Thursday, July 3, 2025

From business to babies

Professor Lila Snow outside the Child Development Academic Department at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Monday, March 28, 2022. Photo by Vincent Denoga. The sun slowly sets on the verge of twilight, but some classes are just getting started. A projector warms up, an OWL hoots...

From pulling garments to doing fittings

Neither the lively swish of a dress nor the furl of a coat can come to life upon stagewithout a creative mind to guide the process. Pierce College's theater department enjoys a bevy of beautiful costumes through the combined efforts of the costume department, of which Katherine JuDay is a part of, as the costume shop manager. She's a...

Web developer turned anthropology professor

Angela Kirwin wraps her arm around a human skeleton model at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on March 13, 2020. Photo by Peter Villafane. Angela Kirwin had no plans to return to the classroom after receiving her business marketing degree from San Diego State University. Instead, she worked as a web developer...

The Long Way Dao-wn the Road

(Left to Right) Long Dao, mens tennis head coach, talks to Christian Ponce and Daniel Vinterfeld in the tennis courts at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif on Feb. 27, 2019. Photo by Chris Torres. Beside the rusty metal fences surrounding the outdoor tennis courts stood a hooded figure dressed in a bright...

The Man Behind the Magic

Draped over the crushed red velvet chair with a soft smile playing across his lips, Michael Sande unwinds inside the Pierce Performing Arts Mainstage theater after a chaotic afternoon. As the managing director for the Performing Arts Department at Los Angeles Pierce College, it is his job to make sure that shows goes on without a hitch. The Seattle native...

Seeing Pierce through Varozian-colored glasses

It’s been said that some of the hardest workers one will ever find in a production are the ones working behind the scenes. The saying couldn’t be truer of Shant Varozian, who works as an administrative aide in Pierce College’s office of Academic Affairs. Varozian first came to Pierce in 2004 as a student. He was taking general education courses...

Helping students transfer one step at a time

Wearing a warm smile framed by primly-styled sandy blonde hair, Norine Fine, 61, waits patiently behind the reception desk for early appointments. Fine is a general counselor in the Transfer Center at Pierce College. Her job is not only to help students find their majors, but also to assist and advise them if they are considering alternative options. “I connect students...

An Out of this Galaxy Professor

Dale Fields holds a 3D globe at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., Photo by Natalie Miranda A science professor comes gliding into campus on his bicycle every day, unless it is a rainy day. On this day, he is wearing a white T-shirt with the words, Earth first, before the other planets....

Julio Cortez

Upon receiving the news that he won a Pulitzer, Cortez said he cried as he basked in the incredible feeling he found difficult to describe. 

The adventures of a photojournalist

Gerard Burkhart poses in the Los Angeles Valley College studio room in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 26, 2023. Photo by Alexis Guevara. Gerard Burkhart’s photography journey has taken him on countless adventures filled with adrenaline and passion.  Born in 1958 in Altoona, Pennsylvania; Gerard Burkhart moved to Los Angeles...
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