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Putnal & Associates’ donation gives boost to NFCC drafting program
Thanks to Putnal & Associates land surveyors of Madison, projects are running more quickly and smoothly in the drafting department of North Florida Community College. Instructor Lauri Newton said, “Putnal & Associates donated a plotter and a blueprint machine that allow our students to be more productive.” Lesley Putnal Bontrager spearheaded the donation.
“Drafting students do a lot of printing,” explained Newton. “When a live project is completed it takes about 20 sheets of paper. It’s very time consuming. In the past students have had to literally wait in line to use our single plotter to print the project.” The donations are a time-saver for students.
Graduates of NFCC’s drafting program work in businesses throughout north Florida. Ernie Kennedy, a 2002 NFCC graduate, is a draftsman at Putnal & Associates. Kennedy was a student of former NFCC instructor Bobby Harper. After graduation, he did architectural drawing for Harper’s private consulting business. Later, he joined Putnal & Associates where he has been a part of the company for five years.
The Pinetta resident said he had been interested in drawing throughout high school. “I had a couple of friends in the drafting program under Mr. Harper, so when they recommended the course to me, I became a full-time student,” said Kennedy.
“Being in the drafting program was interesting,” said Kennedy. “I was able to work at my own pace – not held back and not rushed. It was a good way to learn.”
The NFCC drafting program may have gotten its start as early as 1962 when the college began offering an Engineering Drawing course at night in conjunction with a new Civil Engineering program. News articles at the time described courses “offered for drafters and surveyors who wish to upgrade their skills.” A stand-alone drafting program must have been in full force in 1968-69 because the first drafting instructor, T. Early Bottomley, was listed among the faculty. Richard Scruggs and Charles R. Swain followed Bottomley. In 1973 Robert Harper, a NFJC graduate, became instructor and served until 2002. Current instructor, Lauri Bundrick Newton, an honors graduate of the program, joined NFCC in 2004.
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