Hearing “Mrs. Chavez, we miss you!” from her 4th grade class encouraged Rhiannon Chavez to set up a weekly summer Zoom call to check in with her students. Some have shared their Lego creations, while others just talk about their day. One asked “Can we do this every day?” and she thought, “Wait, this is my summer vacation, too.” Summer had been a welcome break for teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Like her colleagues, Chavez has had to adjust to online teaching methods during the pandemic, and her role at Gardena's 186th Street Elementary School as teacher of the English Learning Development (ELD) class presented unique challenges. Fortunately, the California ... Read More
Alumni
Toros and Friends Craft Masks to Protect Students and Health Care Professionals
Grabbing from a stack of material leftover from quilting projects, Cheryl McKnight slides strips of 100 percent cotton into her “workhorse” sewing machine, stitching them into face masks for the Rosecrans Care Center in Gardena. McKnight is the director of the Center for Service Learning, Internships and Civic Engagement (SLICE) at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). She began making masks in March after SLICE Coordinator Miami Gelvizon-Gatpandan told her that the staff at the care center where her sister works as an LVN and infection preventionist had run out of face coverings to protect patients and themselves from COVID-19. “I got online and found a pattern and ... Read More
John and Katherine Tracy Establish Takeshi Katsumata Endowed Scholarship
To help support STEM students in financial need, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) alumnus and retired Boeing executive John Tracy, and his wife Katherine, have donated $200,000 to establish the Takeshi Katsumata Endowed Scholarship in the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences (NBS). Through the endowment, scholarships of at least $5,000 will be awarded annually by NBS to help full-time, low-income students studying computer sciences, physics, chemistry, or mathematics excel at CSUDH, and better compete in the booming STEM industries. “There’s so much untapped potential in our communities, especially in underserved communities,” said Tracy, who grew up in ... Read More
Department of Theatre and Dance Announces Tony Award-Winning Play ‘Seven Guitars’
(Carson, CA) – In celebration of Black History Month, California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) Department of Theatre and Dance has announced the theatrical production of American playwright August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama “Seven Guitars.” Performances will take place Feb. 21, 22, 28 and 29 at 8 p.m., and Feb. 23 and March 1 at 2 p.m. in CSUDH’s University Theatre. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1948, “Seven Guitars” takes place after the untimely death of Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, a local blues guitarist on the edge of stardom, whose friends gather after his funeral to mourn and grapple with his legacy. The fifth chapter in Wilson’s epic ... Read More
A Helping Hand: CSUDH Alumna Uses Her Past to Inspire Others
“I’ve come a long way,” said CSUDH alumna Teresa Ramirez, reflecting on her college and career path. A first-generation Mexican-American born in Torrance, and raised in Compton, Ramirez was the first member of her family to pursue a college education. Ramirez was a self-described “shy, quiet, somewhat naïve” first-year college student. By the time she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Ramirez had developed “the confidence that I needed to be a leader, someone who can communicate without being afraid.” Ramirez traces much of her success to being awarded a CSUDH Presidential Scholarship, the university’s premiere scholarship program, in recognition of her outstanding ... Read More
