Tag Archives: Kingsborough Community College

NRC Employer Event

On July 20th, Kingsborough’s Northeast Resiliency Consortium Culinary Arts program hosted an employer event where our partners from Workforce1, a program of NYC’s Department of Small Business Services that connects qualified candidates to job opportunities in NYC, and a manager from a local Chipotle restaurant, came to KCC to talk about jobs in NYC’s fast-paced culinary industry. Additionally, participants were invited to directly apply to food service positions available at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The highlight of the event was a past NRC Culinary Arts participant who shared his experience in the program and how it impacted both his employment and personal life.

You can learn more by visiting NRC on the web. If you’re interested, register for an upcoming application session.

KCC Urban Farm Produce Distribution

KCC Students! Did you know you can get FREE and FRESH farm produce grown and harvested on campus from KCC Urban Farm? Not only will you get bunches of produce, but you’ll also be able to sample yummy recipes of what you can make with what you take. Distributions happen every Thursday beginning at 11:30 and will continue until everything is gone.

Locations alternate between KCC’s Single Stop (V-231) and KCC Urban Farm (between T8 and T2). This week’s distribution is at Single Stop. Stop by at 11:30, bring your KCC ID, and get ready for fresh, delicious, and healthy food!

David Zubin–Project Rise Ambassador

David Zubin 24, is a current student KCC’s Project Rise. Since enrolling, he has made it his mission to earn his TASC Certificate and find employment. Although it hasn’t been easy, in 8 months he has come closer to meeting goals–reaching over 100 internship hours, finding part-time employment and, working his way to taking the TASC Exam. “I love Project Rise and I focus on what is important: getting my GED, completing internship hours, and working at Applebee’s. I love working!”.

His hard work has paid off. David is the first Ambassador in Project Rise’s Ambassador Program. Since taking on this new role, his class attendance, participation, grades, and confidence have all gone up. “Now I feel important, like I am really needed. Sometimes I get excited and brag on Facebook and to my friends about what I do as an Ambassador.”

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Summer 2015 NRC Application Sessions

Recent NRC CHW graduates

Have you heard about culinary (Culinary Arts and Food Service Upgrade) and health (Community Health Worker) training programs through the Northeast Resiliency Consortium at Kingsborough Community College? No? Out programs provide high-quality workforce skills that will help you start your career and educational incentives that put you on your way to higher education. Pretty awesome, right?

If you’ve read about our programs and you’re interested, good news! We have just finalized application sessions for Fall 2015 starting in July and going through August. Click here for more details. If you’re interested but would like to have more information, please contact us at 718.368.4637.

Ambassador Program at Project Rise

The CEWD Ambassador Program at KCC’s Project Rise is part of the program’s Internship Tier System designed to provide the students the opportunity to gain specialized skills that are useful in the workplace and in their personal lives. Ambassadors learn skills such as professionalism, public speaking, networking, marketing, self-awareness, and responsibility.

Unlike many internship programs, this one allows ambassadors to work within a supportive and engaging professional environment where they learn about CEWD’s other workforce programs, teamwork and leadership, setting work schedules, developing marketing materials, networking with other professionals and neighborhood businesses, and serving as representatives of CEWD at citywide events, fairs and conferences.

This program not only aids students in self-improvement and self-confidence but also helps them overcome hurdles and barriers. Through activities such as role-playing, ice breakers, team competitions, memory quizzes, and the implementation of the “Selfie Race” (taking a selfie photo during the outreach and recruitment events with the Hashtag #CEWDwashere), each individual will utilize various learning techniques that will ultimately widen their horizons to new opportunities and success.

Note: If you are a current Project Rise participant and want to become an Ambassador, please note that slots are limited. Each participant is given the same opportunity to apply and interview for the program. Speak with Project Rise’s Associate Director, Dina LiMandri for more information.

Cookshop at Kingsborough

Cookshop at KCC is a collaboration between KCC’s Single Stop and KCC Urban Farm. Intended for students and at least one family member, participants will:

Learn how to cook a nutritional meal with cheap and accessible fresh produce
Learn about budgeting for eating healthy
Leave with all the groceries needed to prepare that day’s recipe

Classes are Monday evenings from 5:00-6:30 and run from June 22nd-July 27th. If you are interested in signing up, contact Hattie Elmore from KCC’s Single Stop either at hattie.elmore@kbcc.cuny.edu or 718.368.5411.

Microsoft Office Suite for CUNY Students

Great news for CUNY students: free access to Microsoft Office Software! The collaboration between Microsoft and CUNY is a huge deal for the 450,000+ students who attend CUNY colleges. In addition to helping students excel in the classroom, this partnership is also geared toward preparing students for jobs that rely heavily on Microsft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

If you don’t already know, KCC’s Northeast Resiliency Consortium Culinary Arts and Community Health Worker programs not only prepare adults to be resilient workers, but classes provide college enrollment assistance and even college credits to eligible students. Amazing, right?! Application sessions are happening now! Sign up today!

Job Training Application Sessions

Are you interested in getting into the healthcare industry? If so, maybe a career as a Community Health Worker fits with what you want. If the health industry isn’t your thing, have you thought of a career in the fast-paced world of Culinary Arts? Job training programs at CEWD with The Northeast Resiliency Consortium has you covered!

Our low cost (only $100) job training programs will also give you robust employment readiness services, job placement assistance, help with the college enrollment process, personal support services and so much more! There are only TWO application sessions remaining before classes begin. Visit our application session page to learn about our programs and begin your application process. Your future awaits!

Science on the Farm

We haven’t spoken much about science on the farm, but we’ve had a number of projects going over the last few years. Last season, KCC Urban Farm ran a small experiment to see how adding minerals to our soil could boost plant nutrition. This year, we plan to expand upon that experiment, so stay tuned for internship opportunities!

The problem:
Soil is made out of minerals (50%), air (23%), water (23%), and organic matter (4%). Because KCC Urban Farm is lucky enough to receive donations of compost from the Department of Sanitation, however, our soil has 30% organic matter! What does this mean for us? For growing our high quality vegetables, it means we have to test our soil for the nutrients plants need to grow.

The solution:
Based on the soil test results, we can add mineral amendments based on what we’re missing.

The experiment:

Student research assistant Adriana Valerio measuring brix in kale leaves

We want to know if our mineral amendments are leading to healthier crops. In 2014, we ran a small experiment on our tomato plants: we amended only half of the plants for each variety of tomato. After a couple of weeks, we measured calcium and brix levels in new and old leaves for all of the tomato plants. We did the same thing a couple of months later. Calcium is important for plant growth – plant cells use it for structure. It’s also a good indicator of nutrient uptake. Brix is a measure of plant sugars – if brix is high, we know our plants have everything they need to thrive.

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Culinary Arts with NRC

Interested in stepping into the culinary world but not sure where it’ll take you? We’ve got a program for you. Check out what Culinary Arts training with NRC can give you:

If you’re interested in learning more, fill out our quick online survey to see if you qualify; choose an information session date and come meet the NRC team! We’ll help you start your career.

Also, if culinary arts isn’t of interest to you, we also have a great Community Health Worker program. Check us out!