Jan LaVille prepares to leave DMACC after 28 years of teaching journalism, English and humanities classes. Photo by Kodie Butterfield
Kevin Langel is a DMACC graduate and is also a past student of LaVille’s. He has taken part in Pep Band with LaVille and also worked with her on the Banner newspaper. Langel said he would not be where he is today with journalism without all of the help he received from LaVille. “Jan is someone who is willing to go the extra mile to help somebody out,” he said. When LaVille worked as the advisor of the Banner she would not let anything go in until it had met its fullest potential.
Langel recalled a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida at Pointer Institute. On their way home the Banner News staff got stranded for three days in Chicago because of a snowstorm. They were shuffling around hotel rooms and the airport. Then when they finally got back there was a blizzard going on. He recalled LaVille was standing strong to figure it all out and kept everyone together during the time they spent in Chicago.
When LaVille retires from DMACC she will be going on to work for the Veterinary Medicine department at ISU as an editor. She will work on editing information before it is posted on their website. LaVille says that she isn’t ready to stop working and wants to stay employed.
DMACC student Kennedy LaVille, one of Jan’s grandaughters, said “I definitely think that if she could stay till she was hundred, she would.”
Some of LaVille’s favorite memories of her time at DMACC are playing in the Pep Band and one time when a group got together to start a Documentary Film Festival. She says her favorite memory will be “The students I kept in touch with after they left. I’ve been able to see them grow here and then go on to other things.”
Sam Pritchard, Jocelyn Anderson, and Julie Roosa are a few of the teachers that will be taking over in LaVille’s place after she leaves. When asked what advice she would give her colleagues LaVille said “I would say don’t be afraid to take on a new responsibility because you get back what you give a hundred fold.”
LaVille recalls how close she was able to grow to the other faculty members and especially to the students she taught Journalism to. She feels that there is something different about teaching journalism. “You get closer to students when creating a newspaper together. It creates long lasting bonds.”
Her final words of wisdom for her students and faculty are “Just go for it.” LaVille said that the only way to get something is to give something first. She feels that you always get more out of something when you take the time and effort to make it into something.
Langel recalled a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida at Pointer Institute. On their way home the Banner News staff got stranded for three days in Chicago because of a snowstorm. They were shuffling around hotel rooms and the airport. Then when they finally got back there was a blizzard going on. He recalled LaVille was standing strong to figure it all out and kept everyone together during the time they spent in Chicago.
When LaVille retires from DMACC she will be going on to work for the Veterinary Medicine department at ISU as an editor. She will work on editing information before it is posted on their website. LaVille says that she isn’t ready to stop working and wants to stay employed.
DMACC student Kennedy LaVille, one of Jan’s grandaughters, said “I definitely think that if she could stay till she was hundred, she would.”
Some of LaVille’s favorite memories of her time at DMACC are playing in the Pep Band and one time when a group got together to start a Documentary Film Festival. She says her favorite memory will be “The students I kept in touch with after they left. I’ve been able to see them grow here and then go on to other things.”
Sam Pritchard, Jocelyn Anderson, and Julie Roosa are a few of the teachers that will be taking over in LaVille’s place after she leaves. When asked what advice she would give her colleagues LaVille said “I would say don’t be afraid to take on a new responsibility because you get back what you give a hundred fold.”
LaVille recalls how close she was able to grow to the other faculty members and especially to the students she taught Journalism to. She feels that there is something different about teaching journalism. “You get closer to students when creating a newspaper together. It creates long lasting bonds.”
Her final words of wisdom for her students and faculty are “Just go for it.” LaVille said that the only way to get something is to give something first. She feels that you always get more out of something when you take the time and effort to make it into something.