On Thursday February 16th, 2017, the annual Palooza was successfully held at Central Arizona College’s San Tan campus (STC). San Tan is the youngest campus established in 2014 and the only campus that held the annual Palooza in spring. In an attempt to help future students get to know the college better, Palooza provides lots of information about the college in general, and introduces all the student services, clubs and organizations available to students at STC. Palooza also offers a wide range of activities to connect and create a playground for current students.

The campus was swamped with music and activities on the day. The event was catered by A’viands company and the culinary department of STC. Miele Entertainment brought music and the photo booth to the event. According to Sean Coronel, Director of Student Affairs, there was an estimated 150 people, including community members and high school students, attending the event and it was deemed to be one of the most successful Paloozas since the campus was established in 2014.

Attending the Palooza at STC were representatives from major universities in Arizona including: Arizona State University (ASU), University of Arizona (UofA), Northern Arizona University (NAU), Grand Canyon University (GCU), Argosy University, and Benedictine University. This was a good opportunity for students to speak directly to the school representatives, find out information about the universities and their transferring processes. This year, the Army, AZ National Guard and Pinal County Sheriff’s Office also had their table set up at the Palooza. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office landed a helicopter on campus to support their rescue mission. The helicopter was center stage when it landed and departed from the green grass at the beginning and ending of the event.

The Palooza was well prepared by the campus staff, faculty, and student leaders of STC. Each division had their own table to share information with the students. Organizations and clubs are active on this campus, including Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), Student Leadership Organization (SLO), and Dreamers. Counseling, working services, learning support such as tutoring and testing services, and the library are also free and available to students. Faculty of STEM, Business division, Science division, Early childhood education, Pharmacy technician program, and Culinary all presented at the Palooza to share information to students. With the International studies program, in addition to the Exchange Program to China, CAC offers other exchange programs to Spain and Ireland starting in spring break, March 2017. The 11-day trips will be a great experience for CAC’s current students to experience the world and learn about other cultures. Although those trips are being held for the first time and the requirements are quite strict for students, the programs are drawing the attention of future students and are anticipated to have an increasing number of participants in the coming years.

The SLO brought the water dunk tank game to raise fund for the Relay for Life campaign. Relay for life is the campaign hosted by the Honors division, SLO, and Phi Theta Kappa to support the American Cancer Society. Basically, for every $1-dollar donation, the donor will have 3 chances to throw the ball to hit the target and collapse a seat with a volunteer sitting on it. Sean Coronel, Sherrie Licon of International Studies, Mitchell Webb and Kaira Cortez of the SLO were the volunteer targets for donation. The game was center stage, drew lots of participants, and gained a good donation for the campaign.

The CAC Paloozas’ are the annual events to inform students about all the support and services available to them. Each campus has their own way of organizing it. For the youngest campus like STC, the event also is an opportunity to bring the staff, faculty, and students together and shows how strong we are as a whole and how we can make it better in the years to come. Like Sean Coronel said:

Never me,
Always we,
For students at STC