Recently the city of Berlin held its second visioning session for its update of the city's master plan at White Mountains Community College.
It was the perfect place for the session, which drew over 60 participants and was facilitated by master plan consultant Jeff Taylor of Jeffrey H. Taylor & Associates. The session began in the college's cafeteria where more than enough chairs were set up to accommodate the expected crowd. The group then broke up into four smaller groups, migrating down the hall of the north wing to separate classrooms. Again, the seating was more than adequate and the acoustics of the rooms made it easy for all to join in the discussions, as even those of us with fading baby-boom hearing could catch all of the comments.
It's not the first time that the college hosted such an event, and it won't be the last. Over the years, we here at White Mountains Community College, formerly known as the New Hampshire Community Technical College-Berlin, have opened our doors to many organizations and individuals who have benefited from our facilities, and in turn have benefited our students.
This past presidential primary season we opened our doors to candidates Mitt Romney, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee, and during state general elections our student senate has sponsored candidate forums for state office seekers and incumbents. Our Culinary Arts program has provided great lunches for visiting dignitaries such as Governor John Lynch and the Executive Counsel, and has provided baked goods for many, many more visitors, from workshop attendees to those using our classroom for civic organization meetings.
One of our favorite events we have held here at the college is the Career Day that we host for the students of North Country high schools. On that day students have the opportunity to listen to, and talk with, professionals from many businesses and organizations. These professionals give the students a firsthand account of exactly what is involved in their lines of work, and the education and training needed to do their jobs. Not only are these high schoolers our potential students, but they are our future citizens and we take great pride in being part of their lives, even for a brief moment if they decide to attend another educational facility, as they try to figure out their place in the world.
On March 22 we will be hosting another event, the second annual North Country Trade Show, put on by MicroCredit-NH's local business group, Valley Ventures. This year the event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., will feature Katie Paine of KD Paine & Associates and Dr. Debbi Warner of WREN. Paine will speak on how small businesses can use social media and Warner, a clinical psychologist, will speak about taking that giant step into entrepreneurship. We are proud to host the event at the Berlin campus on 2020 Riverside Drive, and hope that many would-be entrepreneurs take this opportunity to meet with and visit the booths of the Valley Ventures' small business men and women and others. We hope, too, that while there, those attending pick up a course catalogue so that they can browse through and see the business and entrepreneurship classes that we offer.
From politics to pastry, we hope our events, and our educational offerings, feed your hunger, and that you come to see us real soon.
We're not just a community college; we are a part of the community.
If you have questions, thoughts, or comments about this article, please e-mail keneguess@ccsnh.edu.
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