Bees New Addition to the Sculpture Garden As graduation excitement builds at the Ridgecrest campus, it is joined by the anticipation of a possible new addition to the fence that surrounds the college sculpture garden. The student fence panel project is an ongoing endeavor of the Visual and Performing Arts Department, which gives advanced students the opportunity to create large scale, outdoor public art. It is a long-term project, taking many years to accomplish, involving students from incredibly diverse backgrounds and artistic interests. It also engages the public in both an immediate and enduring appreciation of art, and serves to beautify the Cerro Coso Ridgecrest campus in a thoughtful manner. Former Visual and Performing

Arts Outstanding Student of the Year James Gray constructed the most recent addition to the project. Gray is a non-traditional student—a military veteran who once served on a naval aircraft carrier. During his service, he worked in close quarters with a large number of people whose mission involved dependence on efficient structure, loyalty to the group, and singularity of vision. This experience strongly influences his art, and leads us to contemplate the connections between workplace, home, and life purpose. “The design of the honeycomb structure is both visually pleasing and incredibly efficient. These hexagon shapes save energy, and use the minimal amount of material necessary to build a large, interlocking hive. In the future, I would also like to make several singular bee sculptures and place them around the campus. Bees can travel very far, and this would tie the rest of the campus to the sculpture garden,” said Gray of his work. The new sculpture complements the landscape and other works of art in Cerro Coso’s sculpture garden, a top destination for photographers and visitors at the college. Nurtured. Connected. Engaged. Valued.

Signing Day for Three Coyotes The Cerro Coso Athletic Department celebrated three Coyotes this spring with their signing to four-year schools next fall. Naythan Arroyo will continue his baseball career for the Pilots of Louisiana State University, Shreveport. Makaylee Garcia-Moore will play soccer for the Judson University Eagles, Illinois. Tinoi Martin will carry on her volleyball career with the Wiley College Wildcats, Texas. Cerro Coso is proud to recognize these student athletes as representatives of Coyote athletics and wish them continued success both academically and in their sport as they continue their collegiate career. Make Your Mark! Directed. Focused. Nurtured. Engaged. Connected. Valued.

June 2019

Bees New Addition to theSculpture Garden 1

Signing Day for Three Coyotes 1

Celebrating the Class of 2019 2

Nature Inspires Bishop ArtClass 2

Library iPads: A Hot Commodity 2

Student Awards RecognizeAchievements 3

PTK Inducts Records 298 NewMembers 3

Fitzsimmons Retires after 25Years 4

FOUNDATION FEATURE:Scholarship Awards Ceremony 4

Inside this Issue

L to r: Heather Ostach, VP Student Services; Makaylee Garcia-Moore; President Jill Board; Tinoi Martin; and Naythan Arroyo.

2 COYOTE HOWLER

Celebrating the Class of 2019

Years of hard work, late nights, and sacrifice, ended for a record number of Cerro Coso graduates in three separate commencement ceremonies. The Class of 2019 is ready to conquer the world with a CCCC degree or certificate of achievement in hand and all the power and knowledge that comes with it. “It is a time for great celebration,” stated President Jill Board. “Commencement marks a passage, the transformation from student to graduate. It is the beginning of a new journey of discovery and the start of a lifelong affiliation as a Coyote Alum.” Ceremonies were held on May 3, 2019, at the Eastern Sierra College Center in Bishop, on May 8, 2019, at the California City Correctional Facility, and on May 10, 2019, at the Ridgecrest campus. Another ceremony is scheduled to take place on June 6, 2019, at the Tehachapi Correctional Facility. A total of 469 graduates earned 559 Associate Degrees and 272 Certificates of Achievement from the college for the 2018-2019 academic year. “We’re celebrating this milestone with you. For you. And with all the fanfare and grandeur you deserve,” concluded Board. Directed. Focused. Nurtured. Engaged. Connected. Valued.

Library iPads: A Hot Commodity You may have seen several lime green library iPads floating around the Ridgecrest campus – and around town! These iPads have been used in biology labs to conduct virtual interactive anatomy lessons, in Honors courses to survey public opinion, on the first day of school to register students and help them locate classes, and for community outreach conducted by the Institutional Research Department. Five iPads are available - contact library staff for more information and for ideas on how to enhance your next activity! Focused. Nurtured. Valued.

Nature Inspires Bishop Art ClassInspired by Mother Nature, April 17th was a perfect spring morning for ESCC art instructor Deborah Lurie and the students in her Painting 1 and 2 class to take a Plein Air painting field trip to Millpond Park, 5 miles north of the college. The sky was blue, the wind calm, and the pond had lovely reflections of the iconic snowy mountain peaks and freshly leafing spring trees. The students enjoyed painting outdoors and experienced the challenge and joy of painting directly from nature in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Nothing teaches an artist more about color and light than to escape into the outdoors and paint the landscape in Plein Air. Focused. Nurtured. Engaged. Valued.

ESCC student graduates receiving the CCCC Academic Senate Honors Student 3.75 and above l to r: Lauren Harris, Sharon Nelson, Gloria Solorio, Guadalupe Orozco, Gladys Gonzalez Reynoso, and Kaitlyn Morgan.

Ridgecrest students Susana Ramirez, Nadia Khatib, and Marlo Soto.

COYOTE HOWLER 3

Student Awards Recognize Achievements

The Student Government of Cerro Coso (SGCC) celebrated the achievements of students, faculty, and staff at all CCCC campuses and across all academic programs at their 35th Annual Spring Awards Luncheon held on May 2, 2019. The following awards were presented:

President’s Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards: Nina Aquino, Noah Bailey, William Banks, Kimberly Borey, Tanya Brown, Olivia Bumbaca, Zulema Castillo, Phillip Chacanaca, Arsh Chaudhry, Nathan Crites, Chance English, Amy Ertl, Tanya Frandsen, Jose Gonzalez, Grace Haddock, Lauren Harris, Ross Hill, Naomi Hillis, Angela Johnson, Katelyn Jones, Anita Keller, Elinelle Lee, Erin Lewis, Donnell Marin, Wolf Milheim, Kaitlyn Morgan, Andrew Ostrom, Kira Peters, Gloria Solorio, Zachary Strazi, Angela

Teslaa, Grace Vankirk, and Kayla Waasdorp.

Phi Theta Kappa All-California Academic Team: Chance English and Lauren Harris.

Coca-Cola Academic Team Gold Scholar: Chance English.

Coca-Cola Leader of Promise Scholar: Lauren Harris.

Honors Transfer Council of California Conference Outstanding Abstract: Gideon Ondap.

Department Awards for Outstanding Achievement: Jennifer Martinez, Allied Health; Enrique Franco Martin, Business and Information Technology; Carol Blair, English and Foreign Languages; Olivia Ortiz, Industrial Arts; Brynn Turpin, Mathematics; Christina Litster, Paralegal; Noah Bailey, Science; Carol Blair, Social Sciences; Maria Guishard, Visual and Performing Arts.

Site Student of the Year: Gloria Solorio, Eastern Sierra College Center; Lupita Zamora, East Kern Tehachapi Campus; and Christine Dochterman, Kern River Valley Campus.

Tutor of the Year: Blake Sarrett.

CCCC Foundation, Inc. Student Athlete Academic Achievement Award: Brock Duffield (Men’s Basketball).

CCCC Excellence in Education Award: Child Development Professor Vivian Baker and Digital Media Arts Professor Suzie Ama.

Staff Awards: Sylvia Sotomayor, Web Content Editor – Academic Senate Staff of the Year; Lacie Galvan, Accounting Technician II – Classified Senate Staff of the Year.

SGCC Awards for Teaching Excellence: Cliff Davis, IWV Full-Time Faculty; Gary Enns, KRV Faculty; Scott Cameron and Lucila Gonzalez-Cirre, Online Faculty; Carlos Wright-Tkacz, ESCC Faculty; and Don Rosenberg, Adjunct Faculty.

Nurtured. Engaged. Connected. Valued.

PTK Inducts Record 298 New Members The Beta Kappa Chi Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) at Cerro Coso Community College (CCCC) held an induction ceremony to welcome a record-breaking 298 new members on Saturday, April 27, at the Ridgecrest Campus. The substantial increase in PTK membership is due in part to membership scholarships provided by the Cerro Coso Community College Foundation. PTK serves to recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students and provides opportunities for individual growth and development through honors, leadership, and service programs. To be invited to join Phi Theta Kappa, students must have completed at least 12 hours of course work and have earned a GPA of at least 3.50. Nurtured. Engaged. Connected. Valued.

Students receiving Department Awards for Outstanding Achievement (l to r): Olivia Ortiz, Industrial Arts; Maria Guishard, Visual and Performing Arts; Carol Blair, English and Foreign Languages and Social Sciences; Jennifer Martinez, Allied Health; Enrique Franco Martin, Business and Information Technology; Brynn Turpin, Mathematics; and Noah Bailey, Science. Not pictures Christina Litster, Paralegal.

2018-2019 PTK Officers (Left to right) Abigail Voigt, Cameron Reese, Jonathan Blair, Elinelle Lee, Carol Blair, Andrew Ostrom, Felicity Browne, and William Zajicek.

The Coyote Howler is a publication of Cerro Coso Community College. For more information about the stories in this publication, or to include information in this publication, contact Natalie Dorrell, Public Relations

Director, at 760-384-6260 or email ndorrell@cerrocoso.edu.

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About this Publication

4 COYOTE HOWLER

Scholarship Awards Ceremony

On Thursday, April 25th, the CCCC Foundation recognized its 2018/2019 scholarship recipients during a Scholarship Awards Ceremony held in the Community Room at the Ridgecrest Campus. The CCCC Foundation awarded more than $118,000 in scholarships to Cerro Coso students in 2018/2019. Scholarships recipients are chosen by selection committees based on their academic excellence, work experience, majors, community activities, and commitment to their educational endeavors. The Foundation distributed more than $75,000 in Promise Scholarships to students last year. Now in its 41st year of awarding scholarships, the CCCC Foundation is able to recognize deserving students each year thanks to the extraordinary generosity of donors, community partners, faculty, and staff, as well as the financial investments that support the Scholarship Program. Congratulations to all the scholarship recipients. Focused. Nurtured. Connected. Valued.

Education is the Key to Opportunity.Your gift changes lives.

It supports the education and preparationof a new generation of global leaders.

FOUNDATION FEATURE

L to r: KCCD Trustee and CCCC Foundation Board Member Jack Connell; student Morgan Novark; President Jill Board; and CCCC Foundation Scholarship Chairman Derrick Hu.

Fitzsimmons Retires after 25 Years

Department Assistant III for CalWorks Cheryl Fitzsimmons retired after almost 26 years of service to Cerro Coso. Cheryl began her career at the college like many employees, as a student worker in Financial Aid working with Bob Weisenthal and Joann Spiller. In 1998, she was recruited by Special Services Director Susan Smith and became the first full-time Access Partner. At the time, now President Jill Board was her Counselor. She later worked with Yolanda

Vasquez in CalWorks where she started as a Department Assistant I and worked up to become a DA III. CalWorks is the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program designed to provide short-term training and job transition services to persons receiving welfare assistance. Cheryl enjoyed every day at Cerro Coso because no day was ever the same and she felt she learned alongside everyone else. Susan Smith taught her to strive to make things better for students and staff in ways that have a positive effect on their way of thinking. One of her most memorable moments at the college was a field trip she attended with Trio Program students to the Getty Museum. A student got very emotional and began to cry because she had never had the opportunity to go to a museum before, Cheryl was very proud to share that moment with the student. There was a lot of self-discovery that took place for Cheryl at the college. She learned a lot about others: what they do, and why they do it, and how everyone is trying to be the best they can be. Admittedly, Cheryl was not very excited about Ridgecrest when she moved in 1992, but that changed when she started working at Cerro Coso because every day she saw one of the most beautiful views of the city that you can only get up on the hill. Cheryl’s almost 26 years of service have positively affected students in many ways over the years, helping them to secure volunteer work experience and/or subsidized employment. Her dedication to those around her will be missed. Focused. Nurtured. Engaged. Connected. Valued.