The realignment with River Parishes Community College (RPCC) will bring many new opportunities to the River Parishes.

Our campus in Reserve will be offering additional classes and programs that were not available before.

Students in St. John, St. Charles and St. James will now have the option to attend a local community college before furthering their degrees at local universities. This gives students the ability to continue living at home while beginning their college careers. Many opportunities have already begun to emerge from the planned growth.

Several employment opportunities are currently available at the Reserve campus. Working with our students, industry partners and the local communities is a rewarding career.

Just being a small part of the success of so many and being witness to the dramatic changing of lives is amazing. While there are many noble careers, working in education is on the top of the list for me.

As young, shy students transform into work ready and self-confident men and women, our faculty take pride in their accomplishments, as well. Being able to do a job is quite different from being able to teach someone else to do it.

Support staff in all areas of the College work together with faculty and administration to round out the education experience. If you would like to explore the possibilities, we are currently seeking the following positions for immediate hire:

Facilities/Custodian, full time with benefits and a flexible schedule. Program Coordinator is a part time, clerical position available for the “Crafts” program. Students Service Coordinator is full time with benefits.

Part time Faculty/ Instructors (flexible schedules) are needed in the following programs: Industrial Instrumentation, Industrial Maintenance Millwright and Welding. All interested parties should apply at the Reserve campus, in person, with a resume or call 985-536-4418, ext. 202.

Another exciting area of news is that we are increasing the Practical Nursing Class for the coming year.

The pre-classes begin in January, and the class is growing from 25 to 40 students. With the growing needs of health care, it is a great time to study nursing. The opportunities for varied employment are almost endless for the well-trained nurse.

The students who successfully complete our program have, for the past several years, had a 100 percent pass rate on the Louisiana State Nursing Boards, the first time.

November is the perfect month to get pre-admitted and registered for the January classes. Admission to this very popular program will be closed on Dec. 15, so registering now is important. Avoid the rush and be ready to go before the busy Holiday Season.

Penelope Freeman is Campus Dean for River Parishes Community College – Reserve. She is at the Reserve Campus. Email her at penelopefreeman@ scl.edu.