SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Linda Bardere, director of the San Bernardino City Unified School District’s Communications/Community Relations and the Printing ServicesDepartments, is retiring after 33 years.
Bardere served as the Communications officer for three years before being promoted to the position of director in 2003. Prior to that, Bardere taught at Highland-Pacific Elementary School from 1987 to 2000. During her time at Highland-Pacific, she taught budding young scholars in first, second and third grade.
Among Bardere’s accomplishments was the creation of a School Site Emergency Checklist. This handbook provides guidance for schools on who to contact and first steps to take during a school or community crisis ranging from a power outage to a natural disaster. This empowers school staff to act quickly and decisively during a crisis while the District offices provide support.
Ginger Ontiveros
With Bardere’s departure, Ginger Ontiveros, executive director of Community Engagement, will guide the Communications/Community Relations and Printing Services Departments.
For the past six years, Ontiveros has guided the Community Engagement Office in building partnerships between the community and SBCUSD, connecting with alumni, developing resources, and growing the Making Hope Happen Foundation.
The Community Engagement office is located at the Board of Education building, 777 North F Street. Communications/Community Relations will remain at the Professional Development Center, 4030 Georgia Blvd. Ginger Ontiveros can be reached at ginger.ontiveros@sbcusd.k12.ca.us.
SAN FRANCISCO — Americans are facing a critical inflection point as the nation grapples with the twin pandemics of COVID and racial injustice.
COVID has killed more than 445,000 people worldwide, more than 118,000 of them in the United States. In the midst of that pandemic, white Americans — angered by the brutal killing of Minnesota resident George Floyd by former police officer Derek Chauvin — are waking up to the challenges Black Americans face daily.
Experts at a June 19 panel organized by Ethnic Media Services detailed those challenges: police brutality and over-zealous policing, economic injustice, disparities in access to health care, higher levels of incarceration resulting in greater rates of recidivism, and a pervasive culture of casual racism.
COVID has revealed the failures of a public health system based on the needs of white people, said Dr. Tung Nguyen, a professor of internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world, but its outcomes are poor because it is focused on the wrong things, he said.
“The factors that contribute the most are low life expectancy or income quality, low levels of education and exposure to violence along with other key determinants, like jobs, housing and food insecurity and climate change. These are the proper topics for public health and for health care to work on in the future,” said Nguyen, who also directs the Asian American Research Center on Health.
“The state of race relations today in the United States is in a place I’ve never seen it,” said Constance ‘Connie’ Rice, long-time civil rights activist and lawyer and co-founder and co-director of the Advancement Project in Los Angeles.
“This isn’t about people of color. This is the fourth major national discussion that white Americans have been having about how much racism they’re currently comfortable tolerating, how much white supremacy white Americans are going to condone and continue,” Rice said.
“For the first time, the majority of white people in America are saying, ‘Okay, we have to make a choice. We didn’t know we were part of the choice. We didn’t know we were in this conversation.’ It’s like watching whales discover they live in water, but now they’re starting to get consciousness. We’ll see where it goes.”
Rice said the young marchers around the globe have had an enormous effect on that consciousness.
“This is tectonic plate-level change, it’s seismic. And we don’t know what the politics are gonna ring on it,” she added. “We will see in November, whether they [white Americans] are going to go the white nationalist way or with the future, which is a multiracial democracy.”
The roots of American policing, she said, are ensconced in “slave patrols” meant to keep people “in place,” a mindset that is a “warrior mentality. It’s not about a bad apple. It’s about a toxic orchard and the entire culture.”
Manuel Pastor, professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, said overzealous policing of African Americans was the tip of the iceberg in a culture that has consistently marginalized ethnic communities.
“One reason I think this moment has broken things up so significantly,” he said, “is because it comes on the heels of two big phenomena: three and a half years of Donald Trump, three and a half years of what looks like the rise of fascism in America, and simplistic economic strategy. And those years have been so brutal for people of color in the United States.”
Pastor, director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at USC and USC’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration, noted the United States’ wide economic gap. African Americans earn an average $17,000 per year, the least amount of any ethnic group, while white Americans earn an average $171,000, according to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
“What that means is that when a crisis breaks, you’ve got no choice [but] to go back to work because you’ve got no wealth cushion on which to fall,” Pastor said, referring to the large number of African Americans forced to work outside their homes during the pandemic, even as much of the nation was sheltering in place. He also cited African Americans’ rate of incarceration and the difficulty of obtaining employment once out, which leads to high rates of recidivism.
Speaking about the previous day’s Supreme Court ruling that the Trump administration had incorrectly ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Pastor said, “For the last three and a half years, the Trump administration has tormented 700,000 young people who are Americans in every way. We need to center the struggle against the anti-Black racism with the idea of broadening our perspective, so that Latinos, Asian Americans, indigenous folks, and other people of color and white allies can become part of the struggle.”
Marina Gorbis, executive director of the Institute for the Future, likened the United States to a “plantation economy” in which most people are “living on scraps.”
“I’m really hopeful in this moment that in addition to all the racial inequalities and policing and all these things that are now being revealed, that it’s also an opportunity for us to rethink some economic pillars — how we treat workers about what is deserved in this economy and who deserves these things.”
Asset inequality needs to be addressed, Gorbis said. She challenged the notion that “hero entrepreneurs” — of the sort who predominate the Silicon Valley — deserve greater assets than other workers, and she championed the notion of universal basic assets as “a right, not something you have to earn.”
“We all must have access to certain kinds of essential assets that enable us to lead good lives,” she said.
Canceled appointments will be rescheduled automatically
New appointments will be available later this summer
SACRAMENTO, CA—- The California Department of Motor Vehicles will resume administering behind-the-wheel drive tests beginning Friday, June 26. In-vehicle testing – a requirement for first-time driver license holders and commercial license applicants – has been suspended since mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The DMV will automatically reschedule all canceled drive test appointments.
“I’m asking for everyone’s patience as we safely clear the backlog of behind-the-wheel drive test appointments,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said. “For all of those Californians who have been waiting, we know how important this is to you.”
The DMV anticipates it will take several weeks to complete testing for previously canceled tests. Appointments for new behind-the-wheel tests will not be available until previously canceled tests are completed.
For the health and safety of customers and examiners, the DMV is instituting numerous new testing protocols. All behind-the-wheel drive test applicants will be required to wear a face covering and answer screening questions before starting the exam. Initially, applicants in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties also will have their temperatures checked. Temperature checks will be added to protocols statewide in the coming weeks. If the customer’s permit has expired, the customer will need to fill out a new online application prior to their office visit, and check in 30 minutes before their appointment time.
DMV examiners will wear protective equipment – face coverings and gloves – and place plastic covers on the test vehicle’s passenger seat and floorboard. At least two windows need to be lowered during the test for increased ventilation. Examiners will conduct more of the test outside of the vehicle, for instance when they are providing applicants with pre-test instructions.
The DMV is also making changes to expedite the testing process and increase the number of exams it can administer each day, including shortening the testing route in many locations. The test routes will be long enough to adequately determine driving knowledge and safety skills. The DMV is also expanding the hours when tests are conducted, including Saturday service for drive tests in some high-volume locations, and adding more examiners.
Employees at 169 field offices are assisting customers with current appointments at the specific office and limited transactions that require an in-person visit. The DMV continues to recommend that customers use its online services, expanded virtual services and other service channels to complete transactions, including eligible driver license and vehicle registration renewals.
Watch Tabula Rasa/College Bound Video Compilation, LEAD Novelas Eductivas:
Watch FNX Video of our 7th annual Latino Education & Advocacy Days (LEAD) Summit, which highlighted Black, Brown, and Indigenous unity:
Origins of Race in the US:
Race, and its ideology of racism arise principally from two related historical processes.
taking land from and destroying indigenous peoples, and;
enslaving Africans to work that land.
The images, characterizations, components, and classifications of race rationalized the conditions of genocide and enslavement.
Early Interactions:
Europeans first enslaved Native peoples, introducing Africans to the Americas shortly after.
Nicolas de Ovando, Governor of Hispaniola first mentioned African and Native interaction in a report, circa 1503. Natives who escaped generally knew the surrounding areas, were able to avoid capture; but then returned to help free enslaved Africans. Europeans feared a Native/African alliance.
The first slave rebellion occurred in Hispaniola in 1522, while the first on future United States soil (North Carolina) occurred in 1526. Both rebellions were organized and executed by coalitions of Africans and Native Americans.
So, from the beginning, American Native populations and Africans have shared a historical relationship whose liberation have been intertwined.
Not one case of extradition or deportation of runaway African slaves in the early history of Mexico!
Early Mexican governments abhorred any form of slavery, thereby had given sanctuary to runaway slaves/African fugitives fleeing from the United States.
It was in this trajectory that Mexico’s commitment to harbor Black fugitive slaves triggered the Mexican American war; which Mexico lost nearly 50 percent of her territory.
After the war, Mexico undeterred, included in her constitution and continued her commitment to harbor fugitive slaves.
Shift towards the Supralocal or Transcommunal:
Historically, African Americans since the 1800’s, have consistently expressed Pan-Africanism, anti-imperialism, and expressions of solidarity with a pantheon of Latin America’s greatest freedom fighters including Simon Bolivar, Vicente Guerrero, José María Morelos, José Martí, Antonio Maceo, and Augusto Sandino—among many others.
It is critical to recognize the legacy of conquest, annexation of ancestral lands, and the prolonged subjugation of native cultures, along with an ongoing history of racial discrimination, socio–?economic marginalization, or draconian immigration practices
On Monday, the full California state Senate confirmed the appointments of two African Americans who have already stepped into top jobs at departments critical to the smooth operation of the state.
Yolanda Richardson and Adetokunbo “Toks” Omishakin, are officially assuming their roles as state government executives in Sacramento at at time when the state is implementing deep cuts to its fiscal year 2020-21 budget in response to the global COVID-19 crisis.
Despite the challenges, they both had already begun to execute the functions of their offices, pending this week’s final Senate approval.
African American legislators and activists say the presence of Richardson and Omishakin in top-level state positions dovetails with the calls Americans across the country are making for more diversity in both the private and public sector — but there’s more work to do.
In January 2019, when Gov. Newsom became governor of California he promised more inclusion of African Americans and other ethnic minorities.
“I am deeply committed to building an administration that reflects California’s diversity, and it’s a goal I hope to advance at every level of state government,” he said.
A little over 100 miles southwest of Sacramento in Santa Clara County, another African American, Rick Callender, assumed the top post of the region’s water utility last month.
Meet Richardson, Omishakin and Callender:
Yolanda Richardson, Secretary, California Government Operations Agency
Yolanda Richardson
Yolanda Richardson, 49, is California’s Secretary of Government Operations Agency. She was appointed by Gov. Newsom on January 22.
In her role, Richardson, a graduate of California State University Sacramento, oversees 10 state departments. Secretary Richardson oversees ten state departments vital to the smooth administration of state business, including procurement, information technology, tax administration, human resources, among others.
Immediately before joining Gov. Newsom’s administration, Richardson was president of Teloiv, a Sacramento-based consulting firm. Before that, she worked in leadership roles at both the California Health Exchange and at the San Francisco Health Care Plan.
Richardson, a Democrat, lives in Rosedale and earns a salary of $217,292.
Adetokunbo“Toks”Omishakin, Director, California Dept.of Transportation (CalTrans)
Adetokunbo “Toks” Omishakin is the Director of the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans). Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him in October 2019.
Omishakin, 44, is the 33rd director of the agency.
As director of CalTrans, he manages a $15 billion budget and nearly 21,000 employees and oversees 50,000 lane miles of highways. He is responsible for maintaining 13,000 bridges and providing permits for more than 400 public-use airports. CalTrans also funds three of Amtrak’s busiest intercity rail services and provide transit support to more than 200 local and regional transit agencies.
Before accepting the CalTrans director role, Omishakin was the deputy commissioner of environment and planning at the Tennessee Deparment of Transportation.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Omishakin and his wife have two children. He is completing a Ph.D. in engineering management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.?He has a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Jackson State University; and a bachelor of arts in engineering technology from Mississippi Valley State University.
Omishakin, registered without a party preference, earns a salary of $200,000.
RickCallender,CEO, Santa Clara Valley Water District
Rick Callender
Rick Callender, 49, an attorney and longtime water executive, was elected CEO of the Santa Clara Water District (SCWD) by the organization’s board of directors last month.
The organization serves as the water wholesaler for Santa Clara County and is responsible for providing water to — and flood protection in — the Santa Clara Valley.
In the role, Callender will oversee an annual budget of more than $600 million. During his tenure, SCWD is also expected to take on several major capital projects, including a major reservoir expansion and a dam renovation.
For more than two decades, Callender has worked in executive roles at Water Valley. He has also actively participated in local politics, organizing and advocacy, including serving as second Vice President of the California-Hawaii Conference of the NAACP.
Callender was born in Las Vegas and grew up in San Jose, where he graduated from Santa Teresa High School.? He earned his bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering and technology from California State University, Chico, and his law degree from Northwestern California School of Law.
A Democrat, Callender earns a salary of $326, 352 a year.
Deadline to Apply for Forgivable Paycheck Protection Program Loans Fast Approaching
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest that has been taking place in some cities, the impact has been felt in every sector of our economy. There has never been a more challenging time for America’s small business. That’s especially true for minority-owned businesses who face unique challenges even in the best of times.
As the U.S. Small Business Administration Regional Administrator to the Pacific Rim area, I understand that supporting the Black community includes investing in Black-owned businesses and supporting Black entrepreneurs across every town in America.
We hear from Black-owned businesses of the socioeconomic and capital funding challenges with starting and expanding a business. Our goal is to work with Black entrepreneurs to overcome these entrepreneurship challenges.
The Paycheck Protection Program was created to assist businesses economically impacted by the pandemic. This forgivable loan program has provided over 4.6 million small business loans totaling more than $500 billion to ensure that tens of millions of hardworking Americans stay connected to their jobs. This program is dedicated to providing emergency capital to sustain our nation’s small businesses and retain their employees. The deadline to apply for this program is just days away. Small businesses that have not yet applied have until June 30th to do so. More than $100 billion is still available.
Of the PPP funding, SBA partnered specifically with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) to ensure that funding reaches all communities in need of relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. CDFIs and MDIs work to expand economic opportunity in low-income communities by providing access to financial products and services for local residents and businesses. Together, these lenders have originated more than $17 billion in dedicated fundsto small businesses in low-income communities.
Other ongoing programs that SBA has available include Women’s Business Centers to assist women in starting and growing small businesses. Across the U.S., Black women start their own business at record rates. These centers provide a full range of services for women entrepreneurs at all stages of planning, implementation and growth.
For those interesting in contracting with the federal government, Women-owned business certificationhelps provide a level playing field for women business owners, as the government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses certified as women-owned. Another valuable resource is the Mentor-Protégé Program, designed for small businesses to learn from an experienced government contractor
Other mentoring programs include SCORE, a network of thousands of volunteer business counselors around the country who mentor and educate small business owners. It’s a
free mentoring and education program for business owners to learn from others who have been through the entrepreneurship journey. This program also seeks mentors from the Black community to better assist Black entrepreneurship as they better understand the obstacles of Black entrepreneurs.
For businesses seeking to expand to international markets, Export Assistance Centers help small businesses by providing information on how to export, participate in foreign trade missions and trade shows, translate websites, and design marketing campaigns.
These and many other SBA resources are available online at SBA.gov, including information about upcoming webinars to assist entrepreneurs in overcoming common business obstacles and today’s unprecedented challenges.
As the Regional Administrator for the Pacific Rim for SBA, and as Associate Administrator for the Office of Field Operations for our agency, SBA is ready to assist, whether in-person, on the phone, or virtually through a webinar, we are here for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
At the SBA, our role is to support entrepreneurs in achieving their dream of owning a business, scaling-up their business, and recover from today’s unprecedented challenges.
The president and governors of both political parties with the support of local municipalities and businesses pushed to reopen the country even as medical experts warned against moving too far, too fast.
It appeared they weighed dollars and cents against the value of Black lives, those of the elderly and others. Apparently, it was a gamble they were willing to take to help save the economy.
Today, as the number of COVID-19 cases exceeds 2.2 million nationally and the country’s death toll rapidly approaches 120,000, California is among the growing number of states contributing to these rising numbers.
San Bernardino and Riverside Counties are not idle bystanders in this deadly march as indicated by the rising hospitalizations experienced in both counties last week.
As warranted, the number of people being tested for COVID-19 in both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties are increasing and most understand the correlation between the increased number of people being tested and the increasing number of positive cases. However, embedded in the rising numbers of positive cases lies the potential for increased hospitalizations.
The increasing number of hospitalizations is not a benign measure as in too many instances, it serves as a harbinger of grief—especially for Blacks and the elderly.
On Thursday, June 18, 2020 Riverside experienced the highest number of hospitalizations in a single day with 291 COVID-19 patients countywide; and San Bernardino saw its highest number in recent weeks with 313 hospitalizations. Though the numbers are still below peaks recorded earlier this year—the trend is ominous.
Regardless of how one may argue the need for prioritizing the economy—the value of human life is immeasurable.
By Friday, June 19, 2020, San Bernardino County reported 8,959 confirmed cases and 233 deaths. Riverside County, (ahead in COVID-19 testing) reported 12,778 cases and 410 deaths.
As a result of Riverside Counties rising numbers, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has added the county to its Data Monitor Watch List which calls for targeted engagement between the county and the state as a result of its rising numbers of hospitalizations and deaths.
At this point it is important to remind the community how Riverside County applied for and received a variance to move more quickly through Stage 2 of the state’s reopening process even though it did not meet all the requirements to do so.
Now, barely a month later as noted by the CDPH, “Riverside County is experiencing elevated disease transmission based on the following: general increases in local gatherings; outbreaks at state prisons and skilled nursing facilities; potential transmission at public protests; in-county patient transfers from Imperial County; patients seeking care from Northern Baja California and traveling along SR-86 corridor into Coachella Valley.”
CDPH has recommended the county take several steps to help slow the spread of the virus and reduce the potential for increased hospitalizations and deaths.
The steps include closely monitoring the data, the need for increased testing at both county and state test sites, the implementation of a Quick Response Team for high-risk skilled nursing facilities; and expanding its contact tracing workforce.
The state has further recommended the county increase its messaging about the importance of personal protection measures. And finally, it called for increased coordination and communication between the local health department, CDPH, and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to curb and contain outbreaks at state prisons.
On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new order requiring all Californians to wear a mask in public. This came just a day after the state reached a record high on Wednesday, in the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded since the state reopened for business.
That day California reported 4,165 new cases—the highest daily number recorded since the onset of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, June 24, the full California Senate voted 30-10 to pass Assembly Constitutional Amendment? 5 (ACA 5), an initiative to overturn Proposition 209 and reinstate Affirmative Action in the state after 24 years.
The constitutional amendment will now appear on the general election ballot in November for voters to decide whether to approve it or not.
Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), chair of the Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), and Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D-Carson), co-introduced the bill. It is among the legislations deemed a priority for the CLBC in 2020.
Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber (D-San Diego)
If voters approve the amendment in November, California will join 42 states that allow equal opportunity programs that support women and minorities.
“What your vote means today, in supporting ACA5, is that?it would allow not just the 115,000 who signed a petition in opposition to it,” said Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus on the Senate floor before the vote. “It will allow the 40 million residents to have the opportunity to weigh in. So colleagues, we must be affirmative in the action we take to bend the arc towards justice.”
ACA 5 moved through both houses of the state legislature without much friction. On June 10, the full California Assembly voted 60-14 in favor of the bill before it moved to the Senate.
?In 1996, voters passed Prop. 209 Also called the “California Civil Rights Initiative,” it banned discrimination or preferential treatment based on race or gender in public education, employment, and contracting.
Pete Wilson was the governor of California when the constitutional amendment was enacted. Since becoming law, Prop. 209 has been a constant point of contention between opponents and supporters. People who oppose it point to data that shows how African Americans and other minorities have been negatively impacted by it in different arenas, including public sector employment, state government procurement and public university enrollment.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. On this historic day I am incredibly grateful to all my colleagues,” Weber tweeted after the Senate yay vote. “We have a long way to go to achieve equality, but we are one step closer today,”
Although ACA 5 has increasingly gained widespread support across political, cultural and socio-economic divides in California, some of its staunchest critics remain vocally opposed. The Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) and the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation (SVCAF) are two groups that have organized to apply pressure on legislators to vote no.
The California Federation of College Republicans (CFCR) submitted an opposition letter, signed by 26 registered student organizations, to the California State Senate ahead of this week’s floor vote.
The letter notes how approval of ACA 5 would negatively affect Asian-American students.
“ACA 5 will not only legalize racial discrimination but further divide our state along racial lines,” said CFCR spokesperson Kenneth Schrupp. “As a student of mixed race, I find the practice of racial discrimination and categorization highly objectionable and even exclusionary.”
Another student organization, the Cal State Students Association, which has a membership of nearly half a million students enrolled in the state’s three systems of higher learning, wrote a letter in support of ACA 5.
“Since the passage of Prop 209, admissions rates for Asian American students in California’s most competitive schools have continued to decline, as has been the case for Native Americans, Black and Latinx students,” it read.
“The California state Senate has the power to take a strong stance against racism and allow Californians the opportunity to vote to restore affirmative action and create a more fair, just and equitable California,” the letter stated.
Kabelo Maaka and Dr Tshepo Maaka’s documentary short 3 Teaspoons of Sugar focuses on three individuals who share their experiences living with diabetes. This educational animation had its independent World Premiere on World Diabetes Day on November 14th 2019 and will be screening online as part of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June.
In a household where mealtime is a delightful feast full of bonding, fellowship & good eating, 3 members of this tight knit family are diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus.
Director Kabelo ‘Cabblow’ Maaka is an animator, illustrator, animation lecturer and founder and creative director of Cabblow Studios, which is a Johannesburg based animation studio. Unsatisfied with the quality of Animation education in South Africa, Kabelo started using YouTube to create art and animation tutorials. Together with her passion for animation and her skillset including digital character animation, character design, storyboarding, and scriptwriting, she is determined on making sure that her work become game changers by cultivating a unique voice that contributes meaningfully to the animation conversation in South African and internationally. Kabelo was a speaker at the Cape Town International Animation Festival in 2019.
Co Director Dr Tshepo P. Maaka has been a medical practitioner registered with the Health Professions Council since 1994, practicing mainly anaesthesiology. Until early 2018, Dr Maaka has been running an obstetrical anaesthetic practice at both the Sunninghill and Waterfall Hospitals in Gauteng. She partnered with her daughter Kabelo in forming Cabblow Studios to produce Medical Animation. Together, they are combining their skills in medicine and animation to carve out a unique niche in the South African animation market. They hope to produce content to educate on health in order to promote compliance & healthy living, and to produce better health outcomes.
3 Teaspoons of Sugar also screened at Africa Rising International Film Festival in 2019 and Lagos International Festival of Animation 2020 where they both made it to the semifinals.
YUCAIPA, CA—- This spring, eight students completed the Radiologic Technology (Rad Tech) program at Crafton Hills College. The 22 ½-month program, offered in partnership with Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, prepares students to perform diagnostic imaging examinations. Each student received his or her associate degree in Radiologic Technology or Radiologic Technology certificate and is eligible to take state and national board examinations to qualify for entry-level employment in radiography.
The graduates are Jason Brown, Fabian Cano, Lewis Middleton, Jerry Padgett Jr., Desiree Perez, Julianne Richter, John Shields and Alexis Ward. These individuals endured a difficult final semester with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
“All of the graduates worked hard and persevered through all of life’s unexpected surprises in 2020,” said program director Melissa Huynh. “I’m so proud of them!”
In addition to the awarding of degrees and certificates, the program faculty also presented awards and scholarships at the informal “socially distant” gathering on June 9.
Jerry Padgett, Jr. received the Clinical Achievement Award for his superior clinical performance and commendable attendance record. Padgett plans to continue his education in computed tomography (CT).
Alexis Ward was recognized for her academic excellence in the didactic portion of the program with the Academic Achievement Award. Ward is continuing her education and pursuing a license in mammography.
Another award, the Cristi Hall Award of Excellence in Radiography, in memory of Cristi Hall RT(R), who exemplified the value of being a caregiver and team player, went to Desiree Perez, selected for demonstrating these values. This year, the award was accompanied with an inaugural $500 scholarship in memory of Michael Scott.
Scott, an alumnus of the CHC Rad Tech program was the recipient of the Cristi Hall Award in 2012. He went on to become an instructor in the program until he passed away in 2019. Scott’s family endowed a scholarship in his name this year that will accompany the award given to a deserving grad in perpetuity.
“I was blessed to have known Mike personally,” Perez declared. “The scholarship will go towards covering my State exam fees as well as my fluoroscopy license exam fees. As I continue my journey to become a rad tech, I hope I can exemplify all the qualities that Mike had. He was kind, compassionate, and eager to help the students.” Perez will be continuing her education in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Each of the students were commended by Huynh for being flexible through this unprecedented time and finishing the program strong. In lieu of a formal ceremony, a graduation recognition video, which includes messages from faculty and staff along with individual photos of each graduate is available at craftonhills.edu under “Latest News.”
Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
