Good News.  Chuong Nguyen is the evening instructional aide in the computer lab at the Linda Vista Presbyterian Church.  He is very helpful and works well with people as he is amiable and funny.  Jane Uhle and Mimi Pollack are very proud of him.  He was an ESL student in Mimi’s classes from 07/02 until 01/03.  He then went on to the next level in Jane’s class, and he studied with her until 01/04.  In 09/03, he entered Mesa College, where he studied and continued to improve his English skills.  In September 2008, he entered the Radiology program after having been on the waiting list.  He has since been thriving in the program.  This semester he won 3 of 5 scholarships he applied for .  He was a finalist in the New Americans Immigration Museum and wrote one of the winning essays!   His mother, Phuong, is incredibly proud of him.  She, too, was a Continuing Education student from 2005 to 2007, so Continuing Education is all in the family!  In 2006, Chuong wrote a winning essay for The New Americans Immigration Museum about the sacrifices his mother made for him, so he could have a better life here in the US.   This is incredible news, and we are all so very proud of Chuong as a great success in Continuing Education!  Way to go Chuong, Jane, and Mimi!

Good news.  Professor Mary Burns Prine reports that Instructor and band leader Hal Jellison will perform with his SDCE students at the Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair on April 25.  Last year’s response was phenomenal — over 7000 people attended this daylong event, which included a parade, 3 stages of entertainment, and numerous multi-cultural booths and informational displays.  Kudos for this student band, which has become a fixture in the Linda Vista area!  Here’s a related link:  http://www.lindavistafair.org/htdocs/  A big THANK YOU to Professor Jellison and his wonderful students for all the great things they do!

Good News.  Paul Courville, Instructor, Electronics Test Technician Program, reported that one of our graduates has just accepted an $80,000 a year position!  Despite a “down economy,” a recent Electronic Test Technician graduate has just accepted a position as a BioMedical Technician with a major corporation.  The student commented that the Continuing Education electronics training received in our program was key in his interview and in taking the electronics test required for the position.  In addition to the hefty annual salary, the total compensation package also includes relocation cost, health and dental insurance, generous vacation and sick time, and more money for continued education!  Congratulations to Paul and to the Career Technical Education program for making a tremendous difference.  This is wonderful economic news!!

Good News.  Here’s an update on the exact amount raised at the California Brain Injury Association’s Walk for Thought by our TEAM-ABI (students from all three ABI Programs.  For all of San Diego, $15,800 was raised.  However, of this, Continuing Education’s TEAM-ABI brought in a whopping $5,825!  This is about a third of what was brought in for all of San Diego!!  Wow!  Congratulations TEAM-ABI!  What an awesome job and some really good news!!

San Diego Continuing Education offers hundreds of free and low cost classes each semester. Visit www.sdce.edu regularly for the most up-to-date schedule. Search by location or topic–the possibilities are endless!

Good News!  Phoeurth “Pho” Sao is a great example of a Continuing Education star student.  Pho was born in Thailand and grew up in San Diego.  He moved to New York where he worked as a manager for McDonalds for many years.  Upon moving back to San Diego in 2008, Pho was looking for a career change.  He entered the C.N.A. (Certified Nursing Assistant) program at Centre City.  Because Pho is hearing impaired, he worked with his DSPS counselor (Leslie Quinones) and instructor Kathy Campbell to utilize American Sign Language interpreters to complete the C.N.A. training.  Pho was energized by his success and went on to also complete the HHA (Home Health Aide) certification at Centre City.  Shortly after completing these certificates, Pho obtained a full-time position as a C.N.A. at Las Villas Del Norte, a skilled nursing facility in Escondido.  Pho is also currently working with counselor Stephen Flores on transitioning to City College to pursue an LVN and eventually an RN.  Pho plans to participate this year in Continuing Education’s graduation ceremony!  This is wonderful news of student success in Continuing Education.  Congratulations Pho!!

Good News!  Sheyla Castillo, a counselor at SDCE/ECC, had been contacted a week or so ago that a “few” students would be coming to ECC from Lincoln H.S. with a teacher for an orientation.  Well, when they came, it was a large group – 30 students!  Several counselors and instructors joined in to help Sheyla with the group.  Sheyla quickly gathered materials, found a room, and held an orientation about ESL, Basic Skills, and Vocational training options, and college preparation, providing them this information in both English and Spanish.  Another counselor, Jo Hart-Lloyd, quickly made time to add information about the H.S./GED programs.  The Dean of Matriculation and Student Development also joined in.  This kind of news demonstrates the kind of team effort and spirit we have in Continuing Education, putting students first!

Good News!  On April 3, 2009, eight mid-level ABE students completed the course and were promoted to the HS Diploma/GED class at Mid City.  Their names are: Cynthia Appleby (BSI), Angel Cardoza, John Dunn, Lekakoko Hussein (BSI), Karen Minano, Roda Omar, Marcela Osorio (BSI), and Rachel Sanchez (BSI).  Congratulations to all of them for their hard work and dedication in achieving their personal goals!

Good News!  One of our Business Information Technology (BIT) students, Dr. Stephen Farnow, PhD in Physics, calls himself, “the poster boy” for our BIT program.  After taking Photoshop classes at North City, Dr. Farnow decided to write a “how-to” book on Photoshop!  He said he started looking for practical books on how to use Photoshop, but found that none of them were quite what he needed.  “First and foremost,” he said, “they are all quite long, encyclopedic actually, and everyone including me seemed to be looking for something concise to just get going.”  He decided to self-publish his book using InDesign, which he also learned through Continuing Education.  Of course, the book graphics were all made using Illustrator, which he also learned through BIT.  All the images for the book were processed with Photoshop, which, you guessed it, he learned through BIT classes.  Finally, he created his web page to market the book using Dreamweaver, Flash, and CSS – learning all from San Diego Continuing Education!!  Check out the end product of this superstar, “BIT poster boy”:  http://www.justtheskinny.com/

Dr. Farnow credits his success to Professors Paul Richard, Randall Cornish, Carolyn O’Barr, David Taniguchi, and Emily Kay.  Dr. Stephen Farnow we are all very proud of you, and we thank you for the good news about your great accomplishments!!

Good News!  March 28, 2009, students and staff from Continuing Education’s three Acquired Brain Injury programs at Mesa College, West City, and ECC participated in the 2nd annual “Walk for Thought.”  The event was organized by the California Brain Injury Association to raise brain injury awareness, prevention, education, and advocacy.  The California Brain Injury Association depends upon generous donations from its members, sponsors, and the community at large.  Over 1,500 participants showed up for the event that raised close to $3,000.  Reporter Dave Scott from KUSI was also there, interviewing the brain injury survivors and hearing their inspirational stories.  The day was a tremendous success and is good news for San Diego!