Month: July 2015

Community service project at El Centro Academy helps open NCLR conference

Franklin Santos was one of the volunteers who helped Friday morning at the El Centro Academy for Children, a preschool at 1330 S. 30th, Kansas City, Kan. The volunteers were from Bank of America, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), El Centro and Heartland Habitat for Humanity. (Staff photo)
Franklin Santos was one of the volunteers who helped Friday morning at the El Centro Academy for Children, a preschool at 1330 S. 30th, Kansas City, Kan. The volunteers were from Bank of America, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), El Centro and Heartland Habitat for Humanity. (Staff photo)

El Centro Academy for Children, a preschool at 1330 S. 30th, Kansas City, Kan., has a new look because of volunteers in a pre-conference effort coordinated with the NCLR (National Council of La Raza) Conference.

About 40 volunteers from Bank of America, plus other volunteers from Heartland Habitat for Humanity, NCLR and El Centro helped paint classrooms, built an outdoor classroom area, helped organize the library, planted flowers and did other tasks today to improve the dual-language preschool.

Irene Caudillo, president and CEO of El Centro, said the volunteers accomplished a lot this morning, getting in a lot of work before the rain started around midday.

Franklin C. Santos, a volunteer from Bank of America, where he is a vice president, said he manages a team of financial advisers who joined together in this volunteer project as a team effort.

Linda Lenza, a market manager from Bank of America, said there is a real commitment to volunteer work at Bank of America, where employees volunteered 11,000 hours last year in the Kansas City area alone, and 2 million hours were donated company-wide last year.

“It’s a great way to give back to the community,” Lenza said.

Bank of America was scheduled to present a grant check to Habitat for Humanity as part of today’s volunteer efforts.

The NCLR conference is opening Saturday, July 11, at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Mo., and will include the National Latino Family Expo. Three presidential candidates are scheduled to attend the conference next week. To find out more information about the conference, visit www.nclr.org/index.php/events/nclr_annual_conference/.

KCKCC’s Pettengell receives ‘Living Legend Award’

Mike Pettengell, KCKCC professor, introduced Tim Youd during a presentation earlier this year in the Intercultural Center. Pettengell recently received the “Living Legend Award” from the African American Museum of Philadelphia. (Photo from KCKCC)
Mike Pettengell, KCKCC professor, introduced Tim Youd during a presentation earlier this year in the Intercultural Center. Pettengell recently received the “Living Legend Award” from the African American Museum of Philadelphia. (Photo from KCKCC)

by Kelly Rogge

While his “paying gig” might be as a Kansas City Kansas Community College Professor, it is through his second career that Mike Pettengell is now receiving recognition.

For the last 25 years, Pettengell, professor of English, humanities and fine arts at KCKCC, has been promoting and popularizing black historical music on the radio.

“Dr. Mike,” as he is known on the air and by his students, has been on radio in Arkansas, Mississippi and Ohio since 1994. He is also on KCUR, public radio and KKFI, a community, all-volunteer radio station in Kansas City.

He was recently awarded the “Living Legend Award” from the African American Museum of Philadelphia. Founded in 1976, the AAMP is the first institution in a major U.S. city to honor and interpret the life and work of African Americans. Visitors have the opportunity to experience the rich vibrancy of African American heritage and culture while learning about history at the same time. Exhibits include those depicting politics, architecture, sports, family life, arts and entertainment, the Civil Rights Movement and religion, among others.

“I come in every week, at all hours of the day and night,” he said of his work at KKFI. “I do it for the music – those who created it and those who I hope will listen and be inspired by it as I have.”

Some listeners have become inspired, including those in Philadelphia who listen regularly to Pettengell’s programs online and felt strongly enough to acknowledge his work.

“I see it as a continuation of my teaching. There is no reason why young (and old) folks today shouldn’t know about and listen to (and truly love) the music of Charlie Patton, Howling Wolf, Miles Davis and the Dixie Hummingbirds, to name only a few,” he said. “Whenever possible, I also try to add important black music to the curriculum of my courses here at KCKCC.”

Cherilee Walker, dean of humanities and fine arts at KCKCC, described Pettengell has a “true modern renaissance man.”

“In addition to his composition classes, he taught the first on-ground class in Humanities that KCKCC had seen in several years this spring. He enlivened it with presentations by performance artists in the Intercultural Center,” she said. “He’s active in the community through his radio show and supports other events in a variety of arts – music, theatre, etc. The breadth of his knowledge – in everything from meditation to animal shelters – is truly amazing. The college is proud to have scholar of his caliber who contributes so much to our cultural life.”

Currently Pettengell can be heard every Wednesday evening on the “Classical Challenge” program from 9 to 11:30- p.m. and early Saturday mornings from 1 to 5 a.m. on the “Early Morning Medicine Show.” On the show, he highlights a mixture of blues, jazz, funk, soul, African and East Indian music. In addition, he fills in often for other deejays on KKFI, 90.1 FM (kkfi.org).

T-Bones take win with eight-run sixth inning

t-bones logo
An enormous sixth inning gave the Kansas City T-Bones the boost they needed to win their ninth consecutive series, as they beat the Grand Prairie AirHogs, 9-6, in front of 5,310 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Thursday night.

Grand Prairie’s offense managed to strike first against T-Bones starter Blake Holovach, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning after third baseman Ridge Hoopii-Haslam hit a two-run single.

With Holovach struggling to find his control, the AirHogs added to their lead with a run in the fifth and three in the sixth, taking a 6-1 lead.

Holovach, who exited after 5 2/3 innings, gave up six earned runs, nine hits and walked four batters while striking out just one on the night.

The sixth inning completely changed the momentum of the game for Kansas City.

After Grand Prairie starter T.J. Bozeman walked Vladimir Frias and Brian Erie — Bozeman’s seventh and eighth walks of the game — the AirHogs turned to Jason Jarvis, who proceeded to give up and RBI single to Jacob Hayes and a two-run double to Ryan Cavan that brought the T-Bones to within two, 6-4.

The double by Cavan was his 700th career hit.

Then, after back-to-back fly outs by Nate Tenbrink and Jake Blackwood, Kansas City continued the inning by sending six more batters to the plate.

After an error by second baseman Jamodrick McGruder allowed James Boddicker to reach first and extend the inning, Robby Kuzdale lined a two-run single that gave the T-Bones their first lead of the game at 8-6.

Kansas City added one more run on an RBI double to the gap by Frias. Before the final out was recorded, the T-Bones sent 12 batters to the plate and held a 9-6 lead.

The T-Bones (24-17) will begin a 10-day road trip starting Friday with four games in Wichita (25-20). All of the action can be heard on 1660-AM in Kansas City or online at tbonesbaseball.com.