decorative image of stembldg1-300×124-1 , Pensacola State’s new STEM facility ready for fall opening 2020-08-05 09:00:22

Pensacola State’s new STEM facility ready for fall opening

The new state-of-the-art Pensacola State College STEM building will be open and ready for students when fall classes begin on Aug. 17.

The 23,389-square-foot, $15 million facility will be home to programs including mathematics, cybersecurity, computer science and other high-tech fields of study.

“We’re all excited to move over there,” said Robert Pratten, PSC Cybersecurity instructor. “Who wouldn’t be interested in moving into something new? It’s going to give us more space and more room in one centralized location.”

The new STEM facility replaces the 60-year-old Mary Ellison Baars building, which was demolished before construction began on the building in January 2019. The new East Wing building is Phase I of an ambitious project that will eventually include a Phase II West Wing, and a third-floor connector.

decorative image of snowden_1200-300×169-1 , Strike up the band for a farewell to Don Snowden 2020-08-05 08:58:02

Strike up the band for a farewell to Don Snowden

Pensacola State music major Hanna Hammac played a few simple exercises on the euphonium while Pensacola State College Performing Arts Department Head and instructor Don Snowden played along on his trombone.

She’s a member of the College’s wind ensemble, even though she had no desire to play in a band when she first enrolled in PSC.

“I was an incoming music major, but I didn’t want to be in band,’’ Hammac recalled. “He (Snowden) told me ‘I know you hated band in high school, but you can get through it.’ He made me like band again.’’

In fact, Snowden has been such a major influence on Hammac’s life that when she had to write an essay for a scholarship application, she wrote about Snowden.

“He means everything to the College and all the Performing Arts students,’’ she said, prompting a smile from Snowden. “I actually wrote my essay on him because he’s such an important figure in my life.”

decorative image of edmeadows_700-1-288×300-1 ,   2020-08-05 08:57:01

Pensacola State able to meet challenges in uncertain times, says college president

Pensacola State College President Ed Meadows was in his office on the Pensacola campus, where he has been during much of the COVID-19 pandemic, steadying the Pirate ship amid a sea of worldwide turmoil.

The campus is closed – as are all PSC campuses and centers ─ to students and the public through the end of the spring term. However Meadows said much of the staff, faculty and administration have worked throughout the crisis to ensure the College’s stability, and, its success in the future when the nation emerges from COVID-19.

“I think our leadership has responded very well,’’ Meadows said. “Dr. (Erin) Spicer and the department heads worked through the College’s spring break to get us moving forward as quickly and effectively as possible.”

decorative image of UgandanBookDrive_900 , Ugandan book drive a success for Robinson Honors Scholars 2020-01-27 11:07:30

Ugandan book drive a success for Robinson Honors Scholars

By Mary Mabins, Pensacola State College “That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” — “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri Robinson Honors Program Scholars recently gifted the world to students at the Pajwenda Primary School in Uganda. For its 2019 service project, Pensacola State College’s Robinson Honors Program collected 1,326 books…

decorative image of PenelopeBurk_900 , Area charitable organizations learn how to raise funds, court donors effectively at Nonprofit Summit 2019-11-06 08:58:59

Area charitable organizations learn how to raise funds, court donors effectively at Nonprofit Summit

By Troy Moon, Pensacola State College Penelope Burk literally wrote the book on fundraising. Actually, she’s written a few. The nationally-recognized fundraising consultant and researcher brought her decades of experience to the inaugural Nonprofit Center For Excellence and Philanthropy at Pensacola State Summit on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 on the Pensacola campus. “We’re going…