Bert's Alerts—Dec. 1, 2017
News Highlights
CWI Donation Drives
The 9th Annual CWI Giving Tree gift drive is in full swing at the College! Visit a tree at Ada County Campus Pintail Center (APIN) or Lynx Building (ALYN), as well as the Nampa Campus Micron Education Center (NMEC), to find children’s gift wishes. You can donate items at these locations until Dec. 14.
One Stop Student Services will be collecting donations of new, in-package socks for local homeless shelters, Nov. 27 through Dec. 18. All sizes, shapes, and colors are welcome. Donations may be dropped off at any One Stop location.
College of Western Idaho has teamed up with KTVB’s 7Cares Idaho Shares food drive. Donate food pantry and personal care items at collection boxes located on campus. The College will be collecting food until Dec. 7.
Native American Heritage Month
November marked Native American Heritage Month. The College of Western Idaho values the proud traditions and cultures of all original Native American peoples of Idaho. To commemorate the month, Ron Sam of the Northern Paiute Tribe, presented on his heritage through the lens of oral traditions. Sam is one of the founding members of the Red River Powwow Association, which sponsors Native American Powwow celebration featuring dancing and drumming. Sam is also a men’s traditional dancer, drummer, Native American Flute player, and a porcupine hair roach creator.
To learn more about Idaho’s Native American tribes, visit http://www.imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/geog/native/natvfr.htm.
New Staff Senate Committee Site
On Thursday, Nov. 16, the Staff Senate Committee site will be replaced with a more user friendly and informative site. Check it out on myCWI under My Committees or by simply clicking - Staff Senate Committee. The committee will continuously work on updating and improving your site experience.
The new site will feature:
• Staff of the Month Nomination electronic submission form
• Suggestions/Comments electronic submission form
• Meet your Staff Senators
• Staff Senate Initiatives and Past Inquiries
• Announcements, Purpose, Bylaws, etc.
The purpose of Staff Senate is to provide an opportunity for you to participate effectively in college governance. Meetings are held monthly at rotating sites and all are encouraged to attend. We would love to meet you and meetings provide an opportunity to voice your suggestions, recommendations, or concerns. If you are unable to attend our meetings, please do not hesitate to use our Suggestion/Comments boxes (online or physical boxes at each site) or talk to your assigned representative or CWI Staff Senator.
We look forward to seeing you at our next Staff Senate meeting on Dec. 21 from 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. at Ada County Campus Pintail Center (APIN) 1118. For more information contact staffsenate@cwi.edu.
Restaurant Owner Speaks with Business Students
On Wednesday, Nov. 8, Nick Duncan, co-owner of Monsoon Asian Grill, spoke with business students about his experience being an entrepreneur. Duncan taught at College of Western Idaho for four years in the Culinary Arts program and recently opened his own restaurant. He was an Executive Chef at La Belle Vie where he was nominated by Food and Wine Magazine as one of the top 100 new chefs in the country. Students learned about the challenges of opening your own business and the mindset you need to make it be successful.
Stihl Donates Chainsaws
Stihl Northwest visited College of Western Idaho on Nov. 15 and 16 for industry training. Students from the Power Sports Program had the opportunity to attend and become Silver Certified, which will help students pursuing jobs at a Stihl dealer. In addition, Stihl donated eight chainsaws to the program and gave the instructors access to the Stihl service dealer management system, along with training for this system. Stihl has been a fantastic partner for the Power Sports Program!
Web Team Hours
On average 60,000 visitors, accounting for more than 460,000 pageviews, visit the College of Western Idaho (CWI) website every month. Keeping content up to date, accurate, and relevant is key! The CWI Web Team wants to help support all content contributors to be successful and help educate and promote the importance of content on the web. All content contributors are invited to Working Hours hosted by the CWI Web Team.
Do you have questions? Need help editing or creating web content? Interested in tips and tricks to engage your audience?
Join us for all this and more during WEB WORKING HOURS!
The web team will be available during monthly working hours at two locations to answer questions about editing and creating web content on cwi.edu. Working Hours will be from 1 - 2 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month at Nampa Campus locations and the third Thursday of the month at the Ada County Campus.
Visit the CWIdaho User Group on myCWI for additional resources, the Contributor Toolkit, upcoming WORKING HOURS, and more!
Annual Holiday Coloring Contest
Celebrate the holiday season and express your creativity by participating in the College of Western Idaho Annual Employee Coloring Contest. The contest begins today, Dec. 1. Download one of the coloring pages from the Culture and Employee Engagement Committee page on myCWI, or the PDFs attached to this article. Post your completed coloring page at one of the designated spaces – CYNC breakroom, NADM 200 conference room, NCMP 210, NCME 1117, NCAB 312 breakroom, ALYN One-Stop, APIN 1102 breakroom, or AMAL breakroom. Be sure to write your name on the back of the page! All pictures must be posted by end of business day on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Entries will be collected and posted for voting by Dec. 14. Employees will vote for first, second, and third place. Voting will close on Dec. 18 and winners will be announced on Dec. 20. Good luck and have fun!
Honor Society Helps Our Community
Beta Sigma Pi, College of Western Idaho’s local chapter of the PTK Honor Society, was proud to participate in Rake-Up Boise this year! On Nov. 11, chapter officers, members, and their families, were honored to help multiple families in need by partnering with Rake-Up Boise, which was a wonderful community and team building experience we look forward to participating in for years to come! If you’d like to help us make our community the best it can be, visit Beta Sigma Pi CWI to find out when and how you can!
Media Club Students Produce Public Announcement Video
Standing in a crouched position, trying to hold my camera despite the open flames only a foot away. I needed to capture the perfect footage of students as they extinguished the flames. As they came walking through the smoke-filled room and into sight, I lifted my camera and started recording.
As a Media Arts Major, it was exciting to get experience and time behind the camera. In August, the College of Western Idaho (CWI) Media Club was given an opportunity to shoot footage and create a few videos of Ready Kamp, a free, five-day camp for 40 students between the ages of 12-15 selected to learn skills that will allow them to help their families and communities in a disaster or emergency event. The camp was hosted by Southwest Idaho Medical Reserve Corps who asked the CWI Media Club to create a 30- second, 3-minute, and 10-minute video to help promote Ready Kamp in the future.
The team consisted of three current CWI students, myself included, and our supervisor, CWI alumna, Shauna Lileks. We volunteered for the opportunity as part of the degree program and to gain hands-on experience using professional photography and videography equipment. After collecting B-roll footage and interviews, our team edited the public announcements.
It turned out to be a great experience documenting the activities at Ready Kamp. We were there, morning to night, capturing as much footage as we could. There were around 40 students and all of them were so active and animated. It kept us, the media team, on our feet. The activities they did at Ready Kamp ranged from putting out fires to learning how to save a drowning victim. As the media team, it was our job to capture the most significant moments of these activities. Just one of us wouldn’t stand a chance trying to capture everything; we had to work as a team to efficiently document each event.
Lileks, our supervisor, made two videos each day from the footage we gathered the previous day. Watching these videos, she would point out what we did well and what could improve. Eventually, by the end of Ready Kamp, I could see a significant increase in each individual’s ability to capture footage. I became more creative with my shots, faster at taking them, and better at recognizing the perfect moments. We all began to communicate as a team to stay out of each other’s shots, to help identify perfect shots, and to help keep our SD cards, batteries, and camera mics organized.
An interesting perk of helping document this event was our often accidental involvement. Even though we were only there to take video footage, we also ended up helping them with a few of their activities. We were able to watch these students learn a plethora of helpful skills for disaster situations. I think we learned a few helpful skills just from watching. The camp was very thorough, and the kids seemed to enjoy their time learning new survival skills.
At the end of the week, the kids got an opportunity to do a mock disaster to test all of the skills they learned at Ready Kamp. As the media team, this was also a final test for us. It was easily the fastest-paced activity of the week; there were many different facets of the situation we were expected to document. We had to build a strategy and plan for each shot and each moment. It was a great experience. I started the week with little to no experience behind a camera. By the end, I logged 65 hours of time behind the camera and learned a lot of crucial lessons about taking video. The skills I learned have helped me in my Media Arts courses like Video Production and Multimedia Storytelling.
Aj Anderson
Anderson is a Communication student at the College and one of several students participating in an exciting partnership between CWI's Communication 273—Media News Writing and Reporting class and the CWI Communications and Marketing Department to generate content for the College.
Law Enforcement Program Partners With Shop With A Cop
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Law Enforcement Program and Criminal Justice Club is set to partner with local law enforcement agencies for Shop With A Cop this holiday season.
Shop With A Cop is a nationally recognized program in which regional law enforcement agencies work with schools and other community organizations to identify children in need. Those children are partnered with a volunteer officer or deputy for a breakfast meal together, a ride in a patrol vehicle, and a shopping experience at a local department store. The kids and their officer shop for basic needs that the child may have including shoes, coats, or other clothing. The children also get to select a gift for each person in their immediate family. In many cases, these may be the only gifts the family will get a Christmas.
The Canyon County Shop With A Cop Program has been held for more than 25 years. Participating agencies include the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office, Nampa Police, Parma Police, Wilder/Greenleaf Police, and Homedale Police. Participation by CWI Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice students has become one of the highlight community service events for the students. They help with serving breakfast, assist officers with shopping, and wrap gifts as needed. This year the local Shop With A Cop program will serve an estimated 80 to 100 underprivileged families. Money for the program comes from donations, agency assistance, and often, out of the pockets of the participating officers.
The CWI Law Enforcement Program is currently accepting applications for the January academy session. The program is two semesters long. Students in the program take subjects directly aligned with the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training Academy in preparation to go to work as law enforcement officers. For further information contact Brett Reid at 208-562-2027 or LeRoy Forsman at 208-562-2614.
CWI Students Tour Cadaver Lab
College of Western Idaho (CWI) and the Treasure Valley Anatomy & Physiology Lab at ISU Meridian (TVAPL) have partnered to offer an exceptional opportunity for CWI’s Anatomy & Physiology (AP) students to attend the cadaver lab inside TVAPL. CWI’s A&P students were able to attend a two-hour field trip inside the state-of-the-art facility to get hands-on experience and further their understanding of core relationships in anatomy.
As one student said, “My favorite part was when I got to see the three hearts. One of those hearts had a lot of surgeries done on and we had a chance to touch it and look closely at it… I found it very interesting and I think every student in A&P should experience going to this lab. I really thought it was just going to be a little tour and we were going to see labeled organs on tables, that's it. I didn't expect to have someone gives us so much information about every organ. I think that's what impressed me the most! “
