Respiratory Care student Brandy Cogswell celebrates after dunking ACC Respiratory Care Chair Diane Flatland during a fundraiser on October 10. Proceeds from this event benefited the ACC Toys

Thru Us. 

ACC Presents Suicide Prevention Exhibit  

Students, instructors and staff view Send Silence Packing 

Alvin Community College students sift through the backpacks of suicide victims during the Send Silence Packing exhibit on October 22.

Send Silence Packing is presented by Active Minds. The non-profit organization hopes to educate students about suicide prevention by helping those with mental illness.

"It's one thing to hear a statistic," said Nicole Peitrzak, Active Minds staff member, "But to see those 1,100 backpacks is different."

ACC counselor Diana Stiles said the exhibit shows students the face of mental illness and suicide.

"Every one of them has a story," she said.

ACC regents were given a breakdown of dual credit programs during their monthly meeting on October 25.

Alvin Community College has long been involved with dual credit with Alvin ISD.

ACC has three main programs geared towards helping Alvin ISD including Advanced Technical Credit, Educators Alliance for Articulation Credit and Dual Credit.

"We actually were one of the first colleges in the United States to offer dual credit in high schools," said Academic Dean/Provost John Bethscheider.

Dual credit accounts for 23 percent of ACC enrollment with more than 2,000 students taking courses, according to Drew Nelson, ACC Academic Programs dean.

There are approximately 50 different dual credit courses in Alvin ISD schools and ACC is now working with the district to institute a pharmacy technician program and an accounting program.

ACC will soon be a vital partner to the third high school campus in Pearland when the school opens in 2013. The Pearland ISD Robert Turner College and Career High School will house up to 280 dual degree students and eventually lead to 100 dual degree graduates every year, said Jennifer Morrow, the high school's principal. The campus also will hold workforce certification courses.

"We're excited about this new project," she said.

Learn more details about the board meeting.

ACC Foundation Christmas Gala on Dec. 4 

Event benefits students, faculty and programs 

ACC went undefeated in pool play, beating Lone Star-Montgomery, San Jacinto-Central and Lone Star-Kingwood all by a score of 2 games to 0.

In the semi-finals, ACC took on Lee College and won with a score of 25-13.

ACC then took on College of the Mainland in the final and beat their opponent 25-15.

ACC intramural teams also competed in football and basketball. 

Players on the fall 2012 team include from left FRONT: Lorena Morales, of Pearland and Taelor Ruffeno, of Alvin MIDDLE: Nicole Janak, of Pearland, Stephanie Justice, of Manvel, Abbey Williams, of  Alvin and Cassie Lafferty, of Alvin. BACK: Alex Roman, of Alvin, Matt Guerrero, of Alvin, Coach Gary Coffman, Austin Stout, of Alvin and Phil Connor, of Santa Fe. (Not pictured is Steven Richardson, of Alvin.)

Wayllon Ramo, 10, of Manvel won 1st place during the costume contest at the ACC Fall Festival. Noah Harris, 4, and his sister Moriah Harris, 3, won 2nd and 3rd place during the costume contest at the ACC Fall Festival.

ACC Fall Festival Contest Features Zombies, Babies and More

A baby took home the crown at the annual contest during the 37th annual ACC Fall Festival on October 27.

Wayllon Ramo, 10, of Manvel took first place in the contest with his unique baby outfit.

Second place went to Noah Harris, 4, of Alvin for his Noah and the Ark costume.

Noah's sister Moriah Harris, 3, won third place dressed as a judge.

Some of the sponsors of the Fall Festival also include ACC Student Government Association, Student Activities and more.

Originally created to provide an alternative to trick-or-treating on Halloween, the ACC Fall Festival has become the college's largest event of the year. It is estimated that over 7,000 kids and family members attend each year.

On Friday, Nov. 2 ACC hosted Region V of the Texas Junior College Student Government Association for its annual fall meeting and conference.

Over 70 Student Government Association members from community colleges in the Gulf Coast area participated in this event which featured leadership and educational breakout sessions, a semi-annual general assembly meeting and a luncheon.

Galveston County Commissioner, Ken Clark served at the lunch keynote speaker and addressed the importance of voting and becoming active in local government.

Among the college that attended the conference were Houston Community College, San Jacinto College, Lone Star College and Brazosport College.