1) CCC&TI Adds Medical Assisting Associate Degree Program
Students at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute will soon be able to train for one of the fastest growing careers in the country: Medical Assistant. The new program will be offered through the Watauga Campus in Boone beginning Fall 2014. With employment opportunities in physicians’s offices, health maintenance organizations, health departments and hospitals, medical assistants perform administrative, clinical and laboratory procedures. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the projected job growth through 2022 is 29 percent, which is much higher than average for other occupations in the United States. The median annual wage for Medical Assistants in 2012 was $29,370 or $14.12 per hour. The course work includes instruction in scheduling appointments, coding and processing insurance accounts, billing, collections, medical transcription, computer operations, assisting with examinations and treatments, performing routine laboratory procedures, electrocardiography, supervised medication administration and ethical/legal issues associated with patient care. CCC&TI will host two information sessions about the new program in early April. The first will be in Room E-101 of the Caldwell Campus in Hudson at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, April 4. The second will be at 12 p.m. on Monday, April 7 in Room 118 on the Watauga Campus in Boone. To apply for the program, students must fill out a CCC&TI application, provide high school and college transcripts, take CCC&TI placement tests, attend an information session. After acceptance they must show proof of current infant/child/adult CPR/AED certification for health care providers and complete the CCC&TI Student Medical Form. For more information on applying for the Medical Assisting program, contact Health Sciences Admissions Coordinator Amy Huffman at 828-726-2710 or Department Chair Barbara Harris at 828-726-2345.
2) Early Music for Voice and Instruments Performed April 8 at ASU
Collegium Musicum and the Appalachian Chamber Singers join for an April 8 performance featuring works from the 16th and 18th centuries. The program begins at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free. Alicia Chapman directs Collegium Musicum comprised of violins; treble, tenor and bass gamba; penny whistle and harpsichord. Professor Stephen M. Hopkins leads the chamber singers. Collegium Musicum will perform Handel’s “Trio Sonata in F. Major, Op. 5, No. 6” and Jean Baptist Loeillet’s “Trio Sonata in E. Minor.” The chamber singers will perform compositions by Pierre Passarau, John Bennet, Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd and Thomas Morley.
3) Gospel Music Performed April 10 at ASU
The Appalachian Gospel Choir and the Cornerstone Summit Praise and Worship Team will perform April 10 in an 8 p.m. concert in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at Appalachian State University. Admission is free. Keith McCutchen directs the choir and Frankie Lancaster directs the worship and praise team.
4) Appalachian Treble Choir Presents Spring Concert April 9
The 31-voice Appalachian Treble Choir will perform April 9 at Appalachian State University. The program begins at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free. Joining the performance will be members of the Appalachian Chorale. The choir is directed by Professor Priscilla Porterfield. Dr. Linda Larson directs the chorale. Elizabeth Hill will provide piano accompaniment.
5) Adventurer Ken Ilgunas Speaks April 8 at Appalachian
Author and adventurer Ken Ilgunas will present his talk “Trespassing Across America: One Man’s Epic, 1,700 Mile (and sort of Illegal) Hike Along the Keystone XL Pipeline” Tuesday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Belk Library and Information Commons Room 114 at ASU. The presentation is sponsored by the Goodnight Family Department of Sustainable Development and is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.
6) Scholars Bookshop Hosts Discussion and Book Signing April 9
The Scholars Bookshop at ASU will host Patricia D. Beaver and Sandra L. Ballard on Wednesday, April 9 at 3:30 p.m. for a discussion and signing of their book “Voices from The Headwaters: Stories from Meat Camp. Tamarack & Sutherland, North Carolina.” The work is the latest publication from the university’s Center for Appalachian Studies. The book of oral histories preserves the stories of three neighboring communities in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It includes more than 350 pages of reminiscences and photographs about mountain life, kin networks among neighbors, entrepreneurs and collaboration, work and play. Together, the narratives affirm the value of community, document the past and imagine the future.
7) Caldwell Arts Council to Host Free Shakespeare Workshop Sunday, April 13
The Caldwell Arts Council is pleased to host a free workshop on acting Shakespeare by professional actor and director Karen Sabo on Sunday, April 13 from 3-5 p.m. In this fun and fast moving class, participants will explore rhythm, meter and dramatic structure and be shown how to use artistic impulses to make Shakespeare’s language understandable, relevant and powerful to modern audiences.
8) Thrivent Financial Partners with Habitat for Humanity to Help Improve Neighborhoods
The North and South Carolina offices of Thrivent Financial and Habitat for Humanity Affiliates in the NC cities of Albemarle, Boone, Charlotte, Concord, Cornelius, Greensboro, Hickory, Matthews, Monroe, New Bern, Raleigh, Southern Pines, Southport, Statesville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem are planning events to help homeowners spruce up their home and neighborhoods through Thrivent Builds Repairs. Here locally, Watauga County Habitat for Humanity will be partnering with Thrivent to complete one home repair for the Mast family. Executive Director, Alex Hooker, says, “We are grateful to Thrivent for asking us to participate in this program. We will be using this program to enhance the lives of a local family. This also provides a great opportunity for members of our community to give back through volunteerism.”
9) Easter Fun in Banner Elk April 12
Banner Elk is having an Easter Celebration on Saturday, April 12. Sponsored by the Tourism Development Authority of Banner Elk and the Town of Banner Elk. To start the day, Banner Elk Cafe will host Breakfast with the Easter Bunny from 9-11 a.m. Then off to Tate-Evans Park for a Children’s Easter Egg Hunt. The egg hunt will start at 11:30 a.m. Children under 12 are invited to join. Magician Jacob McCormick will perform in the park and there will be a bounce house and other children’s activities. Starting around 1:30 p.m., My Best Friend’s Barkery will host a Pet Egg Hunt in Tate-Evans Park. All dogs are invited. Please have dogs on a leash and up to date on current vaccinations.
10) Boone Service League Hosts Motown in the Mountains April 11
Motown in the Mountains, the largest annual fundraising event for the nonprofit Boone Service League, takes place on Friday, April 11 at the Green Park Inn in Blowing Rock. Doors open at 6 p.m. with music starting at 6:30 p.m. and a live action at 8 p.m. Tickets are $40. Funk, soul and classic rock band Soul Benefactor will perform timeless Motown hits with members of the Junaluska Gospel Choir. Tickets are available at www.booneserviceleague.org/motown.html and at the door.