Category: KCKCC

New entrepreneurship program offered by KCKCC Business Division

by Kelly Rogge

Entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs may enroll in a new Entrepreneurship Certificate of Completion at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Starting in fall 2014, the new program will be offered in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation. Students will be able to take classes separately or as part of the six-hour, for-credit Enterpreneurship Certification of Completion.

These are practical, hands-on business development courses designed to help entrepreneurs hone the skills needed to create, manage and grow successful businesses. Program participants will not just learn about the business, they will work on their own business ideas or ventures, moving those ideas to reality or to new levels of growth.

The program is helpful for people who want to own their own business, who have a concept for a business and want to develop a business plan for their idea, who want to explore the entrepreneurial mindset and the facets of being a successful entrepreneur, or who are currently operating a business and want to take it to the next level.

Classes within the Entrepreneurship Certificate of Completion Program:

•         Essential Career Skills (BUSN0140)
•         Is Business Ownership for Me? – The Entrepreneurial Mindset (BUSN0181)
•         Be Your Own Boss – FastTrac® Planning the Entrepreneurial VentureTM (BUSN0294)

FastTrac® programs were created by entrepreneurs and are facilitated by entrepreneurs.

Seating is limited. For more information contact Karen Gaines, business instructor-marketing program coordinator, at 913-288-7165 or email at [email protected].

KCKCC sweeps into regional softball playoff semifinals

Sweeping Neosho County in first round playoff action, KCKCC will head into semifinal round play Saturday at Topeka with a squad of, front row, from left, pitching coach John Ford, Myranda Ybarra, Amanda Holroyd, Megan Dike, Lacey Santiago, Mierra Morrisette, Emily Walsh and Hanna Barnhart; second row, assistant coach Taci Beatty, Aubrie Hernandez-Taveren, Michelle Perales, Elizabeth Seimears, Laura Vanderheiden, Ashley Henington, Breanna Feight, Justice Scales, Leslie Ford, Marissa Alaniz, Jovanna Ramirez, Sheyenne Espy and head coach Kacy Tillery. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins

A pair of complete game pitching performances by freshman Leslie Ford has advanced Kansas City Kansas Community College into the semifinals of the Region VI playoffs.
Ford scattered nine hits in a 3-1 opening win over Neosho County Saturday and then followed it up with a 5-hitter in a 4-2 nightcap win.
The sweep sends the Lady Blue Devils (31-13) against No. 3 ranked Highland (36-8) Saturday noon at Topeka’s Hummer Park. Independence (40-14) and Cloud (29-12) meet in the other noon semifinal. A double elimination tournament with the finals Sunday, the two winners and two losers will clash at 4 p.m. Saturday,
“Our pitching and defense did a great job in getting us out of some jams,” said KCKCC coach Kacy Tillery. Two of the three runs allowed by Ford came on solo home runs.
Neosho put runners on base in each of the seven innings of the opener but scored only in the first on a two-out home run. The biggest jam came in the seventh when the Lady Panthers loaded the bases on three singles before Ford ended the game with her 11th strikeout. Neosho also put the first two hitters on base in both the third and fourth innings but Ford escaped each time with a pair of strikeouts.
Trailing 1-0, KCKCC went ahead in the third, scoring twice on a walk, a two-out RBI double by Justice Scales and an error and then added an insurance run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk to Amanda Holroyd after a walk and singles by Lacey Santiago and Meierra Morrisette.
Ford gave up just five hits in the second game and only two the final five innings, striking out five and walking one. Neosho took a 1-0 lead on an unearned in the first before KCKCC pulled even in the third on back-to-back doubles by Scales and Morrisette and then went ahead to stay on Holroyd’s two-out, two-run double following a walk and an error in the fifth,.
Neosho closed to 3-2 with a home run in the sixth but the Blue Devils matched that in the bottom of the inning on singles by Megan Dike and Ashley Henington. The top three hitters in the KCKCC lineup, Santiago, Scales and Morrisette, each had a pair of hits in a 10-hit attack.

Registrations still being accepted for the Blue Devil 5K Run-Walk and Kids Trot

by Kelly Rogge

Kansas City Kansas Community College is getting ready to become more active and is inviting the community to do the same. The Blue Devil 5K and Kids Trot is this weekend.

The Blue Devil 5K, which is in its 10th year, is at 8 a.m. May 3. The course winds through the KCKCC campus on the roads, walking paths and sidewalks. The 4th annual Kids Trot follows at 9 a.m. and is geared toward children 11-years and younger. Registration for the 5K is $30 per person and $10 for the Kids Trot. Registration includes a T-shirt, Goodie Bag and pancake breakfast following the event. About 200 people participated in the 5K and Kids Trot in 2013.

“The goal of the Blue Devil 5k & Kids Trot is to get the Kansas City Kansas community more active,” said Joe Mundt, trainer at the KCKCC Wellness and Fitness Center. “Having the event each year helps students and staff at KCKCC as well as the community to stay more active and see the benefits of a regular exercise program.”

Awards will be given to the top overall male and female finishers. In addition, the winner of each age group will receive an award and a prize. Activities will be provide for the children between 7:30 and 9 a.m. by child care volunteers, so parent can participate in the 5K run/walk. Starting at 9 a.m., children in the Kids Trot run in heats based on age groups. Distances will range from 25 meters to one-quarter of a mile.

“People should sign up for the 5k & Kids Trot to help motivate them to take their exercise plan to the next level,” Mundt said. “If you want to start a walking-running program, a 5k makes it easier because you have something to train for. There is a reason behind all of exercising.” Mundt said.

For more information about the Blue Devil 5K Run/Walk and Kids Trot, visit www.kckcc.edu/studentLife/wfc/5kfunrunwalk.aspx. Information is also available by calling the KCKCC Wellness and Fitness Center at 913-288-7610. An entry form must be filled out for each registrant. Registration is accepted through online registration, in person at the KCKCC Wellness Center or by fax to 913-288-7527.