Piedmont Technical College (PTC) has added one of the latest tools to help combat the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate the rapidly emerging workforce needs related to it. “We have a brand-new course that we are offering called Contact Tracing. It’s the first of its kind for South Carolina,” said Steve McDade, health care program manager in Continuing Education. “We worked very closely with DHEC (the state Department of Health and Environmental Control) in developing it.”
When the unthinkable happens, we struggle to find words, to make sense of the senseless. Following the brutal, racially motivated killing of his mother and eight other parishioners at Charleston’s Mother Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015, Chris Singleton tried hard to make peace with it and looked to some prominent thinkers for insight. While the tragedy will never make sense, Singleton eventually found inspiration in the words of Texas Pastor Charles Swindoll, whom he paraphrased in a powerful and inspiring presentation at Piedmont Technical College’s annual Black History Month Unity Feast, which convened virtually on Feb. 4.
Because she embraces technologies that are friendly and familiar to college-age students, Meredith Brown might be the Piedmont Technical College (PTC) instructor most likely to teach a lesson using an application like TikTok. And if outstanding course evaluations are any indicator, the psychology instructor’s students clearly adore her. You might say she speaks their language, and the engagement that results is just one reason Brown was selected to receive the top Faculty Member Award for 2020 from the SC Association of Technical College Commissioners (SCATCC). The announcement was made during a virtual awards ceremony on Jan. 26, 2021.
Last fall, we shadowed Early Care and Education major Caroline Falls as she navigated her student teaching field experience at Hodges Elementary School. Caroline, Program Director Claudia Edwards, and Supervising Teacher Kimber Burrell gave us unrestricted access throughout the term, which ended in December. Below is the final installment of the series, along with links to the previous...
Piedmont Technical College (PTC) tutor Ian Levine understands the students who seek academic help from him. He has been there. “I was a special education student from 4th grade up to college,” he said, having been diagnosed with dyscalculia, a condition likened to math dyslexia in which sufferers have difficulty with a variety of math-related tasks such as counting backwards and performing calculations. Thanks to a federal GEAR UP grant and partnership with Laurens School Districts 55 and 56, Levine is giving back through tutoring and mentorship.
When Tara Gonce, former nursing program director and current dean of health care at Piedmont Technical College (PTC), learned that her father was being admitted to the ICU and put on a ventilator for the treatment of his COVID-19 symptoms, the news came with an unanticipated silver lining and the best possible outcome. Over the ensuing 14 days last December, Gonce began to see some familiar faces...
Shandra Aiken Martin was the kind of school bus driver most parents would want their children to ride with. If they sneezed, she said “bless you” and offered a tissue. If they hung their head, she asked what was wrong and took the time to really listen. That kind and intuitive nature suited her well for work in the human services profession, so she took the plunge.
Legendary football great Roger Staubach once aptly noted: “There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” If that is so, then Piedmont Technical College (PTC) Financial Aid Counselor Deshawn Morgan is the king of the road indeed. The 42-year-old, two-time PTC alumnus, who has worked in financial aid at the college for more than a decade, recently was honored by his work peers with the 2020 Staff...
Using a hand-held controller, known as a “teach pendant” that somewhat resembles an artist’s palette, Andrew Tokarev deftly manipulates the robotic arm to execute his vision. The 20-year-old Piedmont Technical College (PTC) mechatronics technology student is developing skills that will transport him into a career spanning multiple mediums ― though not painting or sculpture ― that comprise electronic, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and other engineering systems to maximize manufacturing quality and productivity.
Piedmont Technical College held a virtual graduation for its fall term graduates on Dec. 17, 2020. The college used the occasion to also recognize all graduates over the past year who have foregone in-person graduations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The graduation was broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube.
"We believe that you deserve an education that's driven by your goals- an education designed from the ground up to prepare you for success."
