Visitors set sights on tomorrow during summertime's first Open House

​More than 400 prospective students and their guests attended Wednesday's first Open House of the summer season, which featured weather as warm as the welcome they received from accommodating faculty and staff. Attendees got an informative "sneak peek" at what awaits Penn College's Tomorrow Makers, including tours of instructional space and various aspects of student life. Visit the Admissions Office to register for one of the season's remaining Open Houses: Sunday, June 26; Saturday, July 23; and Friday, July 29.

– Photos by Larry D. Kauffman, digital publishing specialist/photographer

Admissions counsellor Bryce W. Winder shares alumni success stories with the Klump Academic Center crowd ...

Robert K. Vlacich, assistant professor of automotive service, talks with families on the campus mall ...

Richard K. Hendricks Jr., instructor of machine tool technology/automated manufacturing, talks with guests outside the Larry A. Ward Machining Technologies Center ...

... and leads them through the sunshine (and past the "Student Bodies" sculptures) en route to a lab tour.

The physician assistant program is capably explained by director Joshua A. Bower.

Chef Michael J. Ditchfield, instructor of hospitality management/culinary arts, takes Open House visitors through one of his native faculty habitats: Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, a fine-dining training venue for students in the college's culinary arts and baking & pastry arts majors.

Guests hold "SimBaby," an interactive teaching tool, during a presentation by Tushanna M. Habalar (left) and Donnamarie Lovestrand, assistant professors of nursing programs.

Joshua J. Rice, an alumnus instructor of plastics technology, shares his insight in the blow molding lab. He shows the Wello WaterWheel, a rolling plastic water tank that benefits families in rural India and other countries by reducing the time and physical burdens of water collection and transportation. The upgraded, blow-molded 2.5 version was engineered by Penn College plastics grad Jason C. Gross ’05.

Two more helpful faculty members – Allen Heimbach, instructor of computer information technology, and Alicia L. McNett, assistant professor of computer information technology – offer an illuminating overview in the gaming lab.

... and inside College Avenue Labs, where industry donations and faculty expertise equip tomorrow’s graduates with in-demand skills.

Waiting outside the Keystone Dining Room for the next campus tour to begin

Gayle M. Kielwein, coordinator of student engagement operations, staffs that office's information table in the Bush Campus Center.

Shopping for Wildcat merch in The College Store

... and proves himself equally adept at small-group interaction when meeting with a family back in the Student & Administrative Services Center.

Financial aid assistant Tamaka E. Carter helps families sort through the intricacies of paying for college.

Penn College's benefits for veterans and active-duty personnel are detailed by Chet Beaver, coordinator of veteran and military services, and Katie C. Burke, veteran services specialist.