May 15, 2023

Colleagues- As we come to the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, I want to share my appreciation and gratitude for all you have accomplished this year. It takes time and energy to “ramp up” after being remote for nearly three years, to adjust to a new pace and to recommit to establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships that make SCC special.  Many have returned to campus and experienced the joy of being with colleagues and students at Find the Falcon events, athletic competitions, musical and theatre performances, PD sessions, in meetings and at celebrations. There is a vibrancy here that cannot be reproduced in the online/virtual world. I hope all of you have felt the value of returning to campus and are looking forward to the Fall.

This month is a busy one full of end of year celebrations including Commencement on Thursday, May 25 at 6:00pm in the Stadium. The last time we held Commencement was in 2019 and we thought we’d be back in the Stadium the following year. Who knew that it would be three years before we celebrated Commencement in person? So, don’t miss this year’s celebration as we are going to have one of the best Commencements SCC has ever had! 

Thank you, faculty, staff, and managers for continuing to be compassionate and committed colleagues, sharing your wisdom and love of teaching with our students and the SCC community, and for continuing to make this the college of choice for so many. We have accomplished a great deal and I look forward to another successful year. Enjoy the summer, have fun, and get some rest. I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, May 24 from 1:00-2:30 in the SCC Board Room in Bldg. 600 for our end of the year celebration!

Celia

The Solano Speech and Debate Team are proud to announce that we are the 2023 Phi Rho Pi Community College National Champions! The Phi Rho Pi national championship tournament was held from April 10^th - 15^th in Washington D.C. Over sixty of the top community colleges from every region the country competed. Your Solano Falcons won Gold Overall Sweepstakes, Gold Debate Sweepstakes, and Gold Individual Sweepstakes, in the Hindman small school division. This success occurred due to the determination, skills, and intelligence of amazing students. We brought four students, and all four students made it into a semi-final or final round.

I would like to take this time to honor graduating members: James Baird who won a silver and bronze medal at this tournament and will be attending Concordia University on scholarship next year. Sarah Campi who won a bronze medal and is currently choosing between some of the top debate schools in the region. I would also like to thank Shavon Odom our co-captain for winning a bronze and silver medal. Frida Torres who in only her second semester won two bronze medals at this tournament. The coaching staff is incredibly proud for all of the hard work that our students have put in their rounds and in the classrooms. They have truly made the Solano community proud.

Below are the specific awards that your Solano Falcons won in addition to pictures from the tournament week. If you have any interested students who would be interested in joining our team please have them contact Dr. Douglas Mungin at douglas.mungin@solano.edu. 

Gold Hindman Debate Small School Sweepstakes

Gold Hindman Individual Small School Sweepstakes

Gold Hindman Division Overall Small School Sweepstakes 

Silver Informative Speaking - Shavon Odom

Silver IPDA Debate - James Baird

Bronze Informative Speaking - Frida Torres

Bronze Persuasive Speaking - Frida Torres

Bronze IPDA Debate - Sarah Campi

Bronze Prose - James Baird

Bronze Impromptu - Shavon Odom

Phi Theta Kappa President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner with SCC Superintendent-President Celia Esposito-Noy

PTK Members Work with "Be the Match" at Vacaville Campus

Beta Mu Gamma partnered with "Be the Match" at the Vacaville Campus to solicit volunteers willing to become part of the national database for blood stem cell transplants. Thanks to the sixty-seven Vacaville students who participated in this life-saving campaign!

PTK Holds Induction Ceremony

Beta Mu Gamma of PTK held its induction of new members in the library on May 5, 2023, including twelve participatory new members able to be present and eighteen new Rising Scholar PTK'ers! The induction featured keynote speaker Amy Dauffenbach.

PTK also celebrated its graduates with PTK stoles and swore in its new officers for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Solano College has been recognized by the Campaign for College Opportunity for excelling in equitable course placement for students. As part of the Campaign's Excellence in Placement recognition, SCC, and other community colleges, is being honored for their efforts in supporting students to enroll and succeed in transfer-level math and/or English courses consistent with landmark placement policy AB 705 that was championed by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and signed into law in 2017. 

Prior to AB 705, the vast majority of incoming community college students were placed into remedial math and English courses that ultimately discouraged and derailed students on their college journeys. Over a decade of research has shown that a student's likelihood of earning a degree increases when they start college in transfer-level courses, saving them time and money in pursuit of their college dreams.  

Equitable placement practices have proven to be highly consequential for increasing access to transfer-level coursework, maximizing student success, and closing racial/ethnic equity gaps. By starting in transfer-level English, completion rates have tripled for Black students and more than doubled for Latinx students. Likewise, as more students have been empowered to directly enroll in transfer-level math, completion rates have quadrupled for Black students and Latinx students.

Suisun Valley Review released its 39^th annual issue on May 11, 2023. Its celebratory release reading was held in the Quinton Duval Reading Area of the SCC Library and featured many local writers featured in this year’s issue. SVR’s featured writer, Nancy Au, read and presented the 2023 Quinton Duval Award in Creative Writing. Congratulations to the award winner, Audrey Duremdes, for her poem, “Things It Took from Her,” and to Scott Cohen for his Honorable Mention for the poem, “Effigy to Orange.” The 2023 Issue is available for sale for $8.00--please contact Michael.wyly@solano.edu. 

CCCAA Ojai Tennis Highlights

This year's end-of-season State Championships in Ojai showed a strong representation of the Solano Falcons, with 6 total players from the men's and women's teams qualifying for the prestigious event. The men all faced tough first round exits in singles, while Katelyn Crismon won her first round in singles before falling to a steady and speedy opponent from Glendale College. 

The Falcons competed with heart in doubles, too, as the top doubles teams from the men's and women's teams, Connor Ard/Hunter Bradac and Katelyn Crismon/Denise Feria both won their first rounds in doubles. 

Ard/Bradac drew the 2022 Doubles State Champion in the second round. Ard/Bradac got off to a slow start before winning a couple late games in the first set only to fall 2-6. The second set was a much different story with both Ard and Bradac adjusting to a much higher caliber level of play.

The second set went all the way to the end with a fiery, intense point-by-point, shot-by-shot memorable battle that both Ard/Bradac agreed was undoubtedly their best, most hard-fought doubles match of their season. The second set ended after the Falcons fought off a couple match points, only to fall 6-7 (5) in the tiebreak.

Crismon/Feria entered their second match against a steady opponent from Orange Coast College and had a battle of their own filled with poaching, steady baseline play, and aggressive returns of serve. The Falcons dropped a close first set, 4-6, but turned up the focus and play to win and closed out the second set in a tiebreak 7-6 (4). All eyes and attention were now on this match. In a spectacular effort, the Falcons fell just short 8-10 in the super tiebreak. 

Solano Softball Falls in first round CCCAA Play-offs

After an outstanding season including an undefeated BVC Championship (12-0), the softball season came to an end at Sierra College in the first round of the CCCAA Play offs. The Falcons competed valiantly against top seeded Sierra College but fell short (6-0) in 7 innings and 8-0 in six innings. Congratulations to Coach Taryn Sigl selected BVC Coach of the Year.

Solano Baseball finishes 2022-23 campaign on a strong note

Solano Baseball swept Mendocino College in the last series of BVC Play. The Falcons had a very good season as they tied for third place in the BVC Conference with an 11-10 record. The Falcons just fell short of a CCCAA bid. The 23-24 looks to be very promising with a very strong freshman class led by Connor Ross

Swimming Coast Conference Wrap-Up

The Solano College Falcons Men and Women swimming programs wrapped up the 2023 season at the Coast Conference Championships at Ohlone College April 20-22 with a very strong performance. Solano College was represented by 4 women and 7 men. All 11 Falcons beat their record times during the Conference Championships.

The team finished 12th in the women’s division and 9th in the men’s division.

Swimmers who finished in the top 16 in individual events include:

Women

Alessandra Abaeo  100 breast (13th) and 100 free (16th)

Leila Flores             200 IM (12th)

Men

Jake Diaz                100 breast (7th), 100 free (10th) 

Mark Dominguez     100 breast (15th)

Chris Kniventon       200 free (16th)

Hayden Lynn           50 free (16th) and 100 free (16th)

Garrett Matheson    50 free (14th) and 100 free (15th)

The women's relays finished 9th in the 200 free, 11th in the 200 medley and 7th in the 400 free.



The men’s relays finished 9th in the 200 free, 9th in the 200 medley and 7th in the 400 free.

Jake Diaz finished as the top scorer on the Men's side with 19 points.

Alessandra Abaeo finished as the top scorer on the Women's side with 5 points.

Way to go, athletes!

Dani Rydjord will be moving onto Simpson University to play volleyball and study History. She wants to be a high school teacher to teach History and American Sign Language (ASL).  Dani was a scholar athlete both years at Solano College (3.6 GPA), she was named to the 1^st Team All Bay Valley Conference both seasons, 2021 & 2022. We will have a signing for her and a few other student athletes on Wed. May 17^th at 3pm. 

The Solano College STEM Club visited the California Academy of Sciences on April 15 where they explored the large multi-continent aquarium exhibits, the four-story indoor rain forest, and the hyper-realistic planetarium shows.

Please visit https://linktr.ee/stem.scc if you would like more information on the STEM Club or to sign up.

On April 21, the Wellness Center staff got a chance to experience The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco; a calm, relaxing garden that was filled with beautiful scenery. We didn’t want the fun to end and some went on down to Pier 39! We saw amazing street performers, ate delicious food, saw a magic show, and even visited the sea lions. Everyone had an amazing time together and got a chance to destress in the city!

Thanks to everyone who came out to Eid Celebration on April 22 at the Fairfield campus. it was a beautiful day to celebrate Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.

The Muslim Student Association, ASSC, and Student Services hosted the celebration, marking the end of a month-long dawn to sunset fasting with frisbee, soccer, tennis, cotton candy, snow cones, and Mediterranean halal food. 

SCC administrative staff had a potluck to celebrate Administrative Professionals Day and meet new staff! Everyone enjoyed lunch outdoors on the President’s patio, and Crumble cookies and drinks were provided by VP Williams and S-P Esposito-Noy! Vice Presidents Lisa Neeley, Susan Wheet, and David Williams stopped by to thank staff and join the fun!

Thanks to all that came out to see the "UNSTOPPABLE," SCC Dancers, our guests and our alumni. We appreciate your support for our students and the program. It was a wonderful experience for our SCC dancers, their families, friends and the community. 

Finals are right around the corner. Encourage students to start preparing today and come study in the ASTC! ‍

Struggling with a subject? A math problem? An essay? Studying for a quiz or exam? You’ve come to the right place. ASTC can help!

Our FREE services include:

• Drop-in tutoring
• A supportive and comfortable place to study/do homework
• Computers and printers
• Anatomy models
• Appointments with tutors*
• Group tutoring*
• White board use
• Study rooms
• Information on other campus resources

Plus, we have free coffee, tea, AND snacks! 

Also, join us on Thursday, May 18^th from 12:30-4:00PM for Boba & Cram. 

The library is celebrating AAPI month and has great displays both online and in the library. Come check out our selection of books featuring Asian American and Pacific Islander stories and experiences. Also, because this is the final month of the semester, make sure you are up to date on the library's schedule for finals week and the summer semester. Our operating hours will differ slightly, so stay informed by following us on social media: @scclibraries on Instagram or check our website for more information.

This is the final SolanoCARES newsletter of the academic year. Enjoy your summer and we'll be back in the fall!