It’s never too early to consider a college education. A group of 31 girls from the Wiener Academy for Young Women spent a special day at Westchester Community College in July. The students, aged 9 – 14, had a private meeting with Dr. Belinda Miles, Westchester Community College President, who encouraged them to be courageous and follow their dreams. Students got a pep talk from our Student Involvement team, Juan-Carlos Piñeiro and Jessica Gramajo, who demonstrated the importance of community building. They later toured the campus with Admissions Counselor Stephanie Annunziata, who gave them tips on how to prepare now for their future college experience.

The Wiener Academy for Young Women is a program of the Westchester Jewish Community Services located at the Mary J. Blige Center for Women in White Plains. Its mission is to inspire and prepare girls in grades 4-8 to reach their full potential through academic support and activities designed to build character, enhance social development, and promote health and wellness. Westchester Community College is pleased to partner with such important organizations in promoting higher education as the key to success. An educated Westchester is a strong Westchester. Both Westchester Community College and the Academy are supported by the Wiener Family Philanthropies.

The college’s Peekskill Extension Center is pleased to a part of the Peekskill community at this exciting time and would like to help spread the news about the new economic development grant that the city has received. The Center serves Northern Westchester and Putnam County students at the Peekskill location and looks forward to supporting the development of future benefits for our students.

$10 Million Revitalization Grant A Game-Changer for Peekskill

In what is a bold and game-changing development for the City of Peekskill, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that Peekskill will receive $10 million in funding as the Mid-Hudson winner of the fourth round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI).

The governor’s announcement was made before a standing-room-only audience at the Hudson Room restaurant in August 2019. Among those joining Gov. Cuomo for this historic announcement was Peekskill Mayor Andre Rainey, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, and Marsha Gordon, The Business Council of Westchester President and CEO, who is also a member of the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.

“With the downtown revitalization initiative, we challenged local governments to propose innovative ideas to create jobs and drive economic growth,” Governor Cuomo said. “Peekskill proposed a brilliant plan that builds on their natural resources including the beautiful waterfront – a magnet that draws people and businesses to the area. And they demonstrated they have the secret ingredient: the capacity to actually get it done. This investment will help Peekskill utilize these assets to maximize their full potential.”

“Thanks to Governor Cuomo’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, our city has an opportunity to build on what we’ve accomplished and forge a great new future for our community. This investment will create lasting improvements that will attract more residents, prompt businesses to invest here and entice visitors to see what we have to offer,” said Peekskill Mayor Rainey.

Peekskill now joins the cities of Middletown, Kingston and New Rochelle, which were the Mid-Hudson winners in the first three DRI rounds, respectively. Peekskill will now begin the process of developing a Strategic Investment Plan to revitalize its downtown with up to $300,000 in planning funds from the $10 million DRI grant.

Access your Student Handbook at: www.sunywcc.edu/handbook

Make sure you’re informed:

• Policies and general college information
• Student’s rights and responsibilities
• Campus security and safety details

Note that the Academic Calendar is no longer part of the Student Handbook. The Academic Calendar continues to be available at: www.sunywcc.edu/academic-calendar

The Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College has been recognized for its dedication of over 20 years to the native plants and natural landscapes of Westchester County, and their creation and promotion of the County’s executive order calling for native plants to be used exclusively in county parks and properties.

“This year’s honorees truly exemplify commitment to the parks and opens spaces that our county needs in order to thrive,” said Joanne Fernandez, board chairperson of the Westchester Parks Foundation. “Their unwavering passion helps us to achieve our mission of advocating and investing in the preservation, conservation and enjoyment of the 18,000 acres of parks, trails and open spaces within the Westchester County Parks system. We’re grateful for these ‘parksters.”

“The Power of Parks” gala will be held on September 19, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, call 914-231-4600 or visit https://www.thewpf.org/event/gala2019/.

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The Children’s Center received a 5 out of 5 star rating from QUALITYstarsNY. The infant, toddler, and two preschool classrooms were observed and given high ratings. Thanks to the Director and Assistant Director, and staff for their hard work, the five star rating will apply for the next few years.

Learn More About the Virginia Marx Children Center here.

The Westchester Community College Foundation won a 2019 Outstanding Fundraising Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). CASE judges review data blindly from community colleges nationally to determine these awards. Judges noted in particular an increase in diversity of funding streams, and progress in corporate funding support.

Foundation

Seventeen Westchester Community College  students participated in the Summer Research Academy sessions focused on Biology, Cybersecurity, and Psychology. Faculty members, Margaret Eiden PhD (biology) and John Watkins (cybersecurity) participated in the event.

The Summer Research Academy is part of the WCC/MERCY STEM Scholars program. The program provides mentorship and research experiences to help WCC students succeed in STEM studies and prepare them for transition to a four-year college.

The following academic plans are included in the program – biology, computer information, compute science, cybersecurity, mathematics and psychology.

As part of the program, The Summer Research Academy is a 4 week session where WCC and MERCY students join together to share research experiences.  This year, 17 WCC students participated. They had 8 research options to choose from. They include the following –

2019 Summer Research Academy Projects

Biology (3 Options)
Brain Protection: Nrf2-Dependent Regulation of the Volume Regulated Anion Channel Neurodevelopment: Analysis of Cytoskeletal Proteins in Cell Migration Mapping the plants, soil structure, mineral content, pH and markers of biological activity within distinct soil samples from the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park

Computer Science (1 Option)
Who Snitched and Who Got Caught? An analysis of NYPD Complaint and Arrest Records

Cybersecurity (2 Option)
Securing Modern Environments: Cybersecurity Actions and Mitigations Against Technological Vulnerabilities Enhance Cybersecurity Awareness and Counter-attack Skills Against Malware: Learn What Hackers Have Been Doing and Develop Computer Viruses

Math (1 Option)
Incentive-based Demand Response for Engaging Commercial Building Occupants via Game Theory

Psychology (1 Option)
The Role of Epistemic Perspectives and Social Media Use on Academic Performance

For more information on the WCC/MERCY STEM Scholars Program and the 2020 Summer Research Academy please contact:

Diane Krusko
STEM Programs
WCCMercySTEM@sunywcc.edu

Confronting Climate Change

Members of our college community were in attendance at “Confronting Climate Change: Its Impacts on New York’s Agriculture, Forests, and Neighborhood Landscapes” on June 6th . The NYS Forester and 3 professors from Cornell gave lectures on Soil Health. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to interact with leaders from the political sector and academia in the field.

The program was organized by the Westchester County Soil and Water Conservation District. Also in attendance were Carol Capobianco (Director, Native Plant Center) and Judith Bukofser (Adjunct Professor, Biology). This conference was well-positioned for the class as their summer research project focuses on analyzing the soil biome in disturbed and undisturbed ecosystems in Westchester County.  The Summer Research Academy is part of the WCC/MERCY STEM Scholars program which helps students prepare for future careers in various STEM fields.

Westchester Community College students are connecting what they learned from this conference with the research we are doing in the lab on the structure, chemistry and biological activity and function within the soil. We have looked at biological indicators such as total DNA content within the soil (isolate and quantitated DNA), Active Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium level and hope to do soil respiration rate this week to characterize the health of the soil food web in distinct environments along the Old Croton Aqueduct State trail way, a corridor ecosystem.