Students win big at PICA Awards

The Harper National Flexographic Center, located on the Harper Campus of Central Piedmont Community College, has announced that its Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology (GAIT) students have recently won 12 PICA (Printing Industry of the Carolinas) Awards.

The GAIT students at CPCC won three Best of Category awards, five Special Judges Awards and four Awards of Excellence in the following categories of print: flexography (3), offset (5), screen printing (4).

Gareth Burns, CPCC’s GAIT department chair; Zachery Blackburn, CPCC’s GAIT instructor; and Stephen Gerhardt, Harper National Flexographic Center coordinator; are pleased with the results.

‘Our six certificate programs and two degree programs give students the flexibility to either specialize in an individual print process such as flexography, or achieve a broader graphics education where they learn about flexography, offset, screen printing, digital prepress, and graphic arts software programs such as Adobe products,’ said Gerhardt.

‘Our hands-on approach to teaching graphic arts is evident in our students’ accomplishments, and we are very proud of them,’ added Burns.

The award winners include Rachel Pearson, Miok Jeon, Young Choi, Heather Amler, Jessica O’Loughlin, Andrew Knapp, Nikki Laughlin, Jeff Leaser, and every student who participated in the Flexo 1 class project.

CPCC is the largest community college in North Carolina, offering 100 degree and certification programs, customized corporate training, market-focused continuing education, and special interest classes. CPCC is academically, financially and geographically accessible to all citizens of Mecklenburg County. In 2002, the National Alliance of Business named CPCC the Community College of the Year for its response to the workforce and technology needs of local employers and job seekers through innovative educational and training strategies.