On August 1, 2008 Northern California College of Construction (NCCC) elected to not renew its Accredited Training Sponsor and Accredited Training Unit status with the National Center on Construction Education and Research NCCER. In late August NCCC notified NCCER of its intended actions regarding election to not renew its training entity status with NCCER; however, the value of the NCCER sponsored training curriculum; i.e., Contren Learning Series will remain an integral part of the NCCC and all NAHETS member schools’ curriculum.

From Marci Monteiro, Placement Director:

Northern California College of Construction (NCCC) just held our first job fair in addition to a grand opening. This event was a huge success. We were able to take this opportunity and get great publicity about the school, and also create some awesome job leads for the graduates. Employers also had a chance to visit the campus and to see what we are all about. The following employers participated in the job fair:

• A Plus Material
• Adecco
• Blois Construction Inc.
• Burns Robert Construction Inc.
• Business Industry Association
• Caltrans
• Central Valley Rentals
• City of Stockton
• DSS Construction
• East Bay MUDD
• Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
• Granite Construction
• Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce
• Operating Engineers
• Raytheon Polar Services
• Robb’s Earthmoving Service
• Sheedy Drayage Co.
• Solano Construction
• The Hire Source
• US Army
• Visionary Home Builders

Northern California College of Construction would like to thank all of the employers who participated in this event, and contributing to our community!! Thanks to everyone here at the NCCC for getting it set up!

We had a live broadcasting from the radio station the HAWK 104.1 and The Stockton Record newspaper published an article about the school and its training. Many showed up to witness the ribbon cutting by Campus President Charina Olitan. There was over two hundred in attendance at this event!! We had a great time, and look forward to the next job fair!

A few weeks ago Charina Olitan, our campus president, contacted The Stockton Record news department and invited them to our job fair and grand opening of the Northern California College of Construction (NCCC), which took place January 25, 2008. As a result of the invitation, the next day The Stockton Record sent out their business reporter to the NCCC campus to interview Charina and take some pictures of the site. Shortly after, The Stockton Record published an article about the NCCC on their website. The article is entitled, “Construction school flourishes at Port of Stockton.”

The article describes the heavy equipment training process of NCCC. It goes into some detail about the different training levels and programs, and also states how the students who train and graduate from NCCC can help satisfy the demand for skilled heavy equipment operators in the industry. Click on the above links to read the complete article.

The NCCC express thanks to The Stockton Record for making this happen.

The National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) is introducing a new training tool for heavy equipment operators called, “An instructor in a pocket.” This method of training allows NAHETS heavy equipment students to receive instruction in video format via Apple iPods. The iPods will be used at the Northern California College of Construction (NCCC), as well as all NAHETS campuses.

Purpose. The purpose behind this training tool is to provide students with a visual learning resource to help them better remember their tasks and ultimately increase performance on heavy equipment operation. The iPod training tool (a.k.a. “an instructor in a pocket”) will ensure NAHETS students are beyond the curve in technology and learning resources for heavy equipment operation instruction.

Content. The iPod videos will have a series for each type of heavy equipment at the school. Currently, the skid steer series is available, with more to come. On each video series, an instructor takes the student through basic and advanced drills to show students what training objectives they need to complete and how to complete them.

Origin. The “instructor in a pocket” idea originally came from Matt Klabacka, executive director of NAHETS, and Rhett Nielson, media and creative director. They discovered the idea as they were working together with Chris Cannon, director of training and curriculum development, in implementing the Yellow Metal Boot Camp Program, unique to the construction and heavy equipment industry. They envisioned heavy equipment training beyond the traditional textbook, class room, and on-site instruction . . .

Yellow Metal Boot Camp Program. Yellow Metal Boot Camp is the “technology meets heavy equipment operating” curriculum created and implemented by NAHETS:

• Manuals
• DVDs
• Drill cards
• Online “hot tips” videos
• iPod podcast videos

The iPod training tool focuses on the “read, see, and do” NAHETS Yellow Metal Boot Camp philosophy of construction equipment training:

• “Read” it and forget it (textbooks, etc.)
• “See” it and remember it (iPod videos)
• “Do” it and understand (on-site heavy equipment)

Our campus, Northern California College of Construction (NCCC), has a new president, Charina Olitan. She has been involved with the campus since February 2007, as the admissions director. This position gave her the opportunity to train and support the staff, as well as learn the “ins and outs” of the campus affairs.

Prior to her work with NCCC Charina has over 15 years of experience in the education industry, including experience at ITT Technical Institute in West Covina, CA, Corinthian Colleges, and Career Education Corporation.

Charian said of her experience as admissions director, “As an admissions Director I worked very long and very hard to train, coach, mentor, and support the staff. I absolutely love the time that I have been with Northern California College of Construction. It has been a fun challenge . . . Everybody here is so passionate about what they do.”

Charina was born in the Philippines and raised in Chicago. She has an 18 year-old son and is an avid sports fan.