Pensacola State College
February 2, 2022
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Pensacola State College has unveiled an exciting lineup of special events in celebration of Black History Month.
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Here's the schedule:
Multicultural Job Fair — 10 a.m.-noon. Saturday, Feb. 5, Building 5 (Delaino Student Center), sponsored by the Black History Multicultural Committee.
Black History Celebration — 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 16, Building 5 (Delaino Student Center). Jerk chicken, peas, rice, cabbage, baked plantains, salad, tea, and lemonade. Event is in-person and via Zoom. Sponsored by the African American Student Association. Read more about the celebration below.
Polimba Tree's Griots Comin' Revue — 7:30-10:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, 306 N. Devilliers St. Expressions of art, poetry, music, dance, and song from Africa to the Caribbean to the Gulf Coast, celebrating the rich heritage of the Black community that, from its very beginning, has called Pensacola home. Free admission.
Movie Night — 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, Hagler Auditorium. The Aretha Franklin biographical film "Respect." Free admission. Sponsored by the African American Student Association and Student Engagement & Leadership.
Miracles of the Mind hypnosis show — 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, Hagler Auditorium. Featuring Jesse James and Professor Hypno, AKA the Globetrotters of Hypnotists. Free admission. Sponsored by the Black History Multicultural Committee and the African American Student Association.
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PSC African-American Student Association hosts African Diaspora commemoration as part of Black History Celebration |
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Pensacola State College will commemorate the African Diaspora — the collection of people across the globe which are descended from native Africans or who are from Africa — with a cultural event set for 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, in the Delaino Student Center, Building 5, on the Pensacola campus. The event will feature African food, African dance, African drumming and vendors selling African items and African-inspired goods.
The “Celebration of the African Diaspora” is part of PSC’s Black History Month commemoration and is sponsored by the African American Student Association.
“Our theme is 'our Heritage – Now and Forevermore,' said Tonie Anderson-Steele, African American Student adviser. “We celebrate and recognize our past, present and future. There’s no changing what happened – the past is the past. But there were so many trials and tribulations for us that we can’t ever forget. We have to build on the past and go forward.”
The February event also will feature various speakers, including Pensacola pediatrician Dr. Michelle Grier-Hall and Dr. Marion Williams, a former Escambia County School District administrator and local historian. Lepoleon Williams will lead a group of dancers and drummers in a performance. Food at the event will include jerk chicken, peas and rice, baked plantains and more.
— Troy Moon
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PTK to bring Chaddah Dance’s ‘Encounters of Hope’ to WSRE |
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Event will raise money for scholarships for human trafficking survivors |
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Pensacola State’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society chapter Theta Chi undertook human trafficking as a service project in 2019 and started the PTK Transformation Through Education Scholarship to help human trafficking survivors attend College.
Pensacola dance group Chaddah Dance Company tours nationally with a dance performance, “Encounters of Hope,” which is inspired by and tells the story of human trafficking survivors.
So, a collaboration between the groups – PSC’s PTK chapter and Chaddah Dance Company – seems a perfect fit to do good.
The Chaddah Dance Company will perform “Encounters of Hope” at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Jean and Paul Amos Studio. The performance is a fundraiser for the PTK Transformation Through Education Scholarship, which is administered by the Pensacola State College Foundation.
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According to the Chaddah website, the “Encounters of Hope” production “tells the true stories of human trafficking victims through powerful imagery and dance.”
“When our students began researching human trafficking, they learned that Florida is top spot in the nation for human trafficking,” said PTK Theta Chi chapter adviser Jeff Wooters. “The students wanted to do something to help, even though it’s such a massive problem.”
PTK members Sebastian Gordon and Eleni Ayoub were the students who helped coordinate and facilitate the performance.
Ayoub had previously seen the production and had forged a relationship with Chaddah Dance Company founder, Amy Jo Pernie.
Pernie established the Chaddah Dance in 1997 and was inspired to produce a dance piece to bring awareness to human trafficking after a visit to India in 2006. That piece is “Encounters of Hope,” which Chaddah Dance Company performs across the nation. The group will perform in Las Vegas, one of the worst cities in the country for human trafficking, on Feb. 12 and in Saginaw, Michigan, later in February.
The “Encounters of Hope” production features 16 dancers who pay all their own fees, including travel and lodging fees.
“These are young people who raise all of their own support to do this touring,” Pernie said. “They all have the same heart.”
There will be information on human trafficking distributed in the lobby.
— Troy Moon
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The Pensacola chapter of Jack and Jill of America donated $150 along with nonperishable food items to the Pensacola State College Food Pantry. Pictured are, from left, Veronica Jennings, OVW - Violence Against Women project coordinator, sexual assault and relationship violence prevention; Alonda Jones, PSC recruiter And Jack and Jill America, Pensacola chapter foundation chair; Tracey Robinson-Coffee, Jack and Jill America Pensacola chapter president; Genevieve Charles, Jack and Jill America Pensacola chapter community service chair; Dr. Lynsey Listau, PSC executive director of institutional equity and student conduct; Mary Scott, PSC administrative assistant; and Christina Hawkins, Jack and Jill of America Pensacola chapter vice president. |
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The Pensacola chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc. recently donated $150 along with nonperishable food items to the Pensacola State College Food Pantry.
As part of the organization’s Souper Bowl of Caring Initiative, the chapter chose to assist the College’s food pantry and FoodRaising Friends ─ an organization committed to improving access to food for children at risk of or experiencing hunger.
“The donations and organized food drive have been a part of our Day of Service project, which has been held virtually for the past few years,” said Alonda Jones, a Pensacola State recruiter and foundation chair of the Pensacola Jack and Jill of America, Pensacola chapter.
“Again, this year through the Souper Bowl of Caring Initiative, we decided to select the College’s food pantry in our attempt to tackle hunger efforts. I am a first-hand witness on how significant the pantry is on our campuses and the impact it makes with assisting our students.”
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PSC art students launch Creative Collective Art Club |
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Some draw, some paint. Some are graphic design illustrators. It doesn’t matter. Art is their passion and the Pensacola State College Creative Collective Art Club is the organization where they can find like-minded creative types to work with, bounce ideas off each other, and be inspired by each other.
The Creative Collective Art Club held its first meeting on Monday, Jan. 31, with more than a dozen students participating.
“Our main goal is to help students grow in their art and a place to showcase their art and learn different skills,” said Danny Nguyen, a PSC graphic design student who is club president. “It’s a group that allow members to network and create opportunities and get out in the community with their work.”
PSC previously had an art club, but it faded to the wayside with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been doing the club off and on since 2015,” said Creative Collective adviser Jimmy Rhea, a PSC Visual Arts instructor. “But COVID shut us down so we’re just now getting started back up. (The students) are taking the lead. They renamed the club to Creative Collective and they seem excited to get this back going again. It helps in their professional development. In the art world, you have to hustle to get things done and get your work out there. No one does the work for you.”
Nguyen said the club will hold various workshops in areas ranging from printmaking to ceramics.
During the first meeting, students wrote all their contact information on a white board and spent much of the meeting introducing themselves to one another and talking about future goals, such as having an art exhibition for club members.
The meetings are at 3 p.m. Monday and are held biweekly in Room 1590 of the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts on the Pensacola campus. The next meeting is Feb. 14.
— Troy Moon
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PSC says goodbye to math instructor Pat Horacek after 35 years |
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Pat Horacek loved when Pensacola State College adopted the marketing phrase “Go Here. Get There” years ago.
“I thought it was a wonderful description of what we do here at the College,” Horacek said. “I tell my students all the time that you can get there from here – wherever you’re going.”
But for Horacek, the phrase never really applied. When she began her career at then-Pensacola Junior College in 1987 as an Adult High instructor, she had no intent to use PJC as a stepping-stone. She wanted to put down roots at the College then and there.
“It’s the way I was reared,” she explained. “If you like your job and like what you’re doing, you stayed where you were at. My mom and dad were like that. I always liked what I did and liked where I worked and the people I worked with. And I like the students – that’s the reason we do this. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher.”
Horacek retires in March. Her last day of teaching is March 3.
“I’ll miss my colleagues and the camaraderie,” Horacek said. “I’ve been at two campuses and in five departments and have had 11 department heads. I have a lot of great memories.”
One that sticks out is when her U.S. Navy husband, David, was sent to the Persian Gulf in 1991 during the Gulf War and Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
“I got a call from Dr. (Charles) Atwell, who was College Vice President at the time,” she said. “He said he wanted to check on me to see how I was doing and if there was anything I needed.”
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Horacek choked up a bit.
“He knew my husband was in the Persian Gulf and wanted to check on me,” she said. “He cared and it really meant a lot.”
Atwell would later serve as PSC president from 1998 to 2002.
Another memory she’ll cherish is more recent. In December, she served as Grand Marshal for the PSC Commencement Ceremony.
“What a highlight,” she said. “That was exciting. I was very honored to be asked. It was so exciting to see all the students. That’s the reason we’re here. It’s a culmination for our students and it’s a joy to be able to celebrate with these young people.”
Colleague Debbie Woods, also a PSC math instructor, describes Horacek as a dedicated teacher.
“She cares so much for her students,” Woods said. “Oh my gosh, she puts so much effort into her classes and works so hard to make them successful.”
Horacek was inducted into the PSC Academy of Teaching Excellence in 1994.
She and her husband have two adult children, Saul and Sarah.
Horacek hopes to spend some of her time performing volunteer work.
“I would love to volunteer at (Naval Air Station Pensacola),” and especially at the museum,” she said. “That would be a dream job. But really, we’ve benefited from the Navy so much, I would love to be able to give back there.”
— Troy Moon
PHOTOS: Top, Pat Horacek in a recent photo at her desk; bottom, Horacek with then-PSC Vice President Charles Atwell and then-President Horace "Ed" Hartsell, honoring her induction into the PSC Academy of Teaching Excellence in 1994.
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Friends, colleagues gather celebrate retirement of Edward Pate |
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Respected Pensacola State College faculty member Dr. Edward Pate retired on Monday, Jan. 31. He came to the College in August 2012 as an instructor and was named the Assistant Department Head for English and Communications in 2014.
Before joining the PSC family, Dr. Pate taught English at Gulf Breeze High School, where he also served as the golf team’s coach. During his tenure at the high school, he was named Teacher of the Year.
An Alabama native, Dr. Pate studied communications and English at Auburn University Montgomery and English at the University of Alabama. He went on to earn an advanced degree in educational leadership at the University of Texas at Arlington and his juris doctorate in international public law from the University of Alabama.
An avid horticulturist, Pate said he looks forward to spending more time with his beloved flowers.
PHOTOS: Top, colleagues gather at a retirement celebration for Edward Pate; below, Pate poses with his PSC retirement gift, an engraved clock.
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PSC New Employee Spotlight: Heaven Pittman |
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Heaven Pittman was a star student in the Pensacola State College Performing Arts department, earning her Associate of Arts degree in spring of 2021.
Now, the multi-instrumentalist is an administrative assistant in that same Performing Arts Department. She’s comfortable at PSC and is glad to be back.
“I love it here,” said Pittman, who plays flute, piccolo, piano and is in the process of learning to play the trumpet. “PSC’s Performing Arts department offers students the opportunity to find like-minded people who want to excel in their chosen profession. The teachers help and push you. It’s just a big, warm environment for everyone. I know that’s what I experienced as a student and it’s what my friends experienced.”
Pittman, an Orlando native, moved to Pensacola with her family about four years ago, during her junior year of high school. A Tate High graduate, she came to PSC to study music, which has always been a constant in her life.
“My parents were very gung-ho about learning an instrument,” Pittman said. “Everyone in the family had to play until a certain age, then you could decide on your own. I was the one who continued.”
She is considering studying music therapy at a university in the future, but for now is happy with her new position. And PSC is happy to have her.
“She’s definitely a go-getter,” said Hillary Claypoole, PSC Performing Arts Show Manager. “If something needs to be done, she’s immediately saying ‘Ok, let’s do it.’ She likes to keep busy. She’s already been very helpful and is learning quickly. We’re very happy to have her.”
While a student at PSC, Pittman was named to the PSC President’s List and Dean’s List for academic excellence. She was also a 2021 PSC Student Excellence Award winner.
“I had an amazing time as a student at PSC,” she said. “I had so many great teachers, especially Dr. (Michael) Coleman who taught me in piano and music theory. He was the main push in my educational life.”
Though no longer a student, Pittman is still devoted to music.
“I still play and practice on my own time,” she said. “I’ve always loved music. I listen to everything from Disney to screamo. But I don’t like Baroque.”
— Troy Moon
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Employers looking for workers at PSC Multicultural Job Fair |
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We’ve all seen the headlines. Closer to home, we’ve seen the “Help Wanted” signs.
Employers nationwide are hungry for workers. More than two dozen regional employers will be seeking employees at the Pensacola State College Multicultural Job Fair set for 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, Feb. 5, in the Delaino Student Center, Building 5, on the Pensacola campus.
“Come dressed professionally and with a resume,’’ said Jo McArthur, PSC Business and Outreach Coordinator. “They (employers) will be ready to hire and will be presenting great opportunities.”
McArthur said anywhere from 25 to 30 regional employers will be present for the job fair. Companies and agencies that will take part come from various fields, ranging from engineering and education to local and state government agencies, food and hospitality and more.
“Many of them offer benefits and tuition reimbursement,’’ McArthur said. “These are good jobs with good salaries.”
Last year’s job fair was presented online due to COVID-19.
“This is our first year back,’’ McArthur said. “I’m also thrilled we have a few different companies that are participating. There will be plenty of opportunities for anyone looking for a job or career.”
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WSRE hopes to foster better cultural and community dialog
with new 'Connecting the Community' series
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Rameca Leary, Pensacola State College Coordinator of Diversity Initiatives, is all about bringing people together and fostering community dialog.
That’s exactly what she’ll be doing as host and producer of the new WSRE-TV series, “Connecting the Community," which debuts at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10.
The first “Connecting the Community” episode, titled “Honoring Our Military Veterans,” will focus on local veterans, including the life and legacy of Air Force Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James, pictured right, a Pensacola native who was the first African-American four-star officer in the United States military, earning his fourth star in 1975. James retired from the Air Force in January 1978 and died three weeks later from heart failure.
“I believe the WSRE audience has the desire to learn about the diversity of cultures that make up our community and a willingness to hear other points of view," Leary said of the series. “By fostering a better understanding of each other, we help create a thriving community for all, and that is the vision for this program.”
Each show is one hour in duration. The Feb. 10 program’s military focus will also include information about the Pensacola Monument to Women Veterans. Guests for that segment are Monument to Women Veterans’ CEO and founder, Michelle Caldwell and veterans Traci Solt, Denise Reyes, and Gideon Innis.
The segment on Gen. James will feature one of James’ children, Claude James, as well as PSC’s Rob Gregg, co-chair of the Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy Council and PSC Veterans Upward Bound director and Chris Dosev, chairman of the Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Jr. Memorial Foundation in Pensacola.
Another segment in the Feb. 10 debut will feature various veterans discussing 9/11 and their military experiences.
Leary said other guests are being booked, including some Pensacola celebrities, though she did not want to release their names yet.
“It’s going to be unpredictable and unlike any other show on WSRE," Leary said. “We want more voices to be heard. We want to expand our community and give everyone a voice.”
WSRE is a PBS member station licensed to Pensacola State College District Board of Trustees.
— Troy Moon
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Learn how you can support students like Nevaeh:
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