CSU Channel Islands student Yelena Lacey demonstrates the effect of liquid nitrogen on a balloon at the annual CSU Channel Islands Science Carnival. Courtesy photo.
OXNARD — CSU Channel Islands will present the 2015 Science Carnival from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, 2900 Thurgood Marshall Drive, Oxnard.
Free to the public, the event provides students through grade 8 and their families with hands-on science experiences in a Halloween carnival setting, university officials reported in a media release.
It will include more than 80 different science activities, a spooky science-themed event where costumes are encouraged, food available for purchase or bring your own.
Free parking is available at the school and at Oxnard High School.
Volunteers are also needed to run a hands-on science activity or to help with event logistics. Volunteers need to have a STEM background. Visit go.csuci.edu/scvolunteer or http://www.csuci.edu/sciencecarnival/ for more information.
Pamela Lindsay, left to right, vice president of GOCARE; Jeannette Perez Stevens, executive director and charitable director of GOCARE; Michelle Cekov, president of GOCARE, and Bruce McGee, president of Rotary Club of Ventura-East during the Paul Harris Fellow award presentation. Courtesy photo.
VENTURA COUNTY — Jeanette Perez Stevens of the international nonprofit organization GOCARE Inc., was recently recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow at a Rotary Club of Ventura-East meeting, GOCARE reported in a media release.
GOCARE supports education in some of the most impoverished communities of Nicaragua. For the past 10 years, Stevens has been the executive director and charitable board director of GOCARE. Through her work, she has been able to help educate more than 4,000 students who are living in poverty. She is also an active member of the Managua Rotary Club in Nicaragua and recently helped her district with plans for a Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) and plans to help with the upcoming district conference. Stevens was truly instrumental in keeping the organization on track during this transitional year due to the loss of its founder, Jan Lindsay, GOCARE reported. Stevens has set an example for many by her contributions to her club, her district, to GOCARE and the many beneficiaries of its programs.
CSU Channel Islands to use $2.5 million grant for Project OLAS, a program designed to help students navigate the first two years of college. Courtesy photo,
OXNARD — CSU Channel Islands has received a grant in excess of $2.6 million to enable the university to start Project OLAS (Optimizing Learning, Achievement and Success), an initiative designed to help students navigate the first two years of college, the university reported in a media release.
Director of Hispanic Serving Institutions Initiatives Amanda Quintero, Ph.D., said the first two years of college are critical for so-called “at-risk” students, who are those still completing developmental math and other foundational courses well into their second year.
Struggling to complete necessary foundational courses may cause the students to fall behind when they should be choosing a career trajectory, she said.
“A lot of students entering their second year have not yet declared a major. It is critical to their success to have declared a major at the end of their second year, so we’re going to develop programming that exposes students to major pathways to a career,” Quintero said. “We are going to be more intentional about involving students in internships and service learning and other opportunities.”
The five-year grant, which will equal about $525,000 a year, was available to Hispanic-Serving Institutions, which is why CI was able to compete for the funding. CI was given the HSI designation because more than 25 percent of its students are Latino.
Among those who will benefit from Project OLAS are Ventura County high school students who are the first in their families to pursue a college education.
Visit http://www.csuci.edu/news/releases/2015-projectolas.htm for more information.
VENTURA — Las Contemporáneas of the Museum of Ventura County has announced that submissions are being accepted for the 2nd annual Latina Film Festival (March 12, 13, 14). The deadline is Dec. 15. The festival strives to provide Latina screenwriters, directors and producers the opportunity to promote and showcase their art through films, that highlight issues relevant to Latinas and the community. The films must be directed, written or produced by a Latina; entries limited to shorts and features only, with short films no longer than 30 minutes. The non-refundable fee is $15 for short films, $20 for feature films and $10 for students / young adults. Visit http://venturamuseum.org/latina-film-festival/ for applications or more information.
SANTA BARBARA — UC Santa Barbara has been selected to receive a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for Opening New Doors to Accelerating Success (ONDAS), a new Title V program.
The five-year grant is awarded under the education department’s Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, which assists Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in expanding educational opportunities for Hispanic students.
HSIs are defined as colleges or universities in which Hispanic enrollment comprises a minimum of 25 percent of the total enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students, both full- and part-time.
UCSB was named a Hispanic-Serving Institution in January by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and is the only HSI that is also a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
“Our designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution began an important chapter in our history as a great public research university dedicated to education and the advancement of knowledge and discovery,” said Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall. “This grant from the U.S. Department of Education recognizes the unique opportunities that we can offer to our students. It will help us to support all of our students, to ensure their educational success and to advance our commitment to excellence and diversity.”
“The Title V award will be a great help to UCSB, providing new programming and services that will benefit all students on campus,” said Carl Gutiérrez-Jones, interim dean of undergraduate education at UCSB and the grant’s principal investigator.
“I am pleased to share this great news as we continue to celebrate UCSB’s rich diversity and growing student population,” Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara stated in a media release. “This grant will go a long way in expanding opportunities for students as they enter and succeed in higher education.”
VENTURA COUNTY — Future Leaders of America, Ag Innovations Network / House Farm Workers, the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project, One Step A la Vez and The Abundant Table have been announced as the Social Justice Fund 2015 grantees, receiving a total of nearly $30,000 presented to local organizations that inspire and educate young leaders who work to improve fairness and justice in their communities, the organization reported in a media release.
During the last 10 years, SJF has given grants to 27 grassroots groups organizing their communities to achieve tangible social change.
Future Leaders of America received $6,250 for its “Latino Youth Leadership and Civic Engagement” project, to provide students with the tools they need to become strong leaders and effective advocates with school boards and agents of social change in their communities.
Ag Innovations Network / House Farm Workers received $4,800 for its “HFW Young Advocates Committee” project. The program is designed to engage, train and empower young leaders and their families as community educators and advocates who increase and improve farm-worker housing in Ventura County and ultimately enact change that will impact future generations.
The Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project received $7,250 for its “Fields to College” project. It is designed to increase leadership and campaign management skills for language access rights for parents and students in the Oxnard Unified High School District so that Tequio youth can improve their own academic performance and transform the educational system.
One Step A la Vez received $7,500 for its “Next Step” program designed to support youth as they expand access to public transportation, inform their community about the cleanup of the Fillmore Superfund toxic waste site, reduce the number of youth involved in the juvenile justice system or excluded from school, and create a safe space for LGBTQIA youth at Fillmore High School.
The Abundant Table received $3,800 for its “Rooted Futures: Growing Change” project, designed to develop young leaders who advocate at the Santa Paula School District for the adoption of a Harvest of the Month program in all nine schools in the district, improving school lunches for more than 5,500 students and making healthy eating choices more available to a new generation of students and their families.
Through its grant making, convening and educational activities, the Social Justice Fund opens the way to more equal access to opportunities and resources for all. A task force of interested donors and local activists works together to decide how SJF’s grants are distributed. SJF has given more than $400,000 to grassroots groups actively making Ventura County a better place in which to work and live.
Visit http://www.socialjusticefundvc.org for more information.