Category: KCKCC

Enrollment open for KCKCC’s new ESOL program

by Kelly Rogge

Enrollment is starting for the Kansas City Kansas Community College’s English for Speakers of Other Languages Program and changes are coming for the fall semester.

The goal of the program is to help those who need to improve their English skills.

Students can choose academic ESOL or adult basic education ESL classes, depending on their current fluency and personal goals.

After being admitted to KCKCC, students are tested using the COMPASS ESL placement test.

Test scores are then used to help students with selecting classes.

Any student whose first language is not English or has not developed adequate academic English skills should meet with the ESOL department for assistance.

There will, however, be an exciting change to the program beginning in fall 2014.

The program will change from six levels to four, allowing students to complete ESOL in two years instead of three.

Liz Holloway, ESOL coordinator at KCKCC, said the curriculum change will be more compatible with the COMPASS testing and will allow students to make it through the program in less time.

“With the change, students will be able to move onto their content classes much faster,” she said. “We are excited about the new curriculum. It has been a work in process, but we are now ready to roll it out.”

The ESOL program is broken into several parts – reading, listening and speaking, writing and grammar and vocabulary.

During the first two semesters, students are solely in ESOL classes. Then, beginning in the third semester, schedules can become more individualized, depending on the student’s fluency.

Grammar is also separated from writing during the last two semesters, and students have the option of taking classes outside the ESOL program.

Other classes such as Improving Pronunciation are offered on an as-needed basis.

Holloway said the new curriculum allows for more accurate placement within the course sequence.

Currently, not all classes are offered during the fall and spring semesters.

So if students were to need a specific class in the fall, they might have to wait before being able to take it.

In the new course sequence, all classes will be offered in both the fall and spring semesters.

The new restructuring will also give students the opportunity to be better prepared as they transition into mainstream classes.

“This change will provide more intense foundation work at Levels 1 and 2,” Holloway said. “In Levels 3 and 4, the curriculum has been redesigned to present more English for academic purposes.”

For more information on the ESOL program, to enroll or to make an appointment, call 913-288-7625 or 913-288-7380. Students can also stop by the ESOL Office, Room 3415, during normal office hours. Information is also available by emailing Holloway at [email protected].

One-Act Play Festival being performed this weekend at KCKCC

by Kelly Rogge

If you are in need of some theatrical entertainment, you do not have to go far.

The 2014 Kansas City Kansas Community College Student One-Act Play Festival will be presented Friday and Saturday.

This year’s festival is offering a retelling of three favorite scripts from years past. In “MajorDomo,” by Chris Wilson and David Ruis, an estranged husband and wife attempt to reconcile in the arena of slam poetry set in a smokey jazz club. “Marked,” by Hiram Williams, is a tribute to the film noir world of detectives, missing diamonds and dames. Finally, “In Case of Zombies” by Brian Ramsay, focuses on a cabin in the woods where five students think they are all set for a weekend of camping and fun.

Evening performances of the plays are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the KCKCC Performing Arts Center, 7250 State Ave. There is also a matinee performance at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for non KCKCC Students and senior citizens. KCKCC students, faculty and staff can get free admission by showing a KCKCC ID card at the door.

This is an evening of adult-type fare. Strong language and adult language are included in these one-act plays. This is not a good event for children, according to the event organizers.

For more information, call Charles Leader at 913-288-7106 or send an email to [email protected].

Sweep vaults KCKCC into fifth place tie in Jayhawk Conference

by Alan Hoskins

Shutout pitching by Geoff Birkemeier and reliever Hunter Phillips carried Kansas City Kansas Community College to a doubleheader sweep of Labette Thursday.

Birkemeier threw a two-hit gem in shutting out the Cardinals 5-0 in the opener while Phillips retired the final 10 batters as the Blue Devils rallied for an 8-7 win in the nightcap.

The sweep vaulted the Blue Devils (23-17) into a fifth place Jayhawk Conference tie with Independence, both 14-12 with 10 games remaining starting with a return doubleheader against Labette in Parsons Saturday.

KCKCC’s final eight games will be played against Highland April 17-19 and Allen County April 24-26.

Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth of the second game, the Blue Devils put runners on second and third with one out on a hit batsman, a single by Daniel LaMunyon and, a sacrifice bunt by Eric Hinostroza.

An attempted squeeze play with Sam Baxter at the plate misfired but pinchrunner Alex Thrower escaped a rundown to score the tying run and the winning running scored moments later on Baxter’s ground ball to short.

The rally made a winner out of Phillips, who came on in the sixth inning with two on and one out, served up an inning-ending double play pitch and then set down the Cardinals in order the final three innings.

KCKCC took advantage of Labette miscues to build a 5-0 lead. Lucas Norton’s bunt single to lead off was the only hit in a two-run first inning while an error opened the door for a 3-run third that included the first of three singles by Zane Mapes, Norton’s second hit, a sacrifice fly by Tyler Raymond and an RBI single by Garrett McKinzie.

Preston Bailey got the mound start but had to be lifted in a four-run fourth with an arm injury.

Labette then went ahead 7-5 in the sixth, scoring three runs off Cole Frackes on an error, two singles and a walk before Phillips came on to slam the door on the Cardinals.

KCKCC closed back to 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth on Mapes’ two-out single following a single by Mitch Glessner and a walk.

Birkemeier retired the Cardinals in order in the five of seven innings and faced only three men over the minimum in the opener.

A two-out double in the third following an error and a two-out single in the seventh were the only hits off Birkemeier, who struck out three and walked none.

“I thought Geoff Birkemeier was throwing well enough to throw a no-hitter,” said KCKCC coach Steve Burleson. “He pitched impeccably. The second game we were a little bit luckier than good.”

The Blue Devils bunched all of their six hits in the first three innings in the 5-0 win.

Norton was hit to start the game, moved up on Raymond’s single and scored on a wild pitch in the first and Mapes and Norton rapped back-to-back triples following Eric Hinostroza’s single for a 3-0 lead in the second.

Bunt singles by LaMunyon and Mapes following an error, walk and Hinostroza’s sacrifice fly plated the final two runs in the third.