CMC grad finds calling in health care

May 6, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

Jesus Salgado with his mom Emilia Delgadillo at the nursing graduation ceremony at Spring Valley. Photo Ed Kosmicki

CMC Grad Finds Calling in Health Care

By Donna Gray

Jesus Salgado collected a second associate degree from Colorado Mountain College this week, in nursing, adding to the Associate of Science in biology he earned in 2017.

Salgado was among more than 1,000 students receiving degrees and certificates from Colorado Mountain College this week, at 10 different graduation ceremonies held throughout the CMC district. The nursing pinning ceremony was on the morning of May 4, at Spring Valley.

During the second of Salgado’s two years in the college’s well-respected nursing program, he worked at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs as a care technician, helping nurses care for patients in the acute care department. There he discovered a great passion for nursing.

“He’s friendly, personable, authentic and such a great team worker,” said Dawn Sculco, administrative director of inpatient services at Valley View Hospital. “Everybody loves him. It’s a great day when Jesus is on.”

Salgado grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved from “a harsh life, very violent,” he said, when he was 12 years old. He graduated in 2012 from Coal Ridge High School in Silt. Although he had always intended to go on to college, he did not have legal residency in the United States. But he applied for and was accepted into the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. The federal program allows qualified undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors to receive a renewable two-year exemption from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. For Salgado, it allowed him to stay in the U.S., to study and work.

His plan now is to earn a bachelor’s degree from CMC, and then go on to earn a master’s, or doctorate degree – or he may apply to medical school. At this point in his career, Salgado is delighted to be in nursing.

“I have found a love for nursing. I get to help people and care for them,” he said.

“I’m impressed with his strong work ethic, his striving for improvement and desire to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Betty Damask-Bembenek, acting dean of the School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Public Safety at CMC. “He’s very caring and compassionate.”

Salgado believes he owes his present success to the quality of education and outstanding support he’s received at CMC. “I’m truly grateful for that,” he said. “I would not change anything. Every teacher has been great and worked with me very closely.”

He especially appreciates having access to many campuses in the area. “While working full time, if I couldn’t get one class at a certain time or day, I went to another campus.

“It was great to have that flexibility to line up classes on my days off.”

And, he said, working with different professors in different fields gave him a broader education.

“I felt so welcome,” he said. “Every opportunity and privilege I received I’m grateful for. I’ve found love and passion for a career, and have been able to fulfill a calling through CMC.”

Sustainability in everything she does

May 6, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

From left, Julia Farwell, Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, sustainability studies professor, and Heather Exby, CMC Spring Valley campus dean and vice president at the Spring Valley bachelor’s graduation. Farwell was named outstanding bachelor’s graduate during the ceremony. Photo Ed Kosmicki

Sustainability in Everything She Does

By Mike McKibbin

SPRING VALLEY — When it comes to sustainability, there may not be another Colorado Mountain College student who has done more to make a difference than Julia Farwell. Her five-year journey ended with a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies at Saturday’s commencement ceremony at the Spring Valley campus.

More than 1,000 graduates are receiving degrees and certificates from Colorado Mountain College May 2-6, at 10 different graduation ceremonies held throughout the CMC district. Graduates from Aspen to Glenwood Springs could choose to participate in ceremonies at the college’s Spring Valley campus.

After growing up in Danville, Illinois, about 120 miles south of Chicago, Farwell earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Illinois and moved to Carbondale in 1996. For 16 years, she worked in the area’s hospitality industry, including management.

“I decided I wanted to do something more meaningful with my life,” she said, so in 2012 she worked for Osage Gardens and took a sustainable agriculture class at Sustainable Settings. It was at Sustainable Settings where she met CMC sustainability students and Adrian Fielder, then instructional chair of sustainability studies and director of the college’s Lappala Center in Carbondale.

Those experiences piqued her interest in the field of sustainability and two years later she took her first class in the program: Leadership, Ethics and Social Responsibility.

“I was hooked,” she said.

Another factor that pushed her toward sustainability was growing up playing in the woods in her backyard in Danville.

“My mom instilled a respect for nature in me,” Farwell said. Farwell originally wanted to get a certificate in sustainability from CMC, but her counselor urged her to seek a bachelor’s degree.“So I took one to three classes a semester,” she said. “That’s why it took as long as it did. But it was really rewarding. CMC staff and faculty are really caring; they are passionate about helping students with whatever it is they need to be able to succeed.

Farwell had an internship at EverGreen ZeroWaste and joined the Carbondale Environmental Board. She initiated several sustainability efforts for the Town of Carbondale including expanding waste diversion options at annual waste-disposal days and helped the town adopt an Ecological Bill of Rights. And she also brought source-separated glass recycling to South Canyon’s recycling facility.

She volunteered for numerous activities that helped to change how the Spring Valley campus embraces sustainable practices. Farwell organized zero-waste events at CMC, convinced staff to install healthy food vending machines, and helped establish composting at the Spring Valley and Glenwood Springs campuses. That led to similar changes at Morgridge Commons in downtown Glenwood Springs. Those changes helped the college divert the waste it sends to landfills.

In naming Farwell this year’s Outstanding Bachelor’s Student at the Spring Valley campus, program staff have noted that she “embodies sustainability in everything she does.”Along with her classes, Farwell has worked part-time since 2017 for the City of Aspen’s Environmental Health and Sustainability Department. Her boss is Liz O’Connell Chapman, also an adjunct faculty member in the college’s sustainability studies program.

With her degree, Farwell said she has future plans to spend a year with the AmeriCorps program and seek her master’s degree in communication.

“I want to combine communication with sustainability so I can engage diverse groups of people with sustainable initiatives more effectively,” Farwell said. She has already signed up for some communication and new media classes for fall semester.

Farwell praised O’Connell Chapman, as well as Johann Aberger, associate professor of outdoor education, and Adrian Fielder, now Spring Valley assistant dean of instruction, for helping guide and motivate her toward completing her degree. She also praised Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, Spring Valley’s full-time sustainability professor, for his efforts in making “real life” projects part of his courses.

“The program is very experiential, very hands-on, so you don’t have to wait until you graduate before you put what you learn to use,” Farwell said. “The small classes and the student interaction were great, too. I’ve really enjoyed this journey. It’s been such a joy.”

Watercolor Artists of Colorado Creative District Art Show

April 29, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

Watercolor Artists of Colorado Creative District

Opening Reception Friday, May 17 / 6-8pm — On view through June 23

Gallery is open Monday through Friday 11am to 5pm

CMC ArtShare Gallery at Morgridge Commons
815 Cooper Avenue, 2nd Floor
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601

Sustainability Studies B.A. Students Earn International Certification

April 15, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

Sustainability Studies B.A. Students Earn International Certification

On March 29, three students graduating this May with their B.A. in Sustainability Studies (BASS), Jenna Hendrickson, Kyle Stepanek, and Bri Davidson, earned the Sustainability Associate certificate (ISSP-SA) from the International Society for Sustainability Professionals.

One of their professors, Tina Evans, also took the exam and earned the certificate, and she plans to go on to earn the ISSP’s higher-level certificate: the Certified Sustainability Professional credential (ISSP-CSP).

The ISSP-SA credential demonstrates mastery of a body of knowledge for the sustainability field that is highly relevant to sustainability professionals working in a wide range of positions in business (including nonprofits), government, and education. The ISSP-CSP credential certifies that the holder has strong knowledge and experience in leadership and practice in the field of sustainability.

This accomplishment by the students and their professor is path breaking for the Sustainability Studies program, as they are the first students, and the first CMC faculty member, to earn the certificate. Students learned the content through their extensive coursework in Sustainability Studies and, most recently, through the program’s newly required course titled Careers and Professional Skills in Sustainability (SUS 416).

This course, first developed by Mercedes Quesada-Embid, served as an elective in the BASS for a number of years. The BASS faculty recognized the importance of devoting more attention to helping their student’s transition to work and/or further education beyond completion of the BASS degree, so they have begun requiring this course.

The students who completed the SUS 416 course this year took it as an elective because it was not required of them for their catalog year, and those who completed the ISSP-SA certification, a subset of the full class, did so as an optional part of that course. The students deserve a lot of credit for their preparation and their courage to attempt something that had not yet been attempted by BASS students (or faculty!).

The students are all from the Steamboat campus where the BASS faculty piloted the offering of this credentialing opportunity this spring. The program faculty will be discussing how best to include this opportunity in the curriculum across the BASS sites at the College.

Sustainability Conference 4/16, CMC Vail Valley at Edwards

April 8, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

CMC Vail Valley at Edwards Presents the 2019 Sustainability Conference

Empowering our Community through Research & Practice

Tuesday, April 16 from 3:30-8:30pm

Free and Open to the Public

3:30-5:30 / FACULTY & STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS

6:00-6:30 / RECEPTION

6:30-8:30 / KEYNOTE SPEAKER – FRANCES MOORE LAPPÉ FOLLOWED BY Q&A & BOOK SIGNING

About Frances Moore Lappe:

Author of 19 books about world hunger, living democracy, and the environment, including Diet for a Small Planet
Recipient of Right Livelihood Award, Outstanding Public Scholar Award, Humanitarian of the Year Award, Nonino Prize, among others
Awarded 18 Honorary Doctorates from U.S. Universities
Co-Founder of the Small Planet Institute, Food First, and the Small Planet Fund
Advisory Board Member of UN Working Group’s New Development Paradigm, Union of Concerned Scientists, People-Centered Development Forum, and Earth Corps

For more info on Frances Moore Lappé see the Small Planet Institute website.

This event is graciously underwritten by Virginia Browning

FOR MORE INFO PLEASE CONTACT:

Mercedes Quesada-Embid at membid@coloradomtn.edu

TRIO Day at the Capitol

March 29, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

photo: TRIO students inside the Colorado Capitol.

From left, CMC Rifle TRIO Student Support Services students Ashleigh Isley, Rose Mehus, Ivette Salazar, Vanessa Mendoza, Isaac Hinojos, Lisandio Chacón and Adrian Hernandez were among those who spent at TRIO Day at the Colorado Capitol.

By Monica Sanchez, TRIO SSS student, CMC Steamboat Springs, and Laurie Lawrence, TRIO executive director, Colorado Mountain College

Feb. 22 was a special day for a group of Colorado Mountain College students and staff. The group – all involved in TRIO Student Support Services, a federally funded educational outreach program that is administered locally through CMC – visited the Colorado Capitol in Denver. Not only that, but because it was TRIO Day across the country, they got an inside look at how the state’s government works.

Twenty-two Colorado Mountain College students in the college’s TRIO SSS program visited the Colorado Legislature at the Capitol in Denver. The students met with legislators, celebrated the importance of TRIO programs and attended a legislative session.

CMC’s TRIO SSS students and staff from the college’s campuses in Summit County, the Vail Valley, Steamboat Springs, Rifle and Spring Valley near Glenwood Springs joined over 100 TRIO participants and staff from across Colorado.

The day started with happy chatter and breakfast with Colorado Senate President Leroy Garcia and Rep. Daneya Esgar, the state representative for District 46 in the Colorado House. Rep. Esgar had previously worked for Upward Bound, TRIO’s federally funded college-preparatory program. She took a few minutes to speak to the group before she had to leave for a legislative session.

At breakfast, several CMC students spoke about TRIO in an open public forum. They talked about TRIO’s impact on their lives and how the program has helped them navigate college successfully.

After breakfast, the CMC students and staff walked to the Capitol to participate in a legislative session in the House Chamber. Participants witnessed an acknowledgment of Colorado TRIO programs and the reading of a TRIO Day tribute on the floor of the House.

The students also heard Colorado legislators read stories from American Gold Star Mothers. The nonprofit organization is for those who have lost sons or daughters serving in the military.

“While we were there, at least 20 different representatives stood up and read letters from families who had lost a soldier in combat,” said Adolfo Vasquez, a TRIO SSS student from CMC Summit County. “Some of them actually cried when they read the letters. It made me feel like they were in touch with the people they represent.”

Afterward, students decorated meal bags for Project Angel, an organization that prepares and delivers meals to community members living with life-threatening illnesses.

“My favorite things about TRIO Day were meeting with some representatives, meeting other TRIO students from different schools and hearing their amazing stories,” said CMC Rifle TRIO SSS student Adrian Hernandez. “The best part was seeing for the first time the Denver Capitol inside and out and being able to see where the action happens.”