Growth in Community and Opportunity
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HCC to Welcome Boys and Girls Club
The College is thrilled to announce that a new Boys and Girls Club will soon be opening on campus and will provide middle and high school students with special programming. Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced that he has allocated $220,000 for the new club at Howard Community College in the county’s proposed fiscal 2025 operating budget.
It is the first Boys and Girls Club on the campus of a community college in Maryland, according to Jeff Breslin, chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore.
The Children’s Learning Center Set to Reopen
In partnership with the Community Action Council (CAC) of Howard County, HCC has announced plans to reopen its on-campus Children’s Learning Center (CLC), which will serve as an essential resource in reducing childcare costs and encouraging degree completion among student parents at HCC.
In 2023, HCC was awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support re-opening its campus childcare center, which closed in 2020 during the pandemic. The grant is part of the federal Childcare Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grant program and brings HCC closer to re-establishing a critical support service for hundreds of student parents pursuing higher education in Howard County. Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and the CAC recently announced an additional $750,000 of investment support for the project to support student parents at HCC.
The CLC will open in the fall and will serve degree or certificate-seeking HCC student parents eligible for the Pell grant.
HCC Associate Dean of Liberal Studies Chairs Governor’s AAPI Commission
HCC Associate Dean of Liberal Studies Yang Yu, Ph.D., was appointed chair of the Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission by Governor Wes Moore and was appointed to represent HCC in Howard County’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Commission by HCC President Daria J. Willis, Ph.D.
“I am so honored to be chairing this important commission,” said Dr. Yu. “I am deeply grateful to the Governor for the opportunity and to Dr. Willis for paving the way by appointing me to represent Howard County’s AAPI Commission for HCC.”
Dr. Yu was the Acting Associate Dean of the Social Sciences and Teacher Education Division and the chair of the social and cultural sciences department at HCC. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Sheffield, UK, and dual bachelor’s degrees in environmental management with Environmental Science from the University of Leeds, UK and Chinese Linguistics and Literature from Heilongjiang University, China.
OASIS: Older Adult Summit Instructional Series
The division of Workforce, Career & Community Education was delighted to announce the debut of OASIS, a three- day seminar series for the greater Howard County older adult community. Held in early June, the event welcomed more than 80 active seniors to participate in enriching and thought-provoking seminars, including “War in Sound and Sea,” “Portraits in Genius and Tragedy,” and “The Business of Fashion,” presented by Howard Community College faculty and content area experts. Programming for older adults through the OASIS seminar series is planned to be an annual event.
Inaugural “Give Kids a Smile Day”
HCC’s Dental Hygiene program provided 25 area children free dental hygiene services during the college’s inaugural ‘Give Kids a Smile’ outreach event on February 2, 2024. Give Kids A Smile Day (GKAS) is a national initiative sponsored by the American Dental Association that encourages dental practitioners to provide free treatment to children during Children’s Dental Health Month. HCC’s Dental Hygiene program prepares students to become licensed primary health providers and members of dental teams responsible for preventative oral healthcare. Students earning an associate’s degree in the field have training for careers in clinical care, education, research, and public health advocacy.