Student Earns Seal of Biliteracy with Assistance from MPCC

The Valentine native has been honored with a Seal of Biliteracy, acknowledging that she is now proficient in Spanish as well as English.

The recognition comes after Springer took online Spanish classes through Mid-Plains Community College. She will now be able to communicate with a wider range of people – no matter where life takes her.

“I really like languages,” Springer said. “They are fascinating to me. Being bilingual is such an important skill to have because it provides so many opportunities.”

Springer began taking Spanish classes through Valentine High School as a sophomore and enjoyed them so much that, for a while, she considered becoming a translator. By her senior year, she was taking Spanish courses through MPCC as an independent study.

A whole new world has opened up for Elli Springer.

“Mid-Plains Community College is a great place for an education because the instruction is so individualized,” Springer said. “My instructor was really helpful. I could contact him anytime with questions, and he would answer them. He also provided me with a lot of online resources for things like pronunciations and verb conjugation. He made it easy to learn.” The Spanish classes through MPCC were separate from her high school course load, but Springer also completed dual credit classes through Mid-Plains. By the time her high school graduation rolled around, she had a total of 30 credit hours from MPCC, and 10 of those were in Spanish.

“That was a big cost savings for me,” Springer said. “I had been considering going out of state for college, but when I looked at those prices compared to MidPlains – MPCC just made sense. Not only did I save on tuition, “Regardless of and time down the road, but I also got what my future a great education because of the oneholds, I will on-one instruction.” benefit from the Springer earned a 4.0 GPA from both MPCC skills I acquired through Midand Valentine High School and graduated valedictorian. Plains.” “Regardless of what my future holds, I will benefit from the skills I acquired through Mid-Plains,” Springer said. “My grandma always said, ‘The more you can expand your mind, the better off you’ll be’.”

RIBBON CUT ON MPCC IMPERIAL CAMPUS EXPANSION

Students at the Mid-Plains Community College Imperial Campus are learning in a newly renovated facility that is better set up to meet area demands.

Since the campus opened at its current location in 2008, it has provided the Chase County region with both traditional and non-traditional classes, business and targeted industry trainings and a variety of avocational and recreational courses. A steady increase in full-time enrollment as well as additional partnerships with local businesses and industries resulted in a need to accommodate enhanced workforce training, state-of-the-art mobile equipment and advancements in distance learning technology. In the summer of 2020, ground broke on a 2,500-square-foot addition on the north end of the existing campus building. The addition consists of two new classrooms, a multipurpose community room, an office that doubles as a storm shelter, restrooms, a mechanical room and a storage room. In January, classes were moved into the new space so they could continue uninterrupted. The second phase of the expansion project began a month later. Crews remodeled the south end of the facility – overhauling the distance learning classroom, creating a testing room, adding a simulation lab to the health sciences classroom, updating the building entryway and implementing new furniture and equipment throughout. The expansion has provided more opportunities for additional enrollment in nursing, CPR and Emergency Medical Services. Not only is there increased class space for general education/transfer courses, but the multipurpose room can also be used for on-site, applied technology courses and new, hands-on learning opportunities. Those opportunities include everything from meetings and business trainings to children’s classes and community education workshops.

SPURGIN WINS KC LAUNCH BUSINESS COMPETITION

A Paxton woman is the winner of Keith County’s first KC Launch Business Competition.

MaKenzi Spurgin won $10,000 to assist her in starting MAK’s Party Express, a party bus that will provide transportation for groups, businesses and civic and sports organizations.

“I am an avid ‘Shark Tank’ viewer and was so excited for the opportunity that KC Launch provided,” Spurgin said. “I am over the moon excited that I won because all of the ideas were amazing. I am thrilled to bring the idea of MAK’s Party Express to life for Ogallala, Keith County and the surrounding area.”

The Mid-Plains Community College Ogallala Campus joined forces with Keith County Area Development to offer the KC Launch Business Competition. The contest was modeled after similar competitions MPCC has offered in McCook and Valentine.

The goal was to stimulate entrepreneurship and support business expansion. Winnings had to be used to establish or continue operations that would employ people in Keith County.

There were 10 entries in the competition.

The prize money was a combination of $5,000 contributed by Keith County Area Development and a $5,000 grant from the Keith County Foundation Fund. Approximately $2,500 worth of inkind donations were also received and awarded.

BROKEN BOW CAMPUS RECOGNIZED FOR 20 YEARS OF SERVICE

Mid-Plains Community College was honored by the Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce this year for 20 years of service to the community and surrounding area.

The MPCC Broken Bow Campus has seen a lot of progress over the past two decades. Mid-Plains had only been offering two to six classes per semester in Broken Bow and the surrounding communities prior to the establishment of a campus in 2001.

The “campus,” at that time, was essentially a 10-foot by 18-foot office MPCC rented in the back of the city library. Most instruction took place at the high school after regular school hours.

Over the course of a decade, demand grew to the point that more than 40 classes were being offered to approximately 200 students every semester.

Both college and city officials recognized the campus could no longer keep up with the community’s needs. On Nov. 5, 2010, ground broke on the new, larger facility that exists today.

By 2017, there was a need for expansion again. Another 3,500-square-feet of space was added to the south end of the shop to accommodate more classes and trainings for local businesses.

The annex led to dedicated space for welding and electrical classes - including a grinding room. That freed up the original shop space for automotive technology, small engine repair and other programs to be determined based on industry need.