VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – (May 11, 2004) – Tidewater Community College Web-development students chose an important community client for a class project this year. A client whose success will save lives.

The students, devoting months of time and talent, recently completed a Web site for the Tidewater Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, www.hamptonroads.com/raceforthecure.

TCC students are continuing their support by handling programming for online registration of the Affiliate’s signature event, the Komen Tidewater Race for the Cure®. Proceeds from the race, held annually in October, fund breast-health services for women in Hampton Roads as well as breast-cancer research.

In addition to registration for the annual Komen Tidewater Race for the Cure®, the site provides a host of information about the organization’s history and activities as well as breast-health information, including a virtual breast self exam.

Taught by Debbie Benham at TCC’s Virginia Beach Campus, the Web Development Tools class is considered a capstone or advanced-level course in TCC’s Information Systems Technology degree curriculum. The course incorporates the skills and tools used in other Web-development classes such as Photoshop, Java Script, Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks. Students learned programming used in the Affiliate’s online registration section in the Database Drive Websites class, under the direction of Joan Casteel. The team is working on Phase 2 of the project to further enhance the site’s functionality.

“TCC students are a continual inspiration with their level of devotion to Web projects,” says Debbie Benham. “We’re passionate about these projects. It’s a way for us to give something back to this great community and, at the same time, enhance our students’ skills with real-world experience.”

“Our group was extremely proud to be picked for such a notable foundation as the Komen Tidewater Affiliate,” says TCC student John Cerdenola. “I’m hoping this Web site will reach many people on the importance of breast cancer awareness,” says Jane Digman, another TCC student. “We have committed to maintain the site for a year as volunteers. We looked at the site as a great opportunity to gain experience and exposure as Web developers,” says Sherrie Steiner, team leader.

Each semester, students select businesses or organizations to partner with on Web development. Work on the Komen Tidewater Affiliate Web site began last fall to expand the information available to site visitors. According to Eileen Werber, president of the local Affiliate, “the students did a great job translating our requirements into an engaging and informative site. The caliber of work is very impressive, and the students’ enthusiasm for the project really showed in the drafts created for our review. We were really pleased with the quality of choices for the new look of our Web site and with the final product.”

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was founded in 1982 on a promise made between two sisters—Nancy Goodman Brinker and her dying sister, Susan Goodman Komen. More than 20 years later, the Komen Foundation is a global leader in the fight against breast cancer. Together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous donors, the Komen Foundation has raised nearly $600 million for the fight against breast cancer. For more information about the Komen Tidewater Affiliate, contact the organization at 757-490-7794 or komentide@cox.net.

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Tidewater Community College is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia, enrolling more than 34,000 students annually. The 37th largest in the nation’s 1,600 community-college network, TCC ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges. Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district in downtown Norfolk, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-three percent of the region’s residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC.