Andrea Hlasnick of the Cattaraugus-Allegany Board of Cooperative Educational Services (CABOCES) Center at Belmont and Jennifer Militello of CABOCES Center at Olean have been named the 2019-20 Jamestown Community College College Connections Teachers of the Year.
Each year College Connections, JCC’s concurrent enrollment program, recognizes those teachers who best exemplify the core program standards.
“Ms. Militello and Ms. Hlasnick have both done so much to help grow their College Connections offerings for New Visions Health Professions students at CA BOCES,” said Jade Barber, director of College Connections. “Both were approved this past year to teach two new healthcare studies courses and a psychology course. These additions will allow some of their students who have also taken college-level English and math to potentially earn a certificate in healthcare studies from JCC as soon as they graduate from high school.”
Hlasnick and Militello both teach seven courses through College Connections: Health Science, Anatomy & Physiology I, Anatomy & Physiology II, Introduction to Healthcare Studies, Introduction to Disease, Medical Terminology, and General Psychology I.
“Jennifer and Andrea are stellar teachers,” said Ellen Lehning, coordinator of JCC’s healthcare studies program and the College Connections faculty liaison for the pair. “Both have been instrumental in introducing students to the world of healthcare and proctoring students through the initial phases of that journey by providing a solid knowledge and skill foundation.”
Militello has taught in the New Vision health professions program for 19 years. She began as a College Connections instructor in 2002-2003, teaching eight biology credits. Since then, she has been approved to offer other courses and is currently teaching 21 credits this academic year.
“I enjoy teaching my students courses through College Connections because it allows me to teach them at a higher level, get them college credits, and save them a lot of money in the process,” said Militello. “Because of College Connections, most of my students are able to either graduate college a year early or double major and graduate on-time. To me, that is a huge advantage of College Connections!”
Steve Dieteman, former principal of the Olean Center, nominated Militello for the award.
“Jen has proven herself a very dedicated, focused educator with compassion for her students and a great passion to see her program grow and develop into one of the premier offerings in our area for high school seniors,” Dieteman said.
Hlasnick began teaching courses through College Connections and in the New Vision Health Professions program nine years ago. She enjoys teaching College Connections courses because it helps prepare students for the transition from high school to college.
“For students to be successful in these rigorous and demanding college-level courses, they must develop successful study and time management skills,” Hlasnick said. “I truly enjoy watching how much my students mature throughout the school year.”
“Andrea is so passionate about what she teaches,” according to Caitlyn Callahan, counselor at the Belmont Center, who nominated Hlasnick. “Her greatest quality is her ability to build relationships with her students in and outside of school, which is one of the most important characteristics of a teacher.”
“Andrea’s dedication to the College Connections program and her students was evident when she enrolled in a graduate course this past spring that she needed in order to be qualified to teach General Psychology I through JCC,” Barber said. “She was willing to make an investment of her time and money to ensure her students would have the opportunity to take another college-level course.”
JCC has offered concurrent enrollment courses to qualified high school students through the College Connections program since 1998. The courses, taught in partner high schools by JCC approved teachers, allow students to earn both high school and college credit.