FLAMES mentors helping with outreach at Meadowood Mall and Meadowood Center were Paige Richard, Allison Smith and pictured above is Christian Hatch, newest peer mentor.
Staff and Student Outreach at Meadowood
Community outreach events were held on Aug. 6 and 10 for Reno-Sparks residents and prospective students to find out more about classes and programs offered at Truckee Meadows Community College, especially highlighting Meadowood Center.
Faculty, staff and students hosted an information booth at Meadowood Mall on Aug. 6 with flyers listing general education courses now offered at TMCC’s Meadowood Center and the degree programs available there. Wizard the Lizard, TMCC’s mascot, appeared for photo ops in the afternoon.
On Aug. 10 at Meadowood Center, staff helped with registration, testing information and financial aid during a drop-in advising event. Members of the community and prospective students were invited to stop by and discuss their educational goals.
Karen Hilgersom, PhD, TMCC President, attended the Mall outreach event. Barbara Buchanan, PhD, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Estela Levario Gutierrez, Vice President of Student Services, also participated in the community service efforts. Representatives from advising, marketing, testing, academic faculty and peer recruiters were on hand to help provide information. Student mentors of the Financial Literacy and Money Education by Students (FLAMES) program also were present offering facts, costs and money tips.
“These were such positive events and brought together people from many areas of the College,” said Marie Murgolo-Poore, PhD, Business Division Dean. “There was an amazing amount of interest from the community and many asked questions about the degrees we offer.”
She added that the Meadowood Center is a conveniently located place to take classes or get a degree—with more than 450 busses that stop at the Mall each week, or the free parking available. General education, business and law classes are scheduled at the Center. Students may complete their entire associate degree in business at the site, as well as the associate of applied science in logistics.
“Some of the employers in the area have allowed people flex-time to attend classes around their work schedule,” Murgolo-Poore said. “And for the business programs held at the Center, many companies that focus on logistics are located nearby. Also, for people who work at the Mall and are interested in career advancement, retail management classes are offered practically next door.”
The next Meadowood Center Open House will take place on Nov. 2, featuring refreshments, appearances by Wizard, and swag giveaways. Murgolo-Poore invites the public to attend this free event.
FLAMES Help at Meadowood Events and Coach Students with FAFSA Form
FLAMES mentors helping with outreach efforts at Meadowood Center on Aug. 6 and 10 were Paige Richard, working toward her Associate of Science degree, Allison Smith, an Associate of Arts transfer student and Christian Hatch, the newest FLAMES mentor.
Many financial workshops are planned by the 2016-2017 FLAMES team for the Fall, including Money & Waffles, Become a Money Master Workshop, Banking Demystified and Control Your Credit.
Peer mentors assist students with filling out their FAFSA forms, including mentors Victor Mendez-Medina, whose goal is to become an electrical engineer, Sara Pearson who is working toward her AS degree and all of the FLAMES team.
Mendez-Medina, along with Samantha Bolander who is also pursuing her AS, both volunteered to pose for a picture in the current College news story about TMCC’s new parking lot and water bottle-filling stations.
John Jeffery Auer IV, Community Volunteer and Author
Jeffery Auer teaches Core Humanities at TMCC and the University of Nevada, Reno, and is also a history instructor at TMCC.
Upon beginning research for his doctoral thesis on historical sites in Northern Nevada connected with the LGBT community, he found that there was no centralized resource. He needed to visit resource sites in wide-ranging regions in order to find the answers to even basic information. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas has a dedicated collection of materials, but it is focused on LGBT information from Clark County.
Due to the lack of a needed centralized location for primary sources, he co-founded with Nicholas-Martin Kearney the Nevada LGBT Archives, a nonprofit organization. They began the organization in February with a small office and storage space, and plan to expand to a larger office with gallery collection and temperature-controlled repository in the next two to three years.
“The start of this organization will bring a lot to the community and for the entire state,” Auer said. “We need a place to house the historical artifacts of Nevada.”
The archives will collect periodicals, books, film, video and audio recordings, photographs, artworks, records and personal papers. The organization accepts donations of materials and funds in order to better develop the archives. Those interested in the Archives may also join as a member and receive a periodic newsletter that lists exhibits and events.
At the Northern Nevada Pride festival in Reno on July 23, the Nevada LGBT Archives presented an exhibit, “Reno National Gay Rodeo—A Queer Celebration of Western Tradition” including a 40th anniversary study guide, picture collection and artifacts from the actual rodeo, such as an original 1978 T-shirt. Archives staff answered questions from visitors at the exhibit. The Archives also presented the exhibit at Sassabration in Carson City, Nev. on July 16.
Coming in November is a historical retrospective of “The Ladder, Reno’s Lesbian Literary Tradition” a feminist publication that began in the 1950s and was printed in Reno from about 1970-1972. Also, an exhibit “Dancers We’ve Lost in Nevada” is planned.
Auer has also participated in a two-year theme study by the National Park Service. He has written one chapter of a comprehensive book for their heritage initiative to explore national historical sites of LGBTQ importance. His chapter, “Queerist Little City in the World: LGBTQ Reno,” examines LGBTQ culture during that decade. The National Park Service is seeking new sites to designate as National Historic Landmarks that are significant in LGBTQ history and community development.
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