Career and Technical Education Week at SCC is Feb. 13-19

HCTC’s Linda Blair honored as Faculty New Horizon winner

Career and Technical Education Week at SCC is Feb. 13-19

When the power is out, who are you going to call? When the computer network goes down, who are you going to call? When your car or truck needs repair or you want a loaf of bread, who are you going to visit?

The answer is you will probably be calling a graduate of a Somerset Community College career or technical program.

The next question is, “Will there be enough skilled workers to meet our community’s needs?”

Consider that question as we celebrate Career and Technical Education Week from Feb. 13 to Feb. 19. Recognize the contributions that graduates of the SCC technical and career programs make to our community. In many communities skilled workers are in short supply, from automotive service technicians to health care workers, there are not enough to fill the available vacancies.

Somerset Community College is a major source of newly trained health care career specialists. The college offers eight different health care career fields. They are licensed practical nursing, registered nursing, clinical laboratory technology, surgical technology, radiography technology, physical therapy assisting, medical assisting and medical office technology.

SCC provides a wide selection of skilled career programs in construction technology, automotive and auto body repair technology, diesel technology, criminal justice and law enforcement, computer aided drafting and high technology, company certified, computer technology. The options students have at SCC are too numerous to mention them all here.

So, students, parents, teachers and employers should celebrate the successful communities and successful workers produced by the quality career and technical educational opportunities at Somerset Community College.

That’s why Somerset Community College is a strong supporter of SkillsUSA. Skills USA is a partnership of students, teachers, parents and industry working to help every student excel and to teach leadership and employability skills.

SkillsUSA was formerly called Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA). It includes more than 14,000 instructors and more than 250,000 high school and college students in all 50 states.

HCTC’s Linda Blair honored as Faculty New Horizon winner

Hazard Community and Technical College has named Linda Blair the recipient of the New Horizon faculty award because of her excellence in teaching and her dedication to students. This is the highest award the college gives each year to faculty members and it includes an all expense paid trip to Austin, Texas to attend a national conference.

“Linda has become one of the College’s consummate instructors,” noted Ron Reed, division chair for Heritage and Humanities. “She blends deftly the emotional and cognitive needs of our developmental students.”

“Linda Blair cares for students and faculty alike. She comforts us in our needs, warms our hearts when we are downcast, strengthens our resolve, laughs with us when a laugh is much needed, teaches us when we are ready to learn, … and shows us the meaning of caring. She deserves our praise and recognition,” Ron Reed stated.

Lisa Maggard, a fellow faculty member, said, “The students relate to her immediately, because they know from day one that Linda is the genuine article: she cares about her subject area and cares about them.” Students back up these claims because they use words such as “awesome” and “excellent” to describe her. Other comments include “She is always there if anyone has a problem.” And “She is down to earth and really cares about her students.”

HCTC President Jay K. Box said Mrs. Blair’s talents make her a valued member of the faculty. “Linda has developed a solid reputation as a very wise member of our faculty and we appreciate her contributions to the college, both in the classroom and her other contributions to making the college more effective,” Dr. Box said.

Other contributions include serving as an advisor for Phi Theta Kappa, an honorary society at the college; director of the Young Writer’s Camp in June 2004, United Way campus coordinator, the Student Emergency and Loan Fund manager, plus offering workshops and serving on college committees. She is also active in the community by serving on the Community Ministries Board of Directors and for several years acting as their chairperson.

Mrs. Blair joined the college in 1991 with the Older Workers Program and two years later joined the faculty teaching developmental English. In 1997, she was promoted to associate professor.

As Mrs. Blair explains, “Teaching is an integral part of who I am. In many ways, I feel as though I carry on a family tradition that began in the early 1900s when my grandparents taught “Moonlight School” in Eastern Kentucky. In the evenings, they traveled on horseback to people’s homes, where they taught families to read and write. Later in the mid 1900s, my mother also taught in one-room schools in Eastern Kentucky. Today I feel privileged to teach developmental studies.”

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1963 from Eastern Kentucky University, Mrs. Blair has spent more than seven years furthering her education at Morehead State University, EKU, UK, and Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

Her previous work experience includes teaching high school English in Louisville and Virginia Beach, Va.

Community service includes Mrs. Blair’s membership on the Hazard-Perry County Community Ministries, where she served two terms as chair of the Board of Directors and is currently the chair of the Quality Assurance Committee. She also serves on the Advisory Board for CHRET, the Advisory Board of the Mountain Writing Project, the Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance Board, and the Christmas for Charity Board.

Linda and her late husband, Bruce Blair, have two sons—Brian of Hazard and Bruce of Chesapeake, Virginia, and 4 grandchildren.