McHenry County College is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

MCC will hold a community open house from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 15, at the main campus on 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14 in Crystal Lake. The event is free and open to all. It will offer informative historical displays, a short welcome program at 2 p.m. and a free Second Sunday Concert series, featuring the MCC Concert Band and Choir, at 3 p.m. in the conference center auditorium.

“Faces of MCC” is another feature at the open house, where individuals can get photos taken in an “old time” photos booth, which MCC will include in its commemorative displays.

The college is also collecting memories and photos by e-mail to be involved in a virtual time capsule, and can include video or audio clips. As contributors of the information, all participants can choose when to display their information.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the county to look at something leaders in this area (initiated) 40 years ago—something that’s turned out to be quite successful,” MCC President Walt Packard said.

Packard said it’s an event that will honor all those within the county who contribute to the college. Retired faculty will also be joining the celebration.

The college will hold a summertime event and “MCC Night,” a second open house, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 12.

MCC is a comprehensive community college which offers a variety of programs and traditional transfer programs, Packard said. The college also offers programs for children as young as five years-old, and programs for high school students and senior citizens.

“We’ve been very successful over the last 40 years in developing a good, strong core of programs,” Packard said. “I see us continuing to do that, and I think the strengths of most community colleges, and certainly this one, is our ability to be responsive to the community.”

In the last year, a couple businesses needed welders, which MCC supplied after initiating a “welding boot camp,” Packard said.

Two of the most rapidly-growing programs offered by MCC are online courses and academic programs in the Health and Human Performance area, he said.

“What I think the future holds for us is continued expansion of our online programs and actual physical expansion of the campus,” he said.

MCC currently serves a total of 54,729 people, with 11,145 credit students. As of Oct. 1, 2006, MCC had 307 full-time and 302 part-time employees. Packard said he sees the number of credited students growing between 16,000 and 17,000 students within the next five to 10 years.

George White, an athletic training major and second-year student at MCC said he is a resident from Louisville, Kentucky, and received an athletic scholarship from MCC for his basketball skills. White said he is currently on MCC’s basketball team.

“I came here because I heard a lot of good things about the school and the athletic programs,” he said. “It’s a nice school. I would advise anyone to come (to MCC).”

White said some of his favorite classes at MCC are Sociology, which he is currently enrolled in, and Marriage and Family, which he completed last semester.

Brittany Menta, a freshman, pre-med major and resident of Crystal Lake said she is currently taking psychology, history, math, philosophy and general education courses.

“I was home schooled for high school, so I didn’t want to go away to school right away,” Menta said. “MCC makes for an easier transition, and I heard a lot of good things (about the school).”

Menta and White said they like the classroom sizes which offer a more one-on-one experience with the teachers. Menta also said the tutors at MCC are very helpful.

For more information on McHenry County College’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, call MCC at 815-455-8562, or go to www.mchenry.edu.