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.
Telemundo anchor Dunia Elvir will address 1,400 graduates at Rio Hondo College's 53nd commencement at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 26. The ceremony will honor several graduates for overcoming adversity as well as 14 students in the College's Pathway to Law School inaugural class. Superintendent/President Teresa Dreyfuss and Associated Students of Rio Hondo College President William Ashby will speak. Academic Senate President Robert Bethel will present the Marie I. Pellissier Award to class valedictorian Maritza Acuña Gaxiola. Board of Trustees President Mary Ann Pacheco will honor emeritus professor of sociology and economics Maurice Meysenburg as a Fellow of the College. Rio Hondo College is at 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier.
A car accident staged on Friday, May 13 will provide a venue for students across multiple Rio Hondo College disciplines to collaborate on emergency response techniques mirroring those of a real-life crisis. The Collaborative Crisis Scenario will test how more than 100 students studying to be nurses, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and journalists respond to an emergency. Two sessions – at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. – will enable all students to participate. Students from the College’s visual and performing arts departments will support the effort by performing as victims and suspects during the event, staged at the Administration of Justice Annex on campus.
Rio Hondo College’s groundbreaking Automotive Technology Program received approval April 27 to offer California’s first Associate of Science degree in hybrid, electric vehicle and fuel-cell technology, a high-demand career field. Students will study electrical systems, chemistry, physics and applied math – a blend of skills required by the complex alternative-fuels vehicles. A.S. students will be prepared for technician jobs and qualify for Rio Hondo College’s historic Bachelor of Science program in automotive technology.
Follow-up Story: The Associated Students of Rio Hondo College (ASRHC) unveiled a Hydration Station on April 20 at the Student Union. The $5,000 station, in the works for six months, will be available from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays. The station will provide students, campus employees and visitors with a free, environmentally friendly source of refrigerated pure water to refill reusable water bottles. Rio Hondo College is one of just a few community colleges in the region to boast such a facility.