Choosing Harper College –

At Harper, ten percent of current nursing students are male.

Boy Scouts is for boys. Nursing can be, too. That’s the message behind First Aid Merit Badge Day at Harper College, an event led by male Harper nursing students and graduates aimed at marketing the still-female-dominated career field to local Boy Scout troops. “We realized many young men make judgments early-on about acceptable careers. By providing male nurse role models, we hope to prevent some of the preconceived notions,” Nursing Professor Kate Kniest says.

The event, held Saturday, January 30, showcased the College’s state-of-the-art Nursing Lab and allowed the Scouts – primarily middle-schoolers from Chicago’s suburbs – a chance to practice first aid techniques on Harper nursing manikins and on each other. The Scouts also heard from male nursing students enrolled in Harper’s program, and from recent graduates. The day supported the Scouts’ advancement toward Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scout program, and gave the boys hands-on exposure to the nursing profession.

“We hope to help them realize what an important and challenging profession nursing is,” Kniest says. “It’s good for them to have a positive experience like this, and to hear at a young age from men who’ve chosen the nursing profession.”

Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health show that fewer than 6 percent of U.S. RNs are male.

Harper News Bureau

Coach Tony Amarino records 300th career win

Tony Amarino, head coach of Harper College’s men’s basketball team, recently recorded his 300th career win as a head basketball coach. The win came on a solid, 85-59 victory over Wright College. Coach Amarino becomes only the 97th coach in NJCAA history to reach this milestone.

Coach Amarino was humble in receiving congratulations, saying, “I don’t really want to make that big of a deal out of this. It’s nice to reach 300 and I’m proud of it, but I really don’t pay that much attention to overall records. In fact, I didn’t even realize I did it until Lou Nunez (Harper College basketball announcer) told me about it.”

263 of Coach Amarino’s wins came while he was the basketball coach at Morton College where his teams recorded six 20-win seasons and recorded 12 consecutive seasons with Top-3 finishes in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference.

In his 3rd season at Harper, Coach Amarino is looking to bring that consistent winning to the Hawks.

“I want to turn out good kids and get them to continue playing at a 4-year school with a scholarship. If you can do that consistently the wins will take care of themselves.”

Harper Athletics

Meeting David Wilson:
See the Documentary and the Writer/Director in Person

Meeting David Wilson
Two film showings:
February 2 and 3
Free

A Conversation about the Film
and Race in America
with writer/director, David Wilson
February 8
Free for Harper students
Tickets $5-7

David Wilson, a 28-year-old African-American journalist, journeys into his family’s past to find answers to America’s racial divide. Along the way he meets another David Wilson, the descendant of his family’s slave master. This discovery leads to a momentous encounter between these two men of the same name, whose ancestors were on the opposite sides of freedom. Through DNA testing, David determines his African roots and returns to his native land. See the film for free on February 2 or 3. Then, come back to hear director David Wilson speak on February 8. Buy tickets now.

A Becoming Aware/Black History Month event sponsored by Student Activities.

Also Live@Harper this Spring:

Matt Irie: House Paintings Exhibit
January 19 - February 11

The Real Rain Man film
March 8 and 9

Barry Miles,
Beatles Insider/Author
March 11

Urinetown, The Musical
March 12-14 and 19-21
Buy tickets now.

CMC presents:
Folk/Jazz Collision
March 13

Extraordinary People:
The Incredible Savant Syndrome
March 15

Just added: Food Network's
Ace of Cakes Star
Geof Manthorne
April 13

Shakespeare's comedy,
Much Ado About Nothing
by the National Players
April 18

Learn more about all the Arts and Events you can explore Live@Harper or Buy tickets now.

Sam Giordano’s 35 years as a firefighter are just one of many reasons he is an integral member of Harper’s Fire Science Technology department.

Giordano was part of the Frankfort Fire Protection District from 1974 to 2002, where he served in several roles and started the Department’s first Paramedic Program in 1985. He also was part of the Argonne Fire Department from 1977 to 2000, where he again served in many roles, including EMS Director. He also has worked at other area fire departments as the Director of Training and Safety. Giordano has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the United States Department of Energy Outstanding Lifesaving Award.

Since joining Harper College’s faculty in 2002, Giordano has taught several classes within the department, including Fundamentals of Fire Protection, Fire Behavior and Combustion and Firefighting Strategies and Tactics. But there’s one that particularly stands out: the Fire Service Internship program, which he oversees.

The program involves eight area fire departments and allows Fire Science Technology students at Harper to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom at an actual fire station. “They report for duty in the morning, they go through roll call, they go through all the training of the day...they do everything a firefighter would do,” he says.

“There’s a lot of science behind Fire Science Technology,” he says.

“There’s chemistry, physics and math. In the old days, it was ‘Do what I tell you to do, because I told you’. Now there’s a lot of information behind what we’re telling you to do.”

Meet Other Harper Faculty