A 23 page fact-based booklet reviewing the future of Career and Technology Education (CTE) opportunities in the Verde Valley has been published.
The booklet provides background information about CTE training on the East and West sides of the County and shows the enormous difference currently existing in learning opportunities. It can be read in PDF format by clicking here.CTE BOOKLET
Yavapai College student Judy Jaaskelainen expressed her concern with the absence of students on the Verde campus and an absence of local citizens connecting with the College in a letter to the editor on October 17 in the Verde Independent.
Ms. Jaaskelainen wrote that she attended the Art and Craft Fair held last Saturday on the Verde campus where there were many artists and crafts-person booths inside and outside at the Mabery Pavilion. They included booths showing fine jewelry, sachets, pottery, candles, books, scarves, paintings, glass art, beaded jewelry, fabric items, and more. There was also a booth set up for children to decorate items using potato stamps and also a face painting booth.
Adding to the event were onstage local musicians, Wendy Harford and Jo Agostinelli, who sang original songs and Dave Rentz. In her words:
I am sad to say, the attendance to this event was very poor. I was the ONLY person sitting in the rows and rows of chairs arranged for the anticipated audience. And there were very few people shopping at the art and craft booths.
I have been a student at this campus for about 13 years, taking various computer classes and art classes each semester. I remember when there were so many people attending classes at this Clarkdale campus of Yavapai College that we had to stand in line for 10-15 minutes to grab a sandwich or a snack from the campus snack bar.
I attend a class now on Wed. afternoons. I am amazed at how few people are walking around campus.
I plan to contact Ruth Wicks and others who are attempting to “fix” whatever is wrong with our campus to see how I can help with their endeavor. With the nursing program and other pertinent programs having been shifted over the mountain, we need to focus on getting them back.The money invested by the residents of our community should be used to further the education of the young people graduating from our local high schools, including those who want to be nurses.
Something is not right when people in the community do not attend a free, fun event at their Community College.Apathy is unacceptable but understandable when the people do not feel a connection nor commitment to their local college.
Ms. Jaaskelainen’s letter to the editor in full can be found by clicking here, which will take you to the Verde Independent.
Yavapai Community College student Ms. Deb Wilson wrote an essay sharing some of her feelings and views about the Clarkdale campus and its deficiencies. The essay is entitled, “Where are the students?” It is set out in full below.
WHERE ARE TH E STUDENTS?
It is 9:00 a.m. on opening day of classes at the Clarkdale (Verde Valley) Campus of Yavapai “Community” College, aka, Yavapai College. Where is everybody, I ask myself? I glance at the many empty parking spots, as I walk the empty pathway toward a tent and table set up near the Administration Building.
Bags are being handed out to the few students in the area, including me. With my little bag came a printout of all the activities going on that week. The first was a free lunch that day. Each course was being served in different buildings. I asked the person behind the tent table if all these activities were in Prescott, or here in Clarkdale. “Oh, here,” she answered.
This is such an obvious distraction, I think to myself: offering free lunch and “fun” stuff, but not offering the courses students want and need. I take the same class every semester, probably because only jewelry, ceramics, and a few other art courses are available in Clarkdale. Just a few of Prescott’s art & trade offerings include: Painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, graphic design, gunsmithing, woodworking, drawing, jewelry, and several other art forms and advanced art forms NOT offered in Clarkdale.
My friend, David (name has been changed), a non- traditional student, started working toward an Associate Degree a year ago. The first couple of classes he took were easy to find in Clarkdale’s class schedule. Like David, I avoided “have to take” classes my first semester in college, because I hadn’t been to school in a long time, and wanted to enjoy the classes I took, and to get my brain reactivated. As ALL VERDE VALLEY RESIDENTS SHOULD KNOW, and as David found out when it was time to get serious about his major interest, there were few classes he needed, or wanted, available in Clarkdale. Read More→
Occasionally, a skeptic appears who questions the view that the Verde Valley is being underserved by Yavapai College. To this doubting Thomas, I say: “Just look at the facts.” If you do, you will find an unmistakable 45-year pattern of underservice. In fact, since the beginning of the County Community College system in the late 1960s, the goal has been to build a first-class community college in the Prescott area while simultaneously underserving the Verde Valley.
A combination of political domination, cynical public relations manipulation, and unimpeded opportunity have allowed Prescott to achieve the goal of creating a thriving community college climate on the west side of the county while quietly but effectively suppressing significant development in the Verde Valley. Along the way, the administrators have mined the Valley for excess property tax money while grabbing local student tuition and state aid to use on Prescott projects.
In the last decade, the administrators have reduced classes in the Verde Valley by around 80 percent, closed the Camp Verde campus, and attempted to close the Sedona campus. They have consistently built educational facilities and developed educational programs for Prescott area citizens to the exclusion of Verde residents. This pattern of underserving the Verde Valley continues to this very day as the analysis that follows makes so clear. Read More→