ACC students register for spring classes at the Enrollment Services Center on January 6. Wednesday is the last day to sign up for classes. The spring semester starts on January 13. 

Crystal Albrecht, Ed.D.

Alvin Community College will host community forums starting January 15 to give residents a chance to question the three college presidential candidates.

The finalists, Lydia Tena Ed. D., Cathy Kemper Ed. D. and Christal Albrecht Ed. D. will have their individual forums on January 15, 16 and 21 respectively. Each forum will be from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Nolan Ryan Center.

The candidates will provide some information about themselves and then will be open to questions. The public is invited to attend.

Cathy Kemper, Ed.D.

The finalists were selected by the Presidential Search Committee. A lone finalist will be chosen by the Board of Regents after the interview process is complete.

The candidates were announced in November by the Board of Regents.

Tena is serving as the Chief Operations Officer and the Northwest campus Dean of Instructional Programs for El Paso Community College.

She has worked in many leadership positions in El Paso including Achieving the Dream Leader college liaison and interim Dean for Nursing.

Lydia Tena, Ed.D.

Kemper is currently the Vice President of Learning at Lee College. Prior to that, Dr. Kemper worked at Blinn College where she served as Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation and Dean of Academic Affairs.

Albrecht is the campus President at Florida State College at the Jacksonville Downtown Campus and Kent Campus. She has been in that position since 2011. Dr. Albrecht served as the campus president at Pima Community College-Desert Vista in Arizona and as Vice President of Student Learning at Lone Star College-Cy Fair.

The new president will follow Dr. Rodney Allbright who will exit after serving 38 years as president.

Three positions on the Alvin Community College Board of Regents will be up for election on May 10. Filing for candidates will start January 29 and end February 28.

Positions that will be on the ballot include Position 4 now held by incumbent Brenda Brown, Position 5 held by Mike Pyburn and Position 6 now held by Cheryl Knape

The winners will serve an unpaid, six-year term.

Early voting will be from April 28 to May 6. Election day is May 10.

Those interested in filing for the election can get more information by calling Janet Schwebel, ACC election clerk at 281-756-3594 or the Brazoria County Elections Office at 281-756-1371.

More information also is available at brazoriacountyvotes.com. 

ACC Foundation Board Member Cheryl Knape, right, presents President Dr. Rodney Allbright with a $38,000 check which will establish the Dr. A. Rodney Allbright Endowed Scholarship.

"The College Foundation Board of Directors really surprised me at the Christmas Gala with the endowed scholarship for future ACC students," Allbright said. "This was special and very meaningful as it will benefit students long after I am gone."

Also at the Gala, a $20,000 scholarship was announced to recognize Congressman and ACC alum Randy Weber who used his 60th birthday recently to help raise money for the Foundation.

Half of the money raised at the event goes directly towards student scholarships.

The remaining funds are used for the three Excellence Awards given every year to a professional employee, a faculty member and a technical support, clerical or maintenance employee.

The Foundation also uses the funds to support the Summer Children's Theater, Innovative Initiative grants and other programs on campus. The Christmas Gala is the ACC Foundation's largest fundraiser of the year.

Learn more about the ACC Foundation. Read more about the Gala event. There are also more photos of the Gala at the ACC Flickr page. 

The Kurland Street Band performs for the crowd during the Alvin Community College Big Band concert on February 2. The concert helps raise funds for the ACC Music Department and alumni scholarships.

Local residents can take to the dance floor during the 15th annual Ev

The concert will start at 7 p.m. and the last dance will be 10 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. 

The Kurland Street Band have performed at this event since its inception in 1999. The band has played concerts throughout southeast Texas for 25 years. They are regularly featured at country clubs, hotels and large parities in the Houston area and have performed at many well-known functions, including the USO Show for the rededication of the Battleship Texas.

Funds raised at the event will go directly to the Music Department and alumni scholarships.

Tickets are $15 and will include admission to the dance and light refreshments throughout the evening.

Tickets are available at the Music Department, the Administrative office and online at the ACC Marketplace. They also will be sold at the door.

ACC student Steven Tep, of Rosharon cuddles Candy from the Noah's Ark Bayou Sanctuary during the Rent A Puppy event at the college on December 9.

For $1, students wrestled, cuddled, walked and petted a puppy for up to 20 minutes. The rentals were set up as a way to help ACC students de-stress during finals.

Proceeds from the rentals went to the Noah's Ark Bayou Sanctuary shelter in Danbury. The sanctuary provided the puppies for the event.

While they were rented during the day, the puppies also were up for adoption. The costs include ID chip, vaccinations and more.

Photos from the event were featured on a KHOU Channel 11 newscast. 

For more information visit www.nabs-tx.com. 

Law Enforcement Academy graduate John Pina, of Seabrook, receives his badge during the graduation ceremony on December 12.

Nursing graduate Megan Stearns received a surprise congratulations from her husband, U.S. Navy corpsman Joshua Stearns, who is currently serving in Afghanistan.

ACC staff members were able to broadcast live video of Joshua onto a screen and he was able to pass her a sweet, short message during the ceremony.

The GED and the Continuing Education and Workforce Development programs awarded diplomas and certifications to area students during a ceremony on December 10 at the ACC Gym.

ACC Nursing graduate Megan Stearns, center, walks toward Nursing Director Sally Durand to receive her Nurse Pin on December 11.

Academy training coordinator Jeff Gambrell said the milestone is an important accomplishment for the college. He is a graduate of the academy's 11th class in 1983.

ACC Dean of Continuing Education and Workforce Development Dr. Patricia Hertenberger, right, presents student Mandy Meyer, of Rosharon, with her massage therapy certificate during a graduation ceremony on December 10.

Santa and Mrs. Claus visit with 4-month-old Karson Sanders, of Alvin, during the Breakfast with Santa event on December 7.

The event has been held for the past 25 years in conjunction with the ACC Can Feed the Hungry/Alvin ISD Shellie Garza Memorial Food Drive.

This year saw a record number of families receiving food. Donations also increased by 60 percent compared to last year.

All 22 AISD campuses participated. There were dozens of volunteers from ACC staff, local churches including New Hope Church and Alvin Church of Christ, the ACC Baseball and Softball teams, ACC Grounds crew along with Alvin ISD students, teachers, Alvin ISD cafeteria staff and Superintendent Fred Brent. The ACC Culinary Arts students cooked the breakfast.

Several tons of nonperishable food were donated to the food drive from the Alvin ISD schools and ACC. The remaining food after the breakfast was donated to the Alvin Food Pantry and the Manvel Food Pantry.

Lawrence Brown wanted to give his four adopted sons a chance and sit with Santa and talk about what they wanted for Christmas. Instead of going to a mall, Brown brought them to the Breakfast with Santa.

Before meeting the Santa and Mrs. Claus, Brown and his sons were treated to a pancake breakfast.

"We just wanted to do something special for the boys this Christmas with Santa," Brown said. "This is something that makes it really special."

Many of the families at the event said they were grateful for the program and the many volunteers who made Breakfast with Santa possible.