January TRC meeting covers programs, insurance

Three Rivers College held its first board meeting of the semester on Jan. 22, with updates about programs, events and insurance rates. The board also took a moment to remember Raiders cheerleader Ashlie Correll, who passed away on campus last month.

“Lord, we lift up in prayer the family of Ashlie Correll, and all of her friends and classmates here at Three Rivers College in their time of mourning, and remember her contributions to this institution,” said Dr. Tim Hager during a prayer before the meeting.

In the president’s report, Dr. Wes Payne thanked Butler County EMS for recently donating an ambulance to the college’s emergency services training program.

“This ambulance will be an integral part of our emergency services training and really will help to improve the real-world aspect of our training. We have had an ambulance that was from the ‘80s that just had become unusable at this point, so this is a huge benefit to the school and especially to the program,” he said.

Payne also flipped the calendar back to December to celebrate the growing Rocky’s Angels program, wherein volunteers helped families in need buy Christmas presents. The families were chosen from among the student body.

“We were able to help over 60 students and their families with a lot of support from the community, a lot of support from our employee base,” Payne explained. “This is the second year that we have focused on our own students in trying to make sure that families have the opportunity to have a great Christmas, and it grew this year, and really is turning into a wonderful project.”

Payne also reported the lighting of the Tree of Hope on Nov. 21, 2024, was well-received. The annual event was organized by Behavioral Health Support Program Coordinator Corey Reynolds and commemorated loved ones lost to suicide and overdose while celebrating stories of recovery.

“That’s a continuing feature of how we are raising mental health awareness in our community and partnering with others to make a better community,” Payne stated.

During the financial report, COO Charlotte Eubank reported higher insurance premiums were an obstacle for TRC and other colleges this year.

“We’re seeing increases in those premiums across the board. That has been an industry-wide trend,” she noted. “Many other schools also had damage from the freezing temperatures a couple of years ago, and there’s just been a lot more losses, so the premiums are going up for everybody.”

That same severe cold froze pipes in the Bess Activity Center during Christmas break in 2022. Eubank reported, “From the frozen pipes that we had in the Bess Activity Center, we’re receiving those insurance proceeds. We want to get those in the budget so that we can have those appropriated to spend for that renovation.”