Glendale Community College

COVID Protocols Updated

Beginning winter session 2023, vaccinations will no longer be required to attend in-person classes or access in-person services. Moving forward, COVID protocols may be amended to align with local and state health orders.

Keep It Kind

Although the college’s COVID restrictions are relaxing, GCC strongly encourages vaccinations and masking to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In some indoor areas, you may be asked to wear a mask for the safety of those around you. In those moments, it’s important to lead with courtesy and kindness. COVID and flu season will continue to influence our lives in the foreseeable future. You can download printable signage to encourage best practices by going here and scrolling to the bottom of the webpage.

Campus Projects

The stairs and lawn at the front entrance to the Verdugo Campus are coming back together after several weeks of trenching in support of the Central Plant 1 upgrade. Lot I on the west side of the Auditorium remains closed through the end of the year to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff. For the latest information regarding campus projects go to glendale.edu/campusprojects.

The Garfield Campus has scheduled a celebration to recognize the completion of the parking expansion project and installation of the Somerset Complex

which will house a GCC CARES office and healthcare classes. The event takes place Tuesday, November 15 at 3:30 p.m. followed by the Board of Trustees meeting in the Garfield Community Room.

Vaqs are Back and Studying Abroad

What Connects Us

Click poster for show teaser

If you missed the recent production of “What Connects Us,” the dynamic student-created work brought to life through a collaboration with Dance, English, and Theatre Departments, it will be available “on demand” December 2-4. Click for more information.

Here's to Halloween

The Halloween spirit filled GCC in the final days of October. Thank you to Human Resources for sponsoring Halloween events that connected the campus community. The Child Development Center added a splash of cuteness during their trick or treat trek through campus.

Connecting with...Joanna Parypinski

A born-and-raised Midwesterner from the Chicago area, Joanna Parypinski moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to attend Chapman University for her MFA in Creative Writing. After she graduated, GCC was the first place she taught as an adjunct English instructor, and she fell in love with the campus and community immediately. She was hired as a full-time instructor in 2016. A few months into the pandemic she managed to buy a house, where she now lives with her husband and two cats.

What about your job makes you proud?
I am most proud of being able to help students become better writers: teaching them techniques and strategies that help them discover not just how to navigate the process of writing, but also the beauty and joy of it. When students come to me disliking writing, or thinking they are just not good writers, and leave my class with a newfound passion for reading and writing—that’s why I love my job. It’s a particular privilege to get to work with a diverse student body, and I am humbled by the commitment of my fellow faculty in providing great instruction and opportunities to students of all backgrounds and experiences. Helping students find their own unique voice is one of the most important things I do.

Other involvements at GCC?
In addition to teaching English, I’m also part of the orchestra here at GCC. I play in the cello section alongside music faculty, students, and volunteers. Come see us sometime! The Symphony of the Verdugos has several concerts in the auditorium on campus each semester. I’m so thankful that I’ve been able to keep up my music hobby, as I’ve been playing cello since I was nine years old, and that GCC has such an excellent music program; when I was a student, I played in my college orchestra for fun, as one of the only non-music majors in the ensemble. It was the perfect break from all the reading and writing one does as an English major! I think everyone should have the opportunity to pursue these kinds of arts and activities outside of their typical area of study. It’s good for the soul.
 
I’ve also been the editor of Chaparral for almost six years now. It’s been a wonderful experience getting to coordinate with faculty and staff from all across campus and share their voices. Especially over the last few years, when many of us have felt isolated during the pandemic, putting out the newsletter each month has been a way to keep us connected—much like this Staying Connected newsletter! Both of our publications provide a way for us to connect with what can sometimes feel like a large, disparate community, and engage in conversations across disciplines, divisions, and more.
 
Other interests, hobbies, career achievements?
By day I am an English instructor, but by night I am a horror writer under the pen name Jo Kaplan. I’ve published several novels and something like 40+ short stories at this point, and I’m currently co-chair of the LA chapter of the Horror Writers Association (you might be surprised to learn that horror writers are actually some of the nicest people around!). The last few years have seen some achievements for me. My haunted house novel, It Will Just Be Us, was optioned for film by a production company owned by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones), so my fingers are crossed something will come of that! (And yes, it was very cool hearing Jaime Lannister tell me how much he liked my book over Zoom). My most recent novel, When the Night Bells Ring, about a haunted mine in a Nevada ghost town, was just published in October.

I’m lucky that I get to share my passion for writing both in my teaching job and in my work as a writer. I’ve also gotten to provide my creative writing students with first-hand insight on the process of getting an agent and publishing, which I think is invaluable; it’s a process I had to figure out on my own, so I love being able to use my experience to help others. And I share my failure and struggle, too, because most people outside of that industry only see the successful outcomes, not all the rejection that comes first! For example, there’s one magazine I submitted to twelve times over the course of three years before I finally had a piece accepted—and then I had three stories published by them over the course of about two years. It’s all about persistence!

Favorite book?
This question is impossible to answer because my favorites often change, but one that always stays at the top of my list is Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
   
Describe your perfect day off?
Coffee and writing in the morning. Sitting outside in the afternoon sunshine with a good book. Curling up in front of the TV after dinner with a glass of wine. (I’m basically a cat).