Thursday, December 15, 2016
The County Times
Education
13
CSM Launches $10 Mil Campaign School Board Allows Use of Great Mills H/S Land for Playground Melissa Chambers of White Plains was all smiles as she leaned over the table to write out her donation to the College of Southern Maryland Foundation on Impact Tuesday, Nov. 29, at CSM’s La Plata Campus. “CSM made such a difference in my life, and I just want to make a difference in someone else’s life,” Chambers, a 2011 grad and current CSM employee, said. “I’m very appreciative of my time here.” Chambers was one of 271 donors who responded to the CSM Foundation’s public launch of its $10-million “Make An Impact” campaign, celebrated at all three campuses on CSM’s fifth annual observation of Giving Tuesday. The public launch garnered $70,152 in donations, which was nearly double the $36,424 raised last year from 163 donors. The campaign, “Make An Impact: Invest Today to Transform Tomorrow,” aims to raise $10 million by 2018, when the college will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The campaign will benefit three areas — scholarships, programs/facilities and entrepreneur partnerships. “I can’t believe the amazing results from Impact Tuesday,” said Nancy Hempstead, first vice chair of the CSM Foundation Board. “We far exceeded our goals. What a great beginning as we embark on the public launch of our $10 million campaign. I am so proud to be part of the CSM Foundation Board and the community in which we serve. This is a true testament to the partnerships that exist between our students, faculty, employees, local businesses and others in our community.” Traditionally, Giving Tuesday follows Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday as an opportunity to emphasize philanthropy after those days of frenzied consumerism. This year’s Giving Tuesday included celebrations held at each campus, at which CSM Foundation directors, college employees and students assisted in the Nov. 29 public launch of the campaign. Donations made during CSM’s 24-hour online Giving Tuesday event of Impact Tuesday were directed to several initiatives to inspire, influence or innovate in the community, including scholarships to help students afford degree programs and career and trades programs as well as support for the arts, athletics, the St. Charles Children’s Learning Center at CSM, the Center for Trades and Energy Training, Entrepreneur and Innovation Institute, and STEM. More than a dozen students who have benefited from scholarships, one of the areas designated for the donated funds, attended the campus celebrations, including Bradley Bears of Waldorf, a second-year accounting student at CSM, who said he supported the campaign so as “to help the people coming [to CSM] after me.” “I wanted to help people out the way they helped me,” said Michelle Collins of Waldorf, a current CSM nursing student who has received scholarship assistance and also worked as a volunteer with Bears. Beyond collecting donations, CSM Development Director Chelsea Brown explained the Giving Tuesday goal was to involve at least 200 donors in the Nov. 29 event, and it was designed to encourage even very small donations, so that every member of the community could invest in the campaign. For example, two current students, Victoria Wheeler and Kevonna Dunnington, both of Waldorf, stopped by the La Plata Campus celebration just to in-
vestigate the festivities but after learning about the campaign’s goals and that even small donations were welcome and could make a difference, they both pulled out a few dollars to donate toward the cause. Linda Cox, a director with the CSM Foundation and a member of the first graduating class at the current La Plata Campus, along with her niece and CSM alumna, Lisa Case, helped staff the event and promoted the Cox Family Memorial Endowed Scholarship, one of many matching scholarship funds participating in the drive. The Cox family scholarship was started in 1991 initially in honor of Linda’s mother-in-law and later her husband, Donald; Lisa’s mother, Marilyn; and a brother-in-law, John Cox. “The college has always been part of our lives,” Cox said. She said she wants to support its new initiatives and its continued growth in the community. For others, the opportunity to donate toward a specific scholarship motivated their involvement in the “Make An Impact” campaign launch. Susan Strickland, who has taught math at the Leonardtown Campus since 2001, chose to donate $1,000 toward the Charles Walsh Memorial Scholarship. Strickland had a long association with Walsh, who had a 50-year teaching career in St. Mary’s County that spanned three to four generations of families. He started at the college as an adjunct professor in 1983 teaching math and chemistry and then became an associate professor in 2003 until his retirement in 2015. He passed away in April 2016. “It means a lot to me to be able to contribute to a scholarship in Charlie’s name,” Strickland said. “Charlie spent his entire life involved in education, whether as a teacher, an administrator or as a professor at CSM … He would be deeply humbled at having a scholarship in his name, but knowing that the money could benefit a student who might not otherwise be able to enroll at CSM would mean the world to him.” Walsh’s daughter, Dr. Kathleen Walsh, who helped establish the memorial scholarship to honor her father, said in an email, “It was so touching to see that so many folks donated in such a short time and even several colleagues saw and donated after Giving Tuesday. Since his death, I have heard from countless former students, colleagues, friends, family members and the community about the difference Dad made. We want to continue that legacy.” Even before Impact Tuesday, through the CSM Foundation’s early efforts and with support from CSM’s closest supporters, more than $7 million toward the $10 million goal have been raised. All funds raised in the ongoing campaign will go toward three initiatives designed to help the college grow and maintain its affordable, high-quality programs for the future. The $10 million campaign will provide funding to: Inspire: Scholarships with a Purpose with a goal of $5 million; Influence: Transformative Programs, Technology and Facilities with a goal of $3 million; and Innovate: CSM Entrepreneur, Innovation and Partnerships with a goal of $2 million. Each dollar contributed during the campaign will be used to assist CSM in its goal to transform the future of Southern Maryland through higher education. From College of Southern Maryland
By Dick Myers
Staff Writer
The St. Mary’s County Board of Education has approved an agreement allowing the use of almost an acre of land at Great Mills High School for a community playground. The property is adjacent to Patuxent Woods Apartments, managed by the Housing Authority of St. Mary’s County (HASMC). The agreement also allows for a temporary 40,166-square-foot construction easement to reach the site and work on it to establish the playfield. According to a memo supplied to the school board the property in question is currently not being used by the high school. Regarding the residents of Patuxent Woods Apartments, the memo says, “Currently, these families do not have access to this type of a space for playing ball, soccer, etc. “ The proposal was questioned by board member Rita Weaver, who wondered whether the school system would be liable for any accidents at the field. Board member Cathy Allen had the same questions. But HASMC Executive Director Dennis Nichols assured the board that their insurance carrier had assured them that their policy would cover any accidents. The agreement signed by the board also has a holdharmless provision for the school board.
Director of Capital Planning Kimberly Howe said if here were problems with the playfield, the school board could always rescind the agreement. She said if the agreement was rescinded the improvements made could be useful to the school system. Howe said since the land was still owned by the school system and was within a drug free zone any smoking or drug activity would be strictly prohibited. Howe said similar agreements are in place for use of other school grounds for recreational activities. Nicholson said that the renovation of Patuxent Woods Apartments had been achieved with grant monies, but the $30,000 earmarked for the playfield would come out of either HASMC operating or capital funds. Board member Mary Washington strongly supported the proposal. “I think this is wonderful for the school system to partner,” she said Formerly under St. Mary’s County Government, HASMC is now an independent agency with a private board. The school board’s decision was unanimous to proceed with the agreement with HASMC. dickmyers@countytimes.net
CSM Offers First Course in Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems A groundbreaking class being offered for the first time next month at the College of Southern Maryland could help you be among the first pilots in Southern Maryland certified to use drones commercially. Students will come away from the course with their own drone and the necessary software, along with the skills to use it. CSM’s two-week, 18-hour “Introduction to Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS)” course (AVN-5000) instructs both hobbyists and professionals how to fly drones safely and legally, prepare for the FAA certification test and access new opportunities. As of August 2016, FAA pilot certification is required of anyone operating a drone for business purposes. The first course will be offered at the La Plata Campus beginning Jan. 31. A future offering is being scheduled at the Leonardtown Campus later in the spring. While many may consider sUAS or drones as merely the newest in remote control airplanes and a cool tool for aerial videos, this course will show that drones pose the biggest opportunity for commercial use. Industries like agriculture, construction, insurance, public safety as well as small and entrepreneurial businesses will realize tremendous economic benefit from using this new technology. In fact, the use of drones is projected to be a game-changing technology for many areas of the workforce. “There are so many opportunities that are just now being realized,” Joel Kinison, the CSM course instructor said. The course’s hands-on Knowledge-to-Action courseware, which was tested and vetted by the State University of New York, will offer insight into the many business and employment oppor-
tunities created by drones. Kinison said he is particularly interested in seeing first responders (search & rescue workers) take the course and see how the technology could assist in their work. Kinison notes that the training will be intense because he will be preparing both professionals and hobbyists for the FAA Airman Certificate with a sUAS rating, which is required for pilots to fly commercially. “For those new to flying we will log time using flight simulator software and flying drones in a controlled space, which will prepare operators to operate in more challenging environments,” he said. Topics covered in the course will include flying multi-rotor and fixed-wing drones, indoor flight training, diverse flight systems, maintenance, registration and certification requirements, safety, insurance, industry applications, featured systems (DJI, 3DRobotics, etc.), emerging technologies and the latest FAA policies. The course includes a workbook, a quadcopter with camera and computer flight simulator with radio controller. Each student will participate in a Top Gun piloting competition and receive a training certificate upon completion of the course. The course was developed by CSM in partnership with SkyOps, a technology transfer company that creates training experiences that prepare the American workforce for new jobs and business models created by emerging technology. This partnership between the college and SkyOps allows CSM to lead innovation in the region by offering a nationally recognized curriculum, according to Mosser. From The College of Southern Maryland