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Course Listing - by Instructor

Name Biography
The RiverFront
Selena Aguilar
Voices For All
Molly Anderson Certified Knitting Instructor
Dana Andreasen
Carolyn Ashton
Timothy Aulner
David Ballard
Joseph Barden
Adam Barnett
Rhiannon Bartlett
Jessica Bell
Katherine Benoit
David Bentz
Anthony Bernard
Sharon Boynton
Eileen Britton
Molly Brost
Amanda Caillau
Robert Caldwell
Sheldon Carel
Debra Carlson Debbie Carlson grew up in rural Minnesota where her love of sewing started. At age 7, she was quilting and embroidering and by age 9, constructing clothing. She was a member of the local 4-H group, where she entered projects into the county fair and developed her skills. It was a natural path for her to be able to attend a yearlong commercial tailoring course taught by a German Master Tailor. The class instruction included basic and major alterations, pattern making, sloper fitting, designing and constructing men’s and ladies jackets and trousers. The training was good preparation for employment in the clothing industry, where she worked as an alterations tailor, taught tailoring classes and became certified to teach at the vocational level. Today, Carlson stays busy with wedding dress sewing and alterations and receives requests for drapery and simple upholstery work.
Chris Case
Cynthia Catherwood
Jessica Chairez-Escalante
Kimberly Chatham
Douglas Chrisman Doug Chrisman has been cooking professionally since high school, throughout a wide array of foodservice sectors. In August of 2022, an opportunity came up to join the team of full-time faculty instructors at the Institute for Culinary Arts at Metropolitan Community College. At the ICA he is teaching a variety of courses while nurturing a passion for helping students harness their full potential.
Robert Clines
Tim Collins
Robert Cote
Casey Craven Casey Craven is the Storeroom Manager at the Institute for the Culinary Arts at Metropolitan Community College. He has been in the industry since 2012 as a dishwasher and began to learn and work his way up trying to experience as much as he could. He now works to pass what he has and is learning to those whom are making their way into the Culinary Arts field via his work at the college and his work with Nebraska's ProStart program.
Jim Daday
Johnnie Davis
Jason DeWater
Jessica Del Monaco
Shereece Dendy-Sanders
Elmo Diaz
Kimberly Dusek
Kaitlin East
Ellen Fields
Kathy Fischer
Christine Flaxbeard

Chris began her career as a Registered Nurse in adult and neonatal ICU and then spent 25 yrs. in Hospital Administration. After leaving the hospital setting, she became the owner of a health care company. Both of these experiences led her to a career in insurance. As a nurse she worked with Medicare, Medicaid and many different insurance companies assuring the patient they received the proper benefits for their episode of care and as a small business owner she was responsible for assuring her employees received the best health, dental, and vision plans available.


Chris also spent time volunteering for the State of Nebraska’s SHIIP Office where she would educate clients on all aspects of Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Supplements, Medicare Advantage Plans, Medicare Part D Plans, and state subsidies available to help with financial problems, and to provide support during the decision-making process.


As the owner of Flaxbeard Insurance Advisors, Chris focuses on health insurance for every age group and represents many insurance companies so her clients are able to choose the one that best fits their needs.


Christine was born and raised in Omaha, NE. She is married to Gary Flaxbeard and they have 3 adult children.

Daniel Flores
Kathleen Foust
Rachel Fox
Tiffany Gamble
Lavender Gee
Blanca Gomez
Ruthanne Grimsley
Julie Hamilton-Dort
Mimi Hannor
Lisa Hardesty
Lisa Harrison Jackson
Anna Hartman
Ben Hawk
Elaine Heath
Kenneth Heinze
Emma Helwig
Schonda "Rena" Herbert
Don Hickey
Aaron Hill
Jerome Howard
Jeffrey Ingraham
Pamela Ingraham
Aditi Jain
Breanna Johnson
Tiffany Johnson
Joshua Johnston
Julissa Jones
Erica Joslin Erica Joslin is a passionate and dedicated instructor who brings creativity and enthusiasm to every class. Erica began her crochet journey as a child, then rediscovered her love for crafting in 2021. She is known for her patient and encouraging teaching style, making crochet accessible and enjoyable for students of all skill levels. Outside the classroom, Erica enjoys crocheting stuffed animals for her many nieces and nephews. She believes in the power of crafting to connect people and foster a sense of accomplishment and relaxation.
Jeanelle Joyner
Sook Young Jun
Shannon Justice
Benjamin Keeler
Lizz Keene
Stephani Keene
Kathleen Keller Beginning as a child, Kathleen Keller found her identity in drawing and painting. Once in college, she began in the fine arts department and pursued a major in the helping profession of Occupational Therapy. Based in the foundations of neurological sciences, psychology and the creative arts, Occupational Therapy uses meaningful activity to nurture the individual's improved physical function and sense of well-being. In this role she has subsequently worked with children and young adults with special needs and their families. In the midst of this, she pursued personal development of her artistic skills having contributed to local art exhibits and produced commissioned work. As an experienced artist and therapist who understands the healing power of art, she believes that creativity is a vibrant force which when used to express ourselves can actually improve our physical and mental health. In assisting others with their creative work, she states, "I love to watch people during the process of art making and sharing their art. It is such a joy as they find their artistic voice to clarify their sense of identity and gain personal confidence and a sense of empowerment." Kathleen Keller has taught with MCC's Con Ed department since 2015.
Susie Kemp
Holly Kempkes
Randy Kessler
Brandon King
Dylan King
Vernetta Kosalka

Vernetta Kosalka is an award-winning hospitality professional specializing in event planning, event design and hospitality management education in Omaha, NE. Kosalka graduated from College of Saint Mary in 2003 with a dual degree in Business Administration and CIM and later received her Master's in Organizational Leadership in 2007. With over thirteen years of experience, she has garnered respect from her peers and continues to give back to the Omaha community through volunteering on the Omaha Police Officers Ball Committee benefitting Special Olympics Nebraska, being an Advisory Board Member of the Ralston Area Chamber of Commerce and serving as the Special Events Committee Chair.

Kevin Kowskie Kevin Kowskie is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is passionate about travel and art. His artwork has been displayed at the College of St. Mary’s, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, the Durham Museum and has been included in a group show at the Joslyn Art Museum. Kowskie’s love for foreign travel and cultural enrichment goes back as far as he can remember. While traveling with his family to Rocky Mountain National Park as a child, he developed a keen desire to expand his journeys to distant lands, and the rest was history. After traveling through much of the United States as he got older, this ambition drew him to expand his travels on an international scale—discovering destinations in Canada, Mexico and a dozen European nations. In his early thirties, Kevin and a friend devoted two weeks every year to backpacking through Europe and visiting different nations and destinations via train. He loves encountering new cultures and meeting people from diverse backgrounds. After someone suggested to him that Omaha would appreciate seminars on European travel, Kowskie followed his passion to become a noncredit instructor on the subject for MCC. Planning, organizing and leading group tours are part of his favorite pastimes. Kowskie is currently a trip leader and coordinator for MCC’s Traveling Classrooms, sharing his experience and knowledge as part of the motivated Continuing Education staff.
Laura Krasneck
D'Andre Lampkins
Nicole Linafelter
Melani Luedtke-Taylor
Gay Lynn Brown
Jim MacNabb
Naomi Mardock
Midori Maruoka-Buchanan
Alexis Mattan
Alex McCabe
Charissa McCartney
Louis McDaneld
Nicole McDonald
Tess McKinney
Miranda McQuillan
Michele Michaelsen The instructor is Michele, who has been creating and selling wire jewelry for several years with her business Elements by Michele. She has previously taught workshops at Hot Shops Art Center and at the Omaha Bead Affair.
Jen Miller
Diana Molina
Martin Montgomery
Sarah Nascimento
Tara Neese
Khoi Nguyen
Maureen O'Brien
Beth O'Hanlon Beth O’Hanlon received her bachelor’s degree with a dual major in Art History and Studio. This education has served her well in her professional pursuits because it has given her a dual approach to understanding and sharing art. O’Hanlon later returned to school and earned her teaching certificate in Art K-12 and Gifted Education K-12.

She has taught art classes in public schools and art history at the University of Cincinnati, Metropolitan Community College and Southeast Community College. O’Hanlon enjoyed mentoring gifted students with Lincoln Public Schools and has now earned her Master’s Degree in Gifted Education and is currently facilitating gifted education at Omaha Public Schools.

O’Hanlon’s studio work has been rewarding with multiple solo exhibitions in painting and many group exhibitions in sculpture and painting. She has been showing her work in galleries for more than 20 years including nature centers and charity events. O’Hanlon has found these to be highly rewarding and she is encouraged that art has a community purpose beyond classroom education. In 2000, she joined the Nebraska Arts Association, Artists in Schools and Communities Program.

O’Hanlon brings many years of art and teaching experience to her business, Adventure in Art. Since buying the business in 2014, she evolved it into a working studio, which offered classes. Since 2017, O’Hanlon has continued the business without the studio space and enjoys bringing many classes and events to the community.
Brian O'Malley
Jim ODonnell
Brandi OMalley-Tarpley
AJ Obando
Alyssa Olvera
Everette Oredein
Josh Orisman
Claude Ouedraogo
Levent Oz
Carmen Palmero Gutierrez
Wayland Snookie Parker
Sarah Parys
Christine Paulson
Gregg Pejsar
Lisa Pelto
Pamela Petersen
Deanna Peterson
Derek Peterson
Laura Peterson
Vanessa Piper
Mary Piper
Isis Prentice-Gertig
Sharon Ramos
Alan Ramsey
Fareha Razvi, PhD
Kylie Rich
Peggy Ritschel
Black Rocket
Midwest Rug Hookers
Marshawn Rush-Ford
Valerie Russell
Michael Saklar
Armando Salgado
Humberto Sanchez II
Raheem Sanders
Timothy Schulz
Thad Schumacher
Stephenie Sealy
Emerson Shaw
Sydney Simon
Jeannie Sisson
Quintin Slovek Quintin Slovek is a fourth-generation Omahan and a graduate of Loyola University Chicago and the University of Alabama American Studies Master's Program where he focused on early 20th century popular culture. Quintin worked as a teacher's assistant and later guest-lecturer for Omaha Public Schools award-winning Making Invisible Histories Visible Program from 2013 to 2019. He also served as an assistant artist and historical researcher for the South Omaha Mural Project, a public art series dedicated to the area's immigrant communities. He has also worked as a tour guide for the last three years, primarily focused on the Old Market area. His interests include labor and immigration history, Prohibition and organized crime, and collecting the merch of old-school Omaha restaurants, breweries, and other institutions.
Alice Smith
Patricia Smith
Richard Sparks
David Steward
Ben Stout
Lisa Strilkivsky
Amber Sturdivant
Brad Swanson
Michelle Swoboda
Michael Taken
Timmy Tamisiea
Missy Terry
Rob Tiedgen
Sydney Tillotson
One Tree Yoga
Elena Turino
Walter Vosicka
Missouri River Wastewater Treatment Plant
Sarah Watson
Reva Weigman
Kent Weilage
Ted Weitkemper
Sandra Wendel
Da'Quisha Whitaker
Kim Whiteside
Alyssa Wiese
Dan Wondra
Alexis Zgud
Josh Zook

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