What's Happening at Ranken Technical College

Phi Theta Kappa Honors Student of the Month

Pictured: (back L-R) DeAndrae Brock, Kurtis Arens and Bryan Sohn. (Front L-R) Meghan Krato and Taryn Underwood

On Tuesday, February 26 Ranken’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) held their monthly meeting. The meeting included the introduction of the new officers for the 2013/2014 school year which include Meghan Krato as president, Bryan Sohn as vice president, Kurtis Arens as secretary and Taryn Underwood as the reserve officer. Krato discussed the benefits of being a member of PTK and reviewed the criteria and requirements of membership.

As part of a new incentive PTK will honor one student from a designated division as the "Student of the Month." The student is chosen based on the following criteria:

» Strong work ethic in classes

» Professionalism in looks and actions

» Willingness to help others

» GPA must be satisfactory or better

The division selected for February was Automotive and the student selected was Automotive Import Technology student, DeAndrae Brock. In addition to attending Ranken, Brock is also taking courses towards a manufacturing engineering degree through Southeast Missouri online. He also holds down jobs at Jiffy Lube and Pappas Toyota. In his spare time he loves "tinkering" with cars and adding to his hot wheels collection, which now includes over 400 mint condition cars still in the original packaging. He is also very talented musically and loves to play the baritone, trumpet, trombone, tuba and classic guitar. He previously served as the lead baritone for three years in the band at Southeast Missouri State University.

"DeAndrae is probably one of the hardest working, most polite, well-spoken individuals that I have ever met," said one of his instructors. Another teacher stated, "His work ethic is second-to-none and he always sets the example for his classmates. He strives to be the best at everything he does and has a passion for learning."

Next Entrepreur Workshop Scheduled

Bill Fennewald, Ranken INEET 1965 graduate is the next guest speaker for the Alumni Entrepreneur Workshop series scheduled for February 27 at 11:00 a.m. in the Staley Auditorium. Recognized as the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus, Bill started working with his father at Fennewald Pump LLC, became president/CEO and now, 50+ years later, is still an integral part of the business plan's success. 

Join Bill as he shares his work ethic, work skills and tips for building a successful business with family and for family.

Ranken Hosts District SkillsUSA Competition

Campus was bustling last Friday as Ranken acted as host of the East District SkillsUSA Championship. Guests, which included visiting competitors, judges and advisors from six area schools, started arriving early to prepare for the 14 contests that took place throughout the day. Out of the more than 150 contestants, 34 were Ranken students. Five Ranken students also competed at the Computer Science contests which were hosted at St. Louis Community College - Forest Park. Awards ceremonies for each of the competitions hosted at Ranken were held in the afternoon and results for Ranken students are posted below.

Competitors who finished in first or second place in their competition will move on to the Missouri state competition scheduled for April 4-6 at Linn State Technical College located in Linn, Mo. Ranken also provided scholarships to all high school students who placed in first, second or third in their contest. The College will continue to provide scholarships to those students who go on to place at the State and National levels.

February 1, 2013
RANKEN Contest Winners
CONTEST	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
Architectural Drafting
1st Place Postsecondary	Sohn	Bryan
2nd Place Postsecondary	Carter	Alex
3rd Place Postsecondary	Anderson	Mike
Automated Manufacturing   Technology
1st Place Postsecondary Team	Franklin	Jeremy
	Goris	Nick
	Wellmaker	Ghreg
2nd Place Postsecondary Team	Boldin	Alex
	Gallagher	Josh
	Winn	Vern
Automotive Refinishing   Technology
1st Place Postsecondary	Beck	Katie
2nd Place Postsecondary	Chesser	J.D.
3rd Place Postsecondary	Beck	Kyle
Automotive Service Technology
1st Place Postsecondary	Barlow	Matthew
2nd Place Postsecondary	Spaid	Jordan
3rd Place Postsecondary	Hoins	Brent
CNC Milling
1st Place Postsecondary	Thomas	Steven
2nd Place Postsecondary	Skow	Zachary
3rd Place Postsecondary	Kutrip	Brandon
CNC Turning
1st Place Postsecondary	Farrington	Aaron
2nd Place Postsecondary	Doty	Ben
Carpentry
1st Place Postsecondary	Ritzel	Cody
2nd Place Postsecondary	Brandt	Kurt
Collision   Repair Technology
1st Place Postsecondary	Williamson	Joshua
2nd Place Postsecondary	Salameh	Maged
3rd Place Postsecondary	Spikener	Jamarries
Computer   Maintenance Technology @ Forest Park
1st Place Postsecondary	Wehner	Daniel
2nd Place Postsecondary	Randolph	Eddie
Computer Programming @ Forest   Park
1st Place Postsecondary	Ampleman	Andrew
HVACR
1st Place Postsecondary	Canada	Matthew
Precision   Machining Technology
1st Place Postsecondary	Setchfield-Lenox	Nickolas
2nd Place Postsecondary	Bindrim	Robert
Web Design @ Forest Park
1st Place Postsecondary Team	Bangert	Kate
	Rauckman	Bryan
Welding
1st Place Postsecondary	Hobbs	Brendan
3rd Place Postsecondary	Hammack	Kevin
5th Place Postsecondary	Henderson	Justin
Welding Fabrication
1st Place Postsecondary Team	Conrad	Nicholas
	Monarch	Camron
	Wahl	Jeremy

Blues Discounts Available

Ticket purchases for 10 Blues home games are discounted for Ranken students, alumni and friends courtesy of the Blues organization. Follow this link  https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/go.htmI?l=EN&t=blues&o=6962936&g=549

Use RANKEN as the promo code to recieve tickets at a discounted price for 10 home games for tickets purchased online only. A small portion of your ticket price will be donated to the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund by the Blues organization. Taxes and handling fee will be assessed as usual.

Games available for discounts are:

Saturday, February 23 - Columbus

Friday, March 1 - Edmonton

Tuesday, March 12 - San Jose

Thursday, March 28 - Los Angeles

Sunday, April 14 - Chicago (11:30 a.m. televised)

Friday, April 19 - Dallas

Thursday, April 25  - Calgary

All games start at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Go Blues!

It’s time for RankCAN!

Every year, Ranken students and faculty are encouraged to participate in the RankCAN competition, which showcases their technical skills and creativity, as well as benefiting local food pantries. This year the them for RankCAN is “Company Logos.” Groups can choose any company logo to re-create using canned and boxed food, and two winners will be chosen – one based on overall design, the other based on number of food items collected (highest student-to-food ratio.) The use of technology from technical programs is strongly encouraged in sculptures. Faculty are encouraged to allow class time and resources for the can build, if possible.

All technical programs as well as student organizations are strongly encouraged to form a team. Winners will receive a dress down day, RankCAN T-shirts, and a pizza party. The faculty team advisor will win a $50 restaurant gift card at the restaurant of their choice. Voting will be done online through Ranken’s Facebook page. The food collected will benefit two local church food pantries, a community group, and Ranken students in need of food.

The official dates for RankCAN activities are:

• November 1 - December 3 - Food collection period
• November 5 - December 3 - RankCAN sculpture building period
• November 7th - Last day to register a team
• December 4 - Facebook voting begins
• December 7th @ 12:00 noon - Facebook voting ends.
• December 8th - Winners announced through email
• December 10 - Tear down sculptures & box up food for pantries


To enter, teams must register by Wednesday, November 7th.

Official rules:

• The use of technology will be accepted and encouraged in the displays. Unless the technology is meant to be visual, the devices installed for operation should be covered by food products.
• Sculptures must remain standing throughout judging.
• It is not necessary for all collected food items to be used in the sculptures.
• Food donation items can include any canned or boxed food item
• All labels and packaging must be intact (cannot be removed or altered for the contest) Packaging may be covered in another material (ex: construction paper, foil) but all covering must be removed prior to donation.
• Voting is open to the general public, students are encouraged to lobby their friends and family to “like” their sculpture’s photo on Ranken’s Facebook page.
• The photo with the most “likes” as of December 7th at noon will be the winner for design.
• When the winner is designated, the marketing office will contact their faculty adviser to determine the optimum date for a dress-down day, as well as t-shirt sizes for ordering.
• On the dress-down day, students must wear their RankCAN competition winner shirts.
• See LaTrina to be assigned a space for your sculpture building

LaTrina A. Rogers
Director of Residential Life
T (314) 286-4824
larogers@ranken.edu

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Discounted Blues Tickets Available

Ranken Blues fans can now purchase discounted Gold, Silver and Bronze level tickets for 10 season games thanks to the Blues and Ranken's Alumni Relations offices. 

Discounted tickets are available online only through Ticketmaster at this web site https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/go.htmI?l=EN&t=blues&o=6962936&g=549 using the code word RANKEN.

For each ticket purchased, a donation will be made to Ranken's Alumni Association Scholarship Fund by the Blues organization. This season give a gift of education by having fun with the Blues! Discounted tickets are available for these game nights only:

1. Tuesday, October 23 - Chicago
2. Saturday, November 17 - Nashville
3. Thursday, November 29 - Columbus
4. Wednesday, December 12 - Minnesota
5. Saturday, December 29 - Philadelphia
6. Sunday, January 13 - Montreal
7. Friday, January 18 - Vancouver
8. Sunday, February 10 - Detroit
9. Tuesday, March 12 - Edmonton
10. Thursday, March 28 - Los Angeles 

Anyone with questions should contact the Alumni Relations office (314) 286-4895. 

 

More Than 100 Students Make Walker Hall Home

Photo: Students moved back into Walker Hall last week.

 

Over the summer the Buildings and Grounds department installed kitchenettes in two of the two-bedroom apartments units, patched and repainted several rooms as well as the hallway walls and common areas. "Buildings and Grounds has done a great job of getting the building prepared for students to return," said Sutton. "We can’t thank them enough as well as John from ABBCO for always making sure the building looks great."

While just on campus a few days, the residents have been very busy with various activities and social gatherings. An orientation session was held for new residents which introduced the policies and procedures associated with residential life. LaTrina Rogers, hall manager, facilitated "Roommate Workshops" which gave residents the chance to learn the expectations of being a good roommate and to create a roommate contract that involves establishing rules for the room to make sure everyone is accountable and respectful. Wing meetings were also hosted by each of this semester’s resident assistants; Taryn Underwood, Roger Mudd and Kory Wagner.

Not only has Walker Hall taken a huge step toward reaching full capacity, but students who live further away are choosing Ranken for their secondary education since there is now the option of living on campus. Eight students from the Chicago area, one from Joplin, Mo. and one from Texas are now living in the dorms.

"In the past we were unable to recruit in these areas," said Mike Hawley, director of Admissions. "Now we have counselors in several outlying areas who are working hard to promote the College and Walker Hall. I think our promotion efforts last year which included bringing in chartered busses for mini-shadow-a-tech events as well as giving the option for potential students to stay the night prior to events really helped spread the word that Ranken is no longer a "commuter college." We plan to continue finding ways to promote dorm life and bringing in groups from areas in Missouri like Kansas City and Springfield as well as areas of Indiana and Kentucky."

On Monday, August 20 and Tuesday, August 21 Ranken students began moving back into Walker Hall to begin the fall 2012 semester. With 116 (67 new, 49 returning) students now living on campus, this is the fullest the now three-year old dormitory has been.

Ranken Students Bring Home Gold, Silver from SkillsUSA

Photo: Students and faculty prepare to head to Kansas City, Mo. for the National SkillsUSA competition.

On Saturday, June 23, ten of Ranken’s best and brightest students headed to the 48th SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference including the SkillsUSA Championships, a showcase of career and technical education students, held in Kansas City, Mo. More than 12,500 people, including students, teachers and business partners, participated in the week-long event. In order to qualify for the event, the students had to place first or second at the regional level and first at the state level.

The following students made the trip to the competition:

Automated Manufacturing Technology Team

Scott Martin

Blaine Mescher

Ian Willie

Automotive Refinishing Technology

Katie Beck

Automotive Service Technology

Josh Myers

Carpentry

Ryan Faust

CNC Milling Technology

Matthew Warnecke

Welding Fabrication Team

Tyler Doerr

Jeff Pope

Robert Thompson

During the event more than 5,400 outstanding career and technical education students competed hands-on in more than 94 different trade, technical and leadership fields.

Congratulations to Josh Meyers (Automotive Service) who won gold and Matt Warnecke (CNC Milling) who won silver! For his first place finish Meyers receives a trip to Bristol, Tennessee in August, where he will have the opportunity to work alongside David Star in the pit crew. His trip will also include a visit to Star Industries in Mooresville, North Carolina. He also received a prize package which includes a tool box from Snap-On, a tool cart from MAC Tools, diagnostic equipment from Caterpillar and Gates, a laptop from Toyota plus a year’s subscription to TIS, work shoes from Timberland, a $200 gift certificate from STX and a $50 gift certificate from Lowes.

"I feel so great about this win," said Meyers. "My hope is that it opens up some job opportunities for me in the racing industry. This whole experience sums up the reason I came to Ranken for my education."

Meyers is also now eligible to be chosen to compete at the World Skills competition which will be held in São Paulo, Brazil in August 2015. A committee will select contestants to send from the 2012 and 2013 first place finishers. In the meantime, contestants are expected to continue to work in their fields and have a winning resume which will be submitted at a later date to the selection committee.

Ranken’s admissions counselor for the Kansas City area Sandy Kremers attended the SkillsUSATECHSPO which is the largest trade show for technical education reaching an audience of more than 16,000 high school and college students, educators and administrators from training programs in technical, skilled and service occupations.

"SkillsUSA is an awesome event," said Kremers. "Its a great way for Ranken to get exposure and great experience for our students to compete against the best of the best in their fields."

Along with various information about the College, Kremers’ booth included motorcycles that were manufactured by PMT students.

Senior Celebration

Its that time of year where all seniors and faculty start counting the days in celebration of graduation. All December 2011, May 2012 and August 2012 seniors are eligible to walk in the May exercise held at the Chaifetz on the St. Louis University campus. To celebrate, seniors pick up their caps and gowns, have light refreshments, and are provided with information about the alumni association, continuing education, class rings, and Bachelor programs.

250 seniors participated in the celbration event. Class pictures were taken and attendance prizes awarded. Thanks to Herff Jones for providing a $25.00 gas card, a scrapbook portfolio, book and book bag. Other prizes include tickets donated by the Gateway Grizzlies, St. Louis Renaissance Faire tickets and alumni polo shirts and other alumni items.The day was all about seniors and good wishes for a bright future!

This year, veterans are being honored with red, white, and blue chords like the traditional chords for Magna, Summa and Cum Laude grade point averages. Thanks to other Ranken departments Career Services, Trio Services, BSAM, Lois Ingram's photography class and Herff Jones for joining in and making this day EXTRA special for the graduates!

Pictures of the event and class pictures will be posted on Flickr.

Another Year for Service Project

Ranken students, alumni and staff participated in Rebuilding Together (RT) working to upgrade a home on Euclid just West of the Ranken campus. Led by alumnus, Nick Wiltse (INT 2011) 30 volunteers painted, trimmed, cleaned and installed cabinets for two elderly women who met the guidelines for the Rebuilding Together project. 

Joining Team Ranken were members of a Christian fraternity fellowship group who assisted with a home in South City. Members of each group worked to fulfill scholarship and grant service hours or out of kindness to others. Through corporate sponsorship and private donations, 50 homes requiring over 1,200 volunteers were serviced in the St. Louis area. RT will hold two more service days in July and September.

Thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their Saturday to help in this project. We hope you will join us again next year!