Aaron Klein's Corner

Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe that Christmas is here again.

A time to celebrate the birth of the One who came to bring hope and peace to our world. A time to laugh and make memories with family and friends. A time to mail out 650 Christmas cards. (If you didn't get one from us, it's not like we didn't try!)

We'll be with our families for the next couple of days, so if I don't have a chance to say it again...Cacey, Spencer and I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

"I want to play basketball..."

Great story this morning on the Today Show. I didn't see it, but read this online. It struck me in two ways. First, that every single life is precious, and this young man with special needs is one of those examples. And second, may we all choose to respond to life's challenges with the grace and determination that he has shown.

For the first time in his life, he’s no longer hobbled by a congenital condition that made walking a painful and difficult task. That meant a grand entrance for 10-year-old Nick Nelson, who wasn’t going to begin an interview sitting on a couch.

Instead Nick let his parents, Greta and Gary Nelson, and his sister, Naomi, say hello to TODAY’s Matt Lauer first Monday in New York and waited for his cue. When it came, he walked into the studio on his new, high-tech, carbon-fiber “J” legs, stepped onto a riser, and took his place next to his parents on a couch.

» Read the Entire Article

Lincoln High School students apply math skills to building catapults

A great article on Sierra College's work with Lincoln High School to build math skills...

According to Sandra Scott, Director of Workforce Development for Sierra College, the hands-on Tech-Explorer catapult project engages students and makes academic studies more relevant. “Project-based learning allows students to apply what they are learning in the classroom to real skills used in the workplace,” said Scott. “This project introduces students to local, highly paid in-demand careers such as technicians, product designers and engineers.”

» Read the Entire Article

Sierra College employee training pays off for local company

Another great story about one of our innovative employee / job training programs run by the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies at Sierra College, which is directed by Sandra Scott and Dean Stephanie Guevara, among others.

In less than 45 days, Comtek Computer Systems (comtekcomsys.com) with Sierra College (sierracollegetraining.com) trained 300 employees to re-evaluate the effectiveness of their work space, eliminating over $100,000 in excess or unused tools, rework equipment and supplies, according to Steve Tichy, Business Process Analyst for Comtek. “As a result, excess materials uncovered by the evaluation are being returned to suppliers and other ‘found resources’ add up to future savings,” said Tichy. “Plus, workers from the plant floor to the office areas now can visually see all the tools they need to do their jobs, increasing productivity and giving our company a competitive advantage.”

» Read the Entire Story

Got an extra Christmas card?

Do you have an extra Christmas card left over after your list is complete?

Here's where to send it:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001

We sent three. And if enough people did this, every single wounded hero in uniform would get one...

Another article on our Virtual Office Professional training program...

Another great article on yet another one of Sierra College's innovative job training programs...

It seems technology makes the office world go ‘round – or at least some colleges and universities are preparing for that reality.

Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif. – a community college just about 30 minutes from the state capitol and 100 miles east of San Francisco – is on the cutting edge of higher education with an innovative curriculum dubbed the Virtual Office Professional Program (VOP).

“It’s a very timely program,” says Dr. Cyndi Dunn, the Sierra College professor who has helped to bring the program to campus. “It offers a lot of options as a career.”

» Read the Entire Article

Video Blog #11: A New Web Site

Many people commented on how great our campaign web site worked to help us organize around the ideas and principles we stood for in this last election. So it hit me — why don't we relaunch it as a way to better connect our community with their college, and create a two-way conversation about the policies and priorities there?

So that's what we did. Check out the video blog below, and the press release by clicking here.

(Facebook readers, go to www.aaronklein.com/blog)