July 2026 Central Connection
July 1, 2026
CCC earns honor for sustainability efforts
Central Community College has received a STARS gold rating for its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Its STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) measures and encourages sustainability in higher education. The 1,200 participants in 52 countries report their achievements in academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration and innovation and leadership.
Ben Newton, CCC environmental sustainability director, said the college has made gains in campus and community engagement, operations and academics each year since 2017.
In 2025, CCC students participated in Nebraska’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which was funded by the National Science Foundation. The research focused on 10 native Nebraska plants at four CCC locations. Students assessed how each plant attracted and supported native pollinators.
The Students 4 Sustainability club has increased engagement through community events such as native seed dispersal at the Hastings dog park, monarch butterfly tagging at the Nebraska State Fair, highway cleanups and presentations at sustainability conferences.
CCC has reduced paper use by 25 percent since 2016. It uses hybrid electric vehicles, offers EV charging stations and gets 70 percent of its electricity from wind and solar.
Employees continue to expand eBadges, achieve goals through an environmental sustainability action plan and maintain sustainability-focused community partnerships that address waste reduction, recycling, pollinator conservation, habitat restoration and environmental education.
“We are very proud to have achieved a STARS gold rating,” Newton said. “The Central Community College administration, faculty, staff and students have all been key to helping our sustainability efforts grow and improve by tracking collective efforts through the STARS program.”
Photo: Central Community College individuals who attended and presented at the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability conference at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, were Analy Arciva, sustainability professional; Charlotte Broker, sustainability intern; Sammy Fernandes, speech instructor; Brayden Adrian, sustainability professional; Crystal Ramm, Ord regional director; and Ben Newton, environmental sustainability director.
Partnership receives award
Central, Northeast and Southeast community colleges received the Outstanding Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program Award on June 9 ath the Nebraska Career Education Conference in Kearney.
The Nebraska Department of Education presented the award to the colleges in recognition of their collaboration on the Elevate Grant initiative, which is expanding registered apprenticeship opportunities and strengthening workforce pathways across the state.
The initiative was designed to create a multi-college apprenticeship hub that helps employers across a broad region of Nebraska to develop and sustain registered apprenticeship programs and provide students with hands-on, work-based learning opportunities aligned with in-demand careers.
Receiving the award “is an incredible honor and a reflection of the collaborative work happening through the Elevate Consortium,” said Catrina Gray, CCC apprenticeship director. “This partnership between Nebraska’s community colleges has expanded Registered Apprenticeship opportunities, strengthened employer engagement and created earn-and-learn pathways for students across the state.”
She also expressed gratitude for the partnership and support of Aksarben Foundation, which played a key role in helping with and supporting the Elevate Summit, which was successful in bringing together education, industry and workforce partners from across the state.
“CCC is honored to receive this recognition for the Elevate Consortium as apprenticeships are an important tool in helping to build a stronger workforce across Nebraska,” said CCC-Hastings President Dr. Christopher Waddle. “The partnership between the three community colleges has been successful not only in expanding the opportunities for students but also in building lasting apprenticeship networks across the state. The foundation has been laid to continue to build upon existing relationships and show others the value of an apprenticeship for their company.”
The Outstanding CTE Program Award is presented to programs that demonstrate excellence across several key areas such as alignment with the Nebraska career and technical education model, strong student achievement in both academic and career areas, innovative instruction tied to programs of study, leadership development through career and technical student organizations, effective career guidance and work-based learning, alignment to workforce and economic priorities, and community and industry engagement.
The Elevate partnership reflects these criteria through its focus on expanding apprenticeship opportunities, strengthening employer partnerships and increasing access to career-focused education in rural communities.
Through shared resources and coordinated outreach, the three colleges are helping reduce barriers for employers to participate in apprenticeship programs while creating new opportunities for students to earn while they learn.
Saum retires from college
Kim Saum of Columbus has retired as an administrative assistant for Dr. Elizabeth Klitz, vice president of student success and enrollment management.
She joined the staff of Central Community College in 2016 as a part-time resource center assistant to now-retired Dee Johnson and was later promoted to full-time status the same year. She moved into the student services position in 2024.
Before CCC, she was the director for the Fullerton Public Library. She also has and continues to work in her husband’s optometry office.
Saum is a graduate of Elkhorn High School who attended Wayne State College. She earned an associate of applied science degree in business technology from CCC and also completed a library sciences certificate.
While at CCC, she was a long-time adviser for the campus’ Phi Theta Kappa chapter and president of the support staff. Her community activities revolve around P.E.O. and the 1C Sanctuary.
Saum, and her husband, Jeffrey, have three sons and three grandchildren with a set of twins on the way.
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Playing for a good cause Jordan Janssen and Barry Horner (last two in the row) from the Central Community College Veterans and Military Resources Center stand with four of the golfers who came to the Centura Hills Golf Course in Cairo for Juneteenth for a charity event. The CCC duo organized the most popular hole game (lobbying four foam rubber grenades into a net 21 feet away) that raised $951 toward the more than $18,000 donated to the Hastings Chapter of Disabled American Veterans. |
Students take gold at SkillsUSA
Ten Central Community College students competed June 1-5 at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta with three of them earning gold medals.
They earned the right to go to the national championship after winning their competitions at the SkillsUSA Nebraska conference in April. The CCC students joined more than 19,000 students, teachers, education leaders and representatives from middle schools, high schools and postsecondary institutions participating in the event.
The three gold medal winners were Hastings Campus students Wyatt Kreutzer of Kearney and Hunter Trumble of Aurora won in the additive manufacturing team competition and Zander Sohl of Kearney won in the career and technical educator contest.
Other CCC participants were:
Columbus Campus: Ashton Behmerwohld of Mason City and Carson Kunze of Grand Island, 4th place in mechatronics, and Logan Bennett of Aurora, 6th place in firefighting.
Hastings Campus: Trevor Taubenheim of Kearney, 6th place in heavy equipment operator; Grace Ciancio of Fullerton, 14th place in culinary arts; Will Abood III of Ravenna, 15th place in CNC 3-Axis milling programmer; and Lauren Pohlenz of Doniphan, 23rd place in baking and pastry arts.
In tribune
Leslie Ann Christensen, 82, of North Aurora, Ill., died June 25, 2026.
She was born on January 27,1944, in Hastings to Carl and Mabel (Batterson) Christensen.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and history from West Texas A&M University in Canyon and a master’s degree in education from Hastings College.
She was an administrative assistant in the counseling office at Central Community College-Grand Island from 1999 until her retirement in 2009.
She previously worked in the library at California Polytechnic State University in Pomona and as a real estate office manager and appraiser, and in mortgages and loans at a bank. She also had nine years of experience running her own home day care business and was a part-time prescriptive reading instructor at CCC-Hastings.
While in Hastings, she was active in the Family Literacy Program and served as a deacon at First Presbyterian Church. She also had been a Girl Scout and Boy Scout leader.
Survivors include three children, seven grandchildren and her longtime companion, Jerry Lueth and his children and grandchildren.
A private family service is planned. Memorials are suggested to the Dementia Society of America.
Employee news
Administrative Office
Ron Golka has shifted positions from financial operations director to senior director of administrative and financial operations.
CCC Foundation
Cheri Beda has resigned as donor and community engagement director.
Columbus Campus
New employees include Jhonny Beltran, assistant soccer coach, and Kelsey Schulte, multimedia content specialist.
The following employees have shifted positions: Andrew Dunn, from industrial technology coordinator and trainer to industrial technology BUMP coordinator; Arun Chary Karnakanti, from service center coordinator to institutional research analyst in the administrative office; Janet Meays, from human resources generalist to events coordinator; and Allison Spencer, from associate dean of career and technical sciences to the same position at the Hastings Campus.
Grand Island Campus
New employees include Heather Ruhe, nursing assistant and medication aide trainer program coordinator; Erica Schoenstein, career and employment services specialist; and Tracy Williams, academic technology specialist.
The following employees have resigned: Chris Dierks, community education coordinator; Cesar Duran, admissions director; Kelsey Meharg, enrollment technology strategies director; Aimee Steinhardt Duysen, Entrepreneurship Center director; and Jennifer Walker, instructional technology specialist.
Hastings Campus
New employees include Zane Collett, library resource center supervisor; Dylan Kavelage, client systems administrator and Parker Kelson, multimedia content specialist.
Two employees have shifted positions: Jenn Arlt-Nikkila, from Academic Success Center coordinator to health programming director, and Dana Miller, from human resources generalist to senior human resources generalist.