May 2, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Ryan Dykstra's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh wrapped up a perfect series for the Grand Rapids Community College baseball team against Kalamazoo Valley Community College on Monday. Earlier in the day, the men's golf team earned a four-stroke victory at the Ancilla College Invitational earning it a share of the Michigan Community College Western Conference championship, and the team’s 13th consecutive title. The baseball team dominated the first game, winning 11-2 while picking up three hits each from Dykstra and Caleb Engelsman. Xander Reisbig collected a game-high three RBI while going two-for-two from the plate. Engelsman also picked up the victory after throwing a complete game with nine strikeouts and just one walk. In the nightcap, the visitors of KVCC went ahead 3-0, with a run in the third inning and two more in the sixth. GRCC rallied to make it a 3-2 ballgame after RBIs from Dylan Chargo and Zacarias Salinas in the bottom of the sixth. Relief pitcher Eliot Traver struck out all three batters he faced in the top of the seventh inning. GRCC started to rally with a leadoff walk by Max Varon. Camden Keatley sacrificed Brady Owen over to second base and one batter later, Jacob Gumieny lined a single through the middle to tie the game. Dykstra singled home the game winning run two batters later. GRCC improved to 24-20-1, 16-8 in the conference, and are riding a 10-game winning streak. The team also is holding on to third place in the conference with four MCCAA-West games remaining. The golf team won its 13th straight conference championship after posting a team score of 306 at the Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Ind. Muskegon Community College finished in second place and tied GRCC for the conference title with both teams shooting a 1,538 in the five conference events. Conner Oman was named medalist after posting a career-best 72.  Arie Jackman was second, shooting a 73. Matt Denhartigh finished as the conference medalist with a five-round score of 372, six strokes better than the runner-up from Muskegon. The golf team will be back in action on May 9 and 10 at the MCCAA/Region XII Championships played at the St. Clair Golf Club in St. Clair, Mich.

May 2, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- As a college completion coach for GRCC, Jose Rodriguez provides the support students need to get into their field of study. He compares the job to being “a student’s personal cheerleader.” Start at GRCC and go anywhere. Every former student has a story to tell about how GRCC gave them the education and opportunity to be successful. Rodriguez is a GRCC alumnus, so he knows first-hand the challenges students face. He’s also a current student: pursuing a health sciences degree at Grand Valley State University. He credits GRCC with giving him both the academic and people skills he needs for his dual roles. “GRCC does a great job of accommodating students to their needs,” said Rodriguez, who was involved in ALAS, NIA and the Brother 2 Brother Network on campus. “Being a close-knit community helps when you’re trying to maneuver the challenge that is higher education.” The college completion coach program, offered through the Michigan College Access Network, aims to improve equity and inclusion in higher education. “I have been lucky enough to be able to relate to the population of students I help on a personal level,” Rodriguez said. “Whether it be struggling through a system as a minority, being a first-generation student or facing the struggles of mental health illnesses, I want my students to know there is always light at the end of the tunnel -- and I’ll be there the whole way to guide them. “GRCC is my second home, and I hope it can be yours, too.”  Let GRCC help you start your story. The first chapter starts at grcc.edu/apply .  

April 29, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College graduates must “play big” in whatever they do in life, GRCC President Bill Pink told graduates at commencement ceremonies on Friday. The college celebrated the graduation of about 450 students spread out over two Friday ceremonies to allow for distancing. The events were the college’s first commencements with both students and spectators since 2019. Pink in his closing remarks shared a story from when he coached basketball, where players were told to strive to give their all and do big things. “I need each of you to play big,” he said. “I need you, in your career after this, and whatever your ‘next’ is, I need to have you playing big. Because you are not just our future, you are our now. We’re in a society today where I need to have you playing big. Because you are the future of West Michigan, and the future of this great city. Because you need to do better than any of us have ever done. You will blow us away with what you do in this world. Playing small does not help us.” Birgit M. Klohs, recently retired as president and CEO of The Right Place, provided the keynote address at each ceremony. Klohs has spent more than four decades working to enhance economic development in West Michigan. Under her leadership, The Right Place Inc. created or retained more than 50,000 jobs and stimulated more than $5 billion in new investment. Among the projects she worked on were the opening of Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine and the creation of the Manufacturers Council. Since stepping down from The Right Place in 2021, Klohs has served as a director for the New Community Transformation Fund, a venture fund she co-founded for entrepreneurs of color. “There is a thread that goes through my story, and that thread is education,” she told graduates. “It is the key to my success, and my journey. And it will be the key to your success and your journey. What you are getting today, with that diploma, they are giving you a key. They are giving you a key to a room you would never enter if you did not have that diploma. What you do with that key, and that room is up to you.” Paul Krieger, a biology professor who retired in 2019, was honored with the 2022 Faculty Emeritus honor. Before starting at GRCC in 1991, Krieger taught at high schools in Beijing and Jackson, Mich. During his teaching career, he wrote and illustrated the four-book Visual Analogy Guides series, which cover anatomy, physiology and chemistry. Loyd Winer, an acclaimed civil engineer, was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award.  His engineering work took him across the United States and many countries. One of his most memorable projects was designing the original runways and taxiways for Gerald R. Ford International Airport – he still checks up on them from the public viewing area once or twice a week. The ceremonies were the first to celebrate a large group of students who attended GRCC through the Grand Rapids Promise Zone. There were 15 Promise Zone students getting degrees on Friday, and 20 students have graduated through the program so far. Started in 2020, the Grand Rapids Promise Zone is a “last-dollar” scholarship that covers up to 60 credit hours, including the costs of tuition, books, required course materials and any required fees associated with attending GRCC. The ceremonies were the last at GRCC for Pink, who will become the president of Ferris State University this summer. But they were the first in two years with boisterous and celebrating families. The 2020 commencement was conducted virtually due to the pandemic, and the 2021 ceremonies were held with students present but without spectators, and the event spread out over four sessions. Photo by Steve Jessmore.  

April 29, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Community College baseball team scored two runs in the last inning to pull out a doubleheader sweep of Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Earlier in the day, the golf team finished second at a tournament in Muskegon. GRCC rolled in the first game, topping Kalamazoo Valley 8-2, with Ryan Dkystra starting the scoring with a solo home run.   GRCC then notched three runs in the seventh inning, with Max Varon and Camden Keatley sending runners across the plate with RBIs in the inning. Jerad Berkenpas earned the win, allowing six hits and two runs over seven innings, striking out five and walking none. Grand Rapids Community College Raiders Varsity racked up 18 hits on the day. Xander Reisbig, Caleb Engelsman, Zacarias Salinas, Dylan Chargo, Jacob Gumieny, Andres Rivera-Calderon, Dykstra, and Keatley all managed multiple hits. Reisbig had three hits in four at bats. GRCC won the nightcap 4-1, with Drew Murphy earning the win. The pitcher allowed two hits and one run over six innings, striking out 10. Eliott Traver threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen and earned the save. Dykstra led the team with two hits in three at bats. The sweep brings the GRCC season record to 22-20 and one tie, coming all way back after starting the season 1-10. Meanwhile, the golf team placed second at the Muskegon Community College Invitational on Friday. The team's score of 310 was five strokes higher than the host school, which won the title.  Matt Denhartigh was just two strokes behind the medalist from Mott Community College shooting a 73. Arie Jackman and Conner Oman each posted a 76, while Brad VandenHout and Sam Foss were the other Raider golfers posting an 85 and 91.  GRCC is four strokes down from a conference championship with the last conference tournament being on May 2 at Ancilla College. Powered by Narrative Science and GameChanger Media. Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.

April 29, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- It takes determination to start again – especially when you’ve already failed once. Sometimes it also takes extra help from supporters you didn’t even know you had. Corey Wright spent a lot of his life moving from place to place with his mother, three sisters and three brothers. Focused on helping his family, school wasn’t really a priority for him. “I suffered academically growing up because I did not take school very seriously, which I regret fully,” he said. After graduating from Ottawa Hills High School, he enrolled at Arizona State University in 2018. He didn’t have a firm plan and randomly chose to follow in his father’s footsteps by majoring in electrical engineering. “Prior to this, I had no clue what electrical engineering even was, so you can only imagine what happened once I started my classes that fall,” he said. “It was terrible. I failed five of my classes that year – not because I could not learn the material, but because I got caught up in the wrong crowd of friends. Along with failing five of my classes that year, I also had a past-due balance of $12,000 on my student account. Combining the wrong group of people along with bad grades and a past-due balance, it caused me more harm than I could have ever imagined.” Wright returned to Grand Rapids, disappointed in himself and mad at the world. He felt like he had failed his family and friends. After a while, Wright decided he needed to give college another try, but this time, he was going to approach it differently. His first step: enrolling at GRCC. His next step: majoring in astronomy, a subject he was passionate about. “Attending GRCC throughout the years has turned out to be one of the best decisions that I have ever made,” he said. “This college has shaped me into a better thinker than any other college could have done. The faculty and staff are friendly and supportive of everyone’s needs, which can make anyone feel like they’re at home.” Wright especially credits GRCC’s academic tutoring labs with helping him succeed. “This year has been academically challenging to me because I had to take multiple calculus and physics courses,” he said. “These courses have made me consider majoring in physics, but I’m still a big fan of astronomy.” Wright, who graduates this spring with an associate degree in mathematics, has mapped out a plan to combine both his interests: After graduating from Grand Valley State University with a bachelor’s in physics, he plans to attend graduate school at Michigan State University for a degree in astrophysics. A scholarship from the GRCC Foundation played an important role in helping Wright persevere in his second attempt at college. “By receiving this scholarship, it has helped me to remember that there are people out there that are watching and rooting for me to make it through college,” he said. Wright plans to eventually help students like him succeed: “I hope to accomplish this goal by becoming a professor who will be able to convey the materials of science in a way that anyone will be able to understand.” You can have an impact on a student's life by donating to a GRCC Foundation scholarship at grcc.edu/donate . Photo by Andrew Schmidt.  

April 28, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Always remember, at GRCC, you are surrounded by people who want you to be successful and are ready to walk with you on your educational pathway. We are here to help! Meet Jeff Byrd. Jeff  is here to help GRCC students realize a new dream or career path. Which is both satisfying and challenging work.  “Working with a diverse group of students keeps it very interesting,” Jeff said. “Understanding their different backgrounds, and the journey for them to get to this point, and then helping them figure out their life path or change of career is very rewarding for me.”  As an educational training specialist and career coach, Jeff helps GRCC Job Training students learn about their options. He helps them explore the skills they’d like to develop and the career they’d like to begin. Then he helps students choose a Job Training program that will get them the type of entry level employment that will help them reach their career goals. Jeff is someone prospective students and their parents can really talk to. “As a coach I enjoy talking with the students to understand what their experience was before they came to us, and try to understand where they want to go,” said Jeff. “With this information, hopefully I can recommend an educational pathway that will be successful for their future.” The students Jeff coaches learn quickly that he is dedicated to helping them pick the right path. They also know that they can rely on him. Jeff holds himself accountable to his students because he expects the same in return.  “I will work with them and support them to achieve all of the educational goals that they desire,” said Jeff.  “I want students to be dedicated and accountable for their educational goals, and to take their education seriously. I am my student’s biggest supporter but will also hold them accountable for not following through.” “Communication is a very important part of a career coach and student relationship,” said Jeff. “So, I encourage my students to communicate so that we can eliminate any misunderstandings.  Connecting this way, I believe, helps with a better experience.” Jeff attended GRCC to take one class as a guest student while earning his bachelor’s degree. “My experience here as a student was great and the staff were very helpful,” he said. “GRCC has always been very helpful in the community, and so I am very proud to say that I work for an organization that cares for its students and community.” Jeff earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Ferris State University and then a master’s degree in business from Davenport University.  “I’ve had the opportunity to work in various careers, from local government work, k-12 education, manufacturing and back to education,” said Jeff. I have always been in careers where I am helping people and that is something that I truly enjoy.  Helping someone realize their potential and dreams is a satisfying thing for me.  So, I hope to continue this journey helping others.” Learn about GRCC Job Training programs can lead to a rewarding career in the skilled trades in a relatively short amount of time at grcc.edu/JobTraining .