Sonya Christian's Blog

This week, our nation honored the D-Day at Normandy, which took place 80 years ago on June 6.

The stories of veterans who were part of that day…..they are now between the ages of 96 and 107.

At a ceremony commemorating the anniversary, French President Emmanuel Macron bestowed the Legion of Honor on 14 U.S. veterans and a British female veteran.

The female veteran is 103-year-old Christian Lamb, the daughter of a Royal Navy admiral who was studying in Normandy in 1939 when her father called her back to London. Lamb created detailed maps that guided the crews on places to land on D-Day.

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On Wednesday we celebrate former Bakersfield College Athletic Director Sandi Taylor, who was inducted into the California Community College Athletic Directors Hall of Fame at Lake Tahoe.

Sandi Taylor is a very special person. Check out the video below under the “blast from the past” section of the blog.

Good morning California.
It is June 8, 2024.
A good day to be a Community College Champion

From California Community Colleges.
Our Time is Now!

Palomar College Student Earns Prestigious Internship

Jerrie Fabrigas got a bachelor’s degree in art history because she thought she wanted to curate other people’s art. It wasn’t until she took a ceramics class at Palomar College that she realized she had a talent for making her own art. Since her first ceramics class at Palomar College in 2020, Fabrigas has been making and selling her ceramic art pieces. She recently was selected as a 2024 Artaxis fellow, which provides funding so that she can attend a two-week summer workshop at the renowned Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine.

» Read more!

Folsom Lake College and Sutter Health Announce Partnership

Sutter Health is launching a new initiative, NextGen Scholars, to provide educational opportunities and career pathways in healthcare for high school students from Title 1 schools and diverse backgrounds—with a goal of training 5,000 youth by 2030 as part of the program. Sutter is investing $1.7 million in Folsom Lake College as a pilot and plans to extend the program to other schools in the Los Rios Community College District and others across its Northern California and Central Coast footprint in the coming years.

» Read more!

Longtime Riverside City College Supporter Raises
More Than $6,500 for Student Emergency Fund

Justin Scott-Coe, a former adjunct professor and long-time Riverside City College (RCC) supporter, recently organized a crowdfunding campaign to benefit the RCCD Foundation’s Student Emergency Fund. In lieu of birthday gifts for his 50th birthday, Scott-Coe raised more than $6,500 to support RCC students in need. 

» Read More!

In Case You Missed It

EdSource: California releases $470 million
to put students on track for college and career

California has made good on a promise in the 2022 budget to invest in programs that simultaneously prepare students for both college and career. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Friday that the state has released $470 million to 302 school districts, charters and county offices of education to fund the Golden State Pathways program.

» Read more!

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CalMatters: An obscure option could help Californians
without high school diplomas pay for college — if it survives

Many adults in California are missing out on financial aid for college — and for years, the state declined to help. 

The most popular form of federal financial aid, the Pell grant, provides low-income students with around $7,000 a year— money that can go towards all kinds of expenses, such as tuition, rent or transportation. Typically, college students need a high school diploma or equivalent to qualify, but a workaround, known as the Ability to Benefit provision, allows adults without a high school diploma to get federal financial aid in college.

» Read more!

Fun Photos & Spotted on Social Media

From San Joaquin Delta College:

Congrats to San Joaquin Delta College’s student-run media group, Fierce Mustang Media, for their recognition today by the Board of Supervisors for their work on San Joaquin County’s illegal dumping awareness campaign!

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From Clovis Community College:

Congratulations to our amazing CCC team that just completed the Mental Health First Aid National Certification Training! @cccwelcomecenter @scccd#GoCrush#SafetyFirst

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Jackie Vanderbeck from Broadway Sacramento shared this post:

I am so thrilled to welcome our Broadway At Music Circus Intern & Professional Assistant class of 2024!

In partnership with American River College, 46 students join us for the summer in the fields of Stage Management, Wardrobe, Costume, Props/Scenic, Sound, Marketing & PR, Graphic Design, Social Media, Development, Education & Community Engagement, and IT.

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And congratulations to Southwestern College’s Randy Beach, who is completing his second term serving on the ACCJC

Bittersweet day today. In 2018 I was honored to be elected to serve a three-year term as an Academic Member of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. Today, after two terms, four presidents, three commission chairs, dozens of presentations and webinars, hundreds (yes hundreds) of commission and committee meetings, and thousands (yes thousands) of pages of reading college reports, and a global pandemic (yikes!), I completed my second and final term as a board member and commissioner. The work has been one of the most professionally rewarding experiences I’ve ever had supporting the mission and success of two-year colleges. The commissioners and ACCJC staff that I’ve worked with over the years are wickedly talented, insightful and knowledgeable, and dedicated to student success for the diversity of students that make up our institutions.

Blast from the Past

Here’s the video from 2020, when Sandi Taylor and Corny Rodriguez earned a Presidential Leadership Award at Bakersfield College:

And From the Home of the Renegades

BC Hosts Measure J Community Brief and Update

In 2016, the Measure J bond was introduced to the Bakersfield and Kern County communities with the goal of improvements to Bakersfield College and its rural campuses. The measure passed and BC was awarded $502 million for facility updates, new educational spaces, technology upgrades, and more.

 On June 5, 2024, BC hosted a Measure J Community Brief and Update in the Renegade Events Center to offer students, faculty, staff, and community members a detailed update on the various projects funded by Measure J.

» Read more!

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Remember – our greatest challenges enable us to do our greatest work.

That’s all for today.

See you next Saturday!

With much hope and joy, 

Your Chancellor,

-sonya

#OurTimeisNow
#NuestroTiempoEsAhora