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While I wrote a number of internal communication articles for Valencia College, the links are currently broken as the Valencia College Organizational Communication team migrates to a new site. I appreciate your patience during this site migration, and I will update the links as soon as possible.

The Grove (Valencia Employee News) •

Valencia College Horizon Scholars Program Celebrates the Graduation of 27 High School Seniors

Three years ago, I gathered up all my courage, my strength and my confidence and walked through the doors of Boone High School. It was my first meeting with a 10th-grade student I knew little about, and I had no idea what to expect. I clung to my carefully crafted notes, repeatedly recited my planned introduction and reminded myself that she didn’t need me to be perfect; she just needed me to be there...
The Grove (Valencia Employee News) •

Larry Herndon and Anna Saintil Expose Students to Untold African-American History — Faculty Highlight

Untold stories. Unheard truths. Too often, the realities of African American history — of authentic American history — go unwritten, unlearned and unappreciated. Consequently, many of our students are uninformed about and unexposed to these untold stories of African American history and, sometimes, disconnected to African American ancestry and heritage...
The Grove (Valencia Employee News) •

Finding Our Hidden Wholeness: A Reflection on the PJI Spring Faculty and Staff Retreat

When I signed up for the Peace and Justice Institute (PJI) Spring Faculty and Staff Retreat, which is a component of the PJI Practioner Program I’m enrolled in, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew the retreat, held Friday February 22 and Saturday, February 23, 2019, would feature reflective circles and offer an opportunity to slow down, think and, most important, feel...
The Grove (Valencia Employee News) •

Commemorating Black History Month: A Portrait of Parramore

In 1954, after countless efforts to eradicate school segregation, the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case finally ruled segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Yet, more than a decade after the Supreme Court ruling, communities across the United States — particularly those in the south — continued to resist de-segregation efforts, clinging to long-held racist beliefs and radical ideals regarding race and privilege...
The Grove (Valencia Employee News) •

Valencia’s Educator Preparation Institute Transforms Experience of Local Teachers

Walking into the classroom during her first year of teaching, Molly Mitchell thought she had what she needed. She was a subject matter expert, she was passionate about English and reading, and she was armed with both fictional and real examples of exemplary teachers. She was eager, excited to pass on her knowledge to a new generation. She was also — she now realizes — naive...
The Grove (Valencia College News) •

Let’s Talk About Race: Diane Reed Addresses Racial Disparity in Healthcare Through a New Diversity Course — Faculty Highlight | The Grove | Valencia College

It’s 2018 — 152 years after the abolition of slavery, 54 years after the Civil Rights Act struck down Jim Crow, nine years after America elected its first black president. And still, we face a seemingly insurmountable racial divide that affects every aspect of our lives — from the gentrification of urban neighborhoods to achievement gaps in education and, in the case of healthcare, a system that leaves a disproportionate amount of black patients dead on the operating table...
The Grove (Valencia Employee News) •

What to Expect When You’re Expecting: Valencia Edition – First Trimester

When I first found out I was pregnant earlier this year, my husband and I were overwhelmed with unbridled joy and jubilation. Our dreams were coming true, and in approximately nine months we’d be welcoming our first-born child. But after the celebratory hugging and happy tears subsided, we started to become a bit overwhelmed with more practical matters — like how exactly do you prepare for a newborn baby...
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