Schooling 5thGraders on CollegeNearly 479 fifth-graders from area schools used puzzle pieces to solve statistical problems, wrote humorous Mad Libs, watched clay pot and chemistry demonstrations–all while learning about college during the annual two-day “I’m Going to College” mentoring event hosted by the college Counseling Department. Elementary 5th graders experienced college life at the Ridgecrest campus on February 11 and 12th as part of the college’s ongoing program to educate younger students on the opportunities available to them at their local community college. Divided into groups, some participated in a library hunt, learned how to start a business, and toured the allied health labs, while others played “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader” in the Physical Education Department, and explored Biology and Physical Sciences. “Our goal is to expose as many younger students as possible to college and let them get a sense of what college is all about as early as possible,” said Event Coordinator Karee Hamilton. These out-reach efforts are important and provide elementary students with an opportunity to explore programs they may not have considered previously. The idea is that if young students start aiming for college early in their schooling, they will be more likely to graduate from high school and further their education. Educate, engage, and empower!

Schooling 5th Graders on College 1 KRVECF and SCE Award Scholarships 1 Blackwell Earns Master Degree 2 Timpone and O’Connor Elected to CBEA Board 2 Students Promote Liberty in North Korea 2 Betthauser Creates Unique Way to Display His Art 3 Wilde —Key to the Bishop Campus 3 Generation XYZ & Me 3 Cash Recipient of SMART Scholarship 4 Denim & Diamonds a Huge Success 4

MARCH 2015 CERRO COSO COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Inside this Issue

Art Professor Dick Benson shows a group of students how to make a ceramic pot during I’m Going to College Day.

KRVECF and SCE Award Scholarships The Kern River Valley Education and Cultural Foundation (KRVECF) has awarded two Cerro Coso students majoring in Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math (STEM) individual International/Southern California Edison Scholarships of $1,875 each. Both students, Tina Kooivu and Kristhomas Snyder are Math majors at the college with goals of becoming Math teachers. In her final semester at Cerro Coso, Kooivu put her college education on hold to raise her family. Upon graduation this May she plans to attend Cal State Bakersfield in the fall. A member of the U.S. Army reserves for the past 15 years, Snyder works for the Kern River Valley Health Care District, and tutors his fellow students. He has maintained a 3.9 GPA in his last six semesters and has been active in Student Government. He plans to transfer to a University or Cal State school next fall, “to be able to teach others to understand a subject many people dread,” he said. Both Southern California Edison and the Kern River Valley Educational and Cultural Foundation were pleased to recognize these students for their commitment to higher education and for following through on their lifelong goals. SCE and the KRVECF–Lighting the fires of education!

L to r: Tina Kooivu, Kristhomas Snyder, and a high school student, receive SCE STEM scholarships by KRVECF President Tim McGlew.

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TimponeandO’Connor Elected toCBEA BoardCerro Coso Business Professors Frank Timpone and Karen O’Connor have been elected to serve on the State Board of Directors for the California Business Education Association (CBEA) in 2015. Committed to being a force for positive change in California, CBEA works to support and improve business and industry throughout the state. Timpone will serve as Treasurer for the organization and O’Connor, Central Section Representative. Both were elected to the positions during the CBEA State Conference in Monterey last November. This year’s conference theme was Pathways to $uccess – Doing What Matters. Both business professionals and educators from all levels of education, public and private, attended the event. The CBEA was established in 1936 to recognize, encourage, and promote excellence in business disciplines. All business instructors at Cerro Coso belong to the organization, a model for the rest of the state. Life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.

Students Promote Liberty in North KoreaStarvation. Torture. Malnutrition. These are some of the many hard realities the North Korean people face on a daily basis. Cerro Coso students will speak out in support of a collective message and host a Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) presentation on Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 7 p.m. in the College Student Center. Liberty in North Korea exists to empower the North Korean people as they drive progress inside their country. There are currently 24 million people living inside North Korea under one of the harshest regimes in history. The international narrative on North Korea has created an environment of fear and isolation. This disempowers ordinary North Koreans, who have nothing to do with the political circus. LiNK’s goal is to show North Koreans that the world is united in support for them. The students of Cerro Coso are supporting LiNK’s cause to change the narrative. A Student Government of Cerro Coso event funded by the Student Development Fund, this presentation will be followed by a discussion. CCCC students rally for a good cause!

JOIN SGCC AS WE WELCOME THREE BRIGHT INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR QUEST TO BRING

LIBERTY TO THE NORTH KOREANS!

WHERE: STUDENT CENTER, CCCCWHEN: THURSDAY, MARCH 5TH

WHAT TIME: 7 P.M.-8 P.M.

FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED

JOIN SGCC AS WE WELCOME THREE BRIGHT INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR QUEST TO BRING

LIBERTY TO THE NORTH KOREANS!

WHERE: STUDENT CENTER, CCCCWHEN: THURSDAY, MARCH 5TH

WHAT TIME: 7 P.M.-8 P.M.

FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED

Blackwell Earns Master DegreeOur congratulations go out to Kim Blackwell for earning her Master’s Degree in Career Counseling from Walden University. An educational advisor, student champion, Cerro Coso alumna, classified leader, avid reader, and social media fanatic, Blackwell loves working with students and helping them to get the most out of their college experience. As a first-generation college student, she knows personally the struggles new students face

and how important engagement is in helping guide them down the education pathway. She also credits her work in Minnesota with at-risk Native American youths who had dropped out of school with giving her a unique perspective on the student experience. Her goal is to be a college counselor where she can extend the scope of her counsel, teach, provide interventions and career testing, and experience and learn new things that will help others “There are a lot of resources available to help students achieve their goals, “ she said. “They just don’t know it.” Blackwell has been working in the College Counseling Department since July 2007, where she works with general population students, specializes in Allied Health, and serves as the Designated School Official for International students. Loving staff potlucks, she regularly schedules them in honor of just about any cause she can find, including fundraising. She has chaired the college team for Relay for Life for many years, raising funds and coordinating college participation. Her friendly, calm, and upbeat demeanor makes her the perfect go-to person for reassurance and direction in the midst of many crises. Blackwell is a 1992 graduate of Cerro Coso Community College with an Associate’s Degree in General Education and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work from Bemidji State University in Minnesota. You studied hard. You stayed up late. You made the grade. Congratulations, Kim!

Generation XYZ & MeThe Cerro Coso Community College Foundation made it possible for 15 college students to attend this year’s Indian Wells Valley Economic Outlook Conference on February 26. Hosted by the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce, this year’s conference theme was Generation XYZ & Me and focused on generational diversity in the workplace and its effects on the economic outlook. For the first time in recorded history, labor markets in the 21st century are comprised of members of four generations. This situation presents very real challenges, and opportunities, to organizations and businesses and how they address issues of talent engagement, leadership development, and people management. College President Jill Board was among the line-up of guest speakers. She shared how education has embraced new technologies and ways of teaching for developing new leaders. “Today’s new students have had extensive and rapid exposure to an ever-increasing amount of information, which makes them the most informed generation to have lived on our planet,” she said to the crowd. “It is all about relationships and our ability to understand, learn, and effectively leverage multigenerational diversity will assist us in building the trust needed to form and maintain a high performing labor force.” More than 250 people attended the five hour event. Cerro Coso - helping to bridge the generation gap!

Wilde–Key to the Bishop Campus

After 17 years as a Gardener Care Taker with the City of Los Angeles, new Bishop Custodian Bill Wilde and his wife Suwimon decided to return to his home state of

Wisconsin upon his retirement. They purchased a beautiful home on a lake and settled into the quiet life of fishing, boating, hiking, and enjoying the great outdoors. But the winter storms and extreme cold left the two missing the warmer weather and active lifestyle of California. So they returned to Woodland Hills and Wilde maintained a vigil looking for the perfect job. When he saw the advertisement for a part-time custodian at the Bishop campus he knew this would be a good fit for him and Suwimon. On the job for three months, Wilde enjoys his work at the college. “It’s a learning environment that builds character in people and helps them to succeed in life, and I’m giving back to the community

that we have grown to love,” he said. Wilde takes pride in his work, knowing that what he does is not only a job that needs to be done, but plays an essential role in shaping the way students and visitors perceive the college. “I love it,” said Wilde of his work. “I love the atmosphere here. I love the activity and young people. I enjoy working in the education environment and I’m looking forward to seeing these young people graduate and move on to do great things.” In addition to his work at the college, Wilde and Suwimon are enjoying meeting new people and settling into a new life surrounded by the beauty and endless activities of the Eastern Sierras. Welcome to the Team, Bill!

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Betthauser Creates Unique Way to Display His ArtThe Visual and Performing Arts Department presented Eldin, the recent works of Cerro Coso adjunct instructor Tom Betthauser at a talk and reception in the College Art Gallery on Thursday, February 26, 2015. A miniature urban landscape artist, Betthauser draws and paints with 1990’s video game/cartoon aesthetics. He likes the idea of creating a world from the ground up and starts off very abstractly with large areas of dark and light, and builds upon that to create a landscape. His paintings and drawing give landscape new substance. As an artist and instructor, he works to mold the young minds of rural desert youth mostly at the Lake Isabella campus and saw this gallery opening as an opportunity to create a unique form in which to display and show his works. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Betthauser is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, and received his MFA from Yale University. Betthauser—great at creating vision.

Cerro coso students (seated, l to r) Connie Leyna, Alex Tellez, Tanner Barnett, Kristiana Ogilvie, (standing, l to r) Trisha Lason, Cameron LaBrie, and Kurtis Williams attended the Ridgecrest Chamber’s 2015 Economic Outlook Conference on Generational Differences.

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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 Information Manager, at 760-384-6260 or

email ndorrell@cerrocoso.edu.

About this PublicationBAKERSFIELD COLLEGECERRO COSO COLLEGEPORTERVILLE COLLEGE

FOUNDATION FEATURE

Cash Recipient of SMART ScholarshipFormer Cerro Coso student Jessica Cash is the recipient of a prestigious SMART (Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation) Scholarship from the U.S. Department of Defense. SMART–awards scholarships to students pursuing advanced degrees in STEM fields. Upon graduation these scholars are hired as research staff at defense laboratories around the country to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers. Recipients of the SMART scholarship earn full tuition, a stipend and a book allowance for up to five years of undergraduate and graduate education, along with summer research internships at DoD research facilities and employment opportunities following graduation. A doctoral student at the University of Florida, Cash, grew up in Ridgecrest, graduated with two A.A. degrees, Pre-Engineering and General Science, from Cerro Coso in 2009, and received her B.S. in Chemistry

from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2011. She worked as a student intern at the China Lake Naval Research Lab studying film formation and properties for optical waveguide devices,

high temperature composite resins, and ionic liquids. While at CCCC, Cash was named a member of USA Today’s 2nd All-California College Academic Team and upon transferring she was selected as a UCSB Regents Scholar. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Florida as a member of Dr. Brent Sumerlin’s polymer chemistry group. Her research centers on the development of novel self-healing dynamic-covalent polymers. Cash credits the supportive environment of her instructors at Cerro Coso with encouraging her later on in her schooling when the challenges were particularly rough. “Their passion for teaching others isn’t something you always find at other colleges and it goes with you when you move on,” she said in an interview. Cerro Coso congratulates Cash on her success!

Denim & Diamonds a Huge SuccessThe Cerro Coso Community College Foundation sincerely thanks all of the volunteers, donors, and attendees at this year’s Denim and Diamonds dinner and auction fundraiser for education, which proved to be a huge success on Saturday, February 28. “The success of any fundraiser comes from those directly involved with that particular event,” said Event Coordinator Dotsy Cronin to the crowd. “And there are so many I am afraid to mention them for fear of leaving someone out. But I cannot use enough words to describe or thank the board, college staff, and friends for all of their hours of work and commitment to help raise funds for our college and students.” The CCCC Foundation hosts the dinner and auction every year to help deliver the dream of a college education. Last year’s event raised more than $19,000 and the Foundation awarded more than $58,000 in scholarships to Cerro Coso students, supported campus events and activities for students and veterans, made applying for scholarships easier and more convenient, and supported the college in meeting its goals and objectives. Special thanks go out to this year’s sponsors: The Swap Sheet, H & R Block and Gary Charlon State Farm Insurance, Annette Hodgins, Firequick, & Lemieux & O’Neill. The numbers are not all in, but “I’m certain we raised more than ever before,” said Cronin. “And that’s a big win for our college, our community, and especially our students.” Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!