Coconino Community College - News and Spotlights - Page #3

CCC student aims for nursing career

Tuesday, 27^th July 2021

CCC student Bonnie Kelch, with the help of the Coconino Association for Vocations, Industry and Technology, earned nearly 40 college credits before she left high school. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Flagstaff High School graduate Bonnie Kelch left high school with job skills and college credit. She took advantage of free college courses at CCC with the help of the Coconino Association for Vocations, Industry and Technology and is already a Certified Nursing Assistant, and she also has a certification in Pre-Health Careers. "I always thought I wanted to be a nurse, and this ...

CCC's Metcalf enjoys diversity, backgrounds of students

Monday, 26^th July 2021

Coconino Community College Psychology Faculty Michele Metcalf has been selected as the 2021 Full-Time Faculty of the Year. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, according to the American Psychological Association. It is a field that has long held fascination for Michele Metcalf, lead faculty for Social and Behavioral Sciences at Coconino Community College. Along her educational journey, she found that what she had a passion for teaching the subject that fascinated her. Her students can feel that passion and helped her ...

CCC's Dorel Meier shares love of math, stats with students

Wednesday, 14^th July 2021 12:00 AM

CCC faculty Dorel Meier was selected as the Part-Time Faculty of the Year 2021 by students and peers. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Math and statistics are Dorel Meier’s game. She finds it a worthy challenge to take students on a journey to understand how much of what they do in the world revolves around math and that it can be fun. So, it’s no wonder that Meier was chosen as the Part-Time Faculty of the Year for the 2021-22 school year at Coconino Community College. She was nominated by students and by fellow faculty at the college. “This award truly means the world ...

CCC tutors help students succeed

Thursday, 24^th June 2021

CCC student Rhianna Hernandez uses the college's free Tutoring Services at the Lone Tree campus to help her with the more challenging subjects. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Accounting class brought Rhianna Hernandez to Tutoring Services at Coconino Community College. The first time she took an accounting class, she tried to push through the challenging subject on her own. She ended up dropping the class that first time, but she needed it for her associate degree in Business. “It was a different language,” Hernandez said. “But my tutor was able to explain it ...

CCC grad takes MyPath2ASU

Tuesday, 25^th May 2021

CCC student Travis Barnes graduated in May, and he's on his way to Arizona State University this fall, with the help of the MyPath2ASU program. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Travis Barnes has experienced a number of hardships and false starts in his life. “My parents gave me ‘the talk,” Barnes said, smiling. “They said, ‘School is the best investment you can make in yourself.’” So, Barnes, a Flagstaff native who graduated from Sinagua High School when it was still a high school, decided to consider a career instead of jobs with little ...

Learning wildfire suppression at CCC

Thursday, 13^th May 2021

Coconino Community College student Cascade Parcell, a former wildland firefighter, refreshes her skills with a saw during a recent course offered at the college. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Cascade Parcell and her instructor Brad Williams study the ponderosa pine. They’re looking for “lean” – the direction the tree wants to fall. “I’m going to use wedges on this one,” Parcell says, picking up a chainsaw. She fires up the chainsaw, kneels at the base and starts cutting while Williams carefully watches. Parcell was one of a handful ...

A night in the CCC auto lab at Findlay Honda

Monday, 1^st March 2021

Students listen to master auto technician Jonathan Begay explain inspection points for automobiles during CCC's Auto Tech 100 class at Findlay Honda in Flagstaff. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Eleven students sit in room, dressed in clothes they don’t mind getting dirty. They learn about filters, batteries, fluids, belts, tires, brakes, suspensions, lights and so much more. The average vehicle, when it gets a thorough inspection, undergoes a system check from top to bottom, bumper to bumper and all points in between, said Jonathan Begay. “Every ...

CCC alum blends modern with traditional Navajo culture

Thursday, 11^th February 2021

Artist and CCC alum Randall Wilson shows off some of his work featured at The Comet Art Gallery at the Lone Tree campus. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The Mandalorian’s helmet is adorned with arrowheads, and he sports a Navajo Nation seal and traditional hair bun. He wears a silver bow guard decorated with turquoise. Yoda strikes a pose, very much in the Navajo tradition, also wearing turquoise necklace and a traditional hair bun. His work is the blending of modern and traditional: The purpose about making connection across time, and that the ...

CCC Adult Education makes easy conversation

Monday, 1^st February 2021

Jennifer Dennis, Adult Education instructor at CCC's Fourth Street campus, leads students in an advanced English language-acquisition class at CCC. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Jiyoung Lee comes from South Korea, and Jose Landaverde comes from El Salvador. Kaoru Pierre comes from Japan, and Aurora Silleni comes from Italy. There’s Victor Parra from Mexico and May Henao from Colombia. They may have come from all over the world, but they have one thing in common: They’re all taking classes with the Adult Education program at Coconino Community College to ...

See language in a new way at CCC

Monday, 14^th December 2020

CCC graduate April Winters uses American Sign Language to refer to her home. The ASL and Interpreting Studies program at Coconino Community College has a new degree to lay the foundation for being an interpreter for the Deaf community. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Coconino Community College graduate April Winters is at Northern Arizona University studying to be an English teacher. While at CCC, she took American Sign Language courses to fulfill her foreign language requirements for her degree. “The Deaf community is a smaller community,” Winters said. “And ...

Apprenticeship leads to college credits at CCC

Thursday, 3^rd December 2020

CCC student Corbin Felsted received college credit for his apprenticeship and on-the-job training as an electrician. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Once Corbin Felsted returned home to Flagstaff after a church mission, he knew he wanted to work with his hands. “I thought electrician would be great, but nobody would hire me because I didn’t have experience,” Felsted said. Finally, a local electrical company put him through an apprenticeship program – a grueling process of trade school, homework every night and working 40 hours a week. He finished a four-year ...

Scholarship offers legacy for son's love of solar energy

Thursday, 19^th November 2020

Donald and Kathy McMullin start the Sean Roarke McMullin Memorial Scholarship to help others who want to find careers in the solar-energy field. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - He was a bright spirit, lively, adventuresome and extraordinarily kind. Sean McMullin, a Northern Arizona University graduate, loved the potential of solar energy and hoped to pursue alternative energies as a business. He passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 12, 2020, and his parents, dedicated to keeping his legacy alive, have started the Sean Roarke McMullin Memorial Scholarship through the Coconino Community ...

CCC clubs continue during pandemic

Tuesday, 3^rd November 2020

CCC Biology faculty Melinda McKinney, left, listens with members and friends of the Students Advancing STEM Club as Forestdale Farms' Rylan Morton-Starner explains how the round-tailed chub is being raised while helping feed plants. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - What do the round-tailed chub and Walnut Canyon have in common? They were both featured during recent field trips by student clubs at Coconino Community College. The CCC Students Advancing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Club and the CCC Anthropology Club, properly socially distanced ...

CCC construction students appreciate hands-on labs

Monday, 28^th September 2020 12:00 AM

CCC student Andrea Clayton works on building her own toolbox during a lab session in the Construction Technology Management shop on the Fourth Street campus. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Drills whir. Circular saws throw up dust. The instructor works to be heard over the noise. “This helps you cut in a straight line with a circular saw,” he says, sawdust in his hair. The Coconino Community College Construction Technology students are starting simple by building tool boxes, but by the end, they will build a 5-foot by 8-foot shed that will contain everything necessary for ...

CCC alum Jerrel Singer paints Navajo Nation home

Friday, 25^th September 2020

Accomplished artist and CCC alum Jerrel Singer paints landscapes and portraits of his home on the Navajo Nation. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The deep reds, oranges, purples and blues evoke a taste of dust, a dry feeling, a sense of expansiveness. The art of Coconino Community College alum Jerrel Singer sings a heartfelt song of his Navajo Nation home of Gray Mountain and Cameron and what home means to him. “Mostly, they’re places people don’t see much of the time because they’re literally driving by to get somewhere else,” Singer says. His ...

Award-winning CCC alum encourages educational path

Thursday, 6^th August 2020

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 the Association of Community College Trustees. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - 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 ...

Be Stellar, Be Safe at CCC this fall

Thursday, 30^th July 2020

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 disruption to students. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - 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, ...

CCC students learn to fight wildfires

Tuesday, 21^st July 2020

Students from across the state come to CCC in Flagstaff for Wildland Firefighter training. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Dressed in yellow, green and tan, they form a line and work up the hill. Hot sun beats down on them while they heft Pulaskis and fire rakes. Their work kicks up dust as they make a fire line up the hillside. “Keep it moving,” yells out one of the students. Making a fire line was one of several exercises that 19 students in Coconino Community College’s Wildland Firefighter class participated in this summer. The week-long class gets students ...

Fire Science students master lifesaving tools at CCC

Wednesday, 15^th July 2020

CCC Fire Science student Krista Kramer tries her hand at using extrication tools during a training session at the Flagstaff Fire Department training facility in Flagstaff. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Coconino Community College student Krista Kramer first thought about being a firefighter when she was 13 years old. “I liked how you’re doing something different every day,” Kramer said. “And I like helping people.” Kramer was one of a full roster of students who spent the day earlier this summer getting needed training on the use of “extrication ...

Banjo picking for scholarships at CCC

Tuesday, 2^nd June 2020

Banjo Billy Smith uses his gig on Grand Canyon Railway to fund a scholarship at CCC for underserved Native Americans. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - It started off as a project to meet the requests of fans of his performances on the train. It ended up as a labor of love to help underserved Native Americans attend college. Banjo Billy Smith, a regular performer on the Grand Canyon Railway before the COVID-19 outbreak, has started the Banjo Billy Scholarship for Underserved Native Americans at Coconino Community College. “My hope is that I help people in need of ...