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Barton Community College hosts Chamber Coffee
Great Bend Chamber Rec for Dec. 5, 2024
Garstecki chamber coffee 2024
Barton Community College hosted the Dec. 5 Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Coffee, which was followed by two ribbon cuttings to celebrate the additions of the APEX Officer virtual reality (VR) system for criminal justice students and an advanced ambulance simulator for EMS training to prepare students for real-world scenarios. Barton President Dr. Marcus Garstecki welcomed members and guests. - photo by photos by Susan Thacker/Great Bend Tribune

Barton Community College employees celebrated new technological additions by hosting the Dec. 5 Great Bend Chamber Coffee. Barton President Dr. Marcus Garstecki welcomed members and guests before introducing some of the key people behind two workforce education programs. Later there were ribbon cuttings and tours of the APEX Officer virtual reality (VR) system for criminal justice students and an advanced ambulance simulator for EMS training to prepare students for real-world scenarios.

“We want to make sure our students have hands-on learning, that they have the opportunity within the classroom or the lab to have first-class opportunities to learn, to prepare themselves to make a living. So, we’re excited to show you that today,” Garstecki said. "As we talk about resources and making sure that we can have this type of equipment, just last year alone, our Foundation, our grants department here at Barton and the institution, matched, combined $626,000 – not just for these two pieces of equipment, but in total, to be able to provide enhancements to the college.”

Read more about the new technology here.


Announcements

• The next Chamber Coffee will be at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, at Credit Union of America, 4708 10th St. Immediately following the coffee, there will be a ribbon cutting at the Chamber office for Move Your Mountain Coaching & Consulting.

• Barton’s Shafer Art Gallery is selling ornaments by local artists. Proceeds go to the artists and the gallery.

• Barton will begin accepting scholarship applications for next year on Jan. 1.

• Great Bend Public Library’s new winter catalog is available at the library. GBPL is starting a community afghan project and invites people to crochet granny squares for it. Yarn, hooks and patterns are available at the library. The final product will be sold at auction for charity.

• The Rest Easy Sleeping Bag Project, with a goal of buying 1,000 sleeping bags to keep homeless people in central Kansas warm this winter, has received funding for close to 500 so far. Drop off cash or checks at First Kansas Bank, 4001 10th St.

See the Great Bend Tribune calendar for more events.