The Equity Training Series (ETS) is an eight week professional development experience that features thought experts and cutting edge scholars in educational equity who work directly with a cohort of 25-30 Skyline College staff, faculty and administrators. This is a spring semester experience designed to equip participants with skills, strategies and tools in the areas of educational equity and cultural fluency.

Date	Topic	Presenter
January 18, 2019	Equity in Education	Dean Lasana O. Hotep
February 8, 2019	Critical Pedagogy	Dr. Michael Benitez Jr.
February 22, 2019	Undocumented Student Support	Dr. Genevieve Negron Gonzales
March 9, 2019	White Fragility in the Academy	Dr. Robin DiAngelo
April 12, 2019	Equity in STEM Education	Dr. Jeremiah Sims
April 26, 2019	Pin@y Student Success	Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales
May 2, 2019	Disability in Higher Education	Isabel Dees
May 10, 2019	ETS Recognition Ceremony	ETS 2019 Cohort

 

Participant Outcomes                                                                                                                  

The goal of ETS is for all participants to incorporate concepts and theories from ETS either into current initiatives or projects on campus, development a new project, or into various office culture/work spaces.

Participant Experience                                                                                                               

All of these workshops are hosted on Friday afternoons from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided. The first hour and a half will be the talk/workshop by the designated presenter. The second half of the session is the group discussion and planning on how to apply the new information to their work. The final session will consist of presentations sharing the planned application of the practices discussed during the training. For more information about ETS and to hear from previous participants, visit the Equity Training Series Website.

Application                                                                                                                                      

If you are interested in participating, submit an electronic application by November 17, 2018. All participants will be notified if they have been accepted into the program before winter recess. Contact Katrina Pantig at pantigk@smccd..edu if you have any questions.

Article by Katrina Pantig

The Science in Action Seminar Series met on November 7, 2018 at 4:30 pm.  Our guest speaker was Ryan Lineham, Ph.D. a Candidate in Physics at Stanford University. Lineham does his research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator, and is in an international team of over 200 people.

20 Skyline College Students, as well as his mother, from all disciplines listened to Lineham talk about his career in science as well as what he does his research on. Lineham did credit his mom with getting him to like physics.

Justin Lee, a biotechnology manufacturing student, said he was blown away by the talk and felt he was too shy to ask questions. The Science in Action Seminar Series is meant to be a venue where students can learn about what their next steps in education would look like as well as to talk to some very smart people about their research. No questions are out of bounds.

The Skyline College students kept Lineham for over a half hour after the talk, asking him questions about how to get into graduate school, how to pick a research lab and many others. Lineham’s main topic for the day was “to get a richer understanding of the invisible.” These include cosmic rays, muons and other particles.

Specifically, Lineham is looking for dark matter. When asked why study these particles, Lineham stated that he wanted to increase our knowledge of the universe and that when electrons were discovered they had no use, and now we would not go anyplace without our devices that use electrons.

Article and Photo by Nick Kapp

On October 27, 2018, the ESL Registration Day event welcomed 26 new ESL (English as a Second Language) students, one of them being Jaswinder Chauhan, to Skyline College! Seven years ago, she moved to the United States from Punjab, India. After studying ESL at an adult school, she is ready to take the next step towards her educational goals. She is eager to improve her English skills for college and pursue a degree in cosmetology. For many immigrants like her, taking the next step to attend an American college and navigating through the enrollment process can feel daunting. The ESL Registration Day team played a huge role in helping her access Skyline College. They warmly welcomed and supported her and the other new students in completing the major enrollment steps. Beyond the event, new students like Jaswinder will continue to receive follow-up from the English Language Institute (ELI) to  ensure ongoing support.

Thank you to the representatives from SparkPoint, the Dream Center, Financial Aid and EOPS who were available to answer the new students’ questions about campus resources.

Thank you to Minerva Velasquez and Adriana Johnson for assisting with the student ID numbers; Goldie Lee and Jacky Ip for efficiently running the ESOL placement tests; ESOL Counselor Virginia Rosales for a very helpful orientation; Jairo Barreto for the IT Support. Also, many thanks to the ESOL student volunteers, ELI student assistants and Leigh Anne Shaw, Stacy Nojima and Erinn Struss for their hard work.

Article and Photo by Mylene Foo, Program Services Coordinator at the English Language Institute

The Human Library, a project that began in Denmark in 2000, is an international movement designed to challenge one to find commonality with a person from another background. By striving to actively quell stereotyping and division, the movement encourages dialogue and fosters understanding with a goal of affecting social change.

On October 30, 2018, the Skyline College Learning Commons hosted a soft launch of its own Human Library at Skyline College Library. This successful and interactive event gave members of the Skyline College community the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations as they learn from one another.

During the event, six diverse human books sat ready to be “loaned out” to “readers” just as libraries loan out physical books to their patrons. Instead of the book leaving the library, each “reader” sat with a “human book” in a comfortable and intimate setting, asking questions to learn the human book’s story.

One reader enjoyed an informative conversation with the human book, Immigrant or American?, and shared, “I learned that we are all from somewhere else, but ended up here [United States] somehow.” Another reader reiterated how the same book “reinforced the idea that America is a country of mixed cultures.” For the book, Hay Dios Mio … What am I Doing in College?, a reader was grateful how  “… [the human book] was a very relatable person…Her struggles were similar to mine and I definitely felt inspired.” This event was so popular that staff moderators had waiting lists and found themselves in the tough position of needing to end conversations to allow other readers to participate. One of the readers was inspired to be a human book for our next scheduled event.

The six books who shared their stories also benefited from the connections that were fostered. The book, Perseverance and Dedication Can Take You Places, reflected on her experience saying, “Not only am I able to share my story, but [I] also learn about my reader’s story.”

The Learning Commons will keep the Human Library momentum going! If you missed October’s event, please join us November 29. 2018 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Library at Building 6. If you are interested in participating as a human book in future events, please fill out our Human Library Participation Interest Form. Additional sessions will be scheduled through Spring 2019.

Let’s continue this new tradition in finding commonality!

Article by Sherri Wyatt & Jessica Silver-Sharp | Photo by Zaw Min Khant