October is Time Management Month at the Petaluma Student Success Center

October is Time Management month in The Student Success Center! We will be hosting many workshops to help students with time management and procrastination. We will help students find time in their day to study and help relieve their stress with some tips to fight procrastination. The Career Education Student Success Team will also be hosting workshops designed to enhance soft skills and get students ready to turn their education into a career. Check out our great lineup of workshops in the flyer below. Come join us this month in room Call 690 to strengthen your Time Management and Career Readiness skills.

Career Education Student Success Team

The Career Education (CE) Student Success Team hosted a Communication Workshop on September 23rd from 5-6 as part of their CE Skills Success Series. Five students participated in this workshop, including students enrolled in Work Experience courses who were fulfilling course requirements by attending. It was their first time attending the Petaluma campus for these students,. The CE Skills Success workshop series will continue throughout the semester, helping students develop and enhance their soft skills and increase their career readiness.

Maggie Smith has solicited Kathleen Winter's third book of poems, Transformer, to be published by Word Works Press as part of its Hilary Tham Collection. The book will be out in February, 2020.

Maria Banachowicz, Administrative Assistant in Petaluma administration and former Petaluma ESL student, presents at Southwest Center Welcome Day

On Saturday, September 21, Maria Banachowicz participated as a panelist at the Panel of former noncredit students/Panel de ex-estudiantes de no crédito. It was one of the events of the Welcome Day for students at the Southwest Center. The panelist shared their experiences in taking non-credit and credit ESL courses at SRJC and answered questions from potential students and their families.

A Toast to Our Amazing Classified Staff

SRJC Petaluma employees met for the 4th Annual Let's Make a Toast! lunch. They enjoyed making their own toasts and paninis with the variety of wholesome breads and creative healthy toppings. The provisions were sponsored by the Classified Senate as a way to welcome everybody to the new academic year.

The Transfer Center hosted a workshop on September 12th titled “Ready, Set, Apply!” in the Student Success Center to teach students about applying for colleges as a transfer student. This workshop covered many topics, including the requirements for UC, CSU, and private colleges and the dates to start their college application and submission deadlines. Twelve students attended this informative workshop and had many follow up questions that contributed to a lively discussion.

Alma Valverde, Dream Center Coordinator, Create Beautiful LumaFest Mural

A very special thank you to Alma Valverde Campos, our former Dream Center Coordinator, and her students for painting a beautiful portrait of Katrina to be on display at this year's LumaFest 2019 Dia de Los Muertos Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 19th from 10 am - 3 pm on the SRJC Petaluma Campus. Her incredible talent is evident in this wonderful heirloom that she painted free hand. Gracias Amiga!

Tutorial Center Student Tutor Stays Calm and Tutors in Emergencies

The Petaluma Tutorial Center is staffed with  new student tutors who are dedicated to helping students do well in their course work, even during unexpected emergencies. Student tutor, Xanthe Saarinen (right) doesn’t let the emergency fire alarm and evacuation interrupt her from her tutoring session with student Somih Ali, (left). Stop by the Tutorial Center and find out how Xanthe, George or Ian can help you have success with course work this semester.

Volunteers Preserve SRJC Legacy through Video Project

For the past two weeks students in classes with Brian Antonson, Digital Film Production faculty, and Jessica Layton, Art Photopgraphy faculty, recorded video footage of soon-to-be retirees of SRJC as part of the Legacy Preservation Project. Short interviews were video-recorded followed by portrait photo sessions.

JumpStart Launches at Casa Grande High School

Outreach efforts are start to pick up steam as the halls of Casa Grande High School start to get a noisier with the month of October. Financial Aid applications open on October 1st, both FAFSA and the Cal Dream Act, along with the CSU admissions applications for Fall 2020. Middle school students will begin to visit the campus and SRJC will start to visit the JumpStart schools with more frequency as October opens. SRJC's Financial Aid Department along with 10k Degrees, will also be conducting Cash 4 College workshops in the month of October and our awesome counselors will present at Parent Info Night which take place at the various JumpStart schools. Casa Grande High School kicked-off JumpStart on September 25th. The event took place in their library where over 150 seniors attended. Although it was during their lunch break, the students were eager to attend. Along with the supportive Casa Grande staff, SRJC First Stop staff began the Jumpstart program with important information required for seniors to begin their SRJC journey. Before leaving the session, students were able to sing up for application workshops using their phones. In just minutes, 140 students signed up to reserve their spot. Overall, the kick off was successful. With busy times ahead, it was very motivating to see the energy of the students and staff at Casa Grande High School.

Upcoming Events at Our House

Chicano Literary Legend Victor Villaseñor  visits Santa Rosa and Petaluma campuses!

Although he grappled with racial discrimination and a learning disability during his school years, Victor Villaseñor went on to publish Rain of Gold (1991), a bestselling novel about his family’s immigrant journey from Mexico to California during the Mexican Revolution, and the Pulitzer Prize-nominated memoir Burro Genius (2006). He’ll be in Santa Rosa on October 7, where Dean Robert Holcomb will interview him onstage in Newman Auditorium. On October 8, he willl come to the more intimate space of Petaluma’s Our House Intercultural Center to “talk story” with students. In his inspiring campus talks, Villaseñor encourages students to cultivate their own unique genius in the face of life’s challenges.

You are invited to honor Indigenous Peoples' Day at SRJC Petaluma

Local Native American community leader and SRJC student Rose Hammock of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center (CIMCC) will present her workshop, A Brief Overview of California Indian History, on Indigenous People’s Day, Monday October 14, in Our House Intercultural Center from 12:00PM – 2:00PM. Come learn more about indigenous tribes within  Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino County, followed by hands-on activities exploring significant objects from Pomo and Coast Miwok culture such as baskets, jewelry, and traditional medicines, foods, and teas. Part of Undocumented Student Week of Action honoring the concept that “no one is illegal in stolen land.”

Participate in Undocumented Student Week of Action, October 14-18

Our House will serve as a hub for a week of advocacy and solidarity with undocumented students and their families, which is part of a statewide collaboration among California's community colleges and Immigrants Rising (formerly Educators for Fair Consideration or “E4FC”). On Wednesday October 16 from 12-2:00pm, the performing- arts dynamos of Fire Circle Theater will host a fun, low-stress spoken- word poetry workshop in which participants explore themes of belonging, empowerment, and advocacy for undocumented folks and write their own performance poems. On Thursday October 17 from 3:30–5pm, OUr House will host an UndocuAlly Legal Observer Training. For those who want to support those who are vulnerable to immigration raids and warrant-less searches, this training allows you to join the Rapid Response Network hotline (aka "MigraWatch") in Sonoma County as a “legal observer,” someone trained to document what’s going on at the scene of an ICE raid. You don’t interfere or intervene—you collect information that could be crucial later if someone’s rights were violated.