Earlier this month, Swinerton Builders opened its gates to engineering students for insight on career opportunities within construction management. On Tuesday afternoon of October 4, Intro to Engineering students attended an informative talk from Pam Welty, Senior Construction Manager on the upcoming Environmental Sciences Building. The talk focused on the project overview, innovations with LEED, and sustainable design for the (in-progress) Environmental Sciences building. The presentation also shed some light on the interdisciplinary aspect of construction with key engineering branches.

The talk was followed up with two breakout sessions where the students went on site to meet different project engineers on site to learn about their day-to-day work, as well as their educational pathway. Comments from the students regarding the experience include “This made me learn about how dynamic the engineering field is. Even though you will study a particular discipline, there is still a chance that you’ll take on something else as a career. This makes me excited for the potential opportunities I could have in the future.”

Special thanks go to Swinerton Builders and XL Construction for providing our students this unique opportunity for career exploration on campus! Perhaps some of these prospective engineers will shine on as future builders.

Article and Photo by Maryam Khan

On Saturday, October 20, the 24-piece Skyline College Jazz Band will return to Odd Fellows Hall in Half Moon Bay, a venue that has enthusiastically hosted and promoted the ensemble several times in the past three years.

Celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the iconic Bay Area band TOWER OF POWER, the Skyline College Jazz Band will perform soul and funk classics including, “There Is Only So Much Oil in the Ground,” “So Very Hard To Go,” “You’re Still a Young Man,” “Diggin’ on James Brown,” “Down to the Night Club,” and “What Is Hip?” among other swing, blues, and Latin musical selections written by eminent jazz composers Michel Camilo, Gordon Goodwin, Lennie Niehaus, and Maria Schneider.

Led by Professor Zack Bruno, the Skyline College Jazz Band is comprised of full- and part-time student musicians who meet for rehearsals in the MUS. 450 class on Monday nights. The Jazz Band learns and performs a new program of music twice each semester, often showcasing their talents at jazz clubs in San Francisco, San Carlos, Burlingame, and Daly City.

The Odd Fellows Hall in Half Moon Bay is located at 526 Main Street, and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The suggested donation for admission to the performance is $20 ($10 for students). Proceeds go toward scholarships for music students in the Cabrillo Unified School District.

In addition, the Skyline College Jazz Combo – a select group of musicians from within the Jazz Band – will perform at the Cañada College President’s Luncheon on Tuesday, October 23, at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. The Jazz Combo was featured earlier this year at the Skyline College International Student Orientation, at a private home in Atherton, and at the SMCCD Foundation’s Golf Fundraiser in Palo Alto.

Article by Dr. Zachary E. Bruno | Photo by Edwin Q. Serrano

Last Tuesday October 9 in the Fireside Dining Area, Skyline College’s Education and Child Development (EDU/CD) Program hosted its second annual, “Careers with Children & Education” Job Fair. Twenty programs that serve children and families attended including representatives from San Mateo County Office of Education, South San Francisco Parks & Rec Department, and the Bay Area Down Syndrome Connection. These programs were invited because of the teacher shortage and overwhelming need for teachers, teacher’s aides, and qualified staff to work with children. This fair gave

Students had the opportunity to interview employers and learn about the educational requirements for the various positions. They also received resume and interview advice from Skyline College’s Career Center and spoke with local universities that provide bachelor’s and credential programs in education and child development.

Due to the overwhelming positive responses from both students and employers, the EDU/CD Program plans to repeat this event every semester, alternating day and evening, thus allowing all students an opportunity to participate.

Article by Kristina Brower

Do you use Canvas to support your face-to-face classes or online courses? Need to log some Flex hours? Enjoy free food? Join the Skyline College Hybrid/Online Community of Practice on Friday, October 26 in Building 6, Room 6-203. From 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m., we’re streaming @ONE’s free CanInnovate conference, a series of webinars for community college Canvas users.

You’re welcome to join us for any portion of the daylong conference, which includes sessions on building an equity minded syllabus, adding video to a Canvas course, previewing the new Canvas gradebook, and more. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. So that we can plan appropriately, please use this link to register for our on-campus viewing party: bit.ly/skylinecanninovate

Go to @ONE’s website (onlinenetworkofeducators.org/caninnovate18/) for the full program, and to register online if you can’t make it to Skyline College that day. No matter how you attend CanInnovate, you will receive verification of attendance—and you can count CanInnovate sessions as Flex time.

Questions? Contact CoP co-facilitators Christopher Collins (collinsc@smccd.edu) or Kim Saccio-Kent (sacciokentk@smccd.edu).

About @ONE: The Online Network of Educators is a collaborative, system-wide network of California Community College faculty, staff, and administrators coordinated by the CCC Online Education Initiative (OEI). @ONE provides training and professional development to support the effective use of digital tools and platforms to make California Community Colleges a nationally recognized leader in online teaching and learning.

Article by Kim Saccio-Kent

On Flex Day, October 10, 2018, nearly 200 staff, faculty, and administrators joined together to enhance connections across the campus and reconnect to our zest for transformative teaching and learning. Beginning with a keynote by Dr. Darrick Smith, the CTTL sponsored program focused on fostering student success. As Dr. Smith made clear — in his signature impassioned and approachable way — community college educators have the unique opportunity to “incite learning like a riot … for anyone capable of profiting from the instruction offered.”

Early feedback suggests that the message resonates at Skyline College. In the words of Barbara Corzonkoff, Academic Senate Co-Representative for Adjunct Faculty, “the keynote speaker was enlightening and the sessions were all so inviting it was hard to pick just one.”

Nicole Porter, ECE Instructor, agrees: “I enjoyed the speaker and session on ‘Being Student Ready’. I was inspired and left with tools and strategies to continue being a reflective practitioner and to engage my fellow educators”.

Other highlights included a focus: on undocumented students; highly effective educational practices in and out of the classroom including grading, affective pedagogy, and themes in general education; and understanding the new student experience. Thanks to a generous donation from bookstore manager and Skyline College alumnus, Kevin Chak, the day ended on a sweet note with dessert and a raffle. Congratulations to professor Hellen Zhang who won the grand prize – a brand new Chromebook!

Throughout the event, the strong presence of classified staff and adjunct faculty was a welcome occurrence. As Classified Senate President Michele Haggar points out, “Closing the campus made it possible for staff to engage in critical conversations that enhance our ability to serve students in the best possible way.” When asked about flex day, Jesse W. Raskin, CTTL Coordinator, replied, “We know that effective instruction leads to more student success. Today was all about investing in educators as a way to support students. I hope that everyone had an ‘aha’ moment and I’m eager to see how we develop these ideas, together.”

The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) aspires to advance student success, equity, and social justice through offering opportunity for professional development. The CTTL is available to faculty, staff, and administrators for consultation on all things teaching and learning. For more info or to make an appointment to enhance your practice as an educator, link to http://skylinecollege.edu/cttl/about.php.

By Jesse W. Raskin and Rika Yonemura-Fabian

Skyline College was recently invited to participate in a regional discussion surrounding CA Guided Pathways. The California Guided Pathways Project (CAGP) requested the opportunity to hear from Skyline College students and alumni in order to learn more about their transition into and through community college at the Institute #4 – Redesigning Student Intake and Ongoing Student Support on Thursday, September 6, 2018. Athena Mendoza, David Lokotui, Damani Williams, Semaj Payton – all current students – and Steve Marquez (’18) represented Skyline College on the panel.

Moderated by founding partner of higher education consulting firm Sova Solutions, Alison Kadlec, students shared their stories and experiences navigating postsecondary education. Athena and David shared their experience as fall 2017 Promise Scholars, and Damani and Semaj provided insights into their experiences as fall 2018 Promise Scholars. Steve highlighted the beneficial impact of networking as a method of major exploration and discovery. Semaj discussed her previous challenge in staying motived in high school but noted that the warm welcome she received at Skyline College, in addition to the various supports, have encouraged her to stay motivated and on track during her first year. David also expressed concern regarding his educational confidence as he transitioned from high school into college. He credited the Promise Scholars Summer Institute with encouraging him to have a “growth mindset” in order to take advantage of the various opportunities that were available to him at Skyline College. Participating in this panel was one of those opportunities in which he was eager, though nervous, to share his story in order to help colleges identify ways in which they could better support students.

Reflecting on the panel, moderator Alison Kadlec stated:

“The student panel was one of the best I’ve ever been a part of (and I’ve been doing this work for 15 years)! The students were so thoughtful, and poised, some of them overcoming shyness in order to share their perspectives and experiences in eloquent and moving ways. I was especially struck before the panel by how curious and interested the students were about the conference in general, and how clearly important it was for them to represent themselves and their college well. They had clearly put significant thought into the questions provided in advance, and they had powerful things to say about what makes it easier and harder to persist in achieving their goals. The importance of feeling truly valued by faculty and staff, and of having access to the range of supports available at the college came through clearly in their comments, and were good reminders about why we do the work we do. The audience was moved not only by the stories students told about the challenges of balancing work, family responsibilities and school, but also by the way they talked about their determination to reach their goals despite the obstacles. Hearing a student talk about Carol Dweck’s research on ‘growth mindset’ and the personal relevance of that research was a powerful reminder of the difference that college faculty and staff make in the lives of students every day. In hearing participants commenting on the panel afterwards, I believe that all present were inspired, and humbled, by these students. I believe that the audience members listened deeply to the students, and it’s my hope that everyone present came away with an even stronger sense of urgency about the importance of student-focused institutional transformation efforts, and of the role that Guided Pathways reform efforts can play in extending genuine opportunity for success to all students.”

Thank you to the California Guided Pathways Project and Center for Community College Student Engagement for inviting Skyline College students share their stories and experiences to the Institute #4.  The Center for Community College Student Engagement, located at the University of Texas College of Education, is a leading organization for survey research, focus group work, and related services for community and technical colleges interested in improving educational quality through strengthened student engagement and student success.

Article by Lauren Ford | Photo by Alison Kadlec

At the SACNAS (Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) Conference on October 11-13, Skyline College student, Megan Scott, presented her original scientific research alongside 800 students from several University of California campuses, the University of Texas, Yale University, Brown University, Stanford University, several CSUs, and many other universities. The conference was held in San Antonio TX and sponsored by the USDA, Genentech, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Over 4,000 graduate and undergraduate students from across the country attended the conference.

Papers were selected for the conference in a competitive judging from abstracts submitted in July. Megan started her research last spring with Christine Case in BIOL 230 and continued in the summer in BIOL 695.

Megan’s presentation won the Microbiology Award and she now has her first publication: Antimicrobial Activity of Grindelia stricta var.platyphylla, a Native American Medicinal Plant.

Article by Dr. Christine Case