2002 Graduation Showcases Student's Journey

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue hugs student and invocation speaker Kelly Gunter at the 2002 graduation.

Kelly Gunter isn't one to make the same mistake twice.

Questioning the value of subjects like algebra and chemistry in "the real world," Kelly decided to quit high school in the second semester of her senior year. But on Aug. 2, she not only graduated with honors from A-B Tech, she found herself cited by the commencement speaker, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, as an example of what community colleges are all about.

Perdue told a near-capacity crowd at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium that Kelly dropped out of high school and bounced from job to job before resolving not to become "just another statistic." At the age of 31, she came to A-B Tech and was so impressed with the diversity of the students and the warmth of the staff, she decided to enroll.

Kelly's classmates later elected her president of the Student Government Association and, in May, she was one of two A-B Tech students honored at the North Carolina Community College System's Academic Excellence Luncheon. She also was one of only three students systemwide invited to speak at the event.

"Giving credit to help from you, her fellow students, and terrific instructors like Larry Weigle, Randee Goodstadt, and Dr. Jim Robinson, Kelly graduates today and plans to transfer to a four-year university to study social work," Perdue said. "As Kelly says, and I'll paraphrase, 'Community college is about new beginnings and second chances about hope and making a difference."

Kelly was one of 458 students who graduated during the college's 40th annual commencement exercises. Pointing to examples like the college's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the SGA Children's Christmas Party, Ray Spells, chairman of the board of trustees, urged the graduates to continue the good work they had become known for while they were at A-B Tech.

The ceremony also included the presentation of Business Administration Instructor Kelly Randolph as Faculty Member of the Year, Social Sciences Instructor Rock Doddridge as Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year and Director of Enrollment Management Martha McLean as Staff Member of the Year. Return to top

Holiday Inn Sunspree Honored by Governor

Nominated by A-B Tech, the hotel's management and staff work closely with the college and area public schools to help better train its workforce.

The Great Smokies Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort has won the 2002 Governor's Award for Excellence in Workforce Development as "Outstanding Employer" for their cooperative literacy efforts, training of special needs populations and employee-centered work programs.

Only one employer is chosen annually for the program.

Sunspree General Manager Mike Kryzanek said: "We are incredibly honored we were chosen for such a prestigious award. It's something we never expected."

Nominated by A-B Tech, the hotel's management and staff work closely with the college and area public schools to help better train its workforce. Kryzanek said educational opportunities for employees "make sense" and create a "win-win" situation.

The hotel, its management and staff, are highly involved in workforce development and educational initiatives throughout this region. Training efforts include Spanish/English workplace language and literacy programs, career skills training on-the-job and at area schools, partnerships with area public schools and colleges to train prospective employees and special needs groups and manager/employee participation to teach business classes at area schools.

In conjunction with A-B Tech, they offer on-site workplace English as a second language and Spanish classes to managers, supervisors and staff. Their Spanish-speaking staff comprises about 25% of their workforce. The hotel works with area public schools and A-B Tech to identify hospitality prospects and Occupational Course of Study (OCS) students - those who have special needs but are expected to enter the workforce upon graduation - and train them for jobs in the hotel industry.

"The Holiday Inn Sunspree can be a wonderful employer for these at-risk children. There are many positions for them and they need to see there is something out there for them," Kryzanek said, adding, "And we win because we get the good employees."

In addition to their workforce development efforts, the hotel uses "employee-centered" work practices, according to Kryzanek, which results in better customer service. "It's easier to be a manager when employees are involved and engaged in the process," Kryzanek said.

The hotel regularly offers on-site training programs for managerial, housekeeping, maintenance and kitchen staffs to improve their skills and offer better service to guests. The hotel gives employees who are parents time off to volunteer at their children's schools. They also encourage them, during working hours, to gather literacy information during weekly visits from a literacy group. The hotel also compiles, designs and publishes a monthly employee newsletter called 'The Grapevine' to promote camaraderie among staff, Kryzanek said.

The Great Smokies Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort is a full-service resort hotel with 272 rooms and 28 time-share villa units. The resort boasts a 70-par golf course and is locally owned by Wayne Kinser. The hotel also is home to the Suncom Indoor Soccer Center. The hotel has 220 employees, about 25% of which are Spanish-speaking.

The Governor's Awards for Excellence in Workforce Development program honors one employer, two adult participants and two youth participants each year. A banquet will be held Oct. 24 at the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel in Greensboro to honor winners and kick off the Workforce Development Partnership Conference in October. Return to top

A-B Tech Foodservice Technology Graduates Seven From Craggy Correctional Center

Foodservice Technology Instructor Charlie Widner and Hospitality Education Chairperson Sheila Tillman pose with the seven Foodservice Technology graduates at the Craggy Correctional Center.

When inmate David Hunnicutt signed up for "cook school" at Craggy Correctional Center, he thought it would be like the educational programs he'd taken at other Department of Corrections facilities - "show up when you want and use your books for a pillow." 

Then he met A-B Tech Chef Charlie Widner. 

Twenty-eight weeks later, Hunnicutt stood before about 25 people assembled for the college's Foodservice Technology graduation ceremony at Craggy and thanked Widner - part drill sergeant, part mother hen - for helping him achieve what once seemed unimaginable. "Chef, your energy is contagious. It rubs off on all of us," he said. "Thank you for what you have done here. We're all better people for having met you."  Hunnicutt also thanked English instructor Margaret Cook, psychology instructor Chrystal Taylor, other chefs from A-B Tech, and even DOC. "Wow, I of all people never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth," he joked.  

"This program should be a measuring stick for all other educational programs across the state. You have instructors here that put their heart and soul into this," he said.  "Before this program and meeting Chef (Widner), the only trade I had if ever released was dealing drugs. Chef, thanks to you, I've found a vocation that's more than a job for me. Cooking has become a passion in my life." 

Hunnicutt was one of seven men who graduated with certificates or diplomas, prepared, as Widner said, "to go to any institution in the state of North Carolina or any job on the street and be a successful culinarian."   

Inmates from across the state transfer to Craggy to take part in the program, and 78 have graduated in the three years since it began. Michael Edwards, an incoming student who transferred from Avery/Mitchell Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine, was so anxious to enroll that he wrote not one, but two, letters of intent.

Edwards said his father was a cook, and he, himself, cooked since the age of 18, but with no formal training. "It's important to know that there are people who really care about people who are trying to get their lives together," he said. Return to top

Lee Is Named LE

Lee Spencer, Human Resource Development Instructor and recipient of the Hoyt Abney Community Service Award for his volunteer activities for A-B Tech and the community, has been chosen as a Loaned Employee (LE) for the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County's 2002 Campaign.

A Literary Gathering

Nancy Dillingham, an instructor in Adult Basic Skills, recently attended the 1st Annual Community of Authors in Boone. She is a member of the Victoria Press editorial board and the author of two collections of poetry and short stories.

Welcome Welding

Pam Silvers, Chairperson of Business Computer Technologies, sent a letter to President Bailey commending the work of Charlie Farmer, Adjunct Instructor in Welding, and Aurethia Scott, one of his students. They fabricated hanging units on which to suspend projectors. The "net result" according to Pam "was... collaboration at its best. The Business Computer Department had a need for hanging projector mounts, the welding department needed projects for their students, and A-B Tech... needed to save money."

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