How Bill Tynan’s time at Crafton Hills College fueled a passion for education, community mentorship

Publish Date: ,

Here in the Inland Empire, you’ll find many champions for community college. Among those is Bill Tynan, a former Roadrunner who developed a passion for CCs during his time at Crafton Hills College and its sister school, San Bernardino Valley College.

“Community College allowed me to reinvent myself as a student,” shared the 46-year-old Redlands resident. “Of course, I didn’t know it when I was 18….”

Tynan recalled his days graduating from Pacific High School in San Bernardino and trying to figure out a way to attend his dream school, UCLA. With little money and average grades, he thought his dream was out of reach until he learned about what the community college system had to offer.

Tynan began attending Crafton in the Fall semester of the 1998. His stint as a Roadrunner didn’t last as long as he had hoped because he needed to be closer to where he worked. But that one semester has stuck with him.

“I had this dream of attending UCLA, but learning about Crafton allowed me to develop enough sense that my dream was not lost, because while I wasn’t going to UCLA right out of high school, there was another door that opened for me,” said Tynan. “Attending both Crafton and Valley was all about reinvention. It was about growing up, maturing as an individual and as a student. I always worked to fund my whole way through college, and through that experience learned a higher education was needed.”

Eventually, his hard work paid off and Tynan found himself drenched in blue and gold as a UCLA Bruin, earning a bachelor’s from that institution in Spring 2000. He stayed in Los Angeles after graduating, settled down in the area, and started a family. 

But the Inland Empire came calling him back.

Today, Tynan continues to champion CCs and actively works with local students through Enchanted Education, a Highland-based company that provides introductory skills for future innovators of the theme park industry through STEAM education and career exploration. The company uses innovations such as makerspaces, work spaces set up for students to develop their ideas through learning techniques, collaboration, and team building activities. The San Bernardino City Unified and Jurupa Unified School Districts and Norton Science & Language Academy are among Enhanced Education’s regional partners, and class offerings are available in both English and Spanish.

Tynan has no plans on leaving the I.E. any time soon.

“This area is home, a place that is working to reinvent itself. I’m really, really proud to be here and to work with youth in the community,” he said. “How can you not love it here? Geographically, we are at the center of this wheel where you’re an hour away from the ocean, the desert, the mountains. This is home for me.”

For more information on Enchanted Education visit: enchantededucation.com