Laura Rizo will share experiences of overcoming poverty, mental illness and identity to help attendees meet their challenges with tenacity during the College Education for Students in Transition (CREST) program’s annual motivational speaking event from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6, at WNC. Email susan.trist@wnc.edu by Aug. 2 if you are interested in attending.

Discover how homeschool students can seamlessly integrate college courses into their high school curriculum at WNC's Homeschool Night on July 31 at 6 p.m. Don't miss this opportunity to explore your educational pathway with us!

Attend a Reno Aces' baseball game on Thursday, Aug. 8, and help WNC's Second-Year Nursing Club fundraise. Fifty percent of ticket sales from the Reno-Tacoma game goes to the club. The game is set for 6:35 p.m. at Greater Nevada Field. Scan the QR code to purchase tickets.

Celebrate the advent of the 2024 Fall Semester with your colleagues on Wednesday, Aug. 14. The day's activities will include Run, Hide, Fight training; updates from President Dr. J. Kyle Dalpe and an employee BBQ. Afterward, a Benefits and Wellness Fair is planned.

Through Sept. 12, visitors can view the "Big Deal" exhibit by artist Joan Arrizabalaga in the Bristlecone Art Gallery at Western Nevada College. Presented by the Capital City Arts Initiative, the exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The WNC Foundation is very pleased that the Wells Fargo Foundation is once again serving as presenting sponsor for the Reach for the Stars Gala. Other major sponsors of the event include Metcalf, Briggs Electric, Carson Tahoe Health, Quick Space and Southwest Gas. To read more about each sponsor and their dedication to WNC, our students and the workforce, visit wnc.edu/reach.



Future nursing students at WNC now have an opportunity to take the Basic Nursing Skills (NURS 129) class on the Douglas campus. Satisfy a WNC nursing program admission requirement by enrolling in this eight-week class, scheduled Oct. 21 through Dec. 14. The fall semester class is offered on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Learn more about this academic opportunity by phoning Nursing & Allied Health at 775-445-4425 and/or Academic Advising & Access at 775-445-3267.

One area of student funding that is being underutilized as the Fall 2024 semester nears at Western Nevada College is the Silver State Opportunity Grant (SSOG).

With fall classes starting on Aug. 26, the timing is right for students to take advantage of the grant. The grant was created by the Nevada Legislature in 2015 to provide need-based funding for students attending community and state colleges in the Nevada System of Higher Education.

From a turbulent upbringing in Los Angeles to a life-altering spinal cord injury while snowboarding, Steven Jacobo faced significant challenges. Despite these setbacks, Jacobo found a new sense of purpose and direction, driven by his desire to provide a better future for his sons. He discovered that higher education could transform his mechanical skills into a fulfilling career. With support from Western Nevada College Foundation, Jacobo is now pursuing an associate degree at WNC, with plans to obtain a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. Jacobo will share his gripping story as the student speaker at WNC Foundation’s seventh annual Reach for the Stars Gala on Saturday, Aug. 10.

Western Nevada College students are gravitating toward summer research projects in record numbers.

For the second year in succession a record number of students participated in the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program.

They studied microorganisms, plants, a potentially endangered species and gene products found in cancer cells. Best of all, their research work took them outdoors — to Wild Oat Mountain and the body of water it overlooks: Topaz Lake.

Dedicated higher education students Avery Spry and Thomas Shumway came away from a trip to the nation’s capital with a new appreciation of the legislative process. Concern for their environment prompted the two Western Nevada College students to apply for scholarships to the national climate conference earlier this month. They sought wisdom to become difference-making citizens. They wanted to learn how the federal government works, how citizens can lobby and make use of their First Amendment rights, and practice what they learned to protect their environment.

If you missed the 2024 Student Art Show during spring semester, the Capital City Arts Initiative is presenting many of the students' artwork in the Fresh Outlook 2024 exhibit now on display at the Brick, 108 E. Proctor St. in Carson City. View the exhibit Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. through Aug. 15. The free exhibition features artwork by 19 students from WNC.

Sadly, former welding instructor Henry “Hank” Wohle has passed away. By the time Hank came to WNC to teach welding on the Fallon campus in 2018, he had lived more than a full life serving his country and Nevada. In fact, his four-decade military career included unretiring at the age of 60 to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In “retirement,” he became a part-time welding instructor on WNC’s Fallon campus in 2018 and served as a full-time welding instructor from 2019-22. Read more about Hank’s amazing life in reporter Steve Ranson’s Nevada Appeal story at https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2024/jul/17/fallons-wohle-remembered-as-advocate-for-soldiers-students/.

Fortunately for the hundreds of competitors in the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs, which started and finished at Western Nevada College for the fourth consecutive year, a high-elevation thunderstorm cooled the event’s muggy conditions and contributed to high completion rates.