Coastline Community College

Early College High School appears set to have a home this fall as the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and Coastline Community College ended a week of anxiety by reaching an agreement on a permanent facility. Last week, Newport-Mesa put a halt on student recruitment at Early College due to uncertainty over where the campus, which opened last August in temporary classrooms, would reside next year. Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard announced at Tuesday's school board meeting, however, that Coastline had agreed to house the school at its site in Costa Mesa.

The crack of hammers and metallic buzzing of power tools echoed throughout the partially finished building at Coastline Community College's new Newport Beach campus Wednesday. Walking along an outdoor corridor complete with ocean views, officials took in the many unfinished rooms littered with equipment and electrical work hanging from the ceiling. "What is right behind you is a typical classroom," said John Weaver, who led the tour and is with C.W. Driver, the construction management company.

More than 600 people from around the nation are expected to gather for the second annual Iranian-American Leadership Conference. Coastline Community College is hosting several high ranking Iranian-American women to lead workshops and panel discussions for the one-day conference from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa, 3050 Bristol St. in Costa Mesa. United Nations consultant Nayereh Tohidi, Murad Inclusive Health President Tracey Sameyah, CNN Worldwide Senior Vice President of International Newsgathering Parisa Khosravi, NAACP Senior Manager Niaz Kasravi and World Bank Senior Advisor Nadereh Chamlou will attend as speakers and panelists.

Coastline Community College has been honored as the country’s top institution that supplies quality educational programs to the armed services. The award is given each year by the Council of College and Military Educators; this year, the event was held Jan. 29 in Honolulu. Ed McKenney, dean of Coastline’s military programs; Shawn Mann, manager of military program outreach and recruitment; and Joycelyn Groot, director of contract education, were all present to accept the award.

Coastline Community College is offering up to $50,000 in scholarships to students for the current school year. Students with good grades and who have outstanding community service experience and leadership skills or financial need can be awarded between $150 and $2,000. Students can apply and qualify in multiple categories. Scholarships awarded have outnumbered students who applied, said Mariam Khosravani, the Coastline Foundation’s director. Applications are available at www.coastline.

The Coast Community College District trustees cut their own pay while asking district employees to do the same as part of an effort to tackle a $3-million budget deficit next fiscal year. The five trustees unanimously voted Tuesday to cut their monthly stipends, starting in June, by 3% - from $1,059 to $1,027.23. The annual savings would be $1,978.20, according to the district. "I think what we're trying to do here is to spread out the pain," said Trustee Lorraine Prinsky.

Coastline Community College plans to build a 60,000-square-foot learning center on the southwestern edge of Newport Beach that will feature everything from foreign-language programs to an art gallery. “It will be an aesthetic improvement in the community and bring a higher-education learning center to the city that will be a real asset,” said Kevin McElroy, vice president for administrative services at Coastline Community College. Coastline, which also has learning centers in Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Westminster, paid $12.79 million for the 3.5 acres at 15th Street and Monrovia Avenue in Newport Beach.

In a fiery last hurrah, some abandoned buildings off 15th Street and Monrovia Avenue were used for SWAT team training this week. They will be demolished to make way for a new Coastline Community College campus in 2012. Some residents in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa likely heard thuds, shouts and bangs coming from the campus to-be Wednesday afternoon as Newport Beach SWAT team officers joined others from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and Tustin and Irvine police departments.

Kayley Harrington, a Newport Beach resident and senior at Newport Harbor High School, was given the prestigious Presidential Scholarship to American University in Washington, D.C., in the fall. The scholarship awards $15,000 annually. In addition, Kayley will participate in the school's University Honors program, a highly competitive program for students with exceptional academic ability. Kayley is a Valedictorian Scholar in the class of 2001. She was involved in campus activities, including philanthropy for Associated Student Body, president of the American Cancer Society, and holds Varsity Letters in Field Hockey and Softball.

COSTA MESA — Coast Community College District Chancellor Ding-Jo Currie asked a room full of community college officials, legislators and business representatives munching on bacon and eggs to consider what would happen without career and technical education programs. Those are the same programs that turn out first-responders, auto technicians, carpenters, cosmetologists, flight attendants and welders, officials said. "What would our workforce look like especially in this county?"

The crack of hammers and metallic buzzing of power tools echoed throughout the partially finished building at Coastline Community College's new Newport Beach campus Wednesday. Walking along an outdoor corridor complete with ocean views, officials took in the many unfinished rooms littered with equipment and electrical work hanging from the ceiling. "What is right behind you is a typical classroom," said John Weaver, who led the tour and is with C.W. Driver, the construction management company.

The Coast Community College District trustees cut their own pay while asking district employees to do the same as part of an effort to tackle a $3-million budget deficit next fiscal year. The five trustees unanimously voted Tuesday to cut their monthly stipends, starting in June, by 3% - from $1,059 to $1,027.23. The annual savings would be $1,978.20, according to the district. "I think what we're trying to do here is to spread out the pain," said Trustee Lorraine Prinsky.

More than 600 people from around the nation are expected to gather for the second annual Iranian-American Leadership Conference. Coastline Community College is hosting several high ranking Iranian-American women to lead workshops and panel discussions for the one-day conference from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa, 3050 Bristol St. in Costa Mesa. United Nations consultant Nayereh Tohidi, Murad Inclusive Health President Tracey Sameyah, CNN Worldwide Senior Vice President of International Newsgathering Parisa Khosravi, NAACP Senior Manager Niaz Kasravi and World Bank Senior Advisor Nadereh Chamlou will attend as speakers and panelists.

COSTA MESA — Harrison Chan, 17, and Neal Lawton, 18, might have missed out on football games, but they walked out of high school with a lot more. The two Costa Mesa residents are on their way to UC Berkeley this month after earning their high school diploma and associate's degree at the same time — and the two were named valedictorians at both schools. "I definitely wanted to get out ahead of the game," Chan said. Chan and Lawton graduated in June from Newport-Mesa Unified School District's Early College High School and in May from Coastline Community College.

Calling all nerds. Coastline Community College is hosting a panel discussion, "So you want to be a nerd?," for residents interested in breaking into the digital media and video game design industries. The event will feature programmers, developers and recruiters from Irvine-based video game developer Obsidian Entertainment and independent video game developer Foundation 9 Entertainment. Obsidian's Hiring Manager Jim Rivers and Foundation 9's Manager of Global Staffing Dino McGraw will talk about different jobs, including programmer, artist, designer, animator and producer, and what kind of education and training is needed for each position.

COSTA MESA — Coast Community College District Chancellor Ding-Jo Currie asked a room full of community college officials, legislators and business representatives munching on bacon and eggs to consider what would happen without career and technical education programs. Those are the same programs that turn out first-responders, auto technicians, carpenters, cosmetologists, flight attendants and welders, officials said. "What would our workforce look like especially in this county?"

A pair of Early College High School freshmen will visit England this summer after winning the school’s annual Global Awareness Project, which examines human migration. Freshmen McKenna Gordon and Brittany Stump took first in the project after building a website that explores the weighty topic. The announcement of their trip to Scunthorpe was made during a lunchtime ceremony at the Costa Mesa campus at Coastline Community College. “It’s rare that students have exposure to this topic at such a young age,” said Lisa Rodriguez, who teaches anthropology at the high school and was the instructor and the project coordinator.

In a fiery last hurrah, some abandoned buildings off 15th Street and Monrovia Avenue were used for SWAT team training this week. They will be demolished to make way for a new Coastline Community College campus in 2012. Some residents in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa likely heard thuds, shouts and bangs coming from the campus to-be Wednesday afternoon as Newport Beach SWAT team officers joined others from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and Tustin and Irvine police departments.

State budget cuts could mean the end of classes ranging from Tai’Chi to line dancing for local seniors at Oasis Senior Center. “We don’t have any idea at this point what is going to happen,” said Laura Detweiler, director of recreation and senior services in Newport Beach. “These classes are very popular, and our seniors enjoy taking part in those activities, so we hope we don’t see a reduction in them.” City officials expect to have a clearer view later this month on whether or not budget cuts will affect any of the classes, Detweiler said.