Notes 15.1% population growth on west side of Mingus since 2010 while only 4.8% growth on east side

Yavapai Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine provided the County College District Governing Board with an overview of the investment the College has made in the Verde Valley during the Friday, January 25 Board workshop.

At the beginning of her slide presentation, she noted the most recent democratic trends in the County.  According to data the Community College has collected, overall population growth in the County has been the most significant on the west side of Mingus.  She told the Board that since 2010 there was 15.1 percent growth on the west side of the County and only 4.8% growth on the east side. 

She did not explain how the difference in growth may impact future investments in the Verde Valley.

In the remaining portion of her presentation (see below) she outlined the College’s investment in the Valley beginning with the 2014 Southwest Wine Center.   She highlighted the Wine Center and vineyard, the 2017 Sedona Center renovation, the  2020  Building L renovation and  construction in 2021 of the Verde Valley Skilled Trades Center and small greenhouse.

She described creation of new classrooms for the beer brewing program and renovation of the Verde Campus Café.  She also pointed to new mini-classes for eighth-grade students and other programs and efforts made as a part of the investment in the Valley.

You can see all of Dr. Rhine’s eleven-minute slide presentation (absent questions that followed) in the video below.

College provides transportation, faculty and facilities at no cost to the District; hopes to expand these “hands- on” courses throughout the Valley

Yavapai Community College and the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District have partnered in a unique training program for eighth-grade students.  Students in the District are given an opportunity to sign up for one of six three-week classes designed and taught by the Community College. There is no cost to the school district or the students. Students receive hands on training at the Community College in a selected mini-class.

Students attend their chosen class for four days a week for three weeks.  The six mini-classes are:  Law enforcement, construction, culinary arts, nursing, CNC machining, and Greenhouse growing. 

Verde Valley Campus Dean Dr. Tina Redd explained to the Sedona Council on January 25 that she hoped to expand the program to other school districts in the Verde Valley.

There are benefits to the Community College and the school district.  For the Community College, it is developing a pipeline that will encourage these future potential students to consider enrolling there once they graduate.  For the District, it is an opportunity of getting the eighth-grade students involved at an early age in the skilled trades and a particular profession.

The classes are very “hands-on.”  For example, the course in law enforcement involved classes showing students how to run radar detection, bike safety, crime scene investigation, crime searches, and real-life reenactments. The police officer instructors are from the Verde Valley.

You may view Dr. Redd’s short report on this program made to the Sedona Council January 25, 2022, on the video below.  You may review all of her presentation to the Sedona Council on video by clicking here.  

Sources:  Sedona Council meeting video of January 25, 2022; story in the Verde Independent by Vyto Starinskas published January 23, 2022.