Let’s all do the Barbecue!

Apr 16, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — Tickets are now on sale for the 64th annual NMC Barbecue, set for May 19 on main campus. The traditional spring “Picnic Under the Pines” will raise money for student scholarships and the new West Hall Innovation Center.

The Barbecue Board, a group of community volunteers and NMC employees, has pledged $9,000 this year into its existing endowed BBQ scholarship fund of $25,000 for NMC’s Commitment Scholars Program. With that program, NMC promises a college education with a scholarship that covers 60 credit hours to selected northern Michigan ninth graders who are first-generation students, show academic promise and potential, and have financial need.

The BBQ Board has also pledged an investment of $30,000 over the next 5 years to The West Hall Innovation Center, currently under construction. The multi-million dollar project will renovate and modernize the 50-year-old building to create a 54,000-square-foot, multi-story library and flexible learning space. It will incorporate innovative and transformative learning environments and multiple academic and simulation spaces.

“The NMC BBQ has a long and proud history of investing in the future of our region, whether it’s through the students themselves, or by creating the learning spaces they need to succeed,” said BBQ Board President Heather Jewell. “It’s exciting to know a $6 picnic meal can have such an incredible impact when we all join together to support our college.”

Advance tickets are $6 and available online now through My North Tickets at mynorthtickets.com/events/nmc-bbq-2019 with a $1.25 processing fee. Pre-sale tickets will also be available for $6 at all Oleson’s Food Stores, the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, the NMC Foundation, and many financial institutions. Tickets are $8 on Barbecue Day.

The late Gerald W. Oleson and his wife Frances, founders of Oleson’s Food Stores in Traverse City, started the annual fundraiser picnic in 1956. Oleson’s Food Stores continues to donate all the food. Several thousand people attend every year, raising more than $1.8 million for college scholarships, programs and equipment over the years.

The NMC BBQ is also a proud “friendraiser” for the college with nearly 500 community volunteers giving back to their community college. To help with the event sign up online or go to nmc.edu/bbq and click “Volunteer at the BBQ.”

In addition to the traditional menu of buffalo steakettes or hot dog, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and beverage and ice cream served from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. on May 19 , free live entertainment is provided throughout the day. Classroom displays and program exhibits offer the public a chance to see what’s going on at NMC. Children’s games and activities will also be provided. The Barbecue will once again strive toward zero-waste, with composting and recycling services available.

Release date: April 16, 2019

For more information:

Diana Fairbanks
Executive Director of Public Relations, Marketing & Communications
dfairbanks@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1019

Let’s all do the Barbecue! (And volunteer too!)

Apr 8, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

Tickets for the annual NMC Barbecue, set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 19 on main campus, are now on sale online and at the NMC Foundation office on main campus and at the Extended Education offices on the University Center campus.

Volunteers are also being sought to help put on the picnic under the pines, a spring tradition marking its 64th year. Sign up to volunteer here; most shifts are just two or three hours long and every volunteer gets a free commemorative t-shirt!

GLMA hosts open ship

Apr 4, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — The community is invited to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy’s open “ship” showcasing the training ship State of Michigan from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 13. The day will include:

• Guided tours of the T/S State of Michigan
• Interaction with current Maritime cadets
• An opportunity to learn more about the Maritime Academy and the maritime industry

Tours will begin at the pier security gate entrance on the north side of NMC’s Great Lakes campus, 715 E. Front St. Low-heel, closed-toe, soft-soled shoes are highly recommended. The event will occur rain or shine.

Release date: April 5, 2019

For more information:

Scott Fairbank
Great Lakes Maritime Academy
sfairbank@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1213

College launches Experiential Learning Institute

Apr 4, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College announced today it will launch a new institute devoted to experiential learning and community engagement. 

Experiential learning provides learners real world and hands-on opportunities preparing them for an ever-changing and diverse world. The purpose of experiential learning is to actively engage the learner through relevant and ongoing experience, critical problem solving and reflective practices. Learners who engage in experiential learning are more likely to persist through their college experience, graduate, and become lifelong, self-directed learners.

The Experiential Learning Institute is the next step in more formal college efforts to expand experiential learning college-wide, which began in 2016. It will collaborate with both on-campus and community stakeholders to engage students and the community, locally, nationally and globally. The Institute will connect the community and NMC by seeking creative partnerships, serving ongoing community needs, and preparing learners for future employment. 

Kristy McDonald, director, said, “Experiential learning is important because students grow not only in their intellectual capacity but also personally, professionally, and civically. They have a greater capacity for empathy and compassion in the way they see themselves and the world.”

McDonald and several other faculty and staff have earned certification from the Experiential Education Academy, part of the New Jersey-based National Society for Experiential Education.

Sharing his enthusiastic support for this new initiative, NMC President Timothy J. Nelson said, “I’m excited about the outcomes we will see as our students combine doing with learning.  The institute formalizes what many of our faculty and staff have done and embeds it through the college.”

Release date: April 4, 2019

For more information:

Kristy McDonald
Director, Experiential Learning Institute and Business Instructor
kmcdonald@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1059 

Success Story: Alumnus will share native Zimbabwe with Netflix audiences

Apr 3, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

April 3, 2019

Godwin Jabangwe says life’s put him in the right place at the right time, taking him from his native Zimbabwe to an NMC classroom to another in Grand Rapids to Los Angeles.

Now the former visual communications student-turned-screenwriter will bring that serendipity full circle, taking Netflix audiences back to Zimbabwe after closing a “monster” sale for his first feature film, Tunga, inspired by the mythology of the Shona culture in that African country.

“Even now, it doesn’t feel real. It’s so crazy and unexpected,” said Jabangwe, 35, who attended NMC from 2007-2010 and discovered screenwriting while working in the Beckett Building computer lab.

“That’s actually how I started writing. I would have eight-hour shifts,” he said. “You reached the end of the Internet.”

Jabangwe’s deal is the first to come out of Imagine Impact, a talent incubator founded by Hollywood heavyweights Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (below, right) and headed by Tyler Mitchell (below, left) in 2018.

“They bring in talented writers who are seeking a breakthrough,” Jabangwe said. He’d been working on the Tunga idea but joining the Impact class, which paired writers with mentors, allowed him to focus. The experience ended in February with a pitch day to potential buyers, which Jabangwe called both “very exciting” and “terrifying.” Netflix won Tunga in a four-way bidding war. (Watch video of Jabangwe celebrating his deal.)

Though he’s a long way from NMC, where he followed his older brother, Succeed, Jabangwe’s path from Traverse City is one of steady progress. He lived in the NMC apartments and took his first film class here. The college was small enough that he could adapt to the U.S., but big enough to allow him to dream.

“I’d always wanted to be in film somehow,” he said. “NMC allowed me to settle into life in the United States without getting too much of a culture shock.”

(Spring international student enrollment stands at 48 students. International students help achieve NMC’s strategic direction of ensuring learners are prepared for success in a global society and economy.)

Following NMC, Jabangwe earned a bachelor’s degree in film from Grand Valley State University. He aspired to UCLA’s prestigious screenwriting program, but didn’t think he could get in. Instead, he enrolled in a master’s degree program in computer science. He got his acceptance from UCLA during class one day.

“I just got up and packed my bags and walked out,” he said. “I packed up my little car and drove to LA.”

Jabangwe will now continue development of the Tunga script. There is no announced release date yet.