PC, Tule River Tribe launch partnership
Porterville College and Tule River tribal members gathered for a ribbon cutting to celebrate their educational partnership providing educational services to the tribal community advancing their education and workforce development and training.
More than 170 tribal members attended the event on Wednesday with the ribbon cutting in the morning and a further presentation and celebration in the evening at the Tule River Gym.
One of the short-term goals of the partnership is to offer both online and weekly classes at the Tule River Indian Reservation and a long-term goal is to help develop educational pathways for all tribal members interested in degrees and certifications.
PC and the Tribe committed to launch a Day Event once a year as well as a monthly workshop series every second Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m. on the reservation promoting Porterville College services to the tribal community during the school year. Besides a presentation on Dual/concurrent Enrollment, workshops will be about financial aid, admissions and records, EOPS, CARE, NEXT Up, DRC, Student Life and more.
Courses and times will vary according to needs of teachers and students in the partnership at the TRITC location.
An in-person class in Work Readiness and Communication Skills will be offered starting Monday, February 27 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Tule River Justice Center. The class will be Mondays and Wednesdays until May 12.
PC will also work with the Workforce Development Department to provide computer training and potential credit/ or non-credit courses or certificates/or degrees on TRITC Yolumne language
and history.
Everyone was invited to attend all PC athletics and events at the college and become more informed about all the course and degree offerings as well as the vocational courses.
Kristi Covington from the PC Technician Program said, “There was a very good turnout this morning. The blessing was beautiful and the ribbon cutting was great to see.”
PC alumnus and employee Marisa Rose got the chance to cut the ribbon for the Tule River Tribe.
“It was an amazing opportunity to showcase the partnership between the Tule River Tribe and Porterville College and our commitment to providing educational opportunities to tribal members in the community,” said Reagen Dozier, PC Title 5 Administrator.
Rios, who cut the ribbon during the partnership ceremony, is both a tribal member and Porterville College expert on Rural initiatives. She said, “It was a wonderful experience to cut the ribbon for the partnership,” and as a tribal member, “this is a great step for education in our community.”
At both presentations during the day tribal members filled out surveys regarding their educational experiences and interests to further guide PC and the TRITC.
In the evening Charlie Dabney said, “It’s never too late to go back to school.” At both events Larry Desoto Jr. spoke about the partnership and was greatly encouraged about all the educational programs. He was especially interested about the credit, or non-credit courses being offered for Tribal history and the Yowlumni language.
Community members can start small with a class and then move on to a workshop. Desoto said it takes a team to get things moving, but this is a great opportunity. And there are a lot of specific programs.
Thad Russell, PC Vice President, thanked the tribe for the opportunity “you are giving us. We want to help your community, and we look forward to that.”
He said the partnership has been a long time coming and the college will be a resource for the tribe and help serve them in whatever capacity they can.