OUT-OFTHIS-WORLD LEARNING EXPERIENCE

At CLC, students get much more than a traditional classroom education. For example, in a partnership with the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE), CLC held a course for the Student Space ight Experiments Program (SSEP) during the fall 2022 semester. Students taking the class developed proposals for experiments to be conducted in space.

e SSEP research opportunity o ered by NCESSE was the result of a strategic partnership with Nanoracks LLC, which works in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement to use the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.

Proposal writing is an important skill that many students don’t o en get a chance to practice while in college. In CLC’s SSEP course, however, students wrote proposals and competed against each other, much like professional scientists, to have their project chosen as the winner.

“Science generally is both collaborative and competitive from the grant writing aspect,” said Biology Instructor

Cynthia Trombino. “Scientists have to really sharpen their proposal writing skills.”

Students in the class had interests in a variety of academic disciplines, including biology, chemistry, engineering, history, English and astronomy.

Students worked alone or in groups, and they were paired with a faculty mentor to help guide them through the process. ey had nine weeks to prepare their proposal a er coming up with a question they wanted to answer.

“A lot of students wanted to answer big questions,” said Biology Instructor Jeanine Seitz. “But they had to narrow it down to something really speci c that can be tested.” e completed proposals were presented to a committee at CLC. ree proposals were selected and sent to NCESSE, and one was picked to be launched and tested in space.

Samuel Banuelos Barrios’ winning proposal was “ e E ects of Microgravity on Cholesterol Lowering Activity by Lactobacillus Acidophilus.” e idea came to him during a lecture in his chemistry course about how certain bacteria and archaea can survive in hostile environments. He is studying to earn an associate degree in biological sciences.

Banuelos Barrios’ experiment will launch into space this December, and will be conducted alongside other proposals on the International Space Station.

“Taking this class was an opportunity to grow and to learn more about the scienti c process,” said Banuelos Barrios. “ e prospect of getting the chance to design a microgravity experiment that could possibly go into space was too exciting to pass up.” e Student Space ight Experiments Program is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with Nanoracks, LLC, which is working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.

Picture it: You’re backstage at an Ariana Grande concert and she’s playing your favorite song. You’ve worked a long day setting up the venue and thousands of people are having a good time. As you hear her belt out “One last time,” you feel a sense of pride that you helped make this memorable experience possible. But wait, how did you get here? You might have an advisory board to thank.

“When we’re looking at creating new academic programs, an important piece to evaluate is the job market,” said CLC Vice President of Education Dr. Kristen Jones. “And who can better help make that assessment than local employers?”

Upstaging, Inc. is the fourth largest live entertainment production company in the world, and it is located in northern Illinois. When its leaders noticed that many industry workers were aging out without a large pool of trained new talent coming up behind them, they connected with CLC to create a brand-new training program designed to give students the opportunity for exciting, high-skill, well-paying jobs right out of college.

And these jobs literally rock. Employees with great pay and bene ts travel the world with bands on tour, taking responsibility for transporting and assembling staging equipment. Behind every concert is a symphony of lighting and video technicians, computer-aided design (CAD) and graphic arts specialists, scenic fabricators, carpenters and welders.

CLC and Upstaging co-created a curriculum that prepares students to work with high-pro le touring productions like WWE’s Wrestlemania, Coldplay and Kendrick Lamar. Tour technicians set up stages and lighting, and even do sound production. e partnership is e ective because CLC’s faculty has in-depth knowledge of the working industry, and Upstaging lives and breathes it every day.

“It’s hard to describe what you need to know for these careers as there are so many di erent elements,” said Upstaging co-founder Robin Shaw. “Our people at Upstaging got together with CLC and went over what we thought should be in the curriculum.” eatre Instructor Tracie Folger said, “We’re one of the few colleges in the country o ering a ordable and accessible training programs, allowing students to practice with the staging equipment before getting into the working world.” eatre tech student Levi Ofsanik described how “having this certi cate will put a stamp on my resume indicating that I have done everything I can to be where I am, and I can prove it.” He’ll be one of the rst students to enroll in the certi cate program next year and hopes to score an internship with Upstaging. e partnership doesn’t end with co-creating a curriculum. An advisory board is being formed to ensure the program remains agile so that as technology advances, so does the program. Graduates will be trained to use cutting-edge live entertainment equipment and stay informed about advances in the industry.

With Upstaging as a partner, CLC students will have an educational opportunity that isn’t available to everyone.

Internships are crucial learning experiences for students, and Upstaging will be a site where students can nd handson learning. Intern hosts, like Upstaging, are eager to hire graduates as they nish the program.

At CLC, advisory boards consist of local employers, industry partners and experts. ey also include CLC alumni who lend their unique perspective as former CLC students who are now gainfully employed in the eld. Advisors are o en recommended by faculty or deans who use the connections they developed while working in the industry.

Once formed, advisory boards meet regularly with academic department leaders to discuss the current needs of industry related to program curriculum. Members re ect on the necessary skills new hires need to be successful as they launch their career. Because advisors have colleagues in similar area businesses, they can spread the word about CLC programs through their personal channels.

“Advisory boards provide important feedback about what kinds of skills new hires are entering the workforce with and what they are missing,” said Jones. “ ey also work with us to adjust the curriculum to better meet workforce needs. Additionally, advisory board members o en have businesses that employ CLC graduates or have connections to help graduates nd jobs.”

Between advisory boards and critical workforce partnerships, there is always an ongoing conversation about how CLC can be the best possible community partner and how the college can most e ectively serve the Lake County workforce.

Another is the recently accredited pharmacy technician program o ered at the Southlake Campus in Vernon Hills. e program was developed to address the evolving role of pharmacy technicians. Pharmacy technicians are in high demand in Lake County, and the skills gained from working in this role provide a solid knowledge base that can lead to more career opportunities in healthcare.

“Something like getting a vaccine at a pharmacy might’ve been odd before, but now it’s commonplace,” said Pharmacy Technician Instructor Dr. Derek Leiter. “Pharmacies went from being places to get medicine to places for prevention with vaccines and consultation services. Pharmacy technicians are taking on a lot of those responsibilities.”

From live entertainment to healthcare, advisory boards play a crucial role in keeping curriculum current and relevant to meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s progress. ey o er an opportunity for an ongoing dialogue between Lake County employers and CLC faculty and sta eir work ensures that CLC maintains tailored, highquality education opportunities that improve students’ lives and lead to family-sustaining careers.