Reno Reporter

Although campus may have looked a little quiet over the summer break, many TMCC programs and services were still running full steam ahead to ensure that the community was receiving support and celebrating milestones.     

Summer Bridge Success

Attending college can be overwhelming, especially for first-time, first-generation students. Thankfully, Success First Summer Bridge has been helping students for 13 years, and helped over 100 students on their path to college readiness this summer.

Participants in the six-week program are required to take college-level courses, which can be a daunting experience for students fresh out of high school. This stress is mitigated, though, with the extra assistance of success coaches and tutors who are built into the program and are there to guide students every step of the way.

Stephanie Webbermissey, a student in the 2022 program, attributed the extra support to her accomplishment in math.  “This is the first time I’ve gotten an ‘A’ in math in like six years!” she said. “I’m super proud of myself. It definitely wasn’t easy, but with all the amazing help from tutors, I did it!”

This year, the program was back to a fully in-person experience after having online and hybrid models since 2020. While there was significant success the past two years, the 2022 program exemplified how important in-person interactions are in bridging the gap between high school and college by introducing students to each other, faculty and staff, and the campus.

Along with math, students were also required to take EPY 101 or participate in success workshops, which both offered dedicated time to obtaining college preparedness information and getting extra support from instructors. These blocks in the schedule were necessary to teach new students important techniques for succeeding not only academically, but mentally as well.

“I learned how to manage stress in a healthy way, what is expected of me as a student, and how to ask for and get help,” Webbermissey said.

While free classes and extra guidance are enough to make this program stand out, participating students also received extra benefits such as an $800 dollar reward for income-qualified students after completion of the program, free books and lunch, priority registration, and an assigned success coach during their first year at TMCC.

“One of the highlights this year was feeling the positive energy from all of the students,” Jennifer Zarco, coordinator for the Recruitment and Access Center. “After the last couple of years, I think the students were excited to be in a college environment and motivated to succeed.”

The success of this program is due in large part to donors such as the Nell J. Redfield Foundation, Susanne and Gloria Young Foundation, Wells Fargo Bank Foundation, US Bank Foundation, The Bretzlaff Foundation, Nevada INBRE, NV Energy Foundation, Farmers Insurance and TMCC Employee Donors.

“This program was amazing and gave me so many resources that I would have had no clue about if I wasn’t in the Summer Bridge program,” Webbermissey said. “It really helped me be prepared for Fall semester and I know exactly what is expected of me as a student.”

Applications will open Nov. 1, 2022, to participate in the 2023 Success First Summer Bridge program. For more information about program admissions and other requirements, contact the Recruitment and Access Center at 775-673-8236.

Children and their families gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Child Care Center.

Celebrating Childcare

Students weren’t the only group receiving support over the summer as the E.L. Cord Foundation Child Care Center celebrated its 30th anniversary. For three decades, the Child Care Center has been assisting families, students and employees from the College community by providing nurturing care for children up to the age of five while employing students from across campus – Summer Bridge included.

To celebrate the significant occasion, the Child Care Center welcomed present and past families for a fun-filled afternoon in the sun, complete with sprinklers and snow cones. Some attendees, now adults themselves, were proud to return to the Center that they attended as youth and have now enrolled their own children.

“It was a very supportive, fun and happy afternoon,” Keri Meranda, program director of the Child Care Center, said.

The Child Care Center can also boast that it’s fostering future educators of Nevada as four former Center children returned to be a student teacher. That, as well as the large number of students who work in the Center throughout their educational careers, can attest to the caring and positive environment cultivated in the Center. 

“We train good employees by teaching them good skills, and they later go to work in the community,” Meranda said. “The Center is a great place to come work and be with your fellow students while looking after all the great kids.”

The Center, along with caring for the creative, emotional, intellectual, physical and social growth of all children who attend, also makes it possible for many across campus to work and attend classes without worrying about the well-being of their kids. 

“The teachers at the Child Care Center communicate with me daily via text–they send me pictures of my children and always make sure I am up to date with how they are doing,” Candice Vialpando, marketing manager at the College, said. Candice, who has had two children attend the Center, praises the staff for the support they offer. “I also have easy access to visit and nurse my baby on demand during meetings. What’s better than being able to take a break and visit with your littles during work? Nothing!”

For more information, contact the Child Care Center at 775-674-7515.

Original source can be found here.