WKCTC to Hold Spring Commencement May 6

Mayor Brandi Harless Keynote Speaker

WKCTC MEDIA RELEASE: Paducah, KY (05/01/2017) — West Kentucky Community and Technical College will honor nearly 700 candidates for graduation during a commencement ceremony May 6 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center. There will also be a pinning ceremony for nursing students held prior to commencement at 11:30 a.m.

Featured commencement speaker, Mayor Brandi Harless, was elected as mayor in November 2016 with her term beginning in January 2017. She is the CEO/co-founder of Personal Medicine Plus and the contracted network director of Purchase Area Health Connections. She has served as the program director of Rocketown in Nashville Tenn., research assistant at Harvard University in Sierra Leone West Africa, knowledge manager at Management Sciences for Health in Washington, DC. Since returning to Paducah in 2009, she has served as grant writer/development manager for Heartland CARES, innovation director at EntrePaducah, and executive director at St. Nicholas Family Clinic.

WKCTC student Dallas McKinney, a 2017 Kentucky Community and Technical College System All-Academic Team member, will be the student commencement speaker. He has been an active representative of West Kentucky, serving diligently as the Student Government President; a Student Ambassador, volunteering many hours at the college and in the community; and as a member of the College's Iota Eta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. McKinney is earning an Associate in Science degree and plans to transfer to Western Kentucky University to study meteorology.

"I feel greatly honored for the opportunity to represent and give back to WKCTC by being nominated to the KCTCS All-Academic Team and to be speaking at commencement," said McKinney, a Graves County resident. "Coming to this college has propelled my education and personal growth....and I hope with my words and actions, I can convey what a great college we have and encourage others to support our mission of helping students succeed."

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West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) has been recognized four consecutive times by The Aspen Institute as an Aspen Prize Top 10 Community College and twice as a Finalist with Distinction for providing students with strong job training and continuing higher education opportunity, for achieving high completion and transfer rates, and for providing strong employment results for its graduates.

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