Showcase the best and the brightest from your very own yard at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Foundation’s Home and Garden Symposium Flower Show on Wednesday, May 10. The flower show, sponsored by the Orangeburg County Master Gardener Association, features nine categories celebrating the beauty of nature – specimen plants and houseplants; bulbs and rhizomes; roses; herbs and other edibles; annuals and perennials; shrubs and trees; vines, groundcovers and perennial grasses; informal mixed-cut arrangements; and vegetable plants grown from seed in 2017. “Because of the warm winter, the late freeze and the abundant rains this week, flowers in the garden are …

Create the scene. Set the mood. Prepare the menu. Bring it all together for the ultimate outdoor gathering with tips and tricks you’ll learn at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Foundation’s 13th annual Home and Garden Symposium on Wednesday, May 10. Rick Woodley of Woodley’s Garden Center, Amanda Spencer of Spencer Special Events and Sallie Porth of Sallie’s Greatest will be on hand to share landscaping and entertaining ideas that will help you throw a party your guests won’t soon forget. “I’m so excited about this year’s speakers,” said Martha Burleson, event chair. “Mr. Woodley has such a gorgeous business in …

“The Ipson Saga,” one family’s story of survival during the Holocaust, will conclude Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and the Center for Creative Partnerships’ Community Cinema social justice film series on Thursday, April 20. The film will begin at 6 p.m. in Roquemore Auditorium, Building R, on the campus of OCtech. It is free and open to the public. “The Ipson Saga” by Jay Ipson is the story of the Ipson family’s survival during the Holocaust in Lithuania. Jacob “Jay” Ipson and his family were forced into the Kovno ghetto when he was six years old. One day, he and his mother …

Plan the perfect garden party using tips to “scape, style and sip” from the Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Foundation’s 13th annual Home and Garden Symposium. This year’s event will be held Wednesday, May 10, on the campus of OCtech. The day will begin with flower show entry drop-off from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., followed by a silent auction and brunch catered by Buckridge Plantation from 10 to 11:45 a.m. in the atrium of OCtech’s Math and Science Center, Building R. Beginning at noon in Roquemore Auditorium, Rick Woodley of Woodley’s Garden Center and Amanda Spencer of Spencer Special Events will share …

Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College’s Associate Degree Nursing and Practical Nursing programs-old-old-old-old are ranked among the best in South Carolina, according to websites dedicated to the professions. OCtech’s ADN program is ranked third out of 29 registered nursing programs-old-old-old-old in the state by RegisteredNursing.org, while the PN program is ranked fifth out of 16 licensed practical nursing/licensed vocational nursing programs-old-old-old-old in S.C. by PracticalNursing.org. The rankings are based on NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN pass rates over a four-year period, from 2011 to 2014. “It is an honor for our Associate Degree and Practical Nursing programs-old-old-old-old to receive this recognition,” said Kay Blackwell, dean …

Educators Rising, an organization of OCtech Early Care and Education and University Transfer students, recently sponsored a children’s coat drive to collect warm coats for students in need throughout the Orangeburg area. Through the students’ efforts, 75 coats were collected. The students presented the coats to representatives of Our Father’s Closet, an outreach program of Circle One at First Presbyterian Church of Orangeburg. Our Father’s Closet distributes the coats through area schools, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Childhood Intervention, Hispanic Ministries and other charitable community organizations. Trudy Frierson, Sylvia Trimmier, Caroline Marcus and Laura Hewitt, representatives of Our Father’s Closet, visited the …

The second film in Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and Center for Creative Partnerships’ Community Cinema social justice film series will be screened Thursday, March 16. “Rosenwald” by Aviva Kempner will begin at 6 p.m. in the Roquemore Auditorium, Building R, on the campus of OCtech. It is free and open to the public. “Rosenwald” tells of the partnership between businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, the son of German-Jewish immigrants, and Booker T. Washington, who was born into slavery and rose to become the founder of the Tuskegee Institute and an advisor to U.S. presidents. Together, they built thousands of schools for …

Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College will host College Goal South Carolina from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 18, in Building R on the OCtech campus. College Goal SC is a participating member of College Goal Sunday, a volunteer program that provides free information and assistance to students and families who are applying for financial aid for post-secondary education. Financial aid experts will be on hand to help students complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – or FAFSA – which is the first step to receiving federal aid and a requirement for most students who plan to pay for …

Three faculty and staff members have been honored as Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College’s Educators of the Year and were recognized during the South Carolina Technical Education Association’s annual conference Feb. 16-18 in Myrtle Beach. Sandra Aiken, human resources benefits manager at OCtech, is the outstanding staff honoree; Crystal Mallner, a psychology instructor, is the outstanding faculty member; and Cleveland “Cleve” Wilson Jr., director of agency compliance, academic support and institutional effectiveness at the college, is the outstanding administrator. SCTEA is a professional association of technical education personnel and others interested in post-secondary technical education. Aiken joined the OCtech staff in November …

The Physical Therapist Assistant program at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College has received a major boost from one of Orangeburg County’s most prolific fundraising organizations. Fishing for Friends – which, since 2006, has collected and donated nearly $450,000 to some 60 families of special needs children in Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties – has established a full scholarship for a PTA student whose goal is to work with “special needs children and children with special needs.” “We were trying to think of different ways the money raised through the generosity of our community could better assist children and their families for a …