Business, Commentary, Cultural, Family, Government, Health, Local, News, Youth

Coconino Community College — CCC focuses on safety this fall with remote learning

by Community Contributor • August 17, 2020 • Comments Off

Coconino Community College’s Stellar Newsletter

Shaping the future of Coconino County. Empowering Individuals. Inspiring Communities.

Education with Purpose!

Visit our website

A quick word from the President

The Fall semester is a week away.

How is it that time seems to move so very quickly and yet so very slowly during a pandemic? I think it is because we so very much miss seeing our students and our communities up close and in person. And yet, Coconino Community College is moving right along.

This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we at CCC have chosen Remote Delivery methods for our courses in the interest of the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and the community. Our motto for this time is “Be Stellar, Be Safe.” Going to remote delivery was a difficult decision because all of us, especially our faculty, want to have that personal contact with our students, and some of our students would absolutely prefer to learn that way.

All of us at CCC, despite the college’s small size, are doing everything we can to help encourage people to follow guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, staff at Coconino County Health and Human Services have spent considerable time answering our questions on how we can make it as safe as possible at all our locations.

Instructional methods this semester are: Videoconferencing, Online and Hybrid. The videoconference experience, done in real-time, will allow for that personalized time with faculty. Online courses give students maximum flexibility in their schedules. Hybrid courses, which require some in-person learning, will be conducted with strict safety measures. Our faculty have been working hard to build courses that are as interactive as possible.

We are looking forward to being with our students and our communities in person again in the future. We will do so when it is safe, and we look forward to that day. In the meantime, Be Stellar, Be Safe.

CCC is a great place to be. Onward! Náás! Adelante!

Colleen Smith

CCC focuses on safety this fall

with remote learning

Videoconferencing, online and “hybrid” forms available to students

Sophia Weinzinger, a Flagstaff resident currently studying Business Management at Arizona State University, listens intently in her Physics class at Coconino Community College.

She and two other students are conducting hands-on experiments on the different types of energy. They all wear face coverings, including instructor Chad Davies. They all are at seats at least six feet apart. They are supposed to clean their stations when they are done with the lab.

“I figured with COVID, this summer would be a good time to get credits out of the way,” Weinzinger said. “CCC is a great place to get transfer credits.”

Weinzinger and her classmates are taking part in CCC’s “hybrid” learning environment with their Physics lab. This fall, there will be three ways students can take classes at the college in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the “hybrid” way, students can choose “videoconferencing” and “online.”

Sophia Weinzinger and classmates conduct experiments at CCC in her “hybrid” Physics course. Hybrid, videoconferencing and online courses are available this fall to promote safety and minimal disruptions to students.

Read the rest of the story

CCC’s TRIO program receives $1.3 million grant to help students

TRIO Student Support Services at CCC will receive the funds from the U.S. Department of Education over a five-year period.

Program supports first-generation students, students with disabilities and low-income students

The Coconino Community College TRIO Student Support Services program received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The grant, which will be distributed over a five-year period, is the third such grant CCC has received since 2010.

“This is a big deal because our priority is first-generation students, students with disabilities and low-income students,” said Jessica Laessig, TRIO project coordinator at CCC. “This grant is important to be able to help these students who need it the most on our campus.”

According to information from the U.S. Department of Education, the funds are to “provide opportunities for academic development, assist students with basic college requirements and to motivate students toward the successful completion of their postsecondary education.”

Read the rest of the story

Be Stellar, Be Safe at CCC

Be Stellar, Be Safe at Coconino Community College

Coconino Community College, nestled in the ponderosa pine forests and big-sky beauty of northern Arizona, offers a stellar educational experience for the outdoor lover in all of us. Registration is underway for fall semester. Remember to “Be Stellar, Be Safe.”

For more videos of students, programs and more at CCC, visit our YouTube channel.

Visit our website for class schedules

Award-winning CCC alum encourages

educational path

April Sandoval receives award from the Association of Community College Trustees

Barely getting by at a dead-end job, April Sandoval left an abusive husband and decided to try her hand at college.

Sitting in the parking lot of Coconino Community College in 2002, she forced herself to go inside and attend her first class. She thrived and quickly received her associate degree. She then went on to get two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree.

Now, Sandoval, Assistant to the President and the District Governing Board at CCC, can add another feather in her cap on her road to success. She was chosen this week to receive the Pacific Region Professional Board Staff Member Award for 2020 from the Association of Community College Trustees.

“I’m a bit overwhelmed and humbled,” Sandoval said. “It’s been a chance to think over what I’ve accomplished since the night almost 20 year ago, when I sat in the parking lot and cried before I started my first class at CCC.”

CCC alum April Sandoval, Assistant to the CCC President and the District Governing Board, receives the nod for the Pacific Region Professional Board Staff Member Award

for 2020 from ACCT.

Read the rest of the story

Certified Nursing Assistant program returns

to CCC in Page this fall

New CNA instructor, Carmen Bernal, has the lab in Page prepped and ready

The patient beds are made. Medical supplies are at the ready. The mannequins are prepped for receiving care, and the instructor is standing by to teach.

Now, what’s left is the students.

After a seven-year hiatus, the Certified Nursing Assistant program is returning to Coconino Community College in Page.

“This program is important for CCC to support the Page community,” said Kay Leum, executive director of Extended Learning at CCC. “The opportunity to go through the course here in Page, whether students want to go straight into the workforce in the area or to continue studies for a nursing degree, offers so many benefits.”

For instance, Leum said that students will no longer have to make long drive to Flagstaff to be able to complete the requirements of the course, and the students in Page interested in pursuing a Nursing degree and license can take care of their CNA requirements in their hometown. Additionally, students interested in finding work after getting through the course and passing the licensing exam will have a number of places to land a job in Page and neighboring Navajo Nation.

Carmen Bernal, CNA instructor for CCC in Page, stands in the lab space where students will be learning skills.

Read the rest of the story

For more information about CCC’s Certified Nursing Assistant program, visit https://www.coconino.edu/info/cna-program. CCC in Page can be reached at 928-645-3987.

CCC double-times English for veterans

CCC English faculty Kama O’Connor heads up the course designed specifically for veterans.

Read the rest of the story

The first-year English requirement done in a semester

Veterans who have served their country return to civilian life and often want to begin a college career.

They’ve lived a little life after high school. They have common experiences from being in the military. And they, typically, have very specific goals when it comes to what they want from their education.

To that end, faculty at Coconino Community College, with input from colleagues at Northern Arizona University, created an English composition course at CCC this fall that will allow veterans, in class among other veterans, to complete the requirements of the year-long course in a single semester.

Because the course is designed specifically for veterans, registration requires a signature. For more information about the course, contact

Sandra Dihlmann or Kama O’Connor.

CCC offers new HVACr program this fall

Ken Myers, Construction Technology Management faculty at CCC, stands next to a HVACR model that helps illustrate

concepts to students.

Read the rest of the story

Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration technicians are in demand

Coconino Community College will now be offering a certification in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACr) this fall thanks to a generous grant from the Del E. Webb Foundation. The program includes training in Plumbing, Blueprint Reading and Estimating, Basic Electrical Theory, House Wiring, Building Methods. International Residence Code and HVACr.

“The best thing about this program is the amount of opportunities students will have in building a career in the trades and knowing that we had a part in their success,” said Ken Myers, Construction Technology Management faculty at CCC. “My favorite part is using all of the new ‘real world’ technology and equipment we purchased through the Del Webb grant.”

A centerpiece of the HVACr courses is a new interactive cart that features HVACr components designed to give the students hands-on skills, purchased with the assistance of a $1 million Del E. Webb grant that was also used to upgrade the CTM lab space at the Fourth Street campus.

Added Myers, “It makes the class a lot more interactive and that’s always better than learning from a book.”

Serve your community: Complete the Census

There are many ways to serve your community, but one of the easiest and most important this year is completing the 2020 Census. It takes 10 minutes, but it impacts funding and representation for our community for the next 10 years. The deadline for response has been moved up to Sept. 30, so make sure to get your household countedtoday.

Want to do more to help get out the count? Get out the word to people in your networks. Support the Census on social media, and make sure your family and friends have completed theirs. Own a business or run an organization? Talk to your employees and your clientele about how the Census impacts our community. Need materials to communicate with? Contact the Coconino County Community Census Team at 928-607-9709, or email Greg Webb, to requests media and print materials.

I Count. You Count. Together we can make a difference for Coconino County.