South Arkansas Community College freshman forward Kylee Portilloz was selected as the women’s basketball NJCAA Division II Region 2 Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 13 after averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds over a three-game stretch.

Portilloz, of Choudrant, Louisiana, also set a school record for rebounds in a game against Holmes Community College (Goodman, Mississippi) on Saturday at home, snagging 18.

For the season, Portilloz is averaging 22.3 points and 9.3 rebounds.

The Stars (0-5) still are seeking their first victory of the season. They next play at 2 p.m. on Saturday at home vs. Shorter College.

A record number of students will be inducted into the South Arkansas Community College chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society at 6 p.m. Thursday (Nov 11) at the Mahony Family Library Auditorium.

The Alpha Gamma Iota Chapter fall 2022 inductees are, from Hamburg, Callie Martin and Courtney Adams; from Strong, Petrinia Bankston, Ruth Kelly, Chrishunda Williams and Dyinasty Davis; from Camden, Lexi Belt, Tiauna Wilkins, Kenja McGowan and Carmen Clark; from Warren, Abigail Merales, Ambrosia Bradley, Perla Sosa, Mayra Rodriguez, Jennifer Martin, Jendy Martinez and Shana Henderson; from El Dorado, Joseph King, James Sinclair, Carla Smith, India Norful, Chelsea Phillips, Carolyn Norman, Kade Lively, Whitney Howard, Aaron Warriner, Stephanie White, Cynthia Carrillo, Destyne Rozier, Autumn Hernandez, Jasmine Glaspie and Taylor Cook; from Magnolia, Cadeidre Carrington, Jadelyn Snider and Tori Cruse; from Smackover, Kyla Davis and Ashton McCrary; from Junction City, Julia Rogers, SaKiya Gill and Keena Murray; from Heber Springs, Maddison Graham; from Louann, Caleb Thornton; from Prescott, Alicia Harper; from Monticello, Lasandra Sanders, Christina Wood and Lauren Hawkins; from Bryant, Donald Miller; from Fordyce, Damian Warner and Madyson Williams; from Crossett, Shonta Moore; from Hermitage, Joseph Myers; from West Monroe, Louisiana, Tabitha Aguillard; from Minden, Louisiana, Triveya Hawkins and Alisha Jones; from Bernice, Louisiana, Sabrina Henry; from Jonesboro, Louisiana, Alexis Johnson; from Castor, Louisiana, Lacosta Norman.

The Mahony Family Library Gallery has opened with Villegas: A Retrospective, consisting of eight pieces by Maria Botti and Jorge Villegas which will be displayed through the end of December.

The Villegases each contributed four pieces from a total of eight different art series. Her work includes acrylic on paper and board, capturing impressions of single moments and reflecting her interest in human expression and its relationship with time and space. His pieces include acrylic on canvas and oil on canvas, and reflect human beauty and forces of the universe.

An artist reception was held on Oct. 4 to honor the artists and celebrate the opening of their display. Future exhibits will follow in the library gallery on a rotating basis.

Maria Botti Villegas is a professional muralist, illustrator and multidisciplinary artist who resides in El Dorado and has been teaching art for 27 years at the South Arkansas Arts Center and as an Arkansas arts-in-education teacher in the El Dorado School District. She has a five-year degree from Pueyrredon School of Fine Arts in her native country of Argentina. She has received numerous awards and has painted 30 public murals in Arkansas and Louisiana.

Jorge Villegas also is a multidisciplinary artist, muralist and educator who has worked with people from all backgrounds, from kindergarteners to death-row inmates, for the last 40 years. After graduating with degrees from three different colleges of fine arts in Argentina, he became a naturalized American citizen in 1993. He has received numerous awards and his work is in private collections and museums around the nation.

SouthArk receives Department of Labor grant

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded South Arkansas Community College with a three-year, $835,499 Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities grant.

Project activities will focus on meeting regional industry needs for workers with hands-on experience to fill open positions. SouthArk will recruit and train participants for welding and advanced manufacturing positions. Participants can enroll in for-credit certificate programs in industrial engineering technology, such as industrial maintenance, electrical and instrumentation, or chemical process technology, or a non-credit welding program, still under development, that provides basic knowledge and skills for entry-level positions as a welder’s helper.

All programs will be held on SouthArk’s East Campus, in the state-of-the-art Charles Hays Advanced Manufacturing Training Center.

Together with industry partners, new work-based learning opportunities will be developed that enable participants to earn a living while continuing to build their skills. The focus of recruitment for this program will be those who are new to the workforce; dislocated workers, perhaps returning to work after a pandemic-forced hiatus or closure; incumbent workers, seeking to improve their career and earning opportunities; and veterans.

For more information, contact career and technical education dean Ray Winiecki at (870) 864-7110.