Lake Superior College News Releases

Seven of Lake Superior College’s (LSC) Integrated Manufacturing students have won medals at the recent Minnesota SkillsUSA competition.

Matt Hjelden of Cloquet won a first place gold medal in the Job Demo B category. A team made up of Russ Young, Hermantown; Mark Johnson, Proctor; Mark Shatto, Duluth; and Nick Kuras, Saginaw earned a silver medal in the Chapter Display category. Mark Florentz, Knife River, and Travis Hanson, Duluth, teamed to earn silver for their Promotional Bulletin Board.

As a gold medalist, Hjelden qualifies for national competition later this year.

The three-day event, which took place March 23 through 25, was headquartered in Bloomington, with events held at various locations across the Twin Cities. Nearly 1,000 students competed in 70 events. Nine LSC students attended the Minnesota SkillsUSA Conference, participating in competitions focused on skills, team building, and leadership.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers, and industry representatives, working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. It helps individual students excel by preparing them for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. It was formerly know as VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America).

With more than 4,500 students enrolled this spring, Lake Superior College is Northeastern Minnesota’s largest two-year college. LSC provides a wide range of programs and services, including liberal arts and science courses for transfer, technical programs intended to provide occupational skills, continuing education and customized training for business and industry.

Pictured (left to right )
front row: Mark Johnson, Mart Florentz, Travis Hanson, and Matt Hjelden;
back row: Nick Kuras, Mark Shatto, and Russ Young

(Duluth, Minn.) – Lake Superior College faculty members Penny Fudally and Marlise Riffel have been nominated by LSC President Kathy Nelson and Vice President of Academic Affairs Candace Barnack for the Minnesota State and Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Award for Excellence in Teaching. This newly established statewide award recognizes outstanding faculty at the 33 state colleges and universities in the MnSCU system. The awards will be granted by the MnSCU Board of Trustees.

Fudally and Riffel are two of thirty faculty nominated from the MnSCU system.

Fudally teaches in the dental hygiene program. She has been a faculty member at LSC for 15 years. Riffel teaches sociology. She has been a teacher for more than 25 years. Both nominees are considered campus leaders by their peers in providing student-centered, active learning environments and are considered invaluable resources for colleagues and co-workers.

LSC is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. With more than 4,800 students enrolled this spring semester, LSC is northeastern Minnesota’s largest two-year college. LSC provides a wide range of programs and services, including liberal arts and science courses for transfer, technical programs intended to provide occupational skills, continuing education, and customized training for business and industry. LSC is also the leader in Internet-delivered courses and programs in Minnesota.

(Duluth, Minn.) – Rob West, president and chief executive officer of APEX, (Area Partnership for Economic Expansion), will speak on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur on Thursday, March 22 from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Lake Superior College in room E2012.  A social hour from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. will be held with refreshments near room E2328.  The event is free and open to the public.

West has served as APEX’s first president since its inception in 2004.  This position culminates a long, entrepreneurial career in marketing, manufacturing and business ownerships which spans more than 30 years.  He has started and sold several large financial and marketing businesses.  Rob has a true passion and gift for entrepreneurial endeavors.

LSC is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.  With more than 4,800 students enrolled this spring semester, LSC is northeastern Minnesota’s largest two-year college.  LSC provides a wide range of programs and services, including liberal arts and science courses for transfer, technical programs intended to provide occupational skills, continuing education, and customized training for business and industry.  LSC is also the leader in Internet-delivered courses and programs in Minnesota.

Fishing for answers about college? Catch some at Lake Superior College’s (LSC) spring open house on Friday, March 30 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. High school students, adult learners, and anybody curious to learn more about Lake Superior College are welcome. More than 60 booths will feature information and demonstrations by various departments. There will also be free chair massages, refreshments, door prizes, and a drawing for six free college credits.

LSC offers an Associate of Arts, an Associate of Fine Arts, and an Associate of Science degree, which allows students to complete the first two years of a bachelor’s degree prior to transfer to a four-year university or college. LSC also offers more than 90 certificate, diploma, and degree programs in career/technical fields.

More than 130 online courses are offered through the popular Virtual Campus. These classes include fully transferable Minnesota Transfer Curriculum courses, as well as electives, technical program courses, and developmental courses. For more information, call 1-800-432-2884, ext. 7601 or visit www.lsc.edu

March 8, 2007

Lake Superior College students attending the 2006-07 Spring State Leadership/Competitive Event Conference of Business Professionals of America (BPA) in Mankato, Minnesota, returned from the Feb. 8-11 event with 58 awards. Seventeen members of BPA representing the Computer Information Systems, Accounting, Business, and the Administrative Support programs at LSC competed against 250 students from community and technical colleges throughout Minnesota. These skill-based contests pitted the LSC students against students in the same career fields and program areas from around the state.

The winners are as follows:
* Indicates student qualified for May National Competition in that event.

BRIAN ANDERSON, Computer Information Systems,
Brooklyn Center, MN

Computer Network Technology - Finalist
PC Servicing & Troubleshooting - 5th*
CISCO Systems Admin - 5th*
Microsoft Network Admin - Finalist
Information Technology Concepts - Finalist
Computer Security - Finalist

SCOTT ANKARLO-LEPPALA, Computer Information Systems,
Duluth, MN

Computer Network Technology - 2nd*
PC Servicing & Troubleshooting - Finalist
CISCO Systems Admin - Finalist
Microsoft Network Admin - Finalist
Novell Network Admin - 2nd*

KRYSTAL BALDUC, Computer Information Systems,
Duluth, MN

Admin Support Concepts - 2nd*
Database Applications - 4th*
Fundamentals of XHTML - 4th*

SARAH BYERS, Accounting,
Duluth, MN

Admin Support Concepts - 5th*
Integrated Office Applications - 3rd*
Extemporaneous Speech - Finalist

MATT DALLAM, Computer Information Systems,
Superior, WI

Computer Network Technology - 5th*
PC Servicing & Troubleshooting - 2nd*
CISCO Systems Admin - 3rd*
Microsoft Network Admin - 3rd*
Information Tech Concepts - 2nd*
Computer Security - 3rd*

KAYLA EDWARDS, Administrative Support Careers,
Two Harbors, MN

Admin Support Concepts - Finalist
Keyboarding Production - 1st*
Medical Office Procedures - Finalist
Medical Transcriptions - 1st*

MIKE HARVEY, Business Administration,
Duluth, MN

Small Business Management Team - 2nd*
Human Resource Management - Finalist

ANDREA JOHNSON, Administrative Support Careers,
Esko, MN

Keyboarding Production - 2nd*
Medical Office Procedures - Finalist

MICHELLE JOHNSON, Accounting,
Duluth, MN

Small Business Management Team - 2nd*

STEVE JOHNSON, Computer Information Systems,
Duluth, MN

CISCO Systems Admin - Finalist
Microsoft Network Admin - Finalist

LYNETTE KRASKEY, Computer Information Systems,
Hermantown, MN

Database Applications -2nd*
C++ Programming - 2nd*

MOLLY MCGOVERN, Administrative Support Careers,
Lakeland, MN

Fundamental Word Process - 3rd*
Medical Office Procedures - Finalist
Medical Transcription - Finalist

MELANIE NELSON, Administrative Support Careers,
Sturgeon Lake, MN

Keyboarding Production - Finalist
Medical Office Procedures - 4th*
Medical Transcription - Finalist
Keyboarding Speed - Finalist

JAMES SUESS, Computer Information Systems,
Saginaw, MN

Database Applications - 3rd*
Fundamentals of XHTML - 2nd*
VB.NET Programming - 1st*

NEVA SWANSON, Accounting,
Duluth, MN

Banking and Finance - 4th*
Small Business Management Team - 2nd*
Interview Skills - 3rd*

JESSE TWETEN, Computer Information Systems,
Virginia, MN

Administrative Support Concepts - 4th*
Computer Network Technology - Finalist
CISCO Systems Admin - Finalist*
Microsoft Network Admin - 2nd*
Novell Network Admin - 1st*
Information Tech Concepts - 3rd*
Computer Security - 4th*
Management, Marketing, and Human Resources - Finalist

LORI WESTLUND, Accounting,
Saginaw, MN

Banking and Finance - 3rd*
Small Business Management Team - 2nd*
Human Resource Management - Finalist
Management, Marketing, and Human Resources - 1st*

JAMIE AKERSTROM
Alumni Representative - Worked conference

* Indicate student qualified for National Competition in that event.

(Duluth, Minn.) Lake Superior College’s Ceramics Department will host an international wood fire conference and workshop from July 16 - July 26, 2007 in Duluth, Minnesota. Wood fire kiln pottery is an age-old tradition traced back thousands of years in Asia and the Middle East. Because of the variations in kiln temperatures and influences such as wood ash and smoke, the resulting product is highly unpredictable. Surface color and texture vary greatly in wood fire pottery. This volatility makes the process a magical one.

The 10-day conference will feature demonstrations and illustrated lectures by artists from China, Denmark, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

The international artists include Wenzhi Zhang, who is considered one of the most important contemporary Chinese ceramic artists working today. Zhang has exhibited her work from Paris to New York. She has curated and hosted several international ceramics exhibits in China. Zhang studied at the Guangzhou Fine Art Academy where she now teaches in the ceramics program she started. Her work is held in public institutions, galleries and private collections across the globe, including Lake Superior College, Guangzhou Art College, and the Ministry of the Culture of China. She is currently a guest art faculty member at Lake Superior College in Duluth.

Professor Lu Pinchang, a high profile Chinese ceramics instructor, will also demonstrate his work. Lu Pinchang is the head of the sculpture department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. His work has been exhibited throughout China, Hong Kong and in the United States. He is the subject of a documentary film,“Lu Pinchang and the Course of Contemporary Ceramic Arts in China.” He has been a visiting guest lecturer at many American universities and participated in numerous artist exchanges throughout the world.

Contemporary Danish sculptor Bjorn Norgaard will also participate. Norgaard works in a variety of mixed media, ceramics, bronze, photography, and textiles. He served as a professor in sculpture at the Royal Danish Academy of Art from 1985 to 1994. Starting in 1964, he was a member of the Experimental Art School (Den eksperimenterende Kunstskole) and worked with happenings, actions, objects, strips, movies, exhibitions, pictures, collective actions, magazines, books, demonstrations, posters, gardening, and printing. His work has been shown in galleries throughout Europe and his work is held in major public and private collections.

His portfolio includes a range of commissioned works, including designs for a European stamp series influenced by Danish mythology; a series of twelve tapestries for the Christianborg Palace illustrating the history of Denmark and extensive public art sculptures, installed in a variety of locations, including castles, ferry landings, parks, military barracks and churches.

Midwest ceramic artists will include Sara Haugen, Lenore Lampi Rukavina, Bob and Cheryl Husby, Tonya Borgeson, Broc Allen, and Richard Gruchalla. Tours of local artist studios are included.

The 10-day conference/workshop fee ($795) includes guest artist demonstrations and illustrated lectures, stoneware clay and glaze materials, wheel-throwing, hand-building, glazing, kiln-building, and firing processes.

An eight-week advanced ceramics course is also available for college credit from May 30 - July 26, 2007. Taught by Dorian Beaulieu, this advanced level course will include the July 16 - 26 wood-firing conference and workshop. The course will also incorporate Beaulieu’s techniques and knowledge learned from his trips to China where he recently taught wheel-throwing technique at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. The eight-week advanced ceramics course fee ($595) includes clay and glaze materials, wheel-throwing, hand-building, glazing, and firing.

For more information, contact Dorian Beaulieu, (218) 725-7715, d.beaulieu@lsc.edu or http://blog.lsc.edu/woodfireconference.