The Skyline Shines Award recognizes individuals or groups who help Skyline College to shine in terms of its quality of programs and services and its reputation for quality. Two awards are made annually, one to a member or group of the Skyline College employees and one to a member or group from the community.

Nomination process: Please make nominations by Friday, May 18 at 4:30 p.m. using the Nomination Form to describe the ways in which the nominee(s) help the college live up to the college’s values, described below under “Criteria.” Submit nominations electronically to Theresa Tentes, Executive Administrative Assistant to the President, at tentes@smccd.edu. Only electronic submissions will be considered.

If you have questions, contact Theresa at the email address above, or at 650-738-4111.

Criteria for the award: The awardees would be those who most help the college live up to the college’s values:

* Social Justice: We are committed to a comprehensive diversity framework that promotes social justice throughout all policies, procedures, and practices of the College.

* Campus Climate: We value a campus-wide climate that reflects a student’s first philosophy’ with mutual respect between all constituencies and appreciation for diversity. Both instruction and student services are dedicated to providing every student with an avenue to success.

* Open Access: We are committed to the availability of quality educational programs and services for every member of our community regardless of level of preparedness, socio-economic status, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, cultural, religious, or ethnic background, or disability status. We are committed to providing students with open access to programs and responsive student services both in person and online that enable them to advance steadily toward their goals.

* Student Success and Equity: We value students’ success in achieving their goals, on time, and strengthening their voices as they transform their lives through their educational experience. We aim to close gaps that result in inequitable outcomes by ensuring that each student has the opportunity to succeed.

* Academic Excellence: We value excellence in all aspects of our mission as a comprehensive community college offering preparation for transfer to a baccalaureate institution, workforce and economic development through career technical education programs and certificates, Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees, a baccalaureate degree, basic skills development, and lifelong learning. We are committed to academic rigor and quality with relevant, recent, and evolving curricula and well-equipped programs that include new and emerging areas of study. We are dedicated to an educational climate that values creativity, innovation and freedom of intellectual exploration, discovery, thought, and exchange of ideas.

* Community Connection: We value a deep engagement with the community we serve and our role as an academic and cultural center for community including business, industry, labor, non-profits, government and the arts. We are dedicated to maintaining a college culture and institutional climate that is warm and welcoming to all.

* Participatory Governance: We value just, fair, inclusive, and well-understood, transparent governance processes based upon open and honest communication.

* Sustainability: We value an institutional culture that represents a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and justice. We are committed to the tenets of sustainability “To meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”
Context: The awards will be presented at the Skyline College’s Opening Day event on August 14, 2018.
Process for selecting awardees:

* College employee or group: awardee selected by the President in consultation with the College Council.

* Community member or group: awardee selected by the President in consultation with the President’s Council Executive Committee. Deadline: Friday, May 18, 2018 by 4:30 p.m. Nominations should be made on the nomination form.

Thomas Broxholm was awarded the 2018 CAT President’s Award for “Outstanding Contributions to Automotive Education in California” at the annual California Automotive Teachers (CAT) spring conference at Hartnell College in Salinas, CA on April 28.

Broxholm has been the webmaster for CAT for over 15 years and has attended every conference for the past 20 years.

The conference is designed to support California Automotive Teachers through training, networking and exhibitors. This organization works to support all Automotive CTE throughout the State and at the legislative level in Sacramento. CAT holds a Northern California conferences and a Southern California conference every year.

Ruben Parra, Automotive Engine Performance instructor here at Skyline College is the current CAT President after fulling a 2 year commitment as Vice President.  Ruben has made a 10 year commitment to CAT.

The president’s award is a closely guarded secret and Tom Broxholm was very surprised during the announcement. Broxholm stated that he appreciates the recognition and believes with all his heart what the organization stands for and everything it does for Automotive Education.

 

Article by Thomas G. Broxholm

Skyline College’s Beta Theta Omicron Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society was named in the top 100 Chapters at the 2018 Phi Theta Kappa Convention in Kansas City on April 21. Over 4,000 community college students participated in the three-day conference that was filled with scholarship and leadership forums.

Skyline College’s chapter also received the 2018 Honors in Action Awards for their 2017 project. The chapter has consistently earned national recognition since its chartering in 1999. The chapter has earned Distinguished Chapter 13 times and has earned the Nevada/California Regional Distinguished Chapter award five times.

The awards were the result of competitive essays documenting the chapter’s multiple projects this year, including a year-long project addressing microbiomes and service projects that taught computer literacy to local senior citizens and a project that brought science labs to middle schools.

Additionally, the 2017-2018 chapter officers, received the Distinguished Chapter Officer Team Award. Officers are shown in the photos receiving their awards on stage at the Kansas City Convention Center.

“This recognizes our students’ outstanding service to our college and the community and recognizes chapter members who work so hard during the academic year on the four PTK hallmarks of PTK: fellowship, leadership, scholarship, and service,” said Christine Case, Phi Theta Kappa Advisor. “Phi Theta Kappa offers so many opportunities for our students to extend their education and experiences far beyond the classroom as they prepare for their futures.”

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is the largest honor society in American higher education with more than 1,300 chapters at two-year and community college campuses in all 50 of the United States and Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the British Virgin Islands. There are 94 chapters in California.

Article by Christine Chase

Over 25 students presented their research projects to the campus community at the annual Skyline College Science Research Symposium that took place on April 27. Participants included students from the Biology Department, Biotechnology Department, Math Department, Physics Department, Energize Colleges internship program, and Engineering and Robotics Club. A list of students and their projects is below.

The symposium offered students the opportunity to gain valuable experience communicating their original research and recommendations both orally and through designing coherent, eye-catching posters. “A very real part of our students’ education is getting up in front of a crowd and explaining a scientific concept,” says Biotechnology professor and event organizer Nick Kapp. “The Skyline College Research Symposium gives our students the opportunity to do this for the first time in a safe environment. Many of them will go on to bigger venues at regional and national conferences. I would like to think that by giving our students this opportunity, Skyline College is making a contribution to the knowledge of all mankind.”

In addition, the event served as an occasion for building community among members of different campus departments. Kapp believes it was important for students who presented their research to also be a part of the audience and ask relevant questions. Students got to learn from and support other students, celebrating their hard work with a cake and ice cream social at the symposium’s end.

List of Participants and Projects:

• Energize Colleges interns (mentored by Alex Fuentes, Carla Grandy, Carina Anttila-Suarez, and Mary Thomasmeyer)
• Alexis Cancio – Bay Area Air Quality Training
• Jane Arias – Sustainability Signage and Campus Outreach
• Justin Yu – Electric Vehicle Charging Analysis
• Mariegail Mijares – Zero Waste Outreach
• Paul Bernabe – Campus Fog Catcher
• Rebecca Gines – Energy Auditing
• Richard Ou – Campus Car Counter (mentor: Nick Langhoff)
• Stella Yee – Green Building Education
• Xiaowen Cai – Solar Feasibility Study for Skyline College (mentor: Dr. Christine Case)
• Engineering and Robotics Club (Marco Wehrfritz and Nick Langhoff)
• Jonathan Weber, Mikaela Quintos, Gianni Grelli, Clifford Yu, Livia Darmawan, Niang Lin, Arnaldo Alvarez, Daniel Messier, Anasanique Fountaine, Alex
• Hercules, Sam Marszalec, Richard Hua, Gordon Chong, Kaonhou Her, Michael Derugin, and Johnny Bough – Solar Powered Boat
• Biology Department (mentored by Dr. Christine Case)
• Aayushma Gautam and Kaonhou Her – Examining Antimicrobial Properties of Ceanothus thyrsiflorus Against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus
• Amada Jibaia Prado and Martha Marquez Ramirez – Antibacterial Activity of Achillea millefolium californica against Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Courtney Tang and Moe Pwint Thae – Microbial Analyses of Airborne and Settled Dust in College Classrooms
• Diala Mudawar and Mia Fung – Evaluation of Cornus sericea var. sericea for Antimicrobial Properties
• Robert Erickson and Anthony Petraki – Microbial Metabolic Diversity in the North Pacific Ocean on the Central California Coast
• Shalom Gutierrez and Maritza Flores – Antimicrobial Activity of Lonicera Involucrata Against Bacteria and Yeast
• Xiaowen Cai – Solar Feasibility Study for Skyline College
• Biology Department (mentored by Nick Kapp)
• Alina Kirichuck – Cost of DNA Sequencing vs. Restriction Endonuclease DNA Analysis
• Biotechnology Department (mentored by Nick Kapp)
• Carlmont Biotech – Biotechnology Class
• Math Department (mentored by Kenyatta Weathersby)
• Isin Berenice al-Otat, Catherine Villamejor, Fed Kluss, Raoul Ligon, Akmal Gadang, Christine Abella, Harold Cacho, Malik Hale, Briana Coreas-Ayala, Ijeoma Okwuosa, and Griffen Bragagnolo – Do Water Filters Actually Work?
• Engineering Department/Fabrication Lab (mentored by Maryam Khan)
• Brandon Petterson, Melanie Trujillo, Michael Lam, and Anasanique Fountaine – The Fabrication of a Novice Quadcopter
• Physics Department (mentored by Adam Windham)
• Krystal Kyain and Zaw Aung – Hydroelectric Generators

Article and Photo by Mary Thomasmeyer

Skyline College ceramics students participated for the tenth consecutive year in the annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art in Davis, CA from April 26 to April 29. The three-day conference draws ceramics students from all over the region to put on a display of their colleges’ artwork, and to attend over thirty exhibitions by other colleges and universities from California.

The Skyline College show was set up in a large warehouse gallery with 15 other schools. Our immediate show neighbors were Chico State University and San Jose State University. The installation took a full day on Thursday, which included preparing pedestals and wall displays, hanging lights, and arranging the artwork.

The Skyline College Student Ceramics Exhibition included functional ceramic pieces as well as ceramic sculptures, from all levels of Skyline ceramics classes. The exhibition contained a wide array of themes and styles, reflecting the diverse artistic expression of our students. Participating students welcomed conference guests to our show, sharing their inspirations, ideas and techniques. The large variety of school exhibitions presented a wonderful opportunity for students to connect with potential transfer schools, their instructors, and current students.

In addition to curating the student exhibition, Professor of Art Tiffany Schmierer showed her own ceramic sculptures. She and Adjunct Ceramics Professor Jennifer Brazelton were featured in the main conference exhibition, titled 30 Sculptors, at The John Natsoulas Gallery. Schmierer was also invited as this year’s juror of the California Clay Competition, a statewide professional exhibition at the Artery Gallery.

Article and Photos by Tiffany Schmierer

National Poetry Month ended the month of April with the Book Spine Workshop & Contest, hosted by Skyline College Library on April 19, . Several students selected and stacked books to create their own inventive and expressive poems. The prizes were one $25, $15, and $10 gift card, a donation courtesy of Skyline College Bookstore.

First place winner for the $25 gift card was “Our Restless Century” by Kylea Pearson:

Rebels against WAR

The Future is Ours

Speaking Up

The Power of Protest

Letting go

The Rattling Chains

The Restless Century

 

Second place winner for the $15 gift card was “Global Existentialism” by Clayborne Go

Life As It Is

Of Molecules and Men

Only Skin Deep

In Our Own Image

The Design of Future Things

The Age of Oil

Plastic

Industrial

Rockets and Missiles

War on the Mind

 

Third place winner for the $10 gift card was “Not Safe For Writing” (NSFW) by Gabriel Capili

Censorship

Of Poetry & Protest

Consumed

The Way We Really Are

Give Your Speech, Change the World

Don’t let them scare you

 

The Library would like to thank all of our students who participated in the Book Spine Workshop & Contest event, as well as congratulate the winners.

 

Article by Sherri Wyatt | Photo by Pia Walawalkar

April’s National Poetry Month was a time to allow students to showcase their poetic talents while learning from award-winning and critically acclaimed published poets. On April 10, Skyline College was graced with two dynamic and acclaimed power houses in poetry – Jessica Care Moore and Tongo Eisen-Martin. With their transparent lyricism, they brought to light the need for social consciousness and made tangible the joys and sorrows of the people in United States.

Facilitated by Nathan Jones in collaboration with the division of Academic Support & Learning Technologies (ASLT) and Student Equity and Support Programs, “Poetry=Power” invited 50 plus students to experience the poetry readings of Eisen-Martin and Moore.

Eisen-Martin performed three poems, one being “Faceless” from his recent collection “Heaven Is All Goodbyes”, published through San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore and is currently Shortlisted for the 2018 Griffin International Poetry Prize.

Standing in one place, slightly swaying forward and backward with transformative affect, his cadence was a mixture of inner conversation to melodic Jazz scatting, invoking the literary spiritual incantations of Gil Scott-Heron, Allen Ginsberg and Audre Lorde. He helped us feel the repetitive soulless nature of the Prison Industrial Complex and its impact on black and brown communities.

After Eisen-Martin’s applauds subsided, Moore took her place center stage endowing the students with her brand of mother-warrior unapologetic social conscious Motown-down home bluesy poetry. The students were engaged from verse to verse, especially her “You Want Poems,” published in Moore’s fourth book “Sunlight Through Bullet Holes” and featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History.

We wanted more (no pun intended), so much more that students wanted to hear another poem. Pressed for time, Jones had to push for a quick Q&A and book signing. The students quickly lined up to purchased Eisen-Martin and Moore’s books, CDs, and other merchandise.

Though this was an awesome and much lauded event, there are two more poetry events in May. On Thursday, May 3rd in Skyline College Library at 3:00 p.m., there will be a book release and reading from Skyline College’s English faculty member Kathleen McClung. And on Tuesday, Math 8th, Talisman Literary Magazine will have a release party and reading for Issue 48! The event starts at 6:00 p.m. in Building 6, room 6-204. Do not miss out!

Article by Sherri Wyatt | Photos by Jessica Care Moore

Skyline College’s Paralegal Department, in partnership with the Career Advancement Academy, hosted its third annual Legal Careers Night on April 26. The event featured two panels: “Pathways to Law School” and “Getting Started as a Paralegal” and welcomed nearly 75 attendees.

Legal Careers Night serves to inform paralegal students, those interested in the legal studies educational pathway, and students in the exploratory stage of their major, about key areas of the academic and career development process within the legal field: selecting a major and preparing for transfer and positioning yourself as a competitive applicant in the legal field.

Throughout the evening, attendees had the opportunity to have their resumes reviewed by the Career Center and network with employers, fellow students, faculty, legal professionals, and legal Human Resources representatives. Robert Half Legal Staffing discussed job placement opportunities within law firms throughout the Bay Area and supplied students with local and national labor market data for various legal positions. After each panel, students were eager to speak with panelists individually to gather additional insight, advice, and tips for future success.

The diverse panels included practicing lawyers, paralegals, legal recruiters, hiring managers, legal educators, and featured several notable Skyline College alumni, including San Mateo Community College District representative Trustee Maurice Goodman, a member of the Skyline College President’s Council Damian Guzman, and Skyline College Paralegal Program instructor Maria Segarra. Each panelist graciously gave of their time, generously shared their personal stories with the audience, and ensured that our students experienced an engaging night. Panel moderators Lavinia Zanassi and Jesse Raskin expertly facilitated these remarkable panels and fielded thoughtful questions from students during the Q&A portion.

Legal Careers Night was made possible by Skyline College’s support for innovative work and by the hard work and dedication of the Legal Careers Night planning team: Jesse Raskin, Maria Segarra, Jeremy Evangelista, Nikki McLaughlin (a CAA Legal Careers alumni and Skyline  College graduate), and Alina Varona. A special thanks to the facilities team who did a great job setting up and tearing down the event, Roger Marcelo in Multimedia Services for ensuring excellent sound and lighting support, and MCPR for their marketing support.

For the past six years, The Career Advancement Academy has connected students to opportunities in higher education and higher wage careers by integrating accelerated and contextualized English and math, career technical education, and integrated student support. To date, the Career Advancement Academies have served well over 1,500 students with academic programs in Allied Health, Automotive Technology, Biotechnology, Early Childhood Education, and Legal Careers, along with additional bridge and dual enrollment programs at Baden High School, Peninsula High School, 3rd Street Youth Health Center, and incumbent worker training partnerships with community based organizations, including Goodwill Industries.

As the Career Advancement Academy comes to an end this spring 2018 semester, we look forward to seeing the great work of supporting students’ academic and economic success continue to flourish across the College.

Article by Nikki McLaughlin & Alina Varona | Photo by Kevin Perez

It has been an extraordinary spring semester for the Kapatiran students at South San Francisco and Westmoor high school. This semester has been full of firsts; first-time joint Skyline College field trip, first-time “Hopes & Dreams” panels, and most recently, the first-time performing in Kapatiran’s “Showcase”.

The idea for “Showcase” is for students to perform what they have learned in the Kapatiran program in a nontraditional, creative way. It also challenges students to step outside their comfort zone by asking them to share their talent, passion, artistic skill in front of people. Students created poems, spoken word, visual art, dance routines, videos, and one student sang a whole song. Leading up to this project, students were very nervous and full of doubt because they never had this opportunity before.

However, all those insecurities were not present when it was time for them to perform in front of their fellow Kapatiran colleagues, their friends, their families, and the Kababayan Learning Community. The audience energy was very supportive and it had a very community feel throughout the program. It was also a donation drive to send school supplies for Salupongan International, an organization aimed to support the indigenous tribes in the Philippines whose land and life are being threatened.

Overall, this was a successful event to connect the Kapatiran high school students to Skyline College and the Kababayan Learning Community.

Attached below is a link to the Showcase program in PDF form: https://goo.gl/7ww6ch.

Big love to Lauren Ford and the Outreach team for supporting the Kapatiran program throughout this spring semester.

Thank you to Skyline College for allowing the Kapatiran students the space and opportunity to showcase their talents at a college institution.

The Kapatiran program will be recruiting for their next cohort of students at South San Francisco and Westmoor high school for Fall 2018.

Keep up with us at https://kapatiranskyline.weebly.com/how.html

With love,

The Kapatiran Program.

Article by Alvin Gubatina |  Photo taken by Monica Macaldo

With the expiration of Skyline College’s Strategic Goals and Initiatives, the Skyline College community has the opportunity to forge a vision for the future.

Thus far, the College hosted an open forum earlier this semester and has been seeking feedback from various governance committees.

To ensure that the draft Strategic Goals and Initiatives document reflects the College’s priorities, we welcome your feedback.

PLEASE FILL OUT THIS SHORT ONLINE SURVEY to provide your feedback on the latest draft of Skyline College’s Strategic Goals and Initiatives.

Article by Jacqueline Honda, Ed.D.