What's Happening at Ranken Technical College

Summer STEM Academy for Teachers

Ranken Technical College is offering a week-long STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) summer institute designed to showcase opportunities in advanced technology. The focus of this institute is to give teachers for grades 6 - 12, counselors and administrators a chance to explore innovative solutions in areas such as environmental sustainability, automotive performance, information technology and precision machining.

Each morning, we will experience cutting edge technologies using state-of-the-art laboratory and industrial equipment, such as Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) and a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine. Over lunch, you will have an opportunity to meet current students, professors and leaders in the business community. In the afternoon, we will work through hands-on activities that can be integrated into the classroom curriculum to broaden the students’ appreciation for a high technology career.

Regardless of your specialty, this institute will expose you to tomorrow’s technology in a format not found in a traditional classroom setting.

Instructor: Michele Perrin is a local educator and a consultant for Vernier Software & Technology, specializing in STEM education. She has over 20 years of experience teaching engineering, physics, algebra and computers at the K12 and college level, and holds Masters degrees in both electrical and civil engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology and Kansas State University. She is the co-editor of four Vernier STEM project books, an advisor to the Missouri STEM consortia, and a referee for both the FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge robotics contests.

NSF ATE Pipeline Grant Opportunity: Teachers and administrators who attend this academy will receive a stipend of $100 per day (full week attendance required), a quality instructional experience, hands-on demonstrations from Ranken faculty, and supplemental take-home materials. This 40-hour workshop may be credited toward PD hours, pending approval from the participant’s home school. Lunch will be provided.

When: Monday through Friday, June 18-22, 2012, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Where: Ranken Technical College, 4431 Finney Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri

For more information, contact Barbara Bragg, S.T.E.M. Pathways Development Coordinator at (314) 286-4822 or bebragg@ranken.edu

2012 District Competition Results

On Friday, February 3, Ranken hosted the District competition for SkillsUSA. Approximately 140 competitors from local high schools and community colleges as well as visiting advisors attended. Thirty-nine of the 140 competitors were Ranken students.

The College will be sending all Ranken students who finished in first or second place in their competition to the

Missouri state competition scheduled for March 29 - March 31 at Linn State. For secondary competitors who placed, Ranken awarded scholarships of $500, $1,000 and $1,500. These students can continue to earn additional scholarships if they compete and place at the State and National levels.

Congratulations to everyone who participated and placed in this year’s SkillsUSA District Competition:

Architectural Drafting
Alexander Carter	1st place
Bryan Sohn	2nd place
Meghan Krato	3rd place
Automotive Refinishing
Shawn Brummet	1st place
Katie Beck	2nd place
Clay Williams	3rd place
Automotive Service
Josh Myers	1st place
Lucas Klinkhardt	2nd place
Carpentry
Ryan Faust	1st place
Joseph Len	2nd place
Cody Ritzell	3rd place
Collision Repair
Stephen Hayn	1st place
Ben McLean	2nd place
Rodney Fitzpatrick	3rd place
HVACR
Jeffrey Thompson	1st place
Chris Duwa	2nd place
Jacob Gianino	3rd place
Precision Machining
Robert Bindrim	1st place
Nick Moutrie	3rd place

CNC Milling
Matthew Warnecke	1st place
Jared Cheatham	2nd place
CNC Turning
Aaron Farrington	1st place
Andy Schaefer	2nd place
Automated Manufacturing
Blaine Mescher, Scott Martin and Ian Wille	1st place
Ghreg Wellmaker, Nick Goris and Jeremy Franklin	3rd place
Welding
Steve Spring	1st place
Carl Shepley	3rd place
Welding Fabrication
Jeff Pope, Robert Thompson and Tyler Doerr	1st place

Dual Enrollment Program is a 'Life Changer' for ESDT Student

In 2009, Ranken formed a partnership with the St. Louis Public School System (SLPS) and the Construction Career Center in which qualified students can begin attending classes at Ranken for college credit during their senior year of high school.

Students who qualify for the Dual Enrollment program do not have any out-of-pocket expenses and those who complete a semester of the program during high school are generally able to complete an Associate degree at Ranken in three semesters. The program started out only offering three programs but has now expanded to 10 eligible majors (Architecture, Automotive Collision Repair, Automotive Maintenance, Electrical Automation, Welding & Fabrication, Heating, Ventilation, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration, High-Performance Racing, Industrial Technology, Information Technology and Precision Machining).

The program was started with the intention of helping St. Louis City students get a jump start on college and their career but for one student, the program became much more; it was a life changer.

While attending the Construction Career Center, Bridgett Wings learned of the new Dual Enrollment program with Ranken and knew it was a great opportunity. Wings’ father, Orlando Franklin, graduated from Ranken’s Industrial Electricity program in 1997 and she always knew she wanted to follow in his footsteps and join the electrical trade. Wings began taking courses in the Electrical Systems Design Technology (ESDT) program at Ranken during her senior year in addition to her final high school courses. She graduated from the Construction Career Center in June 2011 with a 4.0GPA and was also named Valedictorian of her class.

"It was such a great feeling to be finishing high school and already have a head start on my college classes," said Wings.

"I have always loved a challenge and that’s what I saw this program as. That is also the reason I chose to go into the ESDT program. I asked around to try to figure out which of the Electrical programs to go into and everyone said that ESDT was the most challenging."

To prove that she was up to the challenge, Wings decided to take classes through the summer to get her degree on the fast track. In addition to taking a full schedule of classes, Wings also worked a full-time job at Wal-Mart where she worked the overnight shift. Only one year after graduating from high school, Wings will receive her Associate of Technology degree in ESDT from Ranken at the May 2012 Commencement Ceremony.

"My family has been my inspiration to do this," said Wings. "I love when I hear my little sisters say that they ‘want to go to college like Bridgett.’ I wanted to show them that it can be done and they can succeed at whatever they want to do."

 

Wings was recently invited, along with 15 of her classmates, to interview with Sargent & Lundy in Chicago, Ill. Sargent & Lundy provides comprehensive consulting, engineering, design, and analysis for electric power generation and power delivery projects worldwide. The company offered full -time technician positions to 10 of the students who interviewed, including Wings. At only 19 years old, Wings will have a college degree and will be relocating to Chicago to begin a very promising career.

"I am so excited to start this new chapter of my life," said Wings. "It is an amazing feeling to work really hard and have it pay off like this.

I hear a lot of other kids my age make excuses as to why they didn’t finish high school or go to college. I have faced a lot of hard times in my life. My family didn’t have a lot of money and I was on my own at 17 years old. It’s all about the path you chose to take and the challenges you chose to take on. No matter what life throws at you, it can be done and I have proven that."

Once she is settled in her new job at Sargent & Lundy, Wings plans to complete a bachelor’s degree followed by a master’s degree in Computer Science. Her ultimate goal is to earn a PhD in Secondary Education so that she can retire as a teacher.

Each year Ranken typically accepts 15-20 students into the Dual Enrollment program. To be eligible students must be in good academic standing at high school and have ACT scores of 17 or better in math and 13 or better in reading or satisfactory scores on Ranken’s placement test. For more information about the program, please contact Kevin Andert at
(314) 286-4833 or kgandert@ranken.edu.

 

Women In Technology Group Gets Lesson in Personal Finance, Credit

Ranken’s Women In Technology (WIT) group hosted a luncheon on Thursday, February 9 and invited guest speakers from the Clayton branch of Bancorp South.

Angie Finks, vice president for lending, and Eric Griffith, a personal banker, both attended the event and gave a presentation on credit reporting, financial goal setting and borrowing. Griffith covered the "4 C’s of Credit" that banks look at when deciding to loan you money. These include Character (signs of stability and reliability), Collateral (backing up a loan with personal property), Capacity (the likelihood that you can repay the loan plus interest) and Credit (the amount of credit you already have.)

Both speakers answered questions from the group and also gave helpful tips on how to deal with credit and borrowing. Some of these included:

DO check your credit report once a year to make sure all information is accurate. Everyone can get a free credit report by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.

DO NOT only pay the minimum payments month after month.

DO pay rent or mortgage payments on time every month

DO NOT open up credit cards in several different stores that offer you discounts or coupons.

DO open a credit card account, pay it off each month and remain with the company for an extended period of time. This helps your credit score

DO NOT open several credit card accounts and cancel them quickly. This shows short term credit and can affect your credit score negatively.

DO communicate with your lender if you know you are going to be late on your payment or are unable to make the payment due to unforeseen circumstances.

 

Campus Visitor

Photo: President Stan Shoun and Moore stop to visit with Architecture students Greg Merrell and Chris Schweiss about their current project.

Mattie Moore, United States Senator Claire McCaskill’s Deputy Director in St. Louis, visited Ranken on Wednesday, February 1. Moore wanted to visit in order to see first-hand how the College is helping create a qualified, high technology workforce for the St. Louis region. President Stan Shoun took Moore on a tour around campus to see various educational departments and talk with Ranken students.

Phi Theta Kappy Helping to Fight Illiteracy

The Phi Theta Kappa honor society is running a Better World Book Drive which started on February 1 and will go through May 11. If you have any textbooks you would like to donate, please drop them off in one of the boxes located in the Finney lobby, first floor of the Cook building, the Gray building or in the atrium of the Mary Ann Lee Technology Center. Books can also be dropped off in the office for Student Success in the Education wing.

Once the books are donated, a member of Phi Theta Kappa enters the ISBN numbers into the website to see which books can be donated. All other books are recycled.

Better World Books is a for-profit social enterprise that collects used books and sells them online to raise money for literacy initiatives worldwide. Better World Books primarily collects college level textbooks and academic books.

Please only donate college level textbooks. If you have any questions, please contact John Wood at jewood@ranken.edu or Jean Endres at jmendres@ranken.edu.

 

HVACR Campus Workshop

Mike Edwards, Jr. a 1990 HVAC alumnus will be featured in the next Alumni Entrepreneur Workshop on campus in the Gray 108/109 room Wednesday, February 8 at 11:30 a.m.  Mike is the owner of King Air Conditioning and Bush Refrigeration in Godfrey, Ill. 

Along with his wife, Karen, Mike started King Air after years as a service technician. Hear how Mike made decisions to move on, start his own business, and add a second.  Mike's son, Bret, works in the family business and is a student in HVACR.

This session is open to all students, faculty and alumni.  Join us!