Advanced Manufacturing Newsletter Shares Resources

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The California Community College Chancellor’s Office’s Advanced Manufacturing program for the north region and greater Sacramento area is hosted at Sierra College. The monthly newsletter is one way that Marketing Action, Inc. supports the project in communicating with college and high school instructors as well as industry partners. The open rate of the newsletter is consistently above 20%, some as high as 32%.

Below is a sampling of articles from the May 2020 issue:

Teacher Recommended Online Teaching Resources
During the Shop Talk calls, instructors from colleges and high schools have been sharing the actual tools they have been using to teach remotely. These include ways to engage students, simulations and other online teaching resources for electronics, drafting and other CTE subjects. The list of Online Teaching Resources is continually being updated.
Autodesk® Webinars, Access and Office Hours
Di Jin, Account Manager, Autodesk Education Experiences team, is working with educators to find the tools and information that they need to work with students online. Learn more at the Edu2Mfg blog post: Autodesk Office Hours and Webinars.
Edu2Mfg You Tube Channel Wants to Share Teachers’ Channels
The Advanced Manufacturing North Region has established a You Tube channel Edu2Mfg to display Shop Talk webinar recordings. Under the channels tab, we’d like to add subscriptions to teacher and industry partners with information that might be useful to instructors and students. Please contact Jeff Briggs, Regional Director, Advanced Manufacturing, North Region, with any suggested channels.
Making with a Purpose Inspires Students
Folsom Lake College student makers are collaborating with Moorpark College students to inspire making at home during isolation. The students have the goal of folding 1000 cranes to signify hope and have posted instructions online so other students and makers can join them. Go to MCMakerspace on Instagram to learn more about the crane project.
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Students from Sacramento City College Makerspace are working out of Hacker Lab in Sacramento to contribute to Operation Shields Up, according to Tom Cappelletti, Faculty Project Director, SCC Makerspace. SCC students are also sewing cloth masks and producing ear savers for masks.
Folsom Lake College (FLC) makerspace student workers are using 3D printers at home to produce PPE and are sewing masks. These are being distributed with help from Zack Dowell, Instructional Design and Development Coordinator, Innovation Center, FLC, to Marshall Hospital as well as supporting the Matter Hackers Project and Operation Shields Up.
Two Sierra College students, Alliya Smith-Brown and Kai Ulrich, were featured speakers on a national monthly “Make For All Community Call” on April 28, focusing on how makerspaces are helping to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Using 3D printers on loan, Smith-Brown and Ulrich are building PPE parts in their homes for Operation Shields Up. To date, they have produced 170 head band structures for the effort.  Ulrich was profiled on ABC10 for his work on this project. Sierra College student maker working on PPE.
The all-volunteer #OpShieldsUp initiative, founded by Hacker Lab member, Alan Puccinelli, is producing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for front-line care providers in partnership with Hacker Lab, Masks For Docs and Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society, with volunteers, makerspace members and local manufacturers. Go to OpShieldsUp.org to learn more.

Videos Promote In-Demand Careers

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For Sierra College, Marketing Action, Inc. worked with Michelle Zamora to create videos to attract students to Career Technical Education programs. These involved interviewing students, faculty and industry partners. The goal was to show students the opportunities with local employers in these fields and showcase the college’s certificate and degree programs. Click on the titles below to watch the videos.

Blog Posts Expand Newsletter Articles

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To leverage marketing resources, the Edu2Mfg communication program managed by Marketing Action, Inc. posts articles in the blog and then briefer articles in the newsletter can link to them. In addition to providing relevant information for the project’s target audience, the topics  help with website Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The goal is to offer quick resources that are useful to educators and partners. Unfortunately some of these activities had to be postponed because of COVID.  Examples of Education to Manufacturing blog posts from January to March 2020 include:

Statewide Makerspace Initiative Recognized for Innovation

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Marketing Action’s Karen Fraser-Middleton  led strategic communication for the three-year CCC Maker initiative that guided California Community Colleges in planning and building makerspace communities.

The California Community Colleges (CCC)  invested $17M in the CCC Maker initiative to facilitate the college makerspace network to address the skills gap. In makerspaces, students learn hands-on production skills and develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Read the article written by Fraser-Middleton and published by the League for Innovation in Community Colleges in January 2019 –

College Makerspaces Develop Innovation-Ready Graduates

The following is an excerpt from the article:

Four Pillars of CCC Makerspaces

The four-pronged approach to establishing makerspaces used by the CCC Maker initiative focused on building community, developing maker curriculum, providing work-based learning experiences, and creating the physical makerspace. An advisory committee chaired by Make Media CEO Dale Dougherty has encouraged the colleges to view their makerspaces as “solution centers” for local businesses that benefit from students’ ingenuity harnessed through internships and as a source of talent for hiring. According to Dougherty, community colleges are in the unique position to democratize making by giving students access to makerspaces. “Students develop the ability to learn, adapt, and change when they join a maker community,” said Dougherty. “As students create projects that reflect their interests and abilities and share it with students from other disciplines such as art, engineering, or business, it can change the nature of their lives.”

The CCC Maker initiative is administered by Sierra College. CCC Maker colleges are supported by Deborah Bird and Salomon Davila, Technical Assistance Providers who coach and support the college teams. Symposiums on workplace skills and maker curriculum have been offered through partners such as the New World of Word and the California Council on Science and Technology. These in-person events, combined with an online Workplace by Facebook platform, have built a community of practice among educators separated by hundreds of miles across the state. The initiative has offered 36 webinars to guide implementation and participation, including extensive financial reporting support.

The colleges have been given unprecedented access to the CCC Maker website where they have their own pages and have jointly contributed over 350 blog posts. The website also posts a ClicData graphic report that shows the results of colleges’ quarterly reporting through Smartsheet. During year one of implementation, dashboard data submitted by the colleges noted the following:

  • 16,566 students accessed makerspaces, participated in 1,216 student activities, and earned 443 badges

  • 869 students were recruited for internships and 576 received pre-placement training

  • 600 employers were recruited and provided 209 internships

  • 195 advisory committee meetings were held and industry partners gave 2,227 match hours

  • 1,081 faculty members attended 360 professional development activities

Other articles previously published by the League include:

Sierra College Incorporates the Maker Mindset Into Education

Sierra College Manufacturing Student Starts Up His Future at Maker Space

 

Website updated with Training Resources

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The Contract Education program at Sierra College had been relying on a older website when Marketing Action, Inc. was asked to help with the revamp, working with I-Tul. The new site for Sierra College Training put the professional development choices up front and made it easy for employers to find the topic that interested them. Karen Fraser-Middleton participated in strategic planning, collaborated on the design plans, wrote page text, tested and reviewed the draft site, and repurposed older blog posts from the previous website with editing.

Review Sierra College Training

CCC Maker Communication Built Community

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California Community Colleges, the largest education system in the United States, funded CCC Maker to create a network of college makerspaces. Karen Fraser-Middleton, Marketing Action, Inc., managed the strategic communication for the three-year project and worked as a member of the leadership team developing and implementing the initiative.

This included:

CCC Maker Website 

Guiding Colleges

Generating and tracking Press

Publishing blog posts and resources

Producing Newsletters

Collaborating on Academic Papers and videos

Planning Advisory Meetings

Working with the writer of the publications: Maker Guides

 

Press Releases Tell Clients’ Stories

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Writing a press release and submitting it to industry publications can be an excellent way to spread the word about your program. Once published, social media can expand the reach by forwarding the link into new networks. Additionally, the content can be repurposed and used in blog posts, supporting SEO efforts. For many years, Sierra College used PRWeb to distribute primarily Career Technical Education and Chancellor’s Office projects press releases that were written by Marketing Action, Inc. Some examples are included below:

July 28, 2017  Sierra College Wins $350,000 Makerspace Grant to Inspire Student Innovation in Northern California

Aug. 10, 2017 Sierra College & Hacker Lab Host China’s Anji Play Creator, Cheng Xueqin, speaking on August 15 on Pre-School Education

Oct. 6, 2017 Sierra College Opens GENE HAAS CENTER for Advanced Manufacturing by Design on National Manufacturing Day October 6

Oct. 23, 2017 Sierra College Hosting Spooktacular Family Maker Night on Friday, Oct. 27 at Educational Makerspace

Oct. 31, 2017 Sierra College & Hacker Lab Announce Startup Hustle Demo Night Kicks-off Global Entrepreneurship Week in Sacramento on November 13

March 16, 2018 Sierra College’s Pepper-Kittredge Selected as Girl Scout Community Partner of the Year

April 19, 2018 Sierra College and Businesses Open Doors to Educators to Demonstrate Advanced Manufacturing Careers

June 7, 2018 Sierra College Autonomous Firefighter Robot takes Second Place in the World at RoboGames

June 22, 2018 Sierra College and Manufacturers Offer Tours and Robot Projects to Inspire Lichen Elementary School Students

Sept. 25 2018 Sierra College Supports the Arts Council of Placer County Reinvent the Runway – Recycled Materials Fashion Show

Oct. 3, 2018 Sierra College to Host Startup Pitch Mentor Round on October 17  

Feb. 11, 2019 Makerspace Ecosystem Summit for College Educators April 24-26 in Irvine, CA

March 7, 2019  Sierra College Makermatic Interns Meet Architecture Challenge

April 24, 2019 Sierra College Hosts CNC Machining Training Funded by Sacramento Manufacturers to Create Labor Pool

May 14, 2019 Sierra College & CCC Maker Colleges Prepare Students for Careers in Transformative Makerspaces 

Many of the Career Technical Education press releases distributed by Sierra College and posted on PR Web were written by Marketing Action, going back to:

2013: Sierra College Nontraditional STEM Event Inspires Girls

Other Press Releases can be found on PRWeb: Most of the Career Technical Education, makerspace, STEM, Nontraditional employment for Women, manufacturing and entrepreneurship press releases were written by Karen Fraser-Middleton for the college.

Briefs Published to Attract Nontraditional Students

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For several years, Marketing Action, Inc. worked as a subcontractor to the CA Perkins Joint Special Populations Advisory Committee producing resource briefs. Written material was edited, subheads inserted, graphics developed and other changes were made to create a branded series of briefs that were resources to colleges and instructors. These included:

Serve Veterans to Support Their Success

How to Attract Women to STEM Careers

Make a Difference for Limited English Proficient Students

Tools & Tips: Make a Difference for Nontraditional Students

Make a Difference for Special Populations Students

Core Indicators to Track Success of Special Populations in CTE

How to Draw Women into the Maker Movement

Marketing Action Client Wins Economic Development Award

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Marketing Action, Inc. is honored to work with Carol Pepper-Kittredge, Director, Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT), Sierra College, who recently won a Placer County Economic Development Award for “Best Support for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Deployment.”

The CACT program is funded through the California Community College Chancellor’s Office Workforce and Economic Development program.  Organizations, manufacturers and technology companies throughout Northern California have benefited from customized training and preparation of their future workforce provided by Sierra College CACT since 1992.

Veronica Blake, CEO, Placer Community Foundation, and Vice Chair of the Economic Development Board for Placer County presented the award to Pepper-Kittredge, mentioning that 480 employees from local companies received training last year. “We know that successful societies are those that attract and nurture the most creative workers and entrepreneurs,” said Blake.  “Sierra College CACT is a dynamic partner and contributor to this effort, building a quality workforce with technical skills, problem-solving abilities and cost effective customer focused solutions.”

Blake also explained the role Sierra College CACT has played in encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship through the unique partnership with Hacker Lab as well as by working with high school Career Technical Education programs supported by the Sierra STEM Collaborative.  “Additionally, through the Sierra STEM Collaborative, more than 15,000 students at eight local high schools completed manufacturing and product development courses,” said Blake.

Learn more about the award presentation —  Sierra College CACT Wins Placer County Economic Development Award

Loomis Soroptimist Distributes Community Grants

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1490 Soroptimist Loomis Contributions to Del Oro Pool and Softball field projects – LtoR Dan Gayaldo, Grace Kamphefner, MacKenzie Parks, Olivia Moore & Sean EricksonMarketing Action is pleased to support Soroptimist International Loomis Basin. The club recently  presented more than $7,500 in community awards to support women’s education and recognize other community contributions. Soroptimist (soroptimist.org) is an international volunteer service organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the world. Soroptimist International of Loomis Basin is a 501(c)(3) organization.

The Live your Dream Award supports women in achieving their career aspirations by providing funding for education. Cassandra Harrison of Roseville, a single mother of two children, who works full time and graduated from Sierra College with honors in Child Development, won the Live Your Dream award. She is currently taking classes that will enable her to transfer to a university program this fall. 
1469 Violet Richardson Award -- Taylor Froomin of Loomis, a student at Del Oro High School, volunteers with Placer TOP Soccer with Randi Beasley

The Violet Richardson Award recognizes a young woman who volunteers in the community. Taylor Froomin of Loomis, a student at Del Oro High School, who volunteers with Placer TOP Soccer was selected to win the Violet Richardson scholarship. The program is offered through the Placer Youth Soccer League and enables children with disabilities from ages 4-18 to play soccer.

The Ruby Award for Women Helping Women recognizes those who improve the lives of other women or girls through their professional or personal activities. Terri DuPriest, who impacts, inspires and encourages the young women, and men, in the Del Oro High School Golden Eagle Marching Band’s color guard and winter guard, received the Ruby Award.

1472 Ruby Award Winner -- Terri DuPriest Del Oro Band in center, (L)Emily Knisley & (R) Erika Rotchford, President, SILBSILB helped found the Senior L.I.F.E. Center of Loomis in 1978. Fred & Acsa Hitchen received a grant to continue to provide social and educational activities as well as nutritious lunches to over 80 seniors weekly at the center.

The Loomis club’s Teacher Grant program helps instructors fund projects that will have lasting impact on students. The Soroptimist grants will be used by K12 teachers for projects such as community gardens, electronic readers, headphones and 3D shapes for hands-on math activities.

The club also gave donations to support the Del Oro High School Aquatic Center and Softball Field projects that will be assets to the community.

Donation to Support Soroptimist Projects — At the ceremony, Don Mashburn, General Manager for the California Breeze Softball Organization and Board member of Florin Road Bingo, presented a donation of $2500 to the SI Loomis Basin club. The funds will be used to develop education projects such the Soroptimist Dream It Be It Career Support for Girls.