After almost three years of planning and hard work by the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, Skyline College and our community engaged with and experienced the newly revamped CPR Share-Outs on April 10, 2023 and April 24, 2023. The following programs participated in this year’s CPR Share-Outs: Accounting, Computer Science/Engineering, Counseling, SparkPoint Center, Career Readiness and Job Placement, Communication Studies, EOPS/CARE/CalWORKS, and Respiratory Care. The CPR Share-Outs started with time for programs to share their posters and engage in conversations with attendees followed by a moderated panel discussion with the participating programs. The new format has received positive feedback, and we are proud of the hard work, dedication, and thoughtfulness of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee and participating programs in helping make the event a success.
On April 19th, the SMCCCD Sustainability Committee at Skyline College hosted an Earth Day event that brought together students, staff, and faculty to celebrate our planet and learn how we can all do our part to protect it. The inaugural Skyline Earth Fest, spearheaded by Skyline College Sustainability Committee members Aria Frangos, Qimmah Tamu and Marisa Thigpen, was designed to engage our campus community and encourage conversation and action about protecting and conserving the earth’s resources in support of our planet’s health. The campus community was invited to join, share activities and table at the event as well as post how they help protect, celebrate and help create a more sustainable planet the earth through personal choices via our Skyline Earth Fest Padlet.
Phi Theta Kappa, International Honor Society members were excited to do some outreach through this event. PTK member Erin Denny educated table visitors about foraging and wild foods. In addition, she shared her homemade pine preserves (jelly) made with baby pinecones and pine needles served on crackers with cheese – a totally new flavor for most brave enough to try with most finding it “yummy!”
Pictured, Erin Denny of PTK International Honor Society sharing her homemade pinecone jelly.
The Museum of Tomorrow exhibit was an exciting visual centerpiece of the event in the quad, encouraging students walking by to stop and check out what was going on. This interactive exhibit is one of many designed by our District Utility and Sustainability Coordinator, Jessica Ho. Overall, the Museum of Tomorrow portrays climate change via an innovative approach, translating the abstract and distant issue of “climate change” into a tangible and immediate experience. Through visual, experiential, Instagrammable exhibits, the concept of battling climate change was shifted into something digestible and actionable. Jessica and the Sustainability Team displayed the Fast Fashion and Wish Tree exhibits to inform students about the impact of clothing waste and to get students to share their “wishes” for a sustainable Skyline College campus, respectively.
Pictured, Museum of Tomorrow fast fashion columns engage students to think about their fashion choices.
Another highlight of the event was the Clothing Swap, where attendees could bring gently used clothing to exchange with others. The swap helped reduce wasted clothing items and found many happy students a fun new piece for their wardrobes. It was also a fun way to promote mindfulness around buying clothes and sustainable fashion practices in general!
Pictured, Skyline College students try on donated clothes from the clothing swap.
Two local off-campus partners also joined us for the event, Pacific Beach Coalition and California State Parks at Half Moon Bay State Beach. The Pacific Beach Coalition representatives shared information about ways to get involved in local beach clean-ups, including their official Earth Day Clean-Up. The representative from Half Moon Bay State Beach offered an engaging table with a planting activity to cultivate local wildflowers and educational materials on supporting local ecosystems. Another planting opportunity at Earth Fest invited participants to bring plant clippings or rooted babies to help repopulate the flora in the building 7 ‘Grow Globe’ (new name). Biology Professor Michael Song supported the effort in rooting and planting the seeds and clippings and helping our young friends from the Skyline College Child Development Laboratory Center with a fun planting activity that they could take back to their classroom or homes.
Pictured, SMCCCD Sustainability Team members take a moment to enjoy the photo props from the California State Parks at Half Moon Bay State Beach.
The e-waste collection was also a popular feature of the event, allowing campus community members to dispose of electronic waste in an environmentally friendly way. Used batteries and broken or old electronics and cables were collected to be properly recycled and disposed of by the District Sustainability Team of Jessica Ho, Adrielle Cailipan, and Ananya Subramanian. The event also provided a space to share information about ways to save electricity via our digital choices with a useful infographic and webpage produced by Aria Frangos.
Overall, the inaugural Skyline Earth Fest was a success in engaging our campus community to make a positive impact on the planet where we can all contribute to a healthier and more sustainable future. After the event, a Skyline Earth Fest volunteer shared that she found the event inspiring to be in community with others who are passionate about the environment and thinking creatively about how we can care for the world around us. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and participated in this event and let us continue to celebrate and protect our planet every day!
You can find out more information including links to sustainability podcasts, Skyline College Library resources and so much more by visiting our Skyline Earth Fest Linktree. For details and data on District-wide sustainability projects and metrics, visit the SMCCCD Sustainability website.
Pictured, Event organizers and campus community members take a moment to enjoy the Cupid Shuffle.
Article by Aria Frangos and Marisa Thigpen I Photos by Marisa Thigpen
Skyline College Library invites you to visit its second-floor exhibit in building 5, featuring a small, but fascinating collection of books and materials on Cinco de Mayo. This holiday, celebrated on May 5th, marks the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. On this day, against all odds, the Mexican Army, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza and over 5,000 indigenous Zapotecs and Mestizos, was able to defeat the invading French troops, at a time when the Mexican indigenous forces were considered “inferior” compared to the experienced French military (Bernal, 2000).
The exhibit explores the history and significance of Cinco de Mayo both inside and outside of Mexico and presents a diverse collection of books that include historical accounts, poetry, Hispanic-American literature, children’s stories, and artwork from indigenous tribes. The materials showcase the vibrant and diverse Mexican culture and its influence on American society. By exploring the literature and art surrounding the holiday, visitors can learn more about the rich history of the Mexican people and their traditions.
Cinco de Mayo is not only celebrated in Mexico but also in many parts of the United States. This holiday has become an important cultural celebration for Mexican-Americans, and it serves as an opportunity to celebrate their heritage and traditions. The exhibit also highlights the Chicano movement of the 1960s, which raised awareness of the holiday as a celebration of indigenous Mexicans’ victory over European invaders.
The Library’s exhibit, on display through May 12, is a fantastic way to learn about the history and cultural significance of Cinco de Mayo, immerse yourself in Mexican-American literature and art, and explore the richness of Mexican culture. We hope to see you soon (Building 5, 2nd floor).
As part of its Poetry Corner series, the Library hosted a group of thirty last week for poetry readings by students and faculty along the theme of “furry friends.” Participants read aloud from poems they admired or had written themselves, with some composed on the fly during the session itself. Participants especially enjoyed Mary Oliver’s poems from the book Dog Songs and a Library display including pet-related artwork created by our main creative talent, our amazing student assistants. Some students attended as part of an assignment to review a literary event.
Following the readings, students shared heartfelt stories of loss and love around their own furry friends, past and present, noting how much we depended on them during Covid especially.
From the many poems read aloud, three original poems are shared here for your enjoyment.
An Ode to Dogs in the Media, by Justin De Guzman, Skyline College student
Throughout the generations
Through screen and speech and page
The media is filled with dogs
Of every shape and age
I took some time to write an ode
To name some D-O-Gs
No matter how much fame they have
Or how niche they may be
To Snoopy and his antics
To Odie and his smile
To Great Dane Scooby Doo
And his iconic laughing style
To Clifford and his epic size
To Martha and her words
To that dog in Duck Hunt
That laughs when you miss birds
To one-oh-one dalmatians
To Lady and the Tramp
To all the dogs in Minecraft
That shake when they get damp
To Marmaduke, a big boy
To Pluto, Goofy too
To my man K.K. Slider
Who’ll sing his songs for you
To Blue and her skadoo-ing
To Bluey and her friends
To Huckleberry Hound
In his cartoon from way back when
To Inugami Korone
To Dug from Pixar’s “Up”
To both Air Bud and Marley
Those rambunctious movie pups
To Ruff Ruffman and Frankenweenie
To Snoop Dogg, technically
To all the dogs I didn’t mention
In this rhyming spree
Whatever you are featured in
No matter who you are
Just know that I will love you
Cause every dog’s a star
World Languages professor Luciana Castro shared her poem:
“The Love of Our Lives: Unexpected”
Always a feisty joy for me
Pure, perky and persistent puppy
Ornament to my humble home
Love of our lives: unexpected
Listening to our voice is his trademark
Our Apollo is our anchor for love and sorrows.
Librarian Jessica Silver-Sharp shared a poem she’d written as well:
Union cats demand dinner!
it’s 5:07 and closed session is in overtime
tired members on zoom
watch the clock,
worrying about traffic
union cats are getting restless
dinner time is 5:00pm. sharp.
(it’s in the contract!)
purring, they politely begin their testimonials…
“we provided you with support during covid”
“we were your therapists,
adjusting our routines to fit yours,
sacrificing our independence!”
***
Cats: “Did they hear us?”
It’s 5:09
Time for action!
walk across keyboards,
swish tails in faces
reverse direction —
repeat!
5:12. Escalate!
claws in the good rug – we don’t mess around
and why not? let’s make some noise!
meow, me-OW, ME-OWW!!!”
pause…
O-kay already!
“brb,” she texts her comrades…
“pet break!”
Victory @ 5:14
***
Thank you to event facilitators Librarian Pia Walawalkar and Professor Rob Williams and to all of our student and faculty participants who made “Ode to Furry Friends” a success! Additional thanks to Gabriela Nocito for the animal cookies that were much enjoyed. We look forward to having you back for more poetry in Fall 2023.
Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp | Photo by Jessica Silver-Sharp
On Wednesday, May 1st, 2023 – the United States of America kicked off a nationwide celebration of “AAPI Heritage Month” (Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month).
For Student Life department assistant Ryan Samn, it was also a kick off for his first published work & e-Book titled Khmer Gat Chen – Southern Chinese Diaspora in Cambodia. The book is an examination & resource guide to better understand the depths of Chinese Cambodian ancestry, culture & history. The Chinese have been migrating to Cambodia since the Angkor period. Many famous Chinese Cambodians have come to the U.S. sharing their stories as well. Dr. Haing Ngor & Ted Ngoy “the Donut King” are a few familiar names that may come to mind.
Written with an aim to help educate & inspire Asian Americans who are living outside of the homeland to seek their roots, Ryan’s e-Book is a study of the five groups of Southern Chinese who settled in Cambodia. Informational topics include:
brief language/terminology
a study of Chinese celebrations that take place in Cambodia
the blended spiritual practices with roots from both Chinese & Khmer culture
This 54-page colorfully illustrated e-Book is the first of its kind coming from an Asian American perspective & much of this research is shared in the English language for the first time ever. One of the ways Ryan hopes his book can inspire readers is for them to reflect & take the time to also see value in their own lineage. As Skyline College’s AAPI population consists highly of Burmese & Filipinx students, one of his goals is to help people find a way to share their family history & cultural knowledge in an academic setting – “most Southeast Asian history lessons offered in school are about the French Indochina period & the Vietnam War – very rarely are historians taking the time to share the chapter after: that of what happened to our families when we arrived here in the States”.
Ryan started writing his book after arriving home from Cambodia with his grandmother & brother in 2015. He carefully compiled his data & research, working with Chinese Cambodian elders at the local temples in the Bay Area to verify the information, much of it based on oral history. For AAPI Heritage Month, Ryan wants to remind his students & especially his fellow Asian/Southeast Asian colleagues “if we are not taking time to write & document our own history, we are allowing others to tell our stories for us”.
The book can be purchased on his website: allthingscambodian.square.site – nearly all the proceeds of the book will be donated to the Cambodian temple Wat Khemara Rangsey in San Jose later this year.
Article by Vivian Paw | Photo is the cover of the e-Book, Khmer Gat Chen
A Skyline College student, staff and faculty book club reading Rafael Augustin’s Illegally Yours concluded last week. This memoir geared toward young adults revealed the Ecuadorian-American author’s story of growing up undocumented in Southern California and eventually attending community college, UCLA, and touring nationally with their autobiographical comedy before becoming a writer for the CW show Jane the Virgin and CEO of the Latino Film Institute.
Participants found many of the poignant experiences revealed by Augustin’s memoir incredibly relevant to our students’ experiences (and some of our own). While the author concluded, “This was a very painful book to write,” as readers we found Augustin’s optimism and humor in the face of adversity uplifting and rewarding.
Skyline College Library creates opportunities to deepen students’ understanding of social justice issues and expose students to diverse perspectives. Events and programs allow students, staff and faculty to feel connected to our College’s mission and values.
Towards this purpose, the Library has facilitated several student and staff/faculty reading groups on the theme of immigration and undocumented Americans. In addition to Illegally Yours, previous book selections have included Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is also a Star, Mia Alvar’s In the Country: Stories and Bay area native Lysley Tenorio’s The Son of Good Fortune. If you would like Library support for a campus book or reading group for Fall 2023 please reach out to Librarian Jessica Silver-Sharp at silversharpj@smccd.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.
Pictured: Environment Economics Professor Masao Suzuki checks out the new graphic novel adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune with Librarian Jessica Silver-Sharp. Photo by Sherri Wyatt
If you’ve never heard of “cli-fi” you’re not alone! This genre of climate fiction — lately referred to as “cli-fi” — isn’t new, but with the earth changing so rapidly, the number of books and movies featuring stories about climate change are rapidly on the rise.
The Library was pleased to be able to display a few award-winning cli-fi books at Earth Fest’s inaugural launch, many of which were checked out by students and staff on the spot.
The most popular featured author of the day was the late Ursula Le Guin, pioneering feminist science fiction writer and daughter of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and Theodora Kroeber of Berkeley (co-author of Ishi, the Last Yahi). Le Guin was one of the first science fiction writers to be thinking about other species and our relationship to ecology. HerLeft Hand of Darkness, published the same year that Skyline College opened its doors in 1969, and the Dispossessed (1974) are among her most famous works, forming part of her six book series, the Hainish Cycle, which is on order and will be available for library check out by summer.
Visitors to the Library’s Earth Fest booth also suggested a number of books for purchase as the Library is growing its science fiction collection to meet the demands of our community.
Faculty interested in teaching a science fiction book not currently held by the Library are encouraged to fill out the Library’s Materials Request Form. All others interested in recommending a book for purchase should reach out to Jessica at silversharpj@smccd.edu Thank you to library student assistant Jonathan for helping battle the strong winds that tried to blow our books away, to Sherri Wyatt for organizing the entire effort, and to Carol Driscoll for tracking down all the books for display. We look forward to returning to Earth Fest with new (and old) books in 2024!
Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp | Photo by Sherri Wyatt
