On October 17, 2018, the International Student Program (ISP) and Myanmar Cultural Club (MCC) hosted its first Burmese Festival of Lights, Tha-din-gyut, at Skyline College. The festival brightened up the college with various dance performances, beautiful Burmese traditional attire, and cultural foods. Approximately 50 students, staff, faculty and community members attended the event.

Tha-din-gyut, one of 12 festivals celebrated in the country, showcases the beautiful and unique traditions and cultures of Myanmar. The festival is to pay homage to the elderly, relatives, teachers and parents, and to ask forgiveness for the wrongdoings of the year.

During the Tha-din-gyut event, the MCC students performed two traditional dances: oil lamp dance (See-Mee-Kwat) and an ethnic group dance. The audience also had a chance to test their knowledge on Burmese culture by actively participating in a series of quizzes presented by the MCC students. At the end of the event, attendees were treated to Burmese traditional rice cake, “Sa-Nwin-Ma-Kin.” They also enjoyed taking pictures with their friends in a photo booth themed with the Tha-din-gyut festival.

The Myanmar Cultural Club holds meetings every first and third Friday of the month from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. in Building 4’s Multicultural Center. Anyone who is interested in learning more about Burmese culture is welcome to join the club!

ISP will continue to conduct events and workshops to improve the services offered to its students and the entire Skyline College community. If you are interested in learning more about future ISP programs and events, contact the ISP office at skyinternational@smccd.edu.

Article by Soe Thura Hlaing |Photos by Nyi Wai Yan Tun

The Internship Job Shadow Program (IJSP) would like to introduce Senior Intern, Marcello Menjivar. Marcello is a business administration major with an expressed interest in natural resource management and sustainability. Marcello is also an active member of the LASO club at Skyline College. Marcello has been a part of the IJSP at the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center (BAEC) since the summer of 2018 and has returned, as a student assistant, for the fall semester. As a student intern, Marcello has participated in a number of campus and community events and has gotten to learn more about the inner-workings of Skyline College and the BAEC. Through the IJSP, Marcello has learned the value of building and expanding his network and has had the opportunity to explore different career paths, while developing his skills.

When asked why he chose to attend Skyline College, Marcello said, “It was local…with both of my parents originally being born in El Salvador, I wanted to attend an institution with similar views on ethnic equality as mine”.

Marcello also has some advice for his fellow students and said, “The main thing you will get out of this program is the network you will build and bring along with you when it is over. My student internship came along with challenges and forced me to be able to adapt.”

We are excited to have Marcello on the team!

For more information on the Internship Job Shadow Program, please contact baec@smccd.edu.

Article by Pcyeta Stroud, Terri Wade and Marcello Menjivar | Photo by: Sam Panganiban

Pollination achieved! Staff, faculty and administrators put on their busy bee hats by giving feedback on accreditation drafts across the four standards. They worked in small teams to sweeten the nectar, adopting the perspective of the accreditation visiting team to determine whether Skyline College meets the standard and what can be done to strengthen the draft, including ensuring it accurately captures Skyline College’s efforts. With the forum taking place on All Hollow’s Eve, it was appropriately capped off by a costume contest, with the winners scoring a gift card to the Skyline College’s World Cup Coffee & Tea.

The third and last forum for this year will be on Wednesday, February 6. 2019. Mark your calendars and be prepared to engage!

Article by Karen E. Wong

Starting November 1, 2018 until December 17, 2018, the Skyline College Library is joining forces with many Peninsula libraries and student clubs to collect food for those in need. In exchange for their generosity, participating libraries will clear certain library fines or fees. All food collected will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank. To learn more about Food for Fines donation drive, visit the Skyline College Library or smcl.org/foods-for-fines, or call us at 650-738-4311.

Article by Sherri Wyatt

On Friday, October 5, 2018, Skyline College’s ASTEP Learning Community hosted the Future Over Everything Conference. Presented by Get Far Magazine and sponsored by the Skyline College Center for Career & Workforce Development, the Future Over Everything Conference focused on connecting 150 African-American high school and college students with entrepreneurs, professionals, and educators through engaging workshops and exciting panels. Throughout the day, participants had the opportunity to explore fields that will shape the future of this world.

This year’s inspiring keynote address was delivered by Iddris Sandu, a Post Modern Innovative Futurist. Sandu shared his journey as a tech maven who began his career at the age of 13, working for powerhouses such as Google, Instagram, and Snapchat, and collaborating with Nipsey Hussle to create Marathon Clothing Store, a smart store that allows customers to gain exclusive access to Nipsey Hussle’s music while exploring the physical store. Sandu is currently focusing on projects that merge architecture, design, and technology. He encouraged students to take the future into their own hands and use technology to solve problems.

Following the exciting keynote address, students then broke off into a variety of workshops.  Students in high school explored some of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) programs led by our amazing faculty members:

• Maryam Khan and Marco Wehrfritz conducted a workshop that introduced students to coding in the Fab Lab.
• Patrice Robinson provided a space for students to engage in creative expression through painting and art.
• Nick Kapp created a hands-on experience in which students learned about the science of the beauty industry by making their own antiperspirant!
• Safiyyah Forbes guided students through the magic of chemistry and made fake blood, changed the color of milk, and even watched toothpaste explode! (it was safe, we promise!)

Students also attended engaging workshops and panels led by industry professionals:

• Devin Lars, Achieve the Goal spoke about his journey as an entrepreneur and led students through how to start their own business.
• Ashley Williams, Associate Director of EDvance at SFSU; Joseph Adams (’16), SFSU Ethnic Studies graduate student and SMCCCD FDIP Intern; and Walter Manuofetoa (’18), UC Santa Cruz – Critical Race and Ethnic Studies undergraduate student, shared their perspectives on how to prepare for life after college, and their experiences transferring from community college to a 4-year university, and from undergraduate to graduate school.
• Harold Lowe, INROADS; and Zaid Ghori, Director of Special International Programs, Skyline College, shared information about internships both locally and abroad.
• Marcus Savage, Year Up, provided attendees with information about the Year Up Internship Program and amazing opportunities that they have here in San Mateo County.

Iddris Sandu joined Rachel Bonds (Google), Devin Lars (Achieve the Goal), Xiomara Rosa-Telda (Unoeth), and Richard Vaughn (Macys.com), for a lunch panel moderated by Get Far Magazine’s Ameer Walton. The focus of the panel was on young black professionals navigating their careers in both tech and entrepreneurship. The panelists encouraged students to be true to themselves when entering the corporate world. They also shared some of the hardships of being an entrepreneur and taking risks, as well as the joy and satisfaction that entrepreneurship brings.  All of the panelists provided great tips on networking, goal setting, and staying motivated even in the face of challenges.

Many thanks to everyone who made this day come to life!

Thank you to Andrea Vizenor, Claudia Paz, and Elizabeth Tablan from Career and Workforce Development. Thank you to Ameer Walton for bringing this wonderful event to Skyline College and serving as the MC for the day. Thank you to all of the ASTEP faculty, staff and students that supported the day: Danielle Powell, Brittney Sneed, Kwame Thomas, Delisle Warden, Bianca Rowden-Quince, Melissa Aliu, Safiyyah Forbes, Chanel Daniels, Gael Juarez, Victoria Gomez-Alfaro, April Bracy, Marcello Menjivar, and John Aguas. Many thanks to the Outreach and Counseling teams that helped ensure that the day ran smoothly: Grace Beltran, Lauren Ford, Eric Imahara, Rex Chow, Angelica Alvarez, and Cara Loo.  hank you to Kevin Chak and the Bookstore for donating prizes for participants.  Thank you to MCPR, Josh Harris, Roger Marcelo, Bryant Evans, Vinny Samujh, and the entire facilities team for ensuring that Skyline College was a welcoming environment for all of our guests!

Article by Lauren Ford

The Science and Research Club has an event on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at AT&T Park from 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. for the Bay Area Science Festival. They have been performing this event continuously for three years with the help of our club advisor, Dr. Nick Kapp. The festival event is organized and led by UCSF and collaborated with STEM organizations across the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the semester Fall 2018, the club members will be conducting a workshop experiment: “Isolation of DNA from your Everyday Food”. They will observe which enzymes are more effective at the extraction of DNA from the selection of produce such as bananas, broccoli, pears, kiwis, and tomatoes.

The participation of this event is free of charge and it is a perfect opportunity to interact with the community. Please come join and see the festival in action. Click on the link for more information: http://www.bayareasciencefestival.org/

Article by Yvette Dothy Anne Lacsamana | Photo by Nick Kapp

Skyline College Administration of Justice student Willard Osibin recently graduated from the South San Francisco Police Department’s Citizens’ Police Academy which began on August 2, 2018 and ended on October 25, 2018. The class met from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday evenings.

The Citizens’ Police Academy is a 12-week academy that is offered by law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area. It is designed to familiarize local community members with the functions and services of their police departments and to provide an opportunity for people to become better acquainted with the women and men who wear the badge.

The academy is limited to 25 local community members who are at least 18 years old and have no felony convictions. They experience classroom instruction on laws and procedures, investigations, use-of-force issues, SWAT and K-9 demonstrations, and even a field trip to the county jail in Redwood City. Attendees tour the police agency, meet the Chief of Police, go on ride-alongs, fire weapons on the police pistol range, and role play various scenarios involving car stops, arrests, disturbances, etc.

For many attendees, it is a real “eye-opener”, because up until now they have only been exposed to television, movie, and media portrayals of police work. The Citizens’ Police Academy gives community residents a more accurate account of the real nature and challenges of policing.

“It was a very informative and exciting experience”, said Will Osibin. “But I had a bit of an advantage over the other attendees from what I previously learned in my AJ classes at Skyline College. I would highly recommend this academy to others! I have a better understanding of things now.”

South San Francisco’s Citizens’ Police Academy also offers a version designed specifically for their Spanish speaking community, too.

In the photograph, Will Osibin proudly displays his Citizens’ Police Academy “Certificate of Completion”, while flanked by SSFPD Corporal Matthew O’Connor (left) and Chief of Police Jeffrey Azzopardi (Right).

Article by Steve Aurilio, Professor of Administration of Justice | Photo by the South San Francisco Police Department