Finalists prep for finals in Inland Valley Regional Spelling Bee

bee2

Congratulations to the 34 spellers who qualified for the Inland Valley Regional Spelling Bee Finals this Saturday at Mt. SAC. Good Luck!

1. Canyon Hills Junior High Virginia Williams

2. Caryn Elementary School Nicholas Lee

3. Chaparral Middle School Olivia Hwang

4. Country Springs Elementary Emma Lazaro

5. Cucamonga Elementary Ranzelle Judd

6. Dona Merced Elementary Sofia Elise Benigno

7. Edgewood Elementary Brandon Lam

8. El Rooble Intermediate Amelie Cook

9. Etiwanda Intermediate Shlok Rajurkar

10. Foothill Knolls School Royce Tuncar

11. Goddard Middle Serena Lin

12. Harry S. Truman Middle Elizabeth Ouanemalay

13. Heritage Intermediate Rendell Jacob Nunez

14. Lorbeer Middle Andrew Wang

15. Mariposa Elementary Kaitlyn Le

16. Monte Vista Elementary Austin Leong

17. Montera Elementary Anna Nguyen

18. Oakridge Elementary Daniel Chen

19. Pioneer Junior High Rebecca Norden-Bright

20. Ramona Middle Aidan Leung

21. Rancho Cucamonga Middle Youssef Adam

22 .Rolling Ridge Elementary Kaila Long

23. Rowland Avenue Elementary Spandan Suthar

24. South Pointe Middle Thordar Han

25. St.Margaret Mary Hannah Silvestro

26. St. Joseph Vanessa Rios

27. Summit Intermediate Elyssa Sefiane

28. Sutherland Elementary Miriam Tomt

29. Suzanne Middle Lynette Chan

30. Sycamore Elementary Omvikneswer Muralitharan

31. Traweek Middle Ian Hulsbosch

32. Valencia Elementary Armieta Nabati

33. Victoria Groves Elementary Matthew Torre

34. Vineyard Junior High Nourya Cohen

David Hall elected president of Mt SAC trustees

Mt. San Antonio College Board of Trustees elected Dr. David K. Hall as president, Judy Chen Haggerty as vice president, and Rosanne Bader as clerk. They will serve one-year terms, effective immediately. 

Dr. Hall is currently the longest-serving member of the Mt. SAC Board of Trustees.  He was appointed to the Board in October 1995 after serving two terms as President of the Mt. SAC Foundation.  

He was later elected to four-year board terms in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, and most recently ran unopposed in 2013.  He is Chairman of the Industry Manufacturers Council (IMC) Human Resources Committee, Vice President of the Regional Chamber of Commerce—San Gabriel Valley, Board Member of the San Gabriel Valley Civic Alliance, Board Member of the San Gabriel Valley YMCA, and Vice Chairman of the Oversight Board of the Successor Agency for both the Covina Redevelopment Agency and the San Dimas Redevelopment Agency.

Professionally, Dr. Hall is Senior Vice President of Hitchcock Automotive Resources, which owns and operates auto dealerships throughout Southern California. 

Chen Haggerty was elected to the Board in 2001, 2005, 2009, and ran unopposed in 2013. She is the first Asian-American to serve on the board. She is a practicing attorney, law professor at Rio Hondo College, and the Law Area Chair for the University of Phoenix.  

At the state level, Chen Haggerty has served on the California Community College Trustee Officers Nominating Committee. She also represented Mt. SAC in the California Leadership Alliance for Student Success statewide project funded by the James Irvine Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She currently is the co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Education Services of the Community College League of California, the Charles Kennedy Equity Awards Committee, and serves on the Evaluation Team of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges. During her 30 years of community service, she has been a founding director of the FORUS foundation (Rowland Unified School District), founding president of Rowland Chinese Association, executive board member for Mt. SAC Foundation, the Advisory Committee member of Mt. SAC Regional Health Occupations, Vice President of the Rowland Heights Community Coordinating Council, member of Walnut Valley Rotary Club, and 10-year board member of Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. 

Bader was elected to the Mt. SAC Board of Trustees in 2003 and reelected in 2007 and 2011.  In 2007, Trustee Bader was elected to the California Community College Trustees Board, which makes recommendations about education policy issues pending before the state Board of Governors and the California Legislature.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center and serves as a member of the hospital’s Foundation Board. She also presides over the Pomona Rotary Board.

She spent 32 years in public education, both as a teacher and administrator. Before retiring from the Pomona Unified School District in 2001, she was principal at Diamond Point Elementary School in Diamond Bar and formerly served as principal of Allison Elementary School in Pomona. 

The other Mt. SAC trustees are outgoing president Fred Chyr, trustee Dr. Manuel Baca, trustee Laura Santos, trustee Robert Hidalgo, and student trustee Paola Mendoza.

Mt. SAC President Bill Scroggins gets 3-year extension, $10,000 bonus

By Steve Scauzillo, Staff Writer

Quietly and without fanfare, the Mount San Antonio College board extended the college president’s contract for three years and also gave him a $10,000 tax-sheltered annuity.

Bill Scroggins, president of Mt. SAC

Bill Scroggins, president of Mt. SAC

Bill Scroggins, 66, is under contract to serve as president of Mt. SAC until June 30, 2017, when his new contract will expire, according to a board agreement enacted Sept. 10.

This is the third $10,000 annuity given to Scroggins during his three-year tenure. He received one in July 2012 after the board amended his original contract, and in July 2013. Scroggins will receive a $10,000 “tax-sheltered annuity” every year for the next three years, according to his new contract and college officials.

The college also pays a portion of his retirement into a statewide retirement system which is separate from the annuities, said Jill Dolan, director of public affairs for the college.

Though the trustee board did not adjust his salary this month, Scroggins has received a $22,000 raise since he came on board. His salary rose from $225,000 in July 2011 to $247,428, his current annual compensation, according to records and college officials.

Trustee David Hall said during the meeting that it was not unusual for a college board to grant its president/CEO annuities and added Mt. SAC had indeed given an annuity to President Bill Feddersen, who served from 1991 to 2002, said Yen Mai, Mt. SAC’s marketing and communications director.

Read more in Steve’s story SCROGGINS.

 

 

During the discussion in December 2012 to amend Scroggins’ contract to allow the board to provide an annuity, Trustee Fred Chyr, now board president, said the annuity was not based on the president’s performance. The item raised an objection from Student Trustee Elisa Marin who said students would not agree to any kind of pay increase during these difficult economic times, according to minutes obtained by this newspaper.

Giving annuities is just another way of giving a bonus to keep an administrator, experts said. But the type of cash add-on, in this case a tax-sheltered annuity available after a person retires, suits older administrators more than younger or middle-aged managers, said Heidi Gallegos, board president of the Rowland Unified School District and a recent member of the Mt. SAC bond oversight committee.

Mt. SAC news

KSAK 90.1 FM nabs awards

Mt. San Antonio Colleges radio station, 90.1 KSAK FM, recently won four awards for reporting and use of sound at the Radio and Television News Associations annual Golden Mike Awards ceremony held on Jan. 26 at the Universal Hilton in Hollywood.

The station won the Best Sports Reporting and Best Use of Sound Golden Mikes for the Super Bowl and the Alumni feature in Division B for radio stations with fewer than six full-time staff.

Super Bowl and the Alumni is a light-hearted observation on the West Coasts lack of interest in Super Bowl XLI between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears.

The piece showcased audio from the Bears defensive lineman and Mt. SAC alumnus Alfonzo Boone.

KSAK also won Golden Mikes for Best Entertainment Reporting, Division B, and Best Feature News Series Reporting, One Division, for the feature series Silly Songs, Serious Respect on Weird Al Yankovic.

The three-part biography covers Yankovics rise from Southern California nerd to music superstar. In the One Division category, large and small radio stations compete against each other.

The Radio and Television News Association of Southern California annually honors the best in radio and television, ranging from the major networks to college stations.

Mt. SAC to Stage An Evening of Short Original Plays, Under the Gun

The Mt. San Antonio College Theater Program will stage an evening of short original plays, Under the Gun, at 8 p.m. Feb. 14-16 with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Feb. 17 in the Mt. SAC Performing Arts Center Studio Theater.

Under the Gun is a collection of short plays by contemporary American playwrights with unique takes on how people cope with their fears when under pressure.

Tickets are $12 for general admission and $9 for seniors and students. Mt. SAC is located at 1100 N. Grand Ave., Walnut.

For tickets and information, call the Mt. SAC Performing Arts Box Office at (909) 468-4050.