January 16, 2020 - Alexis Jardine of Reading Area Community College (RACC) partnered with leaders in the Reading Hispanic community to present a two-day workshop for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Berks County.  Entitled “Bridging Cultures” the weekend workshop conducted on January 11 and 12, 2020, was the result of the partnership between the two organizations to improve outreach to Hispanic children.

“This workshop really gave practical tools to take back and apply to our jobs.” said Janine Torres, CASA Volunteer Advocate, “Building bridges between cultures is key to helping people live together in unity.”

According to the Annie E Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center, there is an average of 500 children in foster care in Berks County each month.  Of those children approximately 46% are from Hispanic families.  “Our volunteers are caring professionals from a variety of fields, but they have little knowledge of Hispanic family practices and values.” said Nancy McCullar, Executive Director CASA Berks County,  “We looked at how to best meet the needs of the children we served.  Instead of the slow process of recruiting bicultural volunteers one by one, it made more sense for all of our volunteer advocates to learn how to work with and advocate for Hispanic children in foster care.  Alexis Jardine and RACC put together a workshop that exceeded our expectations.”

Speakers at the two-day workshop included Waldo Alvarado, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Reading School District, Sheila Negron, Former Director of Migrant Head Start Berks County, Dr. Danelle Bower, faculty RACC, and Mike Toledo, Executive Director, Centro Hispano among others.  Successful communication methods with Hispanic families, comparing family values, understanding the four essential F’s, and new ways to think about cultural inclusion were some of the many topics covered in the workshops. 

Shari Wapinsky, school nurse in Fleetwood School District and a CASA volunteer advocate, summed up everyone’s opinion when she said, “This workshop was amazing.  This would be a great asset to all school districts to learn how to deal with cultural diversity.”  Brenda Druck, CASA Volunteer Coordinator added, “I feel so much more comfortable about my ability to interact with children and families of the Latino Community.  Learning that we can respect both cultures and bridge our differences to navigate a child through the court system was eye-opening.”

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Berks is a non-profit organization that trains and supports volunteer citizens who advocate for children in foster care to ensure their well-being.  More information on CASA is available at: casaberks.org

If your organization is interested in the Cultural Awareness and Diversity Training offered by Alexis Jardine of Reading Area Community College, please contact Mike Salute at 610.372.4721 ext. 5176.

Reading, PA – Reading Area Community College Foundational Studies Associate Professor Denise Strohmayr has been awarded the prestigious 2020 Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty Recognition from the American Association of Community Colleges. This national award recognizes individuals who make a difference in the classroom by demonstrating passion, showing a willingness to support students inside and outside of the classroom, participating in college committees and going beyond what is required to ensure student success.

“My passion has always been to provide the best possible classroom experience for students to achieve success so it is an incredible honor to receive this award. This recognition would not be possible without the support of my Foundational Studies colleagues and administration who foster a positive and supportive environment for our students to achieve their academic and personal goals,” says Strohmayr.

"Denise is a perfect example of a RACC faculty member who demonstrates a high level of quality student-centered teaching and exemplary service to the college, her profession, and the community," says RACC President Dr. Susan Looney.

A long-time Berks County native, Denise hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kutztown University and a master’s degree in organizational management. She is on the Board of Directors of the Literacy Council of Reading-Berks, Inc., and is a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Developmental Educators.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges. The association represents nearly 1,200 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions and more than 12 million students.

Chad DeShazo received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas. After working at the Reading Eagle for almost 30 years as a photographer and systems specialist, he says he wanted a change. “I wanted to make a difference and make a deeper connection with people.” That is when Chad enrolled at RACC to become a nurse.
 
For Chad, RACC was his first choice. He was working full-time, had no medical experience and was even squeamish of blood and needles. “I wondered if I was really built for nursing, but after two semesters, I was able to put my fears behind me and run full steam through the program.” Chad was able to attend night classes and evening clinicals while obtaining his associate degree. “This was no easy task. The support I received from the entire nursing department was invaluable. They take their students under their wing and develop them into competent novice nurses.”
 
Chad, now a registered nurse at Tower Health Reading Hospital on the Heart Failure/Cardiac Telemetry floor, looks forward to mentoring RACC students when they do their clinicals. “During my clinicals, I was repeatedly told that RACC students are well trained and have a great work ethic. I understand that now more than ever and really enjoy working with RACC students. They are always well prepared, and it’s clear their instructors are teaching them well.”
 
Looking to the future, Chad has been accepted into an RN to MSN  degree program. Already having a bachelor’s degree benefits Chad and puts him on track for his graduate degree in nursing. Without the solid education Chad received at RACC none of this would be possible. “RACC’s faculty trained me to become the patient-centered, critical thinking RN that I am today. I can’t say enough about the great experience I had and without hesitation I would recommend RACC to anyone wanting to enter the field.”

The Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges is pleased to announce that on January 8, 2020 Pennsylvania's 14 community colleges signed a statewide articulation agreement with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). The historic agreement -the first of its kind in the Commonwealth -will provide Pennsylvania community college graduates, employees, and the immediate family of employees the opportunity to enroll at or transfer to SNHU to pursue a bachelor's degree at a 10 percent tuition reduction.

A significant number of Pennsylvania's community college students pursue transfer to four-year institutions and attainment of a baccalaureate degree. Each year, more than 30,000 Pennsylvania community college students transfer, and nearly 85 percent of those transfers are to institutions in Pennsylvania. The colleges currently have thousands of articulation agreements with higher education partners to help our students realize their postsecondary goals. We remain committed to these partnerships and look forward to expanding them as opportunities arise.

However, some of our students prefer the flexibility offered through virtual learning opportunities, and many of our students are challenged by the high cost of higher education -two hurdles that the SNHU partnership seeks to address.

SNHU is already a popular transfer destination for Pennsylvania's community college students, with more than 1,500 community college students currently enrolled. Nearly 500 Pennsylvania community college students transferred to SNHU in the 2018-2019 academic year and SNHU awarded 166 Pennsylvania community college graduates a bachelor's degree in the 2018-2019 academic year. With the articulation agreement and tuition reduction being offered by SNHU to community college graduates, the pathway to a baccalaureate degree will be more seamless and affordable than nearly every other public option in Pennsylvania, depending on a student's program of study and credit load.

The negotiation of this agreement with SNHU demonstrates the commitment of Pennsylvania's community colleges to be efficient, innovative and responsive to the needs of the Commonwealth, its communities, our students, and employers. The Commission and its member colleges will continue to seek additional opportunities to ensure that Pennsylvania can achieve its attainment goal of 60 percent of Pennsylvanians aged 25-64 with a postsecondary degree or industry recognized credential by 2025, with a focus on closing attainment gaps for historically underrepresented populations.

Reading, PA – On Wednesday, December 18, 2019, a group of Berks County community leaders announced a newly created non-profit organization called the Berks Latino Workforce Development Corporation (BLWDC). The mission of the BLWDC is to move Latinos out of poverty by providing self-awareness, education, and workforce development training, and empowering them to create greater economic wealth.

Recently appointed to the board of directors is Reading Area Community College President Dr. Susan D. Looney. “It is an honor to be selected to serve on the board of an organization with a mission that so closely ties in with Reading Area Community College’s mission of building communities of learning which are committed to educational growth and the economic vitality of our region,” Dr. Looney says. 

The BLWDC will serve as a platform to foster cooperation and investment between the community, business, government, education, and philanthropy sectors. The purpose is to resolve the Latino workforce development gap for marginalized individuals.  

“This organization will facilitate community improvement, provide culturally appropriate training and increase employment opportunities for economically and socially disadvantaged members of our community,” says Board Chair Jonathan Encarnacion.

The BLWDC plans to develop a bilingual technology center that will serve as the vehicle to provide training and increase employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged in the Latino community.  The training center’s curriculum will include language development courses to advance English Language proficiency, adult education that allows students to achieve their high school equivalency certificate, job readiness training to facilitate entering the workforce, and practical skills training for high demand occupations. It is expected that training programs and other supportive services will be provided in collaboration with other local educational and non-profit organizations.

The organization has launched a regional search for an Executive Director and is projected to begin providing services by the second quarter of 2020. Board members for the newly formed BLWDC include: Jonathan Encarnacion (Chair) Administrative Director, UPMC; Nereida Villanueva (Vice Chair) HR Director, Berks Community Health Center, Jobany Bedoya (Secretary) Coordinator Latino Outreach, Greater Reading Chamber Alliance; Bill Jennings (Treasurer) President and CEO, Reading Hospital; Daniel Betancourt, President and CEO, Community First Fund; Dayana Blandon, Human Resource Generalist, Reading Truck Body; Lizette Epps, Director of Impact and Engagement, Visions Credit Union; Angel Figueroa, CEO, I-LEAD Charter School; Carlos Graupera, President, Spanish American Civic Association, Ramon Melecio, CEO, LinkTech; Pamela Shupp, EVP & COO, Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, and John Weidenhammer, President, Weidenhammer Systems Incorporated

To learn more about the Berks Latino Workforce Development Corporation, call 610.207.3691.