Change Starts Here

When Carolyn Hunter graduated from a Virginia community college in 1977 and began working on a McDonald’s grill, she could not have imagined that she would someday own 3 McDonalds locations. Now, as a member of the TTC Foundation Board of Trustees and donor of the college’s first $1 Million pledge, she keeps finding new ways to support the college. Her latest philanthropic venture, Sissy’s Closet, is one of them. “Where upscale meets resale,” Sissy’s Closet is a retail store in Goose Creek that sells new and gently used ladies clothing and accessories.  The shop is named for Rachel Thompson, Carolyn’s late mother, who was affectionately known as Sissy and instilled in Carolyn a sense of determination and perseverance.   All proceeds from Sissy’s Closet benefit Trident Technical College Foundation , Ronald McDonald House of Charleston , and Teacher’s Supply Closet . Their mission is to raise money for these charities, but also provide opportunities for volunteerism and...

The Charleston area is expected to add 25,000 new jobs during the next five years, nearly seven times the growth of the previous five years, and Trident Technical College is leading the charge to meet workforce demand. The Charleston Metro Chamber, along with several other local community and higher education organizations, commissioned and participated in a study to compare the higher education offerings in our region against the needs of our employers. National consultants from Avalanche Consulting and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) worked to identify the region’s higher education gaps. The report focused on training programs that align with job sectors identified by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Charleston Regional Development Alliance as experiencing rapid growth: Advanced Security and IT, Aerospace/Aviation, Biomedical/Healthcare and Energy Systems. It is not surprising that TTC is leading the way among local higher educ...

Lou Robinson and Carolyn Hunter No one could have predicted the extreme success of the Beatles when they invaded America in 1964, nor the impact that TTC would have on economic development in the Lowcountry when its doors opened the same year.  But guests at the Legacy Society Luncheon held on May 21 were definitely celebrating both! The purpose of the 2 nd annual event was to honor 30 Legacy Society members for their commitment to support the foundation through wills, annuities, life insurance policies, etc.  The members consist of college employees and retirees, foundation board members, college Area Commissioners and other special friends. Guests donned brightly-colored peace specs and enjoyed a Beatles-themed lunch in honor of both the college’s and the Beatles’ 50 th anniversary.  President Mary Thornley asked members of the Legacy Society to share why they support the foundation through the Legacy Society and how they hope to see TTC grow over...

Jimmy Bagwell, Chair, TTC Foundation Board  of Trustees, presents TTC President, Mary  Thornley with a check for VDI. After TTC Foundation raised more than $2 Million for the Technology and Equipment Fund during the Building Opportunity Campaign for Trident Technical College, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is becoming a reality. In fact, many students, faculty and staff are already using the technology. The campus-wide conversion to this transformational technology initiative will allow the college to realize more than $3 million in net savings over the next 10 years while furthering the college’s mission to provide more affordable, accessible educational opportunities for all students and faculty members, across all programs and campuses. VDI replaces individual desktop computers with a client/server cloud system. VDI, which pushes software applications from a central server to individual units, eliminates the need for costly desktop computers that req...

Amanda Simmons started her college career at a four-year college, but only three weeks into the semester found that she had been removed from the class rolls and locked out of her dorm because her student loan had not been approved. She sought assistance to remain in college but after several weeks was finally told by an employee that she should just give up – maybe "she wasn’t meant for college". She tried semester after semester to return, but each time she was met with new challenges and she began to accept those harsh words – maybe she wasn’t meant for college – and eventually she gave up. Over the years she became angry at herself for not trying harder in high school. She became bitter about her circumstances and despaired as she saw the world pass her by. After years of feeling dejected, her husband encouraged her to try again and she found herself at Trident Tech. Even with family and work obligations, she excelled. She became an active member of Phi Theta Kappa...

Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places.  When Betsy Bamberg answered her door late one night several years ago, the last thing she expected to see was a young woman standing there holding Betsy's purse.    At first it wasn’t clear exactly why the woman was holding her purse - Betsy hadn't even realized it was missing! But as the woman stood before her, it was evident that she was living a hard life, possibly on the streets.  The mystery woman told Betsy that there are people who wander downtown Charleston checking for unlocked cars and anything of value that may be inside. Betsy had inadvertently left her purse in her unlocked car. At first, Betsy was skeptical.    But when she looked through the purse there was absolutely nothing missing.  And when she tried to give the woman the $100 cash that was in her wallet, the woman refused.  She said, “Thank you but I only wanted to make sure that it was returned to you safe...

Jeff Walters attributes two things to his success:  his graduation in Trident Technical College and a work-related injury that left him with a broken coccyx, fractured lower back, two sprained ankles, a sprained wrist and worst of all, an arm that was “shattered into a million pieces.”    On December 8, 1988, Jeff voluntarily climbed on to a conveyor belt to secure a limit switch that was needed in order for the machine to operate.  In his haste to get home for the day, he violated the lock out procedures and the belt started to run more than 100 feet per minute.  Jeff was slammed against a wall, knocking him up in the air, then fell 19 feet to a concrete floor.  His doctor explained his injuries and that he had sustained fractured vertebrae in the lower back and a broken coccyx (tail bone). Then he said, “We are most concerned about your left arm; it is shattered into a million pieces.” Jeff asked if they could pin it back together...