Butler Community College Foundation - Winter 2022 magazine

Foundation Board of Directors

Kevin Arnel • Eric Bird • John Blickenstaff

Dusty Buell • Aletra Chaney-Profit Carolyn Connell • Dan Davis Dr. Tom Estep • Evan Funk • Janice Jones Ryan Murry • Colin Parry • Betsy Redler Jay Stehley • Rod Young

Ex Officio

Dr. Kim Krull, President Forrest Rhodes, Trustee Liaison

Foundation Staff

Thomas E. Borrego, J.D. Vice President of Advancement 316.323.6729 | tborrego@butlercc.edu

Jennifer Green-Miracle

Director of Community Advancement & Corporate Relations 316.323.6338 | jgreenmiracl@butlercc.edu

Averie Nelson Director of Development & Scholarships 316.323.6737 | anelson5@butlercc.edu

Hayley Hobbs

Director of Donor Relations 316.323.6734 | hhobbs@butlercc.edu

Angie Friesen Accounting Officer 316.323.6733 | afriesen4@butlercc.edu

Trisha Walls Marketing Specialist 316.323.6355 | twalls@butlercc.edu

Gina Jacoby Executive Assistant 316.323.6731 | gjacoby@butlercc.edu

Feature Writer

Trisha Walls

The Butler Community College Foundation Magazine is published twice a year and maintains the copyright of the materials contained within these pages. All rights reserved. Please send comments and updates to Butler Community College Foundation, 901 S. Haverhill Road, El Dorado, KS 67042, by email to foundation@butlercc.edu, by phone at 316.323.6734, or by fax to 316.323.6750.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents

Message from Tom Borrego & Dr. Kim Krull

Family First “Killers of the Flower Moon” Author Presents at Butler

Culinary Arts Program Unveils New Facility

26th Butler Benefit Auction "Purple Reign"

Reaching New Heights Scholarship Dinner

Leaving a Legacy

Art Exhibit by Butler Fine Arts Faculty

Butler Theatre Professor Honored

President's Donor Dinner

Evergy Donates Mobile Trailer to Butler Community College

Butler County Donates Two Ambulances to College's EMS Program

Annual Sponsors

Notice of Nondiscrimination (Equal Opportunity Employment)

It is the policy of this organization to provide equal opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual preference, age, or disability.

As we head into the holiday season, there is so much to celebrate at Butler!

This year we built and opened our new Redler Institute of Culinary Arts. Our students are loving the new facility. Our benefactors, Scott & Betsy Redler visited the facility recently and Scott commented that the “students were excited and having fun learning.”

Staff and donors alike always enjoy our annual Reaching New Heights Scholarship Dinner. At the dinner, donors are matched up with students who have received scholarships. It’s a great opportunity for the students to meet their donors and share the impact their gift has on them. This year, one donor was so impressed with a student who had received her scholarship that she donated more to ensure the student received a scholarship again next semester!

Our annual President’s Donor Dinner is always a special evening where we recognize donors for their gifts in the last fiscal year, but this year we had the privilege of honoring donors Scott & Betsy Redler for their gift of more than $1 million, the largest gift given by an individual or couple the Foundation has ever received.

We are forever grateful to our alumni, donors, and friends who make the work we do possible. Without your support we could not help our students finish what they start and watch them achieve their dreams!

E. Borrego, J.D. Kim Krull, Ph.D. Vice President of Advancement President Butler Foundation Butler Community College

Thomas

Did you know people who plan ahead typically leave more for family after they are gone? When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. People who plan have identified their goals. They have established priorities. In doing so, they give themselves something to strive for and they make decisions with their plan in mind. With recent changes to the tax code, this is the perfect time to put your plan together or to update your plan.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” AUTHOR PRESENTS AT BUTLER

The Butler Community College Foundation and nearly 400 guests welcomed author David Grann to campus on the evening of September 14. His presentation was part of the Harold Smith Cultural Series.

Grann’s book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” is a true crime tale that unravels one of the most sinister crimes and racial injustices in American history. The Osage, after being driven onto a presumably worthless reservation in Oklahoma, discovered oil under their land and became the wealthiest people per capita in the world. Then, in the 1920s, they began to be mysteriously murdered. Grann documents how one of the most disturbing crimes in American history connects to Native Americans’ current fight to control their land and resources.

The film adaptation of the book, under the direction of Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is currently in post-production and scheduled to be released in May 2023. The film’s cast also includes such names as Robert De Niro, John Lithgow, and Jesse Plemons.

This event was made possible by the Harold Smith Cultural Series in partnership with Kansas Strong. The Reliant Bookstore of El Dorado had books available for purchase. The Harold Smith Cultural Series was established in 1998 through the estate of Harold Smith–a gift given to the Butler Foundation. Smith attended El Dorado High School and then El Dorado Junior College (now Butler Community College) before attending Northwestern University in Chicago in 1930. Mr. Smith’s vision was to create free, unique cultural opportunities for Butler County residents they may not otherwise experience.

Copyright © 2017 Crescendo Interactive, Inc. Used by permission.

 Grann gestures as he speaks to students in an afternoon presentation.

 Grann signs a copy of his book for a guest.

 Grann speaks to a full house in the Clifford/Stone Community Room on the El Dorado campus.

CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM

Unveils New Facility

The Butler Community College Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts in Andover. Groundbreaking and the name reveal for the facility took place on December 2, 2021.

Construction took place over the next eight months, an aggressive timeline considering all the material delays related to the pandemic. On April 29th, staff anxiously watched the television coverage of the Andover tornado until learning the partially completed building was intact and had suffered no damage even though it was very near the tornado’s path.

In early August a special appreciation gathering was held for donors to the project up to that point at Chester’s Chophouse and Wine Bar. Culinary students along with Chefs Luis Peña and Scott Peggie made a progressive appetizer meal served with wine pairings to showcase the program.

More than 100 people attended the facility’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, August 16. The new facility has two complete kitchens, flexible classroom and learning spaces, and an herb garden where students can gain hands-on experience growing herbs for cooking and baking.

& Luis Peña; Leah Renkema, culinary student; Mel Whiteside, dean of STEM.

The new Redler Institute of Culinary Arts facility was made possible with lead donations from Scott and Betsy Redler and Paul and Flavia Jackson. Additional funding came from private donations and the Butler Foundation.

The program also boasts a new food truck, with donations from Ben Arnold and Corporate Caterers in Wichita, Scott and Betsy Redler, and the Butler Foundation. The Grizzly Grub truck is not only a roving billboard and ambassador for the college, it also offers the chance for students to learn about the entrepreneurial nature of owning and using a food truck as

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Ray Connell with his daughter, Erin, at Chester's event.

 The facility’s name, Redler Institute of Culinary Arts, was revealed following the groundbreaking ceremony. Pictured left to right: Tom Borrego, vice president of advancement; Kim Krull, president; Paul Jackson; Scott & Betsy Redler; Chefs Alicia

a business. Farm to Fork and Professional Pastry Arts are also a large focus of the program.

“In real estate it’s location, location, location. For us at the Redler Institute it’s students, students, students,” said Scott Redler, co-founder and former COO of the fast-casual restaurant franchise, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers.

“We are going to change lives. I want to see one of the three of you open a restaurant,” he said turning to Butler Culinary students helping cater the event. To the laughter of the crowd he added, “I don’t care which it is, I’ll invest, I’ll write the check…because that is the reward we’re going to see with people coming out of this program, having the passion and

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learning the skills that never were available, especially at this cost point.”

From croissants and gelato to chocolates and oven pizza, under the tutelage of Chefs Luis and Alicia Peña, Redler Institute students will be exposed to passion for the industry and skillsets which will prepare them to work in any kitchen.

Hutton was the builder and architect of the building. A groundup build in eight months in an economy where supply chains are experiencing shortages was an aggressive, but necessary choice for the project.

In addition to culinary classes for Butler students, the facility has hosted private dinners and tours for school groups where students were able to make their own pizzas.

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Jodee Bradley, a Butler culinary graduate, poses by the sign dedicating the kitchen to her.

Chef Luis Peña and students prepare appetizers for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

 Jim & Beckie Graham, Pat Do, Brett & Leann Nickel at the Chester’s event.

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Scott Redler leads a toast to the opening of the new facility.

“When opportunities for our students like this are available, we want to ensure we do everything possible to make it a reality,” Tom Borrego, vice president of advancement at Butler Community College Foundation, said. “It is an honor to work with our donors and especially Scott and Betsy Redler and Paul Jackson to make this dream come true.”

BUTLER COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION

Chef Luis Peña helps students make personal pizzas as part of a visit by Holy Savior middle school students.

 Donors Gene & Yolanda Camarena pose by the Pastry Kitchen they supported.

Scott & Betsy Redler visit with Charlie & Marla Chandler.

Chef Scott Peggie and a culinary arts student work on appetizers for the open house.

Tom Borrego, Chef Luis Peña, Chef Alicia Peña, Betsy Redler, Scott Redler, Dr. Kim Krull

Culinary student Brandon Cross prepares a course for a private dinner.

BUTLER BENEFIT AUCTION "Purple Reign" 26th

The 26th annual Butler Benefit Auction is set for March 3, 2023. This year’s theme is Purple Reign.

Last year’s auction raised more than $270,000–breaking the record for money raised at this event. The virtual bidding for the silent auction last year was a huge success and will return this year. You can bid on silent auction items and give gifts of Pure Philanthropy virtually. If you are interested in participating in the auction in this way, please reach out to our staff and they will walk you through how to access the auction.

We are always looking for unique and valuable items for our event as well. If this interests you, or you would like information about purchasing a table or ticket to attend,

contact Jennifer Green-Miracle (Director of Community Advancement & Corporate Relations) at 316.323.6338 or jgreenmiracl@butlercc.edu

This year’s Honorary Chairs are Brady and Jaime Sharp–we are so grateful for their leadership! We look forward to seeing you as we celebrate our Purple Reign!

PURPLE REIGN BUTLER BENEFIT AUCTION

Scholarship DINNER REACHING NEW HEIGHTS REACHING HEIGHTS

The Reaching New Heights Scholarship Dinner took place in late September. This unique event brings together donors and the students who benefit from their generosity in the form of scholarships. Butler staff and administrators helped serve the meal so donors and students could have ample time to converse!

Sponsors for the event were Bank of America, Professional Engineering Consultants, Roberts Hutch-Line, Gravity::Works Architecture, and Regier Carr & Monroe, LLC.

 Butler’s head football coach, Brice Vignery, spoke at this year’s Scholarship Dinner.

Donor Kerry Bohon visits with Butler volleyball players M’Kenzee Nkansah and McKinnley Smart.

Dr. Kim Krull, president of Butler Community College, visits with Caris Mosier, recipient of Clifford W. Stone Performing Arts Presidential Gold Scholarship.

Approximately 175 people attended this year’s Scholarship Dinner.

 Donors Ken & Kerry Bohon and scholarship recipient Kayla Bennett are served by Valerie Haring, interim dean of fine arts and communication.  Dr. Jessica Ohman, associate vice president of student services, visits with students Joshua Seudass, Kimberly Dominguez, John Lawrenz, and Priscilla Torres.

Butler Fine Arts students Emma Doughty, Tyler Brackin, Bethanie Goldsmith, and Keaton Smith visit with donor Jo Hess.  Kyle & Mary Martha Good visit with Joyce & B.D. Parker.

Standing—Scholarship recipients Charles McClennahan and Brianna Acosta along with Shawn Lancelot and Tom Borrego. Seated—Dr. Larry Abraham, Suzanne Zerblis, and Hannah & Brice Vignery.

Patty Leffler, Tim & Emily Connell, and Tom Leffler visit after the program.

LEAVING A Legacy

Helping students achieve their dreams of a higher education as well as the ability to impact students for generations to come are often mentioned by Butler’s Circle of the Gold Society members as motivation for their decision to leave a planned gift to the Butler Foundation. Other reasons to give include experiences at Butler— whether they are personal experiences or a loved one’s experiences. Circle of the Gold Society members Dan and Anita Mills, Doug and Suzanne Coin, and Shirley Jackson, were all inspired to leave gifts to the Butler Foundation for these very reasons.

“We all have an estate,” says Tom Borrego, vice president of advancement at the Butler Foundation. “The property, investments, and other assets that you own at time of death, can all be given as planned gifts. Estate planning allows you to pass on your assets to the people or organizations you care about.”

DAN & ANITA MILLS

Anita Mills’ Butler story is similar to so many other nontraditional students. Anita started at Butler Community College in the education department because she wanted to be a teacher. “And then,” says Anita, “we got pregnant. I had complications and had to go on bed rest. I ended up having to drop out of school.”

“The next thing I know,” says Anita, “we had three kids and in the midst of all that, my mom had cancer. She fought it about 10 years and ended up passing away. I saw the incredible impact the nurses had in her life, so I figured out a way to go back to Butler, but in the nursing division.”

Anita graduated from Butler’s nursing program in 1991 and went on to get her bachelor’s and master’s in nursing, but she credits Butler the most because that is where she was able to take the national licensure exam and truly begin her career.

Anita was a first-generation college student. “I absolutely loved my Butler experience as a student and in the nursing program,” says Anita. “I really credit Butler for changing my life and my family’s life and providing a career for me for the last 31 years.”

Anita’s career journey began as a critical care nurse at Via Christi and then she transitioned to an administrative nursing role. Then, in 2002, Anita came back to Butler – this time as a teacher in the nursing program. She taught for nine years and then was named dean of the allied health division and she stayed in that role for seven years before returning to Ascension Via Christi as the national clinical professional development director for ambulatory care services.

“What is cool is that my original dream was to be a teacher,” says Anita. “Then I became a nurse. And then, I ended up teaching nurses. I got the best of both worlds.”

Because of her appreciation of what Butler contributed to her life, Anita and her husband, Dan, established a planned gift with the Butler Foundation.

“The process was very easy,” says Anita. “We discussed it with a financial planner and the Foundation made it easy. Our family knows about it and they are very supportive. I was in nursing school with three children under age 5 so as they grew, my children saw the importance of education.”

“I saw firsthand as an instructor and a dean how college changes people’s lives,” says Anita. “For some, who never thought they’d go to nursing school or college and to get into

 Dan & Anita Mills

such a competitive program that Butler has, it literally changed their lives. From a financial standpoint, the economic impact of getting a degree was incredible. So many students who are single parents or parents with young children struggle to just put food on the table. Community colleges, and Butler is one of the best, really impact the entire community as well as the livelihood of those who attend.”

“It’s important to give back if you can,” says Anita. “It’s like my minister says, ‘you don’t have to be rich to be generous, you just have to be generous to be generous.’ It’s not the amount, I give what I can and I know that is what is important.”

“It’s my way to give back in a small way and why we committed to a planned gift,” says Anita. “It’s just a matter of making sure your wishes are known. When you see something that is good, that is contributing to not only individuals, but also the community at large, it’s worthwhile and a reason to be a part of it.”

Those who have selected the Butler Community College Foundation to receive a planned gift are recognized in the Circle of the Gold Society. The Circle of the Gold Society was established in 2011 and has more than 65 members.

DOUG & SUZANNE COIN

For Suzanne Coin, and her husband Doug, Suzanne’s time as a student at Butler inspired them to give a planned gift to the Butler Foundation. “Without Butler I think I would have given up,” says Suzanne. “Butler gave me the confidence to move forward and without it I wouldn’t have been able to move on in my career.”

“My relationship with Butler started more than 40 years ago,” says Suzanne. “I had gone to one year of college out of high school and it wasn’t for me. I was employed at KG&E (Kansas Gas & Electric) and realized that if I didn’t get a degree I’d be stuck in the steno pool and be a secretary. Someone suggested looking into Butler. At the time, Butler had classes out at McConnell (Air Force Base), so I took a few classes out there and, lo and behold, I got good grades.”

Suzanne got her associate degree in business in 1990, going to school in the evenings because she had a full-time job. Suzanne and Doug were dating at the time and he totally supported her. She got her bachelor’s business degree at Friends University through their degree completion program.

“I can tell you this,” says Suzanne, “if Butler hadn’t been available to me as a young adult in that capacity at McConnell, I don’t think it would have been possible for me to get my degree.”

As part of her job at KG&E and then Evergy, Suzanne worked in community relations and El Dorado was one of her assigned areas. She joined the Butler Foundation Board of Directors and stayed with it after she retired, serving two three-year terms on the board. “Through that experience,” says Suzanne, “I got to hear from students and what a difference the scholarships made in their lives. It made me see how important it is to them.”

Suzanne and Doug worked with the Wichita Community Foundation to create a designated endowed fund that includes the Butler Foundation. “That makes us feel good to know that without a doubt, it will happen,” says Suzanne. “It made it very easy. I know there are a number of ways to give. Now we know that whatever happens, and whenever it happens, the organizations we feel strongly about will get support.”

Doug and Suzanne also started the Doug and Suzanne Coin Scholarship with the Butler Foundation. “Each year we get to go to the scholarship event where donors meet their scholarship recipients and that really personalizes it,” says Suzanne. “You get to see firsthand what your money does.”

 Doug & Suzanne Coin

“Doug and I don’t have children and so whenever that time happens that we aren’t here on earth, we need to have a plan for any money left,” says Suzanne. “So, we have done that.”

“I have always been brought up that giving back is important, I think it started with church and tithing,” adds Suzanne. “As a young person, I went to a Zig Ziglar seminar, and heard ‘You’ll get everything you want in life if you help other people get what they want.’ I’ve lived by that ever since.”

Planned gifts can be many things— gifts of stocks and bonds, gifts of real estate, gifts of retirement assets, gifts of cash or insurance, and gifts of business or mineral interests. The gifts can be through a bequest, an IRA rollover, beneficiary designation, annuities, or trusts. By engaging in planned giving, you may actually increase the wealth of your estate. Estate planning professionals can help designate planned gifts.

SHIRLEY JACKSON

Shirley Jackson’s brother, Frederic “Fritz” Buell, attended Butler Community College in 1949 and sang in Butler’s men’s quartet. After Fritz passed away, Shirley decided to honor him with a planned gift to the Butler Community College Foundation. “He thought Butler was a good place, and he liked kids, so I thought it would be a good place to give a lifetime gift,” says Shirley.

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Shirley and her brother were fifth-generation Augusta High School graduates—Fritz in the class of 1948 and Shirley in the class of 1953. In fact, Fritz has great-grandchildren in Augusta schools now. “After Butler, Fritz worked at Koch

Industries,” says Shirley. “He was a computer person. He got into computers when they first got popular.”

Shirley herself looked into attending Butler after she graduated high school, and went on a college visit. “At that time, the only scholarships really available for women were for teaching or nursing and I wasn’t interested in either of those careers.” Instead, Shirley started working as a bookkeeper and worked for several small oil companies in the Wichita area until she retired.

For the planned gift honoring Fritz, Shirley reached out to then-Foundation chief advancement officer Stacy Cofer to set it up. The gift honoring Fritz is a gift of stock. “I thought it was a way to give back and maybe help someone else get a good education,” says Shirley.

In addition to the planned gift honoring Fritz, Shirley has an additional planned gift in honor of her mother, Viola Jackson. She has also established a scholarship in her own name.

“I hope other people think about giving and helping someone else along the way,” says Shirley. “Giving is not like it used to be, people don’t think like that anymore.”

“If your estate includes support for the charitable institutions you value, creating an estate plan becomes imperative. Reach out to your estate planning professional and charitable organization for information on how to create your legacy,” says Borrego.

If you have questions about planned giving, or are ready to make a gift, please visit our website at butlercc.giftlegacy.com or call Tom Borrego, Vice President of Advancement, at 316-323-6729.

A photo from the 1949 Grizzly Growl yearbook shows Fritz, second from right, singing with the Butler Men's Quartet.

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Frederic "Fritz" Buell  Shirley Jackson

ART EXHIBIT BY Butler Fine Arts Faculty

The Reuben Sanders Gallery hosted a couple’s exhibit featuring art by Valerie HaringOehm and John Oehm in September.

The exhibit consisted of mixed media photo collages by HaringOehm, Interim Dean of Fine Arts and Communication, and oil-painted portraits by Oehm, retired Butler art faculty member.

Haring-Oehm grew up near El Dorado and earned her associate degree from Butler Community College, her bachelor’s in art education from Emporia State University, and her master’s in art education from Wichita State University.

Haring-Oehm’s art education is rooted in naturalism and traditional materials. “Drawing from observation is like an exhilarating physical workout when one relies on muscle memory to carry one to the finish line. Working nonrepresentationally, or conceptually, is like hiking into unknown territory; looking for something to latch onto and transform,” says Haring-Oehm.

Oehm grew up in Nebraska and earned his undergraduate degree in painting from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and his master’s in painting from Wichita State University. “My work reflects a lifelong interest in a tradition of figure and portrait painting that includes the likes of Rembrandt, Titian, Alberto Giacometti, Lucian Freud, and Jenny Saville. Each of these painters demonstrates a fascination with the illusion of forms in light and space. If it were possible, I would only paint from life,” says Oehm.

BUTLER THEATRE Professor Honored

Long-time professor of theatre at Butler Community College, Bob Peterson received the 2021–2022 Mary Jane Teall Best Actor Award for his performance in “The Father.” The production was produced by the Guild Hall Players and was directed by Butler’s Dean of Academic Support Services, Phil Speary.

The Mary Jane Teall Awards, which were established in 1995, are named after Mary Jane Teall who founded Wichita Community Theatre. A volunteer committee of actors, technical staff, and community members choose the winners.

Congratulations Bob!

Portrait by John Oehm

President's Donor DINNER

The President’s Donor Dinner is held annually to honor and recognize individuals, couples, and businesses who have reached a new giving level based on their prior fiscal year giving. Nearly 200 people attended this year’s event on November 3rd.

Hayden Jansen, the 2022 recipient of the Fran Jabara Presidential Business Scholarship, was the student speaker. “Because of Butler, I had the luxury of experiencing rich moments outside of the classroom that contributed to my college experience,” said Jansen. “While I stayed busy, my time was spent as a Butler Headliner, SmorgasChord, Phi Theta Kappa member, and student worker for the Butler Service Desk. Each of these benefited me in multiple ways, and I wouldn’t have had time for most of these activities if it weren’t for the scholarships I received from gracious donors like you.”

Sponsors for this year’s event were Bank of America, Premier Food Service, Commerce Bank, and INTRUST Bank.

 2022 Fran Jabara Presidential Business Scholarship recipient, Hayden Jansen, shared a message of gratitude during the event.

 Scott & Betsy Redler were honored for reaching the Hubbard Society level of lifetime giving. Hubbard Society members have given lifetime gifts totaling $1 million or more. The Redlers were the lead donors for the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts.

Dave & Sandy Adams were recognized as Trustee Society lifetime givers with lifetime gifts totaling $50,000 or more.

 Shawn Lancelot accepts Bank of America Foundation's award for reaching the Cornerstone Society level of lifetime giving with gifts totaling $100,000 or more.

 2022 Diamond Society Inductees: Dave Black from Truck Center Companies, D.J. & Lisa Schmidt, Melody Hogeboom from Assured Occupational Solutions, Andy Buessing from Hutton, Kristi & Dennis Whiteside, Debi Devor-Mullins and Eric Brown from White Eagle Credit Union, Nici Duncan from High Touch Technologies, Elsie & Gerald Haines.

 Butler vocal groups serenaded the guests as they arrived.

 James Nastars, president of Meritrust Credit Union, accepts Meritrust’s Trustee Society award. Meritrust is a long-time supporter of Advance Kansas and gave generously to their Andover neighbors, the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts.

 Mike Clifton was recognized for 20 years of service to the Foundation Board of Directors.

 Chris & Kris Semisch received the Dr. Larry and Judy Abraham Grizzlybacker of the Year award. Pictured, left to right: Chris & Kris Semisch; Dr. Larry Abraham; Todd Carter, Butler athletics director; Dr. Kim Krull, president.

College president, Dr. Kim Krull was recognized for reaching the Cornerstone Society level of lifetime giving.

Dennis & Pat Perry accept their award for reaching the Trustee Society level of lifetime giving.

 Scott & Betsy Redler received the President's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser. Pictured: Dr. Kim Krull, president; Scott and Betsy Redler; and Evan Funk, Foundation Board president.

Lance Hayes, retired Butler mass communications professor, was honored for reaching the Trustee Society level of lifetime giving.

Gene & Yolanda Camarena were recognized for reaching the Cornerstone Society level of lifetime giving, with gifts totaling $100,000 or more. The Camarenas started the Adelante Scholarship program between Butler and the Kansas Hispanic Education and Development Foundation.

EVERGY DONATES MOBILE TRAILER TO BUTLER COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Butler Community College recently received a donation of a mobile trailer via Evergy, an American investor-owned utility company, with headquarters in Topeka and Kansas City.

The trailer has been transformed into the Butler Promotional Trailer. Tyler Nordman, associate athletic director at Butler Community College, designed the trailer. He wanted to showcase what Butler has to offer and include students in the graphics.

Throughout the school year, the trailer will make appearances at parades, serve as a live broadcast station at athletic events, and be in use as a mobile enrollment center in the area to reach more students at an increased convenience to them.

BUTLER COUNTY DONATES TWO AMBULANCES TO COLLEGE’S EMS PROGRAM

In mid-September, Frank Williams, chief of Butler County EMS, and Scott Stueven, deputy chief, handed over the titles to two 2015 ambulances to Evan Seiwert, chair of EMS and fire science at Butler Community College. While Butler has utilized ambulances for training in the past, the program has never enjoyed equipment of this caliber. These two modern ambulances will provide students in the program with realistic training exercises and practice.

“This is a big day for us,” said Williams, “We’ve been fortunate enough to have a long relationship with Butler Community College Fire and EMS. It’s a great benefit to students and to the County so we can keep these ambulances available for use in the county.”

Williams, a Butler alum, added that if there were a big disaster, this equipment will remain available to the county to supplement response resources.

“It’s neighbors taking care of neighbors,” Williams added.

 Scott Stueven with Butler County EMS presents titles to two ambulances to Evan Seiwert from Butler’s EMS program.

Fire & EMS Education will utilize these ambulances to stage mock calls in Emergency Medical Technician courses. Students will be dispatched to a simulated call and proceed to treat and transport a simulated patient as if it was an actual situation.

J'Angelo Herbert, an Abilene sophomore in Butler's Fire Science program said, "This is definitely a step up for the program," adding he is excited about gaining this hands-on exposure before he graduates in May, "We're getting ready for the real-world experiences. It’s putting us into an ambulance experience really for the first time."

 Butler trailer at Independence to broadcast a football game.

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 181 Parsons, KS

901 S. Haverhill Road El Dorado, KS 67042 http://foundation.butlercc.edu

Butler Community College Foundation Partners

Sponsors and business partners are a vital component of the Butler Foundation's success. For more information, please contact Jennifer Green-Miracle at 316.323.6338 or jgreenmiracl@butlercc.edu.