Category: Alumni

SC4 Honors Community Leader with 2024 Alumni Award

SC4 has awarded Kevin Totty Sr. as the 2024 alum of the year to honor the life and work he has invested in the Port Huron Community.

“SC4 has a rich history of successful alumni,” said SC4 President Kirk Kramer. “SC4 Alumni are individuals from our midst that build on the foundation of our community to enrich our lives. We recognize, value and honor the service and life of Kevin Totty, Sr. as the 2024 SC4 Alumni of the Year.”

Totty was involved with many local organizations, including SONS outreach, working as a chaplain for the Port Huron Police Department, and serving on the Governance Board and Board of Directors for the Blue Water Area Chamber of Commerce. He also served, along with his wife Jessica, as a pastor for #C4Yourselfchurch, and worked for the St. Clair County Juvenile Center. 

Most recently, Totty worked as a full-time staff member for the Community Foundation. After being with the organization for five years as a volunteer, he was hired onto their staff in 2021. In an article written by the Community Foundation titled “The Many Hats of Kevin Totty”, Kevin was quoted as saying, “Out of all the jobs I’ve had, the Foundation really is the closest to the different assignments the Lord has put on my heart.”

In addition to his SC4 degree, Totty recently returned to school and earned his bachelor’s degree in philanthropy. Totty recently passed away on September 7, 2024, after a battle with cancer. He leaves behind a loving family, including his wife of 40 years, Jessica Totty, their five children and three grandchildren.

For a more in-depth look into Kevin Totty’s life, please see the community foundation’s article “The Many Hats of Kevin Totty” at https://stclairfoundation.org/the-many-hats-of-kevin-totty/

### For media inquiries, please contact Sarah Rutallie, Chief of Staff/ Senior Vice President, SC4, at srutallie@sc4.edu

  

Alumni Spotlight: Kyra Sutton

Looking to make an impact in the lives of others? Then health sciences may be for you! We interviewed a recent SC4 grad to hear about her and her family’s journey and impact in nursing.

Kyra Sutton graduated from the SC4 Registered Nursing Program in May 2024 and now works at Henry Ford Macomb in the surgical trauma ICU. Kyra’s grandmother, Suzanne Hill, also graduated from SC4 and worked in nursing administration at Henry Ford Macomb, the same hospital Kyra now works for.

Growing up, Kyra heard stories about nursing from her grandma and looked up to her dedication to her work. Suzanne was always busy, but her family was very important to her. In fact, she made Krya’s first pair of scrubs when she started working as an aid.

Kyra discovered her interest in nursing while working on a research project in high school on health care. From there, she went on to study at SC4 and was accepted into the RN program.

She completed her clinicals at McLaren Macomb, Henry Ford McComb and McLaren Lapeer. While working as an intern, she found that she was most passionate about the Intensive Care Unit. She enjoys how involved she can be with individual patients in this area, which fits her detail-oriented personality.  

“I like to really get to know people’s backstory…In the ICU, you need to know everything about a patient.” She later said, “There’s something about patient care, talking with patients and being a hand to hold that’s fulfilling.”

Kyra shared more about her time at SC4, saying that it’s a challenging program but that it prepared her for her work as a nurse.

“All my fundamentals and what I learned go back to what I was taught at SC4. I really think they do an amazing job. Their program is really difficult but for a reason….The professors are very thorough, which may have seemed difficult at the time, but I learned so much.”

SC4 Health Sciences Building
SC4 Health Science Building

Transitioning from the classroom to a nursing job can be difficult for students, but Kyra explained that her instructors helped prepare her. She specifically mentioned her clinical instructor for her last semester, Danyel Bullock, helped prepare her for this transition.

“It was towards the end, so she expected a lot out of us, but she also did a really good job of making us feel more independent. I think that’s where I gained more of my confidence.”

She went on to say how impactful her clinical group was to her.

“If you ask anyone that goes through nursing school, your clinical group is so important. You have rough days, and they pick you up and vice versa…I hope in my job I get to have an experience like this with my work family.”  

She concluded by saying:

“I’d recommend to anyone if they are going to do nursing to go to SC4. It is difficult, time-consuming and very high-stress…but in the long run, I learned so much about myself and watched myself grow from being a scared nursing student at the start of my career to being someone capable of taking care of multiple patients and thinking for myself and being able to take a test with less anxiety going into it. I think in the time that you’re doing it, you don’t realize how much you’re growing…It’s totally worth it in the long run.”

If you’re interested in learning more about degrees in health sciences at SC4, visit https://sc4.edu/programs/health-human-services/.

Alumni Spotlight: Kevin M. Totty Sr.

Current or most recent title and employer?
Philanthropist – Community Foundation of St. Clair County

How did SC4 help prepare you?
Communication, Connections and Community! SC4 is our hometown gem that needs to be shared with other folks around the world!

What do you like most about what you do professionally?
Connect folks to paths of resources where they can tell their story in life.

Did you transfer on and earn other degrees? If so, what degrees and from where?
Bellevue University – Bachelor in Business
ECornell – Certificate in Equitable Community Program
Ordained Minister – International Council of Community Churches

New scholarship honoring alumna Ellen Petho to benefit SC4 art and design students

Future generations of St. Clair County Community College (SC4) art and design students will benefit from a new scholarship thanks to a generous $100,000 donation from the Petho family in honor of SC4 alumna and interior designer Ellen Petho.

Ellen Petho called Port Huron her home for more than 75 years. She and her husband, Lou, raised their family in Port Huron. Ellen had a long and successful career in interior design. She also devoted herself to philanthropic work. She was proud to earn her advertising and design degree from SC4 in 1988. SC4 was an integral part of Ellen’s education and the beginning of her design career. While at SC4, she formed great relationships and had wonderful mentors.

Sadly, Ellen Petho passed away on Jan. 2, 2023. To honor Ellen and her devotion to art and giving to others, Lou, her daughters and their families have made a generous $100,000 donation to SC4 on its 100th year anniversary. This donation will provide scholarship money to aspiring art students. The scholarship will be called the “Ellen Petho Design Ideas Memorial Scholarship.” Through this scholarship, Ellen’s passion for learning, art and design, and giving to others will live on as her legacy.

SC4 students soon can apply for the “Ellen Petho Design Ideas Memorial Scholarship” at sc4.edu/scholarships.

To learn more about SC4 art, design, and other programs and career pathways, as well as how to apply and register for winter 2024 classes, visit sc4.edu/programs/.

Petho family, pictured above from left to right: Christine Moore, Lou Petho, Kathy Patterson and Karri Petho