Music Professor Pat Setzer to receive Hayward Award for Excellence in Education

EL CAJON – Cuyamaca College music instructor Pat Setzer, a key player in the planning and construction of a performing arts complex inside the campus’ sprawling $45 million communication arts center, is one of four community college faculty members statewide to win the 2010 Hayward Award for Excellence in Education.

 
February 5, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Cuyamaca College’s $28 million business and technology building has opened, just as students returned to campus for the start of the spring 2010 semester. Once relegated to temporary trailers, shared with a nest of skunks, the various disciplines in the business department are delighted to finally have a building to call their own.

February 4, 2010 (El Cajon)-- Martin Atkins could be the definition of entrepreneurial activity in cultural arts endeavors spanning genres, borders and industries. For over three decades, the producer, drummer, and documentary filmmaker has been at the cutting edge of the entertainment industry, says Pat Seltzer, chair of the performing arts college at Cuyamaca College.

January 14, 2010 (Rancho San Diego)—The Water Conservation Garden, located at Cuyamaca Collegei in El Cajon,  invites the public to enjoy its 2010 winter and spring events. Classes offered help residents save water and money by focusing on water smart landscaping techniques and plants. Classes are taught by experts and topics include lawn removal, water-smart landscape design, backyard composting, irrigation design and gardening for children.

January 12, 2009 (El Cajon)--The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (GCCCD) is conducting a practice exercise with local public safety agencies on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Cuyamaca College. The GCCCD Police, San Diego County Sheriffs’ Department, San Miguel Fire Department, El Cajon Police Department, El Cajon Fire Department, and other East County agencies will conduct a simulation of an incident involving an active shooter.

 
January 1, 2010 (El Cajon) – Cuyamaca College will host a grand opening of its newest facility, the Business and Technology Building, on January 20th at 11 a.m.Guests are invited to view the "initial public offering" of this new facility on the "Cuyamaca Exchange."

 
Judy Garrett recalls father’s love of teaching in community colleges

December 14, 2009 (El Cajon) – – Honoring a family member’s devotion to community college students during a teaching career spanning more than two decades, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Governing Board President Bill Garrett and his wife, Judy, have donated $13,500 to a scholarship fund at each of the district’s two colleges, for a total gift of $27,000.

Low-energy holiday lights set garden aglow; children's activities include cookie decorating

December 4, 2009 (El Cajon) – The public is invited to attend this year’s Holiday in the Garden event at the Water Conservation Garden, 12122 Cuyamaca College Dr. West, in El Cajon on Friday, December 4, 5-8pm. The Garden’s meandering paths and exhibits will glow with thousands of energy saving LED lights, courtesy of San Diego Gas & Electric company.

 
Pennsylvania community college leader Stuart Savin is unanimous choice
 
December 1, 2009 (El Caj on)– The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Governing Board has unanimously approved appointment of Dr. Stuart J. Savin as Cuyamaca College president, effective April 12, 2010.
 
Savin, who, for the last three years, has been the chief executive officer of Harrisburg Area Community College, Lancaster Campus, in Pennsylvania, was recommended by Chancellor Cindy L. Miles.

  

 
 
 
 
 
 
November 30, 2009 -- East County Roundup includes the most important stories about San Diego's eastern regions, or stories relevant to our readers, that are published by other media. Top stories from the past month include:
 
  

• Bilbray Billing Bilbray: North County Congress member pays his wife from campaign coffers
  
• SD Retailers Pleased with Early Black Friday Results
  
• 70% of Local Sex Offenders Live Too Close to Parks, Schools
  
• Thrift Store to Leave Downtown El Cajon
  
• Anderson Defends Mailer Touting Bill
  
• 'They're Looking at Impending Doom' - If California exacts the worst possible cuts on schools, San Diego Unified literally has no idea how it can balance its budget.
  
• Bankruptcy an Option, Says Mayor's Fiscal Task Force
  
• Cuyamaca College Names Its New President
  
• San Diego State Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel Resigns Amid Controversy
  
• Potrero Preschool Reopens After 2007 Harris Fire

October 26, 2009 ( El Cajon)--The annual wheelchair basketball game--where the sound of squeaking rubber isn’t from the soles of players’ shoes, but from custom-built chairs pivoting and spinning across the gym floor--is set for 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28 at the Cuyamaca College gym. The five-on-five games feature a mix of Cuyamaca’s basketball team playing alongside members of the San Diego Xpress, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team formed in the mid-‘80s. Most of the wheelchair athletes have suffered spinal cord injuries, but that hasn’t stopped them from playing competitively.

Teams for Cuyamaca’s game are mixed with players from both sides, as well as anyone who wants to join in, so that the wheelchair league athletes don’t completely dominate the scoreboard, said Mary Asher-Fitzpatrick, a learning disabilities specialist in Cuyamaca College’s Disabled Students Programs and Services office.

By Miriam Raftery

October 24, 2009 (El Cajon) – “The biggest thing we’re seeing now is mortgage loan fraud and real estate fraud,” San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said at Cuyamaca College during a breakfast hosted by the Rancho San Diego-Jamul Chamber of Commerce. “One scam had 400 victims.”  The D.A. discussed loan scams and other crime trends in San Diego County during the October 23rd event.

 
September 11, 2009 (Rancho San Diego)--James Thomas, author of Corp of Discovery: Lewis & Clark will be at the Heritage of the Americas Museum for a presentation and book signing on Saturday, September 12 from 1 to 3 p.m. Garbed in period costume, the author will make a presentation about his book and the historic Lewis & Clark Expedition.
 
"Jim is an expert on Lewis and Clark, so the facts are all there. But he novelized the story, so his book is filled with conversation and you really feel like you get to know each person on the expedition," says Kathleen Oatsvall, the museum curator. "We also sell his book in the Museum Store."

Discounts for pre-reservation--RSVP now!
WIN PRIZES:  A pirate for your next party, Padres tickets, private wine-tasting party & more!
 
Like fine wine, the most festive event of the year just keeps getting better! Besides wine-tasting, gourmet foods, live music, art show, and book signings by East County authors , a museum tour and a scavenger hunt through one of the finest university-owned museums in the Western U.S., we now have some truly amazing silent auction items and drawing prizes.
 
The latest “stars” in our lineup? A celebrity pirate impersonator, field-level Padres tickets, a baseball autographed by homerun slugging star Adrian Gonzalez (All Star player, Golden Glove winner, and two-time National League Player of the Week).  Other awesome prizes include: private wine-tasting party for 10 at a local winery, dinner for 6 at a fire station, a Kern River vacation in a cabin that sleeps 14 , spa treatments, dinners, art classes, jewelry, wines, Wild Animal Park tickets, original art, a signed print by famed Western artist Olaf Wieghorst, and much more!

DISCOVER OUR REGION'S BEST KEPT SECRETS!

 
August 7, 2009 (Rancho San Diego) – East County Magazine invites you to savor the best of East County wines, food, music, arts and literature. Join us on Saturday, August 29 from 4 to 7 p.m. for an evening of festivities at Heritage of the Americas Museum, Cuyamaca College in El Cajon’s Rancho San Diego. Find out why the museum is considered among the finest college museums in the U.S.!
 
Reserve space now at early-bird rates--before we sell out!  Festive fun includes:

 
 
By Miriam Raftery
 
August 6, 2009 (El Cajon) – Can the woman who led e-Bay to become one of the world’s most successful business models turn around California’s troubled economy?
 

 
August 1, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – The East County Chamber of Commerce and Cuyamaca College invite the public to meet Meg Whitman, Republican candidate for Governor. Whitman, former CEO of E-Bay, will speak at the Cuyamaca College Student Center from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5th.  This event is free to the public.

Whitman, a Republican, has said that her number one goal as Governor would be to “help the private sector create 2 million jobs for Californians by 2015.”

June 1, 2009 (El Cajon) - Winners of the sixth annual California-Friendly® Landscape Contest gathered to collect their prizes at the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College on May 16th. Twenty homeowners from across the county received honors for outstanding examples of beautiful, drought-tolerant landscapes.

June 2, 2009 (El Cajon)--On June 1, the City of San Diego’s mandatory water restrictions go into effect. http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/drought/droughtlevels2.shtml.
By July 1, most other water districts in San Diego County will also be implementing restrictions. http://www.sdcwa.org/manage/droughtordinance_agencies.phtml. Fortunately,
the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College has plenty of tools to help you deal with impending water restrictions.

May 20, 2009 (El Cajon)--Students from the Sudanese Cultural Club at Cuyamaca College will share their own harrowing stories from their war-torn homeland, including riveting tales demonstrating the triumph of the human spirit in Darfur, a land ravaged by genocide. The program, titled "An Afternoon with the Lost Boys of Sudan: Stories of Hope and Survival", will be held Friday, May 22 from 1-3 p.m. in the Student Center.

Employer representatives say sizable attendance a reflection of the times

May 13, 2009 (EL CAJON) – Jobless figures topping 9 percent in San Diego County – 12 percent in El Cajon, according to the most recent state employment numbers – resulted in record attendance of about 500 people at this year’s career fair at Cuyamaca College, organizers say. In addition to a higher turnout, the 15th annual fair was also remarkable for the noticeably large share of attendees from the community at large.

So

Community interest likely to be high as more people look for jobs

April 30, 2009 (El Cajon)– With unemployment figures topping a record 9 percent in San Diego County, Cuyamaca College’s 15th annual Career Fair set for Tuesday, May 5 is expected to draw strong interest among job and career-seekers. Nearly 60 companies and organizations will be represented at the free event, set for 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the new student center. The fair offers students and the community an opportunity to meet employers and possibly get hired on the spot. Companies and organizations will be discussing the job market, interviewing and collecting resumes.

April 28, 2009 (El Cajon)--The Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College celebrated its tenth birthday on Saturday, April 25. Garden Executive Director Marty Eberhardt commented on the remarkable timing of the event. “Just two days ago, the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors declared a Level 2 Drought Alert, which means that retail agencies will soon be instituting water restrictions. This is exactly the kind of situation that the founding agencies foresaw.”

April 23, 2009 (El Cajon, CA) – The bands are ready to play. The stage is set up and the equipment is in place. Thousands of flyers and postcards have been distributed, and hundreds of posters have been put up San Diego City and in East County. For the students in Cuyamaca College's Music Industry Studies program, the efforts of a whole semester will reach their fruition on May 1, when the first Coyote Music Festival unfolds on the college's Grand Lawn at 3pm.

Drawing to win a High-Efficiency Clothes Washer or Home Landscape Re-design April 18, 2009 (RANCHO SAN DIEGO)—On Saturday, April 25, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m,, Cuyamaca College’s campus will bloom with activity as three of its on-campus venues—the Ornamental Horticulture Department, the Water Conservation Garden,and the Heritage of the Americas Museum—invite the public to celebrate spring at their sixteenth annual Spring Garden Festival. “Conservation in Bloom” is the theme at this family festival that includes tips on green living, and both free admission and parking.

March 26, 2009 (El Cajon) - If you haven't yet experienced the Spring Garden Festival, be sure to mark your calendars for April 25th. The annual event drew more than 7,000 people last year and is quickly becoming one of East County's premier attractions. Live music, Native American dancing, arts and crafts, food, plant sales, water-wise gardening, tree-care advice from experts, and special tours for children are among the activities slated at the event hosted by Cuyamaca College.

2-day event to be followed by plant fair open to the public March 10, 2009 (El Cajon)--Cuyamaca College is hosting a conference featuring leading landscape professionals and bus tours of eco-friendly sites Thursday and Friday, March 12 and 13, a precursor to it becoming among the first community colleges in the nation to offer a degree in sustainable urban landscaping.

March 10, 2009 (El Cajon)--Cuyamaca College hosts a water-wise plant fair on March 14th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A large selection of water smart perennials, shrubs, trees, grasses, cacti and succulents, and more will be on sale from Southern California vendors. Now you can shop for water-wise plants--and support public education in an era of dwindling funds. Activities include lectures, ask the experts, kids' activities and a raffle that includes a home landscape redesign as grand prize.

Five East County artists will help raise money for the Heritage of the Americas Museum with an art sale from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the museum, located on the campus of Cuyamaca College, 12110 Cuyamaca College Dr. West, in El Cajon. Admission is free.