CLEARLAKE>>> Clerical Assistant Natasha Cornett presented at this week’s Judge’s Breakfast in Clearlake on Thursday discussing the Woodland Community College Lake County Campus Extended Opportunities Program and Services (EOPS). She was joined by College Dean Korinda Ebenhack and student worker Amanda Collins, who shared some of her experiences in the EOPS program.
Cornett has been in her current position for 12 years “I love what I do,” She said, then detailed the program itself and what it provides for students, which includes financial aid in the form of mid-semester grants, book grants, bus passes, gas cards, as well as counseling and access to a computer lab and a free lending library where students can find their class required texts without having to make any purchases.
Requirements for participation in this program include low income status, full time enrollment in school, no high school diploma or GED or be a first generation student where no one in your family has yet attended a secondary school, with special circumstances for foster youth aging out of the system. According to Cornett, there are 116 students in the EOPS, with total enrollment of the campus at 532 individual students. Dean Ebenhack said, “The campus has a lot of potential for growth.”
Under the umbrella of the EOPS, were are other programs like the CARE program which is specifically for single parents who are also receiving cash aid. This program dives deeper into personal assistance providing more financial aid, life skills classes, and rewards for good attendance.
The EOPS also holds seasonal events like the upcoming Spring Career Hunt where children of EOPS students can participate in an egg hunt and other culinary forward activities that showcase possible career paths. In the Winter they host a catered celebration to support student morale through community with Barbecue by Biasotti catering their last event. Cornett noted “Our programs are growing, we have gone from 25 kids last year to over 50 this year.”
Campus tours are also provided by the EOPS. The program most recently took students to both Sonoma and UC Davis Campuses. As their May 16 graduation date approaches, the program is rapidly processing students into other schools or out of school and into their careers. They are also busy providing caps, gowns, and even senior portraits and family style professional photography, which according to Cornett, can help establish professional online presences for newly graduated professionals just beginning in their fields.
Most importantly, the EOPS works with students across resources, finding them everything they need from food, to clothing and even housing. Collins shared her appreciation for the program. She said, “I enrolled all online so that I could find a job and support my housing because I did get on the New Digs Program with NCO and have been housed for two years, so housing is really important to me.” She continued sharing “Going everyday, being a student worker, it helps remind me that I’m going to school and gives me a sense of family in the community as well.”
Lake County Schools Superintendent Brock Falkenberg asked how shifts in federal funding could change the operations of the EOPS to which Cornett responded by explaining that most funding comes from the state, with Ebenhack clarifying that some of this state funding is derived from federal funding, which if removed may affect their programs, though she does not believe it is on the “chopping block” any time soon.
District 2 BOS member Bruno Sabatier expressed his gratitude for Cornett. He said, “She has a way with students which most others don’t have, a way to connect. I think that you are changing lives at that campus and you’re amazing at what you do.”
