The Plainsman Press - South Plains College

For many students, learning a foreign language may seem hard. However, South Plains College recently upgraded a foreign language lab that was created to make learning languages a much easier task.

“The lab is on the cutting edge of technology,” said Valerie Job, an associate professor of Spanish at SPC. “It allows students and teachers to interact through text messaging on the computers, and it helps balance what the students learn in the classroom.”

The advancements to the ASC language resource laboratory were completed in March, allowing students to engage in their own learning experience through voice graphing, video, and computer interaction.

“I think it’s good for students who don’t have time to study at home,” said Qushanda Jones, 20, who is a nursing major.

SPC has spent five years preparing for the ASC Direct Esprit DI-8 system. More than 500 hours of investigation, travel, research, and communication has gone into the project. It is focused on giving students a way to open doors to language and teaching, as well as a means of reinforcing the use of technology to be carried into the job market.

The laboratory is located in the Communications Building on the Levelland campus, while there are plans for a language laboratory on the Reese campus in the future.

The laboratory consists of 23 computer stations, three of which are equipped for those with disabilities. The students use the stations to participate in different learning activities, through the aid of headphones.

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SkillsUSA Team Wins 11 Medals, Advances to National Competition

by Amanda Hurt-Piercy, staff writer

Sometimes hard work and determination does pay off.

This rang true for the South Plains College SkillsUSA chapter that won 11 medals at the state competition held March 23-25 in San Antonio.

SkillsUSA strives to provide leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development to high school students, college students and professional members who are involved in technical, skilled, and service occupations, including health occupations.

“The students did a great job representing South Plains College,” said Gary Ham, instructor in automotive service technology at SPC and chapter advisor. “All of the members of the skill teams went above and beyond what they are required to do in class. It was really good to see them push themselves and to see that their work paid off.”

In the leadership contests, the chapter business procedures team came home with a gold medal in their first attempt in the chapter’s five-year history. The team consisted of John Ginter of Booker, Ronnie Ledbetter of Lubbock, Cris Ming of Guymon, Okla., Kim Robertson of Lubbock, Stephen Eliott of Shallowater and Jerred Bentley of Shamrock. This also happened to be the first time the chapter competed in this competition.