14 Days of Madness starts NOW!

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men [and women]. --Roald Dahl




Who doesn't want a little crazy fun to help celebrate the holidays and motivate daily attendance? NO ONE, that's who! So we bring you 14 Days of Madness, which starts today. Here's how it works:

• Each student who attends class will receive an envelope with a ticket inside. Fill it out, keep the part that says "keep," and turn in tickets at the reception area.
• Some envelopes will have a Golden Ticket. If you get one of those, you'll receive FIVE extra tickets for the drawing plus a chocolate bar from Lillian.
• If you're in class each day, you'll have 14 days of madness, giving you that many more chances to win the grand prize! Game runs from December 1 through January 5.

One grand prize (per session) valued at $100 will be chosen from the tickets in early January. Thanks for playing and good luck!

Angel Tree kick-off this week

IOT Modesto is sponsoring its annual Angel Tree event. Its goal is to assist current students by providing holiday gifts for their children. Applying for the Angel Tree does not guarantee that your children will be selected, and we are not able to provide lavish gifts. However, we will provide a gift appropriate for the child. Angels can be from birth to age 13. Please fill out application and attach a letter expressing your request; give to Miss Kim or Mr. Miguel. Once accepted, you will be contacted by Student Services via call slip to complete a wish list for your child/children.


Deadline: November 28, 2014.

Thanksgiving Meal Deal forms now available

The Institute of Technology is holding its annual Thanksgiving Meal Deal to provide a holiday dinner for students.  To request a Meal Deal, please write a brief letter expressing how this would make your holiday brighter, and fill out this form. Staple and submit request to Miss Kim in Student Services by Wednesday, November 19, 2014. Students will be notified the same day if they are selected. Forms can also be picked up in the LRC and Student Services.

Halloween horrors at IOT

For those of you who don't already know...we have Halloween Stuff to delight and thrill you!


First of all, there's a Pumpkin Carving Contest today in front of Culinary between 9-3. No templates allowed. BYO carving tools.






Next, have you decorated your classroom windows yet? There's a competition among classes for the best window decoration. There's a great variety of prizes, ranging from a taco-or-pizza party, donuts, and cookies. Windows will be judged at the end of the day today.




Finally, bring your gently used Halloween costumes to Miss Kim's through this week for a Halloween Costume Trade. Drop off the costumes your little ones have already used and see what is available. Who knows--there might be princesses, zombies, or vampires available.

Welcome new & returning students

Welcome to all! Start the mod off on the right foot with the following activities and events:

• Classroom Window Decorating for Halloween/Fall Harvest: this is a school-wide competition to make the best darn window decoration for Halloween. Talk to your instructors about a theme & coordinating décor. Judging begins next week, October 28. What a great opportunity to meet new classmates and engage in some fun teamwork.
• Thursday, October 23: BLOOD DRIVE! What better way to celebrate the spooky season than by donating your blood? Delta Blood Bank's mobile unit will be here to collection donations. For those with ink, you can donate if it's been a year or more since your tattoo process (including touch-ups). Contact Miss Kim at 209-572-7809 to schedule your appointment. Valid photo ID w/ date of birth is required; for more information call 888-94-BLOOD. Also, read Blood Donation Eligibility for more details.
• Friday, October 24: Free PowerPoint Workshop for students, graduates, and friends & family. If you're a complete newbie, you'll want to take this fun, hands-on workshop: Getting Started with PowerPoint. Advance RSVP to Laura Hughes (PennFoster) or Stella Beratlis (LRC). Email us or call 209-572-7880.
• So you think you can carve a mean Jack O'Lantern? Sign up NOW for the IOT Pumpkin Carving Contest, which takes place on Tuesday, October 28. Signups in LRC--just look for the culinary skeleton next to the librarian's desk.

Week 5 Reminders

It's the last week of the module, and here are some helpful reminders of upcoming events and things to consider in the home stretch of the mod:

• Diplomat meeting on Tuesday. Contact Mr. Buenrostro for more information on Student Diplomats.
• Turn in all textbooks and CERM tools to Lynn Meacham in the Book Room by THIS THURSDAY.
• If you're graduating or going on externship this month, please make sure you complete your DOE Exit Counseling requirement. This might take up to 45 minutes to complete and can be done in the LRC or in class if instructor allows it. When you are done, print the completions page and take it to Financial Aid. Print out a copy of these handy instructions to help you in the process.
• Consider decorations for a class-vs-class Halloween Window Decorating Contest, starting Monday October 20.

Enjoy your week and as always, if you have questions, feel free to stop by the LRC.

Events week of Oct. 6-10

IOT is cookin' with activities this week! Please mark your calendars for the following events:

• Health & Safety Fair, Wednesday 9 a.m.  Come out to the Center Court to visit information booths & learn about various workplace issues that relate to your well-being and safety while on the job. Presented by HR students at IOT, this event was a hit earlier this year. Be sure to make time to visit!
• Fall Harvest Open House, Wednesday 5:30-7:30 p.m. Again, the Center Court is the hot spot on campus. Be sure to invite friends and family to the campus to learn about our upcoming and current programs and to shop for holiday gifts from vendors who will be set up along the center walkway.
• IOT Job Fair, Thursday 9 a.m. to noon. Network with employers, learn which companies are recruiting, and practice your professionalism. Dress for job interviews and be ready to give your 30-second elevator speech to sell yourself as a potential employee. A great opportunity!  
• Nachos Raffle, break times throughout day on Thursday. Student Diplomats will be selling tickets for nachos at $3.00 each. Proceeds go to services and activities which benefit students and their families such as backpack giveaway, Easter baskets, Christmas Angels, and more.
• Resume and Job Readiness Workshop, Friday morning. Bring flash drives; be ready for mock interviews. Contact Career Services for more information.
• Halloween Costume Trade-Off: starting Wednesday, bring in your used Halloween costumes for someone else to use this season. Bring to Miss Kim's office in Student Services.

LRC Open This Saturday

Hear ye, hear ye! The LRC will be open this Saturday for weekend culinary students and for anyone else who needs a quiet place to which to escape for a few hours for concentrated Independent Study time. Our doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. See you here!

Intermediate MS Word workshop

To all of you who are past the beginner stage of MS Word, consider taking the Intermediate Word workshop this Friday, September 26. You'll learn how to work with bulleted lists, tables, columns,  and more. Please sign up with Laura Hughes: lhughes@iot.edu or call 209-545-3100 x 7879. Workshop starts at 11:30 a.m. promptly; workshop will be cancelled if students do not sign up in advance.

Barbeque to kick off new module

Students, please join instructors and staff in the breezeway behind the Admin building at 11 am, 3 pm, and 7 pm today for some delicious barbeque. This is our way of welcoming new and returning students to Institute of Technology-Modesto and helping us all celebrate the start of a new module. See you there.

Graduation ceremony scheduled

Please join us as we present the Class of 2014 Commencement Ceremony on Friday, September 12, 2014 at the DoubleTree Hotel. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.; we hope to see you there!

Caps and gowns may be ordered now and paid for at time of pickup. For more information, please contact Kim Clemons at kclemons@iot.edu or call 209-545-3100.

Next PowerPoint workshop

Hey peoples; you need to learn PowerPoint, and we have a class for you! On Friday, August 22, we'll be offering a nuts-and-bolts hands-on workshop to teach about the features of this popular Microsoft presentation software. Please sign up with Laura Hughes. Workshop begins at 11:30 am.

PowerPoint this Friday

Come to a nuts & bolts class on PowerPoint Friday, July 18, at 11:30 a.m. This is designed for beginners or for those needing a refresher on how to design a basic presentation. The workshop will be held in the Medical Building, Room 403; please sign up in advance with Laura Hughes. See you there!

New Module Starts Today

Welcome new and returning students! We hope you're set to go with today's start. Remember, if you need assistance with anything, you can ask at the LRC or the front desk in the main office. Remember also: be of use in the world! Here's a poem to remind us:

Lines on a Skull

by Ravi Shankar

(Haiku Erasure of Lord Byron’s "Lines Inscribed Upon a Cup Formed from a Skull")

Start spirit; behold
the skull. A living head loved
earth. My bones resign

the worm, lips to hold
sparkling grape’s slimy circle,
shape of reptile’s food.

Where wit shone of shine,
when our brains are substitute,
like me, with the dead,

life’s little, our heads
sad. Redeemed and wasting clay
this chance. Be of use.

Food Drive at IOT

All non-perishable items are being accepted for IOT-Modesto's food drive. The drive runs through July 16; each classroom should have a bag to fill. Let's see who can collect the most! All the items donated will be used to stock a food pantry for IOT students who are in need.

New schedule of software workshops

There's a new schedule for software workshops, open to students, staff, friends and family, and anyone else who would like to brush up on their skills! The next workshop is PowerPoint on June 13, followed by Beginning & Intermediate Excel classes on June 20 and 27. Be sure to sign up in advance with Laura Hughes so we know how many to expect.

Latest Schedule of Software Workshops (Revised May 19, 2014)

Beginning Microsoft Word class this Friday

Please tell your classmates, friends, and family about our Beginning Microsoft Word class scheduled for Friday, May 9. It will be held in Mr. Buenrostro's Professional Development classroom (in the Medical Building, room 403) at 11:30 a.m.

Sign up in advance by contacting Stella Beratlis in the LRC. You will leave the workshop with a packet of Word materials as well as a basic working knowledge of creating, formatting, saving, and printing a document in Microsoft Word so that you have all the tools you need to navigate the world of word processing.

Plus, you get a nifty certificate of completion.

Software workshops - Updated

Need to brush up on PowerPoint,  Word, or Excel? The LRC and GED/HS Diploma Program present a revised schedule of workshops for your learning needs. If your knowledge is so-so or iffy on this software, definitely plan to take these courses; the software is required in almost every program here at IOT Modesto.

Students in culinary use Excel for food costing and employee schedules, while Word is used for independent studies projects. Each program requires the use of Word for projects and assignments, and most programs require students to make presentations using PowerPoint.

Workshops are usually scheduled for Fridays, mid-day. Come with your friends & family! See schedule for more details.

End of the mod...

As the end of a mod looms, please take a moment to review a few important things:

• The LRC homepage has links to MyIOT for students to log in & check your grades. Look at top left. Ask us if you need to know your username. 
• Stumped on APA style? We have handouts that show you how to make a References section. 
• Don't have a flash drive? That's not excuse not to save your documents! Get a Dropbox account now and be prepared for the start of next mod. 

MBCS Students Take Note: ICD-10 Workshop

This is your opportunity to learn about  the new ICD-10 coding system, which is scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2014. 

With the adoption of the ICD-10 coding system, the number of medical codes for various diagnoses and disease conditions will increase from about 18,000 to about 155,000 entries. A number of them have been highlighted in popular journalistic accounts, including codes for injuries sustained in a collision with a bicycle, while knitting and crocheting or gardening and landscaping, or in a collision with a balloon. Codes are also assigned to cases where a patient has been bitten by a parrot, injured in a spacecraft collision, or sucked into a jet engine.

Come to our ICD-10 Workshop to get an insight into the ICD-10 coding scheme and learn the differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10. You'll also become familiar with the ICD-10 books and begin doing exercises to learn how to use ICD-10. 

When: April 12, 2014, 10 am - 1 pm 
Where: IOT Modesto, MBCS classroom 23-3
How: SIgn up by Thursday Apr. 10 by contacting Katie Alcaraz (209-262-0407). 

Welcome to all new students

Happy first day of a new module at IOT-Modesto! We're glad to see new students as well as those continuing on in their programs. If you have any questions, feel free to ask us here in the LRC, or send a quick message using the "Chat-With-a-Librarian" feature at the bottom right of this screen.

ICD-10 Workshop

Join our March 21 workshop to explore ICD-10 and to prep for the new CCA exam; students will become familiar with ICD-10 and do exercises together.

• When: March 21, 8 am - noon
• Where: MCBS classroom 23-3 (Kellie's room) 
• How to sign up: by March 19, contact Katie at 209-262-0407 or kalcaraz@iot.edu

New High School Diploma Completion Program starting up!

Now accepting sign-ups! IOT Modesto is pleased to announce the start of a new HS diploma completion program especially designed for those students who have a year or less of credits to earn before earning a diploma. The curriculum and study materials are provided by Penn Foster, an accredited online high school with whom IOT Modesto has partnered. Books are provided; students are asked to attend class for a minimum of 6 hours a week. Interested? Contact Laura Hughes at lhughes@iot.edu or call us: 209-545-3100.

PowerPoint workshop today

Come one, come all to the PowerPoint workshop today at 11:30 am. It should run for approximately 1.5 hours including break. This is a basic overview of PowerPoint which will give you the knowledge and hands-on experience to start your own presentation.

Moms attending IOT: Share your story

Calling all of our great students who are also mothers! Share your story, get a chance to be published, and win $50.00.  If you are an adult education student enrolled in basic skills, high school diploma/equivalent, ESOL, or college transition classes, you are encouraged to submit your story. 

• Write about yourself: Where did you grow up? How old are you? What was your education experience before enrolling in adult education classes? 

• Write about your children. How have they responded to your going back to school? 

• What are your hopes and dreams that caused you to go back to school? What are the steps you are taking to make them come true? Where are you studying and what? 

• What sacrifices have you had to make in order to make education a priority? 

• What do you enjoy about going back to school? Have you already experienced good outcomes from going back to school? 

• What else would you like others to know about you as a mother getting her education? 

Deadline is Friday, March 7, 2014. Sponsored by World Education 

Second day of new module

Mr. B with morning PD class. Welcome! 

Hello to all new students! It's good to see new faces and familiar ones as well. Remember, I'll be coming into Professional Development and Mod 1 Culinary classes to conduct brief LRC orientations. I usually discuss the services and resources we make available to students, including reference help, tutoring, accommodations, print and electronic resources, and more.

Next week, I'll be in the same Professional Development classes to do a writing workshop, and the following week (Week 3 of mod) I'll conduct Vocabulary Development classes, which are great for ANY student, but are especially helpful to Professional Medical Assisting students who will be studying medical terminology throughout the rest of their programs.

Thursday Night, end of mod in the LRC

Ronnie preps his presentation. 

Computer time

More PD presentations! 

It's another end-of-mod Thursday evening here in the LRC, with a happy crowd of students preparing their projects and studying for finals. Best of luck to everyone!

Tuesday's Health & Safety Fair is a Success

Nancy Tiffany's class put on a very successful and impressive Health and Safety Fair last night. 

Thanks to the hard work on the part of the HRA students, great and healthy food by Chef Kelly Baldwin and her students, and professional participation by Jeff Jackson's PMA students, there was high energy and excellent attendance.  Thanks to everyone who attended and participated! 

Professional Development Tower Project

What's going on in PD? Last week, teams built towers out of ordinary supplies to meet certain specifications. Here we have the creation by team The Supreme PD from Mr. Chaney's evening class. They created a lovely design featuring an eye-catching fringe on top. I'm reminded of a wedding cake! Objectives for this assignment included teamwork, effective communication, creativity, and ability to meet criteria set forth by the instructor for construction of the project, such as height, aesthetic appeal, and more. What do you think?

Beginning Word workshop this Friday

Add another bullet point to your resume with a Microsoft Word training. There's still space in the Beginning MS Word workshop scheduled for this Friday, 1/31, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. Please sign up with Miss Laura by emailing lhughes@iot.edu or sberatlis@iot.edu. We look forward to seeing you there.

Computer Lounge Available!

Want to check your Facebook or email? We're now offering a computer lounge in the Student Success office, just off the main entrance. Feel free to hang out there and check your Facebook.

Please be aware that the priority for computers in the LRC is for student research/class work, so you may be asked to move your fun to the computer lounge when it gets busy in the LRC.

Students: Return Books Today!

Just another reminder to return your textbooks today OR, at the latest, tomorrow.  The Book room will NOT be open after 5:30 P.M., so evening classes need to get their books in early. For evening students, returned books can be left with the front desk and Lynn Meacham  will check them in the next day. Thank you all. 

Donate Blood on Wednesday 1/8

Make an impact: join the Institute of Technology's Blood Drive. A mobile blood donation vehicle will be on site from 10 am - 3 pm. Donors receive a t-shirt and are entered to win one of three $25 VISA gift cards. Please call Miss Kim to schedule your appointment at (209) 545-3100 x3109.