Our nursing students don’t monkey around

Nursing is an awesome profession. Nurses are the unsung heroes of the medical industry. They don’t always get the recognition they deserve, and certainly aren’t paid enough, but for most nurses that isn’t that big of a deal. They get into the profession because they want to help people.

NCTC nursing students took patients from Gainesville Health and Rehab to the Frank Buck Zoo Wednesday.

That helping spirit was on display this week as first-semester students in the North Central Texas College Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program took some patients from the Gainesville Health and Rehabilitation Center on a special field trip.

The ADN students do their clinicals at Gainesville Health and Rehab and they form a bond with the patients there. NCTC clinical instructor Nicole Goodman worked with the event coordinator at Gainesville Health and Rehab to plan the special day.

The nursing students, with the help of some volunteers, picked up the patients at the rehab center and transported them to the Frank Buck Zoo, where they enjoyed a warm afternoon of looking at all the animals and plants in the zoo.

It was so great to watch the nursing students interact with the patients. While pushing the patients’ wheelchair or bed, the nurses would take time to point to the animals, talk about what they were seeing, and even shaded the eyes of the patient so they could get a better look.

All of the patients seemed to have a great time. Many don’t get the chance to leave the rehab center too often, so this chance to experience nature and wildlife was welcomed. And I have to think that the chance to share it with the caring nursing students of NCTC made it more special.

After about an hour in the zoo, patients and nurses went into Leonard Park to enjoy a picnic lunch under the shade trees.

So hats off to these special, caring students in our nursing program. You made us proud today!

You can see more photos at the NCTC Facebook page by clicking HERE.

NCTC first-semester nursing students took some patients from Gainesville Health and Rehab on a special field trip to the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville Wednesday.

NCTC nursing students and their patients from Gainesville Health and Rehab enjoyed a day at the Frank Buck Zoo.

Putting “student” in student athlete

The term “dumb jock” definitely does NOT apply to a group of North Central Texas College athletes.

Several NCTC athletes were recognized at Monday’s Board of Regents meeting for their accomplishments in the classroom.

Volleyball players Courtney Haney (Peaster, TX) and Michelle Blount (Copperas Cove, TX)  were both named Academic All-Conference this year. Both plan to continue their academic and athletic careers at Midwestern State University next fall.

Tennis players Pri Rijal (Nepal) and Mel Telfer (Australia) were also named Academic All-Conference this spring. Rijal will sign with The College of Coastal Georgia, while Telfer will sign with Alabama State University.

Baseball player Mike Chamberlain (Nacogdoches, TX) was honored for being named both Academic All-Conference and Academic All-American. He has already signed with Houston Baptist University.

Two softball players were not able to attend Monday’s meeting because they had games at Ranger College. Bailey Brantley (Arlington, TX) and Brittany Wilson (Azle, TX) have both been named Academic All-Conference. Brantley plans to attend the University of Texas at San Antonio, while Wilson will attend Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

To be eligible for All-Conference or All-American honors, an athlete has to be classified as a sophomore with outstanding scholastic marks over the previous three semesters.

The sophomores aren’t the only ones doing well in the classroom. A large number of freshmen athletes made either the Dean’s List or President’s List in the fall semester. In addition, softball player Jasmine Parker (Carrollton, TX) was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society in March.

NCTC campus a busy place some days

While walking around the North Central Texas College campus some days, have you noticed even more activity than on a normal school day? Well that’s because NCTC hosts many special events that draw thousands of elementary school, middle school and high school students to our campus each year.

Just in the past couple of months, NCTC has hosted several of these events. The FFA Area V Horse Judging competition last week brought over 400 students and teachers to the Gainesville campus including schools from Bowie, Aubrey, Plano, McKinney and many more. The First State Bank Center for the Performing Arts also annually hosts many high school and middle school One-Act Play competitions. Other district UIL academic meets are also held at NCTC at various times. Just look for all the yellow school buses in the parking lot on these days.

The college also hosts several big athletic events that bring people on campus. The first-ever Swinging For A Cure high school softball tournament was held at Darwin Field in February with 12 schools competing. Close to 200 softball players took part in this tournament, which raised money for breast cancer prevention. The annual Holiday Classic basketball tournament, held every December for the past 25 years in Lions Fieldhouse, features 16 high school teams from all over North Texas.

Then there is the always fun Farm Week, which is coming up in April and will bring approximately 700 fourth graders from the surrounding area to the Gainesville campus to learn more about agriculture.

The great thing is that many of these students that get the chance to come on our campus for these special activities will end up attending college here in the future. What a great opportunity for us to show off our campus and what we have to offer to these young people!

So next time you see a group of students on our campus, give them a wave, flash a smile and welcome them to NCTC. After all, hopefully they will be part of our NCTC family in the coming years.

The horse judging team from Plano West High School was among the many that attended an FFA competition at NCTC recently.