OCCC President, Paul Sechrist, greets students and offers coffee and water on the first day of fall classes, August 20. President Sechrist said, “I do this at the beginning of

OCCC’s Student Life will host a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 4 and 5 in the dining area. As previously reported by the Pioneer, past blood

The theater department is hosting a casting call for the Shakespearean gender bender “Twelfth Night” from 7 to 10 p.m., Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, in the Bruce Owen Theater.

According to theater professor, Brent Noel, no positions have been filled as of yet.

Noel said he seeks 11 men and 3 women to fill the various roles in the production. Applicants do not need to be theater majors or OCCC students, but should be dressed to move and prepare to read from the text, he said.

Opening Day will take place Saturday, Aug. 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. on OCCC campus, providing students and faculty with fun and easy volunteer opportunities.

“Volunteers will be taking new students on a tour of campus and showing them exactly where their classes are located. They will also be answering general questions about OCCC,” said Student Life Director Erin Logan.

“The information tables, give-a-ways, and scavenger hunt are staffed by staff and faculty members.” Logan said students do not have to meet any requirements in order to volunteer. To sign up, interested parties just need to contact Student Life, she said.

New students will have an opportunity to learn about and familiarize themselves with the OCCC campus at Opening Day from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, said Student Life Director Erin Logan.

“For first-time students, Opening Day helps to get the jitters out prior to the very first day of classes,” Logan said. “We want new and returning students to feel comfortable here.”

“Opening Day helps students get familiar with the campus, ask last-minute questions, and make sure they know where all their classes and labs are located.”

Safety awareness classes for the oil and gas industry are hard to find but are now accessible at OCCC.

“We are primarily answering a demand with these classes,” said Corporate Learning Consultant John Claybon.

“Employees are often working around wellsites, oil rigs and exploratory surfaces that they have to utilize in the field,” Claybon said. “So, safety awareness is something the industry is very concerned with.”

There are more than 25 class topics, including Incident Reporting and Investigation, Accident Prevention, Material Handling and Hazard Communications.

The Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard Broadcasting Scholarship from the OETA was awarded this year for the first time to a student completing their sophomore year at a regionally accredited Oklahoma institution of higher education.

The scholarship was judged based on each student’s academic records, personal characteristics, career history and subjective opinion.

Justin Voda, a broadcasting major at OCCC, won the ten thousand dollar scholarship with the help of professors and advisors from OCCC and an internship at a local radio station, Voda said.

Voda said he grew up in Los Angeles, where his love for broadcasting blossomed from his frequent exposure to the entertainment and news industry.

The fairly new, two-year Speech-Language Pathology Assistant or SLPA program being offered completely online is about to launch its second class this fall.

Beginning Aug. 20, the set-scheduled program is primarily designed for working adults. Requirements include completing 42 hours of speech-language coursework, including six hours of clinical experiences that are conducted over two separate semesters, and 19 hours of general college education courses.

Blending on-site clinical experience with predominantly online coursework, students work under the supervision and direction of SLPs, providing services to schools in healthcare settings.

Upon completion of an Associates in Applied Science, students will graduate ready to apply for a license from the Oklahoma Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, as well as for a teacher certification from the Oklahoma State Department of Education as an SLPA.

OCCC’s Oklahoma Film Institute is presenting OFI Cinema Clinics throughout the month of June this summer.

Gray Frederickson, artist in residence and instructor, said OFI originally began with Professor Rick Lippert in 1999 as a three week course of full immersion in the filmmaking process.

“It was the first time that any school in this part of the country offered a course on how to actually make a movie,” he said.

However, Frederickson said the course was recently re-designed as individual clinics to allow people to enter the specific areas of filmmaking that most interest them. This method has proven to be more effective as it requires less time and tuition, as well. And, as a result of the success, it is being repeated again this year.

OCCC’s Black Student Association is hosting a series of car washes and other fundraisers this summer.

The first of the four car washes will take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at AutoZone at S.W. 29th and May.

The second car wash is scheduled from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at AutoZone at 5733 S. Western.

The third car wash will be from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 20, at AutoZone at N.E. 23rd and MLK.

And, the last car wash is to take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 21, at AutoZone at N.E. 23rd and MLK.