Oswald greets visitors to the 2016 Clark County Fair.

In keeping with this year’s Clark County Fair Theme of “Science Fun,” Clark College is offering a host of family-friendly, hands-on activities promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Clark students, staff, and faculty will lead demonstrations every day of the fair, which runs from August 5-14. Clark College was invited to participate in this year’s theme to highlight the college’s highly regarded STEM programs, as well as the opening of its new STEM building this fall.

All activities take place in the college’s exhibit area in South Hall 1 and are free with fair admission. Scheduled events include:

Teeth and Technology
The Clark College Dental Hygiene program demonstrates modern ultrasonic methods of removing tartar or calculus from teeth. Fri, Aug. 5: 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. – noon, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Science Fun with the N.E.R.D. Girls
Clark College’s N.E.R.D. (Not Even Remotely Dorky) Girls, a student club focused on getting younger students interested in engineering, lead hands-on activities like building balloon-powered pinwheels and demonstrating Newton’s third law of motion. Sat, Aug. 6: 11:30 – noon, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Pharmacy Innovations
Learn about new, high-tech ways of compounding pharmaceuticals from Clark College Pharmacy Technician faculty. Sun, Aug. 7: 11:30 – noon, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Fri, Aug. 12: 11:30 a.m. – noon.

The Science of Sourdough
Learn all about fermentation when Clark College baking instructor Alison Dolder explains how sourdough is made. Try some delicious sourdough pancakes and take home a little sourdough starter of your own. Mon, Aug. 8: 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Sat, Aug. 13: 11:30 – noon, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

POKE-A-MAN!
Faculty from the Clark College Phlebotomy program will demonstrate how to draw blood from a model arm. Participants can use a centrifuge to make their own aliquots from imitation blood and plasma. Tues, Aug. 9: 11:30 a.m. – noon, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Simulation Technology and Nursing Education
Meet the “Sims,” the lifelike automatons used by Clark College nursing students in the college’s state-of-the-art simulation lab to practice procedures ranging from tracheotomy to childbirth. Wed, Aug. 10: 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. – noon, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Sun, Aug. 14: 11:30 a.m. – noon.

Additionally, visitors can test their dexterity at the college’s Automotive Technology installation and view STEM-related student projects, including an aluminum boat created by some of the college’s welding students. The college also will have staff available during the fair to answer questions about available programs, GED courses, Running Start, financial aid, and more. Staff also will be available to assist current students with registering for fall classes, looking up records, and other student support needs—and Clark’s lovable mascot, Oswald the Penguin, will be present many afternoons and evenings for photos with children.

For those interested in attending Clark, the $25.00 application fee will be waived for the first 50 applicants each day who apply at the fair. Current students and alumni and students will be able to stop by the booth for special giveaways and drawings for prizes.

For more information, visit www.clark.edu/cc/fair and follow Clark College on social media.

Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Clark alumnus and employee Narek Daniyelyan was named to the WSU Board of Regents. Photo courtesy of WSU.

Clark College alumnus and employee Narek Daniyelyan has been appointed by Governor Jay Inslee as the student member of the Washington State University Board of Regents for the 2016-2017 academic year.

“I am excited to have Daniyelyan as our student representative on the regents,” said WSU President Kirk Schulz. “He has an impressive background and will bring a strong student voice to board deliberations.  I look forward to working closely with Daniyelyan during my first year as WSU President”

Daniyelyan has a long history of service to institutions of higher learning. During his time at Clark, he was a Student Ambassador, helping to guide new students around the college and supporting Clark events. He graduated from Clark with his Associate of Arts transfer degree from Clark in 2009, but soon returned to the college to work as a recruitment specialist. He currently works in the college’s Office of Instruction as its Education Partnership Manager, engaging with local schools, businesses and other higher education institutions to create and maintain mutually beneficial student partnership agreements. His other past work includes serving as a recreation leader for the City of Vancouver and as an intern with the Clark County Juvenile Court system.

Daniyelyan continued his education after Clark, graduating from WSU Vancouver in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Human Development. In 2013 he began his master’s degree studies in public affairs at WSUV.

“Upon graduation, I plan to continue working in higher education and serving students in our community,” said Daniyelyan. “Education has given me an opportunity for social mobility, so I want to help others see their potential and become the best versions of themselves.”

“I am ecstatic to be serving as the Student Regent and am looking forward to representing all WSU students,” Daniyelyan said of his appointment. “During my time as student regent I hope to learn about some of the amazing things that past Student Regents have accomplished, work with current board members on some of the pressing initiatives for the year, and serve as a liaison between students and the board.”

Daniyelyan was elected vice president of the Associated Students of WSU Vancouver and has held a variety of other student leadership positions, including serving as a student ambassador and as director of Leadership Development for ASWSU-Vancouver.

Effective July 1, Daniyelyan’s appointment will run through June 30, 2017. He succeeds current Student Regent Jansen VanderMeulen, of Burlington, Wash.

This article adapted from the Washington State University news site.

Graduates from Clark College’s welding program wait to enter the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater before the college’s 2016 commencement ceremony.

“Mommy did it!” read the message on Ashley Ellis’s mortarboard cap, the glittery writing sparkling in the sun as she waited outside the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater before Clark College’s 80th Commencement ceremony on June 16.

Ashley Ellis

Ellis wrote the message for her 2-year-old son, Paul, who would be in the stands watching his mother receive her Associate in Applied Technology degree in pharmacy technician—making her the first generation of her family to earn a college degree.

“I just wanted to show my family that I could do more,” Ellis explained. “I dropped out of high school at 16, and now here I am graduating with honors.”

As was the case for many of the approximately 720 Clark graduates waiting to process, Ellis’s achievement did not come without sacrifice. “I didn’t sleep a lot,” she said with a laugh. “I got up at 3:30 a.m. to study sometimes.”

While many graduates, like Ellis, came to Clark after time away from school, others had attended Clark before they’d even graduated from high school. This year’s graduating class included 346 members of Running Start, the Washington State program that allows high school students to attend college tuition-free. This was a record number of Running Start graduates for the college; 170 of them graduated with honors.

“I really felt like the experience I had at Clark prepared me so much—not just for college, but for life,” said Running Start graduate Anita Bejan; the three fellow Running Start graduates standing with her nodded in agreement.

Bachelor of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene graduates

Another large group of graduates stood together, chatting and playing with the oversized paper teeth necklaces hung around their necks. These women were some of the 23 graduates from the college’s new Bachelor of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene program. This is the first cohort of students to earn their BAS since the program launched in fall 2014, making it the college’s first baccalaureate degree. The college is in the process of getting a second BAS program, in Applied Management, accredited and able to enroll students in the 2017 winter quarter.

Bruce Becker

Graduate Bruce Becker, who was waiting to receive his Associate of Arts in Business Administration, said he hoped to enroll in the new BAS. Becker came to Clark after a traffic accident left him unable to do his old job. “It had been 47 years for me since I’d last been in school, so it was a little challenging at first,” Becker said. “But it’s been really fun. I’ve had a blast.”

Jessica Sanchez was also ready for more school. Sanchez was one of about 20 Transitional Studies graduates waiting to receive their High School Diploma or GED recognition. This is the second year that Transitional Studies graduates have been recognized at Commencement.

For Sanchez, this moment had been four years in the making—two spent learning English through Clark’s English as a Second Language program, followed by two of basic education. “I already had a high school diploma,” said the 26-year-old native of Mexico, who plans to continue in Clark’s for-credit classes. “And then I had to do it all over again, but in another language. I really liked doing it at Clark College, because you can get one-on-one tutoring and there’s great support.”

Jessica Sanchez, third from left, stands with some of her fellow 2016 Transitional Studies graduates.

Another high school diploma recipient, Esmeralda “Vita” Blanco, addressed the audience inside the amphitheater as one of two student speakers included in the ceremony. Blanco, a single mother of two who dropped out of high school after becoming pregnant, spoke movingly about the ways pursuing her education has changed her and her family’s life. “I strongly believe I’m taking away more than a diploma,” she said. “What I’m really getting is a world of new opportunities, one I can share with the two most important people in my life: my daughters.”

Associate of Arts degree recipient Megan Cook, who attended Clark through Running Start, spoke about the wide range of students she’s encountered at the college. “There are graduates here who are the first in their family to go to college, and those who are learning right alongside their parents,” she said. “I’ve met people of all ethnicities, ages, and genders, and that isn’t necessarily something you find at every college or university.”

Left to right: Washington All-Academic Team member Tammy Senior, ASCC president Sarah Swift, student speaker Megan Cook, Washington All-Academic Team member Qi Wu, Clark College President Bob Knight, keynote speaker Jessica Lynch, and student speaker Vita Blanco smile with Oswald before going onstage for the 2016 Commencement ceremony.

This year’s keynote speaker was former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch. “Each one of us has some type of obstacle, some type of struggle that wants to hold us down,” she said. “Do not let it.”

The ceremony was occasion for Clark College President Robert K. Knight to announce the names of the recipients of the 2016 Exceptional Faculty Awards. The 2016 awardees are history instructor Joseph Cavalli; business technology instructor Dr. Kathleen Chatfield; geography professor Heather McAfee; and French professor Doug Mrazek, who is retiring after 38 years at the college.

President Knight also announced the recipient of the 2016-2017 Community College Presidents’ Scholarship in Honor of Val Ogden, which is given to a Clark College graduate who demonstrates leadership potential, a commitment to community service, and academic achievement. The scholarship award provides full-time tuition at Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) and is renewable for one additional year, essentially providing full tuition to complete a bachelor’s degree. This year’s recipient was Holly Varner. Two other nominees, Abigail Bambilla and Adeena Rose Wade, received $1,000 each.

President Knight concluded the evening by saying, “We are excited to think of the ways in which you will change the world. And we are glad to know that Clark College will always hold a special place in your hearts. Remember: Once a member of the Penguin Nation, always a member of the Penguin Nation!”

Approximately 2,000 degrees and certificates were conferred in total on the Class of 2016.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

See more photos from Commencement in our Flickr album.

See full video coverage of the ceremony online from CVTV.

The 2016 Exceptional Faculty Award recipients are, left to right, Joseph Cavalli, Dr. Kathleen Chatfield, Heather McAfee, and Doug Mrazek.

During the 2016 Commencement ceremony, President Robert K. Knight announced the names of the recipients of the 2016 Clark College Exceptional Faculty Awards. The awards are presented annually to full-time and part-time faculty members. Nominations can be submitted by Clark College students, faculty, classified employees, administrators, alumni, Board members, and Foundation directors.

The awards are made possible through an endowed trust fund established by the Washington State Legislature and the Clark College Exceptional Faculty Endowment Fund, which was established in 1993. That fund provides recognition of exemplary work performance, positive impact on students, professional commitment, and other contributions to the college.

This year’s Exceptional Faculty members are:

• Joseph Cavalli, instructor of history
• Dr. Kathleen Chatfield, instructor of business technology
• Heather McAfee, professor of geography
• Doug Mrazek, professor of French

Joe Cavalli, History

Joseph Cavalli has taught history at schools in Croatia, Italy, and Bahrain. He began teaching at Clark shortly after returning to the Pacific Northwest in 2006. For the past five years, he has also served as the director of Clark’s award-winning Model United Nations program. He also teaches history through Clark College’s non-credit Mature Learning program and at Mt. Hood Community College.

Cavalli says he sees history more as a context for understanding the world than as a rote memorization of names and dates. “It’s not about me giving students information,” he says. “What I want to impart is the love of learning and the need to be curious.”

Students appreciate Cavalli’s efforts to make history relevant to their current lives. “I had no interest in history whatsoever until I took his class,” wrote one student. “After my first class with him, I was enthralled. Now, history is my favorite subject and my current major.”

Dr. Kathleen Chatfield, Business Technology and Management

Over the course of her 21 years at Clark, Dr. Kathleen Chatfield has taught a variety of courses, including keyboarding, microcomputer applications, Microsoft Excel, e-commerce, and project management. In truth, however, her influence goes far beyond those subjects. In fact, she has been a part of every online class offered at Clark College through her work as the senior instructional designer for the college’s eLearning Department, where she helps Clark faculty learn how to develop online classes.

“It is a daunting task to guide so many full-time and part-time instructors through all the different learning systems, while also helping them to maintain their unique styles and philosophies of teaching,” wrote one nominator. “Yet Dr. Chatfield manages to accomplish this task.”

Dr. Chatfield continues to teach classes to students as well, saying that this experience helps her better understand the needs and challenges of faculty. This adds up to more than a full-time workload, but Dr. Chatfield says, “I’m doing what I love. I’ve never woken up in the morning and said, ‘Oh no, I have to go to work.’”

Heather McAfee, Geography

Heather McAfee first became interested in geography while working for the U.S. Department of Defense, doing cultural analysis of Iraq that included mapping the civilian population there. “I love geography because it is the most interdisciplinary subject you can study,” she says. “It touches everything, even health—we have medical geography. Recently in my classes, we’ve looked at and mapped the spread of the Zika virus.”

McAfee serves as chair of the Geography Department at Clark; she also serves on the college’s AA Transfer Committee, the Library of the Future Taskforce, and the Learning Communities Taskforce. Additionally, McAfee has worked to create connections between Clark and community organizations, including the Water Resources Education Center and the Vanport Mosaic.

“She made her classroom a comfortable area where every person’s opinion and outlook was highly valued,” wrote one student. “Her teachings went much deeper than the textbook material. She wanted us to dig deep and relate every lesson to our personal lives and experiences, and it taught all of us so much about the world around us.”

Doug Mrazek, French

When Doug Mrazek was job-hunting after receiving his master’s degree in French from the University of Illinois in 1978, one of his professors told him that the Pacific Northwest was so beautiful that if he took a job there, “you’ll never want to leave.”

Those words turned out to be prophetic; Mrazek has devoted 38 years to teaching French at Clark. He has taught generations of Clark students how to conjugate être, led dozens of them on trips through France and Quebec, and helped the French Club put on countless events as its academic advisor.

Small surprise, then, that Mrazek received more than 30 nominations for this award this year. “I’m in amazement,” he says. “It’s a tremendous sense of closure. After a career of 40 years, it’s a nice way to move on.”

Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

2016-2017 Community College Presidents’ Scholarship in Honor of Val Ogden recipient Holly Varner

Holly Varner had always meant to go to college. She tried taking classes a couple times, but life as a Navy wife made it difficult—she was constantly having to move to follow her husband’s 21-year-long career, not to mention taking care of three boys, now ages 8, 13, and 18. It was only when her husband retired and the family settled in Washougal that Varner could pursue her dream. She enrolled in Clark with just a GED and a handful of community-college classes on her transcript, determined to succeed academically.

During the 2016 Clark College Commencement ceremony, that determination payed off when Varner heard Clark College President Robert K. Knight announce that she was the recipient of the 2016-2017 Community College Presidents’ Award in Honor of Val Ogden. The scholarship award provides full-time tuition at Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) and is renewable for one additional year, essentially providing full tuition to complete a bachelor’s degree.

Holly Varner hugs her son after hearing that she has received two years of tuition to Washington State University Vancouver.

As soon as President Knight made the announcement, Varner stood and hugged her son, Jonathan, who had attended Clark alongside his mother through Washington State’s Running Start program, which allows high school students to attend college tuition-free. The two had taken three classes together and even quizzed each other before exams.

“It was great to see him progress, to see him grow,” said Varner.

Varner’s own growth at Clark has been exceptional. She graduated with a 3.98 Grade Point Average (“I was so upset about that A-minus!”) while managing multiple volunteer and extracurricular activities. Varner served as Vice President of Service for Alpha Sigma Phi, Clark College’s chapter of the international honor society Phi Theta Kappa. In that role, Varner helped organize a Thanksgiving basket drive that provided holiday dinner supplies to more than 100 Clark College students and their families—negotiating an agreement with a new vendor that brought down the price of each basket that in turn allowed Alpha Sigma Phi to serve more students. She also coordinated drives to provide books and art supplies to families in local homeless shelters. She interviewed more than 60 homeless individuals to learn what they needed most; based on those interviews, she developed a shoe and sock drive to help them.

“She is the go-to person if advisors, other officers, or administration have questions,” wrote Professor Ruth Trejo, who serves as Alpha Sigma Phi’s advisor. “We joke about her three-inch binder, where her sticky tabs have sticky tabs.”

Varner will begin studying at WSUV this fall. She intends to major social work and/or public health. Varner said that, while her family had educational funding available to them through the GI Bill, she needed to save that funding to help put her children through school. Receiving the Community College Presidents’ Scholarship will allow her to pursue her own education, hopefully to a master’s degree.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Author Jim Shepard will appear at Clark’s 2016 Subtext festival. Photo courtesy of Jim Shepard.

The Clark College Columbia Writers Series is offering a full week of writers, readings, and events on the college’s main campus. From May 9 – 12, the college will host well-known authors, as well as readings by Clark students and a poetry workshop with incarcerated individuals. (See full schedule below.)

All events are free and open to the public. Directions and maps are available online. Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP). The DSS office is located in room 013 in Clark’s Penguin Union Building.

The Columbia Writers Series was launched at Clark College in 1988, bringing local, national and international authors to the college and the region. Information about the Columbia Writers Series is available at www.clark.edu/cc/cws.

Schedule

May 9, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., PUB 161: Free Minds Prison Poetry Workshop

Part of an On The Same Page UNITED pilot project, Free Minds poetry workshops use writing to connect inmates with members of their communities on the outside. During the event, participants will read through poetry submissions from about a dozen inmates, and comment directly on the page. The poems with feedback will then be returned to the writers. This project, which has been conducted elsewhere around the country, fosters creativity and literacy in and outside prison walls.

May 10, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., PUB 161: Phoenix Unveiling

Clark College’s national award-winning art and literary journal, Phoenix, will unveil its 2015-2016 edition with readings from student authors and free copies available for guests.

May 11, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., PUB 161: Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall

Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall will read from and discuss his work. His books of poetry include Bugle, The Tangled Line, and Dare Say. He has also published a collection of his interviews with contemporary poets, Range of the Possible and an attendant anthology of work by the interviewed poets, Range of Voices. He lives in Spokane, Washington, and teaches at Gonzaga University.

May 12, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., PUB 258A: Fiction writer Jim Shepard

Jim Shepard is the author of seven novels, including most recently The Book of Aron, which won the Sophie Brody Medal for Achievement in Jewish Literature from the American Library Association and the PEN/New England Award for fiction, and four story collections, including Like You’d Understand, Anyway, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and won The Story Prize.  Five of his short stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories, two for the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and one for a Pushcart Prize. He teaches at Williams College.

Clark College’s popular mechatronics program combines electronics with mechanized processes to prepare students for jobs in today’s high-tech manufacturing.

Clark College has received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create a new Rural Access Mechatronics Program (RAMP) that will help students in rural areas become skilled technicians in the high-demand field of advanced manufacturing.

“Thanks to this funding, Clark College will be able to provide greater access to our highly regarded Mechatronics program to students living anywhere in Clark’s service district,” said Clark College Dean of Workforce, Career and Technical Education Genevieve Howard. Clark’s service district includes Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat counties.

During the grant’s first year, Clark College faculty will develop a curriculum of seven “hybrid” classes that compose a Certificate of Completion in Mechatronics Fundamentals. Hybrid classes are taught partially in a face-to-face classroom, and partially online, allowing students in remote locations to attend classes without commuting long distances each day to a college campus.

Many regional employers have expressed a need for additional technicians trained in mechatronics, a discipline that focuses on the integration of mechanical and electronic components in modern manufacturing and utility environments. Employers who wrote letters in support of this project include Boeing, Insitu, NORPAC, Silicon Forest Electronics, Vancouver Energy, the Columbia River Economic Development Council, and the Southwest Washington STEM Network.

“The RAMP program is another example of how Clark College is addressing the workforce needs of advanced manufacturing businesses,” said Jeanne Bennett, CEO of the Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council, which also supports the project. “The hybrid/online program will enable more students to receive training, and this will increase our region’s pool of skilled mechatronics technicians.”

The program will begin accepting its pilot cohort of students in the fall quarter of 2017. Given Clark’s strong focus on hands-on learning, the college is currently examining potential options for bringing lab facilities to students in remote areas of its service district. These could include anything from suitcase-sized training modules to a traveling “lab” on wheels.

Clark College received this grant through the NSF’s Advanced Technical Education program, which was created to improve and expand educational programs for technicians to work in high-tech, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. The grant proposal was developed by mechatronics professors Chris Lewis and Ken Luchini with Director of Grant Development Lori Silverman and Howard.

“The RAMP grant is exciting because it validates the ability of Clark College faculty and staff to develop a grant proposal that is competitive on a national scale in an academically rigorous process,” said Howard. “Our hope is that we can replicate this hybrid model in other areas of career and technical education, potentially with further NSF assistance.”

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Members of the community help plant a Black Hills Spruce during Clark College’s 2016 Arbor Day celebration. Left to right: Campus Tree Advisory Committee member Jim Wasden, Director of Facilities Services Tim Petta, retired groundskeeper Skip Jimerson, Vice President of Administrative Services Bob Williamson, and Washington State Forester Aaron Everett.

On April 13, Clark College celebrated nature at its annual Arbor Day event and tree planting.

The event, which was free and open to the public, featured the addition of a Black Hills Spruce to the campus’s beautiful 90-acre arboretum. This was just the most recent effort by the college to include all 50 state trees in the campus arboretum: The Black Hills Spruce is the official state tree of South Dakota. With the addition of this tree, the arboretum contains trees representing 40 states.

Starts of several more state trees were present at the ceremony; these donations are still too young to plant outdoors, but will be tended in the college’s greenhouse until they are ready to take their respective places in the arboretum.

Left to right: Campus Tree Advisory Committee member Tim Carper, retired groundskeeper Skip Jimerson, and Facilities Services employee (and Skip’s wife) Lori Jimerson.

The event took place at the southeast corner of the Frost Arts Center, near the north end of the Royce E. Pollard Japanese Friendship Garden. Jim Wasden, a retired member of the U.S. Forest Service and current member of the Clark College Campus Tree Advisory Committee, gave the keynote speech. Recently retired groundskeeper Skip Jimerson, who was instrumental in Clark’s efforts to include all 50 state trees, returned to campus to participate in the event and ceremonially shovel dirt onto the new tree.

The event featured the presentation by Washington State Forester Aaron Everett of the college’s Tree Campus USA designation by the Arbor Day Foundation for the sixth year in a row. Tree Campus USA colleges must meet rigorous standards in five separate areas to earn this designation.

The arboretum can be explored online at trees.clark.edu, which features an interactive, mobile-friendly map to view the locations of and access descriptions for most trees on campus. This includes a six-decade-old Scarlet Oak and the campus’s iconic Shirofugen blossoming cherry trees, the latter of which are celebrated each year at the college’s annual Sakura Festival.

Photos: Clark College/Hannah Erickson

Jane Jacobsen

Jane Jacobsen has been appointed to the Clark College Board of Trustees by Gov. Jay Inslee. Her term began February 23 and ends September 30, 2019.

“I am thrilled and honored to have been named a trustee of Clark College,” said Jacobsen. “It is an integral part of our community and essential for an increasing number of students.”

A resident of Vancouver for the past 27 years, Jacobsen has long been an influential presence in the Pacific Northwest. She was the founding executive director of the Confluence Project (now known simply as Confluence), which creates educational art installations in Washington and Oregon that connect people with places. Jacobsen led that organization for 12 years and now serves as its board treasurer.

Jacobsen was instrumental in bringing nationally recognized speakers to Vancouver’s Marshall Lecture Series, including Bill Richardson, Madeline Albright and Tom Brokaw. Jacobsen has also co-developed programs and exhibits to celebrate the history of the Pacific Northwest through folk art. In 2001, Washington State Governor Gary Locke appointed Jacobsen to a four-year term as one of 13 commissioners on the Columbia Gorge Commission, which oversees the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act.

Currently, Jacobsen is a private consultant for a waterfront development project in downtown Vancouver. She is also board president of Friends of Fort Vancouver and serves on the Columbia Land Trust’s advisory board and development committee, as well as on The Children’s Center’s advisory board. She lives in Vancouver with her husband, Paul; they have two grown sons.

Jacobsen earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas and her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Vermont. She fills the vacancy left by Mike Ciraulo, who left his position at Clark County Fire & Rescue in September to become chief of the Pendleton (Oregon) Fire Department.

Jacobsen joins other trustees Vancouver City Councilor Jack Burkman; Royce Pollard, who served as mayor of Vancouver for 14 years; Jada Rupley, administrator consultant and former educator; and Rekah Strong, chief of operations and equity at United Way of the Columbia-Willamette in Portland.

Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Pfc. Jessica Lynch will address Clark College’s Class of 2016. Lynch was taken prisoner during the Iraq war and was held for over a week before being rescued by U.S. Special Forces. REUTERS/Blake Sell

Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch will share her experiences overcoming obstacles and her belief in the important role of education with the Clark College Class of 2016 as the college’s Commencement keynote speaker on June 16.

“Jessica Lynch is a wonderful example of how strength of character can help people survive the hardest of situations,” said Clark College President Robert K. Knight. “I believe she will make a strong connection with our students.”

Clark College’s Commencement ceremony is scheduled to be held on the evening of June 16 in Sunlight Supply Amphitheater. Tickets are not required to attend.

About Jessica Lynch

Jessica Lynch is a former Private First Class (PFC) in the United States Army and a former prisoner of war. On March 23, 2003, she was injured and captured by Iraqi forces after her unit was ambushed in Iraq. She was rescued after nine days in captivity on April 1, 2003, by U.S. special operations forces. Lynch’s rescue was the first successful rescue of an American POW since World War II.

Today, Lynch speaks to various groups around the United States about overcoming her obstacles and how perseverance helped her survive. Lynch further explains that despite the most difficult circumstances – whatever they might be – a positive outlook and determination can truly help individuals live fulfilling lives and accomplish their goals.

Lynch has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Arts degree in Communication Studies. In 2014, she toured the U.S. promoting Virtuous, a faith-based movie by JC Films. She recently filmed her second faith-based movie titled One Church and will be filming her third movie in March 2015.

Lynch has appeared on Good Morning America, Today Show, CBS Morning Show, Huckabee Show, CNN, MSNBC, David Letterman Show, Fox, Prime Time on ABC with Dianne Sawyer, E News!, CBN, and various local networks throughout the country. She has appeared on the cover of numerous magazines such as TIME and People. She has been named West Virginian of the Year as well as Glamour’s Woman of the Year.