- Author: Grace Dean
The window of summer is closed, and that ‘back to school' feeling everyone knows has settled in- the excitement, the nerves, the first 7AM breakfast you've had in the last few months. However, the magic of summer lingers, and is a bit more difficult to express in words alone. Rachelle Hedges, Project and Policy Analyst for Berkeley Forests, knows that magic all too well. She sees it every year on the faces of students who come to UC Berkeley's Forestry Field Camp and its new little sibling, Forestry Mini-Camp. Both summer camps take place at 100-year old Plumas National Forest site. Hedges sets the scene: “It's incredibly peaceful: no cars, and no lights. You see people fall in love with the forest and forestry, and the specialness of these people and this place.”
While Forestry Field Camp is a summer school session for University of California undergraduates, Mini-Camp is a bit different. This one-week condensed version of the eight-week Field Camp serves as both an outreach and educational tool. Its purpose is to get community college students from around the state and UC Berkeley undergraduates interested in UC Berkeley's Ecosystem Management and Forestry major.
For Hedges, getting a cohort of community college students to Mini-Camp was also a chance to demystify the UC Berkeley experience. Hedges specifically targeted colleges that have forestry or natural resource programs, but there was no requirement that students had to have applied to UC Berkeley. By chance, most of the cohort came from urban California communities.
The Mini-Camp curriculum is loosely based on the Forestry Field Camp, but there is an emphasis on getting students out of the classroom and into the outdoors. “We want students to have fun!” Hedges emphasizes. “A lot of what camp has to offer is the fun: swimming at the lake, hiking- we want students to get excited and interested in a future at Berkeley.” Interspersing the summer camp experience was a full day on Sierra Nevada forest ecology taught by UC Berkeley instructor Rainbow de Silva, a forestry skills training led by UC ANR forestry advisor Susie Kocher, a forestry workforce presentation by Hedges, and other glimpses into forestry academia and its career world. The week was capped off by an alumni breakfast, where students could interact with past forestry majors and witness the closeness of the UC Berkeley forestry alumni network.
The Berkeley forestry network is one of the major's strongest selling points, notes Hedges. For the community college students who attended Mini-Camp, they're able to make those connections even before becoming a Berkeley student. “Now,” Hedges begins, “they have a preexisting network.” The feeling of starting a new school, the blend of excitement and nervousness? When those students start at Berkeley, that feeling will be eased by the people already waiting for them with "open arms".
“Forestry is a concept that's a bit hard to understand if you haven't experienced it,” Hedges expresses. The nature of Mini-Camp, to blend the fun with education, gives students that opportunity to see how they fit into this field. For some community college students, applying to Berkeley was an immediate goal once they left camp. Others weren't so sure, but Hedges doesn't see that as a bad thing: “Word of mouth is great, they'll go back and tell their friends about the experience. We don't need everyone to go to a four-year university. We just need to get people excited about forestry.”
- Author: Mike Hsu
Free downloadable curriculum recognizes diverse family circumstances
Not all young people are on an expressway to a four-year college, and a new publication from University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources acknowledges their many circumstances and possibilities. The “Pathways to Your Future” curriculum invites high school-aged youth – and their families – to map their unique situations and passions before embarking on their own road.
Whereas similar guides might convey advice on a one-way street, this free download outlines a “hands-on” experience – in school settings or out-of-school programs – to help young people steer toward their best post-high-school education, training and career options.
“We wanted to make a youth-centered publication,” said co-author Claudia Diaz Carrasco, UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development advisor in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. “A lot of the content out there is based on delivering content to kids – just like information on college and careers; with ‘Pathways to Your Future', it's actually a skill-building curriculum so that youth are doing research and having critical discussions and making comparisons.”
In a pilot program that engaged 228 high schoolers across California (primarily 9th graders recruited from local 4-H programs), many participants said they appreciated that the curriculum presented a variety of pathways, including vocational education, non-degree certificate programs, community college, on-the-job training or entering the workforce – as well as four-year institutions of higher education.
“They have been liking that it doesn't start with ‘pick a college and get there,'” Diaz Carrasco said. “But really it's a self-reflection approach, where they start going back to what they're passionate about and what they think they're good at – and how much money they want to make in the future – and really just having that opportunity to know themselves before jumping into college or a career.”
To help them attain that clear-eyed perspective, the modules in the curriculum also debunk myths about the college experience and incorporate budgeting activities.
“This program gives youth the opportunity to constantly reflect on their learning as they get more data,” said another publication co-author, Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty, UC ANR's statewide 4-H director. “In the beginning, youth may have a very rigid or glamorized view of their future; the ‘Pathways' program grounds things and brings reality into the picture.”
Parents of the pilot-program participants – who predominantly identify as Latino – were also thankful for opportunities to engage in “real talk” with other parents about the wide array of options. Acknowledging the diversity of families across California, “Pathways to Your Future” also includes several sections in Spanish to make essential information more accessible.
“The parents need as much – or more – education on the processes, opportunities and expectations to support post-high school life,” Schmitt-McQuitty explained.
In addition to integrating families into discussions about their future, the curriculum also provides spaces for the high schoolers to participate in panel discussions with their slightly older peers, who recently went through their own decision-making journeys.
“The youth really appreciate seeing someone like themselves talking about what they went through, how they overcame obstacles,” said Diaz Carrasco. “They feel really inspired that there is a pathway for themselves.”
For assistance and support in bringing the “Pathways” curriculum to your community, contact your county's Cooperative Extension office, reach out to the local 4-H program, or email Claudia Diaz Carrasco at cpdiaz@ucanr.edu.
The other authors of the publication are Shannon Horrillo (College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources, University of Nevada, Reno Extension), Darlene McIntyre and Nathaniel Caeton (UC ANR), and Martin Smith (University of California, Davis).
/h2>- Author: Ben Faber
Soil and agriculture courses are being taught again at Ventura College. This was a commitment of outgoing President, Greg Gillespie. There are only a handful California community (junior) colleges that still teach soils. Luckily Santa Barbara City, Allan Hancock, Pierce, Mira Costa and a few other community colleges in the Central Valley have at least introductory courses in soils. Many of the leading growers in Ventura County got their start in college taking soils courses at Ventura College, then went on to four-year colleges to round out their educations. The community college classes have always been a taste, a dusting of understanding of soils and if someone wanted to dig deeper, they would go on to somewhere like Davis, Fresno, Riverside, Pomona or San Luis. The community colleges are part of the continuum, start there and then go anywhere.
Only a handful of community colleges continue to teach soils.
Dr. Jennifer Charles-Tollerup, the incoming Agriculture Instructor at Ventura College, brings a diverse set of experiences including 5 years in agricultural production systems, 4 years in agricultural research and education, 6 years in community college instruction as well as appointments in program development. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Riverside in Entomology with a concentration in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Statistics along with a Bachelor's from the University of California, Santa Cruz in Biology and Environmental Studies with emphasis in Botany and Agroecology. Jennifer trained as an Apprentice in Ecological Horticulture at UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. She has worked on market gardens, family farms, and large-scale operations in citrus, grapes, nurseries, strawberries, herbs, lettuces, and edible flowers. Jennifer has used her academic and professional experience to coordinate elementary school garden programs.Jennifer readily supports the mission of the community college, to transform lives through education. Her approach involves building relationships with students and with agriculture partners, connecting the two together, and launching students into their life's work in agriculture. (this from CA Women in Ag newsletter, http://www.cwaventura.com/).More information about the Ventura College Agriculture Program can be found at http://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/academic/agriculture
Soil and agriculture courses are being taught again at Ventura College. There are only a handful California community (junior) colleges that still teach soils. Luckily Santa Barbara City, Allan Hancock, Pierce, Mira Costa and a few other community colleges have at least introductory courses in soils. Many of the leading growers in Ventura County got their start in college taking soils courses at Ventura College, then went on to four-year colleges to round out their educations. The community college classes have always been a taste, a dusting of understanding of soils and if someone wanted to dig deeper, they would go on to somewhere like Davis, Fresno, Riverside, Pomona or San Luis. The community colleges are part of the continuum, start there and then go anywhere.
Dr. Jennifer Charles-Tollerup, the incoming Agriculture Instructor at Ventura College, brings a diverse set of experiences including 5 years in agricultural production systems, 4 years in agricultural research and education, 6 years in community college instruction as well as appointments in program development. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Riverside in Entomology with a concentration in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Statistics along with a Bachelor's from the University of California, Santa Cruz in Biology and Environmental Studies with emphasis in Botany and Agroecology. Jennifer trained as an Apprentice in Ecological Horticulture at UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. She has worked on market gardens, family farms, and large-scale operations in citrus, grapes, nurseries, strawberries, herbs, lettuces, and edible flowers. Jennifer has used her academic and professional experience to coordinate elementary school garden programs.
Jennifer readily supports the mission of the community college, to transform lives through education. Her approach involves building relationships with students and with agriculture partners, connecting the two together, and launching students into their life's work in agriculture. (this from CA Women in Ag newsletter, http://www.cwaventura.com/).
More information about the Ventura College Agriculture Program can be found at http://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/academic/agriculture
Come learn the dirt on the differences - ground, alluvium, subsoil, topsoil, mud, muck, marl, mire, smut - there are, but some terms are more subtle than others. Check out your local college for their soils course work.
- Author: Fusion.net by Emily DeRuy
According to a new Gallup-Lumina Foundation study, 51 percent of Hispanics think “education beyond high school is affordable to anyone in this country who needs it.”
Just 19 percent of blacks and 17 percent of whites feel the same.
So why are Hispanics way more optimistic than their white and black peers about the affordability of postsecondary education?
“This is a population of folks who are very hungry for education and see it as a pathway to a better life,” Brandon Busteed, the Gallup lead on the study and executive director of Gallup Education, told Fusion.
One potential theory Busteed offers is that there's a large immigrant population in the Hispanic community and first-generation immigrants see education as the only pathway to a good job.
Another is that data indicates adults without a postsecondary credential are more likely to think college graduates are well-prepared for the workforce than those who hold a credential, and since Hispanic adults are less likely to hold a credential than their white peers, they may have more optimism about college.
Still, whites, on average, have more than nine times the wealth of Hispanics, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that they would have a more difficult time affording college. Yet Hispanic students are less likely to take out student loans and more likely to work, according to the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Latino students are also more likely to attend community colleges, which often have relatively low tuition, close to home, which allows students to work and cut out room and board costs.
The makeup of colleges is changing as more young Hispanics pursue higher education.
Between 1976 and 2011, the percentage of college students who identified as Hispanic rose from 4 percent to 14 percent, according to National Center for Education Statistics data. In 2012, seven out of 10 Latino high school graduates enrolled in college, according to the Pew Research Center, which was higher than the enrollment rate for students identifying as white or black.
The survey found that most Americans think colleges need to do more to prepare students for success in the working world, and that they need to do more to serve an increasingly diverse array of students. Virtually all adults in the United States think high schoolers need to go on to college or technical school to be successful in today's economy.
“We as country have got to get behind this Hispanic population that is coming to college with very high expectations for it and valuing it,” Busteed said, “and make sure we're supporting them in the right ways.”
Source: Originally published on Fusion.net asHispanics are way more optimistic about paying for college than everyone else, by Emily DeRuy, April 17, 2015.
- Author: University of Southern California news by Merrill Balassone
The findings suggest that these young people are far more likely to attend community college than their peers from any other ethnic groups. Among graduates of public high schools that ranked in the top 10 percent statewide, 46 percent of Latinos enrolled at a community college, as compared to 27 percent of whites, 23 percent of African-Americans, and 19 percent of Asians.
Chief findings of the reports include:
- Latinos continue to experience inequities in transferring to four-year institutions. While the group represented more than 43 percent of the full-time enrollment at California’s Hispanic-serving community colleges, only 33 percent of students who transferred from these schools to the California State University system were Latino. Similarly, they represented just 21 percent of students who transferred from these community colleges to the UC system.
- While Latinos represent 45 percent of California’s college-aged population, they earned just 31 percent of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) bachelor’s degrees.
- In California’s Hispanic-serving community colleges, Latino and white students were found to earn an associate degree or certificate, transfer to a four-year institution or achieve transfer-prepared status at roughly the same rates. Sixty-five percent of first-time Latino students and 69 percent of white students successfully completed one of these milestones.
Separate and unequal majority
“It is in the best interest of all Californians that more Latinos earn a bachelor’s degree, that more of those who meet the admissions requirements for the University of California actually enroll, and that a larger share of the thousands of Latinos in community colleges transfer to four-year colleges,” says Estela Mara Bensimon, co-director of the Center for Urban Education.
“California’s system of higher education, especially Hispanic-Serving Institutions, will greatly influence whether California becomes a divided state with a separate and unequal Latino majority or the 21st-century model for Latino inclusiveness,” she says.
“The persistence of inequity in higher education participation and attainment will reduce the proportion of college-educated adults, which in turn will have detrimental effects on the state’s economy, workforce preparation, and the quality of life of aging baby boomers, as well as to aspirations to be a society that provides equal opportunities regardless of race or socioeconomic status.”
Source: Posted originally on theUniversity of Southern California news page as High number of Latinos in California choose community college, by Merrill Balassone, November 13, 2013.