Riverside, CA – Riverside City College will host 1,000 high school senior students from 21 different high schools, including Alvord, Corona-Norco, Colton, Jurupa, Moreno Valley and Riverside school districts on April 18 for the College’s inaugural We are CTE at RCC-Senior Day.

All three colleges in the District offer a wide-range of CTE programs, some of which can lead to good paying jobs in as little as 12 months. RCC offers a multitude of CTE programs, as many as 80 certificate and/or degree patterns in 11 different industry sectors, one of the largest selections within the Inland Empire.

The We are CTE at RCC-Senior Day event will feature program demonstrations, faculty interaction, opportunity to discuss programs with educational advisors as well as meet with student service representatives regarding tuition assistance and enrollment procedures. Programs being featured at the event include: Administration of Justice – Crime Scene Investigation, Sign Language Interpreting, Film and Television, Nursing, Welding, Culinary, Heating and Air Conditioning, Cosmetology, Business, Computer Information Systems, Applied Digital Media, Automotive, and Photography.

The College is committed to respecting the tradition of the past, with the innovation and creativity of the future, said Kristine Di Memmo, dean of instruction, Career & Technical Education.

Over the last two years, RCC has been allocated grant funding streams to help meet the needs of the Inland Empire. The state invested $200 million in a Strong Workforce Program, in order to train an additional one million skilled workers while also increasing the quality and quantity of CTE program. The College received nearly $2 million.

Furthermore, RCC was awarded grant funding in the Career Readiness through Education and Strategic Training (CREST) program, which will enable the College to deliver 18 new Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways across three vitally important industry sectors — information and communication technologies, manufacturing and product development/advanced manufacturing, and health science and medical technology. Additionally, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program awarded RCC over $1 million in order to develop new programs in Cyber Security and Quality Assurance. Both of these new programs will launch this fall.

“The strengthening and development of new CTE programs is critical, especially to the Inland Empire region,” Wolde-Ab Isaac, president, RCC said. “CTE programs have been overlooked in the last few years, but if the region, and even the nation, is to prosper we need to develop a well-trained workforce. It is important that RCC lead in developing young thinkers, who are critical thinkers, problem solvers, excellent communicators, and team players.”

Many of the RCC Career & Technical Education programs provide degree patterns and short-term certificates that provide for additional earning potential for our community. The CTE opportunities are endless.

For additional information on the We are CTE at RCC-Senior Day event, contact Elaine Wilson at (951) 222-8131 or by email at Elaine.Wilson@rcc.edu; or Lorena Franco at (951) 222-8506 or by email at Lorena.Franco@rcc.edu.

For a list of RCCD CTE programs, log on to: http://rcc.edu/departments/careertech/Documents/20152017%20RCCD%20CTE%20Handbook.pdf