Sonya Christian's Blog

This week, a friend of mine brought up Crosby, Stills & Nash, the supergroup made up of singer-songwriters David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash (and occasionally joined by Neil Young).

The group formed in 1968 after Crosby, Stills and Nash had an informal performance and realized their voices and harmonies worked well together.

Here is one of my favorites – Teach your children.

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Last weekend, I watched the new “Mission Impossible” movie. Tom Cruise is famous for doing his own stunts, and this latest film features one billed as the most death-defying stunt of his career – driving a motorcycle off of a cliff.

They tackled the amazing feat on day one of filming. Cruise talked to Entertainment Tonight about the stunt, explaining that starting with that helps the filmmakers decide if they’ll be able to continue filming the rest of the movie, or if they have to do a major rewrite if they can’t accomplish the stunt or the actor is injured (or worse!) in the attempt. Whoa!

Check it out in the trailer (the stunt starts around 1:17):

The Impossible Mission Force (IMP) team – Luther Stickell and Franz Krieger – that works with Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt is just fantastic. California Community Colleges are California’s IMF agents – taking care of our students, our communities, and our plant.

Breakfast at Wimbledon

On Sunday, I tuned in for Breakfast at Wimbledon – a tradition that began in 1979 when NBC needed to find a way to get American audiences to turn on the tvs for tennis at 9 am. Wimbledon tradition dictates that play begins precisely at 2 pm, which translates to 6 am for viewers on the West Coast.

In that first broadcast, NBC wanted to begin a few minutes later so they could run an introductory segment (and ads) before the players walked out. Officials at the All England Club refused, but NBC’s executive producer of sports spoke to one of the commentators (who also managed one of the men’s finalists that year).

The commentator spoke to the finalist, Roscoe Tanner, who proceeded to spend a few extra minutes in the bathroom before leaving the locker room – giving NBC time to begin its production and still allow viewers to see the players walk out onto the grass live.

The experiment in broadcasting live tennis to viewers across the pond was a success!

This year’s finals had no shortage of drama and excitement. Going into the final, Novak Djokovic was a heavy favorite, with a 34-match winning streak at Wimbledon and a 27-match winning streak at majors. He had won an all-time record 45 matches in a row on Centre Court, going back to his last loss, to Andy Murray in the final on July 7th, 2013.

This year, he faced 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, playing in his first Wimbledon final. Alcaraz was down after the first set, but clawed his way back during an epic 85-minute second set. Alcaraz ultimately defeated Djokovic in a match that lasted four hours and 42 minutes – the third-longest final in Wimbledon history.

Breakfast at Wimbledon was my mom’s favorite. Mom, as always, this one is for you.

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I’ve also had a very busy week traveling and promoting the work of the California Community Colleges and Vision 2030.

I started my week in Los Angeles at the Wheelhouse CEO Institute, which is led by Francisco Rodriguez – Chancellor of LACCD and Chancellor in Residence at Wheelhouse. I was able to spend some time speaking with and getting to know the 14 CEOs participating in this year’s cohort.

On Thursday, I attended the July Consultation Council, where we were able to to do a deep dive into Vision 2030.

Good morning California.
It is July 22, 2023.
A good day to be a Community College Champion

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From California Community Colleges.
Our Time is Now!

Sierra College Student Journalists Recognized for Reporting on Equity

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Irvine Valley College Girls Who Code Team Wins 1st Place

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Los Angeles Trade Tech College Culinary Students Earn Medals at SkillsUSA

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In Case You Missed It

AAC&U Liberal Education: We Can’t Afford Not To –
All colleges and universities should have a prison education program

I wanted to share this article that was printed in AAC&U’S Liberal Education magazine, writing about the importance of prison education programs and how they have an amazing effect on recidivism rates. It was a lot of fun working on this piece with Dr. Manny Mourtzanos, former Vice Chancellor at the Kern Community College District.

» Read more!

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EdSource: Community College baccalaureate degrees
are key to expanding college access, panel says

Emma Gallegos wrote about a roundtable on community college baccalaureates that EdSource hosted on Thursday.

(Aisha) Lowe said the expansion of community college baccalaureate programs is crucial to meeting the governor’s goal of 70% of the state’s working adults attaining a bachelor’s degree by 2030. She points out that many universities are impacted now and certainly cannot increase capacity at the level that the state needs. Because community colleges are locally oriented, they’re well-situated to meet local needs in a way that the CSU or UC system cannot.

» Read more!

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KTLA: California Foster Youth Can Now Attend College for Free

Foster youth across California will now be able to attend college, free of charge, after new legislation, SB 307, was signed into the state budget.

The new Fostering Futures program will cover the entire cost for foster youth to attend a University of California, California State University or California community college.

» Read more!

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Fun Photos & Spotted on Social Media

Yovani Jimenez shared this post, with Nicole Parra and Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg:

“Congratulations to the Latina Leaders of Kern County as they celebrate 25 years of excellence. I am truly inspired by the dedication and hard work of the founding mothers who worked tirelessly to turn a dream into a reality. Tonight, I also want to convey my congratulations to the honorees, whose success stories serve as a true inspiration. Their achievements demonstrate the limitless possibilities and potential within our community. Thank you all for your incredible contributions and for continuously inspiring.”

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From Palomar College:

“The VFW Post 1513 of Escondido provided lunch at the Palomar College Veterans Resource Center for Operation Home-Cooked. Thank you to Army Veteran Gina Burke for cooking for our Veteran Students. Thank you to San Diego North County Blue Star Mothers for also being there.”

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From San Joaquin Delta College:

“We were happy to host teachers from across San Joaquin County at Delta’s Manteca farm recently for Ag in the Classroom. Teachers learned all about agriculture and how to incorporate it in their classrooms this school year. Thank you @SJFarmBureau for making this possible!”

And from San Diego Community College District:

“Board President Maria Nieto Senour was presented with a cake at today’s board meeting in honor of her 80th birthday. Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Maria.”

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And From the Home of the Renegades

Renegade Pantry Hosts Farmers Market for July

» Read more about this week at BC!

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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