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Camden County College marks National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month

(Gloucester Township, NJ) – April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. To help raise awareness of children’s vulnerability to abuse and also our ability to prevent it, the NJ Child Assault Prevention (CAP) Headquarters at Camden County College created a Pinwheel for Prevention Garden on the Blackwood Campus.

On April 3, children and students helped decorate the base of the flagpole in Veteran’s Circle in front of the Taft Building with pinwheels to spread the message that all children deserve a happy childhood and have the right to be safe, strong and free.

The blue pinwheel symbolizes the happiness of childhood and has been used as the national symbol for child abuse prevention since 2008. Pinwheels signify youthful innocence and serve as the physical embodiment of the circumstances we want for all children.

With a motto “All Children Deserve to be Safe, Strong and Free”, the NJ CAP program seeks to reduce children’s vulnerability to abuse, neglect and bullying by providing comprehensive prevention workshops in local schools for children, parents/guardians and school staff. Since its inception, NJ CAP has trained over 3 million children and adults in its life saving strategies. NJ CAP programs are available to every community in our State and have offices in the 21 counties.

To learn more about NJ CAP, or to find out how you can make a difference in a child’s life, please visit NJ CAP or ICAP

Larger shuttle now serves Camden County College students

The free shuttle service between the Blackwood and Camden Campuses has been so successful that a new 32-seat bus has replaced the original 24-seat bus from SJTA.

 

To ride the shuttle, students must have a current student ID. Camden’s pick up/drop off location is next to the Camden Technology Center Building on North Broadway. Blackwood’s pick up/drop off location is on Presidential Drive near the Connector Building.

 

Click here for the shuttle schedule

MLK Day of Service

On February 8, the College held the rescheduled 2019 Day of Service honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his impact on the lives of Americans. More than 25 students, faculty and staff volunteers gathered at the Camden Campus to perform hands-on, service-oriented activities to celebrate the legacy of the man that reminds us, “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.”

“I commend Camden County College’s Office of Student Life and Activities for organizing this Day of Service, and invite everyone to join us in giving back to our communities in the spirit of Dr. King,” said Freeholder Jonathan Young.

We thank the great team of volunteers that spent the evening giving back to our college community by performing light cleaning, classroom beautification.

Camden County College Public Safety Officers honored for Saving Lives

(Gloucester Township, NJ) – The Camden County College Board of Trustees honored three campus Public Safety Officers whose quick response and professional training saved three lives.

Dawn Pasquale
Dawn Pasquale
(left to right) Board of Trustees Chair John Hanson, President Donald Borden, Officer Dawn Pasquale, Executive Director of Public Safety Orlando Cuevas, Associate Director for Public Safety John Schuck
Ryan Taggart
Ryan Taggart
(left to right) Board of Trustees Chair John Hanson, President Donald Borden, Sergeant Ryan Taggart, Executive Director of Public Safety Orlando Cuevas, Associate Director for Public Safety John Schuck
Kimberly Snyder
Kimberly Snyder
(left to right) Board of Trustees Chair John Hanson, President Donald Borden, Officer Kimberly Snyder, Executive Director of Public Safety Orlando Cuevas, Associate Director for Public Safety John Schuck

Officer Dawn Pasquale was called to the scene of an unconscious individual on Feb. 5, 2018 at Camden County College’s Camden Technology Center. Thanks to her training, she concluded that the individual was suffering from a lethal amount of an opioid drug and administered Narcan. Officer Pasquale also applied sternum rubs and succeeded in reviving the individual. She also arranged for their transportation to a medical facility for further evaluation and treatment.

Sergeant Ryan Taggart was in the Community Center on the Blackwood Campus on Oct. 30, 2018 when he was informed that an individual was choking in the cafeteria. He administered back blows before performing abdominal thrusts on the choking victim. He was successful in dislodging the object from the individual’s airway, allowing the victim to resume normal breathing. Throughout the situation, Sergeant Taggart remained professional and calm.

Officer Kimberly Snyder responded to report of an individual that had collapsed at Broadway and Cooper Street in Camden City on Nov. 6, 2018. Upon arrival, she conducted a rapid patient assessment, and based on her training concluded that the individual was experiencing the effects of an opioid overdose. Officer Snyder revived the individual by administering Narcan, and remained with the individual until EMS personnel arrived.

“The actions you all took undoubtedly saved lives, and you are to be commended for your service to our College community,” said Donald Borden, President of Camden County College. “The level of professionalism and ability you demonstrated on the job resulted in positive outcomes for each of the individuals you saved.”

The three were recognized during the Camden County College Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 5 in Blackwood.

Camden County College is one of the largest community colleges in New Jersey and ranks among the top nationwide in terms of associate degree graduates. Thanks to its technology-rich physical resources – located in Gloucester Township, Camden and Cherry Hill – and its highly-qualified, dedicated employees, the college has created a tradition of quality education and a reputation of agile, responsive service. Camden County College sustains a vibrant academic community characterized by imaginative teaching, caring student services, energetic management and collegial discussion of diverse ideas and opinions.

New Peer Recovery Specialist Course

Help combat the opioid crisis and support long term recovery

04/05/19

Become a Peer Recovery Specialist
 

 

Camden County College is offering a new course to prepare individuals looking to become peer counselors to help those recovering from overdose and addition. Students who successfully complete this course will fulfill their requirements for state certification as a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist.

Offered at the Blackwood Campus beginning May 25 through July 11, the 3-credit course will promote competence and skill development in addiction crisis intervention, recovery treatment services and non-clinical settings such as peer-run recovery centers.

The course focuses on the following areas of healthcare provider development: ethics and legal standards related to direct service interventions, multiple recovery pathways and harm reduction methods and wellness-focused outcome goals.

The course was developed in collaboration with the Freeholder Board and Camden County Addiction Awareness Task Force to fill a significant need in the battle against the scourge of opioids and heroin.

“Peer recovery specialists are regular people who are in recovery themselves and want to act as a friend and role model to someone who’s just beginning to seek help,” said Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. liaison to the County Addiction Awareness Task Force. “Peer counselors are a powerful agent for change. They provide strength, hope and inspiration to their peers and show that recovery is possible.”

Recovery specialists who are tantamount to New Jersey’s Opiate Overdose Recovery Program (OORP) are employed at all four of the major health systems located in Camden County. These individuals are the first social service responder to assist someone that has been medically cleared from an overdose. All 21 counties in New Jersey use peers in opiate overdose recovery programs and police-assisted recovery initiatives. The peer movement is a nationwide effort that is continuing to expand.

“Not only does this provide another opportunity for those in recovery who want to help others, but it ensures that an essential resource for recovery is available throughout South Jersey,” Cappelli said. “By offering this course, we can increase the number of peer specialists who are available to respond to overdoses in our area and fill a wide gap that exists when it comes to post-overdose services.”

Camden County College President Donald Borden also talked about the college’s commitment to ending the opioid epidemic and acting as a resource for all of Camden County.

“More than 115 people die every day from an opioid overdose in America. This course is so much more than education, it’s about developing an innovative solution to a problem that is affecting the county, and really the nation as a whole,” Borden said. “At Camden County College, we’re constantly exploring new ways to support our students and the communities they come to us from.”

The basic philosophy of peer counseling is that it is easier to communicate with someone who has lived through and survived some of the same events or experiences. Peer counseling takes place in a one-on-one, confidential setting and creates a special bond of trust between two individuals. This relationship adds an “assist” for individuals with limited resources to navigate a complicated system of care, and it offers an opportunity to achieve a greater level of self-sufficiency as they become a role model for their peers.

For more information, please contact Coordinator of Addiction Counseling LeRoy Stanford Jr., at or lstanford@camdenccc.edu or (856) 227-7200 ext. 4546.

Andrea Wohl Keefe and Colin Keefe at The Marlin Gallery

The Marlin Gallery will host an exhibition of the works of Andrea Wohl Keefe and Colin Keefe from January 30th to February 21st. An opening reception will take place on Wednesday, January 30th, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Gallery hours will be Monday through Thursday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Andrea and her art

Andrea Wohl Keefe is an artist and art educator based in Philadelphia: “About 12 years ago, I stopped trying to reproduce what I was seeing. I began to think more about how we see, how we know what we see, and how our beliefs and understandings are built on what we think we see. I use simple shapes to push and pull color. I mash together controlled geometric forms with elements that I have little control over. I use cast shadows and reflected light to highlight the illusion of control.”

Andrea was born and raised in Bridgewater, NJ. She received a BFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, and an MFA from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She currently lives in Philadelphia, PA with her husband, Colin, their son, dog, and cat. She teaches art and is the department chair at Central High School in Philadelphia, and works in her studio as much as possible.

Colin and his art

Colin Keefe is an artist and curator based in Philadelphia: “My drawings and sculpture explore methods for breeding urban environments using organic models – multicellular organisms’ reproductive and propulsion strategies, pollination methods employed by plants, or stellar birth. The resulting images depict cities grown organically, without an “urban planner” as protagonist, based on environmental conditions and observing “natural” rules that are internally consistent – a closed set describing the universe they inhabit.”

Colin was born in Boston, MA. He received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from Washington University. Recent solo exhibitions include Robert Henry Contemporary, New York, NY, Abington Arts Center, Jenkintown, PA, and RHV Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY. His work has been reviewed in the New York Times, Village Voice, Bushwick Daily, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia City Paper, LA Times, Sculpture Magazine, and Title Magazine.

Give Kids a Smile Day!

February is Children’s Dental Health Month. The Dental Department at Camden County College is participating in the 17th annual Give Kids a Smile Day on Friday, February 1, 2019 from 9 a. m. to 4 p.m. in the Dental Hygiene Clinic Halpern Hall. The program offers children aged 12 and under FREE dental care and introduces them to the importance of oral health.

All visits are by appointment only.

Call 856-227-7200, ext. 4631 for an appointment and more information.

Athletics Department Honor Roll

Camden County College is pleased to announce 47 student-athletes have obtained a 3.0 GPA or higher during the Fall Semester. The Fall 2018 Student-Athlete Athletic Director Honor Roll can be found at camdenccathletic.org. Congratulations to our students!

Camden 28 revisit court where they were tried for ’71 break-in to protest Vietnam War

By Kyrie Greenberg on whyy.org
December 6, 2018

Nearly 50 years after breaking into the Camden draft board and destroying records to protest the war in Vietnam, members of the Camden 28 took to the stand in the federal courtroom where they were tried.

This time, it was to tell their story for future generations.

Joan Reilly read the names of those who didn’t live long enough to return to the courtroom that was packed Thursday with high school and Camden County College students.

A lifelong Catholic, Reilly said her faith led her and her sister Rosemary to oppose the Vietnam war, and move from Long Island to join the resistance in Camden.

“It was ordinary people who said ‘not in our name, not on our watch.’ We took great risk and worked in collective action, and I very much believe that’s what helped to end this war,” said Reilly, who was in her early 20s at the time.

“My parents have both died, and they kept the letters I sent to them. Now I can see the fire that burned within me about the injustices I saw happening,” she said.

In the weeks before the 1971 raid, rioting was regular in Camden.

Keith Forsyth, who moved from Ohio to be a part of the anti-war movement, said demonstrators knew the risks. “It was like the Boy Scout motto, ‘Always be prepared.’ We were ready to go to jail,” he said.

In Camden, they met the Rev. Michael Doyle, one of four priests and one Presbyterian pastor charged with felonies related to the raid. Now Monsignor Doyle and pastor of Sacred Heart Church in South Camden, he said he wouldn’t change a thing, though at the time his politics meant few churches would employ him to celebrate Sunday Mass.

“No congressman’s son died in Vietnam because they never got sent to the front. But the poor kids of Camden, they were sent to the front,” said Doyle. “It’s outrageous. And then you say, ‘There’s no point in writing a letter to those [politicians],’” he continued.

As casualties mounted, several draft board raids occurred throughout the country. But the Camden 28 case was the only one where all defendants were acquitted.

Despite evidence that the FBI aided the raid through a paid informant, attorney David Kairys didn’t try to prove entrapment. Instead, the 28 defendants represented themselves as co-counsel, giving each a chance to address the jury directly.

Eugene Dixon said the idea was to appeal to the people, not the law.

“I was just an ordinary working stiff, but, of course, the politics of the war were always in front. And the idea of massive violence being perpetrated on people was one that struck home with me,” said Dixon.

“I loved being on trial,” said Doyle to laughter from the room. “We talked a lot and Judge Fisher, he had a great sense of humor. I was a felon, but he was so nice to me. And to be able to cross-examine FBI agents — imagine that! I was a peasant from Ireland doing that, and I loved it.”

Complementing the event was a screening of a documentary by Anthony Giacchino, which is available online. Giacchino grew up attending church at Sacred Heart and his parents are active in the parish.

Helen Albright Troxell, CCC Trustee, Honored by NJCCC

Helen Albright Recognition by NJCCCOn Monday, Dec. 3, during its business meeting, the New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC) honored Camden County College Trustee Helen Albright Troxell, who served as Chair of the NJCCC for the past four years. The NJCCC presented an engraved jewelry box, and Rowan College of Burlington County presented a “3 + Wonderful” diploma to her for her visionary leadership as head of the state association that strengthens the 19 community colleges in the state. Pictured, from left: NJCCC President Aaron Fichtner, newly-elected NJCCC Chair Phil Linfante of the Warren County Community College Board of Trustees, Ms. Albright, and Camden County College President Don Borden.