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![Twila Fisher](/sites/default/files/styles/racc_news_thumbnail/public/2019-02/Twila-Fisher1.jpg?itok=GN-1k85e)
Twila Fisher
For Twila Fisher, RACC was just the right environment to developing the kind of tenacity she would acquire throughout her years in college. “My time at RACC prepared me for my career by reinforcing the drive to work harder than I had before, to think outside of the box, and to embrace people from all walks of life.”
After graduating from Lancaster Mennonite High School, Twila moved to Mexico City and then to Miami before moving back to Pennsylvania and settling in Berks County. At that time, Twila put her education and career on hold to begin a family. When her four daughters were all in school, Twila enrolled in school herself at RACC. “I pursued RACC for myself for the same reason I recommend it to people of all ages: location and affordability.”
While enrolled at RACC, Twila received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Transfer Scholarship which allowed her to pursue her undergraduate degree at Columbia University. “Nothing seemed insurmountable after pushing through the commute to Manhattan’s upper west side twice a week for two and half years and the academic rigor of Columbia.” During this time, Twila received a second scholarship from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation allowing to continue her studies. She finished her graduate courses in eighteen months at the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government.
During her time at RACC, Twila took advantage of the excellent student life organizations to help her gain more out of education. She served as the president for the Student Government Association and was involved in the Student Leadership Program. She also had many influential teachers that were encouraging forces in her education. She says their guidance and teachings have stuck with her to this day. “Dr. Donna Singleton inspired me to explore my potential in academic excellence, Stephanie Anderson taught me to write with purpose, and Dr. John Morgan challenged me to explore my belief systems and to dream big.”
Twila is currently the director of community and economic development at The Hill School. She serves on six different boards and committees including the Tri-County Area Chamber of Commerce, Barrio Alegria in the City of Reading, and an advisory board for the Olivet Boys and Girls Club in Pottstown. Twila says that sometimes people say to her, “you must be so smart since you went to Columbia and Penn.” She replies, “I’m not smarter than anybody else, I just work hard. Like anything in life, you get out of it what you put into it and RACC taught me that at a critical transition in my life.”
![Berks students celebrate National Engineers Week](/sites/default/files/styles/racc_news_thumbnail/public/2019-02/Engineering-Week.jpg?itok=CfNLFj1-)
Berks students celebrate National Engineers Week
Middle school students from across Berks County got a chance this week to get an up-close look at the world of engineering.
The Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, the local chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Reading Area Community College and R/C Reading Movies teamed up to celebrate National Engineers Week. They presented an event for students designed to expose them to the world of engineering.
Throughout the week, students traveled to the IMAX theater on North Second Street to view the film "Dream Big: Engineering Our World." Afterward, they headed to RACC to check out engineering demonstrations and career exploration tables with local employers, colleges and universities.
![Kaiya Kizuka earned title at FIS World Snowboard Championships in Utah](/sites/default/files/styles/racc_news_thumbnail/public/2019-02/Kaiya-Kizuka.jpg?itok=vUQlp_id)
Snowboarding: Reading Area Community College student is U.S. snowboarding champion
Reading Area Community College student Kaiya Kizuka became the U.S. champion in the parallel slalom Tuesday by being the highest placed American in the event at the FIS World Snowboard Championships in Park City, Utah.
The event is the highest level of snowboarding competition during a non-Olympic year.
Kizuka trains with Ski Roundtop Race Club in Lewisberry, PA and competes in the Open Class level at national and international FIS events as she tries to secure a spot on the World Cup circuit and qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Kaiya graduated Magna Cum Laude from the STEM and Performing Arts Academies at Wilson High School. She received the Presidential Scholarship and is attending Reading Area Community College where she is enrolled in the RACC/Bucknell engineering program.
During the 2017/2018 snowboard season Kaiya competed nationally in the NorAm “Race to the Cup” snowboard series. At the end of the season she had earned enough FIS points to be ranked among the top junior women open class athletes in the United States.
She has been a member of the U.S. Junior World team the last two years.
![RACC Web Design Challenge](/sites/default/files/styles/racc_news_thumbnail/public/2019-02/1.jpg?itok=3uoMw1fS)
RACC web design contest more than just a pretty site
Written by Jeff McGaw/ReadingEagle
Written by Jeff McGaw/ReadingEagle
Reading, PA — Six web professionals sitting in judgement, five teams of creative up-and-coming web designers, and a prize to the team that best figures out how to transform a relatively ugly duckling website into a beautiful high-tech swan.
Reading Area Community College's web application development program hosted a presentation and awards event Sunday at the Miller Center for the Arts for its first web design challenge.
It was a "Project Runway"-like competition, but rather than asking designers to create wearable fashion from grocery store food, the contest challenged them to use their computer coding skills to redesign the website for the Berks County Community Foundation's Jump Start Incubator program.
That seven-year-old program helps entrepreneurs get started in business.
In the end, the Blue Bats, a team of four students from the Berks Career & Technology Center, earned top honors.
Four teams from Reading Muhlenberg Career & Technology Center also competed in the event, which drew dozens of parents, school faculty members and others.
"It was very close," said Jason Brudereck, director of marketing and communications for the community foundation and one of six judges. "There was a lot of debate among the judges."
Jump Start has helped 50 companies launch. Of those, 31 are minority or woman-owned, and the 42 that are still in business employed 121 people and combined for $2 million in revenues in 2017.
That success came despite a website described by some of the students as "bland," "basic," "boring" and "static."
"We had to take away the key points of the old website," said Sean Bachman, who along with Rebecca Davis, David Rohweder and Analee Weichert formed the winning Blue Bats team. "Then we had to kick it up a notch."
After working for several months, teams presented their work to the judges, a key part of the experience, said Brian Savage, RACC's website application development program coordinator.
"Anybody can go make a pretty website," Savage said, "but what makes a great web application developer is someone who can solve business problems in a pretty way, in a friendly way, with a user interface that will allow companies to go forward and gain in efficiencies."
"It's a whole other thing when you have to stand up and show the people who are going to possibly buy what you did," said Adrianna Rivera, a competitor from Reading Muhlenberg. "If you're confident in your work, you have to show that confidence on stage as well."
"I wasn't really worried about the technical aspect of it," said Isaac Freeman, a software engineer at JPMorgan Chase & Co., and one of the judges. "It was more like. 'What was their presentation like? What is the client looking to accomplish through this medium? Did the contestants execute it?' That's pretty much what we judged on.
"Yeah, a pretty website is nice. But functionality is key at the end of the day."
![Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK)](/sites/default/files/styles/racc_news_thumbnail/public/2019-02/ptk_logo.jpg?itok=D4oiiz0t)
RACC President Dr. Susan D. Looney to Receive Paragon Award for New Presidents
Jackson, Mississippi — Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK) will recognize 25 college presidents with the Parag
Jackson, Mississippi — Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK) will recognize 25 college presidents with the Paragon Award for New Presidents during PTK Catalyst 2019, the Society’s annual convention, April 4-6 in Orlando, Florida. Reading Area Community College President Susan D. Looney, J.D, Ed.D., who began her presidency in July 2018, will be honored among those receiving this prestigious award.
The Paragon Awards are given to new college presidents who have shown strong support of student success by recognizing academic achievement, leadership, and service among high-achieving students at their college. Recipients were nominated for the award by the students on their campus. PTK students have a 91 percent student success rate, and research has shown that strong presidential leadership and support of PTK increases member success and the depth of their college experience.
The Paragon Award for New Presidents marks a special accomplishment for Dr. Looney. “I am completely humbled to be honored by PTK, an organization that has meant so much to me over the course of my community college career,” says Dr. Looney. She has received a Paragon Award when a PTK student and again when she was a PTK advisor.
Dr. Looney joined RACC in 2014 as dean of instruction and was appointed to senior vice president of academic affairs/provost in 2015.
The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society recognizes academic achievement of community college students and provides opportunities for them to grow as scholars and leaders. For more information about Phi Theta Kappa at Reading Area Community College, please call 610.372.4721.
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