On October 12 at 4:30pm, Skyline College Library is pleased to host “Take the Movement Home & Build it in the Streets: Pandemic Perspectives on the Climate Crisis,” a virtual discussion with Goldman Environmental Prize recipient mark! Lopez, co-director of the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.

The Goldman Environmental Prize is the foremost international award honoring grassroots environmental activists. Lopez received this prestigious prize in 2017 for his successful campaign to persuade the state of California to provide comprehensive lead testing and cleanup of East Los Angeles homes contaminated by a battery smelter. However, his work as a community organizer and activist began long before then. Find out more in this interview.

All members of the SMCCCD community are invited to attend!

Please register for the webinar in advance:

bit.ly/TaketheMovement

“Take the Movement Home” will be moderated by Skyline College Chemistry Professor Susanne Schubert and Associate Professor and Librarian Pia Walawalkar. Faculty are encouraged to bring their class(es) and/or offer credit for attendance. Questions? Please contact walawalkars@smccd.edu.

Find more information on this and other Skyline College Library events here:  guides.skylinecollege.edu/Fall2021Events/MarkLopez 

This event is sponsored by the President’s Innovation Fund award.

 

Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp

Flyer design by Ricardo Coronado

How may we assist you in landing your dream job? Whether you’re interested in short- or long-term career planning, the Career Readiness & Job Placement team offers a variety of services and career readiness experiences to assist you with your specific career needs. If you want to work with a Job Placement Coordinator, please fill out this brief welcome form and someone will contact you soon to schedule an appointment!

 

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—

• Business, Entrepreneurship & Management Internships_10-01-2021
• Science Technology Health Internships_10-01-2021
• Society & Education Internships_10-01-2021

How may we assist you in landing your dream job? Whether you’re interested in short- or long-term career planning, the Career Readiness & Job Placement team offers a variety of services and career readiness experiences to assist you with your specific career needs. If you want to work with a Job Placement Coordinator, please fill out this brief welcome form and someone will contact you soon to schedule an appointment!

 

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, Language & Communication Jobs_10-1-2021
• Business, Entrepreneurship & Management Jobs_10-01-2021
• Science Technology Health Jobs_10-01-2021
• Society & Education Jobs_10-01-2021
• Just In Time Jobs_10-01-2021

Pcyeta Stroud has worked for Skyline College’s Bay Area Entrepreneur Center for over 6 years! In her time with the BAEC’s she has led numerous initiatives such as the Job Shadow Internship Program.

She curated and built partnerships between Skyline College, the San Bruno Community, and local professionals. These partnerships led to the creation of business summits where local business owners were able to network and create business opportunities.

This sense of community continued even when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Pcyeta led the BAEC team to move virtual and provided open communication with her now remote team. She partnered with the San Bruno Community Foundation to offer Micro-Grants to small business owners in the community. The Bay Area Entrepreneur Center, through this program, has granted over $330,000 to businesses and entrepreneurs in the city of San Bruno.

“For eleven years, I’ve called Skyline College and the San Bruno community my home away from home. I’m grateful for the lessons-learned, the partnerships and friendships we’ve cultivated together, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to serve this wonderful community.” – Pcyeta Stroud

Pcyeta has done a tremendous amount of work for Skyline College and the San Bruno community, and she will be truly missed. She has accepted the position as Director of Strategic Career and Business Development for RSS Consulting. Thank you for your service, Pcyeta!

Image and Article by Olivia Vialau

The Great California Shakeout is an annual opportunity to practice how to be safer during big earthquakes. This year’s drill will take place October 21st at 10:21am. Drop, Cover, and Hold On is the immediate action taken during an earthquake to protect students and staff from flying and falling debris. It is an appropriate action for earthquakes and explosions. The San Mateo County Community College District combines Drop, Cover, and Hold On with a secondary drill of Evacuation. Evacuation is implemented when conditions make it unsafe to remain in the building. This action provides for the orderly movement of students and staff along prescribed routes from inside school buildings to a designated outside area of safety. Evacuation is considered appropriate for earthquakes, chemical accidents, explosions, and fire. Evacuation is only required for the District Community that are participating on Campus Grounds. Evacuation may be practiced remotely, but is not required for the Drill.

Managing the Drill with COVID-19

On Thursday, October 21, 2021 SMCCD will be participating in the “Great Shakeout” statewide earthquake drill. While the COVID-19 pandemic has limited the ways in which we can conduct emergency drills, the Great Shakeout is unique in that you can participate from any location. So while you may not be able to participate on campus, it is a great opportunity to assess the safety of your home and to take steps now to mitigate the impact that a significant earthquake may have on your home.

This drill is scheduled for 10:21AM (Thursday) and will commence with an AlertMe text and email notification. At this time, all members of the campus community are asked to identify a safe spot to drop, cover, and hold on as if a major earthquake were occurring, and remain in that position for 60 seconds. This preplanning tactic (identifying safe locations in the workplace) is vital for risk mitigation when an actual event or life-safety drill occurs.

If you are Off Campus, please participate in the Drop, Cover, and Hold On portion of the Drill. If you are participating in a Zoom Meeting, Remote Learning, or work-related function, we encourage you to pause the District work, as the drill will only last for one minute. If you have not done so already, please take the time to download the RAVE Emergency Notification Application (RAVE GUARDIAN), which can be found in the Google Play & Apple App Store. This application provides safety features for the end user, and can deliver multiple streams of notification to mobile devices.

What to do On Campus-(Drop Cover and Hold On)

1. The Office of Emergency Management/Public Safety will send out an alert over the Emergency Notification System (AlertMe) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at 10:21am. All students and employees will receive text messages and emails.
2. At first recognition of the alert, instruct students to move away from windows.
3. Initiate Drop, Cover, and Hold On procedures.
4. DO NOT REMOVE FACIAL COVERINGS
5. Immediately drop to the floor under desks, chairs, and tables.
6. With back to windows, place head between knees, hold on to a table leg with one hand and cover the back of the neck with the other arm.
7. Move as little as possible.
8. If a person is unable to find protection under sturdy furniture, direct them to shelter against an interior wall and turn away from windows and other glass.
9. Any person in a wheelchair should shelter against an interior wall. Turn back to windows, lock the wheels, and if possible, protect head, and neck with arms.
10. If outside, find a clear spot and drop to the ground away from buildings, trees, power lines, etc.
11. Building Captains need to participate as all other employees in this part of the drill
12. Wait for further communication from EAS and AlertMe to Evacuate students to predetermined Evacuation Assembly Area.

What to do on campus (evacuation)

1. The Office of Emergency Management/Public Safety will send out an alert over the Emergency Notification System (AlertMe) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at 10:22am. All students and employees will receive text messages and emails.
2. Prepare students to leave all belongings and calmly exit the building.
3. DO NOT REMOVE FACIAL COVERINGS UNTIL OUTDOORS
4. Building Captains need to gather Go Packs and radios to assist all in evacuating. If Building Captains do not have radios (some are being reconditioned), please use your cell phones to contact Public Safety Dispatch (738-7000) with evacuation updates and to communicate true emergencies. Many Building Captains are currently working remotely, so evacuation confirmation on each campus will be established by each Campus Public Safety Captain.
5. Ensure that the door is closed, but unlocked.
6. Take care to ensure the safety and address the unique needs of students or staff with disabilities according to protocols.
7. Emphasize that the class remain masked while inside District facilities in route to the Evacuation Assembly Area (EAA). EAAs are marked on evacuation maps, and are demarcated with green/white signage in designated parking lots.
8. Appoint a responsible student to lead class while teacher brings up the rear, seeing that everyone has cleared the room. Give clear directions for all students to go to designated Evacuation Assembly Area.
9. Use the designated evacuation routes and reassemble in the assigned Evacuation Assembly Area.
10. If you are unable to locate an Evacuation Assembly Area, stay clear of buildings.
11. Take attendance once class is safely in assembly location.
12. Wait until ALL CLEAR announcement is issued via AlertMe, and return to school buildings and normal class routine.

Thank you for your participation!

This past weekend Skyline College’s Forensic team competed in the Golden Gate Season Opener tournament that spanned over the course of two consecutive twelve hour zoom days. 22 schools from across the Bay Area, Southern California, Oregon, Nevada, and Missouri participated in the intercollegiate speech and debate tournament hosted by the San Francisco Collective: San Francisco State University, City College of San Francisco and Skyline College. Students had the opportunity to showcase talents in over 15 different categories of speech and debate events.

Trojans competed in Novice Impromptu Speaking. In this event, students are given a set of quotations and have 2 minutes to pick one quotation and then have to prepare a 5-minute speech. This is not an easy task. The following 9 students participated in Impromptu Speaking (alphabetical order): Diana Castro, Nerissa Chang, Zane Chang, Amaryllis Gao, Somerset Grant, Illeana Guillen, Emma Mayoral, Rhoel Paragas, and Priscilla Tso.

The first tournament of the year is stressful, especially when new team members are navigating the world of virtual tournaments for the first time. Two students broke to the final round in novice impromptu, despite being interrupted not once, but twice by a test of the emergency alert system. Being able to present a speech with an alarm blaring speaks volumes (pun intended). Somerset Grant took 6^th place earning Bronze and Amaryllis Gao brought home the gold taking 1^st place in impromptu.

Traditionally tournaments will hand out actual medals and trophies, but the SF Collective awards students with succulents and plants. This year students will be mailed a packet of sunflower seeds and a certificate. The collective puts an emphasis on sustainability and attempting to limit plastic consumption and waste. The seeds represent growth in many ways. Students who compete in forensics are pushed to expand research, analytical, and performative skills and due to this foundational structure students in turn “grow”. The seed awards are a physical reminder of how we should strive to grow: our minds, skill sets and potentially change the way we see concepts or ideas through participatory discourse.

I would like to take the time recognize Skyline College colleagues who came out to support not only Skyline College, but who continue to foster growth within the larger Forensics community: Language Arts Division Assistant Kennya Ruiz, Communication Studies Professor Jessica Hurless and Dean Chris Gibson. Thank you for your support at GGO.

Article by Lindsey Ayotte

Ever since Caroline Barros, former Political Science major at Skyline College, was eight years old, she wanted to be a lawyer: “I like to read, I like to write, there is nothing else for me, except law school.” Today with the help of Skyline College and the International Student Program, she is well on her way, having just started her second year at Berkeley Law.

Caroline is originally from Brazil. However, after her father got a student visa in the United States when Caroline was eleven, she and her family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, as one of the only people of color, the environment wasn’t a good fit for her, “I was bullied a lot. It was just the worst seven years of my life.” Her grades suffered accordingly.

Despite this, San Francisco was a bright spot in her life. Caroline had the opportunity to visit San Francisco a couple of times and was struck by how diverse and welcoming the city was. She proclaimed to her family that she was moving to San Francisco no matter what. In the end, her status as the only child prompted her parents to move there with her.

Caroline was quite ambitious and aspired to go to Berkeley law. As a result, she wanted to go to a prestigious undergrad school such as UC Berkeley or Stanford. However, she couldn’t get into either and couldn’t afford the nearby colleges she did get into. As a result, when a friend told her about Skyline College and Caroline learned she could transfer to a four-year university afterward, she jumped at the opportunity.

Caroline ended up loving Skyline College, “It was a great experience. I always joke with my friends that we peaked at Skyline [College].” Caroline had always considered herself an introvert, but at Skyline College, she came out of her shell. She says, “everything that I wanted to be in high school, I got to be at Skyline [College].” She joined Model United Nations and Student Government as the Commissioner of Public Records. She also notes, “some of my best friends I met at Skyline [College].” The ISP had particularly great community-building events, including their International Food Festival.

Skyline College also helped her thrive academically, “I’m a good student, and I think at Skyline [College], I was really able to bring that out in myself.” Caroline remembers she had “so many great professors” who supported her along the way. She gives a special shout-out to Political Science Professor Jeff Diamond, “I took like three or four of his classes …[they] were just amazing.”

Caroline found even more forms of support at Skyline College. The International Student Program helped ensure that she was doing everything required to maintain her status and stay in the country. In addition, she took a UC application writing class, something she found useful during the college admissions process. She also had the support of a counselor who told her everything she needed to know about getting into UC Berkeley. In the end, it worked! And not just for Caroline, “I think all of my friends transferred to UCs from Skyline [College].” They went to places including UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and UCLA.

Nowadays, Caroline’s mother, inspired by her daughter’s positive experience, is a current Skyline College student. She has a Brazilian degree but wants something that counts in the United States. Caroline says, “she’s very excited about being at Skyline [College]” and notes that she loves her classes.

In addition, quite happily, Caroline has accomplished, “every single goal that I had in terms of academia.” She maintains, “even if I had been given the opportunity to start at Berkeley undergrad for my first two years I would have chosen Skyline [College] over that.” Skyline College and the ISP look forward to what she does next.

 

Article by Evelyn Rossi

 

 

 

 

 

Skyline College is excited to unveil our new public event calendar!

This online calendar, implemented districtwide through a vendor called LiveWhale, will allow the campus community to easily list our events for students and the public.

Submit your events!

You can start submitting events now via the online submission form, available on the front page of the calendar. Training is not required. If you have any questions, check out the FAQ to help navigate the process. For questions not addressed in the FAQ, please contact Becky Threewit.

Useful features of the new event submission process include:

• The event submission form is easy to fill out (no longer buried in Ad Astra)
• Submit once to set up a recurring event (i.e., every Tuesday and Thursday)
• Robust details sections for your events
  • Provide a short overview for the main calendar, and include full details on your event page
• Set your event location as online, in-person, or hybrid, and include direct links to online registration or meetings

Useful features of the calendar include:

• Have a lot of events? Create a calendar specific to your group, and display all or some events on the Skyline College calendar. For an example, check out the Athletics Calendar
• Curated calendar widgets can be placed on web pages: see the homepage for an example!
• If you have your calendar already set up for the semester on another platform, we can display it in the Livewhale format and link it into the Skyline calendar
• Filters and search terms help users easily find what they’re looking for on the calendar
• Easily share your events with options to copy a link or share through Facebook, Twitter, or email

Provide your Feedback!

This is a new system, and as such, we’ll need to make improvements as we go along. We welcome your suggestions and feedback!

Article by Aria Frangos

 

If you’re not already aware, Skyline College Library has re-opened in person to our community this Fall between 10am-4pm, Mondays through Thursdays. Students have been visiting to request and check out books, study, and use the computer lab and study rooms. 

Remotely, students and employees continue to access library help in real time via the chat service (aka “Ask a Librarian”). The service, which also allows students to jump into a Zoom meeting if they choose, is available Mondays through Thursdays, 8am-9pm, Friday, 8am-4pm and Saturday, 12-5pm to all members of the Skyline community. Please don’t hesitate to drop in for help or questions.

Despite the changing landscape, the Library remains part of our Peninsula Library System (PLS). If there are library materials you’d like from another Peninsula library, you can Ask a Librarian to order them for delivery to Skyline College on your behalf – no library card is required.

The Library’s Technology Loan Program also remains in high demand, offering Chromebooks, calculators and hotspots. About 400 items have been loaned since the semester began.

Skyline librarians are again “embedded” within a number of virtual courses this Fall, dropping in via zoom to teach information literacy in a variety of disciplines. Faculty members can still request a virtual visit to their class by a librarian any time during Fall. 

Library outreach and events are continuing in (almost) full force! Sign up to attend the Honor’s Transfer Program Student Research Panel (in person) on October 7 at 4pm. Also mark your calendars for “Take the Movement Home & Build it in the Streets: Pandemic Perspectives on the Climate Crisis,” a virtual discussion with environmental activist Mark Lopez on October 12 at 4:30pm. The Library launches its second ever Book Club for students and allies during UndocuWeek (October 18-22). And please stay tuned for more information about upcoming Human Library (Nov. 2, 3pm) and Poetry Corner (Nov. 16, 4pm) virtual events as well. 

In next week’s edition of Skyline Shines we’ll highlight new research databases, guides and other resources. In the meantime, don’t forget: all employees can subscribe for free to the New York Times and take advantage of easy digital access to favorite news and popular magazines on Flipster 24/7 using your OneLogin credentials.

In the meantime, do you have questions? Please chat, text email or call. We hope to hear from you soon! 

Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp