From left, Danny Bacot, COM assistant director of contract training; Janice Hicks, of Marathon Pipe Line LLC; Regina Cooper, of Marathon Petroleum LP; Andres Alcantar, chairman of Texas Workforce Solutions; Dr. Beth Lewis, COM president; Dr. Amy Locklear, COM vice president of instruction, and state Sen. Larry Taylor.

 

The Texas Workforce Commission has given a $374,494 Skills Development Fund grant to fund a College of the Mainland partnership with Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Marathon Pipe Line LLC. The grant will be used to create 26 new jobs and custom-train 291 incumbent workers. 

Offering training year-round at an affordable price, COM Continuing Education can customize courses to fit any organization's needs. Courses target the specific skills that a company requests that its employees learn, whether leadership development or technical computer skills.

Instructors meet with administration to talk about the top five things they want their employees to learn before constructing a course to fit their time frame and specific needs.
  
Besides customized training, COM offers courses throughout the year, from leisure learning to senior adult to certification courses. For more information about continuing education, visit the CE website.

Students in COM class Psychology for Success work to create a tower with sticks and play dough.

New program to save $2.8 million

COM's new energy conservation program is estimated to save the college $2.8 million over the next 10 years through a partnership with Cenergistic.

 
"We are excited about our partnership with Cenergistic because of their unique approach to energy management," said Dr. Beth Lewis, COM president. "The college has been proactive in energy management for years, but Cenergistic brings a new component, the enhanced use of organization and behavioral modification strategies that will substantially reduce energy consumption without the purchase of new equipment." 

 

The new program, funded through the program's energy savings, is behavior-based and designed to preserve comfortable environments during class and scheduled activities while avoiding unnecessary energy use. As part of the new program, COM will work closely with Cenergistic's engineers and consultants, receiving hands-on training and learning from their expertise over the next four years. To measure and verify the program's success, COM will track energy consumption using an independent energy-accounting software.  

It was all smiles as COM students created a birthday party--complete with goody bags and homemade cupcakes--for patients at John Sealy Children's Hospital at University of Texas Medical Branch.

After originally planning the party in a room at the hospital, the Geology Club realized that many children in the ward were too ill to attend, so they took the party to them. As they went to children's rooms, they played with them and made clay imprints of their hands. They also decorated "pet rocks" with kids.

"It was cool. A lot of parents were really happy we did that," said Victor Revilla, Geology Club president.

The group also collaborated with Color Your Hearts, a nonprofit organization that makes and distributes art projects, and afterward helped distribute paintings donated by the Paint Pub in Houston to patients in the geriatric ward.
 
"They don't get a lot of visitors. We gave them the card and painting and brightened their day," said COM student Audrey McCambridge.
 
One patient was especially moved. "I walked in and handed her the cards and painting, and she started crying and said I was the first visitor besides her daughter. She put [the painting] by her bed. I started crying," said McCambridge.
 
The group plans to visit again and create face masks. "Everyone was truly touched by the event. We're going to try to do it monthly," said Revilla.