March 7, 2013 Page 5 SoCal Regional Occupational Center: Impacting Lives for More Than 45 Years By Cristian Vasquez the courses offered at SoCal ROC also meet Providing career technical education has the University of California’s A-G entrance been the mission of the Southern California requirement courses, which appeal to many Regional Occupation Center since its inception of the high school students. in 1967. However, the status of services and “I really enjoyed it here. I took the resources provided by this unique educational fundamentals of nursing class two semesters resource is in an uncertain situation. ago and I found out the differences between Based on Governor Jerry Brown’s recent medical assisting in nursing, which doesn’t budget proposal, regional occupational centers seem like much but there is a major across the state would receive zero dollars distinction,” El Segundo High School senior in funding, putting at risk the continued Kyra Noel Wopschall said “The people you existence of places like SoCal ROC. meet here are great. It takes about a week “The unfortunate part where we are right or two to get comfortable with the class, now is that programs like ours, regional but once you do you make a lot of good occupational centers, and other career technical friends. I have also had some really excellent education programs have no budget,” SoCal teachers that I have connected with and ROC Superintendent Christine A. Hoffman one of them actually wrote me a letter of said. “For the past 30-plus years, the State recommendation. Also, I really wanted to be has always funded ROC/Ps in the state of in the medical field. I don’t have straight As California. You can imagine that is very and I’m not a 4.0 student, so I found a way disconcerting to us because this place has of getting ahead in my medical field career. been here for 46 years and it is really an This really helps.” icon in the South Bay in terms of providing Wopschall, who will be attending Mt. to be in,” Wopschall said. “It is very broad clay models that are used in the videogame career technical education to more than 9,000 St. Mary’s College in the fall to complete and there’s so much out there. I knew that I designs,” Hoffman said. “For those students students and adults.” her BSN Nursing Program, has known she didn’t want to be a doctor. At first I thought that are part of that JPA, they are coming The courses provided by SoCal ROC wanted to be in the medical field since she I would be interested in doing the lab work, here after the regular school day. If there is but I don’t want to do that either. So I decided room in our classes after we address the needs to do nursing because that within itself also of our students in the JPA, any high school has a lot of different options.” student can come here from wherever. They Through pathway courses, SoCal ROC have to get here on their own and we do have links students with experiences as close students coming from places like Long Beach, as a work environment setting in the field Orange County and we even have somebody in which they are interested. For instance, coming from the San Bernardino area. Why? students interested in sports medicine can have Because they can’t give these programs at first-hand exposure to physical therapy aid the high school campuses.” “Status of services and resources provided by this unique educational resource is in an uncertain situation.” or personal training and decide which route SoCal ROC also has courses for adults, at they want to take when in college. Every a nominal fee, looking to enter a new field, academic program has pathway courses where or for those who simply want to move ahead the student can decide to continue pursuing in their current career. Through the help of additional courses within a given field. more than 250 partners, many of them local, “Some of the programs are an extension, a SoCal ROC tries to continue having a strong pathway, that maybe they started at the high impact on the lives of the students that walk reach high school students in six of the was in the fourth grade, but being at SoCal school. They can come here and they can take through its doors. surrounding school districts (Torrance, Palos ROC gave her a better sense of direction. “I anything from videogame design, animation- “Not to have money budgeted is a real Verdes Peninsula, Redondo Beach, Manhattan realized my freshman year that I should take -there is of course in that pathway a course shock because the State budget begins July Beach, El Segundo and Inglewood), which this and visit the medical field that I wanted called creature sculpting where they do the 1, so we are very, very much involved right agreed to participate as a consortium under now with our local and State elected officials a joint powers authority. As a result, all from around the area,” Hoffman said “They high school students in these districts have are the ones that for the next two months priority registration for the courses offered will debate and discuss all of the parts of at the SoCal ROC location. the State budget and what we wanted to “Guidance specialists are assigned to remember is that SoCal ROC as of now has work with the high schools within those zero dollars budget and it needs to be fixed. districts and they will go out and talk with We think, as well as they elected officials the students about what their future career at this point, that this is an oversight. There interests are,” Hoffman said. “Whether they is a lot of details to the State budget, so we want to be engineers, doctors, welders, work believe that is an oversight and we just want in construction or fashion design, the guidance to make sure that there’s enough time in specialists are there to speak with students order to get the information to them--to get and to help them.” information out to the whole South Bay to These guidance counselors emphasize to let them know where things are right now, students that they can study classes pertaining but that there is enough time to fix it before to any career interest they might have while a final State budget is adopted.” in high school so that the student can obtain For more information about SoCal ROC a better understanding of what the career or to register, persons interested can visit: entails and what type of schooling will be http://www.socalroc.com/index.php or call involved. In addition, more than 20 percent of 310-224-4200 • Photos courtesy of SoCal ROC. Hawthorne Happenings from page 3 Burkley & Brandlin LLP Department will be holding our annual Memorial Center – 7 p.m Refreshments Bunny Breakfast for the kids on Saturday, at 6:30 p.m. little ones down to see the Easter Bunny Meeting 6 p.m. (Coffee with the Clerk A T T O R N E Y S A T L A WTuesday, March 12 – City Council March 23 starting at 9 a.m. Bring all the and hunt some Easter eggs. – 5:30 p.m.) UPCoMinG EvEntS CoMMEntS oR QUEStionS Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation Thursday, March 7 – Holly Park If you would like to contact me regarding Homeowners Association Meeting – Pacific this column or anything to do with the 310-540-6000 House 7 p.m. City of Hawthorne, please email me at *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Monday, March 11 – Heritage Night at norbhuber@gmail.com. •
Hawthorne 03_07_13
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