Re: Fresh

Grossmont College’s music department scholarship fundraiser, “Salsa Under the Stars,” on April 29 is a great way to practice your best Latin dance moves while reveling in the knowledge of doing a good deed.

Complete with free dance lessons from 6:30-7:30, the music department’s outdoor concert on the Main Quad showcases music instructor and internationally known salsa bandleader, composer and recording artist Manny Cepeda. Also performing will be jazz trumpet player and music department chair Derek Cannon. A recording artist and popular San Diego jazz mainstay, Cannon is also the college’s director of Jazz Studies.

After an hour of salsa lessons from Grossmont College Dance Department choreographers, even those cursed with two left feet will be ready to cha-cha the night away.

“This event will allow us to provide assistance to about half of our 50-60 music majors enrolled each semester,” Cannon said. “Money raised helps with the $400-$450-per semester cost of private lessons, which students are required to pay out-of-pocket.”

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $10 for students, with proceeds going to the Grossmont College Music Scholarship program. College and district employees who bring food or toiletries for Gizmo’s Food Pantry can get in with the student discount. The college’s Latinx Alliance will sell carne asada and plain nachos, Mexican sweet bread and other desserts, as well as soda, water and coffee. Tickets can be purchased at the Main Quad on the evening of the performance or online.

Manny Cepeda is the music headliner.

The event starts with free salsa dance lessons, followed from 7:30-9 p.m. by the 13-piece Manny Cepeda Orchestra, which blends classic salsa with cumbia, Afro-Cuban and World music. In addition to playing original pieces including those from his classic salsa CD, “Padre Querido,” Cepeda is adding some Afro-Cuban cover songs, as well as a dash of merengue and bachata sounds. Billed as a guest performer, Cannon will be sharing the stage with Cepeda throughout the night. Also performing in one selection will be Music Department technician and professional guitarist Anthony Cutietta.

”It is a pleasure for all of us to be part of helping our music department students pursue their dreams," Cepeda said.

A regular on the salsa circuit in San Diego for the past 14 years, Cepeda’s first salsa album, “Bomba & Plena,” debuted in 2014 and has been featured at top clubs and festivals, including Gator by the Bay and the Chula Vista Harbor Fest. Cepeda’s orchestra plays a unique fusion of salsa and other rhythms from his past as an enlisted bandleader in the U.S. Navy who traveled the world. Cepeda leads an international group from his native Puerto Rico, where he was raised in a musical family, as well as other band members from Panama, Japan and throughout the United States.

Grossmont College is “Transforming Lives Through Education” and has served the diverse educational needs of San Diego’s East County since 1961. With more than 150 certificate and associate degree programs, Grossmont College provides workforce training, career development and transferable college-level coursework to its nearly 19,000 students. For more information, visit www.Grossmont.edu

May marks national Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Grossmont College is hosting a series of events starting with a May 1 campus mixer and continuing through May 16 with lectures, dance, food trucks and more.

This marks the second year that Grossmont College, with a nearly 10 percent enrollment of Asians and Pacific Islanders, is paying homage to the generations who have added to the nation’s rich tapestry and continue to contribute to its multicultural success. The events are coordinated by the API Student Club and API Committee, and sponsored by the World Arts and Cultures Committee and Student Affairs. The events are free and open to the public.

Wednesday, May 1:
•    1-3 p.m.: A kickoff mixer for API students, faculty and staff in the Student Center Common Ground, Bldg. 60, Room 206
Monday, May 13:
•    9:30-10:45 a.m.: “The Model Minority Myth” lecture and discussion by May Fu, Ph.D., chair and associate professor of Ethnic Studies at University of San Diego, in Griffin Gate, Bldg. 60
Tuesday, May 14:
•    9:30-10:45 a.m.: “The Things We Don’t Talk About: API Identity, Roots, Celebrations and Struggles,” by Kirin Macapugay, assistant professor of Human Services at San Diego City College and founder of the local nonprofit Asian Pacific Islander Community Actions, in Griffin Gate, Bldg. 60
•    Noon-12:45 p.m.: Japanese Fashion Show and Dance by the San Diego Kimono Club in the Main Quad
•    2-3 p.m.: Buddhism talk with Interfaith Chaplain Noriko Kawai in Griffin Gate, Bldg. 60
Wednesday, May 15:
•    10-11 a.m.: Tinikling Dance, the traditional Philippine folk dance utilizing bamboo poles, by Boone Elementary School in the Main Quad
•    11 a.m.-noon: Indian dance by Rudraprasad Swain in the Main Quad
•    10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: API food trucks and vendors in the Main Quad
Thursday, May 16:
•    9:30-10:45 a.m.: “Mental Health and Racial Micro-aggressions in the API Community” panel discussion led by Judy Patacsil, professor/counselor and international education coordinator at Miramar College, co-author of “Filipinos in San Diego” and immediate past president of the Filipino American National Historical Society, in Griffin Gate, Bldg. 60

The commemoration of API Heritage originally began in 1978 when a joint resolution signed by President Jimmy Carter designated the first 10 days of May as Asian/Pacific Heritage Week. These dates were chosen to mark two important anniversaries: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the United States on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in part by Chinese laborers on May 10, 1869. In 1990 President George H. W. Bush expanded the commemoration to the entire month.

Grossmont College is “Transforming Lives Through Education” and has served the diverse educational needs of San Diego’s East County since 1961. With more than 150 certificate and associate degree programs, Grossmont College provides workforce training, career development and transferable college-level coursework to its nearly 19,000 students.

Cuyamaca College’s ECHO Chamber Music Series concludes its 2018-19 season May 22 when violinist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu and pianist Orion Weiss return to the Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre for an evening of Mozart piano and violin sonatas.

Wu has enjoyed a versatile international career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator who performs regularly in Asia, Europe and North America. Weiss, one of the most sought-after soloists of his generation of young American musicians, has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Toronto Symphony and New York Philharmonic, among others.
“Cuyamaca College is incredibly fortunate to present Tien-Hsin and Orion,” said Julianna Barnes, president of Cuyamaca College. “The Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre is the premiere performance venue for East County, and with the support of Sam Ersan we are able to bring an exceptional caliber of artist to the East County community.”
The ECHO Chamber Music Series (East County Harmonics Organization) is underwritten by Ersan, a vice chairman of the San Diego Symphony Board of Directors. He has helped transform the chamber music landscape in San Diego County through his support of numerous classical musical initiatives. The series was launched in spring 2018.
General admission tickets for the May 22 concert – which is set to start at 7:30 p.m. – are $10 for advance purchase at EchoChamberMusic.org, or $15 at the door. Tickets for students are $5. Parking is free.

The Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre is in Cuyamaca College’s Samuel M. Ciccati Performing Arts Center, 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway in Rancho San Diego, 92019. For further information call (619) 660-4288.

A near-record 60 exhibitors were on hand at Wednesday’s 27^th annual East County Career Expo put on by the Career Education Department at Cuyamaca College. More than 100 students registered in advance for the event and many from the community stopped by to meet company recruiters and potential employers representing a wide swath of career and job fields, including healthcare, education, municipalities, military, law enforcement and more.

One newcomer to the popular event was the U.S. Census Bureau, looking to recruit census takers as the 2020 Census draws near. Also new this year was a practice room for job interviewing and a food truck for hungry exhibitors and attendees.

“This is always such a great event for students, as well as the public,” said Cindy Morrin, associate professor of counseling and coordinator of the college’s career center.

This year, Morrin made attendance mandatory for students in her college and career success classes. They prepped in advance by practicing elevator speeches and presenting themselves well with firm handshakes and a confident demeanor.

And although business attire wasn’t a requirement, Morrin was pleased to see a number of her students dressed professionally.

For many, the event is an introduction to the real world of job-hunting and finding that promising career.

Now in its second year, the "Art Blooms" exhibit features more than 300 pieces of art representing graphic design, two- and three-dimential design, drawing, watercolor, applied design and crafts, digital drawing and painting. Co-hosted by the Cuyamaca Student Fine Art Club, the May 1 award ceremony drew about 250 attendees who saw 24 awards and scholarships totaling $2,100 presented. Nine honorable mention awards were also given.

The exhibition, which continues through May 17, involved 200 students, 19 faculty members and one staff member from three departments: Fine Arts, Graphic Design and Ornamental Horticulture.

A portion of art sales proceeds benefit the Cuyamaca College Fine Art Trust Fund.

2019 Student Fine Art and Graphic Design Exhibition Award Winners:

$75 Dean’s Award

Daniel Adams

Deux á Paris

Painting II

$100 Vice President of Instruction’s Award

Matt Giezentaner

Bread Basket

Photography

$150 President's Award

Jacqueline Morgan

Last Seconds

Painting IV

$100 East County Art Association Awards

Casaundra Perez Kendal Sales

Lady Sitting

Fig. Drawing I

Margaret Calhoun

Labor of Love

Painting IV

Kehinndal

Painting 1

Melissa Silverthorn

Fruit Bowl

Watercolor III

Michael Hada

Sunflowers

Drawing I


Honorable Mention

Jesun Orozco, Gender Identty; Silva Lopez, Character Design; Tamsen Griffs, Untitled; Jasmine Hosfield, Untitled; Vincent Snell, Friction; Benjamin Gonzalez, Skyline Phone Reflection; German Rojas, Nicole Pepper in Gold; Cindy Rocha, Bruja Things

$100 Graphic Design Awards

Jennelle Parra

Persistence

Carlos Sanchez

Design Excellence

Teresa Johnston

Rising Star

$100 John Abel Illustration Award

Tanner Pastor

Beauty is the Eye of the Beholder

Illustration I

$100 Viejas Awards
Charlotte Kmak Come Along Painting II;	Joely Brown Standoff Illustration I;
Shayne Baker Under the Sea 3-D Design	Pan Yi Nuo Zhang Blood Vessel Painting I

$100 Bem’s Fine Arts Award (Baltodano Family)

Nic Boukas

Ocean Landscape

Painting III

$25 Fine Arts Award

Malia Brazil
"Sol" Mates
3-D Design Marissa Scantlin Discretion Advised 2-D Design
Bryan O'Quinn
Three-Book Series
Applied Design Crafts

Student Fine Art Club Awards
$50, Joseph Decunzo
Juicy
Painting II

$25 Brendan Garvin
Whirlpool
2-D Design

$25, Laith Palma Reflections Photoshop

Armando Arevalo

Armando Arevalo would be the first to tell you he wasn’t much into studying while in high school. He came to Cuyamaca College nearly four years ago mostly to take a few music classes.Everything changed when he signed up for a course in physics.

“It made me think like no other class had made me think before. It made me think a lot,” Arevalo said. “It helped me make sense of the world. I wanted to learn more about it. A lot more about it.”Arevalo is getting his wish. The Chula Vista resident graduates in June with a grade point average just one “B” shy of a 4.0 and transfers to UC Berkeley this fall. His goal: becoming a theoretical physicist steeped in research discovering why the universe works the way it does.

Physics Professor Miriam Simpson isn’t surprised. She detailed how Arevalo has solved every problem in every textbook in the Physics Department, including upper-division texts used at the university level. “I told him, ‘you kind of have to transfer now because I’m running out of stuff to give you.’”
It has been a journey.
Born and raised in Chula Vista, Arevalo suffered from a short attention span and failed too many courses at Chula Vista High School, his time preoccupied with skateboarding, guitar, and drawing. “I had too much energy,” he said. “I couldn’t sit down and focus.”
He switched gears and attended Palomar (Alternative) High School instead. “Alternative school was good because I was able to work at my own pace, and I sped through everything and graduated a year early after being behind by a year,” he said, noting he also became intrigued with mathematics, which quickly became his favorite subject.
But Arevalo’s journey was just beginning. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent several years trying to manage and make sense of the disease. Coming to Cuyamaca was part of his recovery.
“I didn’t come here to be a serious student,” Arevalo said. “But I got all A’s and B’s in my first year and started getting influenced by students who were serious about school.” Inspired by his love of mathematics, Arevalo opted to major in civil engineering. His life was changed when he took a required physics class. Physics and mathematics, he said, occupy most of his free time. He’s already begun reading the texts for classes he’ll be taking at Cal.
Simpson says one particular incident illustrates Arevalo’s relentlessness. “He borrowed a new textbook I had for a while, and when he returns it, it has a bunch of sticky notes on the pages detailing how some of the answers to the problems were wrong and how I might want to let the publisher want to know.”
“I think,” Simpson said, “he’s read more of that textbook than I have.”
Arevalo says he will always be grateful for what he found at Cuyamaca College.
“Cuyamaca provided me an opportunity,” he said. “An opportunity to leave my old self behind and become someone new. And it opened the door that led me to physics.”

Summer’s just around the corner, which means summer session starts soon at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges.

Whether you’re a university student looking to take a transferable class during summer break, a high school student wanting to get a head start in college, a working adult looking to upgrade or learn new skills or someone wanting to get into shape or to learn a new language, short-term summer classes are a great way to quickly expand your knowledge.

Most classes begin June 10 and are four, six or eight weeks long. Online registration using Web Advisor continues through June 9, but some classes offer late registration until the end of the first week of classes. Class schedules and information about enrollment at both Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges are available at www.gcccd.edu/now/

All classes cost $46 a unit for California residents, or $138 for the average class. A maximum eight units are allowed during summer session. Financial aid, online application and registration are available.

There’s more scheduling flexibility than ever, with both colleges offering online and hybrid classes, as well as evening classes to accommodate busy schedules. For example, Cuyamaca College is offering online courses in Great Music Listening (MUS-110); History of Jazz (MUS-111); History of Rock Music (MUS-115); and Introduction to World Music (MUS-116).

Grossmont College is offering entirely online Administration of Justice courses in Criminal Evidence (AOJ-202); Criminal Investigation (AOJ-206); and Criminal Law (AOJ-200).

For those preferring conventional, in-class instruction, Grossmont College offers a six-week introductory Arabic course (Arabic-120). Want to include a little beach time in your learning? A biological sciences class, Life in the Sea (Bio-105), includes some weekend and other out-of-class field study times wading in shallow waters.

For the business-minded, there’s Google Applications for Business (BOT-132).

Is that gym membership you signed up for as a New Year’s resolution going unused? A Beginning Total Body Fitness class (ES-006A) at Grossmont College or a Beginning Physical Fitness (ES-019A) at Cuyamaca College under the watchful eyes of instructors might get you motivated.

Among Cuyamaca College’s other offerings is Kumeyaay Arts and Culture (Humanities-116), an eight-week class focusing on the Kumeyaay Nation in what is now San Diego and Imperial counties and Baja California. The class will meet at the Santa Ysabel Reservation, and will include guest lectures by Kumeyaay leaders.

In addition to a wealth of general education offerings, Cuyamaca College also will offer specialized courses in automotive technology, graphic design, ornamental horticulture, water/wastewater technology, paralegal studies and English as a Second Language

At Grossmont College, specialized courses are available in Administration of Justice, cardiovascular technology, culinary arts, nursing and occupational therapy assistant technology.

For the first time college student with plans to start college full-time in the fall, the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College Promise provides a free year of tuition. There are a few preliminary steps to take – filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)and completing the onboarding process at Grossmontor Cuyamacacollege. Summer is a great time to get a jump on your fellow soon-to-be high school graduates and get all the preliminary steps out of the way.

For more information, visit www.grossmont.eduor www.cuyamaca.eduor call Grossmont College at (619) 644-7186, or Cuyamaca College at (619) 660-4275.

Board members and leaders of the 3 districts

The Mountain Empire Unified School District has joined the East County Education Alliance, a partnership formed five years ago to ensure a seamless educational path between high school, college and a career.

An agreement was signed yesterday at a joint board meeting of the Mountain Empire district, the Grossmont Union High School District and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District held at Cuyamaca College. It was the first time the boards of the two East County school districts have met jointly with the college district board.

“With Mountain Empire as part of the team, every public high school student in East County has the opportunity to benefit from the work of the Alliance,” said Cindy L. Miles, chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.

The Mountain Empire school district, which serves more than 3,100 students in rural southeastern San Diego County, consists of four elementary schools, two middle schools, Mountain Empire Alternative Education, and one high school, Mountain Empire High School in Pine Valley.

“We’re pleased to join the Alliance,” said Kathy Granger, superintendent of the Mountain Empire Unified School District. “We look forward to an even closer working relationship with our education colleagues in East County.”

By joining the Alliance, the school district will join in the work that began in 2014 with a collaboration between the college district and the Grossmont Union High School District. The goals of the Alliance are to inspire students to focus on college and careers, foster collaboration between the districts, and prepare students for an ever-evolving workforce.

“In the five years of the Alliance, our districts have made great strides in smoothing the pathway between high school and college, benefitting thousands of students,” said Tim Glover, superintendent of the Grossmont Union High School District.

Through the Alliance, high shool principals are collaborating wth the two community college presidnets, and high school counselors are meeting with community college counselors to provide better guidance to students. High school teachers are partnering with their community college counterparts to ensure students are learning the material they need to be successful in college.

The Alliance also administers the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College Promise, which offers a free year at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges to first-time students attending full-time. More than 800 students were Promise scholars at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges in the 2019-20 school year, and more than 500 of those students came from the Grossmont Union High School District.

As a result of new state legislation, the Promise is being extended to offer a second free year at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges for students who continue to enroll full-time and maintain at least a “C” average. More information about the Promise is available at mycollegepromise.net.

Erin Williams

Sean Hancock, vice chancellor for student and institutional success at the college district, announced that a new Promise Plus scholarship is being offered this fall to current Promise students at Grossmont and Cuyamaca College. The $1,000 scholarship for books and supplies will be offered to 300 students who will be chosen based on an essay they write, with priority being given to students with the greatest financial need.

Erin Williams, a 2018 graduate of El Capitan High School who is now a Promise student at Cuyamaca College, described the impact the Promise has had on her life.

“Without the Promise program, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” she told board members. “This program has been life-changing. It was very important to me.”

Danika Lund

Danika Lund has overcome more than her share of obstacles on her journey toward dental school. Whether it was not being credited for two years of science classes or a clerical error keeping her bachelor’s degree from being posted on her official transcripts, Lund refused to give up.Her determination has paid off. A lead tutor at the Cuyamaca College STEM Center, Lund this fall is heading to the nationally renowned University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco, with tuition and housing costs covered through a prestigious Army scholarship.

“I’ve seen Danika go through a lot of ups and downs, but her determination never waned and she never lost her focus,” said Cuyamaca College Chemistry Professor Robert Anness. “Hers is one of the more inspiring success stories I’ve seen.”Lund credits Cuyamaca College for her success. “I really can’t tell you how grateful I am,” she said. “I really can’t thank the people here at Cuyamaca enough.”

It has, she agreed, been a long road. “I like to call it ‘the scenic route’ to dental school,” quipped Lund, who is now 26.That scenic route took her across much of the Western United States.

Born and raised in Bonita and a graduate of Valhalla High School, Lund was a prep soccer standout whose skills as a center midfielder scored her a full athletic soccer scholarship at New Mexico Highlands University. There, she balanced a heavy load of courses and soccer while majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry. Two years later, Lund transferred to UC Davis for its rigorous academics and reputable standing to be a more competitive applicant for dental school. Lund’s first setback came when UC Davis would not credit her with the bevy of science classes she completed at New Mexico Highlands. Rather than starting from scratch and spending a full four years at UC Davis as a biology major, Lund had a better idea: switch her major to sociology, graduate on track with a bachelor’s degree in two years, then head to Cuyamaca College for a low-cost opportunity to retake the science classes she was never given credit for.

Lund enrolled at Cuyamaca College in the fall of 2015, thrived academically, became a STEM tutor and co-founded and presided over the Cuyamaca College Pre-Dental Club to mentor others contemplating going into the dental profession.In the summer of 2017, Lund began months of intense study in preparing for the Dental Admission Test (DAT).

“She was a fixture at the study table in the STEM Center at all hours of the day throughout the summer when nobody else is even on campus,” Anness said. “I’ve never seen anybody study so hard for anything in my life.”She left a similar impression on Chemistry Professor Laurie LeBlanc. “Danika was relentless,” LeBlanc said. “She wasn’t going to let anything get in her way.”It is, those who have studied for the exam say, a killer. But for Lund, the education she found at Cuyamaca and the support and guidance she received from professors Kathryn Nette, Robert Anness and others, she was confident shewouldace it. “They helped me every step of the way,” Lund said.

It paid off. Lund placed in the 99th percentile nationwide in the science portion of the exam, and she placed in the 96th percentile on the exam overall. But she set her sights higher. Not just wanting to get into dental school, Lund had also applied for the ultra-competitive Army Health Professions Scholarship Program to pay for the exorbitant cost. Which turned out to be fortuitous in more ways than one.

“I wasn’t getting any responses from dental schools early on in the cycle, no invitations for interviews or anything,” Lund said. “I was starting to lose hope. Then one day my Army recruiter called me and said, ‘Hey, I’ve been looking at your official transcripts from UC Davis for about 30 minutes and I don’t see a degree posted.’” Lund was stunned. Because of a clerical error, UC Davis had failed to post her bachelor’s degree on Lund’s official transcripts, and that resulted in dental schools ignoring her applications. “You can’t get into a doctoral program with a high school diploma,” she said. “Once we got this changed and had my bachelor’s degree posted, the dental school interview invitations started pouring in. I was accepted to every school I interviewed at.”

Better yet, Lund also landed the Army scholarship, which covers more than $500,000 in tuition, housing and other costs in exchange for Lund serving as a commissioned Army officer and working as a military dentist when she earns her doctor of dental surgery degree.Her experience at Cuyamaca has made her a believer in the college.

“I found nothing but support here,” Lund said. “Your professors truly care. They all want to see you do well. They want to see you succeed.“I went straight into a four-year university right after high school,” Lund added. “When you take general chemistry, biology or other general science courses you are thrown into an auditorium with 550 classmates. At Cuyamaca, you are one of 20 people in the classroom. The professor knows your name. They have office hours so you can come in and actually get help when you need it. True learning goes on. It transforms your entire learning environment and experience.”

Come June 6 when Cuyamaca College holds its 41st annual commencement ceremony, Lund won’t be earning a degree. She won’t be earning a certificate. But she will have accomplished what few others have. Lund’s ‘scenic route’ is nearly over. She begins the next leg of her journey when she moves to San Francisco for dental school on July 15.

“Danika is probably one of the most industrious students I’ve ever seen,” said Nette. “She deserves every good thing that happens to her.”

Almost 2,700 graduates from Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges will be receiving 5,652 degrees and certificates at this year’s commencements, setting a new record as the largest graduating class from the two East County colleges.

With many earning multiple degrees and certificates, 1,860 graduates are expected to receive 2,752 degrees and 1,596 certificates at Grossmont College on June 5. The next day, 839 graduates are due to receive 1,202 degrees and 202 certificates at Cuyamaca College.

“I’m proud of all of our graduates for the hard work they have put in to reach this milestone,” said Cindy L. Miles, chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District. “We know they got an excellent education at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges, and their lives will be transformed forever by what they learned here.”

The numbers of graduates and the degrees and certificates that are awarded has continued to grow over the past decade as the colleges focus on more student support, increased university transfer rates, and greater career education opportunities. In the past 10 years, the number of degrees and certificates awarded at the two colleges has increased by 178 percent, and the number of Grossmont and Cuyamaca College graduates has risen by 78 percent.

Grossmont College’s commencement begins at 5 p.m. June 5 in the Main Quad, while Cuyamaca College’s commencement starts at 5:30 p.m. June 6 on the lawn outside the Communications Arts Center.

Grossmont College
Shakur Collins, the student commencement speaker at Grossmont College, is nothing if not a study in determination.

The Serra High School graduate who gave the commencement speech at the San Diego high school in 2015 had chosen the University of California, Irvine from the 14 universities that gave her the nod for admission. She had scholarships to cover her entire education. Life was good.

But at freshman orientation in July, what was initially thought to be a bad migraine landed her in the hospital in San Diego. Four months of medical tests and hospital stays revealed the true picture: a buildup of cerebral spinal fluid in her head left her with a permanent, near total loss of vision. Forced to drop out from UC Irvine and losing tens of thousands in scholarships dollars, it was a dark chapter in Collins’ life.

She could have wallowed in her misfortune, but she enrolled at Grossmont College in 2016, determined to pursue a new direction in her life.

Collins sought help from the college’s Accessibility Resource Center and was assigned a personal scribe at the testing center and granted use of an electronic screen magnifier. She has been able to maintain straight A’s and is set to transfer in the fall as a psychology major at UC San Diego. She aspires to a career in the field of group and organizational leadership.

In the meantime, she plans to continue working as a psychology tutor in the college’s tutoring center and in her spare time sing barbershop-style with the San Diego Chorus of Sweet Adelines and to train in the martial art of Tekio Jutsu, designed for people with disabilities.

Collins said she has been on an emotional roller-coaster since her eyesight began failing, but Grossmont College has helped her regain her focus.

“Grossmont has allowed me to take the time I need to heal,” she said. “There are so many wonderful professors who have mentored and helped me along the way. Grossmont is my home. This is a great institution.”

Cuyamaca College
Cuyamaca College commencement speaker Akila Scott is the first of six siblings raised in a single-parent home to pursue a university degree. A full-time waitress who carried 22 units her final semester and played for the women’s volleyball team during the fall, Scott described her daily schedule as “beyond crazy.”

She is also the primary income earner in the household since her mother is legally blind and unable to work.

She started as a chemistry major, but a philosophy class she took to fulfill her general education requirements exposed her to Socrates and other great thinkers and gave her a deeper understanding of the “whys” in life that she had been craving. She will transfer in the fall as a philosophy major at California State University, Long Beach, where she will be living in a dorm.

“I am thinking I should get my mom a little dog to keep her company,” said Smith, who graduates with a 3.3 GPA and several scholarships. “She’s my best friend and I know she will be calling me constantly to ask how I’m doing. She is a super hero to me, despite being legally blind. She has raised us all to respect her as the person who sets the rules.”

Cuyamaca College has also been the source of important lessons in life, Scott said.
“This school will remain special in my heart because it has taught me that suffering is part of living and we can’t allow hardship to be an obstacle,” she said. “My experience here has also led me to understand the importance of embracing change.”

The second commencement speaker is Dawod Rafoka, an Iraqi refugee who started at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges in 2015 not remembering how to multiply or divide. He

graduates with associate degrees in mathematics for transfer and University Studies: Science and Mathematics from Cuyamaca College and has received outstanding
achievement awards from Grossmont College in English/Social Behavioral Sciences, ESL, and mathematics.

He was initially terrified of speaking English, but developed his language skills so dramatically that just three semesters after starting college, he was hired as an English as a Second Language, or ESL, tutor.

During his stint as an ESL tutor, he began making promotional videos and advancing the department through social media, which led to his current post as a resource specialist and student ambassador for Grossmont’s Outreach Office.

He graduates with a perfect 4.0 grade point average and is transferring in the fall to San Diego State University. The 23-year-old, who became a naturalized American citizen less than two weeks ago, has plans to pursue a career in computer engineering with a goal of eventually working for Google.

His upbeat attitude and outgoing nature belie his formative years growing up the northern Iraq village of Tellskuf, where car bombings and terrorist attacks are a constant reminder to maintain a low profile and not to draw attention. At 17, he left with his brother for a safer refuge in Turkey, where they were eventually joined by his parents. Two years later, the family was granted permission to move to El Cajon.

“I’ve gone from a person who thought that education was not for him to a person who is transferring with a 4.0 GPA in computer engineering,” he said. “I love the supportive community that the colleges provide. I wouldn’t have reached this station of my life without professors’ generosity with their office hours at both colleges and the consistent support of services like the Tutoring Center.”

Commencement is a day of celebration, but for some, the pomp and circumstance is more than they can afford.

Juliette Harrington with soon-to-be graduates Carlos Espinoza,
Mario Bojorquez and Angelica Rodriguez Valdez

For the past 15 years, longtime Grossmont College staffer Juliette Harrington has quietly paid for the caps and gowns of dozens of graduates who might otherwise not been able to participate in commencement. This year, Harrington, a Health Services specialist, wanted to help more students and thanks to a $500 grant from student government and a vendor who provided a sizable discount, 105 students received caps they can treasure as keepsakes and six will be provided loaned gowns, all for free, for the ceremony taking place at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Grossmont College Main Quad.

Among the cap recipients are students unable to take part in the time-honored processional because of job and personal commitments.

“About half of all graduates are unable to attend commencement for a variety of reasons and they are so grateful and appreciative to receive a cap they can keep as a reminder that they’ve accomplished something to be proud of,” said Harrington, who added that last year, her musician husband pitched in to help a handful of graduates of the music program.
Including the expense of graduation announcements, student pay about $60 for regalia.
“We are proud of all our students,” Harrington said. “This is a special thing for them.”

To personalize the mortarboards and to make them that much more meaningful as mementos, Harrington stocked up on glitter and craft adornments and, with the help of a team of volunteers, set up a space during finals week that doubled as a decoration and relaxation station.

Students with Associated Students of Grossmont College as well as student workers in Health Services pitched in with decorating about half the caps, joined by other students eager to give their own caps some sparkle.

“It was a fun and happy way to end the semester,” Harrington said, noting that so many students took part that it gave rise to a cap decorating competition. Prizes were awarded and winning entries shared via social media.

ASGC member Carlos Espinoza is one of the students receiving a cap and gown.
“It is an honor knowing there are resources and people who care enough to step up so that finances aren’t such a burden students can’t attend their own graduation,” he said.

“Commencement is a way to showcase the hard work that you have done as a graduate. What Juliette has done helps students so they don’t have to worry about how to pay for their caps and gowns.”

The publicity-shy Harrington would as soon remain anonymous for her efforts, but she hopes that by talking about her labor of love, others would be inspired to pitch in next year when she goes for more grant dollars and also kicks off a donation drive for commencement gowns.

“I hope to inspire others by example,” said Harrington, who graduated from Grossmont College a generation ago and cherishes the memory of her own commencement.

She credits math instructor Irene Palacios for helping to find students who would benefit from getting a cap and gown.
Palacios said many students do not take part in the ceremony because of the extra fees.

“I was one of those students and I regret not walking,” she said. “I convinced the students to not let this stop them and that we could help.”

One student who has already put her graduation cap to use is Janelle Silvas, who wore hers at the college’s LatinX graduation and transfer ceremony held last week.

While she is not participating in Wednesday’s commencement because she is transferring to San Diego State University in the fall without an associate degree, she is grateful that she had her cap and was able to take part in the LatinX ceremony celebrating her academic progress.

“Juliette wanted to make sure we transfer students felt included in the celebration of completing community college,” Silvas said. “Her and Irene’s efforts to create a memorable and accessible graduation ceremony is something that should be recognized. Juliette radiates compassion for others and her impact on Grossmont College is remarkable. I am proud to attend a college where faculty and staff care deeply for students and our personal success. Our success is inherently theirs and rightfully so.”

Maryam Abdul-Sattar, center, with her sister, Laiba, right.

Maryam Abdul-Sattar hasn’t let her blindness or a perilous past as an Afghan refugee hold her back. An honor’s graduate with an associate degree in social work, she is one of the 839 graduates who received more than 1,200 degrees and certificates at Cuyamaca College’s June 6 commencement.

“I had no option except embracing my challenges in order to convert it into positive energy,” said Abdul-Sattar, 31. She described her life’s travails in a speech during a recognition ceremony for graduates of programs assisting underrepresented students.

Born with visual impairments that worsened with surgeries and glaucoma as she grew older, the near-blind graduate credits the help she received through Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) for her graduating with a nearly 3.7 grade point average. She will be starting at San Diego State University in the fall.

DSPS provides services such as note-taking assistance and test proctoring to students with disabilities and the high-tech center provides assistive computer technologies and alternative media formats for textbooks for students like Abdul-Sattar. Counseling services are also available to encourage and help students stay on a successful path as they advance in their education.

“Through my counseling experiences with Maryam, she has proven to be an advocate for herself and students with disabilities by asserting her needs and advocating for others,” said Associate Professor/Counselor Rachelle Panganiban. “Even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Maryam remains highly motivated, proactively seeks out resources, and finds creative solutions while never losing faith in her ability succeed.”

Abdul-Sattar said a lifetime of obstacles has instilled in her a sense of determination and an unwillingness to give up. She lost her father in 2008 to wartime violence, and with his death, Abdul-Sattar’s family, including her mother and seven sisters, had no means of support.

The family was able to find refuge in the United States in 2014 and a year later, Abdul-Sattar started at Cuyamaca College. She had learned English while growing up, and with the assistance from DSPS, she flourished.

“This is a reality that visual impairment is a hindrance to my education, but studying at this college turned my blindness into an opportunity when I received accommodations and accessibility devices which made me feel quite comfortable and helped me accelerate in my academic career,” she said. “Services provided by the tutoring center, writing center and DSPS made this college an ideal one.”

It wasn’t just academics that she gained from Cuyamaca College. Abdul-Sattar said attending such a diverse, multicultural school is a major reason why she selected social work as her career field.

“Studying in this college helped me understand the importance of diversity and tolerance toward other cultures, race and different ethnic groups,” she said. “Being accepted at San Diego State will fulfill one of my dreams and I’m so happily looking forward to it. To stay persistent in my efforts will also help me achieve my long-term goals of serving the community as a social worker and advocate. I’m so thankful to those who helped me keep going and I would say to them that I will miss them and will remember them forever.”

Marking another record year, Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges on June 5 and 6 awarded 5,652 degrees and certificates to 2,699 graduates, the largest graduating class in the college district’s history.

GCCCD Governing Board members in their regalia.

Over the last decade, graduate numbers have grown by 78 percent, while the number of degrees and certificates they’ve earned rose 178 percent -- this despite an overall decline in enrollment of about 13 percent over the same period.

“Our colleges’ record numbers of graduates, degrees and certificates is the result of our faculty and staff’s laser focus on helping students stay on track to achieve their dreams,” Chancellor Cindy Miles said.

Three student speakers each told moving stories of their struggles so representative of the challenges many community college students face.

Grossmont College student speaker Shakur Collins described at the June 5 commencement how she became ill in 2015 as an incoming freshman at the University of California, Irvine. After four months of tests, doctors found out she had a build-up of cerebral spinal fluid that caused a permanent loss of most of her vision. She had to leave UC Irvine, losing thousands of dollars in scholarships.

She enrolled at Grossmont College in 2016, determined to pursue a new direction in her life.

Collins sought help from the college’s Accessibility Resource Center and has been able to maintain straight A’s and is set to transfer in the fall as a psychology major at UC San Diego. She aspires to a career in the field of group and organizational leadership.

“I made the choice to move forward. It was hard to rebuild my life, but I have managed to maintain straight A’s while here at Grossmont,” she said. “When the going gets tough, you don’t fold. You adapt.”

Cuyamaca College’s Akila Scott, one of two student speakers at Cuyamaca, said she was the first of her six siblings to pursue a university degree.

“I thought starting off at a community college meant that I was less than the other kids who got into USC or SDSU. But I was completely wrong. I have gained something valuable here that I don’t think I would have gotten anywhere else,” Akila said. She is transferring to CSU Long Beach.

Dawod Rafoka, Cuyamaca College’s second student speaker, grew up in northern Iraq, but was forced to leave at 17 because of terrorist attacks. Two years later, he settled in El Cajon and began taking ESL classes at Cuyamaca College.

“With the help provided by the services here, I was able to overcome the thoughts and feelings of ‘this wasn’t meant for me,’ ‘I am out of place’ or ‘maybe I’m not smart enough to do this,” Dawod told his fellow graduates at the June 6 commencement. “I’ve gone from a person who thought that education was not for him to a person who is transferring today with a 4.0 GPA in computer engineering.” Dawod, who recently became a naturalized American citizen, is transferring to San Diego State University this fall.

Two Grossmont College students are recipients of scholarships from the Point Foundation, the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit.

Gigi Andrews, a psychology major, and Jasz Cabrera, a Theatre Arts student, are the only San Diegans among 25 recipients of the nationally awarded community college scholarship.

The Point Community College Program is geared toward helping LGBTQ students fulfill their goals of attending a four-year college or university. Students accepted into the program receive between $2,000-$4,800 in scholarships, as well as admissions counseling, coaching and financial education at the Point Community College Transfer Symposium in Los Angeles. They also are able to connect to the Point Foundation network of LGBTQ scholars, and more than 300 alumni dedicated to seeing LGBTQ students succeed.

Scholarship winners are chosen based on academic performance, leadership skills, financial need, personal goals and the applicant’s involvement in the LGBTQ community.

Gigi Andrews
Andrews, 33, had a difficult time coming out at age 14. Bullied and harassed to the point of dropping out of high school, she went on to earn a General Education Diploma or GED. At 21, she was diagnosed with HIV, then in her mid-20s, came out as transgender.

Gigi Andrews

She first began attending Grossmont College part-time in spring of 2005, but left, unsure of her future. But she never gave up her dream of a meaningful career so she returned and an introductory psychology class in 2017 proved life-changing. She expects to graduate in 2020 with an associate of arts in psychology, then to transfer to the University of California or California State University system.

A past speaker at UCSD on the topic of HIV and a clinical peer counselor, Andrews wants pursue a career in mental health and become a licensed clinical psychologist.

At Grossmont College, Andrews is a member of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Club and plans to march in July with other college and district employees in the San Diego Pride Parade. She praises Grossmont College for its support of LGBTQ students.

“Grossmont has been tremendously accepting and tolerant,” she said. “I have attended an LGBTQ mixer with both students and faculty and have also attended the annual drag and talent show. Grossmont College also offers counseling and safe spaces, like Common Grounds, to not only LGBTQ students, but all students.”

Andrews plans to use her $3,700 scholarship to supplement her savings to purchase a used car and to spend what’s left on a laptop computer.

Jasz Cabrera
Cabrera identifies as a non-binary trans student and is described in a Point profile as a

Jasz Cabrera

costume designer in technical theater and president of Grossmont College’s SOGI Club. Cabrera is credited for promoting the safety of students and others on campus coming out.

Cabrera aspires to further study costume design and construction with the goal of working in multicultural theater and eventually as a designer and owner of a clothing company that sells androgynous, unisex attire. Cabrera, a martial artist, received a scholarship sponsored by Big Apple Recreational Sports, a non-profit, coed sports league in New York City for LGBTQI athletes.

“These LGBTQ students have demonstrated the potential to be the informed and visionary leaders our society needs right now,” said Jorge Valencia, executive director and Chief Executive Officer of Point Foundation. “Their dedication to making the world around them a better place provides our community with the promise of a better future.”

Cuyamaca College's auto technology program

Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges have each secured a $500,000 grant to build online career education programs to train students with the skills needed for good-paying, in-demand jobs.
Grossmont College’s grant is funding a project that will allow students to earn industry-recognized certificates in high-tech areas ranging from computer science to advanced manufacturing. The project targets historically underserved populations in the East County, particularly first-generation students, English learners, women entering STEM careers, and refugees.
It will feature Siemens Corp.’s Industrial Networks Education Program and Rockwell’s Logix Certificate Program, and students earning certificates will be ready to fill staffing shortages in advanced manufacturing, water and environmental technology, health and healthcare management, and more.
“The grant will help us serve a critical need in our backyard and in the region,” said Dr. Javier Ayala, Grossmont College’s dean of Career and Technical Education/ Workforce Development.

Cuyamaca College’s grant will fund a program that will offer 12 online automotive technology courses that can be accessed by students from across California and which builds on an existing Ford Automotive Student Service Education and Training (ASSET) initiative. Online classes cover everything from brakes and automatic transmission service to electronics and climate control, and students completing the curriculum will receive Ford Motor Co. Technician Specialty Training certification.
Demand for such skills is strong. A grant proposal notes the California market alone needs 2,000 new technicians immediately, positioning the program to meet an urgent demand. Automotive service technicians and mechanics earn an average wage of more than $47,000 annually in San Diego County, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“This grant will provide Cuyamaca College with an opportunity to change the way educational training is delivered to the automotive repair industry,” said Larry McLemore, Cuyamaca’s dean of Career & Technical Education.

Both programs should be available for students by fall 2020.

The $500,000 grants were made through the Improving Online CTE Pathwaysgrant program developed by the California Community Colleges’ California Virtual Campus – Online Education Initiative. The California Virtual Campus – Online Education Initiative’s primary focus is to increase the number of transfer degrees awarded by the state’s community colleges and its mission is to provide access to and success in high-quality, online programs and student support services.

Seventy grants totaling $27.5 million were awarded in all. One-third of all students in California’s community colleges now take at least one class online.

Kristina Moore

Kristina Moore embodies how Cuyamaca College’s Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) is impacting lives every day. Suffering from PTSD and living with extreme anxiety disorder since she was a teen, Moore has benefitted from the program’s counseling, priority registration, proctored exams and help with taking notes during lectures. Those services paid off June 6 when Moore walked across a stage for her associate degree in child development at Cuyamaca College’s 41st annual commencement.

“I don’t think I would have finished, truthfully, had it not been for the services provided by DSPS,” said Moore, 25, who pointed out the skills and training she’s learned at Cuyamaca have led her to finding a full-time job working with toddlers and infants at a San Diego child care center. “School was really hard for a while, and these kind of services have made classes easier to manage.”

Moore is among the 839 Cuyamaca College graduates from age 18 to 72 who make up the Class of 2019. They were awarded 1,202 degrees and 202 certificates.

Born and raised in Chula Vista, Moore graduated from Mater Dei Catholic High School in 2011. Even after enrolling at Cuyamaca College in the fall of 2012, Moore was uncertain of her career path. That uncertainty ended after she took a class in child development.

“I absolutely loved it and decided right then that early childhood education was my future,” she said.

Still, Moore was struggling. It was only after she reached out to a counselor that she heard about DSPS and signed on.

Disabled Student Programs and Services is about equity and making sure any student can reach his or her full potential. DSPS assists students with disabilities so they have equal access to all programs and activities on campus. It provides support services to students with a wide range of physical, learning or psychological disabilities. Among the array of services are priority registration, specialized counseling, mobility assistance, test proctoring, tutoring, interpreters for hearing impaired or deaf students, and more.

Suddenly, going to class was far more manageable. Less than a year after majoring in child development, Moore was working at a local preschool as a teacher’s aide. After completing the required 12 units of core courses in child development and elementary education, she landed a job as a preschool teacher. She’s been working full time at Congregation Beth Israel’s preschool program for the better part of the past year.

“I’ve had Kristina in several of my classes and in each class she demonstrates her passion for child development and the children she works with,” said Child Development Program Chair Kristin Zink. “She is using her education her at Cuyamaca to build and enhance her career, and that is so rewarding to me as one of her instructors.”

Civic-minded East County residents with ties to the business community or the construction industry are invited to apply for three seats on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District’s Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee.

Grossmont College Performing Arts Center

A representative of the East County business community and two qualified professionals in a construction-related field such as architecture, construction management or civil engineering are sought to fill three vacancies on the district’s 11-member committee appointed to assure the public that Prop. V bond funds are spent as outlined in the district’s bond resolution. The CBOC meets quarterly to review and report on the proper expenditure of taxpayers’ money for school construction.

Applicants must reside within the boundaries of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, which encompasses an area of 1,138 square miles from the eastern edge of the city of San Diego to Imperial County to the east and the Mexican border to the south. The CBOC appointments are for at least one two-year term and volunteers can serve up to three consecutive terms.

As specified by the Governing Board, the committee includes students and college advisory committee and foundation representatives, community members with expertise in construction, procurement and finance; and representatives from business, senior and taxpayer organizations. The application form is available online at http://pages.today/pdf4 . Submit applications to Stephen.johnson@gafcon.com

The $398 million Prop. V was approved by voters in November 2012 to fund construction projects including veterans support centers, upgrading career training facilities for science, medical and public safety, modernizing technology and improving access for people with disabilities.

Specific projects for Grossmont College include a Performing and Visual Arts Center, scheduled to be completed this fall; a Liberal Arts/Business and Technology Complex; and a Science, Math and Career Tech Complex.

Cuyamaca College Student Services and Admin Bldg.

At Cuyamaca College, projects include a Student Services and Administration Building, an Instructional Building, and the Ornamental Horticulture Complex.

For further information on the CBOC, go to www.gcccd.edu , then click on “About Us” and then “Proposition R and V Projects,” or call the CBOC office at (619) 644-7762 .

Ignacio Garcia

Ignacio Garcia found the perfect career thanks to Cuyamaca College’s award-winning Auto Technology program.A graduate of Granite Hills High School, Garcia, 27, came to Cuyamaca College after leaving Cal Poly Pomona as a junior and moving back to El Cajon to help take care of his mother, sister and brother after his parents divorced. Garcia was working for the El Cajon Recreation Department while taking on random side jobs when he enrolled in Cuyamaca College’s Auto Technology program.
“I like working with my hands and I’ve been working with cars all my life, so I figured this would be a good fit for me,” he said.
It was. Just weeks into his studies at Cuyamaca in 2015, Garcia signed up for the Ford ASSET program (ASSET is an acronym for Automotive Student Service Educational Training) at the suggestion of program coordinator Brad McCombs. Unlike most training programs, ASSET and GM ASEP (Automotive Service Educational Program) students are employed in the industry at sponsoring Ford, Lincoln and GM auto dealerships while they’re learning.
Garcia was assigned to El Cajon Ford. He started doing oil changes and other routine maintenance, but his assignments became far more complex after a scholarship from the San Diego chapter of the Early Ford V8 Foundation paid for a new set of automotive tools. His bosses at El Cajon Ford were impressed by his drive. First came a job rebuilding the engine of a Ford F350 pickup. More complex tasks soon followed. Today, he does a little bit of everything, from working on engines and transmissions to replacing and repairing batteries powering electric and hybrid vehicles.
Thanks to multiple certifications from the ASSET program and his associate degree in automotive technology, which he secured in June 2017, Garcia earns more than $60,000 annually.
Garcia is not an aberration. According to Ford Motor Co., 99 percent of ASSET graduates get hired at their sponsoring dealerships. And by the time graduation rolls around, nearly all the trainees are already employed full-time.
He has nothing but praise for the instructors at the Automotive Technology program.
“They want to see you learn. They want to see you get a good job. They’re not just there for a paycheck,” Garcia said.
Cuyamaca College’s automotive technology program enrolls an average of 300 students each semester, and it is highly regarded not only because of its industry-recognized certifications, but also because all of its instructors are polished professionals.
“Cuyamaca’s auto tech program is a great place to get started. For someone who has no experience working with cars, you’ll learn the basics in no time,” Garcia said. “For someone who wants to build on the skills you already have, you’re going to get the kind of training that can get you anywhere.”

Grossmont's Corrections Academy starts soon.

Open registration starts July 17 at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges for fall semester classes beginning Aug. 19 for some 30,000 students with goals of university transfer, workforce training or expanding their knowledge.

Aug. 18 is the deadline for online registration and Sept. 1 is the last day for late registration with instructor approval.

California community colleges have among the lowest enrollment fees in the country at $46 per unit. Financial aid, including scholarships, grants and loans, are available with information posted at Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College websites.

First-time college students attending full-time can qualify for two years of tuition-free classes through the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College Promise. To be eligible, students must complete orientation, assessments, devise an education plan and maintain at least a 2.0 GPA. The deadline to apply for the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College Promise for fall 2019 is Sept. 10. More details are available at mycollegepromise.net.

With more than 2,400 class offerings, students have an abundant selection to consider. General education classes from Anthropology to Theatre Arts are available at both colleges. Both colleges are also offering a growing number of classes with free textbooks that are available on the public domain or released under an open license. Look for courses with the “ZTC” (zero textbook costs) designations in the class schedules for Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College.

For those seeking workforce training, both colleges offer renowned career education programs.

At Grossmont College, the Corrections Academy (AOJ-107) starts Sept. 3 and continues through Dec.12 for students interested in jobs as corrections officers in local or county jails, community correctional facilities and privately contracted federal correctional facilities in California. Evening and Saturday classes are offered. An orientation meeting is set for Thursday, Aug. 29 from 5:30-10 p.m. in Room 100-102A. Students must download a Department of Justice background packet online by clicking on the Corrections Academy link at www.grossmont.edu/aoj. The last day to submit an application is Aug. 7.

The Public Safety Dispatcher class (AOJ-158) is also offered 6-10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday evenings with one required Saturday meeting. The dispatch course is POST-approved, meeting the basic dispatcher training for law enforcement agencies.

Get help with registration at the Assessment Center, Bldg. 10, Room 172.

Other workforce training programs offered at Grossmont College include Culinary Arts, Child Development, Computer Science and Information Systems and Business Administration. Allied health programs including nursing, cardiovascular technology, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy assistant, and telemetry are offered, leading to scores of students every year finding healthcare jobs.

Another offering exclusive to Grossmont College is its dance program with classes in modern dance, tap, ballroom dance, jazz, ballet, and hip hop, as well as courses in choreography and teaching dance. Most dance classes fulfill the fitness/wellness general education requirement.

Both colleges offer a Business Office Technology program, where self-paced, traditional and online classes are available in keyboarding, filing and records management, elementary accounting, Excel, Powerpoint, medical coding and more.

The engineering program exclusive to Cuyamaca College has classes ranging from Intro to Engineering and Design (ENGR-100) to Digital Design (ENGR-270).

Career education courses offered at Cuyamaca College include automotive technology, where one of the newest auto tech offerings is a short-term course in Automotive Service Advisor (AUTO-180), a one-unit class meeting 6-9:15 p.m. Fridays from Aug. 19-Sept. 21.

Another short-term class at Cuyamaca College is an online class in entrepreneurship focusing on the gig economy (BUS 113) offered Oct.14-Nov. 23.

The Cisco Networking Academy allows students to take a series of self-paced classes online to become a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) in one year and a Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) in two. Students new to the Cisco Academy are required to attend an orientation 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, in Room E-205.

The Center for Water Studies at Cuyamaca College prepares students for working in the water industry at water treatment plants and public and private water utilities. An orientation for new and prospective students is set for 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, in Room L-104.

Computer and Information Science, Graphic Design, CADD Technology, Paralegal Studies, Child Development, Environmental Health and Safety Management, Ornamental Horticulture, Real Estate, and Surveying round out Cuyamaca’s career education programs.

Grossmont College is located at 8800 Grossmont College Drive in El Cajon. Cuyamaca College is at 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway in Rancho San Diego.

Information on admissions and registering for classes is available online at www.gcccd.edu/now.

Making learning cool is what’s behind Grossmont College’s Career Academy Week, a three-day event featuring speakers, demonstrations and a new mobile lab where visitors can try their hand at virtual welding, as well as programming and flying drones.

Three industry tracks will be featured – information technology on Tuesday, July 23; culinary arts on Wednesday, July 24; and entrepreneurship and drones on Thursday, July 25. Career Academy Week takes place from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. each day at the Main Quad. Organized by the college’s Career Technical Education and Workforce Development Division, the first-time event is free and open to adult members of the public. Campus tours will also be provided. To RSVP for the event, go to https://tinyurl.com/GCCareerAcademy

The three tracks were selected because they are high-demand career fields with a healthy jobs outlook, said Javier Ayala, dean of Career and Technical Education/Workforce Development. Students and the community are encouraged to attend all three days to explore a variety of careers and to hear about work-based learning options such as apprenticeships, internships and job shadowing.

Mobile lab unveiling

With community colleges as the nation’s leading provider of workforce training, Ayala said Grossmont College is focusing on building programs and partnerships to address workforce trends such as the decreasing numbers of high school graduates ready to take on jobs in manufacturing or the construction trades. Grossmont College recently began an alliance with Ironworkers Local 229 to launch a new pre-apprenticeship program for jobs in ironworking. The pre-apprenticeships are designed to provide trainees an opportunity to learn about the field and to get acquainted with ironworking before committing to the full-fledged, paid

apprenticeships which typically take four years to complete.

The college is counting on a 27-foot $150,000 mobile lab – officially called the Pre-Apprenticeship Mobile Lab -- to help spread the word about unique offerings such as the ironworkers’ pre-apprenticeships and another recently launched program in drone technology.

Garnered through a $410,000 apprenticeship grant awarded by the state in 2017, the eye-catching lab is painted in vivid Grossmont colors with contrasting images of ironworkers plying their trade. It will travel to high schools, career fairs and outreach events throughout the county. As a recruitment and educational tool, it’s been customized to the hilt with dedicated Wi-Fi, five high-definition monitors, 20 laptops, drone kits and three Vrtex Mobile virtual reality welding machines. The machines manufactured by Lincoln Electric replicate real-life welding without the hazardous heat and sparking and the expensive metals, wires and waste.

“It’s an exciting virtual reality environment,” Ayala explained as a small group of students slipped on the helmets with face-mounted displays and used the faux welding tool to practice. “These machines are used to augment training.”

Monitors and speakers emit realistic sounds and sparks and real-time feedback to provide a stimulating, hands-on training experience in MIG, TIG and Flux Core welding. The entry-level welding training system allows students to try welding in a safe, virtual environment with realistic graphics that mimic settings like a military base or a motorsports garage.

“It was really cool,” said psychology major Justin Rapolla. “I can see that younger students especially, will learn a lot more because they’re having fun. It’ll be second nature to students who’ve grown up playing videogames.”

Coding is another career that will be covered at the Career Academy Week event and employment data shows why. Seven million job openings in 2015 were in occupations requiring coding skills and programming jobs overall are growing 12 percent faster than the market average, according to a 2016 report from Burning Glass, a job market analytics firm.

Drone kits also will be provided, as well as laptops, to teach users how to program and fly Parrot Mambo quadcopter mini-drones. Drone enthusiasts can also see demonstrations July 25 by students in Grossmont College’s popular drone technology program.

Grossmont College is “Transforming Lives Through Education” and has served the diverse educational needs of San Diego’s East County since 1961. With more than 150 certificate and associate degree programs, Grossmont College provides workforce training, career development and transferable college-level coursework to its nearly 19,000 students.

Salsa Under the Stars to benefit Grossmont College music students

Grossmont College events mark Asian Pacific Islanders Heritage Month

Cuyamaca College chamber music series concludes May 22 with Mozart sonatas for piano and violin

East County Career Expo at Cuyamaca College always a big draw

Art exhibit blossoms at Cuyamaca College

New opportunities for Cuyamaca College student Armando Arevalo

Take Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges' summer classes; you'll still have time for that summer tan

Second East County school district joins the East County Education Alliance

Danika Lund: From Cuyamaca College to a premier dental school

A record year as graduation day approaches at Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges

Mortarboards with a special touch a feather in the cap for many Grossmont College grads

Cuyamaca College helps near-blind student focus on her goals

A proud day of joy and accomplishment

Two from Grossmont College receive national scholarships for LGBTQ community college students

Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges secure grants to expand online career education

Kristina Moore: Cuyamaca College graduate finds support needed to thrive

Help wanted: Three volunteers for Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee

Ignacio Garcia: Shifting into a new career thanks to Cuyamaca College

Open registration starts for fall semester at Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges

Grossmont College welcomes public to Career Academy Week