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• ICC Welding/Cutting students celebrate their career path every day

  Although the nation commemorates April as National Welding Month, students in Kent Lewis’s Welding and Cutting Technology class at Itawamba Community College’s Belden Center celebrate their career path and ultimate profession every day. This year’s theme is “Connected by Welding: Bridging Communities and Industries,” and ICC’s students definitely do. According to Dylan Baldwin, dean of Career Education, ICC’s welding students are an excellent example of the definition of community partners. “They contribute to worthwhile events and charities while sharing their talents as often as possible. Every project provides an opportunity to demonstrate their creativity while honing their skills in their chosen profession.” ICC’s welding students come from different backgrounds and have different career expectations, but they are bound by their love and passion for welding. Among their stories have included “I’m hooked on a hobby that I can have for a lifetime. My grandfather was a welder, and I would have made him proud. I can feel his arms on mine when I stick weld.” Some hope to start their own business, but no matter their story, their chance meeting in ...
• ICC celebrates April as National Welding Month; students in Metallica class share their stories

  Chris Adair of Saltillo is a student in Itawamba Community College’s welding class that has been funded by a grant from Metallica’s foundation, All Within My Hands.             He and his classmates as well as all students in ICC’s welding classes are joining in the celebration of April as National Welding Month.             Adair said that enrolling in the class was a great opportunity to learn welding. “I’m hooked on a hobby that I can have for a lifetime.” His grandfather was a welder for both the Navy and NASA. “I would have made my grandfather proud. I can feel his arms on mine when I stick weld.” A general studies graduate in 2018, Adair said he didn’t know what his future would bring. He said he spent a lot of time playing video games. “I didn’t know what to do. I saw the opportunity and decided to go for it. I was nervous at first, but I’ve started a hobby that I enjoy.”             Adair and his classmates have different stories, but their chance meeting in ICC’s welding class has given them ...
• Apply NOW for free welding class made possible by Metallica's foundation, All Within My Hands

              A free class in welding, which begins at the Itawamba Community College Belden Center, Oct. 11, is possible due to a grant this summer from Metallica’s foundation, All Within My Hands.             The class will meet for one eight-week term, and the curriculum includes introduction to welding I and introduction to STEM.             During the second phase, which begins Jan. 8, the students will take shielded metal arc welding and two fully-online classes in entrepreneurship and principles of marketing.             Among the schools, which applied for the grant, ICC was selected from a competitive pool of applicants to receive $100,000 to transform the futures of students in the community.             For more information on enrolling in the Oct. 11 welding class, contact Dylan Baldwin, dean of career education, at 662.407.1414 or email dcbaldwin@iccms.edu.
• ICC to offer four innovative scheduling options for fall

             With classes set to begin Aug. 17, Itawamba Community College is one of the only two-year institutions in the state to offer four innovative course schedule offerings for the fall semester.             “In an effort to allow for physical distancing in the classrooms and assist with enhanced cleaning procedures, classes will be taught using one of the four instructional methods,” said Dr. Michelle Sumerel, vice president of instructional services.             The offerings include face-to-face only, face-to-face hybrid, face-to-face Zoom and online only. These instructional methods ensure that all students who registered for a face-to-face class will have 50 percent or more of that class taught in that delivery system each week. Face-to-face only courses are delivered in a traditional format on Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays at all three of the College’s locations, Fulton, Tupelo and Belden. Sumerel said that all classrooms have been reconfigured with desks positioned six feet apart, and typically larger classes have been relocated to spaces that will accommodate more students to enable physical distancing. All face-to-face classes continue to be ...
• ICC's MiBEST program to offer 11 additional pathway options beginning in January

              Beginning in January 2022, participants in Itawamba Community College’s MiBEST program will have 11 additional pathway options.             Currently, students can choose from Heating and Air Conditioning Technology, Certified Nursing Assistant and Welding and Cutting, according to Linzy Patterson, director of Adult Education at ICC.             Additional programs will include Automotive Technology, Business Office Specialist, Commercial Truck Driving, Diesel Equipment Technology, Electrician Assistant, Food Service Pathway, Hospitality Management Technology, Manufacturing Basic Skills, Pharmacy Tech, Phlebotomy and Introduction to Welding and Cutting.             The Mississippi Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training program is a workforce and economic development initiative that transitions low-skilled, non-credentialed Mississippians from the economic sidelines into careers earning family-sustaining wages, according to Patterson.             The program is intended for individuals who did not earn a traditional high school diploma, those in low-wage jobs or other nontraditional students.             Those enrolled in the MiBEST program at ICC are assigned a Navigator to guide them through each step of the program, including filling out an application, completing their coursework and transitioning into the labor market, Patterson said. Navigators ...
• ICC offers free short-term pathway programs to those who qualify through Dec.

             Itawamba Community College is offering several free short-term career pathways to those who qualify from now until the end of December as part of the ReSkill Mississippi Initiative.             The program is designed to help ease the economic burden and uncertainty the pandemic has created for the state’s workforce.             ICC is utilizing the resources to enhance or start new workforce development training and/or career education programs that would positively impact underemployed, unemployed, furloughed and/or otherwise displaced individuals who are experiencing economic hardships as a result of COVID-19, said ICC President Dr. Jay Allen.             ICC has utilized the ReSkill Mississippi funds to create short-term pathway programs in medical administrative assistant, quality improvement associate, introduction to industrial maintenance and electrician assistant. They join a list of 14 other pathway programs, which also offer free tuition opportunities for those who qualify through December. Allen, who serves as chair of the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Workforce Committee, and Tyler Camp, chief of staff and special assistant to the president, were instrumental in securing the more than $49 million to ...