Gabriela
Olmos & Zulma Calderon
While the purpose of
Caught in the Act is to
highlight individual
acts of excellence, in
this
instance we have
received multiple
commendations for both
Zulma Calderon and
Gabriela
Olmos, and therefore
feel compelled to honor
you both
together. Dennis Wiskus
and Don Mason advised me
of your wonderful help
when they were
transferring classes to
the new Blackboard
System. On behalf of
Dennis, Don and the
other men and women of
the Rio Hondo College
Department of Public
Safety, thank you for
your expert guidance.
The extra effort and
collegial manner in
which you helped them is
greatly appreciated.
Your can do spirit, hard
work
and dedication reflects
highly on your
commitment to the
Virtual College and the
success of
the Blackboard project.
You are both hereby
COMMENDED for a job well
done!
Joe Enriquez –
Technology
I would like to
recommend Jose Enriquez
for a “caught in the
act” award. It is my
understanding that this
award is given to
employees who offer
assistance to the Rio
Hondo
community outside of the
scope of their assigned
duties. If this is the
case, Joe has earned
this award many times
over for the (behind the
scenes) assistance he
has provided to the
Facilities Maintenance
staff. Joe has
graciously offered his
professional welding and
fabrication skills in
the repairing of items
throughout the campus.
Although he is a full
time instructional
assistant and is
currently involved with
the Technology Building
renovation
project, Joe always
finds the time to lend a
hand or offer an idea
that helps us keep our
campus beautiful and
running smoothly. Your
willingness to share
your talent and
experience
is greatly appreciated.
Thank You Joe.
Belen
Torres-Gil – Career
Development Center,
Faculty
Belen Torres-Gil should
be Caught in the Act.
This March she organized
a staff development
training not just for 15
of her Rio Hondo
Counseling colleagues,
but for over 20 other
community college
counselors from across
the Southern California
Region. The “Ready
Minds” training enabled
counselors to enhance
their ability to serve
students via distance
modalities.
All those who attended
the two day session can
be certified in Distance
Counseling. While
the organization of this
event is quite
impressive, what is
equally deserving of
recognition is
the fact that Belen was
the key person in
securing funding for
this opportunity. Last
September
she chose to dedicate
herself to writing two
staff development grants
for her division instead
of an individual project
she had in mind. For
this commitment to her
colleagues - Belen is
Caught in the Act!
Who will be next???
January &
February Acts of Excellence
Vern Padgett - Psychology
Faculty
He really went out of his
way to help a student secure
parking--she has a leg brace
from an injury, and told him
that she didn't have time to
go to DMV go get a
handicapped card, so she was
hobbling in from remote
parking. He asked me what
to do, and I told him I
thought he could get a staff
permit from Dr. Forest. He
ended up finding Barry Pereau in the Evening College who wrote out a 2
week pass for her on the
spot to enable her to park
in any staff spot. Vern
then opened up the schedule
of classes to find where the
student was currently and
then walked into her Biology
101 class and handed her the
parking pass. You should
have seen the student’s
face!
Rudy Martinez – Library
Media Technician
Here it is February, and we
are still talking about how
the Library won first Prize
in the Best Area Decorated
for Halloween Contest. The
theme was beatniks. Rudy
was not only responsible for
the theme but the Deadbeat
Café – Poetry to die for. He
transformed the Library
Gallery into the Café and
spent $150 of his own money
for props and decorations.
He united all the staff in
sharing costume ideas. He
helped create a commentary
in the Gallery display
case. The entire tombstone
had very clever literary
titles. Rudy also recited
an original poem he wrote
for the event. It was the
first time the Library had
won. What fun we all had!
Although time has passed,
the enthusiasm and
camaraderie of the day lives
on. We have a photo taped on
the office wall, and we
still take time to comment
on the day. The office staff has begun to talk
about what we might do in
October. Therefore, I
recommend Rudy Martinez
without reservations!
Sharon Bell – Reading
Faculty
I would like to recommend
Sharon Bell for going beyond
the call of duty. I
contacted her about my
daughter, a single parent,
who after many personal
struggles and years away
from school, has made the
choice to come to college.
Given her daycare needs, my
daughter had only a very
limited time frame in which
to take a Reading class to
improve her basic skills. I
emailed Sharon to let her
know that my daughter would
be hoping to add her
class. Not only did Sharon
respond to me, but on her
own she did the research to
find out my daughter’s name
and number and called her at
home to make sure that she
knew she was welcome in her
class. What Sharon did was
way out of her normal job.
I am grateful we have
faculty on this campus who go that extra mile.
Although I never thought I
would see the day, my
daughter started school this
semester because of Sharon!
Judi Henderson, Dean, Social
Sciences/Humanities
When my dean Judi Henderson
left her office after 5, I
walked her out, and asked
her where she was parking
now. She said she was on
the way to the far end of
the Theater lot. I asked her why she didn’t park in
the Science Building Lot, as
that is a lot closer to her
office (in A221). She said
she’d heard that parking was
tight for the part-timers,
and wanted to leave a space
for them. Can you believe
that? I park at the far end
of the Science Lot, to leave spaces for those who are
late or will only be here
for a short time but to park
at the far end of a student
lot? I think that goes way
beyond the usual!
Who will be next???
December Act of
Excellence
Liz Haney – Facilities
I would like to recommend
Liz Haney for “Caught in the
Act” as sometimes people
forget about
those hardworking people
over there. On a very cold
& rainy day in December
before Fall
Semester ended but close to
the break, one of our math
instructor’s needed the keys
to one of
the campus vans they had
signed out to use. She was
kind enough to tell him not
to go down to
her office because it was
wet and muddy that she would
bring the keys and meet him
in the Administration Bldg.
Ryan was very grateful to
her for that.
November Acts of Excellence
Angela Medina - Communications &
Languages
Every year, the EOPS/CARE
program sends out a call to
the campus asking staff to
“adopt” one of the
children of the single
parents in our CARE program
in order to ensure that
these low income
families have presents for
the holidays. For “Caught in
the Act,” the EOP&S office
would like
to nominate
Angela Medina, a
faculty member in the
Language and Communications
department for her generous
contribution to t he CARE
program by adopting 30
children from
our annual Adopt-a-Child
holiday tree. Initially she
adopted 5 children but came
in last week
and took all 25 children
that we had left!
Karen Koos - Math/Science
I would like to mention
Karen Koos
for her outstanding
service to students and
staff. Karen
spends tireless hours
making sure students are
on track. She will see
any student any time of
day they come in. She
guides and advises them
all in a most positive
manner. She often works
right through lunch and
is never too busy to see
anyone even if they come
in while she may be
having a bite in her
office. Her sense of
humor is terrific and
energy level amazes me.
This
last month, she was very
ill the week of November
14th with a
miserable flu. Because
interviews for Biology
faculty were already
scheduled for Friday,
November 16th,
she didn’t
want to cancel them.
She is such a trouper
that she came in with
her normal smile and
sense of humor and
pushed through to get
them done. She made
light of her situation,
but I could tell
she just didn’t feel
good enough to be here.
As always, Karen was
committed to being there
for the department and
the college.
Flint Tabata -
Architecture/Drafting
It is my honor to
recommend
Flint Tabata for
the "Caught in the
Act"
recognition. Flint
regularly shows the
type of commitment
one rarely expects
from an adjunct
instructor. This
semester alone,
Flint put in hours
of his own time to
arrange a free tour
for architecture
students of the
first building
commissioned under
California’s Design
Excellence Program,
the Caltrans
Headquarters in
downtown L.A. In the
same month, Flint
gave freely of his
personal
time to bring guest
architect Kunio
Inoue to speak in
Wray Theatre--an
event that proved to
be stimulating for
faculty and an
inspiration for
students, and one
requiring the
processing of
many forms plus lots
of communication
with multiple
departments on
campus. As a vital
component of a 3-way
learning community
with two full-time
professors, this
semester Flint has
gone above and
beyond his adjunct
assignment to ensure
that the learning
community of
architecture and
drafting students
receives the best
Rio Hondo has to
offer. And in his
spare
time (!), Flint is
working this
semester with Rio
Hondo students
involved in the
student chapter
of the American
Society of Engineers
and Architects. What
a guy!!
Alice Tirre -
Academic Services
Someone could
catch
Alice Tirre
doing wonderful
things every
day, her genuine
warmth and
sense of humor
makes everyone
she interacts
with feel
welcome and
important.
However, there
is a particular
“act” she should
be recognized
for – creating
the idea of this
very staff
recognition
program! She
also happens to
be our official
“Caught in the
Act”
photographer,
willing to use
her lunch last
month to go home
and retrieve her
camera to ensure
that we could
share the
awarding of our
certificates
with the campus
community. Most
importantly,
though,
Alice has been a
driving force to
enhance the
sense of family
on this campus
by helping to
create this
opportunity to
look for and
celebrate the
small and large
acts of kindness
and
excellence that
staff and
faculty perform
every day.
Alice – consider
yourself CAUGHT!
October Acts of Excellence
Bob Samuelson – Printing Services
Bob Samuelson is always so helpful.
This month I had 3 large binders I
had to copy for my
Dean and a stack of other papers. I
went to printing services and Irwin
was out to lunch and
Bob was busy as usual, but he
stopped to help me re-punch the
holes and not only gave me
brads to insert, he helped me insert
them! I was extremely happy because
my colleague was
out on vacation and our office is
very busy so I didn’t want to spend
too much time away. I
was very thankful. This is
something that Bob does on a daily
basis!
Suzanne Frederickson–Disabled
Students Services & Programs
I want to acknowledge Suzanne
Frederickson for “Caught in the
Act.” This woman is a dynamo!
Whenever there's a problem be
it technical or not she's always
willing to lend a helping hand.
October is Disability Awareness
month and she has been going
nonstop and it's all because she
believes in sharing information
and equality for all students
especially disabled students.
Vik Hovsepian- Human
Resources
I would like to mention our
Evening College Supervisor
Vik Hovsepian. Vik works
Mondays thru Thursday
evenings from 5:00 –
10:00pm. I’ve worked
evenings with Vik, and have
seen how he
goes out of his way in the
evenings with all students
and staff. Vik has helped
so many
students in regard to adding
and dropping classes,
registration, and everything
else that goes
on in the evenings when all
other departments are
closed, and no one else is
available. Also
with faculty who teach
evenings, Vik is always
ready and eager to help with
any problems they
may have. Vik is someone
who does something great for
all students, staff, or for
the college
in general, every evening
when he shows up for work.
September Acts of
Excellence
Maria Ordaz- Student Health Office
I wanted to let you know that a student
reported to me that Maria Ordaz in the
Student health center provided her with
very personalized and excellent service.
The student stated that Maria remembered
her information, provided guidance and
was very personable.
Shari Magnus - Human
Resources
Shari Magnus has been ‘caught in the
act’ a number of times already this
semester going over and above for
faculty members. As you probably know,
she has the workload of at least 2 people and she always stops to help
anyone who asks. If she cannot help
she will do all she can to get you the
answers you need. This is a well known
fact campus wide.
I can say for certain that she has taken
the time to help Faculty with all of
their questions on their load, pay, etc.
and she sits with instructors who do not
know how their pay is figured. She helps
me, as a new employee, with the myriad
of questions I have on a daily basis. I can always count on her to be there
for me and she has the patience of an
angel.
Bruce Nelson - Physical Education
In the beginning of each semester, the
Lifelong Fitness Center (aka PE 130)
becomes an extremely busy place. At
least 300-400 new students enroll and
are required to go through an
orientation and fitness assessment. The
department faculty conduct these
two-hour long assessments to help
students get a baseline level of their
fitness, along with showing students how
to exercise and use the equipment in the
fitness center. This is an important
component of learning how to improve
one’s health and many students have to
make special arrangements to attend an
assessment. During this semester, we had
a few unforeseen times when an assigned faculty member had an emergency and
could not arrive for their assignment,
and we needed to find someone who could
sub for them in a pinch.
Bruce Nelson not only stepped in once,
but he did so three times. Bruce helped
to prevent three assessment sessions
from being cancelled, was there to help
out his fellow co-workers, and ensured
students would not miss out on their
appointment, be inconvenienced, or drop
the class. At the end of the day when he
was done with his classes, he could have
said no to being a sub and gone home.
But instead, he proved to be a real
“team player” and went to bat for the students, his co-workers, and the
college and created a win-win-win
situation for everyone!
Janice Lopez - Academic Services
Last week an ex student came into the
office looking for Janice Lopez who
happened to be out that day. The
student told me that she had completed
her bachelor’s degree at Cal State L.A.,
and was going to be starting a Master’s
Program, something she thought she could
never do as a single mother. She told
me she came by the office to say “thank
you” to Janice. She said she had
been struggling in a class here at RHC a
few years back and had found herself in a situation that had her torn between
doing something that was “popular”
versus doing what was “right.” She
went on to tell me that even though
Janice was always busy answering phones
and doing her work, Janice never made
her feel like she was bothering her or
imposing upon her time and she helped
her get the help she needed. I told the
student I wasn’t surprised by her story
because this is not the first time I
have caught Janice in the act of being
an employee who goes the extra mile for
a student. Janice listened, gave the
student the needed support and
encouragement, and as a result made a
difference in this woman’s life. It
doesn’t get much better than that!
Bravo!
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