Scholarship Recipient Nurtures Her Future

Laurel Barber is the recipient of the 2002 Children's Welfare League Endowed Scholarship awarded by the A-B Tech Foundation and has been accepted into A-B Tech's Medical Sonography program.

Laurel, a 32 year-old wife and mother of two, has lived in Asheville her entire life. "Throughout the years, I have known many friends who have decided to leave Asheville in search of better opportunities elsewhere," she writes. "My husband and I have chosen to make Asheville our home - the place where we choose to raise our children." She emphasizes the word choose because she wants to make it clear that it is not out of convenience or apathy that she remains in her hometown, but because of a "need to give back to the place that has given me and my family so much."

After leaving Asheville to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she returned with a degree in geology and an "appreciation of the simple beauty of rural life...." After working for the Department of Transportation as a highway engineering geologist, she discovered a passion for gardening. It was during her work as a gardener at The Biltmore Estate that she decided to enter the health care profession. "As a gardener you must nurture and care for your plants and provide them a safe and healthy environment in which they can flourish. Like my plants, I want to give my patients the necessary care to grow stronger." Return to top

Up,Up and Away: A-B Tech Employee Is Flying High

Security Officer Joe Haney stands in front of the guardrail by Sunnicrest where he found the well-traveled balloons.

No one paid postage, but a package discovered at the Asheville Campus last month arrived by air mail.

Security Officer Joe Haney was making his rounds about 7 a.m. Nov. 14 when he discovered a plastic bag tied to four balloons that were caught on a guardrail near Sunnicrest. Curious about the contents, he stopped to investigate and found a letter from Julie Smith, a fourth-grader at Bridgeport Grade School in Bridgeport, IL, who launched the balloons with her class the afternoon before as part of a science experiment to see how far they would fly.

"The class is going to go nuts," Julie's teacher, Brad Wells, said when he learned the balloons traveled all the way to A-B Tech, nearly 500 miles from Bridgeport, in less than 16 hours. He said the school's 225 students were already abuzz from the day before, when his fourth-graders and Amy Mitchell's first-graders released about 40 sets of balloons, each attached to a letter asking the finder to let the children know where they landed.

"All the classes saw us head out. My wife teaches sixth grade and where we let them off, her room is right there. They watched us, and she said she lost (her) science (lesson) all together," Wells said. "The first-grade class, all of their balloons made it into the air. Two of my students had them get hung up in the trees because we had a pretty wild wind blowing, but we got them up later on."

President K. Ray Bailey made a phone call to Wells and Julie to let them know the balloons landed at A-B Tech and to invite them to visit the campus. "I remember watching The Weather Channel yesterday, ... and it sounds to me like your balloons caught the jet stream," he told Julie, who became an instant celebrity with both Bridgeport and Asheville media. "Joe found them at 7 o'clock, and I don't know how long they had been there, but I can tell you, that was a pretty fast trip.

"Isn't it amazing what a small world this is, that an educational institution in Bridgeport, IL, sent its balloons on a scientific experiment and they ended up at an educational institution in Asheville, NC," he said afterward. "We were delighted to be a participant with them, and happy that they let us be a part of their excitement and celebration. And that's what education can be all about." Return to top

A-B Tech Employee Leads Students By Example

Virginia Norton stands at the entry window where she greets students and visitors at the A-B Tech Madison campus.

The first person you see when you enter the Madison campus of A-B Tech is Virginia Norton. That's a good thing because the compassionate, inspiring secretary knows what it's like to be unsure and a little frightened about starting over. Norton dropped out of school at the age of 16, married and worked several years before returning. Even though there wasn't a campus in Madison County, A-B Tech sent instructors there to teach GED classes and offer the exams at a Madison school, offering Norton a second chance.

"Definitely, if they hadn't been there, I never would have been able to continue with my education," said Norton, who has worked full-time and attended college for the past 10 years.

In her early 30s, she received her associate degree in Office Systems Technology from A-B Tech, where she worked part-time in the Administrative Office Program. She went on to Mars Hill College, where she received her baccalaureate degree in business in 1999. The speaker at A-B Tech's 2002 GED graduation, Norton is now just weeks away from receiving her MBA from Western Carolina University.

Norton said she couldn't have done it without her husband, her faith in God, support from her friends and the second chance for an education provided by A-B Tech. "I had a lot of support and encouragement." She wants to continue to support and encourage the Madison students.

"As long as there's life ahead, there's opportunity to affect change," Norton said, adding, "I want to be here for the students. Each day brings a new opportunity to help someone accomplish an important goal in their life."Return to top

A Universal Thank You

President Bailey and Nancy Troxler, Coordinator, Technical and Industrial Training, talk at the Universal Campaign Thank You Lunch for the campaign coodinators. The coordinators celebrated the fact that they helped raise $23,542.74 for The United Way and $21,394.50 for the A-B Tech Foundation. They also provided feedback on this year's new campaign format. Return to top

Dos Profesoras Attend Foreign Language Conference

Over 1,000 educators and administrators - including Valerie Klemmer Watts and Heather Fernandez of A-B Tech - attended the 2002 conference of the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina Oct. 24-26 in Winston Salem. The conference offered workshops for skill development and emphasized the importance of the teacher's role in a student's life. North Carolina is recognized as a national leader in foreign language instruction with its emphasis on early language learning and long sequence of study, K-12.

Author! Author!

Nancy Dillingham, an instructor in Adult Basic Skills, was invited to the 2nd Annual Western North Carolina Book Fair. Over 60 authors participated in the fair with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Weaverville Library. Nancy is the author of two collections of short stories and poetry, New Ground and The Ambiguities of Morning. Her third collection, First Light, will come out soon.

When Your Job Is Placing Jobs

Learn the skills you need to become a highly effective job placement counselor in 'Career Development Facilitator' classes offered at A-B Tech beginning Jan. 10. Classes will teach you how to assist students and clients in developing and implementing career goals. There are four different modules offered that total 120 hours and lead to national certification in career counseling. Cost is $55 per module; the workbook is $40. For more information, call ext. 893 or 133.

A Word Of Thanks

Thank you for your cards, calls, thoughts, prayers, flowers and encouraging words during my sister's illness and death. Also, I would like to send a special thank you to everyone who attended the family night and funeral. I would like to thank all of my friends in the Simpson Building for the money donation to the WNC Group Home for Autistic Persons in her memory! The money will be used to build a fence around the home for her youngest son and the other children! You are a special group of people to work with. I appreciate you!- Kay M. Beachboard

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