Jun 7, 2024 | Community, News
Coos Bay, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) athletics is pleased to host a two-day 2024 Laker Youth Basketball Camp on June 17-18 at the Recreation Center gymnasium. This camp is a fantastic opportunity for young athletes to develop their skills, make new friends, and enjoy the game under the guidance of experienced coaches.
The camp schedule for both days is as follows:
- Athletes just completing 1st – 3rd Grade: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
- Athletes just completing 4th – 8th Grade: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
The registration fee for each camper for both days is $60. Payment is accepted at the door and checks should be made out to SWOCC Basketball.
Pre-registration is encouraged (on-site registration will also be accepted). To pre-register:
- Complete the 2024 Laker Youth Basketball Camp Form
- Complete the Basketball Hold Harmless Form
For any additional questions, contact SWOCC’s head women’s basketball coach Heather Weber at 541-391-3494 or email heather.weber@socc.edu.
Don’t miss this opportunity for your young athlete to learn basketball skills from SWOCC basketball coaches and players! Sign up today and join us for two days of learning, skill-building and a lot of fun on the court.
Jun 5, 2024 | Alumni, News, Student Success
Southwestern Oregon Community College’s 2024 Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, June 14, 2024, at noon in Prosper Hall on the Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay.
WATCH A LIVE STREAM OF THE CELEBRATION ON SOUTHWESTERN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE.
Southwestern is proud of the 2024 graduates! This year the College is pleased to honor a total of 401 graduates, from 24 states and eight countries.
Degrees being awarded are:
- 163 Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer
- 96 Associate of Applied Science
- 48 Associate of General Studies
- 52 Associate of Science
- 100 Certificates of Completion (one year)
Southwestern also congratulates 15 local high school students who acquired their associate degrees at the same time they were completing their high school diplomas.
Guest attendance at the ceremony is by ticket only. The celebration can be viewed live via Southwestern’s YouTube channel.
Additional information for graduates and their families can be found on the Graduation web page.
Graduating Class of 2024
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GH = Graduating with Honors, 3.75 GPA PK = Member Phi Theta Kappa V = Valedictorian, 4.00 GPA
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Jun 4, 2024 | Alumni, News, Student Success
Coos Bay, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College is pleased to announce Reilly Meehan is the 2024 Distinguished Alumnus. Meehan graduated in 2011 from Southwestern with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Culinary Arts.
The Distinguished Alumni award recognizes individuals who demonstrate significant contributions to their professions, communities, or academia.
“Being chosen as the 2024 SWOCC Distinguished Alumni is a high honor and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to continue to represent SWOCC and OCCI for years to come,” Meehan said.
“I was given the opportunity to pursue a career that not only allows me creative expression but also freedom and a space for individuality – all thanks to the nurturing nature of the staff and teachers I crossed paths with during my time as a student here. I look forward to seeing what this year’s graduates have to bring to this world and will continue to push myself to be the best role model I can for future graduates from this amazing program.”
The world first noticed Chef Reilly Meehan as an award winner. He won Best Young Chef in the World 2011 at the Chaines Des Rotisseurs Jenunes Comms competition in Istanbul, Turkey. That year at age 21, he was the first American to win the award – and the youngest award winner. He followed it up with awards in 2019 and 2022 – ACF Chef of the Year and Americas Global Chef Challenge champion.
Chef Meehan also is a natural teacher. An online mentor, he inspires people who are into food and non-foodies to get into food. This TikTok influencer has 391,000 people following his culinary video posts. Nearly 200,000 people follow him on Instagram.
“Reilly encompasses the best of both worlds,” says Executive Chef Randy Torres. “You can tell he has classical training with Old World style, but with a very modern approach. Fresh ideas. Inspirational. And really, he is inspirational to all genres of people from grandmas to Master Chefs.”
Meehan grew up in Central California. He first connected with Chef Torres as a high schooler during a culinary institute competition in San Jose. He enrolled at the school to learn from Chef Torres, who put together a competition team. Meehan learned and excelled. First competition he won a gold medal.
Torres soon moved to Oregon Coast Culinary Institute. In 2010, he began building the Youth Competition Team for the 2012 Culinary Olympics. Wanting to be on Torres’ team, Meehan followed him to Coos Bay to finish his studies. In 2011, he graduated and worked his way to fame.
Chef Meehan has worked at The Ritz Carlton, San Francisco’s famed The Bohemian Club and owned a restaurant. Now, as a private chef, Meehan jets between Phoenix and Southampton, N.Y. During moments of down time, he inspires thousands of people worldwide as an iconic, charismatic social media culinary teacher.
“Why he’s gaining success in his social media endeavors is his approachability and his overall demeanor,” says Torres. “Reilly’s a welcoming person and you belong in whatever he’s doing. He’s a black tie and T-shirt all rolled into one. He’s a complete package. You can have a beer with him or a glass of champagne.”
It’s very rare to ever see that in a chef. That’s why Southwestern is pleased to celebrate Chef Reilly Meehan as 2024 Distinguished Alum, and especially this year on the 25th anniversary of the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute at Southwestern.
May 29, 2024 | Curry Campus, News, Student Success
Coos Bay, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College announces the names of students who excelled winter term for the 2023-2024 academic school year. These students are being recognized with placement on the college’s Dean’s List (DL), Honor Roll (HR) and Academic Excellence (AE) list.
• Academic Excellence – students must receive a GPA of 4.0 in at least 12 credits
• Honor Roll – students must receive a GPA between 3.5 and 3.99 in at least 12 credits
• Dean’s List – students must receive a GPA between 3.0 and 3.49 in at least 12 credits
May 29, 2024 | Community, News
Coos Bay, OR – In celebration of Juneteenth, Southwestern Oregon Community College invites the public to a free presentation “Juneteenth: Honoring the Black Freedom Struggle” by Taylor Stewart, founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project. The presentation will be held at Southwestern’s Coos Campus (1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay) at 2:00 pm on June 18, 2024, in Umpqua Hall, Room 184. This is a free event and everyone is welcome.
Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery. For the past four years, Taylor Stewart has been at the forefront of Juneteenth celebrations across the state of Oregon, lending his expertise and passion to the cause. Stewart’s first time working on a Juneteenth celebration was in 2021 in Coos Bay.
Stewart founded the Oregon Remembrance Project in 2018 to memorialize Alonzo Tucker, Oregon’s most widely documented African American victim of lynching, which occurred in Coos Bay in 1902. For the presentation, Stewart will share his experience in helping to organize Juneteenth events across the state, what excites him most about these events, and how communities can carry the spirit of Juneteenth forward beyond its annual observance. Light refreshments traditional to Juneteenth celebrations will be provided free of charge.
Tune in to the presentation from anywhere via our YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@SouthwesternOR/streams.
For more information contact Forrest Akers, Director of International Recruitment and Academic Partnerships, at 541-888-7185, forrest.akers@socc.edu.
May 26, 2024 | Alumni, Foundation
Call 9-1-1 in an emergency, and first responders will always come to help us.
So when Southwestern Oregon Community College reached out for help closing the fundraising gap on a new Fire Training Tower in 2023, SWOCC Foundation was pleased to be a “first responder”.
Fast-forward to today, the new tower is open and serving as a fire and rescue training hub for students pursuing careers in structural firefighting and emergency response. That’s not all. The College is making sure this $1 million investment also will support ongoing professional training and enhance annual disaster response training events that can bring together lifesavers from fire departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, medical facilities, and ambulance firms.
“With the accelerating rate of wildfires near residential areas, it becomes increasingly important for our rural firefighters to be adequately trained. This new lab will allow us to do that,” said Foundation trustee Carolyn Thompson.
Now that municipal and volunteer fire departments also using the new fire tower lab, crews no longer have to leave the region for training. The College’s partner school Columbia Pacific Maritime also plans to provide professional mariners with maritime firefighting certification classes. Soon, this will be a new opportunity for mariners.
The modular 36-foot-tall steel structure meets International Building Code/National Fire Protection Association standards. It provides students, volunteers, and professionals space to practice a variety of skills, including:
- Interior search and rescue,
- Live fire drills to learn fire behavior and suppression,
- Safe ventilation operations,
- Aerial firefighting,
- Rappelling and ladder training,
- Day and night fire drills, response and rescue,
- Maritime/vessel fire response and rescue.
SWOCC Foundation also invests in fire science students by providing scholarships to assist with tuition and help students buy fire uniforms and safety gear. To learn more about giving to scholarships, call us and let’s chat (541) 888-7209 or donate now.
May 23, 2024 | Curry Campus, News
Southwestern Oregon Community College is offering free GED® and Adult Basic Education classes summer term 2024. These classes prepare individuals to take the GED® exam and update skills to enroll in college or career training programs. Students enrolled in these classes can build a pipeline to enter college, training programs, and jobs in high-demand career areas.
We have two options for GED® and Adult Basic Education classes summer term:
- MorningGED®Class – Tuesday through Thursday from 10am-1pm
- EveningGED®Class – Tuesday through Thursday from 5pm-8pm
All classes are live and in-person on the Coos Campus (1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay). For students who cannot attend in-person, classes are offered via Zoom during all three sessions.
Curry County Residents: Morning classes, Tuesday through Thursday from 10am-1pm are live and in-person on the Curry Campus (96082 Lone Ranch Parkway, Brookings).
Summer term starts June 24, 2024 and ends August 15, 2024. To register for orientation and classes go to https://swoccapce.org/ and click GET STARTED. For questions, please email Adult & Pre-College Education at apce@socc.edu or call 541-888-1593.
May 23, 2024 | Curry Campus, News, Student Success
Southwestern Oregon Community College’s 2024 Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, June 14, 2024, at noon in Prosper Hall on the Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay.
Southwestern is proud of the 2024 graduates! This year the College is pleased to honor a total of 402 graduates, from 24 states and eight countries.
Degrees being awarded are:
164 Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer
96 Associate of Applied Science
48 Associate of General Studies
52 Associate of Science
100 Certificates of Completion (one year)
Southwestern also congratulates 15 local high school students who acquired their associate degrees at the same time they were completing their high school diplomas.
Guest attendance at the ceremony is by ticket only. The celebration can be viewed live via the College’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@SouthwesternOR.
Additional information for graduates and their families can be found on the Graduation webpage located at https://www.socc.edu/graduation.
May 22, 2024 | Community, Curry Campus, Curry News
The Second Annual Wild Rivers Film Festival (WRFF) in Brookings, Oregon is a few months away, Aug. 15 – 18, 2024, however, the community can get a sneak preview at the Curry Campus of Southwestern Oregon Community College on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm.
Sue Wright and Kat Lidell, board members of the WRFF will be the presenters for this lecture. Each brings a wealth of experience to the film festival.
Dr. Sue Marie Wright, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at Eastern Washington University’s Department of Sociology and Justice Studies. As president of the Wild Rivers Film Festival, she leads efforts like the new summer filmmaking workshop for middle and high school students, showcasing her leadership and commitment to community development. Sue founded and directed the Children’s Studies Program from 2002 to 2012. Dr. Wright is dedicated to fostering creative expression among children and youth through research initiatives, community support, and educational grant proposals.
Kat Liddell, a Brookings native, wears many hats in the community. Liddell has spent the last seven years co-hosting The Insider Report entertainment podcast with Bruce Ellis, and is the Executive Director of Brookings’ newest nonprofit theater company, Threepenny Theater Co. Liddell received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Bushnell University in 2012 and a master’s degree in library science in 2018. By day, Liddell works as a librarian.
This year’s festival will feature a film made by local young people. Students are invited to learn the art and craft of film making through a week-long workshop at the Curry Campus. The youth workshop film will be presented at the festival. Registration for this free class is May 13-June 28. The Class will be held the week of July 15-21. More information is available at: https://www.wildriversfilmfestival.com/event-details/summer-youth-filmmaking-workshop.
The film workshop is funded this summer by grants through the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, The Ford Family Foundation, and Brookings Harbor Education Foundation.
Last year the festival organizers screened 60 independent films from around the world that were entered into a competition for cash awards. This year the festival organizers will screen many more films and are including a screenwriting competition.
The film festival is attended by film makers and film enthusiasts. It gives the public an opportunity to meet the film makers. Selected films will include a Q & A with the film makers after the show. The festival is a multi-day experience for south coast residents and attracts people from outside the region contributing to the local tourism economy.
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. Bring a friend and a brown bag lunch.
Stay tuned for upcoming talks in our speaker series. For more information contact the Curry Campus at 541-813-1667.
May 20, 2024 | Curry Campus, Curry News, News, Student Success
Southwestern Oregon Community College invites the community to join us on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 6:00 pm, for our Annual Student Research Symposium. In addition to the student presentations, a poster exhibit will be on display starting at 5:30 pm in the Umpqua Hall Main Lobby. This is a free event; all ages are welcome.
Coos County residents can join us in-person in the Umpqua Hall lecture 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.
Southwestern’s student SPEAR (STEAM, Pathways, Experimental, & Academic Research) Team is actively working on a variety of science research projects. Participation on the team teaches students valuable skills and allows them to gain hands-on experience.
Students within Physics, Engineering, Geology, Computer Science, Biology, Agroecology, and Sociology will be showcasing their work for the community. Our SPEAR team is led by Krystal Hopper Meyers and mentored by Professors Aaron Coyner, Win McLaughlin, and Derek Morrelli.
Some of the projects include:
- attempting to increase flight time for an electrical aircraft using magnetic induction,
- recent developments in nuclear propulsion,
- searching for micrometeorites within local storm drains and investigating if they were significant in supporting early plant life,
- researching the fossils, chronology, and relationship to Cascadia megathrust earthquakes at Fossil Point,
- comparing the composition and extent of the Oregon Coast basalt and if it correlates with Yellowstone hotspot or not,
- interplanetary ion population modeling working with a Lead Scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio,
- locating never found before asteroids using data sent to us from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PAN-STARRS) located at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii,
- statistical analysis of King Tide heights and frequencies working NOAA tidal data.
Many of these projects are supported by grants awarded through Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium.
Additionally, Professors Jason Bennett and Maria Farinacci have two students who will be presenting research on invasive Green Crabs. These students recently finished an internship with South Slough National Estuary Research Reserve Lead Scientist, Dr. Shon Schooler. Posters from Professor Dana Pertermann’s Sociology students’ will also be on display. Topics from their research include Indigenous culture and raising grandchildren, Japanese marriage customs and culture, the study of forensics in time over the last 100 years, and changes in the human diet.
Please join us and help support these students while learning more about the exciting things happening at the College within our STEAM programs!
For more information contact Krystal Hopper Meyers, STEAM Pathways Assistant, at 541-888-7416, or krystal.hopper@socc.edu.
To learn more about STEM degrees at Southwestern visit: https://www.socc.edu/programs-classes/stem.
