Enka Site Hosts Cyber Reunion for Troops in Afghanistan

Eleven-year-old Ben Klumpp of Edneyville greets his father, Sgt. Fred Klumpp, who's stationed in Afghanistan, during a video conference last month at A-B Tech's Enka Site.

It was a cyberspace reunion that only lasted 10 minutes, but for families of soldiers in the N.C. National Guard's 211th Military Police Company in Afghanistan, it was the next best thing to having their loved ones home.

Thirty-six families got their first chance in more than four months to see their relatives in the 211th during video conferences June 8 and 9 at A-B Tech's Enka Site. Based in Clyde, the company was called up on Christmas Eve and assigned to guard suspected terrorists captured in Operation Enduring Freedom. The unit left Haywood County Jan. 11 after a community send-off and a parade through Canton.

"I can see you well. You look good," Alicia Huckabee of Hickory excitedly told her husband, Spec. Adam Huckabee. "I'm so happy to see you." Newlyweds of 11 months, Alicia and Adam have spent nearly as much time apart as they have together since the wedding. They email each other often, but Alicia said the video conference helped reassure her Adam was doing well.

It helps, too, that Adam's best friend, Spec. Eric Sollie of Cary, is stationed with him. Eric's wife, Joy, was the first participant in the video conference, and her 10 minutes of air time obviously ended far too soon. "It was good to see him, but it made me miss him even more," she said, wiping tears from her eyes as she left the classroom where she spoke to her husband.

Like the Huckabees, Joy and Eric are newlyweds. Joy brought her mother, her grandmother, Eric's mom, his grandmother - even the couple's dog, a blue heeler named Country Girl, - for the cybervisit with Eric. "We got her right after we got married, and she was a pup," Joy said of Country Girl, who had an "I Love You" sign hanging around her neck. "That's why I wanted him to see her. She was so little."

Paula Klumpp of Edneyville was all smiles as she spoke to her husband, Sgt. Fred Klumpp. "Hello, good lookin'," she grinned.

"How you doin'?" Fred asked.

"Better, now that I can see you," Paula replied.

Paula brought the couple's 11-year-old son Ben and 7-year-old daughter Hayley to visit their dad, along with Fred's mom, Pat, who lives in Staunton, Va.

Capt. Sherrell Murray, the National Guard's Family Readiness Program Coordinator, said the video conferences serve as morale boosters for the servicemen and their families. "We feel it's a positive way to connect the families with their soldiers. They've been able to have phone calls, emails, and letters, but this is the only (visual) contact."

The distance learning classroom where the video conference occurred is one of 12 the Guard has across the state. Eleven are located at community colleges and one is in the Guard's headquarters in Raleigh.

"It's a good partnership between the Guard and community colleges," said Maj. Gail Richards, the Guard's Distance Learning Manager. "First of all, the Guard is in the community. They're citizen soldiers, so this is a good way to bring the community and the Guard closer.

"It's also a way we can save dollars and gain information while we're doing it all at the same time. It provides a means that we can use some of the courses community colleges have available, and maybe (share) some of the things we have available that the community colleges can use as well," Richards said. "We've learned a lot about community colleges and made some great partnership friends we wouldn't have otherwise." Return to top

College Adds English as a Foreign Language Program

A-B Tech will offer a new English as a Foreign Language program beginning with the Fall semester to prepare non-native speakers of English for college in the United States.

Cindy Trisler, who counts an opera star from Korea and a top violinist from Moscow among her past students, will serve as coordinator of the new program. Before coming to Asheville, Cindy taught English as a Second Language at a private boarding school for girls in southern Indiana and at Indiana University. Most recently, she served as interim ESL coordinator for the Literacy Council and taught ESL at A-B Tech.

Cindy said EFL will differ from the ESL classes offered through the college's Continuing Education Division in several ways. "The focus in Continuing Education is survival skill level... things like shopping, getting a driver's license, going to the doctor or the dentist, talking to school officials about your children, really basic stuff that you need to be able to do in English," she said.

"More and more as non-native speakers of English gain skills in English, I think they're going to realize if they're going to be successful, they need more than survival level English Š and that's where EFL comes in."

Unlike ESL, students who enroll in EFL will pay tuition, buy textbooks, attend class on a fixed schedule, have homework, take final exams, and get college credit. The program will be offered through Developmental Studies.

"The focus will be on developing skills necessary to be successful in an American college or university," Cindy said. "That includes cultural differences, not just language. In a lot of cultures, students are not expected to participate in class discussions. They just listen to lectures. There are a lot of skills involved in being in a discussion (and) giving classroom presentations."

Figures from the 2000 Census show that one in every 17 people living in Buncombe County speaks a language other than English at home, and the number is rising. In 1990, 3.4 percent of Buncombe residents didn't use English as their primary language at home. By 2000, the percentage had grown to 5.9.

A-B Tech also has experienced huge increases in its ESL classes. During the 1994-95 school year, 154 students were enrolled in ESL. By 2000-01, that number had jumped to 1,144.

Cindy said she anticipates a mix of languages among the students who enroll in EFL. "I've had a call from a Chinese speaker, a Spanish speaker, a Russian speaker, and a Swedish speaker. It's pretty exciting here in Asheville because of the burgeoning immigrant population. It's just amazing (and) it has to be addressed in this community somehow.

"If you think in terms of democracy, if you've got such a huge population of people who don't understand the culture or the language and who don't have a lot of education, then we're in big trouble - all of us." Return to top

Getting a GED Becomes a Family Affair

For 15 years, Tammy (right) and Wanda (left) Sharpe have been friends and relatives, and for the past year, they have also been study partners. Tammy is married to Wanda's son and both are employed at Advantage Home Care as In-Home Aides. About a year ago, they realized that the changing economic times demanded that they go back to school and get their GED. "We were scared and nervous and thinking we're too old for this" Tammy says, laughing. "But then I said, why not go together?"

Tammy and Wanda enrolled in the GED program on the Madison campus of A-B Tech in July 2001, and later transferred to a class the college offers in Barnardsville. With the support of their friends, employers and most importantly, each other, they completed the GED Program and participated in the June recognition ceremony . The going wasn't easy, but together, they made it. "When I got discouraged, she would tell me I could do it, and I'd do the same for her" Tammy says. Even Tammy's 12-year-old daughter, Wanda's granddaughter, joined in for their study sessions, helping the two with their Algebra.

Now, Tammy is determined to continue her education. She plans to enroll in the A-B Tech Continuing Education Division's Certified Nursing Assistant Program, then enter the Nursing Program to become an LPN. Asked if she planned on doing it alone, she says with a laugh that she hopes she can convince Wanda to join her. "It worked so well before, I hope we can keep it going."

While Tammy and Wanda's story is inspiring, it is actually not that unusual. Many of the students enrolled in the program come with a partner. Out of this year's 640 graduates, there was a set of twins, two married couples, two sisters, and a mother, her son, and her daughter-in-law. As Cheryl Holder, A-B Tech's Basic Skills Recruiter, says "it helps when they have a team member to help keep them going, a family member or friend."

The GED/Adult High School Diploma Ceremony was held Thursday, June 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Laurel Auditorium on the Asheville campus of A-B Tech. Return to top

Bailey, area healthcare leaders work toward solving nursing shortages in WNC

President K. Ray Bailey, Max Queen and Brenda Causey are partnering with a Western North Carolina (WNC) Health Professional Shortages Work Group. Area college presidents and deans along with nursing executives and hospital CEOs comprise the group to address the critical nursing shortages in Western North Carolina. The work group has met several times to discuss shortages in nursing and healthcare and coordinate efforts with the North Carolina Center for Nursing and the North Carolina Nurse FutureThink ­ a thinktank group aimed at creating a statewide integrated system to prepare the nursing workforce for the increasingly complex healthcare delivery system of the future.

Bailey to speak on WOXL's 'Issues and Answers' July 20

President K. Ray Bailey will be the guest on WOXL's 'Issues and Answers' program at 8:30 a.m. July 20. Tune in to hear him chat with the WOXL owner and A-B Tech Spanish Instructor Valerie Watts about such topics as the state budget crisis, the role A-B Tech plays in the area's economic development and how the college has changed in the nearly 36 years he has been here.

Enka Job Fair a Success

Over 400 job seekers from 22 states along with over 100 high school principals, personnel directors, superintendents, licensure specialists and college representatives attended the NC Mountains Teacher Job Fair sponsored by the Western Region Education Service Alliance. The fair was held on the Enka campus.

Dietary Program gets national endorsement

A-B Tech's Dietary Management program was named a 'quality training program' and granted approval from the National Dietary Managers Association (DMA) in May. Graduates enrolled during the approval period, which spans to 2007, will be eligible for both memberships with the DMA and to sit for the credentialing examination upon completion of the course.

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