We acknowledge and honor our educators who cultivate and shape our academic community. Their stories inform and inspire, illustrating diverse pathways that led to our campus and beyond. In collecting these stories, we seek to learn with and from those who devote so much of themselves to Cabrillo College.
By Rachel Mitchel, Faculty and CCFT Council Representative
Sara Decelle, Math Department, CCFT Adjunct Committee Chair, CVC-OEI Grant Manager
At Sara’s suggestion, we went for a socially distanced walk in Nisene Marks with masks donned, on a very warm, fall Friday afternoon. It was such a treat to spend some time chatting (especially in real time/place/space) while taking in some Vitamin D and greenery. Many of you probably already know Sara in some capacity as her contributions have been felt across the campus during the 18 years she’s been at Cabrillo.
We started with a general check in. Sara’s got two kids, one in middle school and the other close behind, so like most of us, they’re all staying busy with learning and working from home. Sara summed up this pandemic pivot by saying, “basically I’ve just been non-stop learning since April,” embracing the many new roles and opportunities she’s stepped into including serving as Adjunct Committee Chair, the CVC-OEI Grant Manager and learning about non-credit courses & working with ELumen, teaching a field course for the STEM and HUB Math tutors, and participating in the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Certificate program this fall. What you may not know about Sara is that she has taught children as young as second grade and also holds a Bilingual, Cross-cultural, Language and Academic Development credential.
As Adjunct Chair, Sara has worked to build inclusivity by scheduling the monthly meetings on different days and times to try to reach as many different adjuncts as possible (she also sends out a summary of the meeting so anyone who can’t make it can still have access to the information shared). Having been to many of these myself, I know first-hand that they are well attended and provide a valuable space for sharing information, support, and solidarity.
Together, Sara and John Govsky, CCFT’s Adjunct VP, have further supported adjunct faculty members by holding unemployment workshops, including an emergency workshop at the end of August to help folks navigate the postponed Fall semester start due to the CZU fire. Sara was also recently awarded “Unionist of the Year” by the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council as she was instrumental in securing the signatures needed for our region to get Proposition 15, Schools and Communities First, on the ballot for this upcoming election. In her “train the trainer” course this semester, Sara’s been modeling best practices by incorporating a lot of project based learning and using break out rooms in Zoom for group work, checking in with her students about their tech & space set ups to ensure they are well equipped and supported as tutors.
When she’s not juggling all of her roles and responsibilities at the college, Sara loves to spend time reading and being active outdoors: running, kayaking, or hiking. Sara’s energy, enthusiasm, experience, in addition to her above and beyond dedication and service to her colleagues and the college, are truly an inspiration and such a testament to the vital contributions that adjuncts make beyond their classrooms and programs, which is why she was my first choice to kick off this series of adjunct faculty profiles.
By Rachel Mitchel, Faculty and CCFT Council Representative
Beth McKinnon, Director, Accessibility & Support Center (ASC)
When I conceived of doing these faculty profiles for the CCFT website in support of Raina’s vision to humanize it a bit more, I wanted to be sure to feature our upcoming retirees, which makes sharing this lead off profile on Beth McKinnon more than a little bittersweet. Beth has been a leader in so many capacities during her 24 year career at Cabrillo. I’ve had the good fortune of getting to interact with her in a variety of contexts over the past five years through CFFT, the Faculty & Staff High School Outreach Task Force, and through the ASC, including attending an ASC screening of the documentary, “FIXED: The Science and Fiction of Human Enhancement” with my students (which generated lots of deep discussion and reflection in my Biological Anthropology class).
Beth and I recently met for some happy hour cheer at Café Cruz. Without even having to ask how the semester has been going, we immediately launched into a discussion about the non-stop pace of work ushered in by distance learning during the pandemic and the challenge in trying to “log off” at the end of the day when there is always something more that needs to get done (I’m sure you can all relate!). As you’d expect, the ASC is quite busy supporting students and instructors. Like the rest of us, they are adapting to providing support services online, having to innovate new ways of doing things, and being patient, flexible, and supportive of one another through these challenging times in which everyone is on overdrive, overloaded, and overwhelmed.
Beth and I also quickly discovered that we shared a lot of other connections: we both had the same midwives for our home births; we both have three children, two daughters and a son; we both had one daughter attend Cypress Charter High School (through which we also became self-proclaimed members of the Les Forster, former Principal of Cypress, fan club); and that my acupuncturist is her best friend! We had so much to share and talk about, and there were some interesting things I learned about Beth including that she loves river rafting. She has rafted the Rogue, Salmon, American, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and the Carson Rivers, among others. Beth also enjoys traveling. She has traveled extensively in Central and South America and lived in Guatemala for a time. She is also passionate about Buddhism in Action and draws inspiration from Terry Tempest Williams, Joanna Macy, and Jack Kornfield. As Beth put it, “the time for observation and discussion is over, it’s time to ACT!” I couldn’t agree more.
In retirement, Beth plans to expand her private practice as a LMFT and would like to continue working with students who need accommodation and support to succeed socially and educationally. Beth’s passion for supporting and advocating for student accessibility is going to be sorely missed on campus, but I have no doubt she will continue to make an impact on our community.