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Giant Bistro offers Valentine's Day treats - order today!

Posted: Jan 26, 2018 by Patricia Gibson, Communications Director

Marion Regional Career Center's Culinary Arts students have a special offer for you for Valentine's Day: Order special treats to share (or to enjoy yourself)!

Your choices:

Red velvet cupcakes, $1 each
Chocolate covered strawberries, which come in sets of 5, $5 per set

>> Order deadline is Feb. 9. Call 664-9091 (the MRCC office) to place your order, or if you are collecting orders from a group (at your workplace or organization) you can click here to download a form to fill out and turn in by Feb. 9.

All items will be available for pickup at the Giant Bistro, 2201 S. Western Ave., on Feb. 14.

Local church group awards MLK scholarships to MHS students

Posted: Jan 23, 2018 by Patricia Gibson, Communications Director

Six Marion High School seniors got a boost to their post-high school education plans recently, as they were awarded $11,500 in scholarships during the annual Martin Luther King Scholarship Celebration.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarships, which have been given out by Marion Baptist Ministerial Alliance for about 30 years, are awarded to seniors in the area who are active in an alliance church and are excelling academically. This year's winners from Marion High School and their awards are :

LaShaunte Wallace: $3,000 scholarship; plans to study dental hygiene at Indiana University
Ta’Nyia Betts: $2,500 scholarship; plans to study business administration at Indiana University-Kokomo
Jacob Speikes: $2,500 scholarship; plans to study entrepreneurship at Indiana Wesleyan University
Stephen Johnson: $1,500 scholarship; plans to study anthropology at Indiana State University or Indiana University-Kokomo
Manual Davis: $1,000 scholarship; plans to study criminal justice at Central State University
Alexis Moore: $1,000 scholarship; plans to study criminal justice at Ivy Tech Community College

An Anderson High School senior also received a $1,500 scholarship.

The awards were presented during a celebration at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday, Jan. 21. This annual event honors the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., and also emphasizes the importance of education and celebrates local students’ successes.

Ivy Tech Community College's Marion Campus President Alex Huskey, who also serves as pastor at New New Bethany Church of God in Christ, also presented Ivy Tech Community College scholarships to two additional MHS seniors:

Jamie McFarland, who plans to study to be a surgical nurse
Erica Batchelor, who plans to study dentistry

At the awards ceremony, contributions to the MLK Scholarship fund were also recognized, including several from the member churches, along with thousands of dollars contributed by Indiana Wesleyan University and the Wal-Mart Distribution Center.

Congratulations to all of these students for their hard work and success. We wish them luck as they continue their education next year at their chosen colleges!

CSA, MCS will bring arts, literacy together next school year at Kendall

Posted: Jan 17, 2018 by Patricia Gibson, Communications Director

Kendall Elementary School will have an exciting new program next school year thanks to a partnership with the Marion Community School of the Arts!

The Community School of the Arts has been awarded a $10,000 Partnering Arts, Communities, and Education (PACE) grant from the Indiana Arts Commission for the program that will integrate arts and literacy education.

The Community School of the Arts, partnering with Marion Community Schools, collaborated with Director of Elementary Education Michele Smith to determine which individual school would best fit the program.

"We are excited about this opportunity to integrate arts and literacy," Smith said. "We are thankful for our many community partnerships, and in particular our wonderful relationship with CSA that allows us to provide enriching experiences for our students. One particularly exciting piece of this grant-funded program is that we will be able to track how literacy is improved through this arts integration."

Kendra Hoffert, artist teacher, Indiana Wesleyan University visiting assistant professor of music therapy, and Community School of the Arts faculty member, will lead the program within the classroom. She will partner with administrators and faculty at Kendall Elementary School to provide teacher development as well as weekly sessions with second grade students utilizing song, rhythm exercises, chants, rhymes, and movement to explore music and its benefits in developing early literacy skills.

“I love music and good stories,” Hoffert said. “To be able to combine two things I love while encouraging young people to discover the riches of these good gifts will be such an adventure. I'm so grateful to be part of this program and to see where our learning and discovery can take us.”

The PACE program was established during 2014 as an initiative to promote arts education and impact student growth and achievement. The program is intended to assist and enable elementary schools, artists, and arts organizations in establishing long-term, in-depth, and sustainable partnerships. Arts experiences occur at regular intervals throughout the entire school year, align with the academic curriculum, and are integrated into classroom literacy activities.

The Community School of the Arts, Marion Community Schools, and Hoffert, as resident artist teacher, will implement the program, developed with quality musicianship, intentional curriculum, and comprehensive collaboration. This program, having been made possible by funds appropriated from the Indiana Legislature in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts, will provide arts integration opportunities into the classroom, with a focus on literacy, and a goal to increase long-term partnerships and collaborations.

“The Community School of the Arts has a vision to ignite a community of potential through arts and creativity, and a mission to provide arts education and enrichment,” said Katie Morgan, executive director of the Community School of the Arts. “When we develop programming, these are at the core of who we are and what we do. The PACE program is a wonderful opportunity to further expand our outreach in music, and have a real, measurable impact in music, literacy, and most importantly, the lives of children in our community through the arts.”

The Community School of the Arts will represent Region 5 in this statewide program. The Indiana Regional Arts Partner representing Region 5 is the Community Foundation of Randolph County, and region liaison Stephanie Ward said of the recent award:

“The Community Foundation of Randolph County is very excited that the Marion Community School of the Arts has been selected to represent Region 5 in the PACE program. We are equally excited for the students at Kendall Elementary who will benefit from the music and literacy program.”

MRCC’s IT Academy to offer tech services to the community

Posted: Jan 10, 2018 by Patricia Gibson, Communications Director

Marion Regional Career Center’s Information Technology Academy is pleased to announce a partnership with Marion Public Library to offer technology assistance to the Marion community.

The MRCC Technical Assistance Center (TAC) will open on Thursday, Jan. 11. Student technology specialists will be available inside Marion Public Library on Thursdays and Fridays during the school year, from 9 to 11:15 a.m. and 12:30 to 2:45 p.m. (In the event of inclement weather, student technology specialists may not be available.)

“We’re committed to providing our students the opportunity to serve the communities in which they live and work, while at the same time providing students with the most up-to-date knowledge and skills so that they can pursue jobs that contribute to the economy,” said Travis Hueston, IT Academy instructor at Marion Regional Career Center. “Our partnership with Marion Public Library allows students to provide library patrons and community members with technical assistance and support on electronic devices such as computers, tablets, cellular phones, and printers, while at the same time earning high school and college credit through our dual credit agreement with Vincennes University.”

Students will also be on hand to provide instruction on using such equipment, as well as many software titles including Microsoft Office. The TAC also hopes to provide equipment repair and hardware services in the near future.

“One of MRCC’s goals is to offer every student an opportunity to earn real-life work experience. Partnering with Marion Public Library gives our IT students a chance to earn that experience, plus provide our community another place to receive help with their computer needs,” MRCC Director Mike Ripperger said.

Marion Regional Career Center’s Information Technology Academy is open to students from all participating schools in the county. Students who are interested should contact their counselor, or alternately reach out to Nate McNeely at MRCC, 765-664-9091, or email him at nmcneely@marion.k12.in.us.

YOU’RE INVITED: MCS art, music faculty plan special show (1/21)

Posted: Jan 09, 2018 by Patricia Gibson, Communications Director

Originally posted Dec. 8, 2017

Marion Community Schools invites you to an afternoon of music and art featuring our outstanding fine arts faculty.

Arts in Action, a concert and art show, is set for 3 p.m. Jan. 21, 2018, at the Walton Performing Arts Center at Marion High School. Admission is free, and this event is open to the public.

All eight MCS music teachers will be performing solos, and then will join for a combined piece at the end of the concert. MCS art teachers will have their own personal work out on display as people are going in to be seated for the concert.

We hope to see you there!