Coming up on Pensacola state today.

A mardi Gras themed celebration with a meaningful payoff.

How the humanities department goes above and beyond to impact students and faculty.

Plus, the remarkable success story of a later in life college student who has made the most of extraordinary mentorship.

Hello and welcome to Pensacola State today.

I'm Rebecca Vincent Leary, along with my co-host, Steve Nissim.

We've got a phenomenal success story to share and an in-depth conversation with the dynamic humanities department.

Plus, Doctor Meadows, president's perspective and the pirate sports report.

We start with a sip, savor and support an annual event that continues to make a difference, celebrating college employees while raising pivotal donations.

A mardi Gras theme made it a festive occasion in its third year.

SIP, Savor and Support honors PSC employees for all they do as they give back to the college.

We know that's an important aspect of working for an institution like PSC.

In fact, employee giving goes a long way supporting programing and scholarships.

Many groups that benefit from this generosity were on hand, giving a resounding thank you.

We saw representatives from Performing Arts, Visual Arts and the Athletics Booster Club, plus culinary and hospitality students were on hand dishing up some delectable treats.

Last year alone, we had a 30% increase in payroll deduction donations, with 181 employees participating and over $65,000 raised.

People give to things that they know about and that they're passionate about.

And when you come here and you talk to other employees, that's what happens.

You hear their excitement.

It's really about buying into that excitement of being a part of.

We come to help give back to the college and give to the students, and donate money to the certain scholarships I give to the Friends of Culinary.

It definitely helps me just feel part of the family by giving to just help the programs grow here at the college for the students.

We are all so busy and doing so many things that when you have something where you can get together and see people that you don't get to see all the time.

It does make it feel more like a family, and it's kind of like a family reunion.

Pensacola State helps students to achieve their dreams at any stage of life.

And Jennifer O'Hara is a shining example.

After a long delayed college journey, she's been a remarkable success story thanks to extraordinary mentors and uncommon determination.

After graduating high school, Jennifer O'Hara went right into the workforce and found some hard earned success, eventually becoming general manager at Pensacola's Honey Baked Ham store.

But while attending a conference with her company, she had an epiphany.

Imagine being in a room with all of your leaders, right?

And they're encouraging you.

And a spark happened, encouraging you to be who you could be and what you could be and how to dream big.

And I realized I needed a college degree to do so.

That's what was missing.

You know, to go to that next step and that next level.

23 years after graduating high school, Jennifer took a leap of faith and enrolled at Pensacola State College in 2013.

And balancing a full time career and going to school full time.

We had a lot of challenges.

Caffeine was great.

I stayed up really late, along with the classes and knowledge she was seeking.

Her journey at PSC was greatly enhanced by pivotal mentors, including business school professor Doctor Brian Ward, his servant leadership style, the way he teaches, the way he, you know, just pours into his students was apparent from the very first course.

Every once in a while, you'll have that one student that comes in and just captures you from the beginning.

Because of their work ethic, the quality of work they do, the passion that they bring to their studies.

And I saw that immediately with her.

He invited me in to become my advisor and helped me with that second part of my BA degree and helped me roadmap the courses that were going to help me be successful in my career, and the things I needed to do and took that personal interest.

Another game changer was Professor Michael Johnston.

Although Jennifer never actually took a course with him, struggles in statistics prompted her to seek a tutor.

And her professor asked Johnston to suggest someone, I get a chat message and ask me how I was doing.

Did I have an opportunity to meet with a tutor?

And I said, well, they weren't available.

And next he says, would you meet me at 5:00 at Barnes and Noble?

And I said, seriously, you'll you'll.

And he said, yes.

And so went there.

He helped me through the statistics, taught me great things, and I walked out of there with a mentor and friend and just a pivotal moment.

Someone's going to reach out and try to find help.

I don't mind stepping in to help them.

She was just one that always wanted to continue to do better and take advantage of the collegiate opportunities and work with her colleagues and her faculty and her mentor and her friends.

And that that drives me for the similar type of yearning to want to help her do that as well.

Jennifer completed an associate's degree in business administration and then moved on to pursue a Bachelors in Business Management, concentrating in human resources.

Along the way, she earned a place in the Robinson Honors Program, and that's where she met director Amber Carey.

She just walks in and she is a ray of sunshine.

Like she just brings light to the room.

She brings joy.

I think she approaches everything she does with that concept through the lens of joy.

How can I get joy out of this?

How can I do the best job possible?

And I remember meeting her and thinking, this person is going places to she advocate for people.

Does she pour into people?

She's just amazing and just really kindled a relationship.

And just that advisory role and everything that she did and helping me to believe more and achieve more.

Jennifer maintained a 4.0 GPA, and her major was named a Maxwell scholar of the month for the entire Florida college system and was chosen to speak at her commencement ceremony upon graduating in 2018.

The payoff was immediate.

Before I could walk across the stage, I was having interviews and being selected to move to our customer support center in Georgia.

Jennifer landed a corporate job at Honeybee Cam headquarters in Atlanta as retail operations manager, leading over 200 stores.

And she's progressed to become the chain's supply planning manager.

The education that I was given here.

I have applied it in so many ways.

There are courses that I took that I wasn't sure that I needed to take for an HR degree, but I've used them so many times.

I never in a million years imagined that coming to Pensacola State College would open up the wealth of opportunities that I've had.

When I see my students succeed.

That's where the real source of pride come from.

When I see people like Jennifer really take the world by storm, I think to myself, I knew it.

You know, you could see it early on, but so happy for her because she deserves it.

We know that that our purpose extends beyond ourselves, and we know that every day, the things that we do in the way we hold ourselves and the way we we portray our experiences in the classroom or even outside the classroom, that they have an effect on people that maybe we don't always recognize immediately, but they can take those experiences and they can learn from them.

I use Jennifer as an example to my students of what you can do if you pursue, you work hard and you pursue your passion and your degree here what you can do in the future.

It's amazing to see students like Jennifer go out in the community and continue to come and give back to PSC and to their community here.

We're creating leaders here at the college, and then they in turn, turn around and create new leaders.

And it's just it's really nice and very satisfying to see that.

I came back to college thinking I was earning a degree and I got so much more.

I got community and friends in support.

They give of themselves.

They're so ready to give it themselves, and I'm that amazing lucky recipient.

Many students are achieving their academic goals, thanks in part to the African American Memorial and Doctor Garrity Wiggins.

Live your dream.

Endowed scholarships.

The latest recipients were honored at the annual 100 for 100 Campaign Awards ceremony held at Sri since its inception in 2021.

The campaign has raised over $68,000 to support these deserving students.

It's an initiative I'm proud to spearhead, but it would not have been possible without the support of donors.

President Doctor Ed Meadows and volunteers including multicultural Committee chair Veronica Jennings.

Eight students earned Ames Wiggins Scholarships this year and their joy was quite evident.

This welcome assistance with tuition and books could not have come at a better time.

I was so shocked when I got the phone call, I was like, hey, you got a scholarship?

I was like, oh my God.

So I was super excited and I was very thankful and appreciative for having the opportunity, and I'm grateful to have that to go towards, like my education.

I'm kind of means a lot to me.

I'm kind of glad I was able to have a way to be able to get enough money to build a future for myself and others.

Actually, I started taking my class and they dropped the class because I hadn't paid for it and I was hoping for a scholarship.

So when they came through with the scholarship, I was like running around a house.

I also was like, oh, like, oh, thank you Jesus.

So yeah, it really came in handy.

Recipients also received physical awards sponsored by PSC alumnus Troy Watts, creator of the beloved children's Steam character dribbles, the ongoing cat.

many interesting things to learn about in humanities and social sciences.

But the department of PSC does so much more than just teach the curriculum in our PSC conversation will delve into all the creative ways they reach students and the community.

Joining us is Scott Shakman, the department head, and Alexander Crist, assistant professor.

Thanks a lot, guys, for taking some time with us.

So first of all, give us maybe a little overview of the department and the programs you offer.

Okay.

So it's a pretty wide reaching department.

We have about 11 advising tracks for the associate Arts degree that range anywhere from athletic training to all the kind of education programs like elementary education, early childhood education to psychology, philosophy, sports, management.

And then we have a couple associate and science degree tracks for elementary as an early childhood education and, sports fitness and rec.

So students get a lot of a lot from our department.

All right.

So it's all good stuff.

But really, you know, if you're on campus, you're a PSA.

You know, you guys do a lot of fun events and a lot of fun themes.

So how intentional is is it the thought to kind of spice things up, you know, with what you guys do, right?

Well, I mean, we're trying to kind of frame things and like you said, in a fun way where you're not just sitting in a classroom in a lecture, you know, we're trying to, bring some sort of experiential learning into it and, and make, make things a little bit more spicy.

So.

All right, so I'll give you an example.

So if you on campus earlier this semester, on one certain day outside building 14, you might have seen some mannequins, some dressed up mannequins being thrown out the window.

So what was that all about?

Yeah, that was that was in Doctor Brian Rucker's, European history class, too.

And so they were they were reaching the point of what's called the defenestration of Prague.

And so they decided, well, it's the last class of the year.

Why not just let's recreate this.

And so we threw some mannequins out a window.

So we didn't define a state of the mannequins.

So everybody learns what?

The word defenestration.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Exactly, exactly.

Everybody had a good time, right?

Right, right.

And then and then this fall we're going to hopefully behead Marie-Antoinette.

So you don't want to miss that, right?

Right.

So great stuff.

So another thing you guys do faculty research, colloquium, etc..

Correct.

Different interesting topics, country music and philosophy was a recent one.

Pensacola Popular Books is one as well.

And Scott, that's I mean, I've Zehnder that's kind of your your area there.

So what's the idea with these things?

So, again, about a year ago, we started the faculty research colloquium.

Sometimes there's a perception that teachers at a community college or two year college don't really do research, or they, you know, they don't engage in scholarship in their field.

And at least at PSC, I found that to just not be true.

And so it's yeah, in many ways it's a, it's a, it's an opportunity for also for students in the public to really see what the, faculty members do, when they're not teachers necessarily in a different kind of role.

And so the way it works is that, each person, each presenter will take about 30 to 40 minutes.

They'll give a presentation in whichever format they feel comfortable in.

And then there's about 30 minutes of a dialog in conversation.

And so that's really the spirit is everybody gathering and discussing ideas.

So it's a fun topic.

So I'm guessing it's a fun kind of kind of, you know, feel to it.

Yeah.

It so it can be fun and enjoyable.

I give the country music and philosophy talk.

And so there's a serious nature to it about virtue and happiness.

But it's also we got to listen to some country music too, and, you know, learn something.

So, you know, okay, so another thing which is sort of serious, civic literacy.

Literacy.

Do you have these, study sessions or showdowns or whatever?

So, yeah, the state of Florida, requires a civic literacy, requirement for students to graduate, which which comes with students have to take an assessment.

So we were like, how can we help students pass this exam?

So we we thought of, of these study showdowns where, where, a couple of our, adjunct faculty put together this, this three hour long study session and, we really kind of get in there and not, not cram in the way for, for material, but, review material.

Students can take the exam right after, it covers all of the core competencies.

So it's and they can play a fun quiz game just to check their comprehension.

So it's gone really, really well.

That's really very valuable stuff.

I know another thing.

Constitution and Citizenship Day 2025 that's coming up later.

What's the idea there?

So, we we kind of took over this event.

It's required by, the Department of Education, but we took over this event last year, just as a way to kind of showcase, since our department has history and American national government classes.

And so it's a way for us to kind of not only showcase our faculty and their skills, but to, to, provide that sort of civic training for students, in the area.

So we've, we've had a, a panel, we had a scavenger hunt where the students had to find all of 27 amendments.

So there's lots of things, you know, versus stuff like if you, you know, you can really get into this if you guys are really into it.

So, Alexander, for you, I mean that the passion is there for both you guys where the passion for this come for you, for you.

So if I teach in humanities department, I'm interested in cultivating the kind of deeply human faculties reading, writing, speaking and thinking.

And for me, this goes back to Socrates and, you know, being a lover of wisdom, you know, in the ancient Greek sense and not only, you know, teaching students how to of the intellectual joys, of working through certain kinds of investigations, but also the kind of virtue that's required in that as well.

Courage and strength.

Persevere.

And how about them?

And I mean, prior, I teach now, but prior prior to becoming the department head, I taught Spanish.

So for me, language, it was all about people like Alexander said, it's communication, learning all about people, different cultures, things like that.

So that's that's what like what I love about the humanities.

What do you guys find with the by and with the students and how much they kind of get into it, especially with the way you guys teach it?

My students really enjoy classes, especially because I have a heavy dialog aspect of the class.

So I lecture for about 30 minutes and then 20 minutes of what do you think about it?

And let's talk about it.

Yeah.

And so that usually students come alive in that.

Yeah.

Okay.

So all right, another thing Brain Bowl team.

So yes.

Yes.

So Brain Bowl is like a college version of like Scholar Bowl or Scholastic Bowl quiz Bowl or something like that.

So, we we have a Brain Bowl team.

They just went to the state tournament.

Recently did really well, this, this, semester.

But, yesterday, Tim Hathaway in, natural Sciences and Ron Atchison in our department, who teaches humanities, are the coaches for that.

They do fantastic.

So, yeah, it's a really good opportunity for students to to practice their skills.

Awesome.

Well, we appreciate you guys.

All you do.

And thanks for joining us here today.

Oh thank you, thank you.

Yeah.

Aloha everyone!

This is a time where we catch up with President Doctor Ed Meadows to get his perspective on the amazing things happening at the college.

Doctor Meadows, how are you?

I'm fine.

Artillery.

And good morning.

Or good day?

Yes.

Good day.

You and I know a very special woman, Carol Carlin.

Since 1999, as we know she is the longest serving district Board of Trustees member.

Recently, she endowed the Carol Carlin Legacy Leadership Scholar ship.

Isn't that amazing?

It is amazing.

And, you know, it's very difficult to even know where to start with Carol Carlin.

And she just recently wrote off the board after 20 years of service to the college.

But even prior to serving as a board of trustees member and I past chair, she also served on the, College Foundation prior to becoming a trustee member.

So there's no telling how many years no other.

Carol has been, active with Pensacola State College and, she, she is not going to slow down.

She has, skills and talents and programs that are so valuable to the college.

And for years now, we've had a President's Leadership Institute every other year, of which you have been a facilitator.

It's been an honor.

And, Carol graciously agreed to, do the traumatic test for all the recipients so that they can better understand how they interact with individuals and their behaviors.

And she did this gratis to the college at no cost to the college.

So, all these years, in addition to the other kinds of support that she has gotten.

But recently, because of an initiative for leadership for women, she joined with the Alumni association for the Matching Scholarship program and has recently endowed, a leadership endowed scholarship for special State College.

And, if there is a legacy that anyone has left, that has been her service to our institution and now this and Dale's scholarship.

Interesting caveat about Carol Carlin came to then PJC on a clarinet scholarship, but then someone said, hey, you have a mind for finance, and then the rest is history.

She has won so many awards and her all together women's conference, second annual, and then the third annual that was held recently.

I say that she's a woman who has a high level of humility, but she's a people person and she loves interacting with the community.

Well, fortunately for me, she was on the board when I was hired, and, did everything that she could as a board member to get me acclimated to the Pensacola area and to the college.

And so there's just there's no way to really describe her value.

As a citizen of Northwest Florida and certainly, the legacy that she is leaving with her endowed scholarship, speaking of which, she was so eager for funds to be awarded immediately.

In addition to the matching funds provided by the PSC Alumni Association, both she and the alumni Association donated $1,000 each upfront for a total of $2,000, so students could receive money immediately.

Associate and bachelor's students.

Isn't that wonderful?

It is.

It's tremendous.

Gift and and, of course, this $25,000 initial endowment, it will grow over the years, as we've seen so many of the alumni of scholarships grow.

To over $1 million now in scholarships through the matching, Alumni Association program.

I want to mention one other thing.

Margie Moore just wrote off the board as well, and she served over 18 years on our board of trustees and was the past chair twice.

And so between Margie Moore and Carol Coughlin, they have, they have left wonderful legacy for this college.

And they will continue, to be a part of the college PSA family.

And one thing Carol Carlin talks about often is hope.

And you have provided not only me, but many other people in the community with hope, just as she has.

And that, folks, is your president's perspective Longtime Pensacola State basketball fans will remember Sandy Rigby.

She found incredible success as head coach of the women's team from 2005 to 2012.

She's now producing a consistent winner on the Division one level at Troy.

And part of that is an annual return to Pensacola for the Sunbelt Conference tournament.

That's where we caught up with Coach Rigby to reminisce about her days at PSC.

We're here with Shana Rigby, head basketball coach, Detroit, back to Pensacola for her annual visit for the Sunbelt Conference tournament.

So when you come back, what are the other good vibes when you come back to Pensacola?

It literally is everything you think of coming back home.

That's what it feels like to me.

My husband's from Pensacola.

We raised our two boys here while I coach at Pensacola State.

My husband coached at Tate High School and we have so many friends and families here.

Doctor Traylor, the pastor at all church.

I was talking to him on the way here.

He's coming to our games a lot of times.

Doctor Ed Meadows, president of Pensacola State, comes to our games.

So it's just a great time to see old friends.

You had an incredible run when you were the coach, and then PJC, you ramped up the success last two years, 63 and six, in the last two years.

Final four national final for both years.

What was so special about that run?

It was special.

Being in Pensacola.

It was almost like a lifelong dream of mine to get to come to Pensacola.

And it was wonderful being here.

The level of competition.

We played well at Pensacola State in that Panhandle Conference, which was known as the best women's basketball league in the nation.

They really pushed me to be to be my best my first two years.

If you look at my record, it wasn't that great.

And I was getting beat by Gulf Coast, which was number one in the nation, but sometimes 60 or 70 points and getting beat like that.

It gets you to change a lot of your philosophies and it made me a better coach.

So what a lot of I mean, you build up to incredible success.

So what came together, you think within the school, within the ladies, you got to come there.

What came together to make it, to make that kind of success?

Well, a lot of good support.

And, Bill Hamilton was our outlet IT director at that time.

And a lot of great support in the in the community.

Nobody has that much success alone.

And so we had great instructors, great administration, and everybody just got behind the program and it made it a wonderful experience.

So you're now 13 season at Troy.

You build extending success there.

So how much did the PSC prepare you for what you, the success of the ball?

Well, it lay the groundwork for everything.

Because when I was at, Pensacola State College, I was in the business of when my players finished playing for me, helping them go on to Division one schools and get re recruited, and what I would find when they would go to LSU or Alabama or Florida and they would call back and I would think, man, they're living the life.

And there's big division ones.

I would say we miss Pensacola State.

We like the we love the culture there.

And so I took what, kind of built at Pensacola State as far as the family atmosphere, eating almost every meal together, being together, studying together.

And I'll move that to the division one level.

And so we operate in a lot of ways, like a junior college, like it was at Pensacola State, where we have such a close knit family bond, and it pays off at times like this.

When you're when you're in a championship tournament often.

But when you come back for this tournament, you always get a lot of Pensacola.

Love a lot of Pensacola folks here cheering for you.

How special was that to see?

The love is still here.

I just I just feel like it's a big warm hug that I get to come do the thing I love and compete for the biggest stage that I can, you know, compete on, which is a chamber ship, and get to do it in front of so many people I love.

And in this environment, even though every time I come back, Pensacola has grown with leaps and bounds, it still feels like home on.

the Pirates.

Players of the month.

Bring us some clutch moments and a history maker to remember.

PSC men's basketball, trying to bring home a state championship up one on Gulf Coast with under two minutes left and a Marion Savage comes up huge.

The clutch three pointer gave the Pirates critical breathing room and they went on to win the coveted title.

Savage, a sophomore guard from Illinois helping Pena's crew earn the program's first regional and state championship in 33 years and secure a trip to the junior college national tournament.

PSC baseball tied with rival Northwest Florida in extra innings.

When Caden Wilkes ends it.

The timely base hit brings in Mason Anata with a game winning run in the 10th inning.

Wilkes, a redshirt freshman from Hendersonville, Tennessee, produces a walk off good time at Pirates Field.

Well, Steve, that does it for yet another jam packed episode.

But there are so many more stories to tell.

Look for a new episode of Pensacola State today.

Every month.

Thanks for watching.