Missed seeing new Desert X exhibitions across the Coachella Valley this year? K-8 students from Desert Sands Unified School District have got you covered: the Desert X Art Club will soon provide the public a glimpse into what DSUSD's students explored during their time with the K-8 after school cross-disciplinary program with a free exhibition at the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts at College of the Desert. Its opening reception and community celebration will be held on Friday, May 31.
Also in this week’s education news roundup:: Across the desert, six pop-up community resource fairs are on the move, with the next one scheduled for May 31 at the Coachella Branch Library; three students from Riverside County will have their original plays performed by professional actors at the sixth annual Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival on June 9; and CSUSB's Palm Desert Campus recently celebrates its newest cohort of nurses.
Did we miss a noteworthy education story?Raise your hand and send it my way:jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.
More:For the love of art: Old Town Artisan Studios showcasing students' work through Saturday
Desert X Art Club exhibition, featuring DSUSD students' work, to hold opening reception on May 31 at College of the Desert
Over the past few months, the Desert X Art Club has hosted 14 after school programs across elementary and middle schools through Desert Sands Unified School District's expanded learning opportunities program Now, the young artists are ready to showcase their work — including paintings, sculptures, and photography — to the Coachella Valley.
The second annual Desert X Art Club Exhibition will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Thursday, May 30 through Friday, June 7, only on Tuesdays through Fridays. An opening reception and community celebration will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, May 31, at the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts at College of the Desert in Palm Desert. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Desert X Arts Club is designed to amplify student voices as they explore unique public artworks in their communities and natural environment. The program includes opportunities to meet the artists who created these works and to develop the students' own voices and skills. The students also learned from the organization's cultural partners, the Palm Springs Art Museum and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
The K-8 interdisciplinary program will continue into the 2024-25 school year, with opportunities for students to engage with the forthcoming (professional) Desert X exhibition.
More:Desert X turns the Coachella Valley into a canvas of public art installations
Pop-up resource fair to make a stop at the Coachella Library on May 31
Six upcoming pop-up community fairs are making their way across the Coachella Valley, providing resources on topics such as child support, custody, co-parenting and techniques for managing pre-teen and teen behavior, as well as mental health resources. Organized by the Riverside County Department of Child Support Services, the next pop-up fair will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday, May 31 at the Coachella Branch Library.
Teaming up with the Mexican Consulate, Riverside University Health Systems, Eisenhower Health, Vision y Compromiso, TODEC Legal Center, and ALRD, the department also partnered with the Purepecha community to ensure the delivery of resources in their native language.
Additional and immediate family support will be available, including free food boxes, immunizations, COVID tests, diapers and more:
- Friday, May 31 from 2 to 6 p.m at Coachella Branch Library, 1500 6th St., Coachella
- Friday, June 7 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Mecca Family and Farm Workers Service Center, 91-275 66th Ave., Mecca
- Friday, June 21 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Mecca Family and Farm Workers Service Center, 91-275 66th Ave., Mecca
- Tuesday, June 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, 47-535 Highway 74, Palm Desert
- Saturday, July 20 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Olive Crest, 39-830 Portola Ave Suite A, Palm Desert
For more information: Visit rivcodcss.com or call 866-901-3212
CSUSB Palm Desert celebrates graduating nurses with pinning ceremony
The nursing department at CSU San Bernardino's Palm Desert Campus honored its 20 pre-licensure nursing students at a special pinning ceremony on May 17, joined by an audience of family, friends as well as CSUSB faculty, staff and administrators.
A pinning ceremony, according to the press release, is a symbolic welcoming of newly graduated nurses into the nursing workforce as they prepare to serve the public.
“We also affirm the critical role they will play in shaping the future of healthcare in the Coachella Valley and greater Inland Empire, serving as compassionate healers and advocates for our communities,” said Carol Hood, interim associate dean and professor of physics and astronomy, CSUSB College of Natural Sciences, in a statement.
The students not only completed the program, but they will also be earning their bachelor of science degrees in nursing this year. The ceremony also recognized and honored one master of science in nursing student and five registered nurses to bachelor of science in nursing students.
More on Riverside County students:Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival to hold free play readings June 9
Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.
