Elena Ciampa ’22 already had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Spanish — and a career as a Spanish language teacher — when she enrolled at HCC to study music, satisfying a long-suppressed passion. “I’m one of seven kids, and my parents told me, no, you don’t go to school for music; you find a job that makes money,” said Ciampa, a 56-year-old married mother of two. “I think I was gonna go crazy if I didn’t make this move. I was holding 30 years of melodies inside my head.” Six years later, Ciampa graduated with high honors and performed one of her original songs at HCC’s 75th Anniversary Commencement in 2022. Since then, she’s earned a master’s degree in composition from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford and kept busy writing, recording, and performing. In March, in advance of the second nationwide No Kings Day protests, the Daily Hampshire Gazette profiled Ciampa for a story about a musical collaboration she orchestrated that resulted in the release of a protest song and video called “Finding Good,” a memorial to Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Ciampa shares writing credit on the song with Brooklyn-based, Emmy-award-winning music engineer Cory Choy. For “Finding Good,” Ciampa turned the living room of her Florence, Massachusetts, home into a music studio — and turned to HCC for backup, recruiting vocalists Chestina Thower ’25, Brandon Phommasith ’26, Sarah Belote ’26, and keyboardist Kyren Harris ’25. “HCC was my incubator,” said Ciampa. “Without it, this thing I’m doing never would have happened.” You can find “Finding Good” and Ciampa’s other original recordings on her Linktree page and on YouTube.
President George Timmons and new trustee Aaron Vega ’90
Just Makes Sense
One of Aaron Vega’s earliest memories of HCC is tagging along with his mother to class when he was a young child. “My mom came here, my dad came here, and I came here as a little kid,” he said. “That really stuck with me.” In March, Vega ’90, a former Holyoke city councilor and state representative who is now the president and CEO of the Western Mass Economic Development Council, was appointed to the HCC Board of Trustees by Gov. Maura Healey. Until the end of 2025, Vega was the director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development for the City of Holyoke. From 2013 to 2021, he represented the 5th Hampden District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. No stranger to HCC, Vega received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the college in 2015 and is the son of the late Carlos Vega ’71, a social activist and co-founder of the Holyoke nonprofit Nueva Esperanza, who received HCC’s 2004 Distinguished Service Award. Vega’s daughter, Courtney Joaquin, graduated from HCC in 2018. “HCC is one of my favorite places in Holyoke, absolutely,” said Vega, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Keene State University before embarking on a short career as a documentary filmmaker. “My dad was such a proponent of public education, and then as a state rep I served on the higher education committee, supporting HCC, so joining the board just makes sense.”
Nayroby Rosa ’10
Leading by Example
When Nayroby Rosa ’10 was working as a case manager for the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, she spent her days urging young women in her care to stay in school. After repeatedly dispensing that advice, she decided it was time to take it herself and enrolled in the human services program at HCC. Through her practicums, she discovered her passion: working with youth and the elderly. “HCC shaped the journey that I have been on,” said Rosa, the alumni representative on the HCC Board of Trustees. “Because of the exposure I had in the human services program, I learned what I wanted to do.” Rosa used her practicum experience and previous roles in human services to build her bachelor’s degree through the UMass Amherst University Without Walls program. She eventually became director of community engagement and resident services at OneHolyoke, a nonprofit organization focused on affordable housing, property rehabilitation, and neighborhood improvement. When the executive director began thinking about retirement, he approached Rosa about being his successor. She asked for 10 years to build up the necessary experience. He countered with seven. “And it’s been five,” she said with a laugh. In early 2026, OneHolyoke named Rosa as its chief operating officer, and in July as its executive director. “I want to see the organization continue to grow, put in more housing, and make sure our community engagement department continues to thrive,” she said.
Steve Bailey ’77 in the technician’s booth above the Leslie Phillip Theater
Exit, Stage Left
The fall 2026 semester marked the first time in 26 years that the familiar face of Steve Bailey ’77 will be absent from the sound booth during performances in the Leslie Phillips Theater. After supporting more than 500 shows since joining HCC as technical director in 2000, Bailey has retired. Bailey’s love of theater dates back to Agawam High School, and that passion followed him to HCC, where he performed in campus productions before transferring to Hofstra University in New York. After earning his degree, he performed at the Coachlight Dinner Theatre in East Windsor, Connecticut, and at high schools throughout the region, until he realized there was more money to be made on the technical side. When his alma mater posted an opening for a technical director, he returned to Homestead Avenue, and he’s been here ever since. Over the years, he has taught countless students how to build stage props, dangled from the bosun’s chair as he adjusted stage lights, and climbed an 18-foot ladder to change bulbs. Once, mid-performance, the hinge on a staircase cracked. Bailey rushed to the stage and held it in place until the act ended, then fixed it during intermission. “You have to be ready to improvise,” he said. “You have to be ready to fix it if it’s broken. You have to be ready to switch into plan B, plan C, plan Q, plan X.” Bailey will miss the camaraderie of putting on productions with students and faculty — but not the never-ending deadlines. “My heart’s always here,” he said, “but my body might be someplace else.”
Betty-Jo O’Brien at Commencement in 2018
A Seat at the Table
When her son Kevin, an Air Force veteran and avionics technician, was diagnosed with brain cancer at 23, Betty-Jo O’Brien ’18 made it her mission to get him the help he needed. It wasn’t easy. First, Fisher House Boston, which provides lodging for military and veteran families, had no space available. Her determination to stay close during his recovery became the catalyst for what is now the Fisher House Boston Medical Lodging Program, which partners with local hotels to provide free accommodations for military and veteran families. O’Brien faced her next obstacle when Kevin left the hospital and she discovered that he was also excluded from VA caregiver benefits because his illness didn’t qualify as a catastrophic injury. “There were so many things wrong with the system, I had nowhere to start,” O’Brien said. “I tried getting a seat at the table, but was unable to because I didn’t have a degree.” At 50, as a full-time caregiver, O’Brien enrolled at HCC and earned an associate degree in business. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Bay Path University and an MBA from Colorado Technical University. That education gave her the credentials and the confidence to advocate for change. As a 2018 Elizabeth Dole Foundation Caregiver Fellow representing Massachusetts, she successfully lobbied to expand the VA caregiver program to include veterans with serious illnesses, not just catastrophic injuries. For these efforts, O’Brien was named a finalist for the 2026 WWLP-22News Remarkable Women Award. O’Brien is finishing her memoir, Scars and Miracles, chronicling her journey with Kevin, who will celebrate 13 years cancer-free this November. “I hope people see that even the hardest experiences can become an opportunity to make things better for someone else,” she said. “Education gave me the ability to turn obstacles into solutions — not just for my family, but for families who would come after us.”
Left to right: Creative Kids staff: Sherri Morini, co-owner and business administrator; Fran Frere ’81, co-owner and director; Kate Chapdelaine, associate director
Creative Connection
In 1984, when Sherri Morini’s son attended the preschool where Fran Frere ’81 was teaching, the two connected over a shared passion for early childhood education, and they began talking about starting a preschool of their own. Two years later, they did it, launching Creative Kids in Westfield, Massachusetts. Frere brought years of classroom experience and knowledge of early childhood education, while Morini brought her business background, having worked in her parents’ bridal shop in West Springfield. (To become a certified preschool teacher, Morini took a course in children’s health care at HCC.) Forty years later, Creative Kids is a thriving business that has educated more than 4,000 children. While Frere trains the staff and develops the curriculum, Morini oversees accounting, insurance and compliance. Together, they share a philosophy that goes beyond educating children — they believe in teaching the importance of giving back to their communities. Over the years, Creative Kids has hosted HCC early childhood education students for their practicums and hired many HCC graduates. Approximately half of the school’s 20 teachers are HCC alumni. “We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of great teachers who went to HCC, and many were once our students,” said Frere.
