Education Buzz for Sunday, Sept. 11
Help offered to former ITT Tech students
Several local colleges have offered to help out the former students of ITT Technical Institute, which abruptly shut down Tuesday.
Fresno Pacific University announced Thursday it will waive application fees and work with former ITT students on possible financial aid options to get them back into school. The university also will consider accepting additional transfer credits from ITT Tech.
Fresno City College will host a free, open academic counseling session from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 17 in its library. Parking fees also will be waived during this time. Counselors will also work with students on possible financial aid options for short-term courses, which begin Oct. 17. Fresno City offers many career and technical education courses similar to the ones that were offered by ITT Tech.
State Center Community College District will send representatives to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education’s meeting with former ITT Tech students at 9 a.m. Friday. Fresno City’s parent district will also share information on Reedley College and Clovis Community College.
Macy’s sharing campaign provides free books
Fresno County migrant students will benefit from the Macy’s Thanks for Sharing campaign once again this year.
The campaign will provide students with new books during the school year and summer session. The books will be funded by Reading is Fundamental, one of the national recipients of the money raised by the campaign.
Macy’s credit card holders can participate in the campaign through Dec. 31 by visiting macys.com/thanks to enroll.
New grant helps get every kid to Yosemite
Yosemite National Park is aiming to get as many kids to the park through its Every Kid in a Park program, funded by a grant from the National Park Foundation.
Fourth-grade students and their companions are given free access to the federally funded lands. The park issued more than 7,000 program passes to fourth-graders in 2015.
The field trip grant is also part of the park foundation’s OpenOutDoors for Kids program, which helps student rangers from UC Merced’s wilderness education center accompany Merced City School District children to Yosemite, highlighting the park’s partnership with the university.
The Every Kid in a Park program website provides links to educational activities, trip planning, field trip options and access to trip passes that can be downloaded straight from the website.
The program is part of President Barack Obama’s campaign to get people to enjoy outdoor spaces as well as protect the nation’s wilderness.
Madera County firms help schools
Two Madera County businesses recently were recognized for upholding the school district’s mission of “working in partnership with education to prepare young people for the increasing demands of society and the workplace.”
Robert Brosi, D.D.S., and Madera Agricultural Services received the Crystal Tower Award on Aug. 30 at the 13th annual Business and Education Shareholders’ Luncheon, where more than 175 businesses and community leaders watched.
Brosi is the president of Yosemite High School’s Scholarship Foundation, which provides scholarships to seniors. Brosi was nominated by Yosemite High School secretary Jeanne Ratchford and teacher Rebecca Hardison.
Brosi has partnered with the Madera County high school for more than 25 years.
Madera Agricultural Services, a more than 30-year Madera County school partner owned by David and Les Loquaci, was nominated by Madera County Superintendent of Schools Cecilia Massetti and Madera Unified Superintendent Edward Gonzalez.
The agriculture business is credited with providing support for the 4H and Future Farmers of America programs.
A new award was also issued this year to Valley State Prison. The Madera County Compact honored the prison with the Community Investment Award in recognition of its investment in the community and for having been a partner with James Monroe Elementary for six years along with the Chicano Correctional Workers Association.
The prison was nominated by school principal Kimberly Bitter after the prison’s donation of shoes and money for backpacks for school children.
Fresno woman is D.C. program fellow
A Fresno woman in her senior year at the University of Texas at Austin was chosen as a fellow of the Texas university system’s Archer Center in Washington, D.C.
Claire Christensen studies government at the Texas university and will use the nation’s capital as a classroom, where she will learn advocacy and policy through the Archer Fellowship Program.
The Archer center is named after founder Bill Archer, a former Texas congressman and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee who retired from his 31-year political career in 2001.
More than 900 students have taken part in the fellowship program and the center’s Graduate Program in Public Policy.
This story was originally published September 11, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Education Buzz for Sunday, Sept. 11."