Electrical student, Philip Erzinger was recently awarded the James W. French / French Gerleman Scholarship.
This scholarship was set up In memory of French Gerleman’s former president, James W. French and is awarded to students enrolled in Ranken’s Electrical Automation Technology program.
Erzinger graduated from Valmeyer High School and is a second-year EAT student. He also serves as a student worker for the maintenance department on campus.
"We wanted to hold this event so that the donors could meet the recipients of their scholarship and see first-hand how their generosity is affecting lives," said Tony Pisciotta, Ranken’s director of institutional advancement More than 125 guests attended the event which began with a welcome message from Don Pohl, Ranken’s vice president for education. The guests then enjoyed lunch and had the opportunity to hear from three students who are benefiting from scholarships; Shauna Wollmershauser from High-Performance Racing Technology, Roger Mudd from Information Technology and Abdullah Matteuzzi from HVACR. All are second-year students who will graduate in May. Each speaker took the opportunity to thank all of the donors and spoke on how the funds are helping to benefit them personally. "Because of your contribution, I’ll leave this campus with confidence knowing I will be an asset, not just an employee," said Mudd during his remarks. Mudd talked about his personal Ranken journey which started two years ago while he was living in a homeless shelter downtown St. Louis. "With your help I have gone from a line at the soup kitchen to the line in a graduation ceremony and for that I am eternally grateful." The program ended with remarks from Ranken’s President, Stan Shoun who once again thanked all of the donors for their contributions and their dedication to the future workforce. "We are very excited to provide a venue in which sponsors can actually see and get to know the students that they have provided support for this past year," said Shoun. "We hope to continue this for years to come."
On Friday, March 23, Ranken’s Development office hosted a Scholarship Luncheon in the atrium of the Mary Ann Lee Technology Center. All scholarship donors and recipients were invited to attend the luncheon.
Scholarship recipient Roger Mudd (Information Technology) speaks to a group of donors, instructors and fellow scholarship recipients.
On Friday, March 23, Ranken’s Development office hosted a Scholarship Luncheon in the atrium of the Mary Ann Lee Technology Center. All scholarship donors and recipients were invited to attend the luncheon.
“We wanted to hold this event so that the donors could meet the recipients of their scholarship and see first-hand how their generosity is affecting lives,” said Tony Pisciotta, Ranken’s director of institutional advancement.
More than 125 guests attended the event, which began with a welcome message from Don Pohl, Ranken’s vice president for education. The guests then enjoyed lunch and had the opportunity to hear from three students who are benefiting from scholarships; Shauna Wollmershauser from High-Performance Racing Technology, Roger Mudd from Information Technology and Abdullah Matteuzzi from HVACR. All are second-year students who will graduate in May. Each speaker took the opportunity to thank all of the donors and spoke on how the funds are helping to benefit them personally.
“Because of your contribution, I’ll leave this campus with confidence knowing I will be an asset, not just an employee,” said Mudd during his remarks. Mudd talked about his personal Ranken journey which started two years ago while he was living in a homeless shelter downtown St. Louis.
“With your help I have gone from a line at the soup kitchen to the line in a graduation ceremony and for that I am eternally grateful.”
The program ended with remarks from Ranken’s President, Stan Shoun who once again thanked all of the donors for their contributions and their dedication to the future workforce.
“We are very excited to provide a venue in which sponsors can actually see and get to know the students that they have provided support for this past year,” said Shoun. “We hope to continue this for years to come."
Charlie Lutz, a Ranken Architecture program alumnus and designer at HOK, led the group on a comprehensive tour of the facilities. The students saw the corporate half of the floor as well as the production side with various departments including healthcare, planning, structural engineering and interiors ending across the street in their model development shop. The students were inspired by the speakers and grateful for the personal attention given to them. "Innovation is about the why, not the how or the what," said fourth-year Architecture student, Jacob Amador. "It’s about the passion and the drive that transpires into great ideas and its success resides in making others believe in its possibilities." HOK (formerly Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum) is a global architecture, interiors, engineering, planning and consulting firm. HOK is the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm and the "No. 1 role model for sustainable and high-performance design." HOK also is the second-largest interior design firm. As of 2011, the firm maintains more than 1,800 professional staff across a global network of 25 offices and is active in all major architectural specialties. Its senior leaders are located in several different locations across the world.
Photo: Rebecca Nolan of HOK led a group discussion about being a leader in a diverse industry.
The Architecture S-STEM students visited HOK on Wednesday, January 25, 2012. Brok Howard, BIM manager, discussed leadership and technology followed by Rebecca Nolan, vice president, who explained diversity and team work within the field of architecture. Nolan also spent time with the students discussing what it takes to be a leader in a changing industry.
The Metro Vocational-Technical Assistance Program (MVTAP) was started in 2004 with the intention to professionally advise and assist vocational-technical collision programs in the Metropolitan St. Louis Area. The program is currently made up of 20 members who are all associated with AASP-Missouri, local body shops, insurance companies or collision suppliers or vendors.
MVTAP strives to collect and distribute donations (such as scholarships) with the intention of raising the quality of education and training for students to better prepare them to enter the collision repair industry. MVTAP provides $6,000 in scholarships each year to students graduating from North and South Technical high schools and Lewis and Clark Career Center. The scholarships can be used at any post-secondary technical school but are matched if they choose to attend Ranken.
Pictured: Back row L-R: Ken Neuman (South Tech instructor); John Heltebrand (Ranken ACR instructor and division head); Mike Kuechler (Lewis & Clark instructor); Ron Reiling (AASP executive director); Ken Kohnen (Snelson Collision Repair) and Mark Bennick (North Tech instructor). Front L-R: Mike Croker (Automotive Technology, Inc.); Gene Slattery (Automotive Technology, Inc.): Katie Beck (ACR student) and Dan Shymanski (State Farm Insurance).
Along with providing scholarships, MVTAP offers support by providing financial assistance to Skills USA membership dues for students, assisting with the Regional SkillsUSA competition held at Ranken, sponsoring Ranken’s annual car show and serving on the high schools’ advisory boards to guide to programs with expertise in the industry and by suggesting equipment needs and curriculum. MVTAP host an annual Golf Tournament to help raise funds to support their program’s mission. On Tuesday, January 17, members of MVTAP meet in Ranken’s CARSTAR room located in the Rodenheiser building to discuss plans for 2012 and to present a $2,000 scholarship check to Katie Beck, an ACR student. Beck is a graduate of Lewis and Clark Career Center and is in her second semester in Ranken’s collision repair program. Beck was also awarded a $2,000 scholarship in August which was matched by Ranken and added to the scholarships she earned from the College for placing first in the Regional and State SkillsUSA competitions. "Katie was selected for one of the scholarships this year for many reasons," said Ron Reiling, executive director of Alliance of Automotive Service Providers and member of MVTAP. "She presented herself well and interviewed very well. After five minutes we knew this young lady was going some where in the collision business. She has great skills to go along with her great personality."
