Cañada College Hosts 2021 Annual COLTS-CON

COLTS-CON, Cañada College’s Annual Summer Bridge Program, was offered virtually for the second year in a row on August 3 and 4. The COLTS-CON Planning Team held a two-day conference style event to help prepare 107 new students for their first semester at Cañada College.  

This year, COLTS-CON kicked off the first day with a fun welcome video put together by Xitlali Curincita, President of the Associated Students of Cañada College (the official voice of students on campus) and the Student Senate Officers.  Then, a warm welcome message was provided by Cañada College administrators, Vice Presidents Dr. Manuel Pérez and Dr. Tammy Robinson.  Student participants were then invited to learn about Interest Areas and the handy tools available, particularly for students still exploring their educational goals at the college. Interest Areas were presented by faculty members from the Art, Design & Performance, Business, Science & Health and Human Behavior & Culture programs. 

The day continued with a session on campus resources such as the Library, free tutoring, peer mentoring, SparkPoint, Disability Resource Center, Dream Center and more.  Representatives presented information about their areas and were available for live questions.  Following the resources session, a student panel session was held and continuing students shared their own tips on how to be successful at Cañada while answering questions from the incoming attendees.  The day ended with a final session on the Colts Values, led by Vice President Pérez, which provided a bridge for the Anti-Racism & Social Justice session that would begin the next day.

The second and final day of COLTS-CON included discussions on anti-racism and social justice.  The students got to break out into sessions and deep dive into discussions about their own experiences and perspectives. Another breakout session featured students meeting faculty within their Guided Pathways Interest Area.  Students chose their next couple of sessions from topics such as Financial Aid, Technology Navigation Support and a workshop about Cañada College’s pathway to transferring to a four-year university.

Students were able to access COLTS-CON via Zoom and the sessions and presentations were recorded so that they are accessible for students that were not able to attend live. They can be viewed at the links below:

Day 1: Link 1 and Link 2

Day 2: Link 1

COLTS-CON was a tremendous success and continues to be a model for virtual bridge programs in the future!