May 1, 2026 | Community, News
COOS BAY, Ore. – “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”— Dr. Seuss
More than 500 first-graders from throughout Coos County gathered at Southwestern Oregon Community College for a celebration of books and reading on April 23, 2026. The event marked the culmination of the Gift of Literacy Program, a six-month initiative designed to encourage a lifelong love of reading among young children.
Reading is fundamental. It develops young children’s brains, provides a window into the world around them and helps them do better in all school subjects. Even so, 800 million people around the world cannot read or write. And many families (and some schools) have no books for children to read.
With the idea of improving children’s access to fun books and reading, the Rotary Clubs and school districts of North Bend, Coos Bay, Reedsport, Bandon, Coquille, Myrtle Point and Powers, along with South Coast Education Service District (ESD), and Southwestern have partnered for the past nine years on the Gift of Literacy Program.
Modeled after the Springfield Gift of Literacy, this well-established, time-tested, award-winning program supports reading and inspires thousands of young children.
Each year, Coos County librarians and teachers choose the books. First-grade classrooms receive a set of the books in November, giving teachers an opportunity to read the books in the classroom and build excitement.
The Gift of Literacy Program culminates in the festive celebration at the College with music, guest book readers, and a play put on by youth actors with Little Theatre on the Bay. First-graders receive a bag filled with fun swag, a careers coloring book, and the year’s featured brand-new books!
“Literacy is the foundation for lifelong learning, and it’s a privilege to support that journey from the very start,” said Southwestern President and local Rotarian Dr. Patty Scott. “This event reflects our deep commitment — not just to education, but to empowering every child in our community to thrive.”
The Rotary Clubs, the South Coast Education Service District, and the College extend a special thanks to Yellow Cab, First Community Credit Union, McDonald’s, Peak Credit Union, and Oliver Northwest Services, Inc. for their generous support of the Gift of Literacy Program.
Apr 22, 2026 | Community, Curry Campus
Brookings, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College Curry Campus invites the community to join us on Thursday, May 14, 2026, 1:00 to 2:00 pm, for a presentation on Adventures in South Africa by Vicki Gorham.
This is a free program sponsored by the Friends of Curry Campus and will be held in the Community Room on Southwestern’s Curry Campus, 96082 Lone Ranch Parkway (off Highway 101), Brookings.
Vicki and her husband Bill have been traveling internationally for many years. To date, they have made five trips to Africa, mostly to South Africa, and have taken numerous photos and short videos.
Vicki became interested in photography when they were living in Australia in 2010 and 2011. She found the Australian wildflowers to be unique and captivating and purchased her first camera while living there. That quickly spiraled into an interest in photographing birds, as she found the birdlife in Australia to be especially colorful and diverse.
Since then, photographing wildlife has been an ongoing passion, with African animals proving to be some of the most challenging and interesting of all their travels, offering abundant photo opportunities as they’ve driven around the continent.
Please join us for this photographic journey into South Africa. In addition, there will be lots of stories about Bill and Vicki’s interactions with wildlife including elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, and lions.
Bring a friend and stay tuned for upcoming talks in our speaker series.
The presentation on June 11 will be the final one before the summer break and will be about the Galapagos Islands. For more information contact the Curry Campus at 541-813-1667.
Apr 16, 2026 | Community, News, OCCI News
Coos Bay, OR – The Oregon Coast Culinary Institute (OCCI) at Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) will host a series of “La Patisserie” sales this spring, featuring freshly prepared baked goods, beverages, and culinary items created by OCCI Baking & Pastry and Culinary students.
The weekly sales take place select Thursdays at OCCI on SWOCC’s Coos Campus (1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay). Each week features a different theme, giving students the opportunity to showcase a variety of techniques and global flavors while providing the community with fresh, student-made offerings.
La Patisserie Sales Schedule & Themes:
- April 23, 10am – Noon – Italian
- April 30, 10am – Noon – French
- May 7, 10am – Noon – French
- May 14, 10am – Noon – Tea House
- May 21, 11am – 1pm – Tea House & Culinary Marketplace + Food Truck “OCCI Taco Truck”
- May 28, 11am – 1pm – Coffee House & Culinary Marketplace
- June 4, 11am – 1pm – Final Week Blowout Sale & Culinary Marketplace
Menu items may vary each week and are available while supplies last.
Proceeds from sales support student learning and program activities, including opportunities for OCCI students to gain hands-on, real-world experience in food production and service.
Community members are encouraged to stop by, try a variety of offerings, and support student chefs.
About Oregon Coast Culinary Institute (OCCI)
The Oregon Coast Culinary Institute (OCCI) is a professionally accredited culinary institution at Southwestern Oregon Community College located in Coos Bay, Oregon. OCCI offers both degrees and certificates in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry Arts. The school is renowned for providing comprehensive culinary training programs that equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in the culinary industry. With a focus on hands-on learning, experienced faculty, and affordable programs, OCCI is committed to nurturing culinary talent and shaping the next generation of talented chefs. For more information, visit www.socc.edu/occi.
Apr 14, 2026 | Community, News
Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) invites the community to an information session for its Diesel Mechanic Technology program on Friday, April 24, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. This free event is designed for anyone interested in exploring this hands-on training opportunity. All ages are welcome.
The session will take place in Umpqua Hall, Room 184, on the Coos Campus (1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay).
Attendees will learn about the program, including the application process for the upcoming year. They will also have the opportunity to connect with representatives from key student support areas, including: Admissions, Financial Aid, STEP/Benefits Navigation, SWOCC Foundation, Veterans Center, and others.
If time allows, participants will be offered a brief tour of the shop.
Diesel Mechanic Technology Information Session:
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WHO: Prospective students and community members interested in Diesel Mechanic Technology
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WHEN: 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2026
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WHERE: Umpqua Hall, Room 184 on the SWOCC Coos Campus (1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay)
For more information about this session, contact Charline Meyer, LIFT Project Coordinator/Advisor at charline.meyer@socc.edu or 541-888-1545.
Learn more about the program at www.socc.edu/dieselmechanic.
Apr 14, 2026 | Community, News
Coos Bay, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College’s STEAM Pathways program invites science-curious girls, grades 4-12, to “STEAM Pathways Presents: Science de Mayo” a Cinco de Mayo-themed event as part of our STEAM Club for Girls series.
This fun, interactive event will take place on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 from 5:30-8:00pm. The event is free and will be held in Umpqua Hall on Southwestern’s Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay.
This STEAM for Girls event is sure to bring out the fun of Cinco de Mayo! Enjoy making guacamole-themed slime, learning about forces and momentum by launching piñatas, and exploring the science behind the large impact responsible for the end of the dinosaurs.
Science topics explored will include:
- Physics and engineering
- Chemistry
- Geology
- Earth science
Students of all abilities and interests are encouraged to attend. For information or to register a student for “Science de Mayo” please contact Cassie Coyner, STEAM Pathways Coordinator at 541-888-7416, or cassie.coyner@socc.edu.
Registration is required as space is limited. Come join us for a great time!
To learn more about STEM degrees at Southwestern visit: https://www.socc.edu/programs-classes/stem/.
Apr 9, 2026 | Community, Curry Campus, News
COOS BAY, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College invites the community to join us on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at 6:00 pm, for “The Dynamic Solar Atmosphere” with Dr. Stephen Bradshaw, Professor and Associate Department Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University. This lecture is a free event; all ages are welcome.
Coos County residents can join us in-person in the Umpqua Hall lecture room (room 184) on the Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay.
Curry County residents can join us for a watch party in the Community Room on the Curry Campus, 96082 Lone Ranch Parkway, Brookings.
For those not able to attend in person the lecture will be streamed live on the College’s YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/@southwesternOR/streams.
About the Lecture:
Solar eclipses afforded the first opportunities to observe the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona (“crown”), set clearly against the background sky, in the absence of the orders-of-magnitude brighter solar disk washing out its radiation. The astronomer George Claridge, writing in 1937, asserted that “Hardly a total eclipse of the sun occurs without some important observations being made which add to our knowledge of the atoms.”
Early discoveries included helium, some 25 years before it was found on Earth, and, in 1869, an observation that has yet to be fully understood to this day: Why, in apparent defiance of the laws of thermodynamics, is the corona a thousand times hotter than the sun’s surface?
Dr. Bradshaw will present some of the historical context to solar coronal physics; the mysteries astrophysicists have wrestled with through the decades; and an overview of our modern understanding of the sun’s atmosphere, reached via a fleet of space-based observatories that have revealed its multiscale properties and spectacular dynamics.
About the Presenter:
Professor Stephen Bradshaw is a faculty member at Rice University in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and serves as Chair of the Undergraduate Program. He completed his M.S. in Physics, with a specialization in Planetary and Space Physics, from Aberystwyth University in 2000 and received his Ph.D. in Solar Astrophysics from University of Cambridge in 2004. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Imperial College London and a research astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center prior to joining Rice in 2010.
Professor Bradshaw’s research interests are primarily focused on theoretical and computational plasma physics applied to solar and stellar atmospheres, and to fundamental processes in laboratory plasmas relevant to astrophysical contexts. In particular, he investigates the heating of solar/stellar atmospheres where temperatures can reach several million degrees and yet surface temperatures are only a few thousand degrees. The mechanism by which such tremendous temperatures are achieved and maintained remains poorly understood. It is one of the great, unsolved mysteries of astrophysics to this day. His other research interests concern the mechanisms responsible for triggering and driving flares, and the heating and acceleration of solar/stellar winds, which are among the major contributors to space weather.
Professor Bradshaw has published numerous articles, book chapters, conference papers and has spoken all over the world from Beaumont, Texas to Bern, Switzerland. His projects (as PI and Co-I) have received over $10M in funding from NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), and he received the prestigious NSF CAREER award. He is the lead project scientist for a mission designed to open a new window on the Sun’s atmosphere in soft X-rays to be proposed to NASA’s mid-sized explorer (MIDEX) opportunity.
For more information about the lecture series contact Dr. Aaron Coyner, Associate Professor, Physics and Engineering at aaron.coyner@socc.edu or 541-888-7244.
For more information on upcoming lectures contact Cassie Coyner, STEAM Pathways Coordinator, at 541-888-7416, or cassie.coyner@socc.edu .
To learn more about STEM degrees at Southwestern visit: https://www.socc.edu/programs-classes/stem/.
