Running for Ukraine
Luba Pantus ’14, a Ukrainian refugee who came to the United States 21 years ago, recently established Pray4Ukraine, a charity running team to support her war-torn homeland. The team’s inaugural race was the Run Westfield Flat & Fast 5k on May 22. Team members wore Ukrainian colors and flower crowns. “We wanted to make it festive, family oriented,” said Pantus. “Prior to the race, we sang songs in English, Spanish, and Slavic to show that it doesn’t matter what language we speak, that we are all are one community, one family.” Pantus earned a certificate in medical assisting in 2006 and an associate’s degree in nursing in 2014 before transferring to Elms College for her BSN.
She now works as a nurse for William J. Dean Technical High School in Holyoke. For the race, she recruited HCC nursing students as volunteers to work in the medical tent. “HCC is a second home to me,” she said. “So many years and it still has a place in my heart.” Pray4Ukraine raised $5,200 from the race, money earmarked for clothing and food for Ukrainian refugees in Poland and orphanages in Ukraine. “We came together at the race as a community,” Pantus said. “This makes us all stronger.”
Forever Grateful
When Myriam Quinoñes ’95 began her HCC journey in 1992, she was a 20-year-old single mom who spoke rudimentary English. Encouraged by her ESL instructors and mentors, she completed her associate’s degree in liberal arts, then transferred to UMass for her bachelor’s degree in psychology and education. A few years later, she returned to HCC as an academic advisor in the ESL program, which she would soon be running as coordinator. In 2006, she became the founding coordinator of MAS, HCC’s Multicultural Academic Services program, where she counseled — and inspired — countless students by sharing the story of her own success. “This place gave me the opportunity to grow as a professional and the opportunity to give back to my community,” she said. “I will forever be grateful.” In May, after 21 years, Quinoñes left HCC and moved back to Puerto Rico with her wife, former HCC advisor Jossie Valentin, to continue the work they started a few year ago helping to rebuild the island after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. “I have many, many memories with many of you here,” she said during a surprise farewell. “Some of you have become more than colleagues. We have good stories and bad stories, right? I will take them all with me.”
K-9 Company
Students in Professor Alex Sanchez’s Introduction to Criminal Justice course last spring were introduced to “General,” the furrier member of the Southwick Police Department’s K-9 Unit. Tending the opposite end of General’s leash: K-9 Officer Michael Westcott ’11. Westcott, a lifelong resident of Southwick, earned his associate’s degree in criminal justice from HCC before transferring to Westfield State. He’s been with the Southwick PD since 2006, where he started as a reserve officer before being appointed full time in 2009. He and General have been training and working together since 2017. They’re a tight team. “He’s the town’s dog,” said Westcott, “but he lives with me.” General, Westcott explained, is a dual-purpose K-9, which means he is trained in multiple areas, including evidence recovery, tracking, apprehension, handler protection, and narcotics detection. To demonstrate General’s skills, Westcott led him on a search of Sanchez’s classroom. It didn’t take General long to sniff out the locker where Westcott had earlier planted a narcotics-scented baggie. True to his European roots, General, a German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix born in Holland, takes his commands in Dutch. Brave hond!
Standing Out in a Crowd
Mychal Connolly ’04 received the Distinguished Service Award from HCC at the college’s 75th anniversary commencement June 4. A self-professed “serial entrepreneur,” Connolly studied visual arts at HCC, where he was a DJ for the college radio station, played tennis, and served on the Student Senate. Inspired by HCC alum Michael Kittredge ‘73, founder of Yankee Candle Company, whom he met through HCC, Connolly went on to start Stinky Cakes, a newborn baby gift company, and StandOutTruck.com, a digital mobile advertising and marketing agency. Connolly has served as an HCC alumni mentor, endowed an annual scholarship through the HCC Foundation for business and marketing majors, and volunteers his services during HCC’s annual “Together HCC – Drive to Change Lives” fundraising campaign. “Myke can be found talking about the impact of a Holyoke Community College education all across our region – in boardrooms, with aspiring leaders, and all along the streets of western Massachusetts thanks to the Stand Out Truck,” Royal said. “He is a champion for HCC and we are pleased to celebrate his service to the college.”
Principal Lesson
Korin Hall ’95 spent several years working various jobs — machinist, plumber’s apprentice, construction worker, among them — before a car accident injury forced her to consider a less physically demanding career. Following the lead of her mother, Catherine Campbell ’90, Hall began taking classes at HCC through the Women in Transition program (precursor to today’s New Directions for Adult Learners program). That experience sparked a decades-long career in education. After working as a middle school teacher in Springfield, Mass., for more than 20 years. Hall joined the staff of the newly created Holyoke STEM Academy in 2018 and was named principal starting in September 2022. The most important lesson Hall learned at HCC is something she tries to instill in her students to this day: “Try harder.” She remembers being handed back a paper covered in red ink with those words on it. Discouraged, Hall approached her professor. After their conversation, Hall realized she hadn’t put in as much effort as she could have. “Those two words help you think: have you tried your best? Have you gone above and beyond to get this thing done? You have to work hard; it’s not just going to be given to you. And that’s what I learned from HCC; you have to try harder.”
Premier Panel
HCC welcomed back five successful alumni for the first-ever public event hosted by SAMP, the college’s new Student Ambassador Mentorship Program. Featured are Chloe Soto ’17, program manager for Holyoke’s Nueva Esperanza; Nicole Ortiz ’20, owner of Crave food truck and restaurant in Holyoke; Sarah Monson ’03, assistant director of Donor Engagement and Planned Giving for New England Public Media; Elizabeth Román ‘03, managing editor for news for New England Public Media; and Dawn Bryden ’89, associate dean of student development at Asnuntuck Community College in Connecticut. Coinciding with National Transgender Awareness Day, the March 31 event in the Leslie Phillips Theater featured a panel discussion with the five alumni, who talked about their experiences at HCC and how that led them to their present positions. SAMP, which started at HCC in fall 2021, is a grant-funded mentorship and internship program that provides leadership and professional development opportunities for women, nonbinary, and transgender students.
