Porterville College hosts college prep workshop

Porterville College is “opening the college door” with a special transitional workshop on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m to 2 p.m.

The free conference will provide information and resources about community college and support services for students with learning and other disabilities. Presentations will focus on using technology to improve executive functioning, increasing campus social connections, the importance of self-advocacy and planning the transition from high school to college.

Parents, young adults, college faculty, high school teachers and service providers are encouraged to attend.

Registration is available at www.portervillecollege.edu.

Porterville College is at 100 E. College Ave. in Porterville.

Fresno City College journalists win honors

The student newspaper at Fresno City College took home several awards at a state journalism competition on Nov. 7.

Students from The Rampage went to the Journalism Association of Community Colleges conference at Sacramento State, where they competed against other student newspapers for awards for print newspapers and websites, as well as competitions that happen at the event itself.

In the mail-in category, Chueyee Yang won third place for opinion story; Patrick Forrest won second place for non-profile feature story; and Daisy Rodriguez won third place for sports action photo.

For the on-the-spot awards where students from different schools go head-to-head writing on the same topic, Rampage editor-in-chief Cresencio Rodriguez Delgado won third place news story and entertainment editor Jasmine Yoro Bowles won first place in opinion writing.

Coalinga college focuses on science

As one of only six community colleges in the country to partner with the Science Foundation of Arizona, West Hills College Coalinga is aiming to help strengthen its science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs, career paths and supportive services.

Through the foundation’s KickStarter Program, community colleges position themselves to compete for grant funding from the National Science Foundation. A team from the foundation recently came to WHCC for a two-day campus visit and planning session to discuss the project.

“It’s an honor to have been chosen out of the 200-plus community colleges for this,” said Anita Wright, WHCCD director of grants. “NSF grants are very difficult to earn, and they provide great educational resource opportunities for our students and would enrich our students’ learning experience deeply.”

Over the next three years, WHCC will produce two grant proposals, hoping to expand agriculture technology and agriculture science programs offered through the Farm of the Future, as well as outreach programs such as the Wonderful Education Agriculture Career Camp, which WHCC offers to middle-school students.

Run benefits Lemoore college programs

Registration is open for West Hills College Lemoore’s Run for Education fundraiser on Jan. 23.

All proceeds from the event will benefit WHCL programs, including the HOPE initiative, which drives pre-college initiatives including the annual Eagle Dayz event; Team Teach, a teacher development program; and scholarships for the 5c Experience summer program, which allows middle school students to explore math and science.

Featuring a team lip sync battle contest and a funky sock competition, all participants will get a free pancake breakfast and pair of neon socks.

Registration before the event costs $25 for students with a valid ID card and $35 for nonstudents. Registration on Jan. 23 costs $40. The event starts at 9 a.m. with check-in from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the WHCL Golden Eagle arena at 555 College Ave., Lemoore.

Fresno State student named Welty Award recipient

Whitney Ferdinandsen is the recipient of the 2015 John D. Welty Award for Excellence in Community Service.

The award, which includes a $2,500 scholarship, is given each year to a student who exemplifies a commitment to service that Welty, the former Fresno State president, championed during his 22 years at the campus. Ferdinandsen will be recognized at the Spirit of Service Recognition reception on April 27, 2016, in the University Student Union.

Ferdinandsen has done more than 600 hours of community service over the past year as a founder of Camp Kesem Fresno State. The week-long summer camp run by Fresno State students is a camp for children whose parents have recently undergone or are in the midst of being treated for cancer.

In January, Ferdinandsen also helped organize and lead a group of Fresno State students and faculty for a two-week international service project in Naboutini, Fiji, where they worked on building storm drainage systems and helped finish construction of a community center.

A 2012 graduate of Clovis West, Ferdinandsen is majoring in liberal studies and hopes to become a teacher. As a 4.0 student, Ferdinandsen works two jobs, one in the Smittcamp Family Honors College office and another for the Clovis West marching band. She is a member of the Smittcamp Family Honors Program and plans to graduate in May 2016.

Two Fresno State students make pitches in national competition

Two Fresno State students had an opportunity to pitch their products in front of an audience of more than 700 people at the 2015 Collegiate Entrepeneuers’ Organization National Conference Nov. 5-7 in Kansas City, Mo.

Fresno State students Tyler Turk and Aubrey Lim advanced to the final round of the pitch competition, attracting students, faculty, business leaders and entrepreneurs from across the globe.

Turk took third place in the competition for his Date in a Crate presentation, a subscription-box company designed to offer spontaneous and unique date-night ideas.

Lim placed in the top six at the national competition, receiving honorable mention for her pitch on Sports Jerky, a healthy, artisanal jerky made of beef heart for fitness enthusiasts. She won the Fresno State CEO Pitch Competition earlier this year with the same product.

West Hills district debuts fall magazine

West Hills Magazine debuted its fall 2015 issue on Tuesday, covering innovation, student success and new educational resources.

The issue touches on how instructors districtwide are adapting to the digital era through the use of free online textbooks and mobile apps. West Hills College Coalinga’s psychiatric technician program and its effect on the region also is examined.

Readers get an inside look into the district’s new career technical academies, such as computer programming, or can view the impact art classes have on student learning. The five-decade career of Edna Ivans, who recently retired from the district’s Board of Trustees after 48 years, is also featured.

The magazine is available on the district’s website and printed copies will be mailed to donors and friends of the district. Copies also will be available on each campus and at the district office, local chambers of commerce and libraries.

A link to the magazine is on the district’s homepage at http://www.portervillecollege.edu. For a direct link to the magazine, go to http://goo.gl/irwc90.

Fresno man appointed to state panel

Luis Santana, 59, of Fresno, has been appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to the state Advisory Committee on Before and After School Programs.

Santana has been executive director at Reading and Beyond since 1999. He was a consultant at Kingsburg Community Assistance Program in 1998, director for recruitment and outreach at Centro Hispano de Estudios Teologicos from 1997 to 1998 and a short-term missionary for Covenant World Missions from 1995 to 1997.

Santana earned a master’s degree in social work from California State University, Sacramento.

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Porterville College hosts college prep workshop."