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Samuel F. Sandoval, Navajo Code Talker
Meeting community needs The JCCC food and beverage and chef apprenticeship associate of applied science degree programs both have been accredited for seven years by the American Culinary Federation. That is the maximum number of years possible. The reaccreditation team that visited JCCC in spring 2012 also included a member for chef apprenticeship, a different accreditation, which also received seven years’ accreditation. The American Culinary Federation began its accrediting program 25 years ago, and at the national convention in July, the JCCC program received recognition as one of three programs throughout the country that have been continuously accredited for all of the 25 years. The paramedic program at JCCC received a perfect score from its accrediting body, securing the program’s 25th year as an accredited program. The Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Sciences Services Professions listed no violations or areas of weakness in the 30-page document listing accreditation standards, and the accreditors who conducted the site visit commented often on the strengths of the program. In September 2012, Emporia State University signed an agreement that allows students to finish their JCCC degree while attending the university. In March 2013, JCCC signed a similar agreement with the University of Central Missouri. JCCC also has reverse transfer 20
agreements with Pittsburg State University and Kansas State University. Reverse transfer agreements allow JCCC students who transfer to the university with at least 45 credit hours to complete their remaining credit hours for an associate’s degree while taking classes at the four-year school. Essentially, the credit hours taken at the university count both for the four-year school and JCCC. The partnerships help students complete their community college degree (many of them are just shy of that degree when they transfer), and they help JCCC by improving the college’s completion rate. In October, JCCC received Kansas Campus Compact’s 2012 award for Outstanding Community and Campus Collaboration in recognition of significant, positive impact through sustained campus-community partnership for its Oral Health on Wheels mobile dental clinic project. The project was recognized for its innovative approach to student learning, public education, and service to the community at Johnson County Developmental Supports, the Johnson County Health Department and Center of Grace community outreach center. The premiere of The Heart of a Warrior, an hour-long documentary about the life of Navajo Code Talker Samuel F. Sandoval, was the centerpiece for JCCC’s week-long Veterans Day commemoration in November 2012.
Sandoval is one of the 70 remaining World War II veterans who developed a special code for military communication using the Navajo language as its base. JCCC staff members created the film; its world premiere was at the college. The hour-long documentary, shown as part of the Polsky Practical Personal Enrichment Series, included interviews with Sandoval recorded at JCCC and at his home on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. It also includes photos preserved by Sandoval’s wife, Malula, and re-enactments of historical events portrayed by the friends and family of Ed Smith, who works in JCCC’s Center for American Indian Studies, and other volunteers such as JCCC personnel and students from Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan. Paul Kyle, dean, student services and success, started the script’s story, and as it progressed, Ed Smith and Dr. Sean Daley, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Center for American Indian Studies, became co-writers. The video expertise came from Chris Horvat, senior videographer, and Barrett Beasley, video producer, at JCCC. JCCC and Ottawa University signed an agreement in December 2012 that allows JCCC students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Ottawa at a reduced cost. Ottawa began offering classes at JCCC in March 2013 that will lead to bachelor degrees in human services, healthcare management, business administration with a marketing concentration, and public administration with a management concentration.