dragon's tale - fall 2011 issue
DESCRIPTION
This is a student magazine put together by students for students. The topics covered are all college-related events/students/faculty.TRANSCRIPT
Motorcycle Safety education
Blue Dragons From Around the World - International Students
Learning Outside the Class - Student Internships
It’s Not Just Farmville - HCC Crops Team
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Dragon’s Tale StaffDragon’s Tale Staff
These are the Dragon’s Tale staff members for the 2011 fall issue:Top left: Hannah Arthur, Susana Acosta, Morgan Oriet, Rachel WaskoBottom Left: Darren Ramey, Dustin Lies, Joseph Griffin, Dylan Jacob
Staff member not pictured: Ember Sipes
The Dragon’s Tale is published three times a year by the Magazine class of Hutchinson Community College, 1300 North Plum, Hutchinson, KS 67501.
When compiled, the three issues serve as an overview of the activities and the people of HCC during the school year.
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1 Dragon’s Tale Table of conTenTS
Table of contentsTable of contents
Dragon Artist . . . . . . 2Ag Crops Team . . . . . 6Obstacles . . . . . . . . 8Forensics and Debate . . . . . . . 10
Fair Volunteers . . . . . 12Student Internships . . 14HCC Art . . . . . . . . . 16Trends . . . . . . . . . 18
InternationalStudents . . . . . . . . . 20Jazz . . . . . . . . . . . 22Companions . . . . . . 24Motorcycle Safety . . . 26Football . . . . . . . . . 28Volleyball . . . . . . . . 32Soccer . . . . . . . . . . 34Cross Country . . . . .38
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2 DRAGON ARTIST Dragon’s Tale
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3 Dragon’s Tale DRAGON ARTIST
photos & story Ember Sipes
Over the years Duke the Dragon, Hutchinson Community College’s mascot, has received many makeovers by different artists.
Esther Stoss is one of those dragon artists. She has worked as a faculty secretary at HCC since the 1970’s and that is when she began drawing her animated Duke the Dragon characters.
It all started when she was working for Gene Keady, basketball coach. Keady asked her to draw a dragon that would be made into emblems for the warm-up jerseys.
The jerseys at the time had no artwork on them, just the player’s numbers.
Keady noticed her talent when she drew up his scouting reports.
“I would draw little basketball players running here and there,” Stoss said. “I’ve never had one art lesson and when I came here [Hutchinson Commu-nity College] I’d always doodle when I was on the phone and on my notes.”
After noticing her talent, Keady asked Stoss to make a dragon for their jerseys, and shortly after that she made one for the cheerleading uniforms.
Not only did the coaches notice Stoss’ talent, but so did others around campus.
A few years later the bookstore manager at the time, Ken Siefkes, recruited her to draw dragons for
the bookstore.“He had the dragon put on
sweatshirts, t-shirts, coffee mugs and magnets. It was so fun,” Stoss said.
Her dragon was also made into a stuffed animal, which is still sold in the bookstore today.
“I draw this little animated dragon and I’d draw him because I can make him happy. He has a lot of personality,” Stoss said.
A few years down the road, Stoss received another request for her talent, but on a much
larger scale.“Football coach, Moe Cotter,
called me and asked if I could draw a dragon on the press box and I said, ‘oh sure’ he said come over and look and I looked up there and down on the field, it looked like a breeze,” Stoss said. “I said just get
scaffold and I can do it. They put scaffolding up and I was like, ‘oh holy cow,’ it was 33 feet across. I started with the middle of the dragon and I drug his tail way out to fill that space and then I drew fire out the other direction and I filled it up.”
However, when they renovated the football stadium they tore down the press box and the dragon is no longer there.
Although her dragon on the press box is gone, Stoss still has other found memories of dragon artwork she’s done and so do students, past, present and future.
Stoss spent 223 hours drawing and painting her animated dragon playing sports for the students on the weight room walls. She had a dragon playing basketball, football, tennis and even riding a bike, but once again when they renovated the weight room the paintings disappeared.
Esther Stoss, faculty secre-tary, has been drawing Duke the Dragon since she arrived at HCC in the 1970’s. She drew a dragon emblem first for the basketball warm-up jerseys.
One of Duke’s artists livens up campus
“I draw this little animated dragon...he has a lot of personality.”
-Esther Stoss
Stoss sketches one of her ani-mated Duke characters. Each drawing captured one of the mas-cot’s many personalities.
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4 DRAGON ARTIST Dragon’s Tale
On the contrary, in Parker Stu-dent Union, Stoss drew a dragon mural on the wall by the snack bar that is still there for students to enjoy.
Currently, Stoss has been on a new mission, a mission to liven up the walls in the basement of Lockman Hall. Before her draw-ings were put up in the basement, the walls were plain.
Tom Dillwith, Lockman Hall custodian, has been a fan of Stoss’ dragon artwork for years and gave her the idea to draw dragons for the basement.
The dragons in the basement portray many different depart-ments and people around campus and have brought enjoyment to all that view them.
“I tried to liven up the walls a bit and I did it for the students. They laugh at them and say things. They really enjoy them,” Stoss said.
A stuffed Duke the Dragon was also created and sold in the campus bookstore. It has been a symbol of HCC for many years.
Duke the Dragon made an appearance on cups in the campus bookstore originally purchased by the manager at the time Ken Siefkes. He also had magnets, shirts and other mer-chandise made.
The football stadium press box, before the rennovation, was painted by Stoss. The space she had to fill was 33 feet long.
Photo courtesy of Esther Stoss
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5 Dragon’s Tale DRAGON ARTIST
Outside the HCC newspaper, The Collegian, this dragon can be spot-ted catching up on some reading. The Collegian was once called Dragon News.
Math is one of Stoss’ favorite subjects. This dragon holds onto a textbook and ruler.
This dragon dancing was designed for an HCC dance. He was put on the dance tickets.
Stoss is a fan of tennis and used to play with the coaches. This dragon is like some that were drawn in the weight room before it was rennovated.
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6 ag crops team Dragon’s Tale
It’s NOT JustLearning Agriculture at HCC
of itself, but I want them to be well prepared, that’s our goal, and we work very hard at that,” Sears said. “No matter what your job is, a person should do it well.”
The crops team consists of a total of sixteen students. Eight of the competitors are fresh-man and the other eight are sophomores.
Every member from the crops team is required to enroll in a course called Crop and Weed Identification. For two hours a week, the team meets at the HCC South Campus. Other classes such as Plant Science, Soils, and Ag Math are suggested to further the team’s knowledge about agriculture, but are not required.
“Every week, in our class, Sears introduces a new category of plants and teaches us how to identify them by picking up on minute details,” Colten Bryant, Hutchinson, said. “After look-ing at the new set of plants and seeds, we gather around and Sears plays a game called Flash Weed where he quizzes us over the new set.”
Old McDonald had a farm, E, I, E, I, O. This
is a phrase that most people know from childhood. Looking past just the animals, though, most farms also provide crops. Although, the agriculture world is a little more complex than a childhood song. Different kinds of seeds are studied in depth along with the soil used to grow these plants.
The Hutchinson Community College crops team has won the national championship eleven times in a row. They are striving for their twelfth win this year. Steve Sears, crops team coach, tries to provide a fun environ-ment for the students to learn agriculture, while giving them the basic knowledge necessary to be successful in class, com-petitions, and in life. The big picture of education is what Sears wants to accomplish. It is not all about the winning.
“I don’t really always expect to win, but I always expect excellence. I feel like whatever we go do, we are going to do it well. The winning will take care
Hannah Anderson, Newton, studies a set of plants and seeds before she takes a quiz. The stu-dents studied an average of three hours a week for their upcoming quizzes.
Tyler Eilert, Newton, and Dalton Langford, Buhler, pay close atten-tion to the new plants and seeds that they need to learn for the week. The students learned an average of 250 plants and seeds during the fall semester.
photos & story Morgan Oriet
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7 Dragon’s Tale ag crops team
The object of the Flash Weed game is to be able to identify the characteristics of the plants and seeds well enough to know what it is.
The following week, a quiz is given over the set of seeds that the students learned. To assure a good grade and a better under-standing of the seeds and plants, the students are encouraged to
study in a room called Office One. This room is located in Lockman Hall and provides the students with the samples they need to study and prepare for their quizzes and competitions.
“It’s where I learn the samples of the week because I can go there between classes and the repetition and having time to compare ones that are simi-
lar helps,” Hannah Anderson, Newton, said.
Sears persuades the students to use their resources in Office One. It is the most convenient tool for the crops team. With practicing only thirty minutes a day, Sears can turn them into a national championship team.
“My main job would be get-ting the crops team and soils team ready. Our crops team has been fairly successful and it’s where we spend most of our time,” Sears said.
Sears gives the team the knowledge they need to suc-ceed in their contests. There is a regional contest that is held in the fall and in the spring. The contests are comprised of four components. If enough of the competitions are won, a team wins the award called the Sweepstakes Trophy. Last year, the HCC judging team took home the Sweepstakes Trophy.
“Our HCC name is on it now seven times,” Sears said.
Aside from the contests, the crops team involves themselves in other various activities. They take many field trips as a group, and they also participate every year in the Kansas State Fair. The crops team and other agricul-ture related students took pride in participating in the operation of running a booth at the fair. Along with learning the funda-mentals of agriculture and the nature around them, it is very important to the team to enjoy their tasks together.
“Everybody talks to each other and has fun as a team, and we all make sure we get stuff done,” Cameron Altvater, Hutchinson, said.
Agriculture creates many opportunities in the world. The crops team is a basic start to learning what is necessary to survive in nature. There are many intricate details that make up the world around us and they can be practical to everyday life.
“The skills gained in this class can be used in many different ways. Having the knowledge of hundreds of plants and seeds can be very beneficial, whether it be applied to taking care of your own lawn, to managing a farm, or to some sort of business,” Bryant said. “It opens the door to a lot of career possibilities.”
This was used by Native people to treat many medical condi-
tions, but it is harmful to animals.
This is recommended by doctors because it
reduces cholesterol and helps clear
arteries to avoid heart attacks.
The phrase “open sesame” resembles the opening of the seed pods which bursts when the plant has matured.
This came from Africa and poisonous quali-ties in this seed were soon discovered when livestock died after eating it.
crotalaria flax
sesame redroot pigweed
Colten Bryant, Hutchinson, and Cameron Altvater, Hutchinson, examine the characteristics of two similar plants. The students of the crops team helped one another to find all the intricate details of the seeds.
crop Variations studied by crops team
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8
Once students graduate high school, there is a major decision to make. Go to college or start out in the job field. These students made the decision to go to school even though they have limitations most students are not familiar with.
Q&A with Danella Acosta, Hutchinson
Q: Explain the obstacle you overcame.
A: Well at the age of three I was diagnosed with Muscular dystrophy. I’ve had it ever since and there is no cure for it. This disorder involves muscle weakness and loss of muscle tissue, which gets slowly worse over time. Muscular dystrophies, or MD, are a group of inherited conditions, which means they are passed down through fami-lies. They may occur in childhood or adulthood.
Q: What motivated you to go to school?
A: My mom would always take care of me and worried about me,
and saw me struggle with my dis-ease. She has done so much for me, I want to repay her for everything she has done. That’s one of the reasons I am going to college to give my mom a better life. Even though I have MD, I know for a fact I can do great things in life, go to college, have a career like everyone else. Because I know one day I may end up in a wheelchair so I want to do all these things before my disease is active. I am doing this for myself and to show myself and the world I can do this.
Q: How do you stay on track despite your disease?
A: I love to motivate myself everyday by telling myself “I can do this big if I try everyday”. There are times I don’t want to get up from bed because I’m feeling sick or weak from my disease but I know for a fact no one else can do this for me so I have to get up and continue to do my life and go to school everyday. Your best motiva-tion is yourself.
Q: Do you ever get discour-
aged, and how do you deal with it?
A: There are times I do get discouraged but there is always my friends who have a way to tell me I can do this and to never give up on anything I do. I’m always reading quotes and I always end up finding the perfect one to courage me to
OBSTACLESOvercoming
photos & story Hannah Arthur
Despite drawbacks in their lives, some students make the choice to better themselves and receive an education.
of students feel that they fit in with others from their age group.
while 13% do not, and 2% had no response.
of students are parents.
of students are not attending college for the first time, while 60% are
attending for their first time, and 1% did not respond.
OBSTACLES Dragon’s Tale
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9
for a reason and one of them is to help the people I can and live life the right way. I have many things to do in my future, which is gradu-ate from college, and universities. With my art and photography I want to demonstrate what is going on in this world and what we can do to help the poor, stop domestic violence, diseases, starving people, children out in the streets without families who need guidance, etc. I have a lot of work ahead of me and I hope I can accomplish all these things with time, patience and most of all with faith.
Travis Richardson controls the audio for the television studio in Building 12. He decided to major in broadcast and media technology after working full time for 10 years.
Q&A with Travis Richardson, Hutchinson
Q: Explain your situationA: I’ve been in the job field for
the last 10 years and going back to school, I pretty much have to retrain my mind to learn new things.
Q: What motivated you to go back to school?
A: The ability to be qualified for jobs other than restaurants or factories.
Q: How do you stay motivated?A: Trying to better myself and
trying to do something acceptable in society motivates me to have a better future.
Q: Does the fact that you are not a traditional student interfere with your schooling?
A: I am used to working 40 hours a week and I still feel like I have to, but I can’t because of school and homework. I still work
30 hours a week. Q: Do you get discouraged?
In what ways do you deal with it?A: Yes, I do get discouraged. I
will get bad tests grades from lack of studying, because I am not used to that. I have been trying to study more and improve on my grades.
Q: What do you think is the most important reason for a col-lege education?
A: Being able to get a good job with a good starting pay.
Q: What do you plan to do with your future?
A: My major is journalism and broadcast technology and I plan to work either in a television studio or be an actor.
keep going.Q: What do you think is the
most important reason for a col-lege education?
A: The most important reason for a college education would be to have a better life and give your loved ones something better than a fast food restaurant that pays low. Most of all to have all your dreams come true and become someone you want to be.
Q: What is your major and what do you plan to do with your future?
A: My major is Graphic Design and Photography. I have also decided to study Philosophy; I really want to become a Philoso-pher. I love life and I am always thinking about life, trying to help other people. I feel I came here
Danella Acosta, Hutchinson, works on her art project for class. The theme of her charcoal drawing focused on muscular dystrophy.
Dragon’s Tale OBSTACLES
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10 forensics and debate Dragon’s Tale
HCC forensics and debate students prepare themselves for competition.
Even though last year’s forensics and debate team had a successful year, this year’s team has plenty to offer. The six returning sopho-mores are striving to be better and better each day. The team will have to adapt to some changes such as, new students joining the team and the addition of Kenny Hopkinson, assistant coach.
“I expect this season to go very well. We have a lot of talent this year, and I believe we will be top three this year, last year we were top five,” Mike Ludlum, Cheney, said.
Observing the display case, one might notice all the trophies at Lockman Hall. Winning a trophy is not an easy task. Students have to prepare themselves ahead of time mentally and physically. A day of practice includes hours of writing, characterization, and speech pattern. Students have to act in front of mirrors to look at their own reflection to observe themselves when preforming. In some occasions the team hosts prep weekends. It’s only a team tournament where guest coaches come and judge their performances against each other in order to pre-pare the students for tournaments.
“I prepare myself by practicing my pieces over and over, I read in
front of mirrors and perform in front of my peers,” Ludlum said.
Like every organization, there are some basic rules that each student has to follow. When com-peting, it’s required that students look professional by wearing suits and dress shoes. When the students are ready, Travis Roberts, forensics and debate coach, looks at the competitors before they compete and makes sure they look their very best.
“They’re not even allowed to dye their hair unless we approve. I tell them that because they’re on scholarship I basically own them, ” Robert said.
Forensics and debate is a chal-lenging and highly rewarding activ-ity for most students who become involved in it. Being a member of the team allows students to meet new people and opens the door for many opportunities.
“I can literally go to any college and get a scholarship,” Ludlum said.
With nationals coming on Apr. 2, the team will have to prepare themselves even more. By then, they hope to have met their team goal, to bring 250 individual plac-ings, they already have 159.
“I would tell my team members
Photos & story Susi Acosta
ExpressYourself
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Practicing her pros piece Alexa Shoaf, Hays, is ready to compete in the next meet which is held Nov. 4-6 at Hutchinson.
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11 Dragon’s Tale forensics and debate
that they will have to work hard, but if they put their mind it they will have the experience of a life time that they will always benefit, from.” Angel West, Fort Scott, said.
Even though the season isn’t over, the faculty and students can already get a good feel what this season is going be about. The suc-cess of this team is just beginning; looks like more trophies are going to be stacking up in Lockman Hall.
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Taking a break, Michael Ludlum, Cheney, and Anegel West, Fort Scott, talk before they start read-ing their piece. The two reherse together in front of the freshemen students.
Previous trophies portray the forensics and debate’s many wins. They are showcased in Lockman Hall.
Before practice begins, Addison Tritt, Salina, looks for her piece to practice in front of her class and Travis Roberts, coach. Team members repeatedly rehearsed their performances.
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12 Fair Volunteers Dragon’s Tale
It takes a large amount of workers and volunteers and tons of work to make the Kansas Sate Fair happen. Hutchinson Com-munity College does their best to help make the fair run smoothly every year.
This year, HCC did their part in many different ways. Students, staff, and faculty from all different programs and groups volunteered during the fair. They were involved in everything from educating fair goers, cleaning the buildings, parking cars, and even recruiting prospective students.
Many people helped with the admissions booth throughout the duration of the fair. It is set up to help recruit students as well as raise awareness about the college and what it has to offer. Ryan Diehl, English instructor, was one of the faculty members to volunteer his time to help recruit students.
“I think it increases the aware-ness, at least because we have stuff for all different ages. We have the computer set up for people who are interested in the college, and we also have fun things, like a picture
of Duke the Dragon to give to the young kids to try to get them to think about HCC later on in life,” Diehl said.
Connected to the admissions booth was the fire science booth. A popular feature at the booth was a fire extinguisher simulation. Its purpose was to help people learn how to use a fire extinguisher the right and safe way.
Hannah Kaup, Topeka, and Dave Dunagan, fire science instructor, helped teach people about fire safety and also explained the fire science program to prospective students.
“I enjoy being around stuff related to fire and I like to see people interested in it. I’m learning in the process too, being around teachers who have a history of being in it and I enjoy listening to all the stories,” Kaup said.
Similar to the admissions booth, the agriculture booth was set up to bring in prospective students and show the variety of agriculture programs HCC has to offer.
At the booth they offered infor-mation on transfer programs, had
JoiningStudents and faculty volunteer their
time at the Kansas State Fair.
photos & story Rachel Wasko
the
quizzes for people to test their knowledge, and they gave out information on all the agriculture programs. Several student groups including Block and Bride and Col-legiate Farm Bureau helped with the agriculture booth.
The sports teams also did their
part and got involved in the fair festivities. The teams spent the week parking cars and helped clean the fair buildings.
The Dragon Doll dance team helped in the Cottonwood Courts and wiped down tables, disinfected food trays, tended to customers,
RideWild
Taylor Smith, Hutchinson, collects and cleans serving trays. Many members of the Dragon Dolls dance team washed trays in the Cottonwood courts during the Kansas State Fair.
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Student Groups Involved in the Kansas State Fair
Dragon’s Tale Fair Volunteers
Ryan Diehl, English instructor, explains the programs HCC has to offer. During the Kansas State Fair, the admissions booth raised awareness about all the benefits of attending HCC.
and swept the floors when the food court was closed so it would be ready for the following day. Kylee Dellett, Rush Center, worked two different shifts in the building.
“It was fun to take part in the fair in a different way instead of just attending. It was great being able to bond with the dance girls and be a representative for the college,” Dellett said.
A large group of practical nursing students helped to bring
awareness of healthier lifestyles. The practical nursing students
kept busy at the Lions Mobile Screening Unit that was located in the Sunflower North building. They helped provide the public with five different screenings such as, hearing, blood pressure, blood glucose, peripheral vision, and visual acuity. A total of 56 students helped with the screening during the three days that they were open at the fair. The students worked
in four-hour shifts and worked in groups of nine to ten. One day the Mobile Screening Unit, with the help of the practical nursing students, set an all-time record by screening a total of 271 people. The practical nursing students plan on participating again next year and hope to be open for more
than three days. Volunteers helped to run the
fair and HCC has many people that exchanged their time for the great experience of promoting the col-lege. With the location of the fair being so close to campus, it makes it much easier for HCC students, staff and faculty to volunteer.
Volunteers help raise aware-ness of the fire science program at the fair. The fire science booth also featured a fire extinguisher simulation.
Sports Teams 4%2% AmbassadorsNursing 2%4% Ag
Broadcasting .5%35% OtherNo Responds 52.5%
415 HCC students surveyed
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Learning Outside the Class
Student InternShIpS Dragon’s Tale
Students sent out into the industry to gain experience in the name of education.
Every semester, students par-ticipate in internships to learn more about their chosen major. They become more independent and acquire more work ethics.
“In the work environment I kind of monitor myself, not really giving any directions or guidance. I am free to be more creative here,” William Gates, Nickerson, said. “Instead on being in a classroom environment where you have to do specific assignments and you follow textbooks that have step by step instructions.”
Gates is doing his internship through the marketing offices on campus designing promotional materials for departments around HCC. There are a few differences going from the classroom out into the actual work field.
“Well I would say the big-gest difference would be time restraints, you know having to have the project out at a certain time versus a classroom where they still have the time schedule but it is not quit as intense,” Daniel Ayers, Hutchinson, said. “Any other dif-ferences really would be probably dealing with codes, and having to stay within tighter guidelines then
the classroom. The classroom is still pretty tight but the actual job is probably a little bit tighter guidelines.”
Ayers is doing an internship at Fabsource Inc. in Inman. At this internship he does more hands-on work.
“We do all kinds of stuff. We do welding, machining, and we do conveyors. Basically we build conveyors for a company over in McPherson,” Ayers said.
When a student works at an internship, they gain a little extra information on the day-to-day operations.
“To get work experience, it looks good on a resume for future employers, and in my case I get paid for it,” Gates said.
“It definitely gets you out in the workforce and it is preparing you more for the real world, what is actually going on cause it is not just sitting there welding or at a machine,” Ayers said.
The work experience is a big reason for doing an internship. It can also help financially while participating if the internship is a paid position.
“For the students to gain addi-tional work experience in the field hands-on, more of real world experience also allows the student to be able to make some money to help with their cost at the same time,” David Fitzgeralds, welding instructor, said.
Students can benefit a lot from an internship. Some majors benefit
more from internships than others. Students in a technical field are trained to go out into the workforce earlier and the internships help those individuals.
“In the benefit of welding stu-dents is one of the things about going into the welding career is there is going to be different equipment out there, there are different set ups, there are different machines, and so allows the student to go out and see that what we have here isn’t the only thing they have out there,” Greg Siepert, welding instructor, said.
An internship provides different points of views on how to approach different situations. Learning comes from the veterans on the job, that could not be learned in the classroom. This is just one of many pros.
“The pros are that I get to learn hands-on in the field how to actu-ally do things. Some of the other employees whom I would consider veterans have taught me a lot of little things. I am learning more things in the field then I would in the class,” Ayers said.
Another pro of an internship is the fact that you get to learn more about the tools you haven’t worked as much with cause of the restraint of the classroom.
“I gained experience with some programs that I haven’t got to work with to much before like InDesign and Illustrator. I got experience with working with clients and get-ting feed back, making changes and
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5 Steps ToSetting Up AnInternship
Step 1. CONTACT
Contact an advisor or a teacher to see if they have any possiblities for an internship.
Step 2. INTERNVIEW
When they mention acompany, work with the advisor to contact the company to set up aninterview to meet.
Step 3. PAPERWORK
Fill out the contracts and information needed forthe school requiremnts.
Step 4. WORK DAYS
Set up the dates on which work will be completedwith the company.
Step 5. CHECK UP
After everything is set upand work has started,the supervisor and studentneed to fill out the review sheets at set timesthroughout the internship.
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Outside the Class
Dragon’s Tale Student InternShIpS
things like that,” Gates said.Before students can gain the
experience of an internship they have to know how to find and how to set up an internship.
“I didn’t realize I could par-ticipate in one until my instructor had mentioned something to my employee and my boss. Cause my boss didn’t want to lose me for two semesters. My instructor told him that we could do an internship with me,” Ayers said.
Advisors and other teachers find and place students in internships.
“My advisor, Amber Brawner, and also Scott Brown both helped me get set up to do this internship. I didn’t really do much to get ready for the internship. I was pretty prepared,” Gates said.
Will Gates, Nickerson, works on a project for an internship in the college marketing department. He designed materials for two semesters.
Daniel Ayers, Hutchinson, trims out the threads of the old part to place a new threaded sleeve in its place. His internship helped toward his degree and to help support his family.
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photos & story Dustin Lies
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16 ART Dragon’s Tale
The art program at Hutchinson Community College features a wide assortment of classes ranging from 2-D Design and Typography to the more traditional Drawing and Painting courses. The program in place at HCC seems to be work-ing just as it should, according to Scott Brown, art instructor, the program seems to be in an “up year” in terms of enrollment. Expansion of the program would be great, however, it rides on new students coming in.
“Enrollment fluctuates every year, some years we have a large number of majors coming in, the next year the number of majors that come in might cut in half, so we are happy to be able to maintain what we have,” Brown said.
Roy Swanson, a long time art instructor, recently retired which changed some ways in which the art program operates. While currently there aren’t plans to hire a replace-ment, the three remaining full-time faculty appear to be handling the new workload well.
“Roy’s classes have been spread out between myself, Jerri Griffin, and Teresa Preston. I think we are on an up year and if enrollment keeps going up, hopefully we will hire on another full-time instruc-
tor,” Brown said.The art program offers some-
thing that most other community colleges cannot, a group of 3-4 full-time faculty members that has been consistent from year to year.
“Normally a community college has one or two full-time employ-ees making up the bulk of the art program, and that faculty is likely to change almost every year. One of the things we have liked is the fact that we’ve had four full-time faculty members. With the excep-tion of Art History, we don’t use any part-time faculty, which gives a certain continuity that students get here that they may not have an opportunity to get elsewhere,” Brown said.
That continuity facilitates for a great classroom experience, students feel more comfortable to express themselves through their art and with each other.
“We’re very talkative, we can talk about pretty much everything in any of the classes. It is pretty seamless, we don’t really have many awkward silences like you might find in other classes. We are pretty good at bouncing ideas off each other and we may get ideas from discussions that are completely
unrelated to what were doing so it works out pretty well,” Ashley Seuser, Sedgwick, said.
Seuser is a part of the art club at HCC. The art club, Hutch C.C. Artist Coalition, is a large player in the art program. There is a stu-dent exhibit every May that the club puts on and includes student submissions. Not all of the art in the exhibits is what students have done in class, which makes for a variety of pieces.
Kaitlin Nachtigal, Hutchinson, works on making a bowl for the empty bowl drive. Students created unique bowls for a sale in October.
016-017 Art.indd 16 10/27/11 1:31 PM
17 Dragon’s Tale ART
“We’ve had students in the past submit work they have completed in their free time, which is always interesting to see so you don’t get a whole show that is nothing but assignments,” Brown said.
Not only does the art club help put on exhibitions but they also help bring in artists from surrounding areas to give differ-ent workshops. Last spring they brought in Toby Flores from Fort Hays State University to do a cast-
ing workshop. This year there are a couple of names they are looking at but nothing has been finalized yet. Artist visits not only bring valuable information to students but also connects the college with the community.
“Last year 60-70 community members came out to watch. As well, the art club students made molds to participate in the actual casting, which produced 40 foot flames,” Brown said.
The art club puts on sales to fund traveling trips they take to cities such as Wichita and Kansas City, where they visit museums or different art facilities to give students a broader understanding of the world of art around them. The club is currently putting on a bake/mug sale to help fund their trip to Kansas City to visit Nelson Atkins and Kemper Museums. More bake/mug sales in November will fund their trip to Wichita. Near the end of November, the art club will also be putting on a print fair in the student union on campus.
Another aspect of the art pro-gram that is different than what you might find at other community colleges is its relationship with the Visual Communications program.
“The fact that we’re sharing facilities and working together gives students a unique opportu-nity with a community college to take design classes and other classes that are tied in with the Visual Communications program. They are closely linked and I think that’s a great bonus for the students,” Brown said.
Growth in the HCC art pro-gram should hopefully be part of the coming years, provided that enrollment in art majors keeps increasing. With the help of the Hutch C.C. Artist Coalition and the faculty that is in place, the learning experience of art majors at HCC is one that isn’t available to the average community college student. The experience provides for a base in art that students can take out into the real world or into a four-year institute.
Members of the Hutch C.C. Artist Coalition designed and glazed mugs. These mugs were sold to raise money to fund their travel trips.
Zach Van Dorn, Hutchinson, is shown in his self portrait. Students first sketched out their idea before preforming a process called reduc-tion printing.
photos & story Darren Ramey
Josiah Zimmerman, Hutchinson, tosses a mix of sawdust and cedar chips onto his plaster face mold. Students put their masks through a Raku firing process.
016-017 Art.indd 17 10/27/11 1:31 PM
18
s
Trends Dragon’s Tale
From heels to tennis shoes, skinny jeans
to Nike shorts, tank tops to sweatshirts,
there’s little bit of everything at HCC.
When it comes to fashion, students each
have their own.
Observing a classroom one might
notice students with many different kinds
of outfits. Some might be wearing baggy
jeans and others skinny jeans. Each style
is different in ways such as a sporty, classy,
or preppy look but every style is unique.
“I’m different in a way, I like to coor-
dinate my colors from top to bottom and I
wear stuff that most people might not wear.
I would probably wear cowboy boots with
high socks and shorts with a tank top and
a throw over,” Toya Simkins, Oklahoma
City, Okla., said.
Many public places have dress codes
that require footwear. A trend that most
students do not leave home without is their
choice of shoes. Some prefer dressy shoes
for weekends and save the tennis shoes for
campus walking.
“I cannot live without tennis shoes
because after a couple days of heels you just
want to kick back and put some tennis shoes
and walk comfortable,” Natalie Iturbide,
Kansas City, said.
When it comes to style, it’s not all
about clothes and shoes but hair makes
a big difference too. For instance, some
students have matted coils of hair called
dreadlocks or braids such as micro braids.
These are a small, simple and delicate braid.
A hair trend that quickly caught on is the
addition of a feather strand. Some students
also tend to tease their hair to give lifeless
hair more body.
With a busy school schedule in mind,
STYLESLiving Trendy on Campus
Before video production class begins, Deonta Rogers, Hutchinson, logs into his facebook account. Rogers dressed similar to Kanye West.
photos & story Susi Acosta
18
018-019 Trends.indd 18 10/27/11 1:35 PM
21
s
Dragon’s Tale Trends
trying to stay up with the latest clothes,
shoes, or hairstyles is a difficult task. Some
students look at magazines, TV, Internet,
or at famous celebrities. Not all students
follow the rules of fashion.
“I think that keeping up with fashion is
kind of like becoming a slave to fashion so
I just go with whatever. When I’m at the
mall or store and I find something cute, I
try it out and if I like it I buy it,” Iturbide
said. “I basically try to do my own kind of
fashion. Sometimes I do look at magazines
and then get an idea but I don’t really try
to keep up with fashion.”
Most celebrities such as athletes,
models or actresses have a tendancy to set
trends. The paparazzi constantly follows
them, take pictures and later posts them
in magazines, on Internet, or on TV. When
looking at fashion, some celebrities are
more risky then others, and some like to
keep it simple, but each celebrity has their
own unique style.
“Kanye West type of clothing is classy
and sometimes it’s out there and then
sometimes its normal,” Deonta Rogers,
Hutchinson, said.
Fashion does not just involve students.
Faculty and students have some similarities
and differences when it comes to fashion.
Looking around campus, faculty appear to
be more conservative but the students seem
more cutting edge. Everyone can express
themselves as an individual through the
way they dress.
HCC offers different courses that look
into the fashion area and allow them to
learn a lot more about fashion.
“We have a class called Basic Textiles
and that’s all about fabric and then there’s
one called Fundamentals of Apparel Evalu-
ation, that one has to do with a little bit of
manufacturing processes like how to put
a garment together so you can see when
things are cheaply made or when things are
made with more quality,” Kathy Larson,
department chairperson, said. “We look at
everything like how the seams are to the
hems. A class that is offered next spring
is Contemporary Sewing and Tailoring, it
teaches students how to sew.”
Even though the year isn’t over, most of
2011’s trends have a left a mark. Students
and faculty can already get a good feel for
the trends that will carry throughout next
year. The question is, follow the current
trend or make a new one?
Donny Woods, New Orleans, La., and Dennis April, Sterling, Va., talk about school and track practice. They both followed current fashion trends.
415 students surveyed
19
Clothing Students Constantly Wear Clothing Percentageof students Jeans 60% Skirts 4% Shorts 26% Capris 8% No response 2%
Favorite Clothing Brand
After a long day of class, Toya Simpkions, Oklahoma City, Okla., sits outside the dorms. Simkions, liked to color coordi-nate her clothes.
018-019 Trends.indd 21 10/27/11 1:35 PM
20 InternatIonal StudentS Dragon’s Tale
While walking around campus, a person can hear accents from all over the globe. Many stu-dents travel all the way to Kansas to receive their education and experience an American college. Hutchinson Community College has a very diversified student body.
Students have traveled to Kansas for many different reasons and from many different parts of the world, which include Sweden and Australia.
Niklas Ekberg, Sweden, came to the U.S. to experience an American college and also to play golf. He was attracted to come to HCC because of the golf pro-gram. Traveling from his home in Sweden to Kansas it takes about 18
to play soccer. “The USA is the biggest and
best place for women’s soccer so it has always been my dream to come over to America to play soccer and do my studies here,” Burnett said.
After looking at the school and the soccer program on the HCC website she jumped at the oppor-tunity to come here.
“Without a doubt, my favorite part about being in Kansas so far is
From Around TheBlue Dragons
photos & story Rachel Wasko
HCC attracts students from all different countries.
Where are they from?
triptrip
AshleyBurnett
1817
hourhour
hours. Since it is such a long travel time he only plans on going home over winter break and during the summer.
While Ekberg enjoys the HCC experience he does miss the big city. After HCC, he plans to play golf somewhere else or attend Central Michigan University.
“I just miss the Swedish food culture in general, cooked, healthy, good tasting food. Since I have lived here for a long time I do not find a whole lot unusual anymore, but when I came here the first time I thought that the food was really fat and had too much sugar in it,” Ekberg said.
Ashley Burnett, Scotland, has always wanted to come to the U.S.
Ashley Burnett, Scottland, studies hard. Burnett worked on her home-work while sitting in her dorm room.
022-023 Foreignstudents.indd 20 10/28/11 2:10 PM
21 Dragon’s Tale InternatIonal StudentS
my freshman year with the soccer team when we were conference champions and regional champi-ons,’’ Burnett said. “The feeling is one of the best and happiest feelings in the world, and sharing it with
the girls couldn’t have been better.For Burnett, it takes her three
different flights to get to Kansas; it takes around 17 hours in total. The only times she will travel the 17 hour trip back home will be
during winter break and summer. “Since it is an American holiday,
we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving back home in Scotland. Last year I went to Texas for Thanksgiv-ing and now I want to celebrate Thanksgiving every year, I loved it,” Burnett said.
“All the foods out here in America taste different from back home, but what I miss the most is chocolate! It is so much better than American chocolate, I get my mom to send some out to me,” Burnett said.
HCC has one of the best fire science programs in the country and that’s what attracted Jordan Croese, Australia, to come all the way to Kansas for college.
“I chose HCC because we don’t have any fire schools or fire acad-emies in Australia. I have friends in Wichita so I knew someone pretty close, and its one of the best fire academies in the country so it was
kind of a no brainer.”While being here at HCC, the
fire science program isn’t all that has captured Croese.
“Kansas has sort of captured me I’m not sure, I mean I’ll probably end up back in Australia eventually, but for the moment I think Kansas has got me,” Croese said.
While being here in Kansas his favorite moments have come from being at south campus.
“South campus, a bit forget, as it is yet right down in Yoder, that’s where I’ve had my best times. They have taken me in a treated me like family.”
Thousands of miles away from home and they still manage to have a great time. HCC may bring in many international students but it’s what they bring to the campus that is special. Everyone gets to expe-rience different cultures without even leaving Kansas.
TheBlue Dragons
Where are they from?
34 hour trip
trip
NiklasEkberg
JordanCroese
hour
Taking advantage of the Rimmer Learning Resource Center, Niklas Ekberg, Sweden, studies his homework. Ekberg traveled to HCC to play golf.
On south campus, Jordan Croese, Australia, practices on an HCC fire truck. Croese only travels home during long school breaks.
022-023 Foreignstudents.indd 21 10/28/11 2:10 PM
22
The sound of jazz comes from
the instrument and the vocal chords
of students.A sound breaks the air and
attacks an ear with different breaks, squeals, grunts, growls, chops, and pitches never heard before. The sound of jazz is in the air.
Between the 21 vocal jazz students and 21 instrumental jazz students, jazz music makes an appearance on campus throughout the year. The vocal jazz group also travels to competitions and perfor-mances in neighboring states like Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, New York and California.
“We are all about the music and the quality, not how big your smile is and whether you have sequins on your dress and whether I look good dancing across the stage,” Neal Allsup, director of choral activities, said.
To the spectator’s ears there is a sound that penetrates the eardrums with many interpretations. This sound comes from the vocal chords and variety of instruments. The sound can have a different effect on every person in a room.
“There are different strokes for different folks. Some people favor classical, country, or rock,” Steven Traylor, jazz instructor, said.
Not only is it different for the spectators but the players also have different strokes to how they play the music. These are some of the ideas that Traylor takes into consid-eration when choosing the pieces
for his band group. He looks at the audience and his player’s strengths. He chooses the pieces that match the players and the audience the best. This helps the players feel comfortable when playing the selected music.
“When you play a piece that just falls into place and sounds wonderful it gives you a feeling that you are a part of something much bigger than yourself. Such as playing the national anthem, a really powerful emotional song played correctly can move people,” Charles Ebeling, Hutchinson, said.
Jazz to these students has a big impact on their mood during the
day. Music can be a strong, unpre-dictable tool that creates different moods, and varies between every person that listens. One style of music cannot be labeled as happy music, changing a person’s mood.
“It makes me feel very relaxed, it helps me forget about all the problems in the world, and for a moment everything is good,” Brit-tany Martin, Topeka, said.
“A bad day of playing music beats a good day of doing a lot of other things,” Traylor said.
To Traylor, jazz is life and he enjoys what he does for his job. He likes seeing the talent come through and helping improve the
performers. The jazz group is like a working machine, it would not be able to perform right if it was missing a part or a player.
“Our group is like wine, have to wait a little while to see if it is going to be a vintage year,” Allsup said.
There is a lot of preparation that goes into a good jazz group and rehearsal is a huge part of the program. The groups actually perform in front of an audience less then they rehearse.
“I get more of a charge through rehearsal cause we learn more about life there. The performance is like the icing on the cake,” Allsup said.
Jazz Dragon’s Tale22
022-023 Jazz.indd 22 10/27/11 1:34 PM
23 Dragon’s Tale Jazz
The Badinage vocal jazz group performed Oct. 20, 2011. Over the summer, students battled over the 10 spots in the Badinage group.
James Dayvault, Nickerson, performs his solo during the con-cert. Dayvault played the piano for the instrumental band and was also a singer in the Badinage Vocal Jazz group.
The Jazz band performed on Oct. 14, 2011. The group rehearsed at least three hours a week.
23
photos & story Dustin Lies
022-023 Jazz.indd 23 10/27/11 1:34 PM
24 COMPANIONS Dragon’s Tale
Protection, servicing needs, or just companionship, these are all reasons why a person would want or need a pet.
Pets provide owners with a sense of responsibility, as well as a general feeling of happiness. They can help with the loneliness some students may experience when leaving home. Pets have been there for children, adults, and the elderly, but their impact on the lives of students proves to be substantial.
When the world of tests, study-ing, and homework gets to be too
much, a pet can release some of that stress and help students get through difficult times.
Tyson Goldsmith, Newton, recently adopted a three-month-old King Charles Cavalier puppy.
“When I walk through the door, no matter what kind of day I had, she is going to be happy and loving and that’s great, it picks me up,” Goldsmith said.
A pet can teach many life les-sons such as time management and overall caring for another living thing. Having a pet is a large amount of responsibility and time must be made to take care of that pet, but the owner receives love and companionship in return.
“With a pet this young there are a lot of responsibilities, like cleaning up after them if they have an accident, or if they chew some-
thing up, which is the case with Maggie, shoes aren’t safe around here,” Goldsmith said.
Ashton Green, Newton, has a
Student’s BestFriend
photos & story Hannah Arthur
Cory Pitts, Burrton, tries to control his hedgehog. He bought his pet from a private breeder in Wichita.
“If you’re feel-ing sad or upset, its always nice to have someone to give you comfort and take away the stress . . .”
-Ashton Green, Newton.
cat that she found abandoned in a parking lot and decided to save her.
“You have to change their litter box, make sure that they are fed and watered, and make sure you do give them the attention that they need, because they do need lots of love,” Green said.
While dogs and cats are a little
Animal com-panions provide
stress relief, responsibility, and company
for students
024-025 Pets.indd 24 10/27/11 1:38 PM
25
more high maintenance, the owner of a pet bearded dragon has a bit of an easier job.
“I just have to clean his cage, feed him, and that’s about it,” Mike Scheel, Hutchinson, said.
“Well, a few responsibilities are cleaning his cage, letting him roam around the house, and making sure to vacuum after he roams to pick up any quills he may have shed, they really hurt your foot,” Cory Pitts, Burrton, owner of a hedgehog said.
Students also identify with their companions.
“We both like to sleep a lot,”
Scheel said. “We both have blue eyes, and
major princess syndrome,” Green said.
Pets can also keep a student more active. The need to take a dog on a walk will get a student off the couch or out from behind a desk and exercise.
“We go on walks every few days and when she goes outside I usually end up chasing her around because she doesn’t want to come in,” Goldsmith said.
Balancing the responsibility of a pet and school can be challenging.
“It doesn’t interfere but it makes me sad to lock her up when I do go to school,” Gold-smith said. “I want to take her with me places,”
“There are no downsides, only g o o d t h i n g s c o m e f r o m i t , look ing forward to s e e i n g i t every time you come h o m e , ” Scheel said.
R i c h a r d Dylan Buff, Wichita, owner of a ferret, , found his pet in a field.
“When I’m stressed I play with her, she always makes me laugh,” Buff said.
Despite the respon-
0
50
100
150
200No Response
Other
Rodent
Reptile
Fish
Bird
Cat
Dog
Types of Pets Owned by Students
sibilities, these pet owners love their companions.
“If you’re feeling sad or upset, its always nice to have someone to give you comfort and take away the stress, you know they’ll love you no matter what. When you’re working and nobody thinks you’re doing a good job, you can come home and your pet w i l l l ove you,” Green said.
Ashton Green, Newton, embraces her cat, Luna. Green found her cat aban-doned in a parking lot and decided to adopt her without tell-ing her parents five years ago.
Tyson Goldsmith, Newton, and Maggie wrestle in their front yard. Goldsmith waited seven weeks for Maggie to be old enough to adopt.
024-025 Pets.indd 25 10/27/11 1:38 PM
25
more high maintenance, the owner of a pet bearded dragon has a bit of an easier job.
“I just have to clean his cage, feed him, and that’s about it,” Mike Scheel, Hutchinson, said.
“Well, a few responsibilities are cleaning his cage, letting him roam around the house, and making sure to vacuum after he roams to pick up any quills he may have shed, they really hurt your foot,” Cory Pitts, Burrton, owner of a hedgehog said.
Students also identify with their companions.
“We both like to sleep a lot,”
Scheel said. “We both have blue eyes, and
major princess syndrome,” Green said.
Pets can also keep a student more active. The need to take a dog on a walk will get a student off the couch or out from behind a desk and exercise.
“We go on walks every few days and when she goes outside I usually end up chasing her around because she doesn’t want to come in,” Goldsmith said.
Balancing the responsibility of a pet and school can be challenging.
“It doesn’t interfere but it makes me sad to lock her up when I do go to school,” Gold-smith said. “I want to take her with me places,”
“There are no downsides, only g o o d t h i n g s c o m e f r o m i t , look ing forward to s e e i n g i t every time you come h o m e , ” Scheel said.
R i c h a r d Dylan Buff, Wichita, owner of a ferret, , found his pet in a field.
“When I’m stressed I play with her, she always makes me laugh,” Buff said.
Despite the respon-
0
50
100
150
200No Response
Other
Rodent
Reptile
Fish
Bird
Cat
Dog
Types of Pets Owned by Students
sibilities, these pet owners love their companions.
“If you’re feeling sad or upset, its always nice to have someone to give you comfort and take away the stress, you know they’ll love you no matter what. When you’re working and nobody thinks you’re doing a good job, you can come home and your pet w i l l l ove you,” Green said.
Ashton Green, Newton, embraces her cat, Luna. Green found her cat aban-doned in a parking lot and decided to adopt her without tell-ing her parents five years ago.
Tyson Goldsmith, Newton, and Maggie wrestle in their front yard. Goldsmith waited seven weeks for Maggie to be old enough to adopt.
024-025 Pets.indd 25 10/27/11 1:38 PM
26 MOTORCYCLE SAFETY Dragon’s Tale
Twelve motorcycles roar by, circling a set of cones placed in an empty parking lot. For some of these riders it is their first time even sitting on a motorcycle, others may have been riding for years. Regard-less of their level of experience, each of the students are learning the same skills, to safely operate a motorcycle in any situation.
While Motorcycle Safety Edu-cation is not a well-known course to most students at HCC, it is valuable to anyone interested in or already riding motorcycles. The tools taught in this class prove to be essential to any rider.
“Many of these things aren’t known by motorcycle riders unless they are introduced to them,” Brian Hirt, traffic sergeant and motor-cycle safety instructor, said.
This course is specifically designed to adhere to the needs of the most inexperienced riders, while also teaching experienced riders skills they can utilize to improve their riding experience.
“This is a basic riding course and no experience is needed. We start very slow,” Hirt said.
Ashley Burgess, Hutchinson, has been riding motorcycles and motorized scooters for nearly ten years and took Motorcycle Safety Education.
“I felt like I took away from the program a lot more information about safety. I could easily under-stand how to react if placed in an emergency situation after taking the class,” Burgess said.
Motorcycle Safety Education takes place over a three-day period. During this time, students learn skills to prepare them for the road.
“The State of Kansas requires a rider to complete twenty hours of training, eight hours of which are in the class room. To successfully pass, students must attend and participate in all twenty hours. They must also pass a written and
a riding test,” Hirt said.Once the student has success-
fully completed the course there isn’t much left to do before the newly trained rider can legally be out on the road.
“Upon completion of the class, students receive KS state form DE-99 which they take to the DMV. All they need to do is present this
Students listen to their next task given by Al Patton, instructor. The riding portion of the course took place in the Sports Arena park-ing lot.
photos & story Darren RameyMotorcycle Safety Education at HCC
026-027 Motorcycle Safety.indd 26 10/27/11 1:35 PM
27
form and make a payment to get their motorcycle endorsement,” Hirt said.
Another advantage to the course is that the most expensive equipment, a helmet if you don’t have one, and the motorcycle is provided by HCC.
“The college provides a Suzuki 250cc and a Kawasaki 125cc motorcycle. Both are comparable bikes that are designed for a learn-ing environment,” Hirt said.
The only items students must provide are over-the-ankle foot-wear, full-fingered gloves, long-sleeved shirt, pants, and eye pro-tection. Students are encouraged to always wear the same protective gear outside of class.
Riding a motorcycle can be done for many reasons, recre-ational, economical, stress release, or just to get from here to there.
“My favorite thing about riding
is that it is easy to disconnect your-self from stress. I find that riding often clears my mind and helps me relax,” Burgess said.
The skills learned in this course provide inexperienced riders the ability to safely maneuver on the road. It even teaches someone who has been riding for fifty years new ways to safely and efficiently ride a motorcycle.
“I would most definitely rec-ommend the course to future and experienced riders. The class can easily teach new riders how to ride, and for experienced riders it can be a great way to refresh your riding skills or even learn something new,” Burgess said.
Deborah Shriver, Hutchinson, gets a few tips from Lauren Crabtree, instructor. Riders pre-pared for a three part riding skills test.
Students listen and take notes in class. During the in-class train-ing, videos assisted riders in the learning experience.
Dragon’s Tale MOTORCYCLE SAFETY
026-027 Motorcycle Safety.indd 27 10/27/11 1:35 PM
28
Kilgore College
ChampionshipSearching
for a
028-031 football.indd 28 10/27/11 1:31 pM
29
* Results as of Oct. 28, 2011
Kilgore College
independenCe
Air ForCe prep
HigHlAnd
Fort sCott dodge
City
gArden City
Butler
W 60-29 W 70-0 L 7-45 W 90-7 W 69-36 W 63-6 W 54-12 L 10-28
No. 6 when they faced Kilgore College on Aug. 25 posting a 60-29 win.
The team continued their intense play with a 70-0 rout of the Independence Pirates on Sept. 3. In the following few days, three Blue Dragons were named Jayhawk Conference player of the week on offense, defense and special teams.
Like most teams in the country, great teams sometimes falter and the Blue Dragons did just that the next week in Colorado Springs, Colo., against an Air Force Prep team that was ready to battle it out with the now No. 3 Blue Dragons.
“They had a career day on our bad day,” Rhoades said.
That bad day ended with a score of 7-45, with the Air Force Prep team coming out on top.
“The ups and downs,” Rhoades said. “Of course the down was losing out at Air Force Prep. That was a real d i sappointment because it felt like we had a better team than they did. We just couldn’t get anything going that day.”
Rhoades and the Blue Dragons needed to get back on their feet for
the upcoming home game against Highland. The Blue Dragons fell 11 spots to No. 15 in the following NJCAA poll.
The saying, “what goes up, must come down,” is disturbingly correct. But “before you fly, you have got to fall.” The Highland game proved that the Dragons could fly.
The Blue Dragons posted a 90-7 victory over the Highland Scotties.
The team broke multiple records, including points in a game (also an NJCAA record), points in a half, largest margin of victory and most touchdown passes in a
game by Sophomore E l l i o t A l f o r d , Bennettesville, S.C. [Fig. 3].
“I hope to break every career record and single season record. I got a couple of them right now, I’m getting close on the career charts,” Alford said.
The team nearly didn’t make it to the record-breaking 90 points, but a couple of late plays helped push them over the
previous record set just one week earlier by the Blue Dragon’s rival, Butler Community College.
As the season comes to a close for the Blue Dragon football team, there is one major thought on the mind of Rion Rhoades, head football coach.
“Our goal is to definitely win a conference championship,” Rhoades said. “In the Jayhawk conference, if you win the conference championship, then in most cases you are playing for a national championship. It’s our primary goal.”
While the team is looking forward to contending for the conference championship, they constantly have to be focused on the next game.
“We have one game a week; there is so much focus on that one game. Sometimes it’s harder to move on than others,” Rhoades said. “Having six days to really be focused on the next opponent.”
Coaches and players are always thinking about the game and that
next opponent is the biggest thing on their minds, week in and week out.
“The teams that are successful are really good at finishing a game then moving on to the next one,” Rhoades said.
HCC football has been defeating their opponents this season, slowing climbing their way back to the NJCAA Top 25.
The progress is positive and it is moving along nicely for the Blue Dragons. Although, with every win there comes a chance that it could turn into a loss the following week.
“We can’t afford to be dwelling on whatever happened, whether we won or lost,” Rhoades said. “I always tell the guys we got all winter to enjoy the wins and kind of look back and celebrate the good things that happened to us.”
The Blue Dragons started off with a good footing this season. They came into the season ranked
In his 5th year at Hutchinson Community College, Coach Rion
Rhoades and his Blue Dragon football team are searching for a
Conference Championship
“We have one game a Week,
there is so much
focus on that one game.
sometimes it’s harder to
move on than others.”
-rion rhoades head football
coach
*Gowans stadium has a capactiy of nearly 3,000. The stadium was renovated and reopened in 2006 to its current state
photos & story Joseph Griffin
Dragon’s Tale fOOTBALL
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“The guys thought that was pretty neat, the 90 point deal,” Rhoades said. “We were shutting everything down and got a couple of late pick sixes to get to that point.”
The Blue Dragon football team plays a fast and physical type of game.
They dominate from the beginning of the game and throughout the season they’ve continued to do just that.
“When we feel that we should be dominant, we definitely want to be,” Rhoades said. “We talk a lot each week about putting together 60 minutes of fast and physical.”
The Blue Dragons live up to the fast and physical gameplay that they strive for every game day.
In the following weeks, the team never backed down from a challenge. Against Fort Scott, the
Blue Dragons racked up 663 total yards, tallying a 69-36 win.
The game seemed to be a close one until Cordarrelle Patterson, Rock Hill, S.C., used his ability to out jump opponents, towered over a Fort Scott defender and took his reception for the touchdown right out of a Fort Scott defenders hands.
“It went pretty good, he (Alford) told me to go on up there and come down with it,” Patterson (Fig. 4) said.
The team took their tough play to Garden City and they came back home with 54-12 victory and bowl eligibility. Alford threw for 6 touchdowns for the second time this season, tying his already broken record.
The weeks continually proved that this Blue Dragon team was not to be
taken lightly. As of Oct. 18, the team ranked No. 8 in the NJCAA national poll.
“It’s a continual progress and really taking steps each week to be playing their best football at the end of the season,” Rhoades said.
The team averaged nearly 60 points per game and over 500 yards of total offense per game as of Oct. 17.
“They’re ( the p l ayer s ) disappointed if we don’t score more than 60 points,” Rhoades (Fig. 2) said.
Players are excited about the
last two games of the regular season; they’re hoping to get some much sought after revenge on a tough Butler team.
“Most memorable? When we lost to Butler real bad, left a bad taste in my mouth,” Alford said.
The coaches are doing their best to prepare their team for the matchup, and players are also doing their part to keep everything together and focused.
“HCC football is like a family, they as close to family there is,” Tim Edmond (Fig. 5), Cincinnati, Ohio, said. “Made me mature as a man.”
Fig. 2
Fig. 1
Fig. 3
fOOTBALL Dragon’s Tale
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Fig. 4Closing with a championship is on the
mind of every player and coaches agree that they want that recognition.
The memories the players hope to create revolve around the team. Many are thinking of the championship, but others hope for more.
“I want to leave as a positive role model when people see me, when they see me on the field,” Edmond said.
The never-ending goal on their minds is the hunt for that championship trophy. The team hopes to bring it home to Hutchinson for the first time.
“Conference championship then that National Championship. That’s the big goal,” Deveon Dinwiddie (Fig. 1), Hutchinson, said.
The Blue Dragon family has a strong bond, one that many hope to produce results that will never be forgotten.
“The coaches make sure; they want us to be a good person outside of football too. School work and stuff like that,” Dinwiddie said.
“The coaches, they help you with everything on the field and off the field,” Patterson said.
Lessons have been learned. The goal of winning a championship shows an intense passion for the
sport that this team carries. In the heart of every player lays the desire for the title of national champions.
“The big memories are going to be a possible championship, things like that,” Rhoades said. “The ultimate memories are still ahead of us.”
Fig
. 5
A Few Broken Records
Most Points scoRed gAMe (nJcAA):
90 against Highland
Most td in A gAMe (Hcc): 6 by elliot Alford
Most PAts in A gAMe (Hcc): 12 by Michael Mesh
Most RegulAR seAson Points:
423 in 8 games (1 remaining)
KicK RetuRns FoR td cAReeR (Hcc):
cordarrelle Patterson - 6
lARgest MARgin oF VictoRy (Hcc): 83 Points
cAReeR leAdeR in oFFenseiVe yARds (Hcc): elliot Alford 3,943 yards
Dragon’s Tale fOOTBALL
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32 Volleyball Dragon’s Tale
The ball is served over the net. With a swift bump, the opposing team sends it back. A quick dig shoves the ball up in the air. A set follows along with a hard spike and the team gets the point. These moves are learned, practiced, and memorized by the women on the volleyball team.
The Hutchinson Community College’s volleyball team consists of seven freshman and two sopho-mores and each one of them attend rigorous practices to learn the best methods of dominating the court. They work through different drills and repeat them until the whole team completes it perfectly. The coaches sometimes even join in on practice and things become competitive, but still enjoyable.
“The practices are hard, but we all know the coach has us do it for a reason,” Emily Oberlin, Ada, Mich., said. “We play a really
hard schedule but it only makes us better.”
Sarah Myers returned to HCC just a few years ago when she received a coaching job for the volleyball team. She is currently head coach, but when she was a student at HCC, Myers played on the team too, along with assistant coach, Brandi Hood. They both experienced severe coaching styles so that contributes to the way they teach the sport. This season, how-ever, both Myers and Hood have had to change their styles from player to player.
“Every single one of them is dif-ferent,” Myers said. “Some of them can handle a more intense coach and others need a little bit more of the pat on their back and the good job so this year has definitely been a year that we have to kind of switch over into the encouragement roll.”
Myers and Hood work a
Women’s Volleyball at HCC
Hayley Young, Douglas, prepares to set the ball to Cassie Wiley, Wel-lington. The Lady Dragons lost to Frank Phillips College on Sept. 24.
Photo by Rachel Wasko
The stands fill up during the home volleyball games with encourage-ing HCC students. The crowd cheered the team on throughout the game.
Photo by Joseph Griffin
L 0-3 L 0-3 L 1-3 L 2-3 W 3-0 L 0-3
W 3-2 L 2-3 W 3-2 L 1-3 W 3-1 W 3-0 L 0-3
NeW MexiCo MiLiTaRY
eaSTeRN aRizoNa NavaRRo GaRDeN
CiTYBaRToN NoRTHeaSTeRN
JCioWa
WeSTeRNFRaNk PHiLiPS
CoLL.
aiR FoRCe PReP PRaTT ReDLaNDS CLouD
CouNTYWeSTeRN NeBRaSka LaMaR
NeW MexiCo MiLiTaRYSouTH MouNTaiN
L 0-3L 0-3
W 3-0
Paige Forrester, Pace, Fla., likes Libero because she gets to dig up all the big hits.
Jordan Rehm, Rose Hill, likes Left Side becasue she likes the adrenaline of block-ing and hitting.
Hayley Young, Doug-las, likes Front Row for blocking and setting.
Jade Nelson, Milwukee, Wis., likes Right side because she likes to block.
Favorite Court Positions
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33 Dragon’s Tale Volleyball
demanding program for the girls and expect them to dedicate their efforts to putting everything they have into the practices and games. They believe that if the girls play their best, the pieces will fall into place. Myers has pride in the team when they play their hearts out, not just because they win.
“We have won some games that I have been disappointed in because I didn’t feel like we played to our ability and we have lost some games that I have been very proud of them for because I felt like they have really played to their ability and we just unfortunately didn’t get the win,” Myers said.
The best way for the team to win is if they are in unison on the court and work together. The girls motivate themselves for the games together as they get dressed in the locker room and shout as they run onto the court. In the huddle before the game starts, they recite a traditional prayer that has been passed down for years to connect everyone and wish each other good luck.
“We listen to music while we are getting ready, so we are all dancing to that,” Shayne Haley, Katy, Texas, said. “During our warm up we are
DigThisstory Morgan Oriet
always being loud and cheering, but I think when we cheer ‘HCC What?’ before we run out really gets us pumped.”
Practices, pregame thrill, and road trips to different schools has transformed the team from a col-lection of girls to one solid unit. They have been to places such as New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma. Long bus rides have given the girls plenty of opportu-nity to bond.
“Every girl is like my best friend,” Oberlin said. “We all get along really well.”
During the bus rides, the girls play games and watch movies. They also have a game called Kangaroo Court where they can fine some-one for their most embarrassing moments.
“You can defend yourself and you’re either guilty or you’re inno-cent and it’s like ten cents or twenty cents,” Kayla Karmazyn, Aurora, Colo., said. “It’s not a big deal.”
As long as the girls give it their everything, have faith in each other, and never give up, the coaches are happy, and the team is happy. Whether they win or not, the game can still be theirs.
Jordan Rehm, Rose Hill, bends her knees and closes her fists to accept the ball. Rehm played her second season for HCC.
Photo by Joseph Griffin
Jade Nelson, Milwaukee, Wis., leaps into the air and stretches for the ball. Nelson used her fingertips to gentlly return the ball to the other team.
Photo by Joseph Griffin
* Results as of Oct. 28, 2011
SeMiNoLe STaTe
MSu- WeST PLaiNS
HeSSToN CoLLeGe PRaTT CoLBY GaRDeN CiTYCoLBY
SeWaRD CouNTY
JeFFeRSoN CoLLeGe
FRaNk PHiLiPS CoLL. DoDGe CiTY BaRToN SeWaRD
CouNTY DoDGe CiTYCLouD
CouNTY
L 2-3
L 1-3L 0-3L 0-3
L 2-3
L 1-3
L 2-3
W 3-0
W 3-0 W 3-0
W 3-0
L 1-3 W 3-1
W 3-0
W 3-3
032-033 Volleyball.indd 33 10/27/11 1:43 PM
34
Throughout the short history of the Hutchinson Community College soccer program, the wins have just kept coming for Sammy Lane, head coach of the Lady Dragons.
“Makes me reflect a little on the girls from before,” Lane said. “You look back on it, and the first couple years.”
During his first season as head coach, Lane and his Lady Dragons set the bar high for the program, ending the inaugural season with a 10-9 record and a regional semifinal appearance.
“Jenny Mossman, who helped establish the program and win games in the first two years,” Lane said. “Carly, Joanna, Jenny Euchich, they came along (in 2006) and won that first region for us, really set the ball rollin’.”
Since that 2006 season, the ball hasn’t stopped rolling for the Lady Dragons. Lane has built a conference powerhouse during his six years as head coach here at HCC.
The team slowly climbed to the top. In 2006, they were runner-up
Kicking &Screaming
Cloud County
W 3-2 story Joseph Griffin
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35
Screaming * Results as of Oct. 25, 2011
Cloud County
neosho County
Pratt
allen n. oklahoma
W. nebraska
Garden City
barton
indePen-denCe
W 3-2
dodGe City
n. oklahoma
butler
Johnson County
CoWley ColleGe
Coffeyville
W 3-0W 12-0
L (f) 0-2L (f) 0-2
W 5-0W 9-0
W 9-1W 6-0
W 12-0W 12-0
W 2-1W 2-1
W 4-0W 7-0
hesston ColleGe
W 14-0
the lady dragons react to a lob in pass from a teammate during a sunday evening game sept. 25. they defeated barton 6-0.
Photo by Joseph Griffin
and in 2007 they took home the Region 6 championship. A 93-23-2 overall record for this Lady Dragon team accompanied
their 50-11-1 Jayhawk Conference record coming into the 2011 season. Nineteen of those losses were accrued in the program’s first three years.
“Obviously, you know, I can remember the first one,” Lane said. “And hopefully the 100th one will come sooner rather than later.”
That 100th win came as soon as it could for this Lady Dragon team, with a 12-0 defeat of Dodge City on Oct. 2.
After that milestone win for the Lady Dragons, they still had unfinished business.
Earlier in the season, an unfortunate eligibility mishap forced the team to forfeit two games. This ended their previous unbeaten streak of 29 (28-0-1) at the USD 308 complex and a 38-game regular season unbeaten streak.
Their 26-game Jayhawk Conference win streak was abruptly halted as well, thwarting hopes of defending their conference championship,
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36
“Having to forfeit those two games,” Lane said. “A simple mis-take, but it cost us two games.”
Those forfeits couldn’t stop this Lady Dragon team. In the following weeks, they defeated their next 6 opponents with a total scoring count of 53-1. The single point scored against them was in the 40th minute on Sept. 21 against Garden City.
“We’re just fortunate, I mean, we got a good program so it’s easier to recruit here,” Lane said. “We get good players. You’re not going to shoot the opponents like we do unless you get the good players.”
Those good players Lane is talk-ing about could be any of his Lady Dragons. Melissa Hetherington, Burnley, England, is one of those players.
“She’s the real deal,” Lane said. “She’s exceeding expectations to be honest with you.”
Lanes words have proved to be an understatement. Hetherington
has scored 26 of the team’s 96 goals as of Oct. 18 this season. This is just her freshman year at HCC, and also her first year playing in the United States.
“It’s amazing, I love it,” Heth-erington said. “Different, but kind of the same.”
“I didn’t really speak much at the beginning,” Hetherington said. “I’m coming out of my shell a bit more, getting more comfortable with the team. We’re making better connections.”
She’s not the only great player Lane has recruited to play for his No. 5 Lady Dragons, their NJCAA ranking as of Oct. 20.
Eunice Figueroa, Arlington,
Tex, also got the attention of Lane when she came in for a school visit this last spring.
“Eunice is a heck of a goalie,” Lane said. “We knew when she
came in and tried out last spring. All the girls were like, my God, this girls good.”
The future is bright for these ladies. This talented Lady Dragon team looks to capture another conference championship. It seems inevitable. (They did just that on Oct. 20.)
“Last season went really well,” Alicia Robinson, Telford, England, said. “We were lucky to lose in the final.”
The drawbacks that this team has met this year do not discourage the determination of this talented Lady Dragon team.
“This is going to be the best year yet, easily,” Robinson said. “Next year it’ll be hard for them to compete against that.”
Pearl slattery, dublin, ireland, goes on the offensive against barton on sept. 25. the sopho-more midfielder scored 18 goals as of Oct. 18.
Photo by Joseph Griffin
kaitlan kleman, derby, vaults over a barton player sept. 25. Kleman is a sophomore midfielder with a twin sister, brenna, play-ing along side her for the lady dragons.
Photo by Joseph Griffin
SOCCER Dragon’s Tale
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Bringing back the intensity from last year, this Lady Dragon soccer team is expecting to leave this season marking a milestone for the coming years and for the rest of their soccer careers.
“It’s important that they find a place to play where they’re going to enjoy playing soccer,” Lane said. “You know, there’s no point in going to play for a top 25 team in the nation if you’re not going to enjoy the experience.”
The player’s impact is felt all over the country, as these indi-viduals are recognized by winning Player of the Week awards and get-ting the attention of NCAA scouts.
“For the girls, it’s great to have that recognition. One of the things that we’re fortunate for here at
HCC, we get great coverage,” Lane said.
Great coverage, a great coach, and having these great players leaves behind a reputable trail as this still young soccer program continues to grow at HCC.
The fun of the game is all that matters to the players, and the coach as well.
“We don’t think about the score. We said, forget about the score. Just play like, our game,” Robinson said.
“You can enjoy the game,” Lane
said.It seems the way you win games
isn’t just by intense coaching, and great players. It’s the love of the game and having fun doing what you love that seems to be the true secret.
Jamie smith, Welland, Canada; ashley burnett, Carnoustie, scot-land; alicia robinson, telford, england; and isa Whitley, Wichita, celebrate after beating Butler 2-1 on oct. 9.
Photo courtesy of hCC sports information
lady dragons celebrate in a pile after defeating the butler Grizzlies on Oct. 9. They were down 0-1 in the drizzle, and came back to win 2-1.
Photo courtesy of hCC sports information
Dragon’s Tale SOCCER
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38 CROSS COUNTRY Dragon’s Tale
A recap from last year, women scoring 3rd at Jayhawk West, 5th in Region VI, 29th at Nationals with the men close behind placing 5th at the Jayhawk West and 8th at Region VI.
“Last year we finished behind nationally ranked teams, as our region was very strong, as usual,” David Smith, cross country coach, said.
Roles are switched this year with the men being the veterans and the women consisting mostly of freshman, with a total of 8 sopho-mores and 14 freshmen. It takes more than just a line-up change to fuel the fire for the Dragons to go farther this year. The coach is changing his strategy too.
An average day for the runners is a 5-10 mile run for the men and a 4-7 mile run for the women. This year the cross country team is run-ning specialized workouts, speed days and distance days. Speed days mean that the team will run at race pace, faster than normal workout days, but with less mileage. This will focus on cardio and speed.
Distance days are workouts when they will run even farther than normal to boost their endurance and stamina, though maybe not as fast paced as last year.
“Our focus will be to run as a team and finish as close as possible to each other,” Smith said.
From the course to the heart, the runners themselves are chang-ing how they go about things, including logging a few more miles around town.
“We are working on getting into the best condition we can be in,” Smith said.
“I have to step up and be a leader this year, I need to work harder,” Nick Rogers, Hutchinson, said.
Just like the coach said, the team wants to run together and finish in a group. In the Blue Dragon Invitational at Rice Park, groups of three and five were seen run-ning and staying together, each one encouraged the other and made sure everyone did their best. The same was seen in the McPherson Invite with runners finishing within seconds of each other.
SteppingItstory Dylan Jacob
2011 Results(as of Oct. 28)
WSU Gold Classic •WomenPlaced#5 •MenPlaced#5
Wichita Wild Wind Classic
•WomenPlaced#7 •MenPlaced#4
Blue Dragon Invitational
•WomenPlaced#1 •MenPlaced#1
Tabor Invitational •WomenPlaced#3 •MenPlaced#5
ESU Invitational •WomenPlaced#18 •MenPlaced#18
Fort Hays State Open •WomenPlaced#8 •MenPlaced#8
McPherson College Invite
•WomenPlaced#5 •MenPlaced#5
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon Cross Country Teams Race to the top.
Pacing herself, Maria Fernan-dez, Burrton, runs in the Blue Dragon Invitational. She finished 3rd in the event.
Photo by Dylan Jacob
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39 Dragon’s Tale CROSS COUNTRY
Isaac Williams, Pretty Prairie, runs after the starting gun goes off. Williams later won first place for the Dragons. Photo courtesy of HCC
Sports Information
Nic Rogers, Hutchinson, and Zach Weber, Hesston, stride out on the last leg of the Blue Dragon Invitational. They finished 5th and 6th respectively.
Photo by Dylan Jacob
Julio Martinez, Phoenix, Ariz.; Austin Leattau, Newton; and Andy Schepis, Wichita, run together during the middle of the course. David Smith, cross country coach, encouraged his runners to stay together throughout the course. Photo courtesy of HCC
Sports Information
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