A milestone was reached Saturday, March 13, as the Rotary Club of Ville Platte turned a young 92 years old. In celebration of the event, the club enjoyed a special birthday cake from Teet’s Food Store to go along with their meal at Cafe Evangeline on Tuesday, March 16.
The club, for decades, has dedicated its mission of service before self to funding scholarship opportunities for Evangeline Parish students at LSU Eunice.
Speaking at the meeting were Ville Platte native Dr. John Hamlin, vice chancellor of academic affairs, and Kary Larsen.
In the past, LSUE awarded five $1,000 scholarships. As Larsen said, however, seven scholarships can now be awarded in the amount of $1,500 a year.
Dr. Hamlin expressed, “Rotary, as a service organization, is near and dear to our hearts, and the support you have always given us is very much appreciated to help our students from this area.”
He continued, “We are trying to do our part to help with giving businesses the product we produce which is highly qualified workers to come back and to help maintain our small towns and to keep our community vibrant.”
Larsen went on to report the campus’ fall enrollment reached 3,200 students this year. That amount was a mixture of students on campus, students in dual enrollment programs, and students participating in online programs.
As for dual enrollment, Dr. Hamlin said, “We are now graduating high school students with associates degrees in our academy program. Students come out of high school with two years of college under their belt.”
“It helps local schools get better funding as well,” he continued. “These students can go on and get four years of TOPS payment to continue their education. Some of these students go on and finish a master’s program, and it’s all funded by taxpayers’ dollars. It really is a big benefit to the students.”
Larsen then explained new opportunities on the campus’ horizon.
“We are working on expanding a number of programs we currently have,” she said.
The expansion involves converting the science building, which is an original building on campus, to a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and manufacturing, Innovation Center.
“We feel like these are the skills that are really going to push our area forward and be able to attract more businesses and industry,” said Larsen.
The campus was also chosen as one of seven institutions of higher learning across the country to, as Larsen said, “build resiliency in rural communities for the future of work.”
She went on to say, “We feel like this could not be more timely for our campus and the area and our community.”
As Dr. Hamlin explained, this will help the campus provide industry based credentials to students who are unwilling or unable to continue their education after high school.
He said, “One exciting new innovation that is coming out is us partnering with the Ville Platte High JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates) Program. This program takes high school students, who may not be traditional students, and get them workforce credentials so they can enter the workforce out of high school. They will already be prepared to become tax paying citizens and support their local industry.”
This partenrship will hold its inaugural session this summer where 25 students from Ville Platte High will work on getting IT credentials.
“This is going to get them a fundamental entry level position to be able to help as support staff in computer technology,” said Dr. Hamlin.
He concluded, “We hope to also continue to keep on doing traditional two-year transfers so that we can keep our local students living at home and saving money with high quality, low cost education. They can then go on and continue their education elsewhere. We’re always excited to see these students go off and come back home. That is really something we’re trying. We’re trying to continue that tradition.”
During the meeting, Dr. Hamlin and Larsen were presented the scholarship check from Rotarians Dr. Willie Buller and Renee Brown along with President Peter Strawitz. They were guests of Rotarian Scott Smith.
The week prior, the Rotary Club heard from Jan Armand, the director of nursing at New Horizons, and from Jedd LaFleur, the director of rehabilitation services at Savoy Medical Center.
Armand talked about the creation of a new 28-day unit that is an extension of the detox unit. Patients, currently, are being sent elsewhere after detox if they want to continue their treatment options.
“Now,” Armand said, “people who want to recover can stay home and do it. It will be voluntary, and we will welcome anybody who wants to come.”
LaFleur, then, spoke about the new swing bed unit that will be available at the hospital.
“We will be able to finish giving them antibiotics,” he said. “Along with that, they will have all the nursing needs.”
The unit, in addition to its other services, will also provide wound care.
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Tony Marks
Editor