Category — Spotlight

Nearly 20 Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) students are officially part of United States aerospace history. A product of their work at NASA Langley Research Center soared into the stratosphere on October 28 when NASA’s newest craft – its Constellation Program’s Ares I-X test rocket – roared off Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

With more than 12 times the thrust produced by a Boeing 747 jet aircraft, the Ares I-X lifted off for a six-minute flight test. The launch was the first from Kennedy’s pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program’s Saturn rockets were retired, according to NASA officials. This project is among several initiatives that are part of NASA’s new vision for space exploration to replace U.S. space shuttles that have been in flight since the 1980s.

[Read more →]

The College’s 1st Annual Show held Saturday, July 18 on the Hampton campus featured approximately 160 vehicles. Sponsored jointly by the TNCC Educational Foundation, Old Point National Bank, SunTrust, TowneBank, BB&T and Langley Federal Credit Union, among others, the event showcased over 30 classes of cars and motorcycles including Chevrolet, Chrysler and Ford classic. Antique cars and trucks, tuners and late model muscle cars were also be among vehicles featured.

All proceeds from the event will benefit TNCC’s Automotive Technology Program.

If Natasha Hubbard’s class started at 10 a.m., she was on campus by 8 a.m. Her philosophy: being early surely beats showing up late. Before class, the Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) student usually found a relaxing place to sit near the shrubbery outside of Templin Hall on the Hampton campus. Nothing disturbed her there – not even the bumbles bees that swarmed around her seat. “I never moved,” Hubbard said with a laugh. “I couldn’t see them anyway.”Hubbard lost sight in her left eye when she was 12 years old. At 16, she lost sight in her right eye, leaving her completely blind. With plenty of determination and assistance from TNCC’s Disabled Student Services team, Hubbard completed the requirements for an Associate of Science in Social Science degree at the end of the fall 2008 semester with a 3.5 grade point average.  She graduated with the class of 2009 during the College’s fortieth annual commencement ceremony. “She’s an inspiration,” said longtime friend Karen Perez.

[Read more →]

The Daily Press

Watching her mother succumb to cancer at age 48 sent Yomaris Velez Delgado into a tailspin of grief in 2005. But the grief eventually coiled itself into a new sense of purpose.

The loss forced her to take a hard look at her own children’s future, and propelled her from working as a hairstylist to completing her first step toward becoming a doctor. On Friday, the 31-year-old Velez Delgado will graduate from Thomas Nelson Community College with two associate’s degrees. 

Married at 16 in her native Puerto Rico, Velez Delgado had two children by the time her 46-year-old mother in Virginia was diagnosed with breast cancer. While her husband had to stay behind, in 2004, Velez Delgado moved to Hampton, where she found herself taking care of her ailing mother, two teenage sisters and her own kids by herself at age 26. After her mother’s death, Velez Delgado grieved terribly before picking herself up.

“Basically I just said OK, I need to do something with my life so that my kids are taken care of in the event of …” Velez Delgado said. 

Her mother, Margie Ammons, had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army before retiring. “She was my inspiration. God gave me all the strength that I need to get through this, but she was my inspiration.

“I just said OK, let’s try school. I always was interested in science. I really like medicine, and I feel passionate about babies, so I decided to go ahead and go into the medical field specializing in OB/GYN.”

Setting a major goal came from deep consideration of the possibility of the family’s history of cancer affecting her.

“Sometimes we let ourselves get involved in the daily routine and just the daily hassles. They seem so big,” Velez Delgado said. “But when you see somebody that was so strong, so determined, so full of life and still young — she turned 48 the week that she died.

“It put things into perspective as to what really is important in my life. I know that I’m responsible for two other human beings and I need to provide for them, ultimately.”

She decided she needed a career that would make a more comfortable future for her children, and provide for them to go to college.

After a semester at Strayer University, Velez Delgado enrolled at TNCC in 2006. She double-majored in science and social science and had a 3.45 grade point average in early May. A part-time job on campus paid for six credit hours at a time, and financial aid covered the rest.

She managed her whirlwind schedule by getting through each day little by little, and worrying about the next when it arrived.

“That’s how I’ve been able to cope and manage everything, because it gets really overwhelming,” Velez Delgado said. “I don’t know sometimes how I manage it, but he’s my strength. God gives me strength.”

She plans to take the fall semester off before transferring to either the College of William and Mary or Christopher Newport University to major in biology and minor in psychology, followed by medical school.

Friday’s graduation will carry mixed emotions because work and school have kept her from spending as much time with her kids as she would like, Velez Delgado said. She had to spend extra time studying because she has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Even so, she feels good about setting a goal and attaining it.

“But it’s kind of sad at the same time that I can’t share it physically with my Mom,” Velez Delgado said. “I know that she’s looking on and I know that, in a way, she has made it possible for me to get to where I am. So it’s kind of bittersweet.”

She plans to leave her graduation tassels at her mother’s grave.

When Edwin Slater asked for time off last summer, he told his supervisor he was going to Disney World. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. The 24-year-old Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) Information Technology Help Desk Technician was actually heading to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. to donate 80 percent of his liver.

[Read more →]

The Daily Press
By Jennifer L. Williams

Youthfulness is what led George Tyler to a career teaching math and it’s a quality he exudes to this day. One of two instructors at Thomas Nelson Community College the entire 40 years it’s been open, Tyler swears he weighs just three pounds more than he did in the tenth grade.

You can bet it’s true. His piercing blue eyes and trim white beard belie his approach to 70 next month. Forty years worth of old textbooks, including a college calculus one his father used in the 1920s, fill an office that tells his story.

Tyler grew up in Charles City and is the great-grandson of John Tyler, who was the 10th U.S. President and a Charles City native.

After attending community college in Florida and graduating from Florida State, he got a master’s degree from the College of William and Mary before returning to Florida to teach public school there.

[Read more →]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Photography Department head and chair of TNCC Cultural Affairs, Shar Wolff has been named chairperson of the Hampton Arts Commission. She will hold the post for four years having previously served two years as a commissioner for the organization.

The Hampton Arts Commission acts in an advisory capacity to the Hampton City Council in the promotion of artistic and cultural programs in the city. The commission also works with the local government to affect means for City support of cultural organizations and programs. As chair of the Hampton Arts Commission, Wolff will conduct business meetings and liaise between regional cultural arts organizations and the Commission, among other responsibilities.

“I am both honored and humbled to be Chair. The people I serve with on the Commission are dedicated to promoting and advocating for the Arts in the region,” she said.  “They are ‘top notch’ and a good mix of professional people, philanthropists, government officials, patrons and artists. We are very fortunate to be in a city that has a commitment to the Arts. The American Theater and the Charles Taylor Art Center both put on first rate programs and exhibits, respectively.”

An artist and supporter of the region’s creative community since moving to the area from Las Vegas, Nevada 12 years ago, Shar also serves on the Hampton Arts Foundation Board of Directors.

“Through my membership on the Foundation Board, I am on the American Theater design committee. We are working with the architects finalizing the design. Once the new wing of the American Theater is completed, they will be able to offer classes there as well. It is a very exciting time to be on both the Commission and the Foundation,” she said.

Shar has been a TNCC faculty member since 1996.

Audio news and content: TNCC on iTunes U

The Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Association for Women in Community College (AAWCC) proudly announces the AAWCC 2008 Student Scholarship Award Region III recipient, Ms. Ann-Marie Lovett. Ann-Marie is serving a second term as SGA President for 2008-2009, has mentored students in the TRiO program and has worked for several college offices. One of the highlights for Ann-Marie this year was being elected TNCC homecoming queen at the age of 36. In addition, Ann-Marie has maintained a strong academic record with a 3.614 GPA.

Ann-Marie is a role model for all students who must overcome challenging circumstances. As teenage mother she was determined to beat the odds and make the most of her life. While raising four children, Ann-Marie pursued her goals and began her studies at Thomas Nelson Community College in the spring of 2006. Ann-Marie will continue taking courses at TNCC and will also attend Old Dominion University in the fall of 2008.

Ann-Marie’s long-term goal is to own and operate a homeless shelter and transition housing program for drug rehabilitation. She says, “I want to give to the community and uplift the people in society that have been forgotten.”

Beginning in 2006, the AAWCC National Board voted to offer $500 student scholarships to one qualified applicant from each of the 10 national regions. The award winners are selected based on grade point average, financial need, and their essays describing their contribution and/or impact on women’s issues in their community or college. In addition, employment and extracurricular activities are given consideration. A one-year membership in AAWCC is also included in the scholarship.

Photo caption: College’s President Dr. Charles A. Taylor and Region III Director Beverly Walker-Griffea, PhD and Ann Marie Lovett (center)