Good Monday morning to you on June 19, 2017--- I would like to wish a belated Happy Fathers Day to all of the fathers on campus, and to everyone s father who is still around. I lost my father eight months before I took the job here at Trade Tech and I still think to call him when something big happens in my life and then remember that he is gone. I am sure that this is a common experience. However, I also spent the day yesterday with my two sons and it is such an honor and joy to be a father. Thank you to all the fathers out there for taking it on. We just wrapped a successful Go Week for the first summer session and would like to thank Dean Henan Joof, the entire Bridges team and staff throughout the campus for the service being provided to new and continuing students. If you combine that with our outreach and marketing, it has led to improved summer enrollment. We still have plenty of work to do for the second summer session and for Fall, and everyone on campus has a role in building enrollment, as we together push toward our goal. The Week Ahead This week we have several opportunities to help deliver the enrollment message. This Tuesday we are hosting a unique principals retreat that will gather administrators, counselors and teachers from quite a few LAUSD high schools. There will be as many as two hundred LAUSD staff on campus this Tuesday and Wednesday, attending workshops here on campus and at Orthopedic Medical Magnet High School across the street. We will have the chance to talk about our programs, to frame the LA College Promise, and to provide the narrative that LATTC provides critical educational value. Also on Wednesday, we will be hosting an LAUSD/LATTC career pathways session where we will focus on that relationship and transitioning our feeder high school students into our programs. In addition, we have the Coalition for Responsible Community Development graduation this Thursday. CRCD continues to prepare these great cohorts of students who have chosen to turn their lives around. Then this Saturday, we are hosting a remarkable Car and Motorcycle Show and Chili Cook-Off sponsored by the Teamsters, Local 399 - the Hollywood Studio drivers. We expect it to be a huge family event where attendees will get a chance to enjoy food, fun and lots of classic cars throughout the North and South Tents along with the 23 rd Street lot and all around the South quad. Everyone is invited to enjoy the day; and, once again, it builds our relationship with one of the unions that is open to our college creating a pipeline for students to enter the basic crafts in the local studios. It will take place from noon until 5pm.
This Past Week On Monday morning, the campus did a soft launch of its Dream Resource Center (DRC). The facility is designed to assist our dreamers and immigrant students in achieving their educational goals, and in-state tuition. It is located in Mariposa Hall, Room 109A, right across the hall from the Veterans Center. DRC coordinator and LATTC graduate Michelle Segura, RISE club president Suzy Nieva, and Faculty Advisor Ana Munoz all spoke. Lots of student advocacy went into securing this space and the services to be provided. A larger more comprehensive launch event will take place in the Fall. But the DRC is open for business right now.
All last week, architecture instructor Marcela Oliva supported an interesting summer workshop called Hip Hop Architecture. Group leader John Ford used popular education techniques to inspire a group of high school and middle school students. They learned about the fundamentals of architecture and spatial design, while learning to read and write poetry. We had two very special guests stop by the class: former Congresswoman Diane Watson spoke with students about the importance of architecture and design, along with current LACCD Board of Trustees Vice President Sydney Kamlager-Dove. This past Thursday one of the key efforts of our faith-based outreach took place as we invited about 40 pastors from South LA to our South L.A. Pastors
Breakfast. The team of LATTC personnel (Dione Washington, Vincent Jackson, Linda Cole, Ayesha Randall and Ed Sanders) and SLATE-Z coordinator Heddy Nam, each talked about our push to offer educational opportunities to their members, as well as access to preference points on Federal grants. The presentations were as engaging as our visits to several LA churches during the last few Sundays. The pastors asked about the programs offered and our work in securing careers for students. This has proven to be an effective outreach to important partners. On Thursday evening, I was happy to be among the honorees of the LA Food Policy Council, which works toward bringing food that is healthy, affordable, sustainable, and fairly produced, to all Angelenos. I played a role in getting this group started when I was at City Hall. LA Unified is now serving healthier, more locally available, and more environmentally sustainable food because of this program. They have committees on healthy food retail, urban agriculture, and farmer s markets. Other honorees were Richard Marosi of the LA Times, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize nominated story uncovering slave labor on Mexican farms that export to California; and Dolores Huerta (her daughter shown here) who co-founded the United Farm Workers. I know they would love to work with us too.
Then on Friday, we were joined by Metro CEO Phil Washington, LA Sparks CEO Christine Simmons, Chancellor Dr. Francisco Rodriguez and LACCD Board of Trustees Vice President Sydney Kamlager-Dove for the Veterans Summer Slam Job and Resource Fair. Several hundred veterans from our community met with over 50 pre-screened employers and resource entities under the tents. The event focused on the transition of those in military service to a civilian life and how important a fulfilling career can be.
We have our district wellness folks putting together several summer programs to help improve your health and wellness. It s called Put Fire to Your Feet and it starts today.
The state legislature approved the state budget last week and has sent it to Governor Brown for his signature. The state chancellor for California Community Colleges Eloy Oakley-Ortiz delivered a statement about the spending plan. He sounded upbeat: The budget approved by the Legislature includes important investments in community colleges and shows a strong commitment to innovation and completion. Expanded financial aid opportunities to help low-income students attend college full-time will improve social mobility by increasing the number of
students who earn quality college credentials. Widespread adoption by our colleges of the guided pathways approach will lead to better outcomes by organizing academic pathways in a way that promotes better course taking decisions. These and other investments, such as enhanced services for student veterans, will help more students succeed in the world of work and move California forward. Finally, we are planning a news conference on campus for Thursday, June 29 th, and it will center on a very disheartening issue facing our students. There are students within the LACCD, and that includes LATTC, who are trying to handle their education while facing the challenge of being homeless. We have students living in cars, students on the streets, and students who are depending on the charity of others to find a place to sleep. We will be drawing attention to this situation and will push for solutions. If you know of any students who have struggled or are struggling with this issue and might be open to talking about it in the press, please let David Ysais know. The District is asking for students who might be willing to speak at the news conference. Several of us are heading off to China next Sunday for eight days to meet with the leadership of the Chinese Railway and Rollingstock Company (CRRC), and to visit relevant manufacturing sites. As you may know, LATTC is the training partner with CRRC on their assembly of the propulsion system, lighting system, and electrical system of the new Purple Line Railcars, due to their winning bid on this huge Metro contract. There is great interest in our college and the way we offer career-technical education. We look forward to advocating for the best training result for the leadership of our college and the best possible training and job opportunities for our students. So many great things happening on campus, so much energy surrounding our collective work. This is a great time to be at Trade Tech! Larry Larry Frank President, LATTC College to Career-It s All Here L.A. Trade-Technical College