After watching a few short videos, the students went on a tour of the campus.

First, Foothill students went to the campus kitchen to see the Culinary Arts program. The kitchen serves as a classroom as well as a place where food is prepared for the SBCC campus.

The chair of the Culinary Arts Program, Randy Bublitz, told Foothill students about the program. The kitchen prepares two types of food for two separate eating places, one being American cuisine and one being a French bistro.

“We want our students to get a feeling of how it will feel to work in a real restaurant,” remarked Bublitz.

He went on to say that the program ran about $1,500, but the school offered many scholarships.

Next, students went to see the pastry kitchen where a large vat of chocolate chip cookie dough was being prepared.

Despite rain, students next walked across the campus to a mulch covered trail where the Environmental Horticulture program takes place.

On a sizeable plot of land, SBCC students manage and maintain plants. This prepares them to go into the landscaping business.

There were three sections with different types of plants.

First, the succulent area, which are plants that are aesthetically appealing and don’t require much care. According to a horticulture instructor, “they are very big in landscaping right now.”

Insectory plants have a purpose, to attract bugs that will eat other bugs that could be considered harmful to other plants. Again, the horticulture instructor informed students, “ these reduce the need for pesticides, which is good for the earth and saves you money.”

The last section of plants were the tropical plants such as palm trees, banana trees and guava trees. The horticulture instructor allowed students to eat berries off of one of the trees, and while the guavas were not ripe yet, he encouraged students to eat the petals of the flowers.

The instructor then explained the process of compost and showed students where and how it is created on campus.

Next, students again went across the campus to the nursing department. The college representative tour guide, Yeshua Baltazar, remarked that the nursing program was the most competitive technical education program.

Students briefly toured the classroom where SBCC has an actual hospital setting.

Dummies sat in hospital beds and wheel chairs which were dispersed throughout the room. Some of the dummies were able to simulate breathing and display symptoms like a real patient.

After the campus tour, Baltazar explained a little bit about the admission process and what special scholarships and assistance were available to incoming students.

He explained the concept of Individualized Education Program (IEP) and how having that status gave SBCC students access to technology to help students learn in an individualized way, such as a machine that translates spoken words into written words on a computer.

In addition, he spoke of the options for SBCC students with children who had trouble finding day care and a program for those recently out of Juvenile Hall or jail.

Foothill Counselor Natasha Hillis said, “It’s important to expose students to options other than the traditional four-year college. A percentage of the student body won’t go immediately to a four year college. With all the emphasis Foothill puts on four-year colleges, we feel like we’re neglecting a portion of our student body.”

Last year, Cecelia Johnston, a parent volunteer in the media center, submitted a grant application to fund field trips to expose students to Technical Education programs. With the money from the grant, Mrs. Hillis was able to take a group of students to Moorpark College earlier this year as well as the SBCC fieldtrip. She is hoping to get one more fieldtrip out of the grant to go to either Oxnard College or the Ventura Adult Continuation program.

Photo: Foothill Students at a tour of the Santa Barbara City College campus. Photo by Haley White, The Foothill Dragon Press.