McCann School of Business & Technology will celebrate its 20th year in Pottsville with a day of events, which will include a breakfast and visits from alumni, Shannon Brennan, campus director, said Wednesday.
“We’ve never had an event quite like this,” Brennan said as she outlined the schedule for Thursday’s events. All events will be held at the school at 2650 Woodglen Road, Pottsville.
Starting at 8 a.m., there will be a breakfast with speakers, including John E. Noone, former owner of the school, and state Sen. David Argall, R-29, and McCann graduates including Tammy Grigas, Pottsville, a McCann instructor, and Roberta Tutko-Funderburk, Shenandoah, clerical supervisor with the state Department of Human Services, Pottsville. Tutko-Funderburk is also the parent of a McCann graduate, Carley Tutko, who recently earned an associate degree in criminal justice.
During a “20th Anniversary Open House” that day, which will begin at 8 a.m. and continue until the early evening, more than 10 alumni will visit the campus and speak to classes, Brennan said.
“There have been 2,580 graduates of the Pottsville campus since our first graduation ceremony on Sept. 26, 1996, when we had two graduates,” Jo Ann Bartusik, McCann’s associate director of education, said, quoting some trivia.
On Thursday, Brennan reviewed key dates in the history of McCann, in particular the history of the Pottsville campus.
In April 1897, Louis C. McCann began teaching business classes at the former Kaier Opera house in Mahanoy City. McCann’s Business College operated there until 1905, when he moved the school into the First National Bank at Main and Centre streets, Mahanoy City.
In 1930, the Mahanoy City branch relocated to Mahanoy Avenue and D Street. In 1949, McCann School of Business was incorporated. In 1960, the Mahanoy City branch relocated to the southeast corner of Main and Pine streets.
“In 1981, James and Elizabeth Noone purchased the school from Dorothy Houser and McCann Education Centers Inc. was formed,” Brennan said.
In 1995, a branch of the McCann School of Business opened in Pottsville at the Schuylkill Trust Co. building at 101 N. Centre St.
“That campus opened in the fall of 1995,” Bartusik said.
In May 1995, McCann’s and Alvernia College, Reading, signed an agreement enabling McCann’s students to complete bachelor’s degrees in Schuylkill County.
In August 1997, a ceremony for the ground-breaking of a new building for the Pottsville campus in the city’s Westwood section was held.
“We moved into the new building in winter of 1998,” Bartusik said.
Since then, there have been two expansion projects at the campus, one in 1999 and one in 2010. Today the campus measures 30,000 square feet, Brennan said.
In 2001, McCann changed its name to “McCann School of Business & Technology.”
In June 2005, the Mahanoy City location closed to students and that school moved to Hazleton.
Today, the McCann’s in Pottsville is the only McCann’s in Schuylkill County. To learn about its other locations, visit its website at www.mccann.edu.
Today, the degree programs at the Pottsville campus include: accounting, business administration, office technology — medical, medical assisting, network administration and security, professional massage therapy, criminal justice, HVAC/R and electrical systems.
Today, its diploma programs include: accounting assistant, clinical medical assistant, computer office support, medical office assistant, microcomputer applications, medical billing and coding and phlebotomist.
Today, McCann’s in Pottsville has 215 students, 16 full-time staff members and 37 part-time staff members, Brennan said.
Tutko-Funderburk, a 1983 graduate of Shenandoah Valley Jr./Sr. High School, studied at McCann’s school in Mahanoy City from 1999 to 2001, earning an associate degree as an legal secretary.
“My parents were retiring. I was working for them and my mother said ‘You’re going back to school.’ And I said, ‘You know, that’s a good idea. I’ll go back to school and try to support my children with a better-paying job,’ ” Tutko-Funderburk said Wednesday.
“And Roberta’s daughter just graduated from McCann,” Brennan said.
Carley Tutko, a 2013 graduate of Shenandoah Valley, received her associate degree from McCann’s in Pottsville in July.
Grigas, a 1997 graduate of Blue Mountain High School, earned her associate degree as a paralegal from McCann’s in Pottsville in 1999.
“It was local, close to home. At the time, my dad was sick so it was nice to be close to him,” Grigas said.
She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration in August 2002 and a master’s in business administration in December 2005, both from Alvernia University. She’s been teaching as an adjunct instructor at McCann’s Pottsville campus since 2007.
“One of the best things about McCann’s is the family atmosphere. Everybody is really close together. You can go to anybody and talk to them at any time. Everybody is very friendly. Everybody is oriented to help you out and talk to you,” Grigas said.