One hundred and twelve Poteau GEAR UP students recently traveled to Tulsa to tour the Southeast campus of Tulsa Community College (TCC). Students were greeted by Admissions Counselor William Baldwin and Student Recruiter Lucia McFarland. Studnets were led through Building 8 that houses programs for science, mathematics, health sciences, and biotechnology. Students walked through the Nursing Department where they saw a real-life set up of hospital beds and medical instruments, complete with robotic mannequins. The mannequins can perform the same body functions of a real human so that nursing students have the most lifelike setting in which to learn and practice.
Students then entered Building 6, also known as the PACE Building, which stands for Performing Arts Center for Education. The auditorium can seat up to 1,500 people. Students looked behind the scenes where props for performances are carried on and off the set and into the storage room. Student Recruiter McFarland explained that students can still be involved in the arts at TCC even if they don’t plan to study the performing arts in depth. When exiting the building, students saw display cases with handmade costumes from past performances.
Next, students toured Building 9, the Student Union where the Student Life offices, the campus store, food court, and fitness center are located. While TCC doesn’t have any official sports teams, student can sign up for intramural sports. The fitness center has a rock wall and track overlooking two basketball courts as well as smaller rooms for fitness classes.
In the campus store, students can provide their class schedules and a worker will find their books for the semester. Students can also purchase almost any school supplies they need.
TCC students can obtain discounted tickets for local attractions at the Student Life offices.
“Campus tours are a great way for Poteau students to get to know different college options they have here in our own state,” said GEAR UP Education Coordinator Leslie Hemphill. “TCC offers over 100 majors for students to choose from to help them reach their academic goals.
“I really liked the fitness center because I am an athlete,” said Poteau 8th grader Jayden Wooten. “It was very nice.”
“I enjoyed getting to see the stage and tour behind it in the arts building,” said Poteau student Autumn Riggs.
The field trip was sponsored by Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP. Participating schools take two field trips each academic year—one to tour a college or university and one that is cultural/educational in nature. In 2017, Eastern recently received a $17 million federal GEAR UP grant and will serve over 3,000 students in 39 area schools for seven years.