Onondaga Pathways to Careers (OPC) at Onondaga Community College (OCC) …for Young People with Disabilities

Greetings!

OPC Staff and Peer Mentors Help to Fight Stress

OPC staff and Peer Mentors facilitated stress-busting activities on campus this spring.   On April 25th and 26th, Meaghan Bodemer hosted therapy dogs for the entire campus community. (Bodemer is the Educational Coordinator for the OPC project.) Research shows that spending time with a pet can reduce stress and help other physical conditions. Over 100 students and staff came to visit. Many left with big smiles on their faces!   OPC's Peer Mentors also took part in the stress-busting. On May 1st they hosted a flower-planting activity. It was a "late celebration of Earth Day" and over 30 students came to the event. They were able to plant their own flowers in cups to take home with them. The event took place in Coulter Library. It coincided with other activities designed to fight tension and anxiety near finals. Both events help engage the campus community and increase awareness about the OPC project.

UDL: From Theory to Practice

UDL is the acronym for Universal Design for Learning. UDL is a teaching framework that helps reach all learners. It allows students to show knowledge in flexible ways. It helps to bridge individual learning differences. Four OCC faculty members presented about UDL this spring. Their presentation was titled "UDL: From Theory to Practice." It was part of a teaching conference held at the Tompkins Cortland Community College, TC3. The participating faculty included: Yvonne Fish-Kalland  Gail Pederson Sophia Marku and Fran Dulcich The faculty began by explaining the purpose of UDL. They shared how they used UDL to revise their courses. Marku spoke about information delivery and navigation Pederson discussed the use of technology  Fish-Kalland shared several UDL assignments  Dulcich led group discussion Ideas for course revision were shared throughout the presentation. The UDL presentation will soon be offered at OCC's Teaching Center, as well. Click here for more information about UDL

OPC Scholars Prepare to Enter College

In May, the OPC Scholars had the chance to learn about strategies for dealing with difficult people. The workshop was facilitated by Bobbi Latimer and Meaghan Bodemer. Scholars were presented with sample situations and given the chance to share how they felt after each. The group then reviewed different types of behavior. They looked at reasons that can cause these behaviors and ways to handle each type. In support of their upcoming entry to college, the Scholars were also guided through a checklist. The checklist will help them stay on track with their college applications for the fall.  Finally, two special guests were introduced at the May session, as well. Erin Vaccaro and Eliyahu Lotzar are Student Success Advisors at OCC. Lotzar and Vaccaro will make plans to meet with each student for career exploration. In June, the Scholars will meet to celebrate their accomplishments in the program. Program staff will welcome Scholars and their guests at this final meeting. The meeting offers a chance to reflect on their work and to learn about each other's plans for the fall. Each of the Scholars will be presented with a certificate of completion.

Summer Help at the Learning Center

Help is available for summer classes! The Learning Center offers free tutoring Monday-Thursday, 10 am- 6 pm, for students taking an OCC class during the summer. NightWriter, our on-line tutoring option for writing, will be open on Sundays and Wednesdays from 9 pm – 12 midnight. To make an appointment, log in to sunyocc.mywconline.net or stop by the Learning Center, Gordon 202.

Click here to tell us what you'd like to hear about!

Training - Skills - Jobs

This newsletter was developed under the Onondaga Community College Pathways to Careers Initiative. The initiative is funded through a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (Number OD-26453-14-75-4-36.)

Onondaga Pathways to Careers| 315-498-2945 | OPC@sunyocc.edu | Sunyocc.edu/opc