For Immediate Release
March 22, 2011

Student Trustee Elections to be Held March 29-30

To vote, you must bring your student ID.

Four students are vying for the nomination of Student Trustee to the San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees.

One nominee will be elected from each school - Cañada, Skyline and the College of San Mateo. Of those three nominees, only one will be chosen to represent students on the San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees.

Cañada's election will be held March 29-30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The polling place will be located outside of the Pony Espresso or, in the event of rain, in the Learning Center. To vote, Cañada students must present a Photo or College ID.

Here are your 2011 Cañada Student Trustee Nominees:

Candidate 1:
Willie J. Sims Jr.
Major: Public Speaking/English
GPA: 3.09

Statement: “Academic, social, economic, and political community do exist, with unity. My name is Willie J. Sims Jr. I am a first year attendee of Cañada College. Unity, solidarity, representation, acceptance, these all have been themes which seem to hold a great deal of weight in our communities. From Japan to Indonesia, to the community college student just starting or transferring, to the United States service members serving abroad. We all have goals unique as individuals, yet at quite the same, as Student Trustee my agenda is to represent these goals.”

Candidate 2:
Hermila Hernández
Major: Nursing
GPA: 3.27

Statement: “One of most important things that we need to do is have effective and direct communication with District in setting mutual goals which are: understand the necessities of our students which (includes actively listening), solve conflicts, establish new programs that can help for students success to have better job opportunities in our community, have more interactions with nonprofit organizations that can help students and our college to understand more the necessities of our community and more voluntary support. But, principally support our programs such as EOPS, DSPS, TRIO, and MESA to continue supporting students to accomplish transferring to university because with these programs we will make more professionals and less exconvicts.”

Candidate 3:
Karina S.J.F. Gonzalez-de Graff
Major: Environmental Economics
GPA: 3.09

Statement: “With the opportunities Cañada College and its faculty have given me, I want to leave the campus better than I entered into it. Cañada College’s academics are comparable to University of California’s, however budget cuts affect community college significantly more. My main goal is working smarter and more efficiently as a school. As an environmental economics major, I will strive for an ecologically aware campus. As a full-time working student, I would like to ensure a safer-environment for all students. As a mature adult, my perspective is unbiased and open-minded, ready and willing to listen to all opinions.”

Candidate 4:
Ava Thompson
Major: Business Administration and International
GPA: 3.14

Statement: “As Student Trustee, my goal is to lead and actively be involved in strengthening the connection between the students of San Mateo County Community Colleges and the Board of Trustees. I plan to devote a significant amount of time to be the voice of the student body and guarantee to close any communication gap across the board. My number one priority and goal will be to stand as an advocate for current and future students of San Mateo County Community Colleges. As the previous President of the “People of the Pacific Club” at Cañada College, a volunteer within my own community and an executive assistant to CEO's, Vice Presidents and Executives here in the Silicon Valley, I plan to implement my leadership skills accordingly, so that we are all successful as students and future leaders.”

For more information, contact Robert Hood, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at hoodr@smccd.edu or 306-3340