Constitution Day Celebration

Every year the Student Government of Cerro Coso (SGCC) celebrates Constitution Day on September 17th, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787. The SGCC utilizes this time to educate students on the history of the American Constitution and provides free copies of the U.S. Constitution and cookies. This year the SGCC invited students and staff at the Ridgecrest Campus to stop by their table in the quad and sign a card to a service person. The cards were then sent to U.S. Naval Support Activity, Capodichino in Naples Italy where they employ more 10,000 service men and women from every branch of operable service. “I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.”—Benjamin Franklin, 1787

ESCC Fall Welcome Feasts 1 Constitution Day Celebration 1 Connecting Dreams with Real Experience 2 Pardon the dust...but move we must! 2 Alumni Online Store 2 Parking Lot Under Construction 3 ESCC Recipient of Toiyabe Health Grant 3 Wycoff Small Town Lady 3 Parade of 1000 Flags Inspires 4 Club Rush 4 Jeffrey Panelist at Film Screening 4

OCTOBER 2015 CERRO COSO COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Inside this Issue

ESCC Fall Welcome Feasts

Nothing says WELCOME like good food in a great environment. Cerro Coso’s Eastern Sierra College Center in Bishop and Mammoth Lakes kicked off the fall semester with Welcome dinners. On Wednesday, August 19th, the Owens Valley Career Development Center, Eastern Sierra Foundation, and the Cerro Coso Bishop Campus invited students to join them for a meet and greet at the Bishop Campus. Fifty-five attended the affair including 30 students, parents, friends, children, staff, faculty, and guests. The pulled pork sandwiches and slaw were a huge hit and the University of Nevada Reno trip was widely talked about. Student feedback included “learned about art transfer degree,” and “enjoyed this event, looking forward to taking classes.” The Mammoth Lakes Campus partnered with the Mammoth Lakes Foundation and the South Gateway Student Apartments to host a Welcome BBQ on Thursday, August 20th. Overall attendance for the occasion was 35. A fun time for all, student comments included: “Nice food and presentation. Comfortable, beautiful environment,” and “Awesome experience. Staff and RA’s super friendly and helpful and makes parents have no concerns”. Welcome Back – We Missed You!

CCCC students promote constitution day (l to r) Kurtis Williams, President; Claire Ritchey, Vice President; Taylor Vaughn, Secretary; Maryah Marcano, Student Senate President; Lily Nelson, KCCD Student Trustee; Gideon Ondap, Region IX Representative; and student Evan Burkhardt .

Connecting Dreams with Real ExperienceWhat do physical therapists, bankers, police officers, army soldiers, engineers, and emergency medical technicians have in common? They were among the many professions represented at this year’s Career Exploration Day held in the college gymnasium on Thursday, September 24, 2015. Students who know they need a college degree for the jobs that interest them are more likely to go to college. Every year the counseling department holds a Career Exploration Day to help connect career dreams with real life experience. This year more than 400 high school juniors and seniors representing eight different high schools attended, and explored the many career opportunities and college programs available to them locally. Cerro Coso President Jill Board welcomed those in attendance encouraging them to interact with the various employers and college programs and ask questions about academic requirements as well as workplace skills and behaviors needed to become successful. The day gives students the opportunity to see possible career

paths and get insight into the specific requirements, daily responsibilities, and extraordinary experiences associated with each career. Attendees were given tours of the Ridgecrest Campus and lunch in the sculpture garden with music and an opportunity to win a drawing for a laptop, DVD player, and L300 system. Special

recognition goes to event coordinators: Karee Hamilton and Amy Kennedy, and the staff in the counseling and outreach departments for their hard work in raising awareness about the importance of a college education. It’s a beautiful thing when career and passion come together.

Great news! Cerro Coso’s brand new online school store has officially launched! Treat yourself or your friends with a purchase from the new school store for this school year! Through the VIP Branding Program, the college has a new online school store filled with fresh, new Coyotes gear. Shop for yourself or a student and the Cerro Coso Community College Alumni Association will receive funds from every purchase to support students and programs. This drives much needed funding to the school and unifies all of us as our students, families, alumni, faculty, and others start to see more and more Cerro Coso Community College gear in the community! Every item sold in our Varsity Shop is custom-made. VISIT THE OFFICIAL NEW SCHOOL STORE BY CLICKING THE IMAGE ON THE COLLEGE HOMEPAGE OR BY ENTERING varsityshop.com/ca_cerro_coso_cc IN YOUR INTERNET BROWSER WINDOW. Go Coyotes!

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Pardon the dust…but move we must!A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of a move, like the one that recently took place at Cerro Coso’s Ridgecrest Campus. Packed and ready to go for more than a month, the time had finally come to clear the main building for construction. Moving is stressful, but the staff at Cerro Coso took it in stride as they relocated to the various modular units they will call home for the next few years. Some even considered it an adventure, like the counseling staff that were quick to get everything in place so they could resume services to students. Staying positive and keeping a sense of humor during the move required a flat-out refusal to let the stress of the situation get them down. No ordinary duct tape day, many were forced to resist the urge to pop bubble wrap before packing fragile items. Departments and offices have been moved and staff are settling into to their new surroundings. Services to students have been restored. Special thanks goes out to the Maintenance and Operations staff for their patience and hard work. Exciting changes are in the works at the Ridgecrest Campus.

Counseling staff: Nikki Gardepe, Amy Kennedy, and Terri White can skip the gym this week as these superwomen broke the record for a quick recovery in their department’s move across campus.

Parking Lot Under ConstructionThe Main Building Modernization project began on September 8, 2015 at the Ridgecrest Campus. The main parking lot was closed and all parking was directed to the Gymnasium Parking Lot immediately following the Labor Day Holiday. Progress is being made on the first phase of the project which includes upgrading and improving the main parking lot for vehicle access, Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility, improved paths of travel, and installation of a new ticket dispensing machine. The old asphalt has been removed and will be ground and repurposed to stabilize the existing soil. Grading and compaction is currently underway. It is anticipated the lot will be closed the rest of the semester. Pardon our mess…but the NEW LOOK will impress!

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ESCC Recipient of Toiyabe Health Grant Cerro Coso Community College’s Eastern Sierra College Center in Bishop and Mammoth Lakes is one of 10 organizations to receive grant funds to complete one to three year projects that benefit tribal communities by focusing on increasing access to healthy food, active living, and commercial tobacco-free environments. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH) initiative, Toiyabe Community Wellness Program is working to increase access to physical activity opportunities, increase access to environments with healthy food and beverage options, and protect people from second-hand smoke exposure. In all of these areas, work is focused on collaborative, community-driven, and sustainable projects. “Through this grant from the CDC,” said Toiyabe’s Chief Executive Officer David Lent, “We are empowered to develop and maintain healthy individuals, families, and Indian communities while fostering tribal sovereignty, self-sufficiency and cultural values by sub-awarding the funds to our tribal and community organizations.” From north to south, funded organizations are: Mono County Community Development, Bridgeport Indian Colony, Cerro Coso Community College, Bishop Indian Head Start, Bishop Paiute Tribe, Bishop Paiute Tribe Environmental Management Office, City of Bishop, Big Pine Paiute Tribe, Big Pine Paiute Development Corporation, and Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Tribe. Toiyabe Indian Health Project is a consortium of 7 federally recognized tribes and 2 Native American communities from Coleville to Death Valley. In the Preventive Medicine Department, the Community Wellness Program works to reduce and prevent chronic disease, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, within the Toiyabe service area. Their objective is to create healthier communities by making healthy living easier and more affordable where people work, live, learn, and play.

Wycoff Small Town LadyJamie Wycoff the new Department Assistant II for the Public Relation, Marketing, and Development Office at the Ridgecrest Campus, was born and raised in the small community of Elk Creek, California, population 163. Yes you read that correctly, 163. Home to one of the smallest public high schools in California, with a graduating class of 5 when Wycoff graduated. She received a full scholarship to play basketball at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington, after graduation, but missed the sun, beautiful skies, and stars of California, so she returned to attend Butte College in Chico, where she completed her Associates Degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. She loves meeting and interacting with people and spent five years working for a hotel chain working her way up to Front Desk Manager and Director of Sales and Catering. She relocated to Ridgecrest in July with her fiancé, Zack, whose family owns a local rock quarry. Wycoff loves the small home town feel of Ridgecrest and enjoys walking her two furry dog children, Sadie Mae and Bubba, under the beautiful desert skies. She enjoys exercising and plans to stay in Ridgecrest for many years. Welcome Jamie, we’re delighted you’re here.

ESCC Director Deanna Campbell (left) joined city, county, school, tribal organizations, and community champions as they gathered on June 24 at Toiyabe Indian Health Project for Native American health and wellness! —Photo by Toiyabe Staff

Club Rush

Students at the Ridgecrest Campus were invited to Club Rush on Tuesday, September 29th, in the quad from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The event provides student clubs the opportunity to set-up a table and showcase their club, promote club activities, and recruit new members. The theme for the event was Clublympics and every club featured a different game to attracted more students. Students were given one ticket to vote for their favorite game and the club with the most votes will receive a pizza party at their next meeting. Student clubs at Cerro Coso offer students a wide variety of leadership, internship, and volunteer opportunities to enhance their college experience. These clubs build student relations correlating with common interests such as career options, academics, cultural support, social events and interest, and political service. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Jeffrey Panelist at Film ScreeningCerro Coso instructor, poet, mother, and artist Melanie Jeffrey recently served as a panelist for a 60th Anniversary film screening of Zane Grey’s The Vanishing American by Lit Crawl L.A. at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. The panelists were asked to link the images of Native Americans in cinema and plot of the film, to current events. Jeffrey’s tribal affiliation with the Diegueño Indians and recent interview with Red Hen Press’s Los Angeles Review (Fall 2015) made her a perfect fit for the discussion. A graduate from the University of California, Riverside’s MFA program, her poetry is a hybrid of modernism and experimentalism. L.A. Review, a literary journal in L.A., interviewed Jeffrey on her new chapbook, Rules to Want, published by dancing girl press. A copy is available in the College

Library. What’s next for Jeffrey? Well, she has been invited to be a guest editor of the next issue of the L.A. Review. Cerro Coso congratulates Jeffrey’s on her literary success.

Parade of 1000 Flags InspiresStudents, staff, administrators, and their families were proud to represent Cerro Coso Community College in this year’s Parade of 1000 Flags, which honors the memory of those killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Now in its 14th year, the event celebrates the patriotism of the community–a fact not lost on House Majority Leader and former Kern Community College District Board of Trustee Kevin McCarthy. This year’s keynote speaker for the event, McCarthy said he considers Ridgecrest home, and added “I will put this city up against any city in this country” in terms of patriotism. In a strong show of community support, Cerro Coso Community College was a proud participant of this year’s event, which served as an impressive reminder of the tremendous amount of gratitude and patriotism that exists for our nation’s first responders and veterans.

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Representing Cerro Coso in the Parade of 1000 Flags (l to r) Ronald Smith, Aaron Landeck, Charlie Snyder, Holly Smith, April Snyder (and children), Kim Sutherland, Selen Martinez, Rene Mitchell, Jessica Krall, Kylee Mitchell, and Jenna Krall.

The Coyote Howler is a publication ofCerro Coso Community College.

For more information about the stories in this publication, or to include information in this publication, contact Natalie Dorrell,

Public Information Manager,at 760-384-6260 or

email ndorrell@cerrocoso.edu.

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