Big Little Hero Race registration now open

TRAVERSE CITY — The seventh annual Big Little Hero Race returns Saturday, April 23 to Northwestern Michigan College’s main campus with a theme of mentorship matters. An experiential learning project by students in a Professional Communications class, each donation for this event up to $5,000 will be matched by a local sponsor and benefit College for Kids Scholarships for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Every year the Big Little Hero Race team chooses a local hero to lead the fun run and recognize during the award ceremony. This year’s race will honor Great Lakes Potato Chip owner Chris Girrbach, who is three races into a mission to complete a triathlon in every state to raise awareness for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Great Lakes also will produce special edition packages of potato chips for the race.

“I wanted to do my part to help Bigs the best way I know how. Some kids get the short end of the stick, and Bigs makes a world of difference to those kids, so it’s the least I can do,” Girrbach said.

All races begin and finish near the West Hall Innovation building on NMC’s main campus. This event includes:

  • 1 mile fun run/walk: Free to participate & free cape for kids
  • 5K run/walk: $20 for students, $25 for adults
  • 10K run: $25 for students, $30 for adults
  • Virtual: $15 for all

Food, an inflatable obstacle course, live music by Drew Hale and an awards ceremony follow the race. Medals will be presented for:

  • Top three male/female finishers for both 5K and 10K
  • Best costume for male, female, child, group, and dog

The costume-encouraged Fun Run will begin at 9 a.m. and is followed by the 5K and 10K which simultaneously start at 9:30 a.m. Register before March 20 for early bird prices, and by April 3 to guarantee a free t-shirt.

To register, donate or for more information please visit biglittleherorace.com

Release date: March 9, 2022

For more information:

Kristy McDonald
NMC Instructor
kmcdonald@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1059

Angelika Diehl
Student media contact
(231) 360-4870
diehla@mail.nmc.edu

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE

Northwestern Michigan College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, height, weight, marital status or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. nmc.edu/non-discrimination

NMC Bookstore: Spring Break closure, Spring rental due date & Summer textbooks

The bookstore will be closed March 28–April 1 for Spring Break. We will reopen Monday, April 4.

Spring rentals are due back to the bookstore by Tuesday, May 10.

Summer textbooks will be available online and at the bookstore Monday, April 4. Stop by the store or check them out online at bookstore.nmc.edu. Looking to use financial aid for your books? Summer financial aid will be available April 25–June 28.

March is Disability Awareness Month

Originally established in 1987, Disability Awareness Month gives us a reason to raise awareness and celebrate the contributions of our friends and neighbors who are part of the disabled community.

Our own NMC librarians have curated a list of books and movies available to anyone wishing to learn more.

Stop by the display case located in the main entrance of Osterlin for additional book recommendations and more!

Travel on a Budget Workshop

Travel Workshop illustrationThinking about traveling for Spring Break and want some tips for a budget friendly adventure?

Get expert tips from world traveler Success Coach Marina on Tuesday, March 15 from 3–4 p.m. in West Hall Rm. 123 and leave with a plan and snacks for your journey!

Media Mentions for March 7, 2022

The following college events and stories have appeared in the media recently. We want to share your media involvement too. Please send information about your NMC-related interview or appearance to publicrelations@nmc.edu. If possible, please include a link to the piece and information about where and when it was used.

Please note access to some stories may be limited by paywalls set up by the media outlet. This includes the Traverse City Record-Eagle, which limits free clicks to five per month. You may also read Record-Eagle articles in the print edition at the NMC Library.

The Little College That Could: NMC Is The Key To Growing Our Local Talent Pipeline
Traverse City Business News, March 2022 Issue (more…)

IAF event to address populism, Germany’s new perspective and Russia’s war in Ukraine

IAF logoOn Thursday, March 17, at 6 p.m. the International Affairs Forum engages with Jeff Rathke, president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University, to discuss German and European reactions to the war in Ukraine, the rise of populism, and Germany’s new role.

Jeff RathkeRathke (left) served 24 years as a Foreign Service officer, dedicated primarily to U.S. relations with Europe. He was deputy chief of staff to the NATO Secretary General in Brussels. In Washington, he was deputy director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs. He was a Weinberg Fellow at Princeton University. He also served at U.S. embassies in Dublin, Moscow and Riga, which he helped open after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Join IAF on March 17 for a robust discussion moderated by John Zachman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern Michigan College. The virtual event will include public Q & A.

This program is free to current students and educators. There’s a $10 suggested donation for the general public.

Register here for this virtual event: tciaf.com/event-3-17-2022

COVID-19 post published in error

Good morning — A November 2020 post about COVID-19 restrictions was inadvertently republished this morning. It has been removed. We apologize for the error.

Holi Celebration!

Holi celebration illustrationWe are so excited to be celebrating Holi on campus this year!

We will start the day Wednesday, March 16 with a 1 p.m. Lunch & Learn where Sarah Montgomery-Richards will give a brief history and overview of the Hindu festival celebrating the start of spring while we enjoy some Indian food for lunch. Then at 1:30 p.m. we will move our celebration outside with the traditional color throwing! We will listen to Bollywood music, throw colors, and enjoy some time together as a community!

Join us for the whole event or stop in whenever you can! We cannot wait to celebrate with you!

If you are participating in color throwing, please make sure you wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty!

Kudos!

Kudos to Lisa Baldyga: Lisa has been hosting awesome events to prep our students for the career fair!

Kudos to Tracy Welch: Tracy has been supporting Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELOs) on campus like the career fair lunch and learns, LinkedIn Webinar and is always supporting student events!

Kudos to Amy Burns- Bailey: Amy applied for an EL grant to bring Chaim Shapiro, a Social Media Consultant specializing in LinkedIn to our campus and community. This was a wonderful source of information for our students, staff, faculty, and community members. Thank you for your leadership on this event!

Kudos to Dave Weaver for volunteering a 3-day weekend to travel to Michigan Tech in support of the NMC Motorsports Clubs Blizzard Baja competition event. Dave was instrumental in our successful 3rd place win. Thank You from all of us at the Automotive Tech Department and the Motorsports club.

Kudos to Jim Bensley, Alex Tank and Julie Doyal for their coordination and managing of the International Affairs Forum Academic WorldQuest competition last week. Twelve teams from six local high schools went head to head in this competition. It was the first time it has been held in person since the pandemic and the IAF group did a great job of pulling it all together.

Kudos to the Students of the Transmission class: I would like to thank all the students that worked Monday, February 28th so diligently on finding the source of my car’s issues. They all worked together along with James and Wayne in finding out that my transmission was not the issue, but an air filter and torn boots were creating the problems. This was a much cheaper and easier fix.


Experts suggest maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” increases positivity for yourself and for others. Please encourage your colleagues by submitting a KUDOS. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and are thinking of them!

Seeing Each Other as Human Again

Ratio Christi event slideA captivating lecture, “Seeing Each Other as Human Again” will be given by Abdu Murray at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 17 in Scholars Hall 109. You may have noticed that the world has become alarmingly polarized. From politics, to religion, to social issues, we have come to see those who disagree with us as the enemy and even less than human. Is there a better way to engage in dialogue without compromising our convictions? Can we engage in debate without hate? Abdu Murray offers ways forward from a Christian perspective.

Abdu is an international speaker and author on the intersections of the Christian and the questions of culture. He is the President of Embrace the Truth International and the author of several books including Saving Truth – Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World, Grand Central Question – Answering the Critical Concerns of the Major Worldviews, and his forthcoming More Than a White Man’s Religion – Why the Gospel Has Never Been Merely White, Male-Centered, or Just Another Religion. For most of his life, Abdu was a proud Muslim until a nine-year historical, philosophical, theological, and scientific investigation pointed him to the Christian faith.

Abdu has spoken to diverse international audiences and has participated in debates and dialogues across the globe. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.

Abdu lives in the Metro Detroit area with his wife, Nicole, and their three children.

This event is sponsored by Ratio Christi at NMC. For more information email nmc@ratiochristi.org or visit www.ratiochristi-nmc.com.

NMC Next T-Shirts & Swag Still Available!

NMC Next T-shirtsThank you to everyone who stopped by the Innovation Center Friday, Jan. 28 to pick up your NMC Next t-shirts! It was great to see so many of you!

If you couldn’t make it to the kickoff event, you can still get your free NMC Next swag. To make pick-up manageable, we will take requests by departments rather than individual requests. Please coordinate with your area manager on t-shirt sizes and quantities needed for your department. Area managers can submit a list of requests to Lisa Cooper at lcooper@nmc.edu, to finalize distribution details.

T-shirts are available in a more generous “unisize” crew neck cut in sizes Medium–XXXL. A slimmer V-neck “ladies” cut is also available in sizes Medium–XL. (If you’re unsure of which size, please size up.)