Phillips’ 48 Receives Freedom Medal From Delaware County Veterans Memorial Assoc.
Career Fairs Continue Attracting Companies Eager To Hire Williamson Students!
Solar Panels Are Installed On Restall’ s Roof
Phillips’ 48 Receives Freedom Medal From Delaware County Veterans Memorial Assoc.
Richard“ Dick” Phillips 4W8 received the Freedom Medal from the Delaware
Richard“ Dick” Phillips 4W8
County Veterans Memorial Association at the 3rd Annual Freedom Medal Dinner on Nov. 17, at the Springfield County Club.
Phillips received his medal from Bobby Rydell, legendary performer and Vietnam veteran, after being introduced by John McComb, commander of American Legion Post # 805, and the showing of a short film of the highlights of Phillip’ s life.
Sue Serio, Fox 29 weather anchor, emceed the event, with help from Guy Fizzano, DCVMA president and Army veteran, and Mario Civera, Delaware County Council chairman. Also in the audience were President Michael and Mary Nell Rounds.
Phillips said,“ I am deeply honored to receive this unexpected award. I thank the Delaware County Veterans Memorial Association and the many comrades
I was privileged to work with, primarily from the American Legion Post # 805 and the Honor Guard of the Marple- Newtown Combined Veterans Alliance. These are the veterans who have stood shoulder to shoulder with me through summer heat and winter cold performing military funeral services honoring our fallen comrades. I humbly salute you all.”
Phillips, who studied power plant technology at Williamson, was in the Navy Air Corps’ active reserves from 1948-51 in a Hellcat Squadron. He enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and, after receiving top secret Q clearance, went to Sandia Base in Albuquerque, N. M., as a mechanic on an atomic bomb assembly team. After completing an electronics technician’ s course in Kessler AFB in Biloxi, Miss., he returned to Sandia Base with the 4th Tactical Depot Squadron as an electronics technician for the bomb. He then went to the 2nd Tac. Depot Squadron at Langley AFB, where he was promoted to staff sergeant and worked on the electrical and electronics section of the bomb.
Since 1989, he has been an active member of American Legion Post # 805, serving two times as post commander, two times as Delaware County commander, and as 8th District deputy commander and sergeant at arms.
He is a charter member of the Marple- Newtown Combined Veterans Alliance honor guard, a group sanctioned by the Department of Defense as military funeral providers. The group performs at about 250-300 funerals each year. Phillips estimates he has participated in over 2,500 funerals.
In 2014, he received the Alumni Association’ s Alumnus of the Year Award.
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Career Fairs Continue Attracting Companies Eager To Hire Williamson Students!
With many first-time vendors and many returnees, the fall Career Fair in the Restall Sports Center was a big success, said Margaret“ Weemie” Kingham, placement director.
“ All in all, this Career Fair was fantastic” said Kingham.“ We had 92 vendors, which is great for our fall Career Fair. All of our trades were equally represented. This event is all about choices, which is what I like to see. I want our seniors to be able to go after the job they want and not have to take a job that isn’ t right for them just because that was all that was available.”
The energy level at the Career Fair was extremely high among the students and the vendors, she said.“ There was a din in the air because of the excitement. I think everyone was enjoying it very much.”
She said many interviews took place and many job offers were made.“ There is definitely a demand for Williamson graduates.”
There also was a very impressive number of graduates in attendance representing their companies.“ They were here because they are proud of their companies, proud of being Williamson graduates, and they enjoy meeting with the students. They have been telling their employers about Williamson and this gives them a chance to show them what it is actually like. In many cases, the attendance of a company at the fair was initiated by a graduate.”
New this year, each vendor received a flash drive containing the resume of every senior, and all the students received a booklet with information on each vendor, including which trades they were interested in, a brief description of the company, names of recruiters present at the fair, and contact information.
For the first time since the Career Fairs began several years ago, four levels of sponsorships were made available to recruiters. The levels ranged from Artisan at $ 150 to Chairman at $ 1,500 and provided benefits based on the needs of each company in attendance.
Michele Minicozzi, managing director of the Williamson Fund, said“ We designed our levels of sponsorship based on career fair models used by other colleges in an effort to ensure both recruiters and students the best experience possible. We offered various opportunities for sponsors to interact with students, including scheduled presentations to specific trades, one-onone interviews, and student-led campus tours, to name just a few.
“ We are grateful for the wonderful response we had to this first-time effort, especially our Chairman sponsors: Axalta Coating Systems, D. R. Horton Inc., Shearon Environmental Design, Storm
Technologies, Inc., and Timet.”
Chairman sponsorships include registration for both the fall and spring Career Fairs, a full-page advertisement in the Career Fair booklet, an opportunity to make a presentation to specified students in a particular trade, and an Assembly Hour presentation, among other perks.
The next Career Fair will be held Wednesday, Nov. 15, from 8 a. m. to noon with presentations and interviews taking place from 1-3 p. m. For more information, to make a reservation, or to become a sponsor, visit www. williamson. edu / student-life / career-services / career-fairs / or contact Margaret Kingham at 610-566-1776, ext. 247, or mkingham @ williamson. edu.
Solar Panels Are Installed On Restall’ s Roof
Williamson’ s Career Fairs give students the opportunity to meet personally with representatives of dozens of companies in their field.
Power plant technology students helped install 372 solar panels on the roof of the Restall Sports Center recently. The panels generate 92 kW of power and will provide savings on Williamson’ s fuel bills and give students an additional educational experience. The project was funded through a generous donation by Lee Rowan to the“ Building for the Future” capital campaign. The solar panels were installed by TerraSol Energies, Inc., of Glenn Mills.