Asheville Citizen Times Advert

Always great to see good things on the front of the newspaper. On Sunday morning a 3" X 3" full color post-it note was on the front of the Asheville Citizen Times advertising our great traditional and online academic programs in the Natural Resources Division. Thanks to Debbie Davis for the excellent design and placement.

Opportunity Showcase in Hickory

Matt Delozier and Buddy Tignor traveled to St. Stephen's High School in Hickory for the second annual Opportunity Showcase. The principal highly values community college and technical training opportunities and permitted every student in the school to visit representatives from over 15 academic programs between 8:00 am and 1:00 pm.
The Natural Resources programs in Geospatial Technology, Pulp and Paper, Horticulture, Forestry Management, and Fish and Wildlife were highlighted. Matt's new animated display was a big hit (the red arrow is pointing to the living image that Matt created as you are speaking with students the images of HCC students in action changes about every 20 seconds) as were the updated Division Brochures created by Dr. Jim Hamilton and Debbie Davis. We talked to about 75 students individually during the course of the day and were asked to return to present NR opportunites and dual enrollment information to the Guidance Counselors.

Horticulture Competition of the Carolinas

HCC Student Frieda competes in the Plant ID exam. Without flowers, this is a real test of plant ID abilities.

There are tests and then there are TESTS! The Horticulture Technology Students Competed with 4 other community colleges in Wilkesboro. The exam based on the North Carolina Certified Landscape Technician Exam was judged by three extension agents with combined experience of nearly 90 years and upper management from two of the largest landscaping firms in North Carolina (New Garden and Bland Landscaping). These volunteers were not only tough-but-fair judges, but potential employers. Talk about pressure... Our students performed admirably in the individual events. The overall title went to Alamance Community College but HCC was the winner in 20% of the individual events.Team HCC. From Left to right (Buddy, Amanda, George, Brandon, Adam, John, Frieda, Dawn, and Julie)

Alamance Community College, Central Piedmont Community college, Catawba Valley Community College, and Mayland Community College also fielded teams. Wilkes Community College hosted the competition as well as competing. Special thanks to WCC Instructors Ron Dollyhite, Donna Riddle, and Wilkes students for all their efforts and work involved in hosting this great academic competition.

HCC Student Adam answers questions on the fly while planting a tree. A competition he would win. The extension agent in the background has been a nursery specialist for 30-years.

The Professional Certified Landscape Technician Exam takes place over two days and has an exhaustive written test along with 22 field exams ranging from plant identification and pesticide application to landscape plan reading and skidsteer operation.

Julie installs pavers during a timed competition. This exam takes an hour. The judge watches and grades the entire time.

The student competition has ten events that are identical to those in the CLT exam providing the students with not only the spirited opportunity for competition, but important preparation for the certifying exam. At least one student received a job offer on sight.

Next year the competition will be held at Haywood Community College. Both Bland Landscaping and New Garden Horticultural firms are extremely interested in judging and meeting more of our students and students from other community colleges. We will also be calling on our local horticultural professionals and extension experts to judge.

Horticulture Technology Program

The Horticulture Technology Program is designed to prepare students for various careers in horticulture. Classroom instruction and practical laboratory applications of horticultural principles and practices are included in the program of study. Many of the courses are also now available online. Course work includes plant science, plant materials, propagation, soils, fertilizers, and pest management. Also included are courses in plant production, landscaping, and the management and operation of horticulture businesses. (Certificate, Diploma, and AA Programs)

Upon completion of the program, graduates should qualify for employment opportunities in nurseries, garden centers, greenhouses, landscape operations, gardens, and governmental agencies. Graduates should also be prepared to take the North Carolina Pesticide Applicator's Examination, the North Carolina Certified Plant Professional Examination and the Certified Landscape Technician's Exam.
The entire campus--a designated arboretum with an impressive plant collection--is a learning laboratory that allows students to directly apply their classroom knowledge. Our greenhouse, woody plant nursery, and orchard also serve as wonderful student resources.

"The greatest service which can be rendered (to a society) is to add a useful plant to its culture." --Thomas Jefferson

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT BUDDY TIGNOR at 828.565.4275 or mtignor@haywood.edu Description of Certificate, Diploma, and AA requirements in Horticulture Technology
Current Horticulture Technology Curriculum (requires free Acrobat reader)
Courses that Transfer to NC State (current agreement)

High Country High School Recruiting

Haywood instructors Pete Kennedy and Jim Hamilton travelled this week to northwestern North Carolina and introduced students to Geospatial Technology and Forestry at Watauga and Avery High Schools. At Avery High School, students in Dewayne Krege's Turfgrass Management and Landscaping classes learned how to create mapping points using HCC's new GOXH mapping-grade GPS units. Rainy weather kept the classes inside at Watauga High School with Sarah Grim's Ag Science and Intro to Horticulture classes, but Jim spoke about different career options in forestry and fish and wildlife management while Pete sparked interest in mapping technology using Google Earth and Watauga County's GIS.



Kennedy and Hamilton also met with Watauga and Avery High School counselors and career offices to promote the introductory natural resources classes that will be offered online for the Spring semester for dual-enrollment. This will allow juniors or seniors interested in natural resources the opportunity to take these classes for college credit with no tuition costs. These courses will include: Intro to Forest Resources, Wildlife Management, Intro to GIS, Intro to Horticulture, and Intro to Pulp and Paper Technology. For more information on this option, contact: 828.627.4560

Haywood Lumberjack Team Wins Cradle of Forestry Competition!

Competition was fierce and the tournament came down to the wire, but the 'Lumberjack Team' from Haywood Community Collge prevailed in the 11th Annual Woodsmen's Meet held at the Cradle of Forestry in America during Forest Festival Day on October 7. This year, 5 colleges competed in the intercollegiate woodsmen's meet sponsored by Stihl Chainsaws, Hemlock Healers, Columbia Carolina Wood Products, and the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association.


Haywood went up against Penn State University at Mont Alto, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College from West Virginia, and Montgomery Community College from Troy, North Carolina. Following a record-breaking 390-10 win over Dabney-Lancaster in the Forestry Quiz Bowl event, Haywood finished at the top in the archery, dendrology, men's crosscut saw, and men's chainsaw events. Haywood also made strong showings in the axe throw, pole climb, women's cross cut, and Jack-and-Jill cross cut events. Over 2,400 spectators attended the event which was graced with beautiful fall weather and color.

The day kicked off at 6:00AM with a traditional and hearty 'lumberjack breakfast' prepared by HCC blacksmithing instructor David Burnette.


HCC's new natural resources instructor Chris Graves took a shift on 'porridge duty'.


Throughout the day, Natural Resource Division faculty, staff, (and their relatives!) manned stopwatches, kept scores, set up events, and kept the competition moving smoothly.

HCC President Dr. Rose Johnson and Montgomery Community College's President cheered on their teams women's horizontal speed-chop competitors.


Pulp and Paper Technology Instructor, WC Godfrey, and sons take a well-deserved break from timing competitors.

Where's Rabby??

HCC Wildlife Instructor Shannon Rabby spent Saturday, October 7, at Forest Festival Day promoting the Natural Resources Program at Haywood Community College. Over 2,400 vistors payed homage to the Cradle of Forestry in America and came out to watch the 11th Annual Woodsmen's Meet sponsored by Stihl. Rabby manned the Haywood College booth, greeted visitors, talked about HCC's 5 programs within the Natural Resources division, distributed brochures, and held a pseudo-front row seat to chainsaw and crosscut saw events! See if you can find Rabby in the photo below!! (hint...he's close to the guy 'touching' his nose).

Horticulture Faculty Part of InterCollegiate Grant Winning Team

In an joint proposal effort with Wilkes Community College and Mayland Community College Haywood Community College Horticulture Faculty were awarded a $75,000 NCCCS Bionetwork Grant to establish a Plant Micropropagation Collaborative Partnership. Tissue culture protocols will be developed and placed online for educators to use in North Carolina. Native plant propagation protocols will be highlighted.

Recent changes in technology and business practices have significantly altered the skills necessary to be competitive in the 21st century. Globalization and the evolution of a world-wide economy have created a new economic culture in the United States. Economic indicators point out that the new economy requires collaboration and cooperative partnerships among business, industry, government, and educators. Taking these factors into consideration, the Plant Micropropagation Collaborative Partnership strives to progressively develop streams of innovative services that will create a world class workforce, accessible capital, an innovative business climate, physical infrastructure, as well as an infusion of new plant materials and technology. The Plant Micropropagation Collaborative Partnership is one such service that will significantly impact the state’s ability to compete in the 21st century and within this new economic culture. The collaborating community colleges of Wilkes, Haywood, Mayland and Southeastern seek to develop a database of "protocols" to enhance the bioagriculture sector of the economy for rural North Carolina. The development of shared "protocols" on a BioNetwork database would be the foundation developed through this Partnership. The Plant Microprogagation Collaborative Partnership will develop, test, implement, record data and post results to the database. Wilkes Community College will be the primary agent to develop a secure statewide database utilizing the Partnership to enhance bioagriculture for North Carolina's Community College System BioNetwork.

NRD Faculty and Forestry Club Demonstrate "Lumberjacking" at Haywood County Fair

HCC widlife instructor Shannon Rabby and forestry instructor Jim Hamilton, along with several members from the HCC Forestry Club and Lumberjack Team, recently demonstrated the tools and skills of 'Lumberjacking' to over 400 gradeschool students from around Haywood County. Haywood County Cooperative Extension sponsored this 'heritage tour event at the Haywood County Fairgrounds on September 29. Students demonstrated the cross-cut sawing, axe-throwing, underhand chopping, and log rolling events that are part of lumberjack competition. Hamilton also spoke about the history of forestry in North Carolina while Rabby spoke about bears, bobcats, and other forest animals that populate our mountain woods. Lumberjack team members Max Cox, Brandi Banks, Matt Hooper, and Brooke Banks wore the traditional lumberjack team "uniforms"--hickory shirts and red suspenders--and managed to hit the bulls-eye in their axe-throwing demonstrations which was a highlight for the kids.