From Sept. 18 through the 22, Palo Alto students selected seminars ranging from how to manage stress, to how to give CPR to infants and children, to how to use a graphing calculator, to the importance of a resume videotape for breaking into local TV news.

Debbie Jo Morantes, a second-year student, said, “After attending Mrs. Kern's seminar on memory, I have found that I take better notes and remember things easier.”

Notable speakers for the week included former Spur George Gervin, Mayor Howard Peak, Community Leader Maria Berriozabal, State Representatives Mike Villarreal and Carlos Uresti, San Antonio Express-News columnist Carlos Guerra, and KMOL Broadcast Journalist Jacqueline Ortiz, who attended Palo Alto College.

Dorothy Ulcak, a counselor on campus, said the committee was not sure what to expect since this was the first time for Student Success Week. At this time the committee is still totaling the number of students who participated during the week. However, they do know that more than 300 students attended the picnic.

Amanda Steen, a first-year student, said, “Attending the seminar on good career choices has helped me to decide on a career in Radiology.”

Students who attended seminars were given red, green or yellow stickers to place on their Student Success “passports,” one-page booklets where students wrote the seminar they attended next to the sticker.

These events were held on Monday through Friday and ran between 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Each event was about an hour to two hours long, depending on the seminar's topic. To motivate students to attend the events, a free picnic with music was held on Friday, Sept. 22, for students who attended at least one red, green,and yellow event.

Student evaluations, taken during the picnic, suggested placing students on the Success Week committee, making the event annual, expanding the time for each seminar and offering seminars in the evening.

The only complaint by students was that they did not have enough time to attend more events. They also suggested including more activities at the picnic, such as tug-of-war, horseshoes and more music.

Mark Hall, a first-year student, said, “Overall, the seminars were very helpful. Most of what the teachers talked about was just review, but it was review that was needed by students.”

The idea for Student Success Week was initiated by Dorothy Ulcak, Mary Apolinar and Yolanda Reyna, counselors on campus. They talked to people who could help them with the funding needed to host the event. As soon as that was done, they presented their idea to the Developmental Studies Council, which consists of faculty throughout the campus. The council agreed with the idea and continued with the process.

Meetings were held with the faculty to find out if they would support Student Success Week by letting their students go to the seminars during their class time and if they would offer their classrooms for the events. Time, space, students and presenters were some of the many considerations involved in planning this event.

The focus for the event at the beginning was for students in developmental classes. After looking at past files, the counselors found that about 800 students each semester were having to repeat courses. So they began to think of seminars or workshops that would help those students. However, they realized that the events could also benefit all students on campus, instead of just a select group.

Special thanks goes to the committee that made the week possible: Tami Musser, Dorothy Ulcak, Mary Apolinar, Mary Jo Garcia, Eloisa Cordova, Lydia Hannawi, David Rodriguez, Dedra Scow, Julie Kern, Honey Kirk, Lydia Trevino, Frances Cisneros, Susan Hammond, Janet Rangel and Leandro Esparza. Make plans now for Student Success Week 2001!