Category: News

ELLISVILLE – Jones College’s faculty and student representatives for Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence are being honored for their self-determination and drive to push the “technological” envelope. Electro-mechanical instructor, Cody Robertson of Ellisville and his best student, Donavan Hinton of Petal were selected to represent the college in Jackson for a special day of recognition. They will join 70 outstanding students and faculty members from 34 Mississippi public and private universities and community colleges in Jackson to receive special recognition from the Mississippi Legislature on March 2, at the 33rd annual HEADWAE event as a reward for their excellence in education.

“I’m incredibly honored. The administration and my peers here at Jones have been so generous to give me room to help bring Jones to new levels and to be recognized for that is unbelievable. I’m extremely appreciative. I’m incredibly grateful and I don’t take it for granted,” said Robertson.

Through pancreatic cancer and a surgical attempt to literally save his life and reverse its devastating effects, Robertson rose like a Phoenix with a new purpose. He dismissed a career in education until he returned to Jones to major in industrial electronics technology.  His experience in computer networking combined with his love of wiring things opened new doors of opportunity for him with a new career.

“I told my mom (Sharla Mann) I would never be a teacher because I saw some things she had to deal with. But I knew I loved electronics and I wanted to be like my mom, so I taught the computer classes for workforce college at Jones,” said Robertson. “There’s a moment when you’re teaching someone and that light bulb kicks on; It’s addictive.”

His drive to succeed was insatiable. Realizing he needed to beef up his robotics and programming skills to apply for his retiring college electronics instructor’s job, Robertson taught himself by finding an old Mitsubishi robot and fixing it. Much to his amazement, the now 25-year-old landed his dream job teaching electro-mechanical technology.

“Through his own initiative, Cody has become the Jones expert in Virtual Reality, a tool being used more to enhance the educational experience. Higher education is transforming, requiring forward-thinking faculty like Cody Robertson for institutions to remain relevant in the future,” said Rick Youngblood, JC Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Academic Officer.

Robertson explained, “Being able to incorporate Virtual Reality in Career & Technical Education, along with workforce training and academia is unique. We are one of the few colleges to do this in the U.S. There are few colleges offering VR for video gaming development and even fewer educational institutions attempt to use VR within the sphere of industrial training.”

Robertson’s most “challenging” student is the Jones student representative for HEADWAE, Donavan Hinton.

“Donavan is one of the best students I’ve ever met. I haven’t been here long, but Donavan is one of the reasons why I have to be on the ball. He’s going to ask questions. He’s going to ask every aspect of what we’re discussing that day. If there’s any chance I might be blind-sided, it will be by Donavan. That’s OK because that’s what keeps teachers good, people like Donavan. He is an absolute pleasure to work with,” said Robertson.

While working a full-time job at Green Bay Converting in Hattiesburg, Hinton is also a full-time student, majoring in electro-mechanical technology. The 27-year old’s immediate goal is to be an industrial electrician, pursue a management position and eventually earn a bachelor’s degree in business management. He shared, being selected for the HEADWAE honor seems unreal.

“I never thought anything like this would happen to me. I’m just a regular working guy. I try to stay humble,” said Hinton. “This (honor) is inspiring to me and it could be for others who, like me, might have made some bad decisions as a teenager, but with hard work and dedication, turned their life around. My family never gave up on me; that’s why I really take this to heart,” said Hinton.

After earning his GED and a welding certificate at Jones in 2011, Hinton worked for two local companies. Layoffs at those Hattiesburg companies and working for the railroad throughout the country, inspired him to pursue another line of work and return to Petal. While working as a machine operator at Green Bay Converting, an opportunity in electrical and mechanical maintenance came open.

“Anything that breaks down, I am the only guy there to fix it. I was getting a little bit of knowledge on the job, but I didn’t have a good grasp on the electrical side, which inspired me to come to Jones. I work the swing shift but my maintenance manager, Don Graham, and the company work with me where I can get off early if needed. They pushed me and encouraged me to come back to school,” said Hinton.

Initially, Hinton signed up for the one-year career certificate program, but he decided to push for the three-year, A.A.S. degree and maintained a 3.9 GPA. Now, the honoree is making plans for graduation in May and a future with his fiancé, Taylor McKenzie.

“I strive to be the best I can be. On my job, I would have to ask the electrician questions all the time to try to learn from him, which I still do, but I wanted to know if for myself,” Hinton explained.

After making the President’s List on the Honor Roll and the Letter “J” academic honor, Robertson’s most “challenging” student said he is confident the next step in his career is becoming the maintenance manager or general manager.

“The faculty at Jones are willing to bend over backward to help you succeed,” said Hinton. “They may not be able to teach everything in two or three years, especially in my field because it’s always changing. However, they teach us how to find the information when we need it.”

ELLISVILLE- Mississippi’s 15 Community College presidents gathered at the State Capitol with data proving the two-year college system is valuable to the state in numerous ways. They commissioned an economic impact report by NPSARC, or the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center at Mississippi State University to analyze the more than 100-year old community college system to determine who is served by the statewide network, the outcomes in relation to the labor market and the estimated overall economic impact on the state. Community college leaders discovered the system is overwhelmingly successful. The report found community colleges have a 3.9-billion-dollar impact on the economy, serving more than 200,000 people annually in academic and workforce training. Additionally, the two-year college system is one of the largest employers with 8,100 employees.

“Community colleges generate 277 million dollars in state and local taxes,” said Dr. Mary Graham, chair of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) and President of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. “The state’s investment in your community college has an immediate and short-term payback for all the citizens of Mississippi. Imagine if we invest in Mississippi’s community colleges to the fullest extent? What a difference we can make for all of the citizens of Mississippi.”

With more than 52 thousand unfilled jobs in Mississippi, community college leaders believe they are the answer to preparing students to fill those highly skilled, high paying jobs.  In fact, Governor Tate Reeves announced his plan to invest 75 million dollars into community colleges, of the 100 million he has allocated in his plan to equip Mississippians with the necessary skills for a modern workforce and to make Mississippi a “ready to work” state.

“Every class offered at our community colleges is in and of itself, workforce development and workforce training. Jobs or university degrees-it is all opportunity in workforce development,” said Governor Reeves. “I’m committed to helping our community colleges and more importantly, the institutions and the students they serve, to achieve even more together to better our workforce training, and create good-paying jobs for every Mississippian so they can thrive at home.”

That is continued good news to community college leaders with graduation rates at community colleges at an all-time high and 75% of its graduates stay “home” in Mississippi. The Community College Economic Impact Report also revealed the value of an Associate of Applied Science degree within a few years of graduation, is very appealing to residents said MACJC Legislative Co-Chair and President of Jones College, Dr. Jesse Smith.

“The average salary for graduates with an A.A.S. degree is above $40,000 which is equivalent to most university grads with a bachelor’s degree,” said Smith. “For every person who went through workforce training, after one year, they saw their income increase by $2,300. We (community colleges) trained 100,000 people last year. Think of that economic impact in and of itself.”

Some of the benefits the Report revealed didn’t tie directly to the state economy or an individual’s financial success. Dr. Andrea Mayfield, Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board explained employers greatly benefit from workforce training at community colleges.

“There are also some benefits that you don’t hear very often, like lower reliance on public assistance, higher employee retention for companies through workforce training, higher workforce productivity, lower likelihood of being injured on the job due to safety training through workforce services and more. There is a financial impact and a return to the state. All of these things add up and have value. Community College’s truly are the economic powerhouse for the state,” said Mayfield.

Despite the data or empirical evidence discussing the return on the investment of community colleges on the state economically, the President of the Mississippi Faculty and Staff Association and East Mississippi Community College English instructor, Marilyn Ford said the data represents far more to her. She sees her students, their dreams, aspirations and hope for a better future.

“I don’t see the numbers or percentages when I enter a classroom. I see my kids, my students, who have hopes and dreams for our state and for ourselves. Our two-year colleges cannot continue to function with any degree of efficiency; we can’t help the Molly’s, the Lily’s, the C. J.’s, that I see every day, every week. We need your help to continue our mission to serve our communities and those communities are comprised of living and breathing, hopeful Mississippians,” said Ford in her appeal to the Legislature for more funding.

The 15 Community College statewide system offers more than 500 locations throughout the state, including military bases and high schools, for residents to earn college credit and non-credit training.  Providing accessible education and training is one of the many reasons the Mississippi Community College Impact Report indicates to community college leaders they are on the right track. Maximizing the state’s return on its investment in the community college system is helping the state and its residents with more pathways to financial and personal success.

ELLISVILLE – At 17, Jeremy Stevens dropped out during his sophomore year at Laurel High School. He explained, he was working as a full-time manager at McDonald’s to take care of his 15-year old wife, Tabitha Read Stevens and their newborn baby, Juliet. While their paths were filled with obstacles, ten-years later he proudly boasts he has earned his High School Equivalency and is a couple of classes short of earning an associate degree in welding at Jones College.

“We did it the hardest way possible to begin a family,” said Stevens. “I quit my job at McDonald’s before Skylar, our second child was born in 2013. I took an employability test at Hol-Mac (in Bay Springs) and they turned me down cold. I knew I had no chance because there were college students in there.”

That rejection “lit a fire” in Stevens to get his education at Jones College’s Center in Bay Springs.  While interested in the Millwright program, instructor Tracy Warden discussed other career options with Stevens, including the MIBEST program, which can help qualified students earn a High School Equivalency while taking welding classes.

“I was at the top of my class in welding; I loved welding. I also earned Millwright and Forklift Certificates at Jones while I finished my HSE,” said Stevens. “I’m grateful Mr. Warden encouraged me to pursue more options.”

While applying for a welding job at Hol-Mac, Stevens said they offered him an opportunity to become a machinist because he tested well on the math section of the employability test. He said it was an opportunity to earn more income and learn a new trade.

“When we have the pleasure to hire a person that has proven that life’s hurdles will not keep them down, they always become an asset to our work family,” said Hol-Mac Corporation’s VP of Human Resources, Maury Hull, PHR. “Jeremy Stevens embodies the work ethic and determination of the model employee that Hol-Mac Corporation looks for when we are trying to fill key skill positions in one of our six manufacturing facilities in Mississippi.”

Despite their backgrounds, working “dead-end” jobs, having their house and truck hit by a tornado, dealing with unreliable vehicles and other challenges, the young Stringer residents said they wanted more for their kids, which drives them to do more.  Being self-determined to earn an education and learn new trades has allowed Jeremy to offer a better and different future for his family. Now, his wife Tabitha is excited to begin working towards her career and further enhance their family’s future. While exploring her options at Jones College, she was surprised she scored a 26 on the ACT with only an eighth-grade education. With that confidence-boosting score, Tabitha enrolled in spring classes with aspirations of becoming a marriage and family counselor.

“I want to help young couples, like us who didn’t know much,” said Tabitha, who is grateful for the family who helped them raise their three kids. For seven years, Tabitha worked toward earning her HSE degree while working as a personal care attendant for Ability Works.

“I wanted to show the kids I could do this. We (she and her husband Jeremy) made a deal that we would get our education so our kids couldn’t use it for an excuse, not to go to school. Getting a full-tuition scholarship takes a lot of the financial stress off!”

Earning an education was probably the most difficult thing Jeremy said he has ever done, but it has opened so many more doors than he imagined. He also earned a full-tuition scholarship to Jones as the highest overall HSE scorer in Jasper County in 2016.

“I’m not done by a long shot! After Tabitha gets done with school, depending on how things go at Hol-Mac, eventually, I want to get a degree in engineering and be an engineer at Hol-Mac,” said Jeremy.

Inspired by his journey, Jeremy said his younger brother is earning his HSE and is working at Hol-Mac. He’s hoping his wife will enjoy the same amount of success he is currently enjoying at Hol-Mac and offers advice for anyone thinking about getting their education.

“No matter what the situation is, there is always an opportunity to better yourself and all it takes is starting the HSE. It opens so many doors, you won’t believe it! Take it one class at a time, one hour at a time if you have to, but keep going,” said Jeremy Stevens.

For more information about classes at Jones College’s Jasper County Center call 601-477-5473 or check the webpage at http://www.jcjc.edu/workforcecollege/jasper_county.php. For more information about enrolling at any of Jones College’s Centers or the main campus in Ellisville click on the link: https://www.jcjc.edu/new2jones.php