April 2023 News Blog
News briefs from the HCC campus and beyond
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Best of the Valley
Holyoke Community College was named the best two-year college in the Pioneer Valley in the Valley Advocate's annual readers' poll for 2023. This means that HCC now currently holds all three local "Best" titles at the same time: Best College or University (MassLive/Republican Readers Raves); Best Two-Year College (Daily Hampshire Gazette Readers Choice Awards); and Best in the Valley. Above, HCC students Dylan Guzman, left, Diomary Guzman, center, both of Holyoke, and Malachai Darku of Monson hold up the magazine celebrating the Valley Advocate's Best of the Valley award winners for 2023.
On Display
Students in English professor Naomi Lesley's Children's Literature class spent a recent Friday setting up book displays in the Children's Room at the Holyoke Public Library for a Service Learning Project. Weeks before, the class had met with library staff to talk about the books in the library they wanted to promote. "It's to try to help kids get excited to read," said Emily Langer of Northampton, who chose to create a display with records albums and a microphone about the book R-E-S-P-E-C-T, a children's biography of Aretha Franklin. The project was to choose books that had been banned or those that that had received a diversity label. Barbara Ann Santiago of Florence, pictured above, picked Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, a book about a boy who can manipulate time. "I felt like it would be a good book because there's a lot of like bullying in there. It's a lot of problem solving," she said. "I felt like a lot of kids in middle school are going through that, so if they were to read a book where someone is going through similar situations, maybe it might uplift them so they could learn how to problem solve their own issues."
Fitting In
Candidates to be corrections officers in Hampden County have to pass a physical fitness test before they are considered for a job, successfully completing a series of exercises, including performing a certain number of pushups (depending on age and gender), holding a plank for 62 seconds, navigating an agility course, and running 300 meters. Earlier this month, students in Introduction to Corrections were put through the test in the Bartley Center gym by fitness instructor Matt Rogers from the Hampden County Sheriff's Department. "This is a pre-employment test they give to people who want to be corrections officers in Hampden County," said criminal justice professor and HCC alum Alex Sanchez '90, a former Springfield police officer. "Matt has been nice enough to tell these guys that if they pass the test here and they're looking to get a job within the next year so, they will honor this as their pre-employment test." Either way, he said, the participating students seemed to enjoy the activity. "They like it, they get extra credit, and they're out of the classroom," said Sanchez, pictured above, left, planking next to criminal justice major Jesse Conner of Northampton.
Reclaiming Futures
Coinciding with the national recognition of "Second Chance Month," HCC hosted a criminal record expungement and sealing clinic and CORI-friendly job fair on April 6 in the Bartley Center. The event was organized by HCC's Western Mass CORE program in partnership with MassHire Holyoke and the Center for Social Justice at the Western New England School of Law. "We had an amazing turnout, with over 140 attendees, 40-plus people representing local employers, 20 people representing community-based organizations and services, more than 30 lawyers, law students, and legal volunteers, and 10 HCC student volunteers," said HCC criminal justice professor Nicole Hendricks, co-founder and coordinator of WMass CORE. The theme of the event was visible on T-shirts and posters throughout the gym "Reclaiming Futures, Unlocking Opportunities." "This incredible level of participation demonstrates the strong support and commitment that our community has towards helping those who have been impacted by the criminal legal system," said Hendricks. Above: WMass CORE co-coordinator Mary Orisich, right, talks to an attendee. See the story on WWLP-22News ...
