by Jeff Bell
Students of the Jackson County Campus of WVU Parkersburg (JCC) displayed their knowledge during the International Luncheon activities on Wed Mar 30, from 11a.m. -1p.m.. Three instructors, Dean Fisher, Truman Long and Dianne Davis required students to study different cultures and create a presentation for the event; approximately 50-60 display boards were present.
A luncheon of tacos-in-a-bag and drinks was sponsored by Student Services. Some of the other foods and refreshments were supplied by students of Dianne Davis’ class in which the students were required to bring in an ethnic dish from the country for which they presented.
Dean Fisher involved two of his classes: WV History 250 and American History 152. The WV History students were required to develop a project centered on a hero or heroine who had connections with Appalachian heritage. Some of the presentations included General Patton, Charles Yeager and Hal Greer. “The connections to Appalachian heritage were loosely governed, I just required some sort of connection,” Fisher stated. American History students have been required to present a person who was connected to the history of the nation.
Brad Warner was very excited to show his presentation covering Charles “Chuck” Yeager. “He had true West Virginia grit. He didn’t care what people thought or said. He just pushed on and done his job. He was the guy that actually trained the astronauts in supersonic flight, a guy from West Virginia,” Warner exclaimed. “Everyone knows that he broke the sound barrier, but most do not realize that he was also the first to go twice the speed of sound,” Warner continued. Warner’s display included a hand-carved representation of Yeager’s supersonic plane.
Truman Long’s sociology class looked at the importance and the impact of West Virginia immigrants. “Immigrants made very important contributions to West Virginia culture,” Long said. Students studied the important impacts made by Italians, Scottish, Irish and more within the West Virginian society.
Dianne Davis had her online class, Professional Development, study the important contributions made by women in various countries. “I wanted the students to study the demographics of the countries,” Davis said. One presentation studied the country of Brazil.
Students Tammy Babylon, Laura Armstrong and Melissa Sims discussed in detail, within their presentation, the work accomplished by women. “I’ve been to Brazil, it’s a fascinating place. It seemed almost natural to do the presentation on that,” Babylon said. “I was amazed to learn that the current President of Brazil is a woman,” Babylon said.
The Luncheon had the entire lobby/multi-purpose area full of people and presentations. Several interesting displays and people made the event very successful and entertaining, according to one student in attendance of the event.
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