Future. Found.
At 51ÁÔÆæ, our new tagline, Future. Found., is more than just words—it’s a promise. It captures who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible journey we provide to students, businesses, and our community.

What Does Future. Found. Mean?
Future. Found. reflects our commitment to helping people find their path and achieve their goals. Whether you’re a student starting your academic journey, a professional seeking career advancement, or a business looking for collaboration and growth, we’re here to help you discover your future.

For Students: Your future starts here at 51ÁÔÆæ. From your first day in class to graduation and beyond, we guide and support you as you shape your future. We’re not just a place of learning—we’re a place where dreams take shape.

For Businesses: We’re a trusted partner, working side by side with local businesses and industries to foster innovation, growth, and workforce development. Together, we’re building a brighter future for our region.

For Our Community: Our commitment to lifelong learning, creativity, and collaboration extends beyond the classroom. At 51ÁÔÆæ, we help individuals and communities find new opportunities and create lasting impact.

Bringing Future. Found. to Life
We’re using Future. Found. to inspire everything we do across campus. From signage and digital displays to advertising campaigns and classroom discussions, this message will be woven into the fabric of 51ÁÔÆæ. It’s a reminder that, whether you’re here for education, career training, or community engagement, 51ÁÔÆæ is where your future begins.

Join Us
At 51ÁÔÆæ, the future isn’t just ahead—it’s found. Join us, and let’s discover what your future looks like together.

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Have you considered becoming a season ticket holder for the 51ÁÔÆæ Performing Arts and Leadership Series?  If so, Tuesday is your night.

The public is invited as 51ÁÔÆæ announces the 2022-2023  season on Tuesday, June 28th at 7 p.m.   The event will be held in the North Iowa Community Auditorium on the 51ÁÔÆæ campus.

The 51ÁÔÆæ Performing Arts & Leadership Series offers award winning shows, musical artists, comedy, and internationally acclaimed speakers.  There will be 16 events included in this year’s series.

You’ll be among the first to hear the lineup.  After the announcement you’ll have the opportunity to save an additional percentage on top of the already deep discount you get for being a season ticket holder.

There are several plans available which will be explained during the preview event on Tuesday.  You’ll be under no obligation to purchase.

“I think it’s an incredibly strong season,” Said Lindsay Dalrymple, Executive Director, 51ÁÔÆæ Performing Arts & Leadership Series, “There’s something for everyone. That’s always the goal – we try to check as many boxes for North Iowans as we can and I feel like we nailed it.”

If you are a current season ticket holder you have the option to renew your tickets.  If you’re thinking about becoming a new season ticket holder you’ll have first dibs on the remaining season tickets by coming to the event.

You get to pick and choose which performances interest you and the shows and presentations you are available to attend.

Questions or comments?  Email Arian Schuessler, arian.schuessler@51ÁÔÆæ.edu

Are you interested in attending 51ÁÔÆæ?  Apply Today!

51ÁÔÆæ, founded in 1918, is a nationally-recognized, two-year college located in central North Iowa.  With approximately 3,000 career and transfer students, the College has been recognized by the Aspen Institute as a leading community college in the nation.  51ÁÔÆæ welcomes students from across Iowa, Minnesota, the nation, and the world. The College has served as a leader in student-centered learning, community engagement, and collaborative leadership for more than 100 years.  

The post 51ÁÔÆæ Performing Arts and Leadership Series to hold preview event appeared first on 51ÁÔÆæ Minute.

A student’s educational journey doesn’t always follow the same path as others.  Forty-Seven North Iowans found their way back to success this year as they earned their High School Equivalency Degree (HSED) at 51ÁÔÆæ.

Those students celebrated with friends and family at the High School Equivalency Graduation Ceremony on the 51ÁÔÆæ Campus on Thursday night.

“Education opens doors for you” said 51ÁÔÆæ President Dr. Steve Schulz,  “When you’re making decisions stop a moment and ask yourself whether this decision opens a door or closes a door.  I’m telling you that your work to get you here tonight has blown the door wide open.  I’m going to encourage you to not walk through that door but to run through it.  Don’t lose the momentum you have gained.”

Many of the students received scholarship awards to attend 51ÁÔÆæ this year.  Two of the graduates were given full-tuition scholarships.

High School Equivalency Diploma classes are for adults who left high school prior to completing all requirements necessary to receive a high school diploma.

Students make the decision to work toward their high school equivalency diploma for a number of reasons: a desire to enter college or seek better employment, changing requirements in their workplace, or simply the sense of pride that this accomplishment can bring.

Members of the audience cheered as the students crossed the stage to receive their certificates.

Questions or comments?  Email Arian Schuessler, arian.schuessler@51ÁÔÆæ.edu

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Are you interested in attending 51ÁÔÆæ?  Apply Today!

51ÁÔÆæ, founded in 1918, is a nationally-recognized, two-year college located in central North Iowa.  With approximately 3,000 career and transfer students, the College has been recognized by the Aspen Institute as a leading community college in the nation.  51ÁÔÆæ welcomes students from across Iowa, Minnesota, the nation, and the world. The College has served as a leader in student-centered learning, community engagement, and collaborative leadership for more than 100 years.  

The post Slideshow: 51ÁÔÆæ’s High School Equivalency program ‘opens doors’ for area students appeared first on 51ÁÔÆæ Minute.

51ÁÔÆæ recently joined Iowa College Aid in celebration of Decision Week. The event is a second annual virtual celebration recognizing Iowa’s high school graduates in making their postsecondary decisions.

The week-long celebration featured five pathways: military, workforce and apprenticeships, associate degrees and still deciding, bachelor’s degrees at public colleges, and bachelor’s degrees at private colleges.

Each pathway participant submitted a video welcoming students who have committed to their prospective college or organization.

51ÁÔÆæ is excited to welcome all students for the upcoming academic year!

Are you interested in attending 51ÁÔÆæ? Apply Today!

The post 51ÁÔÆæ Thrilled to Welcome Students appeared first on 51ÁÔÆæ Minute.

Is it plumb? Is it level and square?  Is it aesthetically pleasing? Does it follow the blueprint?  If your project meets these criteria, you might be a winner at 51ÁÔÆæ’s 23rd annual Design-Build Competition.

About 40 students and their teachers from 10 area high schools were invited to 51ÁÔÆæ for some fun and friendly competition.  Over $2000 in prizes were donated for the winning schools.  The event was held on the 51ÁÔÆæ Campus on Wednesday, May 11.

Gregg Helmich, 51ÁÔÆæ Building Trades Instructor, looks over plans

Each school was given a plan and the materials to build a large wood shed with walls, sloped roof and floor.   Three hours later, voilà— the projects were completed.

Gregg Helmich, 51ÁÔÆæ Building Trades Instructor, organized the event  “It’s a great way to promote the trades, to show the value of trades education and to try to solve the skilled trades shortage.”

All the lumber was donated by the Contractors Advisory Association.

The average age of the skilled laborer is 55 years old according to Helmich.   In an effort to show young people that trades can be a pretty cool profession, a roundtable discussion was held via zoom with several popular internet influencers.

“It’s a lot of fun.  There’s a lot of energy in the room today” said Helmich.

Ian Miller, a student at Mason City High School, agreed while fastening the roof on his team’s shed,  “It’s pretty fun! I like the pace.  You have to work together.”

After the saws stopped spinning and the saw dust settled the judges got down to judging.

Brandon Patterson, co-founder of the Iowa Skilled Trades organization, came from Des Moines to help decide the winner.  “It’s a great way to showcase their talents, keep them engaged, energized and to help them realize the great opportunities.”

The West Hancock team took home the top prize

When the awards were read over the loudspeaker, Brayden Langfitt, Llan Martinez, Kennedy Kelley, Mathew Francis of the West Hancock team came out on top.  They carried their giant box of new tools and put them in their winning shed.

Like a football coach responding after a state championship victory, their shop teacher Paul Francis responded humbly, “This is what we teach them to do.”

Participating Schools and Contractors:

St. Ansgar— Tony Duncomb, Young Construction

West Fork– Joe Engels, representing Alpha Roofing and NIBE

West Hancock— Dylan from Henkel Construction

Rockford— Jennifer Breister, Crown Point Builders

Osage— Bert Vigen, Habitat for Humanity of North IA

Charles City—Keegan Ginapp, Crown Point Builders

Hampton-Dumont—Eric Sipress, Dean Snyder Construction

Clear Lake High School—Jordan Manning, Manning Construction

Mason City High School—Julie Weide, Henkel Construction

Event Sponsors:

Simpson StrongTie

Contractor’s Advisory Association

North Iowa Builder’s Exchange

ACME tools

Morton Buildings, Inc.

Questions or comments?  Email Arian Schuessler, arian.schuessler@51ÁÔÆæ.edu

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Are you interested in attending 51ÁÔÆæ?  Apply Today!

51ÁÔÆæ, founded in 1918, is a nationally-recognized, two-year college located in central North Iowa.  With approximately 3,000 career and transfer students, the College has been recognized by the Aspen Institute as a leading community college in the nation.  51ÁÔÆæ welcomes students from across Iowa, Minnesota, the nation, and the world. The College has served as a leader in student-centered learning, community engagement, and collaborative leadership for more than 100 years.  

The post 51ÁÔÆæ hosts Design-Build Competition appeared first on 51ÁÔÆæ Minute.

51ÁÔÆæ’s annual Spring Grill was held Monday, May 9, to honor outstanding faculty and staff. The event also recognized service anniversaries, new employees and retirees. More than two hundred current and former 51ÁÔÆæ employees attended the luncheon.

Awards and Recognition:

Outstanding Faculty Member: Brent Hamilton.

Brent has been an active member of the 51ÁÔÆæ campus community teaching a variety of course in mathematics from Intermediate Algebra through Differential Equations and Introductions to Ethics for 23 years.

Hamilton also serves as the Curriculum and Academic Affairs Committee Chairperson, mentors new faculty members, and is the faculty advisor for the Campus Ministry Association.

Brent is student focused, passionate about student learning, and dedicated to student success. He has worked with Student Services to develop student wellness activities and organizes service learning opportunities for students.

Hamilton also records his daily content presentations and uploads them to the learning management system so that students have access to ideas and concepts they missed or are struggling to understand. Simply put, Brent wants all students to be successful and supported both academically and personally.

Locally, Brent serves on Boards of Directors, participates in service organizations, and is an assistant coach at a local high school. He has served two terms as President of the state-wide Iowa Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (2003-2004 and 2020-2021).

Brent has received the Foundation Excellence in Service Award, an honor resulting from nominations by his peers, and has been recognized by the Iowa Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges for outstanding leadership in mathematics.

Outstanding Staff Member: Tony Pappas  

Tony has been part of our campus community for the last 39 years. He has proven himself a pivotal leader on our campus, he has been our project manager for over $45 million in various construction projects. His expertise and supervision have ensured quality and innovative construction and saved the college hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Tony leads the college’s Sustainability Council and has developed the 51ÁÔÆæ energy conservation plan, a climate action Plan, campus carbon footprint measurements, energy policy, along with many others. He led the development and installation of one of the nation’s largest solar fields located at a community college. This project will ultimately save the college over $10 million over the course of the lifespan of the infrastructure.

Tony is a highly respected member of the 51ÁÔÆæ family and devoted to the longevity of the college. Tony has great relationships with all of our staff and faculty. He is approachable, diligent, supportive, and takes time to hear individuals’ ideas and concerns.

Tony is a very active volunteer in our community, he has served as the owner representative on a $15 million renovation of the Frank Lloyd Wright Hotel in Mason City, Iowa. He has also served on volunteer committees with Trinity Lutheran Church and Habitat for Humanity. Tony is an admired member of the North Iowa community.

New Employees:

Cassidy Allison, Performing Arts & Leadership Series Assistant Director

Dyan Childress, Community Education and Lifelong Learning Coordinator

Abra Christians, Administrative Assistant – Athletics

Cory Dahlstrom, Library Interlibrary Loan and Media Assistant

Sara Ewing, Cashier

Andrea Fuoss, Associate Hall Director

Lincoln Hochmuth, Interim Head Baseball Coach/Athletic Dept. Associate

Lauren Hunt, Adult Education & Literacy Associate

Julie Kiger, Recruitment and Career Coordinator

Ashley Kraus, Community Education Coordinator – Garner

Tom Moore, Director of Innovation and Acceleration, Pappajohn Center

Vickie Pralle, Recruitment and Career Coordinator

Arian Schuessler, Graphic Designer

Steven Story, Academic Advisor/Head Cross Country Coach

Kara Trettin, Promotions Specialist

Dee Dee Winter, Academic Administrative Assistant, Business/Humanities/Public Service

Longevity Awards:

5 Year   

Chrysten Dohrmann

LeAnn Eckhardt

Larry Guadagnoli

Josh Mack

Dalila Sajadian

Tim Staudt

Lisa Toole

Sara Udelhofen

10 Year  

DeAnn Halligan

Brandon Krull

15 Year 

Chris Brandt

Tanya Dadisman

Chris Frenz

Gregg Helmich

Kelley O’Rourke

Jason Ott

Jennifer Rosauer

Andrea Schweizer

Lisa Vance

25 Year  

Michelle Petznick

Laura Wood

30 Year 
Tim Slaven

45 Year  
Mary Wendt

 2022 Retirees  

Larry Kollman

Larry Kollman came to 51ÁÔÆæ after being a social worker for 23 years. He started teaching philosophy classes as an adjunct in 1999 and then in 2005 he was hired full time as an academic advisor. A year later, he brought his experience as social worker to the classroom when he became a full-time psychology instructor.

Throughout his teaching career, Larry emphasized the human aspect of psychology. He reminded students that although learning psychological theories was important, remembering that everybody is a human being worthy of dignity and respect was more important. Larry also applied this philosophy to his everyday interactions with students. If you walked around campus with Larry or just talked to him in a hallway, you would see him always greeting students with a smile and engaging in small talk with them. No matter how busy he might be, he always had time to talk to students. As a result, students really connected with him and selected Larry as Teacher of the Year twice.

In addition, Larry has always advocated scholarship with his students. He always encouraged them to stay curious and be lifetime learners. As usual, Larry practiced what he preached and shortly after being hired to teach psychology, he decided to enroll in a graduate program to earn his Master’s degree in psychology. Larry always said he never wanted to be minimally qualified for anything he did. Larry’s devotion to scholarship can also be seen in his work as director of the Human Services program at 51ÁÔÆæ and more recently as the Faculty Advisor for Phi Theta Kappa.

Mark Messer

How many of you would have guessed that Mark Messer was a volleyball coach or that he taught at University College of London? Well, he is a man of surprises. Today I would like to recognize Mark and to express our fondest wishes as he retires and sets out for the next chapter in his life. Mark will fill his time with family; spending time with his grandkids, both here in Mason City and in Utah. In recent years, he has taken up photography, with one accepted in a photography contest at McNider. He will also continue with his love of nature by hiking and hunting. Mark, for thirty-four years, you have been a presence here at 51ÁÔÆæ.

Kathy Olson

There are countless examples of challenges that Kathy encountered while working in the Facilities department. Her experience, patience and attention to detail seemed to always shine and provide everyone with positive and successful outcomes.

Just one example of this happened many years ago, when we were discussing the need to organize and make sense out of the building keys. You did not hesitate as you volunteered to tackle the project, but the look on your face was unforgettable, when you suddenly realized the previous key database consisted of 10 coffee cans with several hundred keys inside each can. And of course, you organized all of them and created a mapping system and database that is still used today.

Kathy was always involved with many groups on campus like College Senate, the Sustainability Committee, Earth Day activities and promoting pot luck events.

Mitch Olson

Mitch, your technical knowledge and mechanical skills have been extremely valuable to us for over 26 years, as you have kept the many diversified building systems throughout the college, operating properly. Those countless skills will be sorely missed.

Olson’s dedication to the college has been obvious, whether it was responding to an issue with a student door lock on a weekend, helping with the clean-up from the flooding of the Book Store, working all weekend to resolve the freeze up of heating pipes in Beem Center, working on the air conditioning during graduation, operating the road grader during a snow storm, or working at midnight helping to restore power in the Careers building.

These are just a few examples of the numerous times that he has contributed above the average expectation to maintain the campus and at the same time always performing in a professional manner.

His hard work and diligence have greatly benefited the college.

Tony Pappas

Tony Pappas has been a dedicated member of 51ÁÔÆæ since 1983. Tony’s dedication to the college and to the facilities is going to be greatly missed. While at 51ÁÔÆæ, Tony has been involved in overseeing numerous construction projects, being innovative with energy savings like the solar panels, installing LED lighting throughout campus and Alliant rebates totaling $500,000, and making sure the day-to-day operations are running smoothly across the campus.

Over his years at 51ÁÔÆæ, Tony has led the Sustainability Council and he has developed 51ÁÔÆæ’s Energy Conservation Plan, a climate action plan, campus carbon footprint measurements, energy policy, and maintained countless compliance records. Tony is always the first to be called on to solve a problem and his ability to find solutions to many of those complex problems will make him hard to replace.

His attention to detail, his ability to save the college money on every project, and his “get it done” approach to work are just a few of his many strengths that have served 51ÁÔÆæ, the facilities, and students very well. While he probably won’t miss the early morning drives on snowy roads to help make the decisions to cancel classes or being called back out to campus when construction crews hit water mains, we will surely miss Tony’s friendly face and his 38 years of vast knowledge of the campus.

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Are you interested in attending 51ÁÔÆæ?  Apply Today!

51ÁÔÆæ, founded in 1918, is a nationally-recognized, two-year college located in central North Iowa.  With approximately 3,000 career and transfer students, the College has been recognized by the Aspen Institute as a leading community college in the nation.  51ÁÔÆæ welcomes students from across Iowa, Minnesota, the nation, and the world. The College has served as a leader in student-centered learning, community engagement, and collaborative leadership for more than 100 years.  

The post 51ÁÔÆæ faculty, staff celebrated at Spring Grill appeared first on 51ÁÔÆæ Minute.