New President Erin Calderone's Welcome Letter
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Hello Colleagues!
With Fall semester beginning and many of our sports on the court and field already, I know that hoping this message finds you well is a long shot. Perhaps a more reasonable hope is that you are remaining hydrated and flexible.
Before I introduce myself I’d like to send a giant thank you to Jennifer Tanaka-Hoshijo for leading the 3CPEKD for the last few years. Under her leadership we have been able to collectively grieve the loss of Area E and continue to advocate for our disciplines within CalGETC and local GE patterns. We have shared strategies, curriculum, ideas, and data - collaborating and inspiring each other to continue serving our students with rigorous and meaningful knowledge and skills to improve their lives now and in the future. Jenni has had the patience and foresight to help us navigate this turbulent time, and get the information we need to move our disciplines forward. Thank you Jenni!
According to our Landscape Survey in Spring of 2026, there are a variety of challenges ahead for us. Some of us have experienced devastating declines in enrollment, particularly in our physical education and fitness center courses. Others have experienced growth - especially in emerging career education pathways. Some folks have gotten courses approved for CalGETC areas, and others have gotten denials (sometimes for the same courses!) The landscape is both confusing and hopeful - and it can be hard to see through the trees from whatever part of the forest we find ourselves in right now. This is exactly why we need each other - and why I’m excited to be stepping into the role of 3CPEKD president.
For those of you who don’t know me yet, my name is Erin. I was a community college student myself (Antelope Valley College and College of the Canyons heya!) an athlete, a personal trainer, and a gym nerd. And perhaps (you may relate to this) I still nurture an idealism of what community college can be. Students who didn’t think they could pass a science class end up falling in love with a fitness career and landing their dream job. The middle-aged woman who finally achieved her first pull-up and is no longer afraid of the weight room. The “non-traditional” student in his 70’s who can out-plank us all. Perhaps it’s knowing that someone who took your CPR class will someday have to use it to save a loved one’s life. Or maybe it’s your dual-enrollment class of high schoolers who are actually interested in learning about mental health. Or working with your athletic team on developing their defense - when you know what it’s really giving them is mental toughness for life. People in conference rooms and zoom screens using edu-corporate lingo may not understand what it is we do, and the importance - necessity - of kinesiology, health, physical education, and dance. But we do. Our students do. And their future families, neighborhoods, and communities will too.
This year we want to give back to each other. Our professional development sessions will focus on sharing even more insights, tools, and resources that we have gathered and developed over the years. Look for upcoming sessions on Open Educational Resources (OER) and Canvas Commons courses for Health, “How-To” workshops for creating Yoga and Pilates Teacher or Personal Trainer programs, partnerships with certification organizations, discussions on best practices for fitness centers, strategies for those CalGETC submissions (or resubmissions), and more!
While everyone is invited to join our live PD sessions, we have more exclusive benefits for our members. (And this is why you should join!)
Access to our RESOURCES hub where you can find past PD session recordings, a list of CalGETC approvals, OER resources, whitepapers and position stands, survey data, and more!
The chance to NOMINATE faculty, admin, and students for our annual awards
VOTING for important 3CPEKD decisions!
Important Dates: (just go ahead and put these on your calendar)
Fall Business Meeting Thursday November 19th 12pm-2pm
Award nominations open December 1st
Professional Development sessions: Calendar will be sent out soon!
I am thrilled and honored to be working with the folks on the 3CPEKD executive board, including our VP Scott Dameron, our Treasurer Tara Jacobson, Membership Chair Debbie Jensen, Management Council Rep Chad Peters, Regional Coordinator Chris Kahl, and our Website/Social Media guru Chris Ruiz. This year our executive board is also pleased to welcome Jamie Langan from Pierce and Peter Parasiliti from LACC. If you’re interested in joining the executive board or leading a professional development session for our colleagues across the state, please don’t hesitate to reach out - my email is below.
As you give yourself that first-week-of-the-semester pep talk, just remember that the 3CPEKD is in your corner. We got this!
Stay strong and scholarly,
-Erin
Erin Calderone She/her/hers Associate Professor of Kinesiology Pro-Tem 3CPEKD President Glendale Community College |
