For the second consecutive year, Moreno Valley College’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Ceremony event was held virtually due to the recent outbreak of the Omicron variant. Held on January 28, the annual event has been providing scholarship opportunities for MVC and high school students since 2012. MVC students compete in a speech competition and high school students participate in an essay competition. This year students were asked to speak and write about how America finds itself in an internal battle for the soul of this nation.

When Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 1964, the context of his acceptance speech focused on America's treatment of the Negro during the civil rights movement period. In his speech, Dr. King stated, "The Nobel award recognizes the amazing discipline of the Negro. Though we have had riots, the bloodshed we would have known without the discipline of nonviolence would have been frightening."

Today, though some still believe in aggressive actions, we know that methods of peace and collaboration produce long lasting positive results. Therefore, using content from Dr. King's speech above students developed a position about what they believe to be the best actions for peace in the nation's current battle, and share experiences or future plans for themselves to become peacemakers for social justice in their communities.

Bios of this year's winners
 

Brandi Avila, the Umoja Community Program director and African American Male Education Network and Development (A2MEND) Student Charter advisor at Fullerton College, has been selected as Moreno Valley College’s dean of Student Development and Wellness.

Avila has 10 years of community college experience spanning from transfer services, success advising, guest lecturing in sociology and ethnic studies, and cultural programming. She has served on the executive board of the North Orange County Community College District Black Faculty and Staff Association since 2019. Through the association’s efforts the programs saw an increase in academic success, retention, and completion through a pedagogy responsive to the legacy of the African diaspora. She has also had the opportunity to collaborate with educational advocates to improve conditions for minoritized students, faculty, and staff so they could thrive.

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Honors Program students Mirza Ramirez, Shyann Rhames, Maria Cardenas, Samantha Marin, Jesus Prado and Dulce Funez joined professors Ally Johnson (Art History) and Felipe Galicia (Biology) for a trip to Joshua Tree. The students toured the Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum, learning about the artist’s assemblage practice. For Purifoy, the power of the desert to change and take over his outdoor artworks was part of his plan. Students also visited Joshua Tree National Park where they learned about granite boulders, juniper berries, oily creosote bushes, and oak tree galls (harmless tumors caused by wasps).
 

Lynnette Sullivan, the mental health supervisor in Moreno Valley College’s Student Health and Psychological Services, successfully completed her doctorate in Social Work. Sullivan, a licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical counselor, has worked for the College since October of 2020 after three-plus years with the Riverside University Health System as a staff development officer and social service planner.
 
While at MVC, Sullivan has supervised pre-licensed clinicians and student clinicians; developed systemic day-to-day activities, prevention, early intervention, and treatment services; provided onsite training, presentations and webinars to faculty and staff; and offered crisis intervention services to students experiencing distress.
 
“Having this doctoral degree has broadened my scope of work to address mental health and basic need inequities experienced by community college students,” she said. “This educational opportunity has cultivated new perspectives to create sustainable mental health and wellness programming to enhance personal and academic success.” 
 
Her hiring at MVC became her second stint with the District. After earning her master’s degree, she worked as an associate marriage and family therapist at Riverside City College. Prior to working at MVC, Sullivan interned in the College’s Student Health and Psychological Services and became an adjunct faculty member in 2017.
 
A first-generation Mexican American college graduate, Sullivan earned an associate degree in Arts and Sciences from MVC in 2009. She transferred to California State University, San Bernardino, earning a degree in Psychology. In 2014, she received a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from California Baptist University and in December of 2021 she received her doctoral from the University of Southern California.
 
“The completion of my doctorate degree represents hope for other underrepresented groups to carve their path to reach their academic goals,” Sullivan said. “My doctoral degree produces a feeling of confidence to identify the needs of our community. Finally, this academic accomplishment demonstrates that I have developed strengths from adversities.”
 

The National Science Foundation awarded Moreno Valley College $1.5 million to enhance student completion outcomes in the computer science field.
     
Between 2015 to 2018, MVC awarded just 15 associate degrees in Information Technology. And, the College has not produced a single ADT student in the discipline in over three years, and only one graduate successfully completed the Associate Degree for Transfer pathway.
     
The grant will provide scholarships for first-time students who are 18 years or older. The College’s Computer Science Scholarship Program will use Guided Pathways, a highly structured approach to student success by creating structured educational experiences that support each student from point of entry to attainment of high-quality postsecondary credentials and careers, and the College Promise program to encourage degree completion in information technology. The Promise initiative requires a one-year academic commitment from students. It is designed to help students complete their associate degree requirements, transfer requirements, and/or workforce certificate requirements in a timely and efficient manner.

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The iMake Innovation Center is hosting a hybrid Coding with Augmented Reality (AR) Workshop. Utilizing Tynker software to learn AR concepts, the iTeam will be using motion sensing, color calibration, and gesture detection to build interactive experiences.
 
The Workshop will run for six weeks, meeting on Wednesdays beginning February 23 and ending March 30. Workshops will be held from 4 to 5 pm via Zoom, with some in-person opportunities (note RCCD vaccination mandate applies to onsite attendance). The Workshop is free and open to students, faculty, staff and community members.  
 
Register for this workshop

The city of Moreno Valley is pleased to announce a $100,000 donation from Amazon to the city’s MoVaLEARNS program. The donation will fund a full year of the MoVaLEARNS program through the Moreno Valley Community Foundation.
 
The MoVaLEARNS program is a spoke in the city’s award-winning Hire MoVal program to help Moreno Valley residents enter the workforce. Through the MoVaLEARNS program, Moreno Valley residents who are enrolled in Career and Technical Education classes at Moreno Valley College are eligible to receive a stipend for attending classes.
 
“This incredible donation ensures that our successful MoVaLEARNS program continues to provide the opportunity for our students to reach their dreams of getting a first-rate education and employment,” said Yxstian Gutierrez, Ed.D., mayor of Moreno Valley. “I cannot thank Amazon enough for their continued investment in not only these students’ futures, but Moreno Valley’s future as well.”
 
The donation was presented to the city at the January 18 City Council meeting.
 
“Amazon is incredibly proud to partner with Moreno Valley College and MoVaLEARNS to make higher education more accessible and affordable,” said Marie Lloyd, who leads community engagement for Amazon in Southern California. “At Amazon, we believe in lifelong learning, which is why we pay for our frontline employees -- all 750,000 -- to get their high school diplomas, GEDs, ESL proficiencies (and opportunities) to attend college. Programs like MoVaLEARNS help eliminate barriers to higher education, support our neighbors in advancing their careers, and improve our communities.”
 
Currently in its third year, the MoVaLEARNS program helps alleviate the earn vs. learn dilemma Moreno Valley residents face—whether to get an education or a job. Under the MoVaLEARNS program, individuals can have both.
 
Learn more about the MoVaLEARNS program.