Solano Community College Celebrates 65th Anniversary

Solano Community College has been a key part of the local higher education system for 65 years. Suisun City has long supported the College and its programs, including the Theater Arts program housed at Harbor Theater in the Suisun City Waterfront.

Here's the College's announcement regarding its upcoming gala celebration:

SCC CELEBRATES 65 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Solano Community College Foundation (SCCF) announces our 65th Anniversary Celebration on May 20, benefitting the SCC Osher Scholarship Endowment.

The anniversary celebration will begin at 5:00 p.m. with a wine reception and gourmet dinner by Alex’s Catering. Featured keynote speaker is Ed Rollins, former White House political director and Class of 1962 alumni.

Following dinner, jazz and blues legend, Barbara Morrison, will kick off a musical tribute to the evening’s theme, “Celebrating the College’s history; Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” The musical tribute will include performances from the SCC Jazz Band and the Social Dance Club.

Peter Bostic, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement said that this musical reunion is going to be a fun way of raising $65,000 for student scholarships. The monies raised will be matched by the Bernard Osher Foundation through June 2011.

The anniversary event begins at the Ulatis Community Center for the reception and dinner, and then the musical concert will take place next door at the Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre. This will be an evening of gathering, food, and entertainment that will be remembered for years to come.

For more information on tickets and sponsorship, call 707-864-7141 or go to www.solano.edu.

About Solano Community College

Solano Community College is celebrating its 65th Anniversary this year! The College has been an icon in the county since 1945 when it started as Vallejo Junior College. In the early 1970s, the College moved to its present Fairfield site. The College serves over 12,000 students every semester and over 20,000 over the academic year. In addition to the campus in Fairfield, the College has two Centers at Vallejo and Vacaville, and offers courses at Travis Air Force Base. The College operates a School of Aeronautics at the Nut Tree Airport. The College offers Associate Degrees and Certificates in various disciplines and provides training in several trades. For more information, please visit us at www.solano.edu.

Suisun City Helps Host College Fair

If you know any high school students planning to enroll in college in the next couple of years, you should try to help them get to the upcoming Countywide College Fair.

The Suisun City Recreation & Community Services Department cooperated with other local cities to plan this free key event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 14 at the Fairfield Community Center, 1000 Kentucky St.

The Countywide College Faire will provide a comprehensive series of workshops for middle school and high school students. Workshops include SAT/ACT Test Prep, Cash for College, How to Write Application Essays, among others. Door prizes and refreshments also will be offered at the event.

College representatives from more than 50 schools will be on hand, too.

For more information, contact Kelly Davis at the Nelson Community Center at 707-421-7200.

Media: Class helps expelled teens make better 'Choices'

By Carol Bogart | Daily Republic

SUISUN CITY - Seventeen-year-old D'Angelo Johnson has learned the importance of choosing his friends.

Johnson failed three classes at Armijo High School as a sophomore. To have enough credits for graduation, he took extra classes at Sem Yeto Continuation High School. At Sem Yeto, he said he got caught 'holding a bag of marijuana for a friend' and was expelled.

Today, the Suisun City teen is refocused on success after completing the four-week 'Choices' program for expelled high school students at the North Bay YMCA. The life skills class meets once a week and is led by Youth Program Director Deon Price. To date, about 240 expelled students have completed the class.

D'Angelo Johnson said his father, Derrick Johnson, urged him to take the Choices class. Derrick Johnson had been working 12-hour days to support his family, Price said, after his wife died when D'Angelo was 13.

Losing his mother at such a young age, in combination with his father working '7 to 7,' Price said, set the stage for D'Angelo Johnson's downward spiral.

Most of the expelled students in Price's class don't volunteer to be there. They have been referred by area high schools as a condition for reinstatement.

The YMCA started the Choices program two years ago after noticing there seemed to be a spike in expelled students, Price said. The time between the expulsion and when students were being placed in an alternative school could be two months or more, he added.

Students were falling so far behind academically, with no hope of graduating on time, that they become discouraged, Price said. The Choices class is designed to help get students straightened out and prepare them for achievement.

D'Angelo Johnson is a good example.

After being expelled, he said it was two months before he was placed in an alternative school, the Golden Hills Education Center. In Price's class, he listened to anecdotes that he said made him rethink the choices that had caused him so much trouble.

For instance, he remembered Price's story about a 16-year-old who fired a friend's gun into the crowd at a high school basketball game 'just to scare them.'

That 16-year-old is now serving a 19-year prison sentence because the bullet narrowly missed the principal, Price told his new class of five on Wednesday.

Clarence Jordan, 14, listened intently as Price finished the story by saying the 16-year-old told authorities, 'It wasn't my gun. I just wanted to do something.'

'One bad decision cost him 19 years of his life,' Price said.

Clarence shook his head and replied, 'He ain't never gonna get those years back, either.'

Talking back to the principal at Armijo High and other infractions landed Clarence in the Choices program. After hearing Price's story, he said he planned to apologize to school officials.

The story also made an impression on D'Angelo Johnson when he heard it in the class. He said he no longer associates with the 'friend' who asked him to hold his marijuana.

Price, who lives with his wife and four children in Suisun City, has unique skills for holding the attention of his captive audience. He's a former standup comedian and worked in juvenile probation for a decade.

Derrick Johnson, whom Price described as a 'great father,' has cut back his hours and taken a cut in pay to spend more time with D'Angelo and his younger son.

D'Angelo Johnson said in just his first two months at Golden Hills, he earned 50 credits toward reinstatement at Armijo High. Now a junior, he said his grades are good and he plans to go to college.

Reach Carol Bogart at 427-6955 or at cbogart@dailyrepublic.net.

Media: Science Olympiad to test teams from Sullivan and Crystal schools

Click here for the Vacaville Reporter's take on this same story

By Nika Megino | Daily Republic

FAIRFIELD - Kyra Duncan squinted at a test tube containing a thick orange liquid. She added drops of blue Biuret solution and then watched in amazement as the liquid turned purple, indicating a presence of protein.

The eighth-grader at Sullivan Middle School is a member of the school's Science Olympiad team, which will face Crystal Middle School (located in Suisun City) in the Sullivan Science Olympiad competition from 8 a.m. to noon today.

The competition requires students to compete in 12 stations that involve building, analyzing and problem solving. To prepare for the event, both teams have worked since September on the various types of challenges.

Duncan has become familiar with the Food Science challenge, an experiment that tasks students to find the composition of foods by testing substances for carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.

The 13-year-old said it's her favorite activity because she gets to look beyond the surface with the use of chemicals.

'They tell you stuff you wouldn't know just by looking at it,' Duncan said.

All around her, students were perfecting their knowledge in various subjects. Behind her, seventh-graders Emily Lamb and Michelle Reyes, both 12, began building a monoplane glider to be launched by a balloon.

The girls said their experience on the team has been fun.

'But we still work hard,' Reyes said. 'We have to know a lot of stuff.'

As part of the Science Olympiad team, students are exposed to Earth and life sciences, chemistry, physics and astronomy. Teacher Denise Gordon, who has been a coach with Sullivan's team for seven years, said the activities cause students to exercise their critical thinking abilities.

'It gives us a chance to go beyond what we can in the classroom,' Gordon said. 'They have the opportunity to explore.'

At Crystal Middle, seventh-graders Jessica Sims, 13, and Giovanna Singh, 12, have been working on a Food Science project. The girls said they joined the school's team because of their love of science.

'Science is pretty cool,' Sims said. 'You can experiment with things and get outcomes you never believe you would.'

Singh said she was surprised to learn that food has DNA.

'There's more things in (food) than you believe,' said Sims, who added she was shocked to find Vitamin C in apples.

This is Crystal Middle's return to Science Olympiad after taking a one-year break. The school brought it back because of high student interest, said teacher Tara Spinelli, who has coached the team for six years.

'They enjoy it. We enjoy it,' Spinelli said.

The teams are competing in preparation for the Northern California Regional Science Olympiad, which will be held in April at Cal State Sacramento. Today's competition, which will be held at Sullivan Middle, is open to the public. The school is located at 2195 Union Ave.

Reach Nika Megino at 427-6953 or nmegino@dailyrepublic.net.