Dedicated is just one word to describe the Dean of Nursing and Allied Health: Jonna Schengel. Schengel has been working at College of the Sequoias for around 15 years, a time she herself didn’t expect to be spending here. Initially going to college in order to become a physical therapist, she attended University of California San Francisco where she got her first degree, then her masters in educational technology. She would go on to help train other physical therapists and discovered that teaching came naturally to her. Although it wasn’t always in her cards, as she said,

“My mom was a teacher and I always watched her grade papers and help her set up her room. I swore to myself I would not want to be a teacher. When I started to teach I realized why teachers wanted to teach. I came to it kind of late in to my career, but I see why.”

In 2009, she would come across an opportunity to assist in a new physical therapist program here at COS. She said,

“I thought I would only stay for 5 years, but I enjoyed higher education and went back to get a doctorate.”

She would go on to stay at COS, a drastic change from life in San Francisco. She noted,

“I grew up in the valley and we lived in San Francisco for 15 years when my husband was in school, we always enjoyed the lifestyle in Visalia and had our business here and saw what a good education can do to make change in the lives of people.”

Being here for 15 years, there is a lot of change that has occurred. Schengel has been at the forefront of helping with the cultivation of workforce development. Through being a teacher and a dean, she has made changes to people’s lives and enjoys seeing those people become part of the community. She commented on teaching, saying,

“What I like about teaching at COS is when students learn a technical skill they can catapult themselves from financial need into a well paying job. It makes for a healthier family and better opportunities for schools. The more people that can find a well paying job that they enjoy, I like that kind of workforce development.”

She continued,

“I had a young girl who finished the [Physical Therapist] program and she had never been offered a job and she had a choice for jobs, she was nervous about the meetings and she teared up because of the benefits provided by a full time job. People can provide better conditions for their families.”

Helping students establish themselves in the professional world is one way Schengel is making an impact on campus. Creating a space where both students and professionals can interact and

build connections as well as experience. Although the changes that take place are not always favored by students, they are in fact made for the students. It isn’t easy or even sometimes what the student populous wants but if it can benefit them Schengel will find a way to implement change for students. She shared another story:

“I also had a young man and he had come back as a second year and when he graduated, he had 4 kids they were all seated in the front row and he asked for a picture with his kids and he said “ because of you my kis are going to college.” I still have that photo on my desk to this day. Education is a game changer. I like living in a small enough community where I can see my students in the community succeeding.”

Schengel does what she can to offer these opportunities for students and faculty alike. Making it efficient for everyone involved. She wants students to be on track and finish in a timely manner. She left one final comment:

“I want the schedule and college process to work for students. Sometimes at any big institutions there are barriers and if we circle back and change the process to be focused for students rather than the institution we can see beneficial change.”