Category: willimantic

On Saturday, October 21, runners from twenty+ states will take part in Tackle the Trail™, a trail race along the scenic Airline Trail in Northeast Connecticut. Tackle the Trail™ embodies the idea of a community event with 150 volunteers supporting a course that runs through the towns of Windham, Pomfret and Putnam, CT. Celebrating its tenth year, this annual event features marathon, half-marathon, 10K, and relay team options, as well as TackleJR, a half-mile youth race that ends at the official Tackle the Trail finish line.

Individuals and up to 5-person relay teams will enjoy the quiet solitude of nature with bursts of energetic and supportive volunteers at 4 relay stations during this point-to-point race. Individual runners can choose between the marathon, half-marathon, and 10K course options for a fun and challenging experience with mixed terrain including some single-track technical sections. In addition to prizes for the top runners in each event, all finishers will receive race medals, complimentary food, and free beverages from brews sponsor Omission Balanced Brewing. Following the finish line festival, runners are encouraged to explore the quaint but lively communities of Northeast CT, including the many fall festivals that coincide with race weekend.

Tackle the Trail™ serves as a major fundraiser for the Quinebaug Valley Community College Foundation and benefits students attending the Danielson and Willimantic campuses of Quinebaug Valley Community College. This cause, coupled with the event’s promotion of wellness, attracts the support of many sponsors on the local and national level. Race sponsor Pursuit Aerospace has supported the event since its inception in 2014 and has demonstrated the company’s commitment to employee health and wellness, with over 200 employees participating in the race over the event’s ten years. Community and youth wellness is also a motivator for TackleJR sponsor the Newell D. Hale Foundation, a charitable body known for their support of access to healthy activities and education for children. Sponsor support like this ensures healthier communities and future Tackle the Trail™ runners for generations to come.

Those interested in running at this year’s Tackle the Trail™ are encouraged to sign up before the registration deadline of September 30. For more information or to register, visit tacklethetrail.org.

Monique Wolanin
Race Director
742 Upper Maple Street
Danielson, CT 06239
860-932-4174
mwolanin@qvcc.edu

_{The QVCC Foundation Mission is to raise funds, so all residents of northeast Connecticut have the opportunity to attend QVCC regardless of income and to support educational excellence, technological advancement, and professional development at the College. The Foundation also serves as the Regional Advisory Council to the College.}  

Quinebaug Valley Community College (soon to be known as Connecticut State Community College Quinebaug Valley) will celebrate the re-opening of its permanent location at 729 Main Street in Willimantic on May 15 from 1- 3 p.m. with a Ribbon Cutting event. Through a generous philanthropic donation by the Townsend family, the two-floor, 21,231 square-foot building containing 11 classrooms and 6 office spaces, underwent a major upgrade in the past 10 months. The expanded, fully renovated space will provide opportunities for students to pursue full degrees and certificate options in Willimantic. Among the fields of study anticipated will be:

• general education/ liberal studies
• business
• entrepreneurship
• practical nursing (anticipated in 2024-2025 pending approval from BOEN)
• human services
• English as a second language
• and several short term health and business based career options

Quinebaug Valley has had a presence in a number of locations in Willimantic since 1985. According to Karen Hynick, Chief Executive Officer, “This permanent location will be a game changer for the Willimantic community and surrounding towns, providing opportunities for students and their family members to earn a certificate or an associate degree in high wage, high demand fields without having to leave Willimantic.” Summer office hours will be 12-5 p.m., Monday -Thursday and 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Fridays. Fall classes begin August 29 and will be available at Willimantic from 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Monday-Thursday with students having the option to seek face-to-face academic and student support services on Fridays from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

On Saturday, October 15th, runners from twenty-one states and two countries will take part in Tackle the Trail™, a trail race along the scenic Airline Trail in Northeast Connecticut. Tackle the Trail™ embodies the idea of a community event with 150 volunteers supporting a course that runs through the towns of Windham, Pomfret and Putnam, CT. Celebrating its ninth year, this annual event features marathon, half-marathon, and relay team options, as well as TackleJR, a half-mile youth race that ends at the official Tackle the Trail finish line.

Individuals and up to 5-person relay teams will enjoy the quiet solitude of nature with bursts of energetic and supportive volunteers at 4 relay stations during this point-to-point race. Individual runners can choose between the marathon and half-marathon course options for a fun and challenging experience with mixed terrain including some single-track technical sections. In addition to prizes for the top runners in each event, all finishers will receive race medals, complimentary food, and free beverages from brews sponsor Michelob Ultra. Following the finish line festival, runners are encouraged to explore the quaint but lively communities of Northeast CT, including the many fall festivals that coincide with race weekend.

Tackle the Trail™ serves as a major fundraiser for the Quinebaug Valley Community College Foundation and benefits students attending the Danielson and Willimantic campuses of Quinebaug Valley Community College. This cause, coupled with the event’s promotion of wellness, attracts the support of many sponsors on the local and national level. Race sponsor Whitcraft Group has supported the event since its inception in 2014 and has demonstrated the company’s commitment to employee health and wellness, with over 200 employees participating in the race over the event’s nine years. Community and youth wellness is also a motivator for TackleJR sponsor the Newell D. Hale Foundation, a charitable body known for their support of access to healthy activities and education for children. Sponsor support like this ensures healthier communities and future Tackle the Trail™ runners for generations to come.

Those interested in running at this year’s Tackle the Trail™ are encouraged to sign up before the registration deadline of September 25. For more information or to register, visit tacklethetrail.org.

Monique Wolanin
Race Director
742 Upper Maple Street
Danielson, CT 06239
(860) 932-4174
mwolanin@qvcc.edu

_{The QVCC Foundation Mission is to raise funds, so all residents of northeast Connecticut have the opportunity to attend QVCC regardless of income and to support educational excellence, technological advancement, and professional development at the College. The Foundation also serves as the Regional Advisory Council to the College.}  

WILLIMANTIC AND DANIELSON, CT — Quinebaug Valley Community College is pleased to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which is annually celebrated from September 15 to October 15, with two Bomba workshops and performances by Movimiento Cultural and the Sonia Plumb Dance Company.

The first performance will be held on Thursday, September 15, from 7 to 8 pm near QVCC’s Willimantic Center at 729 Main Street during the city’s Third Thursday Street Festival. The second performance will be held on Thursday, October 20, at 12:30 – 2:00 pm on the cafeteria patio on the main campus, located at 742 Upper Maple Street, Danielson, CT.

Movimiento Cultural is a community-based nonprofit that seeks to educate people across Connecticut about Puerto Rico’s rich African-based folklore, music, dance, and other art forms, especially the Bomba, which is the oldest Puerto Rican dance and music style rooted in resistance and dating back to the days of slavery, while strengthening racial understanding and relationships. The Sonia Plumb Dance Company’s mission is to “awaken, enrich, and educate communities to diverse perspectives of our world” through the lens of modern dance.

The event is organized and sponsored by the QVCC Cultural Programming Committee.

For more information, contact Interim Academic Division Director Elkin Espitia-Loaiza at eespitia-loaiza@qvcc.commnet.edu or Jon Andersen jandersen@qvcc.edu.

Republished from The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.

Michelle Warren, The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
Sat, August 21, 2021, 11:59 PM·3 min read

WILLIMANTIC — In an era when community college enrollments are dropping nationwide, it can be difficult for schools like Quinebaug Valley Community College to recruit new students. For more than 30 years, the college has served the region with a satellite campus in Willimantic, acting as a resource for those who wish to obtain an affordable college education. While there has been an uptick in non- traditional students attending the Willimantic center, the goal is to increase the total enrollment at that campus, according to QVCC Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Services Joseph Cullen.

” We absolutely adore the Willimantic community,” he said. ” We want our program to grow but in order to grow, we need people to come.” QVCC has had a satellite campus in Willimantic since 1986. The main campus is at 742 Upper Maple St. in Danielson. Cullen said the school didn’t always have a ” center” in Willimantic, per say, but at times, it just had space in buildings. In 2017, the center moved from Main Street to Windham Technical High School. Starting this past fall, QVCC has been on Main Street once again and it currently shares space with EASTCONN’s Learners Empowered to Achieve their Potential ( LEAP) program, an alternative high school, at 729 Main St. QVCC has four classrooms in that building, as well as a break room and office space.

” This is just the start,” Cullen said. ” We just really hope and anticipate the community will partner with us and then we’ll build something special.” He said there was a drop in enrollment after the move to Windham Tech, but enrollment has bounced back somewhat since the return to Main Street. ” It feels like a more adult environment than a high school environment,” Cullen said, comparing the current site to the Windham Tech site. Cullen said there was an increase in enrollment during the past spring semester at the Willimantic site. “It was modest,” he said. ” I want to say, maybe, 5 percent.” Cullen said, last semester, 137 students were enrolled at QVCC’s Willimantic center.

The registration period for the fall semester is currently underway. QVCC offers both credit and non-credit courses. The registration deadline for the fall semester is Sept. 16. The regular term courses start Aug. 26 and the late term classes, which are shorter and more compact, start Sept. 27. The institution is attractive to students who just graduated high school, referred to as traditional students, as well as non- traditional students. Some non- traditional students are attending college for the first time while others are continuing their college education. “I have a lot of non-traditional ( students) who have families and want to finish in two years, but it’s not always that easy,” QVCC Community Outreach and Evening Coordinator Maria Garcia- Alvarez said.

There are currently 20 courses offered in a variety of subjects at the Willimantic campus, including courses in English as a Second Language, English composition, math, environmental science, and general psychology. Currently, the plan is to offer hybrid classes in the fall at the Willimantic center, with both in- person and online components, but that could change as the pandemic evolves. Cullen said the decision to have hybrid classes was based on a survey students took. He said if conditions of the pandemic change, the school can easily move to entirely virtual classes. Students who don’t have a car can either walk to campus, if they live nearby, or ride a Windham Region Transit District bus, which runs between the Danielson and Willimantic campuses twice a day.

Cullen said tuition rates are ” very reasonable” and there is financial aid available for those who qualify. Students from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island taking 12 or more credits, but no more than 17 credits, would be charged $2,253, including tuition and fees. After 17 credits, there is an additional flat tuition charge of $100 per semester. Students may qualify for free tuition through the free community college program offered by the state.

A limited number of hotspots and laptops are also available to students.

Follow Michelle Warren on Twitter — @mwarrentc.