With an emphasis on recognizing the students of the Cerritos College CalWORKS Program, business leaders, faculty and staff joined in celebration on Wednesday at the Student Center.
CalWORKS provides education and training to help students achieve self-sufficiency.
The master of ceremonies was Professor and Faculty Advisor for WPMD campus radio Craig Breit whom when welcoming the audience announced “This is a celebration.”
With the members of the Cerritos College Orchestra led by David Betancourt playing Vivaldi in the background, Star Jimenez, a student about to graduate from Cerritos, celebrated her success with her employer from SOLO Insurance Dianna Alvarez.
Jimenez says that CalWORKS offers a lot of opportunitie.
In her address, “A Student’s Perspective,” Jimenez told the audience that she learned about herself by being part of CalWORKS.
“I see a bright future ahead for me,” the part-time employee of SOLO insurance said.
“I wish the other students luck.”
In a separate interview, Re-entry Resource Specialist Dora Lozano explained that the evening was to honor the students and give the employers an opportunity to be honored as well for hiring the students.
According to Lozano, some employers are on campus and some are off campus.
Dr. Erlinda Martinez, vice president of student services was in charge of announcing the most outstanding employer.
Before the announcement, however, she spoke of the idea behind CalWORKS.
“We are committed to our students and we depend on our employers to give real life experiences.”
The most outstanding employer, Martinez announced, “keeps everything blooming on campus.”
The audience clapped as future chair of the Biology Department, Franklin Yee walked to the stage.
Yee has been on campus for 25 years and teaches horticulture and landscape design.
“I am really honored to be one of the star employers in CalWORKS,” he said.
Assistant Dean of Career Services Terrie Lopez followed Martinez in honoring the students of CalWORKS.
Lopez shared that there were 100 participants in the essay contest put on by CalWORKS.
Lopez told the audience that students were asked to write an essay that demonstrated their motivation to continue to achieve their education and career goals.
Each winner would receive a $200 scholarship.
Before announcing the three winning students, Lopez said that for CalWORKS students “barriers can be major obstacles, we want to be part of their dreams.”
The winners were Deborah Coultas, Doris Gutierrez and Catherine Welz.
Coultas said that winning made her focus on her educational goals more.
Gutierrez who spoke in a vibrant Spanish said that she is a woman that wants to excel in life.
“This has been a blessing financially speaking.
“It’s an answer to my prayer,” Gutierrez added.
Catherine Welz, a web design major and a re-entry student had wanted to know who won for a long time.
“I grilled Dora Lozano and Gina Alvarez to find out if I won or not and they wouldn’t tell me,” she said laughing.
“I am so excited and it’s good they didn’t tell me because I would be talking as long as I am talking now.”
Special Populations Coordinator and CalWORKS counselor Christine Aldrich was one of the individuals behind the scenes.
“This is for the students and we want to recognize them and make sure they realize that the CalWORKS program and the CalWORKS staff are dedicated to them,” she said.
