COVID 19 Edition

By Dr. Nicholas Kin, Associate Dean

Jefferson State is currently taking applications for its summer research internships, Blazing to Biomedical Careers (BBC), a biomedical research program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This opportunity is open to Jefferson State students majoring in any biomedical or behavioral AS degrees such as biology, chemistry, biomedical sciences, and psychology. The students selected to participate in the program will receive the following benefits:

• Paid summer research internship at UAB ($5,000)
• Travel to national research conferences
• An advisor at JSCC and UAB who will follow your progress
• Training in biomedical techniques, ethics, seminars, & career planning
• Additional scholarship opportunities upon transfer to UAB

Applications are due January 29, 2021!

For more information about the program and how to apply, please check out the program’s website at http://www.jeffersonstate.edu/biomedical-research/

For specific questions or to turn in your application, simply contact:
Dr. Nicholas Kin
BBC Program Coordinator

Associate Dean
nkin@jeffersonstate.edu
(205) 812-2777

By Valerie Spearman, Phi Theta Kappa Member

From Past to Present

Since April 2019, the Pioneer Food Pantry has serviced the Jefferson State Community College at the Carson Road location in Birmingham, Alabama. The first food distribution not only provided 232 pounds of food to students, staff, and faulty but also assisted two families who had lost everything in a fire the previous night. “It is stories like these that change lives, touch hearts, and help to identify the purpose of the Pioneer Food Pantry” says Valerie Spearman a current officer of the Pi Pi Chapter. Every purpose has changes and challenges along the way, which the Pioneer Food Pantry was no exception. Funding sources and halted donations during the current Co-VID 19 pandemic have created an opportunity for the Pi Pi Chapter to think outside of the box. With adaption, we have managed provided over 3000 pounds of food so far in the year 2020! The collaborated efforts with the college administration, adhering to guidelines set forth by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the enlisted help of our great volunteers are the sole causes of the continued service to our ever-growing customer base.

Come One Come All- Get Involved!

The Pioneer Food Pantry has teamed up with the Student Nurse Association (SNA) to accept non-perishable food donations. All Jefferson State students, staff, faculty, and community members are welcomed to drop donations off during our scheduled monthly distribution dates that are announced in the campus announcements and on the Jefferson State social media pages. Our next distribution is scheduled on Thursday, November 19, 2020 and Saturday, November 21, 2020 between the hours of 11:00AM to 1:00PM. We will have a table and tent, as pictured below, set up in front of the Fitzgerald Building at the Jefferson State main campus on Carson Road. If you have questions, would like to monetarily donate, or would like to volunteer, please contact Matt Boehm at mboehm@jeffersonstate.edu for further information.

By Ashley Kitchens, Associate Dean Chilton Campus

For over four years now, since Spring 2016, the Clanton campus has hosted a physical museum in the Fall and Spring semesters featuring history and literature class projects united under a common theme.  This semester, due to COVID-19, the museum has taken on a new and more widely accessible format through a virtual platform.  Fall 2020 Digital Museum will feature the theme PIRATES!, and will be a collection of literature projects based on the novel Fanny Campbell: the Female Pirate Captain, pirate artwork and photographs, pirate character debates, and other surprising features from different departments at Jefferson State Community College.

Currently, the museum is set to launch its Pirates! theme on December 7, 2020, but in the meantime, the last four years of archived themes and projects can be viewed at https://library.jeffersonstate.edu/JSCC-Digital-Museum.  

By Sara Duncan, Phi Theta Kappa Chapter Beta Lamba Delta Chapter Vice President  

Jefferson and Pell City campus Phi Theta Kappa chapter, Pi Pi, has been hurdling over the COVID-19 obstacles and its limitations. We have hosted an Induction Ceremony, provided emergency food distributions, and developed the foundation for our Honors in Action project.

INDUCTION CEREMONY
We held a virtual Induction Ceremony on July 30, 2020, for 45 new PTK members. Pi Pi members and officers packed and shipped individual boxes to each new inductee. The boxes contained the necessary tools for the ceremony. Each member was pledged and welcomed into the Pi Pi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. We will be hosting another Induction Ceremony this fall in November. The students eligible will be receiving invites via their Jefferson State email. We look forward to meeting you!

PIONEER PANTRY
Pi Pi members and officers have provided emergency food distributions through our college project called the Pioneer Pantry. We host the distributions twice a month for those in our community and our campuses that need food. We were doing food drives on each of the campuses to receive donations. Since the limitation of campus life due toCOVID-19, the Pioneer Pantry adjusted its search for contributions through monetary donations. For more information on how you or someone you know can contribute, whether it is through your support by volunteering your time at a distribution or through a financial donation please email Maddi Megehee at mmegahee@jeffersonstate.edu  or Daniel Hadaway at dhadaway2@jeffersonstate.edu .

HONORS IN ACTION

Well, it is more than just action!! There are three parts to Honors in Action: academic investigation, service/action, and impact. Pi Pi chapter’s HiA project is a digital platform that shows how food creates community but more specifically how Jefferson State food ways have impacted the college students and faculty. Foodways are “all of the traditional activities, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors associated with the food in your daily life We are very interested in learning more foodways from our college students and faculty. We invite you to share your special tradition or a family-famous dish, please email Tyler Miller at wmille12@jefersonstate.edu  or Cameron Powers jpowers5@jeffersonstate.edu 

The Jefferson State CARE Team (Communicate, Assess, Refer, Educate) is committed to maintaining individual and overall faculty, staff, and student safety and well-being through pro-active and collaborative prevention, assessment, and intervention. https://www.jeffersonstate.edu/jeffcare/