San José, CA — The Evergreen Valley College gymnasium was filled with over 600 people eager to learn something new. But the hundreds of faces weren’t the usual ones found there. Last Friday’s audience captured the beautiful, warm and smiling faces of the people helping our District’s students to learn—the San José/Evergreen Community College employees who dutifully filled the gym by 9 a.m. when our welcoming ceremonies began with a ROAR!

Instructional Improvement Day 2006—Courageous Conversations: From Crisis to Constructive Action, provided an opportunity for all District employees to touch base with each other, and to have the opportunity to learn about issues and techniques that will help them not only at work, but also in their everyday lives away from campus.

A very well-attended session, “Discrimination, Harassment, Grievance: What is it and what to do when you experience it?” was presented by Laura Schulkind in Gullo I. Laura discussed methods to avoid disputes and build collegiality through communication, and offered clear definitions of unlawful harassment types.

In honor of Cesar Chavez Day, Rose Guibault, author of Farmworker’s Daughter: Growing Up Mexican in America, read passages from her book to a full lecture hall (Sequoia 140-150). Her audience was fully engaged in her words and the discussion regarding her experiences as a Latina growing up in a white 1960s culture.

Lunchtime was cleverly formatted to encourage people to engage in dialogue with people they normally do not “hang out with” at work. It was an opportunity to discuss our own courageous experiences or times in our lives we were able to reach deep within ourselves and find the courage we needed. There was also time to mingle and check out poster exhibits from community representatives and campus student organizations. And yes, even the food was good! Said one attendee, “ The sandwiches provided at lunch were excellent. It was clear the committee worked hard to present a nice day to be enjoyed.”

The afternoon sessions offered topics of interest for everyone. One option was an intimate, interactive two-hour session, “True Colors,” presented by Trenton Ballard. Participants learned how their core personality determined both their communication and behavior style.

If short sessions were more your calling, then the first group of breakout sessions offered dialogue on topics including the cost of textbooks by SJECCD Campus Store Director David Parker]; “Netiquette: What is Appropriate Use of District e-mail?” by SJCC English instructor Heidi Kozlowski; and artist Tony Ruiz’ use of visual arts to express the theme “Courage” all certainly fit the bill. "Vietnamese Culture: Strangers from a Different Shore" by SJCC social science instructor Maile Ho was a well-attended, emotionally powerful opportunity for engagement and learning.

Tere were still plenty of topic decisions to be made. Numerous overlapping breakout sessions kept participants busy for the remainder of the afternoon. Participants could choose from "Building Successful Teams," presented by behavioral health consultant Wally Anderson; "Communication with Skill & Respect," presented by EVC psychology instructor Julie Bandy; "Bridges to Understanding: Conversations about Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual Students," presented by SJCC librarian Joseph King; “Why Do We Have to Volunteer at Homeless Shelters?” presented by SJCC counselor Priscilla Santos; “Mental Health: Getting Transformation Right,” presented by University of California, Berkeley professor Steven Segal; and “Mindfulness,” presented by holistic physician Amy Saltzman. Other sessions offered at this time included a discussion of the movie Crash by Piper McNulty, a trainer of intercultural relations; and “Changing Minds, Changing Hearts: The Paper Clips Story,” by SJCC psychology instructor Jim Potterton.

Still in other sessions individuals learned to express themselves through creative writing. Creative writing participants were guided through the process by SJCC English instructor Reginald Lockett. If multicultural research projects are a tool used in your classroom, the EVC library offered a hands-on exploration through the library catalog and Internet databases. This workshop was presented by librarians Shelley Blackman, Carol Bristow and Joy Chase; and a quick course in Salsa dancing got about 70 of us moving and learning together, thanks to EVC Spanish instructor Carmen Solórzano.

Believe it or not, there still were sessions to choose from. “Teaming Up for Success: Classified Staff in Shared Governance” explored the role of classified staff in shared governance, and was presented by several representatives from the California Community Colleges Classified Senate (4CS). “Preparing For and Having Difficult Conversations,” by Ike Lancaster, board member for the Center for Nonviolent Communication introduced communication methods that allow for two-way understanding and shared growth.

One of the highlights of the day was SJCC ethnic studies instructor Jesus “Chuy” Covarrúbias and his musical group, the Niteliters. The band’s catchy rhythms were irresistible to most, and nearly everyone in attendance took the opportunity to try out their newly learned Salsa moves and simply to relax and have fun together.

There’s no doubt that this year’s Instructional Improvement Day was a day well-spent. Attendees offered comments such as: “The day flew by,” “for the first time I enjoyed and participated fully in IID,” and proffered kudos to Chancellor Rosa Pérez: “The new Chancellor’s enthusiasm is very down-to-earth, and she makes herself visible around campus—I like that.”

Most importantly, the central theme of “courage” was perfectly summarized by one participant, who remarked, “Courage can be exemplified in many different ways by different people.”

The District would like to thank program chair Bayinaah Jones for her tireless efforts in putting this year’s IID together, and for her trouble-shooting skills the day of the event, as well as session development committee members Marie-Elaine Burns, Marty Kendall and Judy Rookstool, Elvira Valderrama and Elizabeth Vasquez.