Around the world, we celebrate the legacy and life of our loved ones and ancestors. We acknowledge that we honor them in our own daily lives and actions, and as Hallows Eve approaches, the EOPS/CARE/CalWORKs/Guardian Scholars Programs & Puente Learning Community are offering both a physical and digital altar/ofrenda for all campus community members to visit and contribute to. May these spaces offer every visitor and contributor a moment of pause in remembrance, gratitude, and acknowledgment of those who have gone before us, who remain in our hearts, and who continue to impact our lives. Please feel free to invite your respective students to visit and contribute to these altars.

The in-person altar/ofrenda will be constructed by our Puente Learning Community and will be up in the Intercultural Center (Bldg 4) through November 3, 2022. The digital altar/ofrenda created by the EOPS/CARE/CalWORKs/Guardian Scholars Programs can be found here: https://padlet.com/eopsskyline/diadelosmuertos.

For the digital altar: To add a picture/message click on the bottom right plus (+) sign and place the name of the person you would like remembered as “title”. You are also invited to add a message and/or picture of your loved one/ancestor/person that has passed that you want to honor in this virtual space.

Article by EOPS at Skyline College | Photo by AG Cuesta

Applications are now open for the first cohort of IMMERSE in STEM scholars! Applications are due by November 9, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. IMMERSE in STEM stands for Innovative and Meaningful Mentoring to Enhance Retention, Success, and Engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. 

Selected IMMERSE in STEM scholars will be paired with faculty mentors and will start receiving scholarship support in Spring 2023. To be eligible, students must be US citizens, have non-zero unmet financial need,s and have an intended major or area of study in Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics. For more information about the program and eligibility requirements, please visit https://www.skylinecollege.edu/immerse/. You can also contact Professors Emilie Hein (heine@smccd.edu) or Rick Hough (hough@smccd.edu) if you have any questions. 

IMMERSE in STEM will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Skyline College. Over its 5-year duration, this project will fund 90 scholarships to at least 30 students who are advancing toward an associate degree or transferring to a four-year university to earn a degree in Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics. Each student will receive up to three years of support. In addition to scholarships, the project will incorporate a transformative approach to mentoring, and innovative supports intended to address financial and academic barriers. All participating students will engage in a comprehensive set of evidence-based co-curricular services designed to support their persistence, completion, and transfer. By combining financial assistance with academic support and mentor guidance, this project should increase the number of students in STEM fields, especially from underrepresented groups. Faculty mentors will be trained on innovative and effective approaches to student retention and success, such as the implementation of ePortfolios.

The overall goal of this project is to increase the STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are three specific aims: 1) leverage existing high-impact, evidence-based processes already implemented on campus (such as ePortfolios and undergraduate research opportunities); 2) implement a cohesive multi-layer mentorship program to increase retention, student success, and graduation of scholars; 3) expand industry partnerships in association with workforce development programs to support the scholars’ academic and career opportunities with mentoring and internships.

This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.

We would like to thank Dr. Jing Folsom and Dr. Carla Grandy for their invaluable contributions to the success of this grant proposal. The completion of the grant proposal would also not have been possible without the support of Rita Gulli, Ari Soler, Ingrid Vargas, Zahra Mojtahedi, and Andrea Vizenor. In addition, we are grateful for the support of the leadership teams at Skyline College and San Mateo Community College District. Finally, we would like to thank Aria Hariklia, Bryan Swartout, Thanh Nguyen, and Mia Coo for their help in launching the program. 

This work is supported by NSF S-STEM grant award #2221696. 

Article by Emilie Hein and Rick Hough

For Flex Day on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022, student teachers, ECAP student apprentices, classified staff, and faculty from the College of San Mateo and Skyline College Child Development Centers, were able to observe the outdoor environments and consider the importance of play and “outdoor classroom” design for young children. 

Maggie Barrientos, the Faculty Coordinator of CSM Child Development Center, hosted the students and staff. The morning started with time to explore the indoor and outdoor classrooms at CSM’s Child Development Center. The CSM program is a beautiful example of an intentional teaching environment and has both indoor and outdoor classroom spaces with engaging learning and play environments for children.

The second stop was at West Valley’s Child Development Center in Saratoga. Tina Watts, the Faculty Coordinator of the Skyline College Child Development Lab Center, facilitated dialogue with students and staff to think about how their ECE courses discuss how to set up outdoor environments that encourage play and social development and what considerations are needed to ensure learning is supported in a variety of ways while immersed in the outdoors and nature. “Talk about contextualized learning! Students and staff got to experience the outdoor learning environment – see, feel and smell how spending time outside of the traditional classroom setting can transform children’s learning and how early educators continue to support all developmental domains in nature. All of us left with so many ideas and inspiration.”   

ECAP student Renne Stewart said, “It was a great experience to see these different environments and learn how other schools set up environments.  I like the outdoor environments because of all the creativity I saw, like using the ramp to play with cars or rolling other items down.  In ECE 910, we learn about outdoor classrooms where all learning occurs outside, rain or shine.”

Article by Michelle Amaral | Photos by Tina Watts and Maggie Barrientos

Flu Shots are available at the Health Center. 

The best way to reduce your risk from seasonal flu and its potentially serious complications is to get vaccinated every year.  Please visit the Health Center in Building 19, Room 110 for your flu shot.

Why should you get the flu shot? 

Fewer sick days: It protects you against the flu and lessens the severity if you do catch it. 

Saves you money: Avoid a flu-associated hospital or doctor visit.

Pregnancy protection: Flu shots protect the mother and baby several months after birth.

Helps with health issues: The chance of flu-related complications for those with cardiac conditions, diabetes, or chronic lung disease are lessened.

Protects those around you: Even if you don’t have symptoms, the virus can still be contagious.

Make an Appointment!

Email the provider working on the day you would like to receive a flu shot or call (650) 738 – 4270 

MONDAY:  9 A.M. – 6 P.M. Susan Schor, NP (she/her) | schors@smccd.edu 

TUESDAY:  9 A.M. –  6 P.M. Lia Tjandra, NP (she/her) | tjandrac@smccd.edu 

WEDNESDAY:  9 A.M. – 6 P.M. Susan Schor, NP (she/her) | schors@smccd.edu 

THURSDAY:  9 A.M. – 6 P.M. Emily Risk, RN, MSN (she/her) | riske@smccd.edu 

FRIDAY:  9 A.M. – 1 P.M. Emily Risk, RN, MSN (she/her) | riske@smccd.edu

On October 19, 2022, the Student Equity & Support Programs Division kicked off its Global Spectrum of Racial Equity & Social Justice Series by inviting Georgia State Legislator Park Cannon to take to the podium. Students, classified professionals, faculty, and community members all joined in person or virtually to listen to Representative Cannon as she discussed the importance of voting, and protecting our right to vote. She continued by sharing her experiences as a young, queer, and black woman in Georgia’s government. Representative Cannon reaffirmed that our right to participate in our democratic processes is one that we need to defend and utilize in order to ensure that, even at the local level, we have a say in the people creating our laws.

Join Student Equity & Support Programs again on November 9, 2022 as we welcome Natalie Bui, Co-Founder of SHIFT to discuss how art can be a movement for social justice and equity as well! Registration for this event is now open!

Article by Joshua Lindo

The BΘO-co-presidents Lasheana Husni, Kaitlyn Widjaja, Honors in action (HiA) VP Sahil Niwas, and VP of Scholarship Jerry Hnin attended the two-day Fall leadership conference of the PTK California/Nevada region on October 21-22, 2022 in El Segundo.

The conference presents professional development opportunities for students and advisors. Students learned about the power of positive criticism, and how to build a strong relationship with the college administration. They also received insights on how to strengthen their research and publication skills to support their work for the HiA research project and beyond. Throughout the two days, the team attended 15 educational forums and spent time at the college fair. During the breaks and college fair, the BΘO-student leadership team surveyed the conference attendees to gather data for their HiA project and built new connections with the attending chapter leaders.

The students were also recognized for their completion of the competitive edge online training during the ceremonial pinning event. This highly impactful training is available to all PTK members and focuses on time management, communicating effectively, boosting critical thinking, and research skills, and growing emotional intelligence among other things.

One of the many outcomes of the conference is the development of new workshops that the chapter officers plan to offer to the Skyline College campus community. For example, the idea for a workshop on how to run for official roles in the honors society was planted through the interaction with international president Keziah Ancheta from the Hawai’i chapter. Two of PTK’s hallmarks are Service and Leadership, PTK members can run for regional and international positions within the PTK organizations. Through this, the students gain valuable experience in campaigning, public speaking, and much more. Holding an officer position is an act of leadership and service to the community which aligns well with Skyline College values. If you do not want to wait for the workshop stop by one of the BΘO-chapters all member meetings. During these meetings, the officer team regularly shares their findings and lessons learned. The meetings are open to everyone interested in learning more about PTK, participating, and contributing to the chapter events. The next All-Member meeting is scheduled for November 4, 2022 at 1:30 -3:30 p.m. on the Skyline College Track and Field.

Article by Dr. Susanne Schubert

The Child Development Lab Center paid a visit to the Cosmetology department and they had an absolute blast! The children from the preschool room ages 2-5 were able to sit in the salon chairs, put on the hair-cutting capes and some even got their hair styled by the Cosmetology students. Some received braids, others ponytails and buns and many children left feeling like “Elsa”. Many Cosmetology students enjoyed the experience and exclaimed how different and exciting it is to work on a child’s hair. The children were excited to see the doll heads the students were working on, especially since they have their own dolls with hair they can work on at their school. After they received their new “do”, they were able to pretend to wash their hair in the washing sinks. Back in their classroom, the children could play, wash, style, and brush their own dolls and doll head.

The Child Development Lab Center is located in Building 14 and offers both a toddler room and preschool room. Feel free to contact the director at (650) 738-7070 for more information.

Students in Psychology 220 – Introduction to Psychobiology – created infographics with information about how drugs commonly found on college campuses affect one’s brain. Supplemental information about risk factors, criteria for substance use disorder, costs associated with drug use, and helpful resources are also provided.

In addition to applying course material, this assignment allowed students to work on other 21^st century skills including critical thinking (what material to include), information literacy (reading charts and graphs), and collaboration and communication (they worked in groups).

This display is located in Building 6, on the west wall to the left of the fireplace. It will be available to view through Friday, October 28, 2022.

Do you remember pre-COVID going to a conference in the field that you were studying? Do you remember the excitement of meeting people who are doing what you want to do? Do you remember listening to the talks and getting a little bit excited about the topic, but also being feeling blown away by the amount and complexity of the information that was presented?  Skyline College students did exactly that on Saturday, October 8, 2022 when they attended what may well be their first ever “Scientific Conference”.  For the past 7 years, Skyline College faculty have worked with the Chinese Bioscience Association (CBA) Conference to provide attendance with Skyline College students at low or no cost. The conference takes place at the Crown Plaza in Foster City. The Chinese Bioscience Association (CBA) is a non-profit organization founded in the San Francisco Bay area in 1997. Its mission is to promote education, networking and community building for life science professionals. This year’s conference focused on Next-Generation Medicine: From Gene, Protein to Cell Therapy.  The conference was a great opportunity for students to become aware of the new technologies and innovations that are key to transitioning from being a student to being a Biotech employee.

Students from the Biology, Microbiology, and Biotechnology programs joined Dean Jing Folsom and instructor Nick Kapp to network with Bioscience industry leaders and over 100 CBA general members. Skyline College students deftly shared their educational and professional accomplishments and practiced their networking skills. 

For more information about the Biotechnology program and other Career Advancement Academies, please contact Nick Kapp at kapp@smccd.edu or (650) 738-4415.

Article by Nick Kapp | Photos by Grace Xu and Jing Folsom

The International Student Program (ISP) hosted a field trip to Sausalito for all students on September 30, 2022. The event was attended by ISP staff, students, and Fulbright Scholar/ Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Ryan Domingo.

The trip was attended by 14 students and began with a BART ride to the Ferry Building Marketplace. Students got food and enjoyed a beautiful ocean view of the bay bridge before boarding the Sausalito Ferry. Once on the ferry, students and staff were greeted with a cool sea breeze as they cruised along the bay to Sausalito. Students walked along the coastline and explored the area before returning to San Francisco.

The trip saw great weather and allowed international students the chance to experience the community around them together. Clair Yeo-Sugajski, Acting Program Manager of ISP, stated, “We were lucky enough to have great weather and company at our Sausalito field trip.”

Our next ISP event will be the UC Berkeley University Tour on Monday, October 24, 2022. The International Student Program is part of the Global Learning Programs and Services Division at Skyline College. If you wish to learn more about ISP, don’t hesitate to contact the ISP Office at skyinternational@smccd.edu.

Article by Sirreck Brown | Photo by Clair Yeo-Sugajski