Registration is now open for Finger Lakes Community College’s STEAM summer day camps for students who will enter grades 7 through 9 in the fall.
Camps are held at the college’s campus centers in Geneva, Newark and Victor and the FLCC Muller Field Station at the south end of Honeoye Lake.
The registration deadline is June 21 at flcc.edu/STEAM. Here are the dates and descriptions for the camps:
July 8-12,STEAM in Motion, Victor Campus Center, 200 Victor Heights Parkway, off Route 251
Students will design mechanical parts, create electrical circuits, and learn about robotics to explore how science and technology can be used to create motion. Students will work on a variety of projects during the camp to implement what they have learned.
July 15-19,STEAM in H20, Geneva Campus Center, 63 Pulteney St.
Campers will explore local aquatic life and habitats and learn about the importance of environmental wellness in the Finger Lakes region. Students may get wet during interactive activities, lab experiments, field trips and water games.
July 22-26, STEAM in Space, Newark Campus Center, 1100 Technology Parkway, off Route 88
Campers will engage with space-related themes across science, technology, engineering, art, and math curriculums. A career component will be included to learn about jobs in space exploration.
Aug. 5-Aug. 9,STEAM in Nature, Muller Field Station, 6455 County Road 36, Canadice
Campers will learn about and observe local wildlife, go on canoe adventures through the swamp, and gain plant, insect, and bird identification skills. They will participate in gardening, nature journaling, and more. Amid hands-on learning, students will also engage in conversations about environmental issues, sustainability, and stewardship.
A limited number of need-based scholarships are available. The deadline to apply for a scholarship is May 17; notifications will be made on May 24. Email questions about the camps to steam.camp@flcc.edu.
The state Education Department has approved the new licensed practical nursing program at Finger Lakes Community College, clearing the way for the College to begin accepting student applications.
The 12-month certificate program begins on Sept. 3 and consists of eight courses spread over two semesters and two six-week summer sessions. Students will visit long-term care facilities, regional hospitals, and community clinics.
At the end of the program, students will study independently with a nurse in the type of setting where they hope to work upon passing the national licensure examination. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the demand for LPNs to grow 5 percent by 2032. LPNs earned a median annual salary of $54,620 in 2022.
FLCC currently has an associate in nursing program to prepare students for the national exam for registered nursing, RN. The new LPN program is an addition made possible by the renovation and expansion of the College’s nursing facilities, completed in 2022. Now known as the Sands Family Center for Allied Health, the wing features simulation labs set up to match hospital rooms with the same equipment that students will encounter in the workplace.
Like the RN program, the LPN program will have a selective admissions process. Details are available on the website at flcc.edu/LPN.
Students accepted into the 36-credit LPN program will be eligible for federal and state student aid programs. FLCC also offers scholarships and emergency funding to help students cover school and living expenses.
Ninety-five percent of FLCC nursing graduates passed the national exam for registered nurses in 2023, a rate that surpasses state averages for associate and bachelor’s degree holders.
Of the 59 FLCC graduates who took the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), 56 passed, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. FLCC offers an associate degree in nursing, which can be completed with two years of full-time study.
FLCC’s pass rate for 2023 was above the statewide average of 88 percent for associate degree graduates and the 90 percent pass rate for bachelor’s degree graduates. It also represents a slight increase from FLCC’s 93 percent pass rate for exams taken in 2022.
Nursing instructor Tiffani Leyden monitors a nursing simulation exercise from behind a one-way mirror in the renovated Finger Lakes Community College nursing wing. Leyden, who also recorded the session, later debriefed with students about their response to the symptoms a computerized manikin presented during the exercise.
“This exceptional accomplishment is a testament to the dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment of our department members who have tirelessly supported and nurtured our students,” said Heather Reece-Tillack, chair of the FLCC Nursing Department. “It is also a collective effort and a reflection of the collaborative spirit that defines our institution and the strong bond between faculty, staff and students.”
FLCC has recently updated its curriculum to focus on clinical judgment, a key component of the exam. The Nursing Department has also incorporated more elements to reinforce learning, such as recorded lectures students can revisit, online quizzes and discussions, professional tutors, and a study and test-taking coach.
The College expanded its nursing facilities by opening the Sands Family Center for Allied Health in 2022. In January 2023, FLCC began accepting new students twice each year. Previously, aspiring nurses could only enroll in August of each year.
The cover story of the fall Laker magazine features Seth Lambert ’18, who used his game design skills to help people understand NASA’s Artemis missions
Seth Lambert, a visualization developer for a NASA contractor, visited Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the Orion spacecraft roll out of the vehicle assembly building in March 2022, several months before the agency launched it on a flyby of the moon. Seth built the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) so people could track Orion’s fight.
The email said Seth Lambert ’18 had just six hours to apply for an internship with a NASA contractor.
It was 2019, more than a year after he transferred from FLCC to Rochester Institute of Technology. As part of his bachelor’s program, he had applied for more than 100 other internships with no luck. The contractor, Universities Space Research Association, needed to fill this post quickly.
Soon Seth was headed to Johnson Space Center in Houston for an eight-month internship that led to a full-time job working as a contractor for the Orion program on the Artemis missions.
Artemis consists of a series of progressively more complex flights designed to take humans back to the moon and beyond. The first flight, Artemis I, sent an uncrewed craft in orbit around the moon.
Seth used skills developed at FLCC and RIT to create AROW, short for Artemis Real-time Orbit Website. When the Orion spacecraft blasted off Nov. 16, 2022, the AROW website allowed people to track its progress in relation to the Earth, moon and sun.
AROW, he explained, “listens to an enormous amount of data coming down from space and uses that to create a very literal visualization of what’s going on, so this is as if you were traveling through space alongside Orion. The goal was to make something that wasn’t just for internal use but that could communicate the mission to everybody.”
With Orion’s successful flight and splashdown in the Pacific on Dec. 11, Seth’s attention turned to the next phase, Artemis II, a lunar flyby with a human crew in late 2024.
“Artemis II is a slightly different mission,” he added. “It’s going to be much shorter, and the flight plan is also quite different, so there’s a lot of work necessary to bring the software up to date for the new mission. We’re adding new features and working on other exciting ways for people to visualize and track future missions.”
Family connection
Seth’s grandfather, Hubert “Norris” Lambert, was a contractor for the space agency during the shuttle program.
“I unfortunately never met him, but I grew up hearing stories about when he worked at NASA and that was always something that sounded so fantastic.”
Seth, too, is a contractor. His internship involved designing a kiosk application for conventions and museums to familiarize users with the Orion spacecraft. He then developed a Twitter bot that could take telemetry data from a spacecraft and generate text for a tweet.
When his internship ended, NASA contractor MORI Associates hired him full-time. He has continued the work as an employee of Logical Innovations and Barrios Technology. Still, Seth is part of a larger NASA culture of exploration.
“I’ve only worked at Johnson Space Center and in pretty narrow fields, but my experience of NASA has been that it’s a terrific community of learning,” he said. “One of the things that I really appreciated as an intern was just how willing everybody was to talk about what they’re working on and to hear about what you’re working on. There’s just this kind of communal excitement around the work being done.”
Learning to be curious
Both of Seth’s degrees are in game design, a field he selected after finishing high school in Seattle. His family moved east when his mom, Lori Vail, became a humanities instructor at FLCC. He applied to RIT first but couldn’t swing it financially, then learned about FLCC’s transfer arrangement with RIT.
“I really didn’t know what to expect going into it. I had very, very limited experience with any kind of programming in high school. I quickly found I enjoyed the FLCC coursework and was able to do well.”
He credits his success in part to Dave Ghidiu, assistant professor in computing sciences.
“I really appreciated his style of teaching. He encouraged all of us to foster a sense
of creativity and curiosity. If we didn’t know what a button did, press it.”
His advice to students today borrows from his FLCC experience.
“So many times I’ve learned something just by getting curious and reading a Wikipedia page. Then that led to some creative thought or some technical thought that has helped me in my work or in my personal projects. If you find yourself wondering what something does or how it works, pursue it because there may be an opportunity to use that knowledge later.”
That, and check your email often, because as Seth put it, “Life can change so fast.”
Episode 1 in the series focuses on eclipse safety.
Kellie Gauvin, professor of biology, made a series of short videos with Dan Schneiderman, eclipse partnerships coordinator for the Rochester Museum and Science Center, about various facets of the upcoming total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024.
The videos were recorded in the FLCC TV studio for broadcast on the Finger Lakes TV network: Spectrum cable channel 1304, Roku, 24/7 web stream at fingerlakestv.org/live and the Cablecast app for Apple and Android.
To mark Constitution Day (Sept. 17), James Valenti, J.D., associate professor of social science, and Eric Duchess, Ph.D., associate professor of social science, made a video to highlight how the U.S. Constitution goes to great lengths to defend the rights of citizens. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The discussion included all kinds of searches including whether the government can gather your DNA.
Finger Lakes Community College has launched a program to train people for a new State University of New York direct support professional microcredential that can also be applied toward a two-year FLCC human services degree.
Direct support professionals work with people who have physical or developmental disabilities, assisting them with everyday tasks and integration into the community.
The direct support professional program at FLCC begins on Sept. 26 and consists of three eight-week courses that lead to national certification in the field of developmental disabilities. FLCC’s program is part of a statewide initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan, a COVID relief legislation. The funding will cover tuition and materials for new students.
Classes will be held online in real-time two evening per week to make it easier for those already working to attend.
Those who successfully complete all three courses will also earn nine credits toward the FLCC human services two-year degree program.
Anyone interested in the program may call (585) 785-1670 or fill out an online form at http://bit.ly/flcc-dsp.
The program was developed in partnership with the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) to recognize the distinct skills and competencies required of today’s direct support professionals.
Finger Lakes Community College has begun offering free GED classes at the Seneca County Office Building at 1 DiPronio Drive in Waterloo.
FLCC’s program allows students to work at their own pace with an instructor to prepare for the four exams necessary to earn a high school equivalency diploma. Students take in-person assessments in math and reading to gauge their skill levels.
Students meet with their instructor in the Seneca County Division of Human Services office on the second floor.
Other community services will support the GED program: Literacy Volunteers of Seneca County is available to provide additional assistance, and the Seneca County Office Building is on the RTS bus route.
Details about FLCC’s GED and English as a Second Language programs are available at flcc.edu/abe, (585) 785-1431, or ged@flcc.edu. Those with questions can also call Seneca County at (315) 539-1904.
Classes are also offered in Ontario, Wayne, and Yates counties at FLCC locations, libraries and the Yates County Workforce Development office.
Hazel Arteaga-Martinez of Williamson and Kimberly Zenzen of Caledonia celebrate their induction into the honor society.
The Finger Lakes Community College chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the honor society for two-year colleges, inducted 175 members over the course of the last year.
Phi Theta Kappa promotes scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship. FLCC’s chapter, Alpha Epsilon Chi, was chartered in 1981 and provides leadership, service and scholarship opportunities for members. Membership requires completion of 15 hours of associate degree coursework and a GPA of 3.0. Phi Theta Kappa members also serve as campus ambassadors.
Fairport: Connor Bashaw, Nathaniel Hartley, Joseph Indorato, Hannah Owens
Hilton: Drew Bateman
Honeoye Falls: Lucas Mendrick
Penfield: Christopher Zielinski
Rochester: Andrew Black, Luke Chalone, Joseph Fornieri,Tanner Frank, Brianna Jones, Damien McGonnell, Naomi Moore, Vanessa Torres
Rush: Tyler Young
NASSAU
Freeport: Sandra Sanchez
Long Beach: Kristen Valentino
NEW YORK CITY
Arverne: Ciji Stewart
Brooklyn: Dwane Dunbar
Flushing: Nicole Luk
Jamaica: Jasmine Taylor
New York: Kathryn Cole
Richmond Hill: Natalie Plaza
Saint Albans: Ugonta Abengowe
ONEIDA
Utica: Sara Dodge, Justin Jones
Gabriel DeSouza of Brazil poses with FLCC President Robert Nye at the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society induction ceremony.
ONONDAGA
Jordan: Jonas Pritchard
ONTARIO
Bloomfield: Sarah Barker, Gordon Kornbau
Canandaigua: Julia Coy, Gabriel De Souza, Culyn Debeer, Mackenzie Depew, Madison Depew, Shena Edington-Bright, Grecia Gamez, Van Hill, Liam Houle, John Kelley, Austin Kephart, John Lasky, Samuel Leblanc, Keith Letky, Grace Lucas, Kevin Mapstone, Julie McKee, Sydney Rosario, Michael Ruedy, Audria Rutkowski, Faith Searls, Lexus Shannon Hummer, Hunter Shuler, Molly Snyder, Rebecca Steinmetz, Stephanie Vitalone, Harland Wunrow
Clifton Springs: Carly Bennett, Victoria Haynes, Beryl Remacle-Grimm
Farmington: Angelina Allen, Philip Beaman, Clayton Belmont, Riley Cicero, Rylee Hardgrove, Christopher Kalen, Maureen Morley, Eldridge Mount, Spencer Reese, Nicholas Reifsnyder, Alana Shaw, Cole Smith, Elyse Triola
Victor: Matthew Brady, Morgan Collazo, Emily Davis, Alexa Henehan, Madison O’Donnell, Jackson Pealer, Jonathan Schultz, Johanna Swan, Roman Wright
ORANGE
New Windsor: Hulya Peker-Evren
FLCC President Robert Nye and Misty Hall of Shortsville at the Phi Theta Kappa honor society induction ceremony in May.
Newburgh: Desiree Henry
Port Jervis: Shmuel Elkeslasi
OSWEGO
Hannibal: Kaliess Evans
OTSEGO
West Exeter: Ryan Quinn
PUTNAM
Putnam Valley, Lisa Zegarelli
SARATOGA
Saratoga Springs Miranda Germain
SCHUYLER
Burdett: Jesse Perlmutter
SENECA
Interlaken: Kiersten Traver
Ovid: Kimberly McLaughlin, Ovid Rachel Natale
Romulus: Tabitha Wilson
Seneca Falls: Nicholas Jastrzab
Waterloo: Jacob Digiovanni, Allyson Dressing, Angela Hubbard
Seneca Waterloo Jose Rivera
ST. LAWRENCE
Winthrop: Justin Moore
STEUBEN
Canisteo: Lori Hoyt
Jasper: Samantha Taft
Savona: Christopher McNew
ULSTER
Modena: Renae Gregory
WAYNE
Clyde: Richard Ducayne, Corrine Spronz
Lyons: Faith Magwood, Casey Wood
Macedon: Brianna Whitcomb
Newark: Lorely Rivera Barreda
Ontario: Elena Disanto, Holly Fox
Palmyra: David Luke, Joshua Snyder
Sodus: Marilyn Bennett, Cody Freeman
Walworth: Logan Maioli, Jerry Lay, Leah Vaughn
Williamson: Hazel Arteaga-Martinez, Morgan Baumgartner, Elena Ramirez Rendon
WESTCHESTER
Cortlandt Manor: Thomas Wilson
Rye: Harold Torres Gonzalez
YATES
Dundee: Ingrid Semans
Penn Yan: Kerry Catlin, Jenelle Schroeder
Rushville: Evelyn Bergstresser
OUT OF STATE
Richard Zephyr, Naples, Fla.
Christina Lenhauser, Haines City, Fla.
Caidin Taeschner, Port Republic, Md.
Asia Muselli, Scotch Plains, N.J.
Ashley Holbrook, Woodruff, S.C.
Ericka Moody, who grew up in Lyons, graduated on May 20 with a degree in hospitality and tourism management, specializing in the food and beverage area.
A 2021 graduate of Lyons Central School, she had an opportunity meet with college President Robert Nye, while participating in Dinner at Julia later that year.
Dinner at Julia is an opportunity for hospitality students to get real-world experience right on campus. The college converts a room in the Student Center to a restaurant open to the public several Fridays during the semester.
“After experiencing my work, and getting to learn about each other, Dr. Nye told me if I needed help getting on the right path in the hospitality world, to reach out,” Ericka began.
“March then came around, and I had been struggling to find my sense of place in the hospitality world, so I emailed him. I asked him simply just to be a person I could put as a reference on my resume. I asked to meet with him to prove how determined I was.”
Ericka and the president talked about her goal of working for a while at the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center and eventually becoming an event producer.
“He wrote me a letter of recommendation, and graciously took it a step further and reached out to the hospitality manager on my behalf,” she said, adding that she was hired as a VIP concierge for the concert venue.
“My time at Finger Lakes was uplifting. I walked in only to gain a degree but walked out with new experiences, new memories, and new friends,” Ericka added. “My experience here was like a movie with twists, turns, loss, and gains and an ending with a warm feeling that life only gives to when you close a door and start walking to the next.
“My advice to incoming Laker is: Do not just come to campus, be a part of campus and its community. Join a sport, club, or even join in on weekly Laker activities. Walk away with an experience, not just a diploma.”
