Alumni Spotlight

The First PAC Student: Liz Villarreal

It was 1985 when Palo Alto College rolled out its outreach efforts in San Antonio's Southside community.  Then president, Terry Dicianna, kicked-off his recruitment efforts in local churches, and during community events.  One of his first stops was St. Joseph's Catholic Church.  Dicianna brought recruitment materials and a large-scale model of the newest community college, Palo Alto College.  He waited patiently for the church service to end and hoped he could recruit some of Palo Alto's first students...

Liz Villarreal, a recent graduate of Southside High School and daughter of hard working migrant workers dreamt of graduating high school and becoming a secretary at Kelly Air Force Base.  At the time Kelly Air force Base was a major economic engine fueling San Antonio with great jobs, benefits and job security.  She was enjoying the summer and had no intention of enrolling in college, or at least that's what she thought.  Villarreal's mother was very involved with their parish, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, and they attended mass every Sunday.  One day after church service ended the priest announced the parish had a visitor from the new community college and anyone interested should visit with him. 

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Alumni News & Announcements:

Alamo College Students Receive Red Carpet Treatment at the University of Northern Iowa - 12th Year in a Row!

 This April PAC's CAT Center kicked off the twelfth year

of the Alamo Colleges-University of Northern Iowa (UNI)

Bridge Scholarship Program.  PAC's Transfer Guru and one of the founders of the program, Charley Garcia and Danielle Espinoza, Alumni & Scholarship Coordinator chaperoned 14 students

and six parents to UNI for scholarship interviews to complete their Bachelor's degree.

Background:                                                                             

Twelve years ago San Antonio native, Roland Carrillo, UNI Director of Financial Aid, along with Juanita Wright, Admissions Counselor and Rita Carrillo, UNI dinning administrator and Roland Carrillo's wife, had a vision to create a unique program for San Antonio students to come to UNI.  Despite many challenges and adverse reactions to the idea of the program, the stars aligned and led them to Charley Garcia at Palo Alto College.  Garcia had the foresight to see the bigger picture.  The proposed program would create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students.  Garcia went to work to convince a skeptical group of traditional Latino families to allow their students to take a leap of faith and move to the snowy city of Cedar Falls.  The first year only one student, Dr. John Solis, decided to go through the program and he went ALL the way through the program, completed his Master's and Ph.D. program.  The next few years Garcia's passion for ensuring student success created a buzz with our students and with every passing year the program expanded.

Presently the program is designed to recruit students with an all expense paid trip to UNI during the spring semester to tour the campus, learn about academic programs, attend information sessions on student services, meet students who transferred from PAC to UNI and most importantly interview for the scholarship program.  Students who meet all requirements receive a special scholarship which covers the cost of tuition, fees and housing, which is incredible!

Over 150 students have gone through the program.  83.9% of the students in the Bridge Program successfully graduated from UNI.  We are very proud of our alumni for being brave and taking steps towards creating their American dream.  

Twelve years ago the Carrillos, Wright and Garcia ran the program schedule, however these days Freddy Miranda, Assistant Director of Admissions, Cyrus Nichols, Multicultural Admissions Counselor, along with Bidge Scholar students are involved in assisting during the four-day visit for prospective San Antonio students.  From beginning to end our former students act as mentors for our current Alamo College students.  After four days all of the students feel like a family.  The success of our students continues to result in a passion for higher education, student involvement in campus programs, international travel, and opportunities for growth. 

This year was no different!  Alamo College alumni, UNI staff and faculty provided our students with red carpet treatment. 

In the coming weeks we will celebrate the new Bridge Program scholarship recipients, or Tejiowans as we like to call them. 

The PAC Alumni Office is collecting stories from AC-UNI alumni and hope to hear from all of the Tejiowans - send your story at despinoza66@alamo.edu.  A special newsletter and alumni group for AC-UNI alumni is in the works!  

Thank you to the University of Northern Iowa, Alamo Colleges-PAC, Roland and Rita Carillo, Juanita Wright, Freddy Miranda, Cryus Nichols and our beloved Transfer Guru Charley Garcia for making student's dreams come true for over a decade! 

For more information on the program contact

Charley Garcia in our CAT Center cgarcia4@alamo.edu

PAC Alumnus Receives Google Scholarship

The Online News Association (ONA), the world's largest organization for digital journalist, and Google joined forces to provide scholarships for 20 students to attend the ONA 2011 Conference in Boston, September 22 - 24.   Michael Jimenez, PAC alumnus and current University of Texas A&M - San Antonio student received one of the awards. 

Jimenez, along with the other recipients will put their multimedia skills to work at the conference.  They will be mentored by journalists and journalism professors to provide information on digital formats, interactive technologies and much more. 

The scholarship panel chose applicants from across the country to ensure they awarded students with stellar academic and professional credentials.  We are very proud of you Mr. Jimenez and look forward to learning more from your ONA11 experience!  Click here to read the article!

Monte Cristo Center Flips for Kids Event!

Monte Cristo Center, Inc. in partnership with DeFlores, International, is hosting a special summer event on July 9^th.  "Flips for Kids" event provides summer shoes for kids of economically disadvantaged families. 

The event will be held in conjunction with De Flores, International relief efforts for children who were displaced in Japan these past months. 

Furthermore, 1,000 children in our local community will receive flip-flops as well as 4,000 children in Japan. 

The "Flips for kids" event brings community resources in education, health care and child safety to disadvantaged children of the community.  Community organizations are coming together to distribute shoes to the City of San Antonio, Bexar County and Monte Cristo Center families.

If your business is interested in having a promotional booth, or maybe you would like to volunteer - see the link below! 

Children and families are invited to volunteer to create greeting cards for the children receiving flip flops in Japan.  Promotional services, entertainment, food and community service... it's all a part of Flips for Kids!

Attend the event with your family or volunteer!

When:  Sat., July 9, 2011

Time:   10am - 3pm

Where:  Camargo Park

For more info. contact:

Celestino Valentin @ 210-626-9400

Silver Anniversary Graduation Commencement

The processional, led by President Ana M. Guzmán, will begin at 7 p.m. More than 350 candidates have committed to participate in the ceremony where degrees and certificates will be conferred before a distinguished group that includes the Alamo Colleges Chancellor and Board of Trustees. 

Palo Alto College's 25th Anniversary Commencement is set for May 12 at Freeman Coliseum. 

Elizabeth Aguilar-Villarreal (Featured in the Alumni Spotlight), who was the first student to register at Palo Alto College in 1985 and currently serves as the Registrar, will be one of the speakers.

PAC Alumni Art Collection

We are working on a special Alumni Art Collection, if you were an arts major and would like to have one your pieces in the PAC Alumni Art Collection please give us a call!  Contact  Danielle Espinoza at despinoza66@alamo.edu    

Jose Guajrado, Adjunct Art Intructor and Palo Alto College - University of Norther Iowa Bridge Program Alumnus, donated the first piece for our collection titled "Frijoles del Norte".  The piece was inspired by his experience in transferring from Palo Alto College to the University of Northern Iowa and the great friends he met during college.  Tell your story through art and be an inspiration to our current students. 

Memorial Day is May 30th! 

Summer is here to stay and Generations Federal Credit Union wants to help ensure your bills don't rise as high as the infamous South Texas temperatures.

To lower your expenses and help you save more for the future, Generations reminds you of...PAC.

Put your thermostat on a timer...

Avoid running your appliances during peak hours ...

Close your drapes or shades ...

Generations Federal Credit Union is a proud partner and advocate, offering financial wellness resources to the PAC community.  For more than 70 years, our goal has been to empower San Antonio consumers to take control of their financial future. 

For more financial tips and community financial news "like" Generations at facebook.com/mygenfcu

Rackspace is looking for several Customer Service Technicians for their Email and Apps Department. Go to www.rackspace.com/jobs to view the job description and to apply.

USAA needs a skilled Compensation Advisor to work directly with its line of business service team.  Have your resume ready and go to www.usaa.apply2jobs.com to apply.

VIA is currently searching for a Legal Support Specialist to provide support for their Legal Team. Look over the job description at www.apply.viainfo.net.

Bexar County Sheriff's Office is recruiting for Deputy Sheriff Detention Cadets for their upcoming classes. The application process takes 3 days. You can complete the online application at 400 S. Main anytime from 8 AM - 5 PM, Mon-Fri. Call 210-335-2545 if you have questions. 

Tesoro Corporation is looking to hire a Lead Database Administrator in their IT Department. Check out the job description at https://tsocorp.taleo.net/careersection.

KAVU-TV 25 Victoria needs an energetic Reporter with a degree in journalism, communications or a related field. Recent graduates will be considered. Send your resume and work sample to Henry Medrano, News Director, Victoria Television Group, Code NR-15, 3808 N. Navarro, Victoria, TX 77901.

Clear Channel Communications is recruiting for an Account Manager to lead a team of staff accountants through the consolidation of their general ledgers. Help implement Cognos Controller. Apply for this exciting opportunity at http://clearcareers.clearchannel.com/Jobs.

R2 Promotions wants several Brand Representatives full-time or part-time. Help execute retail marketing programs in major retail facilities. Send your resume to sa.roadshows@gmail.com.

 Sprint is hiring Seasonal Retail Consultants part-time to prepare for the summer sales season. Gain valuable sales experience. Go to www.sprint.com/retailjobs to apply.