Jamestown Community College students and faculty celebrate Arbor Day, 14th Year as Tree Campus USA, and Certified Wildlife Habitat designation (May 4, 2023)

Jamestown Community College celebrated its 14th year as a Tree Campus USA by planting seven trees on its campus for Arbor Day.

Tree Campus USA is a national program that was created in 2008 to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management, and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. JCC received its first designation in 2009 and was the first community college in New York to achieve this designation from the National Arbor Day Foundation.

JCC Biology professor and Environmental Science Coordinator Janis Bowman was presented with the Joan P. Shevory Citizen Forester Award at the tree planting. Jamestown Parks Manager Dan Stone presented the award in recognition of Bowman’s work to get JCC designated as a Tree Campus and the work involved with keeping that designation.

Tree Campuses must plant at least one tree annually for Arbor Day; as well as create and update a tree management plan, maintain a tree committee, and a designated budget for trees and their maintenance. Student involvement through service learning projects or internships is also required.

JCC also has been designated by the National Wildlife Federation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Board President Becky Nystrom said the CWC has been working over the last year and a half to encourage people to create more sustainable habitats for wildlife in Chautauqua County, “It requires a certain amount of fresh water, and cover and nesting sites; and not using a lot of pesticides; and doing things more sustainably, planting more native plants to encourage all of the wildlife that depends on them.”

JCC Biology professor and Environmental Science Coordinator Janis Bowman receives the Joan P. Shevory Citizen Forester Award (May 4, 2023)

Nystrom said Chautauqua County has met nearly half of the requirements needed in order for the entire county to be certified as a National Wildlife Habitat.

Jamestown Community College

JCC Career Services developed the idea for a boutique-styled clothing closet that will be housed in the Hamilton Collegiate Center. Students will be able to select items free of charge that they may need for job or internship interviews, professional networking events, or starting a new job.

Donations of professional career clothing will be accepted from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 6 at the Physical Education Complex of the Jamestown Campus.

Desired items include work-appropriate dress pants, blouses, shoes, jewelry, scarves, neckties, sweaters, and blazers for all genders that are in new or like-new condition. Boxes are also welcome to help with storing back inventory.

Alizé Scott-Nowell

Jamestown Community College has chosen YWCA Jamestown‘s Social Justice and Racial Equity Director Alizé Scott-Nowell as its 2023 Commencement Speaker

Scott-Nowell is also an adjunct professor at JCC as well as a graduate of the college with an associate of science degree in individual studies. She earned a Bachelor’s in Communication and Sociology and a Masters in American Studies from University at Buffalo.

Scott-Nowell’s current work at YWCA utilizes her expertise to build and implement programs that foster meaningful conversations about social justice issues with people of all ages.

This year’s student commencement speaker is Drew Roggenbaum. Roggenbaum will graduate with an associate’s degree in criminal justice. He is currently president of JCC Student Senate, and a community college representative at the State University of New York Student Assembly.

Roggenbaum plans to continue his education at UB to further his criminal justice and political science studies.

This year’s commencement combines in-person and virtual celebrations to honor graduates from summer 2022, fall 2022, and spring 2023 classes.

The weekend kicks off virtually at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 12 at sunyjcc.edu/commencement.

In-person celebrations will take place at 10:00 a.m., May 13 on the Cattaraugus County Campus and at 9:00 a.m., May 14 on the Jamestown Campus.

Jeff Musial of Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics holds one of his animal ambassadors, a lemur, during a presentation at JCC.

Jamestown Community College will hold Earthfest 2023 today.

The event will take place 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. along the pondside walkway, weather permitting, and in the Student Union of the Hamilton Collegiate Center. The event is free and open to the public, and will focus on protecting water resources and keeping them clean.

The event will feature live music, eco-friendly vendors, art work, educational displays and a noon performance by Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics.

The Earth Awareness Club will hold a tree seedling adoption with tree donations made by the Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District. Proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Plastic Soup Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation’s “Protecting Our Water Resources” and “Water for Wildlife” efforts.

For more information, visit sunyjcc.edu/events.

Jamestown Community College

This coincides with the recent announcement from the State University of New York Chancellor John B. King and with the official declaration of the end of the national public health emergency by President Biden’s administration.

The change in guidelines will formally take effect with the beginning of Summer 2023 classes.

Students enrolled in any program or course, or who participate in a clinical or internship held at a third-party location, must continue to comply with all health and safety guidelines, including any vaccination or testing protocols that are in place at the third-party location.

For more information, go to sunyjcc.edu/covid19.

Jamestown Community College

The Educational Advancement for Regional Neighbors (EARN) grant covers the cost of tuition for one summer course at JCC. This grant is available to the first 150 high school students who apply and enroll in a course during one of JCC’s two summer sessions.

EARN is open to students 15 or older who live or attend high school in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, or Allegany counties, and have been a permanent resident of New York state for at least a year.
Applications are due May 8 for Summer Session I and June 21 for Summer Session II. In-person classes, online, and hybrid courses are available. Students are responsible for fees and textbook costs, and must have parental consent at the time of application.

Those interested in taking additional summer courses may do so through the Pre-college Enrollment Program, which includes a grant that covers half the cost of tuition, up to $500.

Full eligibility details, the EARN application, and a list of available courses can be found at sunyjcc.edu/earn.

To apply for the Pre-college Enrollment Program grant, visit sunyjcc.edu/pep.

Jamestown Human Rights Commission meeting (April 5, 2023)

The Jamestown Human Rights Commission has approved funding to co-sponsor with the National Comedy Center a Juneteenth event.

The National Comedy Center is planning to show “The Nutty Professor” starring Eddie Murphy on Monday, June 19. HRC member Kim Knight, who is also helping with Juneteenth event plans, said the contribution for the HRC would be $425. The event would feature the movie on the Comedy Center’s screens on West Second Street as well as concessions sold by the Juneteenth Committee to benefit their scholarship fund.

The HRC also will be collaborating with Jamestown Community College on a Human Rights focused event. JCC Coordinator of World Languages Theresa Baginski said the college was awarded a three year grant to “globalize” the experience at JCC. She said their goal is to hold at least two Human Rights events in connection with the college over the next three years.

The Commission discussed ideas of a poster contest for middle school students, having a comedian perform, and having a speaker discuss the topic of refugees and immigrants that includes a facilitated discussion. A couple members of the HRC will work with JCC on development of the event.

The Commission also voted to spend up to $500 to purchase “swag” items to hand out when tabling at events. The group is expected to review possible items and costs at its meeting in May.

JCCs Neil Flory joined WRFAs Anthony Merchant in studio to discuss upcoming spring events at SUNY Jamestown Community College including a residency from artist A.I the Anomaly and the 2023 Jazz Fest featuring Buffalo Music Hall of Fame inductee Wendell Rivera.

www.sunyjcc.edu

Sherri “Sam” Mason

A discussion on freshwater plastic pollution will be held at Jamestown Community College March 21.

The event will feature one of the foremost experts in the field, Dr. Sherri “Sam” Mason. It takes place at 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 21 at the Sheldon Center. It’s free and open to the public.

As part of her visit, Mason will share her presentation again at 6:30 p.m. the same day at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown.

Mason is the director of sustainability at Penn State Behrend in Erie. She completed her doctorate in Chemistry at the University of Montana as a NASA Earth System Science scholar. During her time as a professor at SUNY Fredonia, Mason’s research group was among the first to study the impact of plastic pollution within freshwater ecosystems.

Mason’s work formed the basis for the Microbeads-Free Water Act, which was signed into law in 2015 by former President Barack Obama and laid the groundwork for similar legislation to be passed internationally.

In recent years, Mason has been awarded the EPA Environmental Champion, Excellence in Environmental Research by the Earth Month Network, Heinz Award in Public Policy, and Great Lakes Leadership Award from the Great Lakes Protection Fund. She has been featured in hundreds of articles in publications such as the BBC, The Guardian, New York Times, and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.

For more information, visit sunyjcc.edu/events.

Director Emily Drew along with actors Morgan, Colin, Kayden and Ethan join WRFA’s Anthony Merchant to discuss their upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet at Jamestown Community College as well as to perform selections from the production

www.sunyjcc.edu/event/romeo-juliet-2
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