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News and notes from around the College

Joseph claims Minnie Piper nomination Dr. Celucien Joseph, San Jacinto College Central Campus English department chair, is the College’s 2024-25 Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award nominee. Joseph has been teaching at San Jac for two years, with 20 years’ experience at the collegiate level. Joseph has worked on various committees and student organizations, including the San Jac Online...
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Maritime alumni got feet wet through camps, field days 

At Port Houston’s Maritime Field Day last fall, middle schoolers crammed sardine-style inside a 12-person U.S. Coast Guard life raft. Although the raft stayed planted on concrete, the instructor described the rocking motion on the sea. “In a real emergency,” he said, “everyone would take a seasickness pill immediately to make sure no one got sick. Because if one person throws up, guess...
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Promise Partner: Peres champions Promise scholarship

Mason Peres could sum up all his titles with one word on a business card: overachiever. At 23, Peres already holds a master’s degree and has headed the local Rotary Club, volunteered for Pasadena and Houston’s rodeos, and chaired parade committees for Sylvan Beach Day, the Fourth of July, and Mardi Gras. Nothing makes Peres prouder, though, than supporting education. The La Porte High...
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Weller teaches, makes College and Texas history

Dr. Eddie Weller fell in love with teaching after taking his former professor Ben Proctor’s advice to give it a try. Thirty-five years later, Weller is still going strong as the San Jacinto College Honors Program director and National Collegiate Honors Council president. “Nothing gets me more excited than seeing the kind of change taking a history class can inspire in someone,”...
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Environmental health and safety: A commitment to sustainable growth 

What makes a company send its employees overseas for training? For Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura Refinery, it was the opportunity to move them from operations to team management with some of the best training in the world. International student Abdulaziz Albabtain is one of three employees Ras Tanura Refinery sent to San Jacinto College’s LyondellBasell Center for Petrochemical, Energy, &...
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Get certificate, job skills fast and free through adult education grant 

Ready to earn a workforce certificate while improving your academic, language, and soft skills? You can do both for free thanks to San Jacinto College’s integrated education and training program. If you’re looking to upskill or start a new career pathway quickly, you’ll pursue a short-term technical program alongside a support course to hone your career skills. Explore a new career in...
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Dancing for a cause: Artists for Hope marks 10 years of giving back 

The San Jacinto College South Campus Dance Program celebrated 10 years of its Artists for Hope charity concert in February. “When we started this event a decade ago, we had no idea it would grow to be so successful and impactful,” said Jamie Williams, San Jac dance professor and event founder. “We have always loved sharing this ever-growing event with the Houston community, but this...
Former San Jacinto College Board of Trustees Chair Marie Flickinger.

Longtime Board chair leaves legacy

Former San Jacinto College Board of Trustees Chair Marie Flickinger passed away Nov. 11, shortly after retiring from the Board after nearly 30 years of service to the institution. Flickinger was a fierce advocate for student success. Along with fellow trustees, she worked tirelessly to remove barriers for students, allowing them to earn their higher education credentials. She was passionate...
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Get hands-on with new cybersecurity bachelor’s degree

Practice makes perfect. That’s the thought of San Jacinto College’s new cybersecurity bachelor’s degree program, launched in fall 2024. It’s one thing to study network security, cryptography, and ethical hacking. It’s another thing to practice them. Enter San Jac’s security operations center, a lab equipped with high-performance computers and industry-standard software and...
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A journey from sirens to school bells 

Janice Ball will graduate from San Jacinto College in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in education with an emphasis in early childhood education. The former police officer turned paraprofessional found her true passion in the classroom, particularly helping students who have special needs. Ball gave up her badge after eight years to support her husband’s career with the Bureau of...
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Disney internship proves magical for alumna

When Alyssa Ferrell was accepted into the Disney College Program, she got more than she bargained for as a business major. Ferrell first enrolled at San Jacinto College in fall 2022 and graduated in spring 2024 with an associate degree in business. She discovered the Disney program during her last semester, and she knew right away it was something she could not pass up “The application...
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Helper mindset lands alumna in operating room

From childhood, Ashley Arratia pictured one job in her future, and it involved a uniform. Scrubs, to be exact. Shadowing her mom at her hospital job, the 5-year-old would imagine herself as one of the nurses. At home, her Barbie dolls would check each other’s temperatures and give shots. “That’s all I’ve wanted to do is just help people,” Arratia said. Today she does indeed wear...