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TURKEY DAYS, WINTER NIGHTS
In honor of the recently past Turkey Day, we have provided corresponding pictures of the wild turkeys who call our campus home. We appreciate their guardianship while the rest of us are away working and teaching from home. Happy holidays and stay safe.
MEET PATRICIA ASAKURA (PATTY), THE NEW ASSISTANT MANAGER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PETALUMA CAMPUS BOOKSTORE
Paty was born and raised in Manila, Philippines and has been living in Santa Rosa for the last 6 years. Patty is a SRJC Alum holding a Degree in Culinary Arts. Patty has served the District for 5 years in various roles in our Santa Rosa Bookstore and we are excited to see Patty work closely with our Petaluma campus community as she leads the Bookstore team.
Patty is fluent in English and Tagalog, and currently taking a Japanese class at SRJC, and in her free time, she likes to hike, bake, and tend to her plants.
Patty officially began her new role as Assistant Store Manager on Monday September 21, 2020. You can reach Patty at 707-778-4119 or through email at p.asakura@follett.com.
LAURA SPARKS: NEWLY ELECTED COTATI CITY COUNCIL MEMBER!
Petaluma Astronomy instructor Laura Sparks was elected to the Cotati City Council on November 3, 2020. She will continue to teach full time at SRJC while she serves a four-year term beginning January 2021. Congratulations Laura!
EARLY COLLEGE CREDIT CONVERSATIONS KICK OFF
In partnership with the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), Vanessa Luna Shannon on behalf of SRJC, hosted the Early College Credit Conversation event on November 13th, a virtual kick off to bring together high school CTE faculty & administrators from 15 Sonoma County high schools, and 20 faculty and staff from SRJC.
An overview of the various early college credit pathways, including dual enrollment, were brought to light through interactive activities and an informational portion; participants then separated into industry sector breakout groups and shared their ideas on where to move forward as well as historical barriers in the system. Next steps include holding industry sector convenings to advance course alignment, including articulation and high school-to-college career pathways.
Dual enrollment, one of the means to earn early college credit is considered an equity strategy due to the fact that research indicates students who participate in dual enrollment are more likely to graduate from high school and persist in college, in particular for low-income students.
However, historically, access for dual enrollment has been inequitable. Recent legislation has aimed to mitigate systemic barriers such as affordability, and thus increase access for those who wouldn't otherwise be able to enroll.
SRJC PETALUMA CHEMISTRY RECEIVES DONATIONS FROM EUROFINS
The Petaluma branch of Eurofins was established in 1982 and provided services to identify the purity of raw materials, and quantify active and target compounds in potentially interesting mixtures and natural products.
The SRJC Chemistry Department and SRJC Petaluma are extremely grateful to Eurofins Scientific for their generosity and commitment to science education. This past summer, the Petaluma site of Eurofins began its relocation to Southern California. As part of the process, the company donated essential lab equipment such as glass pipettes, hot plates, and two HPLC’s. HPLC is also known as High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography and is used for a wide range of applications from pharmaceuticals to food analysis. This equipment will allow students to receive hands-on experience with the kind of technology used in advanced industry and medical fields as an integral part of discovery and chemical analysis.
SRJC will look to raise funds for a technician to install and configure the HPLC's for use with campus curriculum, providing students hands-on experience with equipment typically available at only 4-year universities.
Opening Our House, SRJC Petaluma Intercultural Center, to Zoomland
How do you run a campus cultural center during COVID? For starters, you invite fascinating speakers to drop knowledge virtually, via Zoom.
The fall lineup of multicultural and consciousness-raising events for Our House, Petaluma Campus’ Intercultural Center, drew surprisingly high attendance. It is clear SRJC students want to connect with cultura y comunidad. Highlights include a DJ demo-slash-poetry performance by hip-hop legend Kuttin Kandi; a discussion on altar-making, El Dia de los Muertos, and cultural appropriation led by local artist Amanda Ayala; and a powerful talk by Black Lives Matter leader Cat Brooks on her work with the Anti Police-Terror Project.
Our House also deepened its partnership with its “sister” Intercultural Center at the Santa Rosa Campus. Both centers co-hosted Bronx-based Afro-indigenous rapper and filmmaker Bocafloja, who screened his beautiful documentary about Blackness in Latin America, Nana Dijo, followed by hip-hop poetry performance.
Petaluma Student Success Updates
Meet Luis Mazariegos Lopez, Sociology Major and Student Success Coach
This is month the Petaluma Student Success Team highlights our Student Success Coach, Luis Lopez Mazariegos. Luis is a Sociology major who has been working with the Student Success Team as a coach for two years. Luis became a coach due to his passion for helping students and fully intends to pursue a career that will allow him to continue this passion.
One of Luis' most memorable experience as a Success Coach is working Welcome Day events where he had the opportunity of meeting and reassuring countless students that “everything will be ok.”
Online instruction has been tough for Luis, but he stays motivated because he wants to give back to his family. His family is his motivation and finishing school while working hard is his way of repaying his family for all their hard work and dedication.
Luis considers himself an outdoor person. He loves to go on long adventures and explore the world around him. He is also a food enthusiast and enjoys keeping picture documents of his adventures and food. “For me personally it is the drive to my destinations that I enjoy the most.”
When asked “what advice would you give your freshman self?” Luis answered, “I would tell him that everything would be ok." "I am not from this area," reported Luis, "so I was afraid of being alone and not making any friends. I was wrong and met so many amazing people.”
Luis plans to finish his higher education at a four-year university and obtain a BA in Sociology. His ideal schools are Sac State and/or San Jose State, mainly because these schools are far enough away that he can be on his own but still close enough to see his family on the weekend.
December is Grit and Completion Month
The Student Success theme for December is Grit and Completion here at the Student Success Team. The end of the semester is right around the corner and the coaches at the Students Success Team are ready to help our student finish strong. We invite all students to come by our Zoom room to ask questions, get connected to resources, or hang out with us. Please refer any students in need of assistance to the Student Success Team Zoom Room. Use this QR Code.
The Student Success Team Has Launched a YouTube Channel
The Petaluma Student Success Team is on YouTube! We have created a YouTube channel to help our students out and prepare them for their exams. If you know of any students that are looking for extra advice, please direct them to our YouTube channel using the link below. Our YouTube channel has a series of videos that are dedicated to helping students prepare for an exam and teaching effective planner usage. In the future we plan on adding more to diversify our video catalog. Use this QR Code.
Express Yo' Stress Event coming this December
The Student Success Team will hold an event called the “College Table: Express Yo Stress” on Tuesday, December 8th from 1-2pm and Wednesday, and December 9th from 4-5pm. It will be a space for students to come together and share their experiences and exchange strategies as we end the semester. Please refer any students in need of assistance to the Student Success Team Zoom Room. Use this QR Code.
CAREER EDUCATION Student Success Team Update
The Career Education Student Success Team Presents to El Molino High School Students
The Career Education Student Success Coaches were invited to present to 9th graders at El Molino High School who are currently working on a career exploration project. The team of Student Success Coaches were asked to share their own personal journey through their education including what the process was like for them to choose their area of study. A focus was also put on the various soft skills that the coaches have developed and continue to develop that are aiding them in making progress towards their career goals. One of the main themes to come out of this visit was to take chances, the importance of building relationships, and to network whenever possible. The team enjoyed the conversation with the students and hope that some of them will be future bear cubs!
Digital Profile & Portfolio Workshop Brings Students Together
As part of the Success Skills Series of workshops, the Career Education Student Success Team held a workshop on October 14th on creating and enhancing your digital profile and portfolio. Topics discussed included how to maximize the impact of your digital presence, and how to utilize it as a tool to reach your career goals. Participants were encouraged to create a SRJC Jobspeaker account as well as a Linkedin account and shown how to use these platforms to develop and foster professional relationships.
National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) launches a record-breaking Fall 2020
The SRJC Petaluma chapter of NSLS closed its fall 2020 membership deadline with 240 members- an all-time record high membership for the campus Chapter! Fall 2020 marks the 10th semester for the Petaluma chapter. All events are held virtually for the first time in light of the pandemic. Some of the events include featured guest speakers, such as Matthew McConaughey, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Suze Orman, Steve Madden and Jack Black.
Thanks to Celina Ventanilla, NSLS Petaluma Chapter Student President and Andrew Grotto Bachman, NSLS Advisor, who have coordinated the planning for the Fall 2020-chapter events. Celina is an integral part of the club as a leader and mentor for students navigating their way to induction. For more information about the nation’s largest leadership honor society please visit the website using the QR Code.
Meet Curly, Johnny Sarraf's new pug!
Johnny Sarraf, Petaluma English faculty, adopted an additional family member on the eve of Election Day, which has helped them cope with the anxiety relating to that event. Meet Curly, the pug puppy who has filled their home with laughter since he got here. View a couple short video clips of this little guy.
Meet Sherlock, Regina Guerra's newest addition!
Meet Sherlock! The newest addition to the Guerra household. Sherlock is an Australian shepherd/cattle dog mix.
He’s full of energy, very smart, and very very cute. He enjoys napping in laps, long walks on the beach, and digging in the dirt. This is Regina’s first dog ever and she is learning a lot about the joys of puppyhood.
Greaney and Van Ommeran author new Petaluma Postcard book
KC Greaney, retired Director of Institutional Research at SRJC and longtime Petaluma resident, co-authored a book with her wife, Alice van Ommeren, called "Petaluma in Vintage Postcards," published by Arcadia Press. The book showcases historic postcards of Petaluma, and sets them in historical context.
KC says, "Writing this book was so much fun! What a great way to start retirement, and it ended up being a lovely distraction from the pandemic. Petaluma has a very rich history, and
I'm glad we were able to document that through vintage postcards. The cards showcase how Petaluma wished to promote itself, how it desired to be known. I find that fascinating, and it was great fun for me to do the research to put the cards into their historical context."
The royalties from the book benefit the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, dedicated to preserving Petaluma's past. The book is available from all major national retailers, but the authors suggest buying locally from either Copperfield's or the Petaluma Museum using this QR Code.
Read the Argus-Courier Article about the book using this QR Code.
December Updates from SRJC Libraries
Online Chat Research Help Available
6 Days-a-Week
SRJC students can get support from SRJC Librarians via our Online Chat Research Help Desk.
Available 6-Days-a-Week:
- Mondays-Thursdays, 8AM—10PM
- Fridays, 9AM—5PM
- Saturdays, 9AM—3PM
- Available Finals Week Too!
Visit: libanswers.santarosa.edu
Bring It Back — Curbside Dates & Dropboxes to Return Library Materials
There are two ways to get your Library Materials back to us! NO APPOINTMENTS NECESSARY!!
- Dropboxes are now available on both Santa Rosa & Petaluma campuses!! Return library materials anytime! (Please Note—Do not return LAPTOPS in the dropboxes)
- Curbside Service is available on both the Santa Rosa & Petaluma campuses December 16th, 17th and 18th from 10AM to 4PM. Return LAPTOPS & all other library materials! Curbside Services is also available on December 19th from 10AM to 4PM on the Santa Rosa campus only.
For information about locations please visit: libguides.santarosa.edu/RemoteAccess
Renew for Spring 2021
What if you need the same library materials for the spring semester? Don’t Bring It Back... RENEW! Registered SRJC Students can renew library materials for Spring 2021, including Textbooks on Reserve, Calculators, Hot Spots, and Laptops. For information, visit: libguides.santarosa.edu/RemoteAccess/renew.
Research Appointments with a Librarian — Available Evenings Too!
The end of a semester is a great time for SRJC students to schedule one-on-one research appointments with a librarian to get help taking a deeper dive into the research process. Students can get help with:
- Choosing research topics
- Finding credible sources
- Citing your sources correctly
Available Evenings!
Appointments times are widely available throughout the week so students can find a time that meets their schedule. To schedule an appointment, visit: libraries.santarosa.edu/rap
Curbside Pickup Returns Spring 2021
Coming in January 2021 … Curbside Pickup appointments will be available at both the Petaluma and Santa Rosa campuses. The SRJC Libraries’ Remote Services Guide will provide updated information on available dates & how to place requests for Textbooks on Reserve, Calculators, Hot Spots, and Laptops.
Visit: libguides.santarosa.edu/RemoteAccess