Panola College

Auxiliary members include, from left, Betty Rodgers, Linda Albers, Ellen Stokes, Joy Cariker, Bobbie Cariker, Marge Wilkerson and Peggy Fuller.November 30, 2016 - The ETMC Carthage Auxiliary awarded $300 scholarships to four Panola College nursing students recently. Recipients include Lauren Boggs Garcia of Shreveport, Holly Royer of Timpson, Megan Tillman of Beckville, and Kimberly Kirkland of Bivins, TX.
 
The ETMC Carthage Auxiliary comprises volunteers from the community who provide support services for staff and patients at the hospital. The Auxiliary members also coordinate fundraising activities to support nursing scholarships for Panola College students. Two of the most popular fundraisers are the jewelry and accessories sales held twice each year.
 
“We all appreciate the Auxiliary volunteers for the hard work they do to support our students in nursing at Panola College,” said Dr. Barbara Cordell, Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences. “Many students over the past two decades have benefited from the generosity of the ETMC Auxiliary scholarships.”
 
Find out more about Panola College Health Sciences programs on the College website at http://www.panola.edu/programs/health-sciences/.

Scholarship recipients include, from left, Lauren Boggs Garcia, Holly Royer, Megan Tillman and Kimberly Kirkland.

Professor Mark Dickerson’s Panola College Criminal Justice class toured two state jail facilities in Henderson recently.Nacogdoches 29, 2016 - Panola College Criminal Justice students toured two State Jail Prison Facilities in Henderson on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Professor Mark Dickerson organized the tour as part of the Introduction to Criminal Justice class, CRIJ 1301.

Participating in the field trip were John Buchanan, Lukas Davie, Marissa Garcia, Candice Hamilton, Benjamin Hancock, Tanya Hulett, Tameal Jones, Zachary Kiper, Alex Lavender, Bryan Lopez, Timothy Magness, Dustin Ramsey, Yesenia Risinger, Carl Schulker, George Valdez, Nancy Vang, Lyndsey Wagner, Kellie Wheeler, Shariyah Williams, Stelladra Woods, Lori Cramer, Afrikina Dotson, Kelsey Francis, Kristen Honeycutt, Emily McIntosh, Latravia Willis.

Dickerson said the field trip gives his students a behind-the-scenes look at prison life from an administrative, employee and inmate perspective.

"One of the reasons I plan this field trip is to show students another portion of criminal justice they may have never considered as a career opportunity," he said. "With each tour, I see former students that have taken the tour and decided employment in corrections is not as scary or bad as they thought. I have several former Panola College Criminal Justice students now employed at the facilities."

Both jail facilities are managed by private corporations. The Bradshaw State Jail is owned by the State of Texas but managed by Core Civic. The East Texas Treatment Facility is owned and managed by Management Training Corporation. Bradshaw is a holding facility where people serve time for state jail offenses. The Treatment Facility provides treatment for behavioral and addictive issues.

“The facilities illustrate the privatization of corrections not only here in Texas, but also in the U.S. as a whole,” Dickerson said.

 Pictured left to right: Jeff Powdrill, owner of Massage Envy, Longview; Amy Pass, Panola College massage student, and Brittany Craig, manager of Massage Envy.November 29, 2016 - Amy Pass, a Panola College student from Carthage, was awarded the first annual massage therapy scholarship by Massage Envy of Longview. Pass will complete the one-year massage therapy program in February 2017.

The Massage Therapy program provides 500 hours of instruction by licensed massage therapy instructors as required by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Classes are offered in the evening and on alternate Saturdays beginning in early March and running through the next February.  The current class of massage therapy students will graduate and be ready to take their licensure exam by the end of February.

Hailey Miller, LMT-I, the massage therapy instructor, not only teaches the students but also networks with employers to help students find jobs. Miller’s relationship with Massage Envy helped secure the scholarship for Pass.

“I’m so proud of all our students and this scholarship really highlights Amy’s accomplishment,” says Miller.
For more information on Panola College Massage Therapy Program, contact the Workforce and Continuing Education Department at Panola College, 1109 West Panola, Carthage, TX 75633, phone: 903-693-2067, or go online to http://www.panola.edu/wkfc-cont-ed/massagetherapy.html.

The scholarship is part of the commitment that Massage Envy of Longview has made to support the education of local students and the growth of the local workforce in East Texas.  Massage Envy Franchises employ over 25,000 massage therapists and estheticians across 1100 locations in the United States, making it the largest massage employer in the country. The company makes massage and skin care services accessible to a network of 1.65 million members nationwide because Massage Envy believes that massage therapy and skin care should be part of everyone’s total body care routine – not just a luxury, according to Brittany Craig, manager.

Massage Envy of Longview is located at 3088 N. Eastman Road Ste. 100, in the Target Shopping Center, phone: 903-663-2600.

November 28, 2016 - Panola College’s 2016 fall commencement will be held on Thursday, December 8, 2016 in the Arthur Johnson Gymnasium on the Carthage Campus. Due to the growing enrollment and graduation rates at Panola College, the College will divide its graduating class into two ceremonies for the first time. The first ceremony will begin at 5:00 p.m. followed by the second ceremony at 7:30 p.m..

“Hosting two ceremonies will allow Panola College to accommodate more guests which in the past has been an issue due to the increasing number of graduates,” says Jeremy Dorman, Director of Admissions and Registrar at Panola College. “We are also looking forward to holding commencement on campus this year after having the event at the Carthage Civic Center for the past several ceremonies due to campus renovations.”

November 28, 2016 - During the Thanksgiving break, the Panola Fillies found themselves being tested by some undoubtedly difficult teams. The Fillies split the weekend and came out with 1 win and 1 loss. 

On Friday, the Fillies faced last year's Division 2 National Champions, Johnson County. After hitting the first 3 of 3 from the field to open the game, the Fillies would quickly lose the lead and lose their run. Johnson came into the second quarter ready to play and took the half 18-31.

Freshman Patience Okpe would start the third quarter with a deep 3. Now down 10, freshman Stefany Lourenco would find her own little streak scoring 6 back-to-back points to bring the Fillies within 4. Johnson County found a way to survive that quarter coming out on top 37-44. In the fourth, the Fillies were unstoppable, holding the Cavaliers to 10 points. The Fillies we able to find-a-way, as Patience Okpe lead all scorers with 31 points, a new career high, and came out victorious with a 61-54 win.

The Fillies then faced a strong and talented Tallahassee Community College on Saturday morning. The full court pressure from the Eagles seemed to be too much as they handed the Fillies their first loss on the season. While only down 2 points at half time, the Fillies found themselves turning the ball over too many times, giving the Eagles a 90-71 win. Sophomore Genesis Rivera would lead her team with 17 points. 

The Fillies now 7-1 (1-0 in conference) will face Angelina College on November 30th, at 5:30 pm in A.J. Gymnasium.

November 28, 2016 Lufkin, Texas – The Panola College men’s basketball team went 1-1 this past weekend at the Guy Davis Thanksgiving Classic in Lufkin, Texas at Angelina College. After this weekend, Panola claims a 7-3 record. “Once again, our guys faced a tremendous amount of adversity in the two games we played.” Head Coach Grant McMillan stated. “I think we are finally starting to figure some things out on both ends of the floor. Our non-conference schedule has certainly prepared us for our league opener this week.” He Added.

Game 1 - #9 Odessa 73 Panola 70

Panola College and Odessa College opened the tournament Friday afternoon. After a back and forth battle to begin the game. Odessa nailed a flurry of three pointers to take a 17-34 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. Panola closed the half on a 12-6 run and found themselves trailing at halftime, 29-40.

The Ponies started strong in the second half going on 30-14 run to take a 59-54 lead at the six minute mark in the second half. With the score 63-60 and 2:14 remaining in the ball game, Odessa stole a pass and raced down to score a lay-up along with a foul. A controversial double technical as well as a flagrant foul call, led to Odessa shooting three foul shots and retaining possession. Panola had two separate three point attempts to tie the game but neither fell.

Leading the way for the Ponies was big man, Tope Arikawe. He recorded a double-double in the loss netting 20 points and chasing down 14 rebounds.

Game 2 – Panola 98 – Southwestern Christian 90

Panola’s second game featured the Ponies and Region V opponent Southwestern Christian. In a fast paced game, Panola found themselves ahead at halftime 48-42. The first five minutes of the second half the Ponies grew their lead to 15 points but Southwestern crawled their way back. Again, red hot shooting from Southwestern gave them a 75-70 lead with 6:43 remaining in the ball game. Panola regained the lead 87-84 before Southwestern hit a three with .48 seconds remaining to send the game in overtime.

In overtime, Panola scored the first six points and played stellar defense holding Southwestern to just three total in the overtime period.

Leading the way offensively for Panola was Tyonte Robertson who recorded a career high 24 points. Chan Williams-Bey also netted 20 points. Eric McGill scored in double-figures with 18. Marlon Taylor recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Bryson Lockley had a career high 10 rebounds. Panola shot a season high 42 percent from three in the victory.

Panola will begin conference play this upcoming Wednesday when they head to Blinn College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 on the campus of Blinn College.

November 23, 2016 - With 5 lead changes to start the first quarter, Panola was once again being tested on their resilience early on. But a baseball pass from Sophomore Genesis Rivera to Freshman Patience Okpe to start the second quarter would spark a run for the Fillies as they put another win under their belts Tuesday night. The Fillies beat Jacksonville College on the road 82-62, opening up conference play 1-0.

"The team came out a little sluggish in the first quarter, but really stepped up over the next three quarters by playing well on both ends of the floor. I was really pleased how we stepped up and stopped every rally Jacksonville attempted tonight” Head Coach Kite says. 

Jacksonville was only able to lead by most 3 points. Once the Fillies took the lead at 19-18 in the second quarter, they never let up. They walked into the locker room at half time leading 40-27.  

In the third quarter, Jacksonville would come as close as 6 points, but team ball movement, fast transition play and straight up grind kept the Fillies in the lead the whole way through.

Brazilian native, Stefany Lourenco, lead all scorers with 25 points on the night. "I am excited! I like this team and love playing with them" she noted on her career high night. She came away with a full stat line shooting 9-17 (52%), 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and went 6-6 from the free throw line. This is the 6th time that the Fillies have had a different player lead in points. Freshman Daria Eremeeva recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Patience Okpe added 15 and Sophomore Genesis Rivera added 12. Denasia Watson tied her career high in assists with 5, leading the team on the night in that area.

The Fillies are now off to one of the best starts in Panola history, moving their win streak to 6-0. They will hit the floor again November 25th-26th in the TVCC classic. They will face Johnson Community College and Tallahassee College. Game times are 1:00pm on Friday and 10:00 am on Saturday.

November 23, 2016 - The Panola Fillies competed in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Casper, Wyoming November 17-19. It was the program's 2nd appearance overall and first since 2009.

The tournament began with an opening round win against Hill College in 5 sets (19-25. 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10) followed by a quarterfinal loss to Santa Fe Community College (25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 25-21). The Fillies were led Day 1 by freshman middle blocker Barbara Sabino who notched 13 kills against both Hill and Santa Fe, posting impressive hitting clips of .478 and .440, respectively. Against Hill, freshman Jaqueline da Silva also tallied 13 kills, followed by sophomore Rachel Henderson with 11. Henderson also combined for 6 block assists and 3 solos on the day, followed by 7 block assists and 2 solos from Sabino. Freshman setter Cayman Sutton dished out 55 assists on the day, while freshman Kinly Carter added 13 against Hill. Sophomores Morgan Currie and Victoria Baptista both tallied 20 digs total the first two matches, followed by da Silva with 19.

In the final two matches of the tournament, Panola fell to Salt Lake in 3, before closing out the weekend Saturday with a 5-set comeback win over #3 Western Nebraska to secure a 7th place overall finish in the country. 

In the victory against Western Nebraska, three Fillies finished with double-digit kills and hitting efficiencies above .400, led by Jaqueline da Silva (18 kills on .457 hitting), freshman Kaitlyn Adams (16 kills on .433 hitting), and Rachel Henderson (10 kills on .500 hitting). Melanie Casteel also came up big for PC, posting 5 kills on .364 hitting. Morgan Currie anchored the backrow defense with 16 digs while Victoria Baptista chipped in 11, and the freshman setting duo of Cayman Sutton and Kinly Carter contributed 53 total assists.  Barbara Sabino's 7 block assists and 2 solos added to her offense earned her a spot on the prestigious NJCAA National All-Tournament team. 

The 7th-place National finish caps off a memorable season in which the Fillies finished 35-4 overall (including 17 wins over teams nationally-ranked in the top 20 at some point this season), undefeated in District H Conference play, finished Region XIV Champions, compiled a 27-match winning streak that lasted from September 3rd to November 17th, received 10 total All-Conference selections including Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, and was ranked #1 in the country for the final three weeks of NJCAA Division I polls. 

November 23, 2016 - The Panola College Workforce and Continuing Education Department will be offering several healthcare spring classes. If you are interested in earning your EKG certification, the class will be offered from March 27 through May 15, 2017 on the Panola College campus. The class will meet Monday and Thursday from 6-9:30 pm, and the cost is $999.

Medication Aide class is scheduled for February 2 through May 4, 2017 and will meet Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 5:30-9:30 pm.

Massage Therapy will be offered February 28 through March 2018. The class will meet Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30-9:30 pm and alternating Saturdays 9 am-6 pm. The cost of the class is $4,199.

Phlebotomy class will meet Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 5-8:15 pm from January 30 through July 26, 2017.

Pre-registration is required for all classes. To register or to find out more, contact Panola College Workforce & Continuing Education, 903-693-2067, email ce@panola.edu or stop by the office in the Merle Glass Building at the corner of Bird Drive and Holland Street.

November 22, 2016 - Panola College fine arts students, along with community organizations, are combining to present a Christmas Gala at 7 p.m., Tuesday, November 29, at the Carthage Civic Center. Admission is set at $10 for adults, and $5 for students and children. Tickets may be purchased at the Panola College Business Office on Monday, November 28, or at the Civic Center door the evening of the concert.

Christmas in Carthage is a Panola College tradition. Dwaine Hubbard, instrumental music professor, and Sandra Bauer, vocal music professor, collaborated to revive the tradition for Christmas 2016.

“Christmas in Carthage was conceived by Larry Brumley, who led the Panola College Choral department for many years,” Bauer said. “It was originally a dinner served by members of the Pipers followed by a performance by the Pipers.”

Hubbard added that for many Carthage residents, Christmas in Carthage was the highlight of the Christmas season.

“We are excited to be able to present this program 30 years after the debut of the original Christmas in Carthage, and hope to continue the legacy of excellence that was begun by those who came before us,” Hubbard added.

The Panola College Chorale, Pipers, and Chamber Singers will join the Concert and Jazz Bands in performing holiday selections. Mike McGowan, retired instrumental music professor, has written a special arrangement of “The Wonderful World of Christmas,” which will be presented by the Chorale and Concert Band, and an arrangement for “We All Need a Little Christmas,” which will close the show.

Dr. Greg Powell, Panola College President, will welcome guests. Dean Freddy Mason will present “One Solitary Life,” by Dr. James Allan Francis. The Panola College Rodeo Team, along with Coach Jeff Collins, will present “A Cowboy Night Before Christmas.”

Students from Rowe Performing Arts will dance to “Waltz of the Flowers.” Dancers include Annie Mahaffey, Addison Pope, Madison Smith, and Kipton Travis.
Panola College vocal students performing include Lily Allphin, Chris Barnes, Tarsheanna Bauer, Dakota Brown, Shelby Brown, Anne Buongiorne, Ahmadreion Casel, Hannah Cortinas, Victoria Cortinas, Kassidee Cox, Anna Crumbie, Alyia Doktor, Janel Dunn, Mitchell Emeahu, Brittany Fendall, Shelby Gibson, KGuillermo Gomez, Lorena Gonsalez, Tyesha High, Shannon James, Whiteney Kenani, Jenna King, Destiney Miller, Samantha Murphey, Ashley Newton, Augustine Oriakhi, Walker Pahlman, Melissa Palacios, Diana Perez, Kyana Reagan, Dillon Reynolds, Mia Sartor, Samuel Slone, James Smith, Rachel Strauss, Jamecia Taylor, Keairra Ware, Lauren Williams, Christina Willie, Cheyenne Woodard, Montana Woodard, and Austin Wright.

Band members include Esmeralda Acosta, Ana Asencio, Kayla Avila, Jaqui Gonzales, Savana Hanaway, Julie Hernandez, Alexandria Lavender, Mallory Sims, Samuel Slone, Cheyenne Woodard, Madison Youngblood, Zo’e Crayton, Lorena Gonzales, Marissa Jones, Kirsten Mayfield, Perla Perez, Chelsea Roquemore, Ryesha Walton, Arriauna Ware, Montana Woodard, Kenshena Woodard, Destiney Miller, Whitney Thomas, Kassi Orbaugh, Austin Wright, Leo Sanchez, Lady Flores, Tyler Helms, Bianca Ramirez, Dillon Reynolds, Scott Rogers, Tarsheanna Bauer, Dakota Brown, Robby Cox, Alexis Salas, Juan Morales, Urias Quetzala, Cole Donald, Daniel Quetzala, Vanessa Rodriguez, Lirio Rodriguez, Delaina Truitt, Raderrius Colbert, Tyreese Johnson, Isaiah Key, Jarid Barton, Ashton Bruce, Rachel Mukweyi, Trevor Romine, Taylor Schneckloth, Kenzie Yaws, and Branton Reeves.

“The main focus for the performance is to showcase all the wonderful musical ensembles at Panola College. The Christmas music will be light, enjoyable, and fun and will even include some audience sing-alongs,” Hubbard said.

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