SMCC to expand parking
SMCC is making room for dozens of new parking spots by taking down two college-owned buildings.
Crews began tearing down two houses on Benjamin Pickett Street in early April. After the demolition is complete, crews will pave over the land for use as a parking lot with extensive groundwater management systems and landscaping.
The new lot will become part of SMCC’s large parking lot, Lot A, behind the HUB Athletic Center. There will also be an entrance to the lot from Pickett Street.
The addition will result in an additional 66 parking spots that are scheduled to open in late summer in time for the start of Fall Semester.
Career Fair to feature 3 dozen companies
Looking to start your career? More than three dozen area businesses and organizations will be at SMCC’s annual Career Fair to share information about career opportunities.
The companies – from the technology, hospitality, education, public safety, manufacturing, health care, communications and other fields – will have tables set up in the Campus Center between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 16. Students will have a chance to network with potential employers, test their professional interpersonal skills and learn about the job market.
Among those attending will be Blue Tarp Financial, Crooker Construction, Delhaize America, Bath Iron Works, Fairchild Semiconductor, Hussey Seating Co., Martin’s Point Health Care, Olympia Sports, Plixer International, Portland Police Department, Sweetser, Texas Instruments and Tyler Technologies.
Sharon Bannon, director of Career & Transfer Services, says students should check out My Career & Transfer on the SMCC student portal to find descriptions of all the companies and tools to help with resume writing.
Computer science students teach younger crowd
Computer science majors are giving back to the community by introducing elementary school pupils to computer programing.
Students Pearl Armstrong, Garrett Kelley and Alex Reid this winter took part in an after-school enrichment program at Dyer Elementary School in South Portland. Once a week for five weeks, they met with 13 students in grades one through three and introduced them to computer programing utilizing Scratch, an online program designed to teach computational thinking to elementary-age pupils.
Their work was such a success that Dyer asked the SMCC students to return this spring and continue their work with Dyer’s Computer Coding Club. Seven members of SMCC’s ACM Computer Club began making weekly visits to the school in early April, meeting with pupils in grades two through five.
“I very strongly believe in volunteering and giving back to the community,” said Pearl Armstrong, president of the Computer Club. “I also feel it’s important for SMCC to give back to the community.”
SMCC student selected as Frances Perkins Scholar
Liberal Studies major Amber Powell has been accepted into Mount Holyoke College’s prestigious Frances Perkins Program for nontraditional-age students.
Mount Holyoke, located in South Hadley, Mass., accepts about 90 women into the program each year. It’s designed for women who have experienced an interruption in their education but “who now seek the intellectual challenge of completing their 4-year degree at a top liberal arts institution.”
The program is named for Frances Perkins, who had Maine roots and served as U.S. labor secretary under President Franklin Roosevelt.
Amber last year received a George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship and attended Cork Institute of Technology in Ireland during the fall semester. At Mount Holyoke, she plans to study international relations.