Category: KCKCC

by Kelly Rogge

In preparation of its upcoming performance at the 30th annual Havana International Jazz Festival, the Kansas City Kansas Community College Jazz Ensemble will be performing a complete dress rehearsal next month.

The dress rehearsal will be during the Spirituality and All That Jazz Program at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th St., Kansas City, Mo. Tickets are $7 at the door, and children under 16 are free. Spirituality and All That Jazz is a monthly program held the first Wednesday of every month. During the program, the KCKCC Jazz Ensemble will be performing a complete dress rehearsal of their introduction of Kansas City Jazz to the islands.

The jazz ensemble was invited last fall to perform at the jazz festival, which is Dec. 16-22. The invitation was based on the group’s long reputation as one of the premiere community college jazz ensembles in the nation.

The Havana International Jazz Festival started in 1978 when Bobby Carcasses and other Cuban jazz musicians had a concert at the Case de la Cultura de Plaza. The following year, Chucho Valdes, now the president of the festival’s organizing committee, gave another concert. Those yearly concerts morphed into the festival as it is known today.

In addition to attending the festival, the jazz ensemble will have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Havana Historical Centre; tour Cuba’s National Museum of Fine Arts; visit the Institute Superior de Arte, the country’s top art academy; explore Finca Vigia, where Ernest Hemingway lived for more than 20 years; enjoy tap dancing and live jazz music at Pena de Santa Amalia and learn about the Cuban culture. Any U.S. citizen is allowed to travel to the small country with the appropriate license.

The KCKCC Jazz Ensemble is under the direction of Jim Mair.

For more information on the KCKCC Jazz Ensemble’s invitation to the 2014 Havana International Jazz Festival and on the group’s fundraising efforts, contact Jim Mair at jmair@kckcc.edu or call 913-288-7149.

Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

by Kelly Rogge
The Kansas City Kansas Community College Respiratory Therapy Department is sponsoring the Great American Smokeout later this week.

The event is from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 20 in Lower Jewell on the KCKCC campus at 7250 State Ave. The KCKCC Wellness Committee is also organizing an effort to pick up cigarette butts and trash around campus from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact Rob Crane at 913-288-7183 for more information or to volunteer.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. However, an estimated 42 million Americans still smoke cigarettes. As of 2012, there were also 13.4 million cigar smokers in the country and 2.3 million who smoke tobacco in pipes.

Andrica Wilcoxen, outreach and prevention coordinator at KCKCC’s Student and Community Resource Center, said the American Cancer Society marks the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday of November each year. The goal is to encourage smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. By quitting, even for one day, smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life. One that can lead to reducing the risk of cancer.

During KCKCC’s Great American Smokeout, there will be free health screenings including those for – blood pressure checks, carbon monoxide screening and a test that will show people how young their lungs are.

“In the past, these screenings really opened up participants eyes based off their results,” Wilcoxen said. “We encourage everyone at KCKCC and our community members to be part of the screenings. These are screenings that many people do not utilize on a regular basis.”

In addition, the Respiratory Therapy Department and the Division of Student Services: Student and Community Outreach will be giving out information as to how to quit smoking and will give away a turkey. All proceeds of the fundraiser will go toward the Respiratory Therapy Scholarship fund.

For more information on the Great American Smokeout, contact Andrica Wilcoxen at 913-288-7439.

Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor for Kansas City Kansas Community College.