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Bucks and Penn State Abington Create New Pathway for Honors Students
Bucks County Community College has strengthened its partnership with Penn State Abington to create a new pathway for Bucks Honors students to smoothly transfer into the Penn State Abington Honors Program.
The Honors-to-Honors agreement was signed on Thursday, October 29, at Bucks County Community College’s Newtown Campus.
“This agreement recognizes the rigor and quality of the Bucks Honors program as appropriate preparation for upper-division work at Penn State Abington,” said Patrick M. Jones, Ph.D., President and CEO of Bucks County Community College. “What’s more, this new pathway enhances collaboration between the two institutions in support of high-achieving, highly motivated students.”
In addition to providing a structured pathway for Bucks Honors students to be admitted to the Penn State Abington Honors Program, the agreement provides support for timely degree completion by aligning advising, curriculum planning, and student support services.
“Student success is at the heart of our partnership with Bucks County Community College. By creating a seamless transfer pathway into the Abington Honors Program, we are expanding access to the leadership development and hands-on learning opportunities that define the Abington Experience,” Penn State Abington Chancellor Gary Liguori, Ph.D., said. "Together, we are helping talented students build on their success and prepare for meaningful careers and lifelong achievement."
Penn State Abington will also waive the standard undergraduate transfer application fee for Bucks Honors students who apply under this agreement.
Bucks County Community College students who take advantage of the dual admission agreement with Penn State Abington save more than $18,000 in tuition and fees by completing their associate degree at Bucks before transferring.
Applebachsville Artist Named 50th Bucks County Poet Laureate
Lynda Gene Rymond does not own a television.
Instead, she “might hear 25 species of birds sharing local news and gossip” as she gardens on her small farm in Applebachsville in Haycock Township, just north of Lake Nockamixon.
The local news the birds are tweeting about now is that Rymond, after seven previous entries and three times as a runner up, has been named the 50th Bucks County Poet Laureate, officials at Bucks County Community College announced.
The 10 poems Rymond submitted this year rose to the top of 90 entries, said Professor Ethel Rackin, Ph.D., director of the longest-running poet laureate competition in Pennsylvania.
“This truly was an incredibly talented field of writers who entered the contest this year,” said Rackin. “The caliber of entries we received is, in my view, clearly a reflection on the distinctive poetry community we’ve cultivated here in Bucks County.”
Rymond will be celebrated with a reading and reception at 1 p.m. Saturday, November 14, in Tyler Hall on the College’s Newtown Campus, joined by 2025 Bucks County Poet Laureate Madeline Marriott of Holland and preliminary contest judge Michelle Messina Reale. The event is free and open to the public.
The final judge was Jeanne Marie Beaumont, who also selected three runners-up who will join Rymond at the November 14 celebration. They are first runner-up Kevin Kaiser of Warrington, second runner-up Natalie Mera Ford of Doylestown, and third runner-up Camille Norvaisas of Feasterville.
Beaumont described the winner as “a keen observer of the natural world, right down to the smallest ‘glints of mica’ and ‘rover ants,’ while also attending to the ways the human is interwoven with it. This results in poems that often evoke the earliest poetic forms of spell, litany, and chant...”
Indeed, Rymond said all her poetry and fiction comes from her “deep roots in the land itself, her seasons, her creatures, the great interweaving that is the natural world,” she noted. “Even when I write of human endeavors, nature is present.”
Rymond, who grew up in Feasterville, added that she has been drawn to nature as her spiritual life and sustenance ever since she was a child, as a refuge from a tumultuous home life and being badly bullied at school.
“The woods and fields were my place of peace and animals my trusted companions. That has only deepened as I age,” Rymond said. “We live on a miracle planet thick with interwoven relationships we are only beginning to understand – even while it is being sliced away by greed and violence. I will keep calling attention to the wonder of it all – even to the glints of mica and herds of pill bugs in a shovelful of garden earth.”
After studying art at Bucks County Community College “on and off for about six years,” Rymond ventured west and received a B.F.A. from the California College of Arts and Crafts, where she studied drawing, ceramics and book arts.
“As I started classes there, I realized how well my Bucks faculty – Marlene Miller, Charlette Schatz, Alan Goldstein, and others – had prepared me,” recalled Rymond. “And even though the past couple of decades have been more about writing than visual art, the same concepts apply: perseverance, critical thinking, contrasts, composition…”
She was drawn to writing as a creative form around the year 2000 and eventually joined the masters’ poetry workshops led by the late Bucks County Community College Professor Chris Bursk.
“When I joined in 2019, Chris and the other poets pulled me into deeper waters,” Rymond recalled. “It was pure joy, both in the writing and the finding of ‘my people.’”
Rymond authored the poetry chapbook “Spellbook” (Moonstone Arts) and the children’s books “The Village of Basketeers” and “Oscar and the Mooncats” (Houghton Mifflin). Her poems have been published in numerous journals and anthologies, and her short story “Turn, Turn” won the 2020 Pennwriters Competition.
She now lives on the 2.5-acre Goblin Farm in Applebachsville with her husband, the painter Charles Browning, where they tend goats, chickens, honeybees, an overly large vegetable and fruit garden, and share two studios – and no TV set.
“Charles and I met in art school 40 years ago, and as our lives came together, we chose our creative work over a more financially secure path,” said Rymond. “It doesn’t make sense on paper – but in terms of sharing a rich life of the mind, it sure keeps things interesting. And as for television – who has the time when the weeds and Orion are calling?”
Sample Poem by Lynda Gene Rymond, 50th Bucks County Poet Laureate:
On the Uses of Poetry
Perhaps it is you who walks early, earlyto a meadow in September early, early
and sees that the small arachnids have writtenall night in strands linking stem and leaf,
rail and tree and gate and white-lace flowersand those lines now illuminate with shining
drops of fog or dew or foggy dew or maybea drizzle early, early and now you are witness
to how everything connects to everything elseby line and light and the most ephemeral gems
of holy water and while you stand agapeearly, early you see that now one small spider
has clambered to your shoelace and endeavorswith her own lyric strand to inform you
early, early of your place in the interweavingand that it is not too late not too late after all.
Creative Transformation Takes Flight in Art that Blooms
The beauty of nature and art converge in Newtown November 7 – 8 at Bucks County Community College’s fifth annual Art that Blooms festival.
The two-day collaborative event brings the worlds of fine art and floral design together at the Hicks Art Center, located on the east end of the campus at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa.
Floral design instructor Renee Tucci, AIFD, PFCI, AAF, says the exhibition will feature dozens of imaginative floral displays paired alongside student-crafted paintings, sculptures, and woodwork. More than 60 art and floral design students are expected to participate.
“This year’s theme, Dynamic, perfectly captures the energy and movement our designers bring to the event," said Tucci, whose students have exhibited at the Philadelphia Flower Show for the past two years. "Visitors can expect an immersive experience where art and floral design continuously engage with one another, from live hourly demonstrations to interactive hands-on sessions. It’s an exciting showcase of innovation, momentum, and creative transformation." Art that Blooms takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, November 7, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, November 8.
Throughout the weekend, attendees can watch live demonstrations at the top and bottom of every hour, presented by the School of Visual and Performing Arts and the Continuing Education floral design teams.
“New to the show this year is the Bucks Bloom Shop, where fresh flowers to carry and wear will be available to purchase,” Tucci added. “Proceeds of all flowers and snack sales will benefit the Continuing Education and Floral Design Program.”
The popular “make and take” interactive, hands-on workshops return for both children and adults. Guests may sign up to take part when they arrive, as openings fill up fast. And the Makers Market Vendor Fair is back, offering a marketplace where guests can browse and shop from local crafters while exploring the exhibition.
On Sunday at 3 p.m., judges will announce the winners for the Showpiece, the Designer of the Year Competition, and the People’s Choice award.
Community members are invited to roam the halls of the Hicks Art Center freely during festival hours. For more information, visit the Art That Blooms web page or email bucksfloraldesign@gmail.com.
Battalion Chief and Marine Corps Veteran Tapped as Fire School Director
Bucks County Community College officials have named Ryan Ross as the new Director of the Fire School, bringing experience in fire-service leadership, training, operations, and organizational management to the role.
Ross is currently battalion chief with the Perkasie Fire Company, where he has been a member since 2009. He has also served as founder and CEO of Quality Back Office, a multi-site organization where he oversaw budgeting, operations, logistics, and strategic planning. Prior to that, the Perkasie resident served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a section lead, curriculum author, and instructor, leading large teams and developing training programs adopted across an entire occupational field.
"Every bit of my fire training happened right here at Bucks, and this school shaped the firefighter and officer I became,” Ross said. “When the chance came to lead it, I didn't see it as shifting gears. I saw it as coming home and giving back to the place that trained me and thousands of firefighters across Pennsylvania and beyond. The firefighters and departments we serve deserve the best training anywhere, and my goal is to make sure that's what Bucks delivers, every class, every time.”
As Director of the Fire School, Ross will lead firefighter training and certification programs that support fire departments and emergency responders throughout Bucks County and the surrounding region.
“We are thrilled to have Ryan join this important leadership position,” said President & CEO Patrick M. Jones. “As an active firefighter in Bucks County, a business entrepreneur, and a United States Marine Corps veteran, he possesses the knowledge, business acumen, and leadership skills needed to lead the Fire School into its next era of service both in Bucks County and beyond.”
Ross, who earned a business degree from Park University, says the combination of his military and business experience plus firefighting service make him uniquely qualified to lead the College’s Fire School.
“The Marine Corps taught me that standards matter and that you take care of your people,” Ross said. “Building and running businesses taught me to listen to the customer, be accountable for results, and make an organization work for the people it serves. And serving as a battalion chief taught me what firefighters actually need when they walk into a classroom or onto the training ground. I'll bring all three to this job."
Bucks County Community College is the largest provider of fire and emergency services training and certification in Pennsylvania, training about 45,000 first responders annually in all 67 counties in the Commonwealth. The College operates the Bucks County Public Safety Training Center in Doylestown and the Lower Bucks County Public Safety Training Center in Croydon, and sends teams of instructors throughout the United States and abroad.
Bucks County Community College and the Bucks IU Expand Partnership
The Bucks County Intermediate Unit (Bucks IU) and Bucks County Community College (BCCC) have announced an expansion of their long-standing partnership to add an adult services hub – the IU’s first – on the College’s Newtown Campus to better serve IU clients over age 22.
“At Bucks County Community College, partnerships with key community organizations are crucial to our success,” said President and CEO Patrick M. Jones, Ph.D. “Strategic partnerships allow us to combine resources to extend the reach and impact of both organizations. This evolution of our relationship with the Bucks IU is just one of the latest examples of such partnerships, with more on the horizon.”
Jones added that the expanded partnership benefits each organization. The space will serve as the home of an Adult Community Hub, connecting participants to the educational, social, vocational, and wellness opportunities available on campus and throughout the community. Individuals will build practical life skills, explore employment opportunities, develop relationships, and participate in meaningful experiences that support independence and community inclusion.
“The Adult Community Hub reflects our commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for individuals with disabilities beyond their K-12 years,” said Mark Hoffman, Ed.D., the Bucks IU’s executive director. “This partnership recognizes a simple truth: adulthood should bring new opportunities, not fewer. Through our collaboration with Bucks County Community College, participants will have access to authentic learning, social, and vocational experiences that foster independence, connection, and personal growth. Together, we are creating a pathway that helps more individuals build fulfilling lives as active members of their community.”
The two organizations already collaborate in many ways. Bucks County Community College provides Bucks IU with classroom space to serve preschool age students, which gives the College’s Pre K-4 early education students the chance to work with special needs children directly on campus. This has been a fixture on the Newtown Campus for many years and now has a new home in the specially designed Early Learning Center. The IU also uses classroom space at the Upper Bucks Campus in Perkasie and the Gene and Marlene Epstein Campus in Bristol to serve students ages 18 - 22. Bucks County Community College students enrolled in the Associate of Science in Nursing program also complete a community clinical rotation at Bucks IU’s Lower Southampton Early Learning Center.
BCCC and Bucks IU also collaborate on a unique registered apprenticeship program to help address the critical shortage of special education teachers. The program — the first of its kind in Pennsylvania — is a three-way collaboration between the College, the Bucks IU, and Gwynedd Mercy University. Students earn an associate degree at Bucks and a bachelor’s degree from Gwynedd Mercy while completing apprenticeships at the BCIU.
Get Help Finding Your Roots at Family History Month Meet & Greet
In celebration of Family History Month, Bucks County Community College’s Library will host a free Family History Event Meet & Greet on Thursday, October 15, from noon to 2 p.m. on the Newtown Campus.
The event aims to connect community members with the vast array of local resources available to aid them in their personal family history searches while highlighting the county's rich cultural heritage.
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet representatives from local genealogical societies, historical associations, and museums spanning Bucks County, according to Kelly Deeny, the Library’s community outreach technician who organized the event for the third year in a row.
“Each year’s event has been so well received that we’ve expanded the number of organizations taking part,” said Deeny. “And so, whether you’re an avid genealogy enthusiast or just starting out, we have plenty of resources to help you in your family history journey.”
Participating organizations scheduled to attend include:
Bolton Mansion
Bucks County Free Library
Bucks County Genealogical Society
Bucks County Historical Society/Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle
Bucks County Register of Wills & Clerk of Orphans’ Court
Doylestown Historical Society
Gather Place Museum
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
Grundy Museum & Archives
Historic Fallsington
Pennsbury Manor
Plumstead Historical Society
Solebury Township Historical Society
Washington Crossing Historic Park
Yardley Historical Association
The event, which is free and open to the public, takes place in the Gallagher Room of the Rollins Center.
The campus is located at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, PA, where there is ample free parking. For a campus map and directions, visit our Newtown Campus web page
