Celebrating the Children’s Center!

SDSU Children’s Center Celebrations!

The Children’s Center will be celebrating two milestones this year: 50+ years of providing quality child care to SDSU and the community and 19 years of celebrating children’s creative talents through A is for Art!

On January 19, 1971, then College President, Malcolm Love, wrote a letter to A.S. President, Mike Boyle, stating the Center had permission to use two rooms in the old Lab School building to open their Child Care Center. The Child Care Program (CCP, as it was known in those early days), opened its doors on February 8, 1971 with fifteen children, two staff members and four student/parent volunteers.

Today, the SDSU Children’s Center is a nurturing, caring home away from home for over 160 children and serves SDSU student parents, faculty, A.S. staff and the SDSU community. It offers children a relaxed and loving setting where they are free to explore, learn and create through play. To foster the development of the whole child, activities are planned to provide maximum physical, social, emotional and intellectual growth with continuous exposure to the tools for learning.

A is for Art showcases the amazing potential for creative expression by children between six months to five years of age. Each classroom studies an artist who lives and works in the U.S. Working with their teachers, the children use the materials, techniques and processes that the artist uses to create their own masterpieces.

Over the 19 years that the event has taken place, the children have used an amazing variety of mediums — from acrylics to oil pastels, ink to watercolors. Sometimes, the tools and methods have been very unusual such as using hair blower dryers to “move” watercolors on a wet canvas or brooms to sweep acrylics on and off paintings! Rollers, brushes, sponges and even toy cars have all been used to apply a variety of paints, each producing their own unusual texture.

Not only do the children learn about art and artists, but they learn to share and work as a team. Each classroom creates one 24” by 36” painting, with every child helping in the process. The results are truly wonderful.

The 50+ Anniversary Celebration and 19th Annual A is for Art Exhibition will be held on campus in Montezuma Hall of the Student Union on April 22, at 6 p.m. The evening will include sharing memories of the Center’s history, a live auction of 10 paintings created by the children, opportunity drawings, hors d’oeuvres, drinks and fun!

The adults only event is open to the public. Tickets are $30 and are available at childcare.sdsu.edu/aisforart. 

A.S. Chili Cook Off Recap

We hope everyone enjoyed the return of the A.S. Chili Cook Off! After three long years, it was great to gather together, enjoy the warm weather and eat some delicious chili!

Congratulations to our winning teams:

Chef’s Choice and Rookie of the Year: Chili Chili Bang Bang — Sam Ramtin, Janice Dils and Brian Levett (Government Affairs)
People’s Choice: Montezuma's Bottom Burner — Rico Salgado, Hailey Aponte and Corissa Williams (Children’s Center)
Most Creative Display: Pedro Pascal is from Chile — Durand Smiley, Eric Rintoul and Carlos Payan (Aztec Recreation)

And thank you to all of our other teams that participated:

Green Veggie Supreme Chili — Charlotte Roberts (Aztec Recreation)
KChiliR — Kurt Kroeber and Danan Pacheco (KRC Radio)
The Adaptive Chef Special — A.J. Munoz-Bond, Antoinette Domingo and Isaac Jean-Paul (Aztec Recreation)
Chili Ray Cyrus — Nicole Noroian & Liza Bennett (Student Union)
Rookie B.S. (Business Services) — Adam Zamora, Jennifer Shorey and Omar Sanchez (Business Services)
It's a Sizzling Adventure — Jonathan McGrew, Antonio Rivera and Tyler Sieckman (IT)
Chile Azteca — Diana de la Rosa, Viviana Rodriguez and Edgar Lopez (Business Services)

We can’t wait to see you at next year’s Chili Cook Off!

Two Truths and a Lie

April Fools’ Day

Fooled ya!

See if you can see past some of our full-time staff’s tricks in a game of two truths and a lie in honor of April Fools’ Day!

Deanne Fingerman, Viejas Arena Finance Manager

1. I have a fraternal twin sister who works for Associated Students!
2. I once auditioned and made it to the second round of "So You Think You Can Dance?"
3. I attended 382 concerts in the last 10 years.

Kellen Dion, Climbing Program and Team Building Supervisor

1. I used to be an avid Magic the Gathering player and played in tournaments as a kid at the local card store.
2. I used to be a famous social media influencer. My content consisted of lavish floral arrangements and I had over a million followers at one point.
3. I qualified for the California state meet for both discus and javelin. I also had my worst performance at both state meets. 

Mark Zakrzewski, Associate Executive Director

1. I ran the NYC marathon.
2. I have been skydiving twice.
3. My first car was a 1974 Subaru 1400 DL

Kurt Kroeber, Student Media Coordinator

1. I have my name tattooed on my body four times.
2. My birthday is actually ON April Fools’ Day.
3. My Dad and I have the same first name, but I'm not a "Jr."

Ally Norman, Aztec Aquaplex Supervisor

1. I have two middle names.
2. I am allergic to cats. 
3. I have a tattoo of a dinosaur. 

Raven Tyson, Business Operations Associate Director

1. I have been deep sea fishing during trips to Ensenada and Puerto Vallarta. 
2. I designed and made my own prom dress in high school.
3. I won a poetry contest in middle school and a newspaper article competition in high school. 

Answers ↓

A.S. Book Club

At the A.S. Book Club’s most recent meeting, the group discussed “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor. Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, it is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. A must for everyone’s reading list.

The Club meets on the second Thursday of each month, at 4:30 p.m. in the Union Programs & Services Conference Room. Please feel free to join the A.S. Book Club for our lively discussions.

Here is what the Club will be reading over the next three months…

April 13: "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In "The Midnight Library," Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

May 11: "Educated" by Tara Westover

June 8: "The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson

The San Diego Public Library offers eBooks and/or audiobooks, for most titles. You just need a library card, which is free. The books are available through an app: Libby App: Free ebooks & audiobooks from your library by OverDrive.

If you have any questions or would like to join the club, please contact Quentin at 42303 or email qskaggs@sdsu.edu.

15 Questions

Bianca Ramsay

1. What is your name, job title and major?

2. My name is Bianca Ramsey and I am a Senior Programs Assistant for the Aztec Student Union Board. I am a fourth-year Hospitality and Tourism Management major with an emphasis in Meetings and Events. 

3. Which A.S. department do you work in? 

4. I work for the Aztec Student Union Board (ASUB). As a programs assistant, I plan the events proposed by the ASUB Chairs. My two committees are the Student Traditions Committee and GreenFest. 

5. How long have you worked for A.S.?

6. This is my first year working for A.S. I started in May of 2022. 

7. What is your favorite part of working for A.S.?

8. My favorite part of working for A.S. is meeting and getting to know all the other student leaders who are involved on campus. I’ve met some great friends here. 
   
   
   Bianca (far right) with the other ASUB Programs Assistants, Lauryn Vicencio, Leah Hutchful and Emily Sanchez at ASUB’s Valentine's Day event.

9. What was the last movie you saw? Thumbs up or thumbs down? 

10. The last movie I saw was “Knock at the Cabin.” I was really excited for this movie to come out but was disappointed overall. I thought it was kind of slow. I love a lot of other M. Night Shyamalan movies so I had high hopes. 

11. If you had to move to another country, which one would you choose? 

12. If I had to move to another country I would want to live in the United Kingdom. Truthfully, I haven’t been to many other countries but I did visit London a few years ago and I loved the city. 

13. If you had one free hour each day, how would you use it? 

14. If I had one free hour each day, I would use it to try new things. I have a bucket list filled with things I’ve never done before and I’d love to spend time checking off new experiences like puppy yoga. 

15. Would you rather be a superhero or the world’s best chef?

16. As much as I enjoy cooking, I would rather be a superhero. It would be fun to live a double-life and hide my super identity from the public. I also enjoy helping people, but I’m not sure how good I would be at fighting the bad guys. For my super power, I would want super speed.

17. If you had to sing karaoke right now, which song would you pick? 

18. If I had to sing karaoke right now I would pick “Baby” by Justin Bieber. I know all the words and I feel like it’s just such a classic song that everyone knows. 

19. Do you like to cook and what is your specialty?

20. Yes, I love to cook! I took cooking classes when I was younger and when I turned 16, I told my mom I wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner for everyone and that’s a tradition I’ve carried on ever since. My specialty is baked chicken alfredo ziti. 

21. If you could go back or forward in time, where would you go? 

22. I would want to go back in time. I’m pretty close with my parents and they have told me lots of stories about them growing up. It would be cool to be able to go back and watch them live some of those stories. 

23. “Most people don’t know that I like to…

24. …dance. I’m not very good, but I do enjoy it. And I will definitely kick your butt at Just Dance. Some of my best memories are blasting music and dancing with my friends.”

25. Would you rather speak all languages or be able to talk with animals? 

26. I would rather be able to talk with animals — especially dogs. I love all animals, but I grew up with two dogs who I am obsessed with and I think it would be cool to be able to communicate with them. All animals have their own personalities and it would be interesting to learn what they’re thinking. I’m counting down the days until I can have a pet here with me in San Diego! 

27. What’s the best concert you’ve been to and why was it so good?

28. My best concert was my first concert. Justin Bieber during the Purpose Tour in 2016. He was my first celebrity crush and the concert was on my 15th birthday (the tickets were my present). I went with my high school best friend and we fangirled so hard. 

29. Which of your teachers is/was most memorable and why?

30. My most memorable teacher was my first and second grade teacher, Mrs. Rose. I had her for both years and she adored me. She would bring her dog to class and I would get to “be in charge” and hold the leash while the dog curled up under my desk.