CCC Dances in Independence Day
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- CCC is likely to have the most “hip” parade entry again this Fourth of July. The Encore dancers will be delivering their street beat to the thousands of spectators during Flagstaff’s Independence Day Parade, Friday, July 4. CCC employees and students are welcome to join in the fun by handing out goodies to the crowd or carrying banners. The CCC float will be staging at Hunt Street between Beaver and Leroux at 8 a.m. Those interested in participating are encouraged to contact the Marketing/PR Department. Brian can be reached at 853-8538; call Bonnie at 853-0403.
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Ooze into CCC History at the July 8 Clay Stomp
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – All those associated with Coconino Community College soon will have the opportunity to leave their footprints on the institution. During a Wood-fired Ceramic Mural Project Workshop, July 7 – 12, participants and others will be invited to walk barefoot through a 60-foot clay path on the Lone Tree Campus. Workshop students will then carve the giant clay walkway into square tiles to be dried and fired in the Noborogama Tozan Kiln on the Northern Arizona University campus. The tiles then will be reassembled and mounted in a 4’ X 60’ bronze, brown and coppery-textured strip along the cinder block wall of the Lone Tree Campus’s art patio.
“Those taking the workshop will learn several things. They’ll learn how to make something this large. They’ll learn how to mix the clay, which is a very good sculpture clay, and they’ll be able to make their own pottery and fire it in this huge kiln,” said workshop instructor and long-time ceramicist Don Bendel. “The most fun is firing the Tozan kiln. It’s a 2,000-year-old process and the only other way to get an experience like this is to go to Japan.”
The footprint part of the project is scheduled for the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, July 8 Clay Stomp. “Students, staff, faculty members, workshop participants and anybody else with ties to the college are invited to get their feet wet and walk through the clay,” said CCC ceramics instructor Ellen Tibbetts. ”The idea behind this mural project is to connect people with each other and with the college, create something amazing, and leave a legacy of art and community on the walls of the college.”
Not only will they step into CCC history, those who participate will be able to scratch their names in the clay, as well. The mural is expected to be mounted next spring and become part of the permanent CCC art collection. Similar clay murals are mounted at Marshall School and the NAU Ceramics Complex.
NAU’s Tozan kiln – the Western world’s first – was completed and fired for the first time in 1986 in an effort to revive this ancient ceramics process. Most of the outside decoration and color on pottery fired this way comes from the ash and the way the fire moves through the kiln.
Cost for the week-long Wood-fired Ceramic Mural Project Workshop is $250 per person. Those interested may register through the CCC Community Enrichment Center at www.coconino.edu, or call 928-526-7644. The class also may be taken for three hours credit at an additional cost of $195. The July 8 Clay Stomp is free.
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State Education Leader to Inspect YouthBuild
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- A program that is building green construction skills and paving the way for careers is catching the attention of state leaders in education. Arizona Department of Education Deputy Associate Superintendent of Adult Education Services Karen Liersch is scheduled to visit Coconino Community College and a YouthBuild site Wednesday, June 4.
YouthBuild is a partnership with the Coconino County Career Center and the college that is giving young adults direction. The construction site at First and Main Street serves as a hands-on local example of a collaboration that is helping students transition into the workforce or higher education.
“We are used to hearing about Arizona ranking at or near the bottom on national education measures of all kinds, but Karen’s leadership and vision are making Arizona Adult Education different. They are making us a national leader in practice and outcomes,” said CCC Executive Director of Learning Enhancement Services and Adult Education Shawn Nittmann.
Liersch also is scheduled to visit CCC’s Adult Secondary Education Reframing Pilot Program, which revisions the GED as the beginning for adult learners rather than the end.
“When I first read about the YouthBuild Program, I recognized how completely its goals aligned with those of the Arizona Adult Education Reframing Pilot, said CCC Adult Education Program Manager Greg Cross. “The GED is really just the beginning for these students and I’m pleased to be a partner with the Career Center in this endeavor. YouthBuild is looking toward the future in many of the same ways that Karen Liersch does.”
Liersch is expected to incorporate her observations into a new statewide plan for adult education.
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