Good Monday morning this June 22nd, 2015-
Even with the hard work of a successful first week of our 2015 Summer Session, the campus and its staff were alive with events. We had visits from U.S. Senate candidates Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez, the Green Foundation and the Molina Health Education Foundation, Supervisor Solis’ new Chief of Staff (Maria Cabildo), and a District-wide two-day conference on the $19 million DOL Healthcare grant.
In addition, on Friday we hosted a very successful United Way Veterans’ Day of Action in and around the cafeteria. I am impressed that entities like United Way which are making such a difference in our communities look to Trade Tech as a partner in their work. The day included two shifts of 200 volunteers from a range of Veterans organizations, businesses, and non-profits who sorted new and “gently-used” clothes for homeless veterans trying to return to civilian life. Congratulations to the Vernon-Central/LATTC Work Source Center for helping to coordinate this outreach and lending a hand to those in need. The photo shows from right to left, Ron Miller (Sec.-Treas of the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council), Christine Marge (Veterans Housing Coordinator at United Way), Rusty Hicks (Secty/Treas of the LA County Fed of Labor), Ricardo Reyes (Veterans Coord., Labor-Community Services, United Way), and me.
At 5:30 this morning, our team of 12 Skills USA California Gold Medalists, and their faculty advisors, departed for the national championships in Louisville, Kentucky. This is our team whose skills have earned them a chance to compete against the very best in the country. They gathered this morning and departed for the airport with some well-wishers around them. The entire campus is fully behind these students and we hope they can bring home another national championship. Congratulations to Dean Joe Guerrieri and some very committed faculty for helping to again field a truly amazing team. Here’s a list of the faculty advisors for this year’s team:
Computer Maintenance Technology Adv. Eric Chavez
Cosmetology Adv. Alannah Myers
Diesel Equipment Technology Adv. George Perez
Plumbing Adv. Timothy Slade
TeamWorks Adv. Tom Vessella
Web Design Adv. Basil Ozuah
Electrical Adv. David Robinson
Yesterday, the Colburn School celebrated Make Music LA Day for Fathers right here at Trade Tech with a series of concerts on our patch of grass in the North Quad. We had a couple hundred concert goers who truly appreciated the music from the Gay Freedom Band of Los Angeles, the Wesley Colburn Project (an amazing group of singers from Skid Row), the Wesley Colburn JumpStart Youth Orchestra, and the Colburn’s Adult Wind Symphony. A special thank you to Chini Johnson-Taylor who sits on the Colburn President’s Council and brought this opportunity to Trade Tech, and to Mary Gallagher who organized our campus support for the effort. I know we do not have a culture of coming to campus on a Sunday for whatever reason, but the Colburn wants to try again next year so we will try to connect a little more with our campus community, students, and the communities we serve.
This past Friday, the high school students who are part of the Coalition for Responsible Community Development’s Youth Build program, held their graduation ceremony. It is always filled with great stories from some of these students who have defied the odds to graduate from this program. The CRCD relationship with LATTC goes very deep and, with Youth Build, this program truly transforms lives. Youth Build is a great opportunity for these students to earn their high school diploma, college credits, and a new confidence in their lives. Congratulations to our CRCD partner and their students.
An update on the student who was behind the written threats that appeared in our bathrooms over the past few months. On Tuesday he had his preliminary hearing after admitting to his role and being arraigned. I joined the President of our LACCD Board of Trustees, Scott Svonkin, and our Sheriffs’ Office, at a news conference at the District. Mr. Svonkin thanked the Sheriff’s Department for working tirelessly with Trade Tech and the District to solve this case and to keep our campus safe.
Thanks to the work of Abby Arnold, the new ED of the Trade Tech Foundation, we have four new members of the LATTC Foundation Board of Directors. They include: Jacob Motta, JoAnne Yokota, Robert Farrell and Sandra Martinez. Motta is a public affairs executive for Kaiser Permanente who have been a longtime supporter of the LATTC nursing program. Yokota is a housing development consultant who works to find permanent housing for low-income families, former foster youth, military veterans and the HIV community. Her father studied auto mechanics at Trade Tech. You may remember Robert Farrell as the former LA City Councilman from the 8th district from 1974 to 1991, and in those days Trade Tech was in his district. He was also a Freedom Rider in 1961, jailed in Texas for ordering food at a segregated counter. And Sandra Martinez is the Director of Public Policy at the California Wellness Foundation. Her father also attended Trade Tech, which allowed him to send Sandra to college. This great group of new members will help the Foundation with its support of our students. Circle the date of October 22nd right now, the date of our 90th Anniversary Student Benefit Dinner.
To all of our fathers in the Trade Tech family, I hope you had a Happy Father’s Day. The same goes to all who have fathers and were able to remember their role in our lives. As for me, I am looking forward to another special week at Trade Tech.
Larry
Laurence B. Frank
President, LATTC