This week’s Science In Action series “Achieving the Impossible with Impossible Foods” featured Skyline College alumni’s Irene Yim and Susan Wu and was held using the Zoom, a video conferencing software.

Irene was a nontraditional student, working as a chef in many restaurants while attending the University of California, Davis. She applied to Impossible Foods while working on her Masters in Food Science. Both Irene and Susan shared their experience of working for Impossible Foods, highlighting their work with their colleagues and products. The goal of Impossible Foods is to develop sustainable products that also require less resources to create. At the end of the series, Irene and Susan agreed to bring some Impossible patties to Skyline College for a cook-out later in the spring!

The Science in Action series will resume to be broadcasted using Zoom on Tuesdays from 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. for the next two weeks. Find the links to the online video meetings and future speakers and topics here. Login to the upcoming Science in Action series:

March 17, 2020

Speaker: Cory Padilla | Dovetail Genomics

Topic: Cory’s transition from graduation to the biotechnology industry and the impact of genomics.

Article by Nick Kapp

Expand your network in ways that will lead to your dream job. The Career Readiness & Job Placement team is excited to share the following paid internship opportunities with you. Check them out—

• Arts, Languages & Communication Internships
• Business, Entrepreneurship & Management Internships
• Science, Technology & Health Internships
• Society & Education Internships
• Just In Time Internships

Article by Alexa Moore

How may we assist you in landing your dream job? The Career Readiness & Job Placement team is excited to share the following job opportunities with you. Check them out—

• Arts, Languages, & Communication Jobs
• Business, Entrepreneurship & Management Jobs
• Science, Technology & Health Jobs
• Society & Education Jobs
• Just In Time Jobs

Article by Alexa Moore

The Skyline College Legal Clinic, located in the Dream Center at Building 1, Room 1-219, aspires to fulfill the community’s unmet needs of accessibility to legal information.

Since 2014, under the direction of supervising attorney Maria Segarra, the clinic has served Skyline College students, faculty and staff, as well as other members of the community.

As envisioned, the clinic will help bridge the justice gap by providing access to legal services for under-resourced members of the local community. Since late fall 2016, the clinic has seen a noticeable increase in the number of students who come to the clinic to ask questions about their immigration status and to voice fears of deportation. This investment in our community allows the clinic to be an integral part of holistic services to students by providing free and confidential legal information on immigration matters, Dream Center and SparkPoint helps students stay safe and on track to meet their educational goals.

As clinic supervisor Maria Segarra stated, “As an immigrant, I know what it feels like to be afraid, to be uncertain and to worry about what the future holds. I hope that together with the Dream Center, SparkPoint and Skyline College, we can provide a safe and caring place for undocumented students, families and community members. We are here to serve.”

The clinic is open to students, staff and the public. For appointments, go tinyurl.com/skylegalclinic. All consultations are free and confidential. For questions or information, please contact SparkPoint at (650) 738-7035 or skylinesparkpoint@smccd.edu.

For more information on the Legal Clinic and the many invaluable people who made this work possible, please see this article.

Article by Chad Thompson

The CIPHER Hip Hop Learning Community presented their 13th Annual Rock the School Bells (RTSB) Hip Hop Conference on Friday, March 6, 2020 at the Farallon Room in Building 12.

With over 20 workshops to choose from, nearly 350 high school students from various schools in the Bay Area attended. The theme of the conference was “How We DRIP: Developing Revolutionary & Innovative Practices” where students engaged in various workshops such as storytelling, podcasting, designing housing projects, beat-making, entrepreneurship and dance.

Participants were blessed with an amazing morning rap by Skyline College Interim President Dr. Jannett Jackson, live performances by RTSB attendees, live music by Tia Samn also known as DJ Lil Vibey, and our closing keynote speaker and performer Rocky Rivera.

This event would not be successful without the support of the Rock the School Bells Planning Committee and all of the student volunteers. A huge special thanks also goes to the California Endowment Fund, Strategic Partnerships and Workforce Development, and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) for their generous financial and material support to ensure a memorable and educational experience for all of the participants. To check out pictures and videos of our event, check out and follow RTSB’s Instagram @rocktheschoolbells.  To learn more about Rock the School Bells, visit rocktheschoolbells.com.

Article by Nate Nevado | Photo by Ivy Chen

Skyline College celebrated Open Education Week, a global event that seeks to raise awareness of free and open sharing of resources and course materials in education and the benefits they bring to teachers and students worldwide. The week was full of a variety of engaging actions, learning opportunities and student outreach.

The Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Team was joined by Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Open Educational Resrouces Initiative (ASCCC OERI) representative Shagun Kaur and Skyline College students and faculty to make this an amazing week of engagement, discussion and expansion of awareness about Open Educational Resources (OERs) and their impact.

We are excited to report since spring 2020, Skyline College ZTC Champions, Early Adopters and Discipline Leads saved Skyline College students over $2,600,000 through thoughtful implementation of ZTC and OER course materials! 

Interested in integrating ZTC for your course? Apply to be a ZTC Early Adopter. Application deadline of the semester is April 6, 2020. Don’t miss the opportunity to explore ZTC resources for your course!

Article by Ame Maloney

Dean of Student Equity and Support Programs Dr. Cheryl Johnson has a philosophy that guides her work around racial equity and gender bias. “The Equity Manifesto is my north star, it keeps me grounded in the equity work, which I believe is an ethical and moral value.”

Dr. Johnson has printed the Equity Manifestos for faculty, classified professionals and administrators who wish to hang the manifesto outside or inside their office as a visual reminder of the values at Skyline College around racial equity and gender bias.

Dr. Johnson is happy to visit classrooms, division meetings or department meetings to share about the manifesto and her vision for racial and gender equity here at Skyline College. You can also stop by for a visit at Building 5, Room 5-130 to get a copy of the Equity Manifesto!

Click here to download a file of the Equity Manifesto.

Article by Karmann Robbins

The Skyline College Outreach Office, in collaboration with the Puente Learning Community, presents this year’s La Raza Youth Conference’s Keynote Speaker: Yosimar Reyes on Friday, March 13, 2020 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. in the Main Theater.

Yosimar Reyes is a nationally-acclaimed Poet and Public Speaker. Born in Guerrero, Mexico, and raised in Eastside San Jose, Reyes explores the themes of migration and sexuality in his work. The Advocate named Reyes one of “13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World” and Remezcla included Reyes on their list of “10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know.”

His first collection of poetry, For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly… was self-published after a collaboration with the legendary Carlos Santana. His work has also been published in various online journals and books including Mariposas: An Anthology of Queer Modern Latino Poetry (Floricanto Press), Queer in Aztlán: Chicano Male Recollections of Consciousness and Coming Out (Cognella Press), and the forthcoming Joto: An Anthology of Queer Xicano & Chicano Poetry (Kórima Press). Reyes was featured in the Documentary, “2nd Verse: The Rebirth of Poetry.”

He is a LAMBDA Literary Fellow as well as the recipient of the Undocupoets Fellowship. Reyes previously served as Artist-in-Residence at the media and culture organization, Define American.

Reyes has toured and presented at university campuses across the United States. He is currently working on his one-man show, “Prieto,” to premiere in the near future. Reyes holds a B.A in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

Some of his work and talks are featured on YouTube. Join us in welcoming Yosimar Reyes. Limited seating. Reserve your spot today: larazayosireyes.eventbrite.com.

Conference Background:

The La Raza Youth Conference is a full-day experience and invites local Latinx high school students to Skyline College to explore and promote higher education through culture and identity. The conference provides the opportunity for high school students to experience post-secondary education and learn about campus resources and to allow them to begin thinking of themselves as college students.

*The keynote will be open to the Skyline College community. The conference workshops are dedicated to high school participants.

Article by Jeremy Evangelista

The Skyline College Strategic Planning and Allocation of Resources Committee (SPARC) met on Thursday, February 27, 2020.

SPARC Tri-chair and Academic Senate President Kate Brown led the discussion on the Comprehensive Program Review (CPR) Redesign Scenario.  SPARC voted to create a CPR Redesign Task Force charged with “developing recommendations for improvements to streamline the current Program Review process, with a focus on redesigning Comprehensive Program Review (CPR). The Task Force, comprised of 10 members representing faculty, classified professionals, and administrators, and chaired by Dean of Planning, Research and Institutional Effectiveness (PRIE) Ingrid Vargas, will meet beginning in March 2020 and is due to provide recommendations on process redesign to SPARC in August 2020.  SPARC members will review, solicit input from their constituents, and make a recommendation to the College Governance Council, who in turn will make a recommendation to the President.  If accepted, training on the new process will begin in spring 2021. Programs would use the new process for Program Review beginning in fall 2021.

Tri-chair Vice President of Administrative Services Eloisa Briones  and Manager of Finance and Operations Paul Cassidy presented the fiscal 2020-21 preliminary budget review.  They noted at this time, Skyline College anticipates an increase in our site allocation from the District, though we expect changes throughout the budget cycle until the Adopted Budget in July 2020.

Judy Hutchinson provided an update from District Committee on Budget and Finance (DCBF) meetings held on January 21, 2020 and February 18, 2020.  The DCBF items included CCSF-320 Apportionment Attendance Report, Governors’ Budget for 2020-21 and an economic forecast presented at the California Community Colleges Chancellor Office State Budget Workshop.  More information can be found here.

Article by Judy Hutchinson

On February 26, 2020 and in honor of Black History Month, Skyline College Library celebrated the passing of The CROWN Act and shared what black natural hair means to the culture’s heritage.  This open space cultivated dialogue about the journey to embrace and to love one’s natural hair.

Sherri Wyatt, Instructional Aide II for the Learning Commons, facilitated the discussion. She started with reading the summary of The CROWN Act – Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. The Act, which went into effect January 1, 2020, was a long awaited legislation that “extended statutory protection … in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and state Education Codes” (thecrownact.com). California was the first to pass this legislation as a fight against the consistent work place and public education discrimination against people, especially black women, for wearing hair in a natural texture, braids, locks or other protective styles.  New York and New Jersey followed California’s lead. After reading the Act, Wyatt read “Rediscovering My Hair,” a prose written by Paulette M. Caldwell.

To get the discussion started, Wyatt opened with a question: What does your natural hair mean to you?  For her, her natural hair was her way to finally accept herself as a beautiful black woman. Ajeé Sanders, a Skyline College student, shared the two reasons behind rocking her natural hair. She decided to break the curse of “inter-generational trauma,” caused by the misunderstanding of black hair texture that led to mismanagement. Also cutting her hair shaped how she defined femininity and beauty. Femininity and beauty was not based in her hair, but based on what is not seen – what’s within. Leslie Peay, Class Development and Cultural Arts Coordinator for Daly City, echoed those sentiments and shed light on “living her true self.”  Two other Skyline College students, Pearl Ibeanusi and Charlene Weah-Weah, stressed the sacredness of black natural hair and the need to stop the stigmatization, especially in the work place and public education. Pearl gave poignant examples of how she fought for their children’s right to wear their natural hair in public school.

The event continued with the intertwining of a Ted Talk segment “I am not your stereotype. I am not my hair” by Zodidi Jewel Gaseb; more discussion; Bianca Rowden-Quince reading “The Wig”, a poem written by U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove; the viewing of the 2020 Oscar winner for best animated short “Hair Love”; and ending with India Arie’s song “A Beautiful Day.”  More than 50 people from Skyline College and the local community attended the event, coming together to embrace our natural CROWN.

During Women’s History Month, Skyline College Library brings back the Human Library on March 10th from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and the Poetry Corner, facilitated by Professor of Engineering Maryam Khan, on March 18th at 1:00 p.m.  In collaboration with Science in Action, the Women in STEM event will be March 24th at 4:30 p.m. in the STEM Center, Building 7, Room 7-307.  Refreshments will be served at all events so come and enjoy!

Article by Sherri Wyatt | Photo by Ricardo Coronado