Calbright was thrilled to participate in this year’s Taste of Soul Festival—the largest street festival in Los Angeles—and share in this celebration of community and Black history in South Los Angeles.
“It was a wonderful experience,” said Raul Sarabia, Calbright’s Regional Outreach Coordinator. “It features all things ‘soulful,’ from local and international cuisine, to favorite quick-eats, fused with diverse cultures and traditions that reflect a Black cultural experience. Taste of Soul also offers a vast number of resources, including social services, education information, healthcare information, and even job recruitment. That’s what Calbright was a part of. Put it all together and Taste of Soul is much more than a street festival, but a community gathering, and a festival dedicated to presenting high-end entertainment and a cultural experience to the South L.A. community.”
Calbright hosted a booth to provide information and resources on our programs and services, including free certificate programs in fields like Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and Customer Relationship Management Platform Administration – all fields that, with the right credentials, can provide 21st century jobs to trained Californians. But what Raul said most interested people was Calbright’s unique delivery model: Competency Based Education (CBE). Calbright focuses on what you know and what you’re learning, not how much time you spend in a classroom. That means students can move quickly through material they already know, and can take as much time as they need to master things they’re learning for the first time.
“There was a lot of interest in the CBE model,” Raul said. “It’s the kind of education people want to have.”
All in all, “It was truly a great experience to be able to learn about and see all the diverse cultures and traditions that make South L.A. unique.”
