About 100 students from California State University, Los Angeles are studying at Rio Hondo College this month to complete basic skills courses under the auspices of a two-year, $2 million grant recently received by the community college district. The grant, one of five totaling $10 million awarded by the California Community College’s Chancellor’s Office, provides Rio Hondo College with resources to work with area high schools, adult schools and CSU Los Angeles to improve the chances of college success for students with challenges in English and math.
Rio Hondo College will help incoming freshmen prepare for their higher-education journeys with the final of three Freshman Welcome Days from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Aug. 3. The program includes a campus tour, a workshop on the importance of a student’s first year in college and instruction on using online tools for class registration and financial aid. The College can accommodate 100 students. Two previous Welcome Days events were held in July. For information, contact the Rio Hondo College Outreach Office at 562-463-4693.
About 120 seventh-graders from 10 middle schools in five area school districts assembled car engines, built crystal radios, launched solid-fuel rockets, learned First Aid and explored computer coding by creating "mods" in the popular Minecraft game during a weeklong CTE Academy at Rio Hondo College, which concluded July 22. Students applied trigonometry and algebra to complete rockets and learned electrical theory, calculations and application as they broke down and assembled small engines. Photos are available
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on Monday, June 27 will transfer control of Line 270 – a key bus route connecting student to Rio Hondo College – to Norwalk Transit and Foothill Transit. Norwalk Transit will operate the southern section of the line, from Norwalk to the El Monte Station, now called Norwalk 7. Foothill Transit will operate the line from the El Monte Station north to Arcadia, now called Foothill 270.
Rio Hondo College Fire Crew 77 has been activated to support U.S. Forest Service hotshot crews fighting fires across the state. The Roadrunners crew is assigned to the Angeles National Forest on standby. The Rio Hondo College crew consists of 15 men and a woman who attend the College’s Wildland Fire Academy, including Crew Leader Carlos Flores. The crew typically is called up for 14 to 21 days.
Michael Trusnovec, a principal dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Co., will host a master class for intermediate and advanced dance students at Rio Hondo College from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Monday, June 27, at the College, 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier. Trusnovec has danced with the modern dance company since 1998, and received a New York Dance and Performance Award in the 2005-06 season.
Follow-up Story: Thirty members of the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier will take hip-hop dance classes, learn about statistics through gaming and tour a gun range during a summer program at Rio Hondo College designed to inspire interest in higher education and careers among students in middle and high school. The program, which runs Monday, June 20 through Thursday, June 23, is a pilot effort that College and club leaders hope to expand. Other activities include fun with chemistry, a soccer clinic, a theater tour and a digital media workshop.
Rio Hondo College has been awarded $2 million over two years to work with area high schools, adult schools and California State University, Los Angeles to improve the chances of college success for students with challenges in English and math. Rio Hondo College will target up to 2,500 Cal State L.A. students for remedial instruction, tutoring and other support each year. Students will take summer courses after high school to build skills before freshman year, receive aid in spring of their freshman year to complete remedial programs and enroll in summer classes after freshman year if they need additional help.
Follow-up Story: Rio Hondo College students Katherine Torres and Devon Castorena dreamed of becoming lawyers long before they enrolled in community college. But until the College launched its Pathway to Law School program in 2014-15, the two couldn't see an avenue for pursuing those dreams. On May 26, they joined 12 other members of the program's inaugural class in graduating from Rio Hondo College. The duo credits the two-year program's innovative classroom instruction and invaluable internships for helping them taking the next step in their journey to law school.
Follow-up Story: An estimated 1,372 Rio Hondo College students earned a record-breaking 1,646 associate degrees this spring, a surge driven by a massive leap in degrees guaranteeing enrollment in the California State University system. Overall, degree numbers grew 42 percent from 2014-15. Degrees for transfer grew to an estimated 666 this year, more than double the 298 in 2014-15. Rio Hondo College held its 53rd Commencement exercises on May 26.
