This summer, Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s Title V and Enrollment Services teams offered a career exploration curriculum to ICAN youth. ICAN is a free local program that serves East Valley families with programs for educational development, from elementary age to high school, as well as opportunities for their parents/caregivers. 

The relationship between CGCC and ICAN began in the fall of 2023 when the college was invited to participate in a parent information event hosted by a local school district.

During this event, parents raised numerous questions about college, inspiring CGCC to collaborate with ICAN in response to the community's needs. CGCC then developed a series of college readiness workshops for students to envision themselves as future college students. 

The program’s curriculum is designed to help underserved students develop an interest in pursuing post-secondary education. Classes provide students with the framework to discover or validate unique professional goals and the educational decisions linked to those aspirations.

Over five weeks, the students explored different careers, learned educational pathways in those fields, and worked to increase postsecondary readiness.

These lessons, along with informing families about the assistance and opportunities available, aimed to cultivate a college-going mindset among the young students. 

In one engineering-focused workshop, students designed landing pads to catch eggs they dropped with the goal of preventing the eggs from cracking.

They learned how to work in teams, use basic engineering concepts such as absorbing momentum and test their egg catchers.

“Many students showed excitement and pride in their work,” said Chris Schnick, CGCC Dean of Arts & Sciences. “One student talked about wanting to be an engineer in the future. All groups of students became engaged and creative as they tried to solve the problem.”

The CGCC team includes Laura Latimer, Dr. Felicia Ramirez-Perez, Susana Turowski, George Lopercio, Devon Mahon, Chris Schnick, Abby Atonal Rodriguez, Kathryn Kinne, Nichole Neal, Jeff Simpson and Amhed Rodriguez-Saenz. According to Laura Latimer, CGCC’s Title V Director, “The college’s mission is to empower individuals to unlock their full potential for growth through community engagement. Through the hard work and dedication of the instructors, this Summer Career and College Exploration program perfectly embodied our institutional goal, empowering youth to dream big and believe in their ability to create a better future for themselves and their families.”

The efforts achieved this summer are only the beginning. The CGCC team plans to utilize the feedback from participants and staff to strengthen this and other programming activities with ICAN, continuing the partnership and creating opportunities for students in the East Valley.

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