Rio Hondo College will hold its first Homecoming Celebration in 22 years from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11 with events honoring both academic and sports programs. The free program, presented by the Rio Hondo College Foundation, features alumni receptions from 3 to 5 p.m. by the nursing and police programs, food and fun activities for the campus community from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and free tickets to the Rio Hondo College men’s 6 p.m. basketball game against Cerritos College. The Homecoming Celebration is intended as a way for alumni and current students to connect, share stories and build community. Rio Hondo College is at 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier
Rio Hondo College has launched a free tutoring program for area public schools in its Adopt-A-School program, providing college students who are studying child development and related fields to assist K-12 students during and after school. The program was piloted in spring at Scott Avenue Elementary in East Whittier City School District and is now offered there and at Dean Shively Middle School in Valle Lindo Elementary School District. It is expanding to encompass others in the College’s Adopt-A-School program, which has linked the campus to area schools for several years.
Rio Hondo College will receive $664,220 in federal dollars over the next four years to remove financial barriers to childcare that can prevent students with children from attending college. The Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant will provide the College with $166,055 annually to subsidize up to 75 percent of the cost of childcare for parents who are Pell Grant recipients or Pell Grant eligible.
Rio Hondo College’s Board of Trustees held an Oath of Office ceremony for one returning board member and two new members in front of a standing-room-only crowd of guests on Dec. 12 before naming new officers during a subsequent board meeting to lead the board through 2019. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis administered the oath to Norma Edith García, who was re-elected Nov. 6. Superior Court Judge Olivia Rosales administered the oath to new member Rosaelva Lomeli and Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Janice Hahn administered the oath to new member Oscar Valladares. Once seated, the board named Trustee Gary Mendez as its new president, Valladares as vice president and Lomeli as clerk. Also serving on the board is Vicky Santana.
Rio Hondo College voters on Nov. 6 re-elected Norma Edith García and elected Whittier residents Rosaelva Lomeli and Oscar Valladares to serve on the Board of Trustees, according to preliminary election results. García, who was first elected in 2009, serves Trustee Area 1, which includes the city of El Monte. Lomeli, a science teacher at Suva Intermediate School in Montebello, will serve Trustee Area 3, which includes Whittier and South El Monte. Valladares, a deputy public conservator in the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, will serve Trustee Area 5, which includes East Whittier.
Rio Hondo College will celebrate the graduation of its second cohort of Tesla-trained automobile technicians – 13 men and three women – in a special ceremony from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 at the College’s state-of-the-art Automotive Shop, 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier. The students are among the first in the nation to complete a 12-week Tesla START program that includes more than 800 hours of training.
In celebration of Veterans Day, Rio Hondo College will recognize World War II veteran Yoshio C. Nakamura and honor all veterans who have served in America’s armed forces in a ceremony set for 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13 at the Rio Hondo College Veterans Memorial, Lower Quad, 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier. Nakamura, a former Rio Hondo College vice president, was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team composed of Americans of Japanese ancestry that became the most highly decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service.
Rio Hondo College Fire Academy held a 50th Anniversary Celebration and Reunion on Oct. 20, welcoming more than 200 guests in addition to retired firefighters and alumni from the first class in 1968. U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez provided a proclamation recognizing the academy and Rio Hondo College Superintendent/President Teresa Dreyfuss recognized the efforts of faculty and staff and encouraged the program to continue to train tomorrow’s firefighters. Los Angeles County Fire Department provided a helicopter fly-over to kick off the festive event, which also featured a band, a fire bucket brigade challenge and remembrance of graduates who died in the line of duty.
Rio Hondo College is expanding and creating programs to support undocumented students and their families so that more people will be able to realize their full potential, aided in part by a $125,000 grant received for 2018-19 from the new California Campus Catalyst Fund. To date, the Catalyst Fund has raised nearly $10 million for a three-year initiative that will increase support for undocumented students and their families on campuses in state’s three public higher education systems. Rio Hondo College has enrolled 799 students who have identified as undocumented.
Rio Hondo College Hires Search Firm to Guide Selection of New President
Rio Hondo College’s Board of Trustees on Oct. 10 hired education-focused search firm PPL, Inc. to conduct a search for a superintendent/president to succeed leader Teresa Dreyfuss, who is departing at the end of the 2018-19 academic year. The search is expected to take about six months and cost about $31,000. Dreyfuss gave the Board advance notice of her retirement plans in August. PPL has a long history of assisting California Community Colleges in finding campus and district leaders.
