Dr. Kathy Chatfield has been recognized for her outstanding efforts toward improving digital learning at Clark College.
Chatfield, who leads the college’s eLearning and instructional design department, has received the Ron Legon Leadership Award for Quality Digital Education bestowed by Quality Matters and MarylandOnline. The award is reserved for singular contributors to the mission of continuous improvement in digital learning.
Quality Matters is an international leader for quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. Chatfield is among five award recipients who have demonstrated an exceptional dedication to quality in digital learning.
Chatfield’s work of improving online experiences for students includes building sustainable quality assurance processes at the institutional level. Clark College began offering online classes in 2005. Online classes were the first to fill and the first to put students on a waitlist.
Quality Matters stated: “The Ron Legon award acknowledges the impact Chatfield’s leadership has had on faculty, staff, students and the educational landscape at large through her steadfast devotion to the pursuit of quality assurance.”
In their recognition, Quality Matters added: “Chatfield represents a strong voice at both the college and state levels, where she helps sustain support for the importance of quality standards in online learning. At Clark College, she works to maintain the culture of professional development she has built among the institution’s faculty. As a member of the Washington State eLearning Council, she has championed statewide adoption of effective policy on digital learning.”
“I am very honored to have been selected as the recipient of this year’s Leadership Award for Quality Digital Education,” Chatfield said. “The rigor and dedication to quality that is involved in education and peer-reviewed course design through the Quality Matters organization inspires us to always strive for better, stay on a path of continuous improvement and seek greatness in our students’ learning. I am proud to represent Clark College in this endeavor.” Chatfield will accept her award at a ceremony during the QM Connect Conference Nov. 5-8 at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. She has been asked to speak about what the award means to her.
“I’m diligently working on my speech,” Chatfield said. “My aim is to inspire others to leadership in eLearning and to recognize Clark College as being a leader, itself, in this field.”
Chatfield has served in higher education for 34 years at eight institutions. She has worked at Clark College since January 1995. She has taught part-time in person and online. She has served full-time in the eLearning and Instructional Design department since 2006.
About Quality Matters
Quality Matters is a global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. It provides a scalable quality assurance system for online and blended learning used within and across organizations. QM certification marks on courses or programs means they have met QM course design standards or QM program review criteria in a rigorous review process. Learn more at here.
McClaskey Culinary Institute
Professional Baking and Pastry Arts student work displayed at student showcase.
Every Clark College student enrolled in the Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program takes RBA’s certified journey exam as part of the curriculum expectations.
Are you an enthusiastic home baker who has perfected choux pastry, meringues, and macarons? Do you relax by binge-watching episodes of The Great British Baking Show starring judges Prue Leith and that persnickety Paul Hollywood? Baking enthusiasts have a rare opportunity to watch professional bakers complete rigorous baking tests in Clark’s baking kitchens in October.
Clark College’s Tod & Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute will open its baking kitchens to host two national tests for professional bakers October 20-22. The college’s Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program will host the Retail Bakers of America’s certified baker and certified master baker practical tests. This is the first time the college is hosting the test.
“Clark College is honored and excited to host Retail Bakers of America to our campus kitchen,” said Alison Dolder, professional baking and pastry arts instructor who leads Clark’s program. “We have a large viewing window in our kitchen, so anyone can come and watch the test.”
Clark College is one of only three RBA testing sites scheduled during this academic year. The others are the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Recent RBA exams were in New York, San Antonio, Palm Beach and Chicago.
Dolder worked with Marissa Velie, RBA certification and education director, to bring the national tests to the college’s baking kitchens.
“The RBA is always looking for great test sites across the country,” Velie said. “It was time for us to visit the West Coast and give bakers in that part of the country the opportunity to get certified. Having the exam at Clark College has been a long time in the making and we are excited to finally make it a reality. Clark College has everything required for a test site: ample space and all necessary equipment to host several candidates.”
View from the windows in the McClaskey Culinary Institute where you can watch the test. Photo courtesy of Buck Media
The Practical Test
The purpose of the certification program is to verify professional competency in the baking industry. The RBA has three levels of baking certification: certified journey baker, certified baker, and certified master baker. The test is open to any professional baker in the U.S. who qualifies to take the exam. US Foods and Bakemark donated ingredients for the test.
For the Certified Master Baker exam that will be administered at Clark College, bakers must have at least 10 years of industry experience and must pass a 200-question written exam before they can take the practical test. Velie will travel to Clark’s campus to administer the practical tests, which will entail 8 hours of production on both Saturday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 22. Candidates will be provided with RBA recommended recipes but may choose to use their own recipes.
The judges for the exam at Clark College will be Lee Ann Adams, Bakery Development Manager at Sheetz in Claysburg, Penn. and Collette Christian, Chef Instructor for the online program at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. All RBA judges are Certified Master Baker professionals. Test results will be provided to candidates immediately following the exam.
“This is a great opportunity for our students to observe experienced bakers go through the rigorous process of the certified master baker exam,” Dolder said. “Someday, it could be them.”
Professional Baking and Pastry Arts student work displayed at student showcase.
About Clark College’s Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program
Clark College has offered professional baking education for more than 60 years. By blending a mastery of classic, fundamental techniques with the interpersonal and management skills needed in hospitality, the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College offers all the ingredients students need for a successful culinary career—competitive programs, a seasoned team of instructors, a state-of-the-art culinary facility and collaborative industry partnerships. Clark College offers two options for prospective bakers: a certificate of achievement in Baking and Pastry Arts Fundamentals and an associate of applied technology degree in Professional Baking and Pastry Arts Management. Learn more here.
About Retail Bakers of America
Founded in 1918, the Retail Bakers of America, a not-for-profit trade association, is committed to the success of the retail baking industry. Its certification program is recognized throughout the industry as a standard for excellence in skills and knowledge. Learn more here.
Columbia Writers Series
The college community and the public are invited to the Columbia Writers Series kick off its 2023-24 season with Sindya Bhanoo, recipient of the 2023 Oregon Book Award for Fiction. The free event begins at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19 in PUB 258 A-B.
Bhanoo is the author of the story collection SeekingFortune Elsewhere. She is the 2023 winner of the Oregon Book Award for fiction, the New American Voices Award and an O. Henry Prize.
Seeking Fortune Elsewhere was a finalist for the Pen/Bingham Award and longlisted for both the Story Prize and the ALA’s Carnegie Medal for Excellence.
A longtime newspaper reporter, Sindya has worked for The New York Times and The Washington Post. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon and teaches creative writing at Oregon State University.
The Columbia Writers Series was launched at Clark College in 1988, bringing local, national and international authors to the college and the region.
Other events featured during the 2023-24 series are:
Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m.: Anis Mojgani, the tenth Poet Laureate of Oregon. A national and international poetry slam champion, his work has appeared on HBO, NPR and in The New York Times. He is the author of six books of poetry, the opera libretto Sanctuaries, a forthcoming children’s picture book and his latest collection, The Tigers, They Let Me.
Monday, April 29 at 11 a.m.: Andrew Leland. His debut book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, about the world of blindness and figuring out his place in it, was published in July 2023 by Penguin Press. His writing has been published in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Quarterly, and The San Francisco Chronicle, and more. He is a former host and producer of The Organist, an arts and culture podcast for KCRW. He also has produced segments for Radiolab and 99 Percent Invisible.
TBD in May: Clark College literary week. A week of literary events both on and off campus to engage the college community and the Southwest Washington community.
Students connected with college and community clubs and resources at the Fall Student Involvement Fair.
Welcome Week kicked off Monday with the first day of fall term and the 2023-24 academic year. Parking lots were crowded as thousands of students returned to classrooms and labs across the main campus, at the Clark College Building at Washington State University Vancouver and also at Clark College Columbia Tech Center. Clark’s mascot, Oswald the Penguin, strolled the hallways and paused for photos with students, staff and faculty.
As on every first day, students had questions: Where is this class? Where is this building? Can someone help me? In Gaiser Hall and along campus walkways, students could stop at staffed tables to get directions to a building, have questions asked, or get a snack and information about available resources.
ASCC student leaders answered students’ questions at the Fall Student Involvement Fair.A student stops by the Student Activities Programming Board table to learn more about upcoming activities.A Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society student holds up one of the 116 backpacks PTK bought and filled for Clark students.
Gaiser Hall’s Student Center bustled with activity as students, staff, and faculty gathered for the Student Involvement Fair in Gaiser Student Center on Wednesday. Students had the opportunity to learn more about the college’s student clubs, programs, on-campus jobs and college and community resources. Students also connected with peers with shared interests—from building a rocket to drawing comics and much more.
At Clark’s ASCC student government table, student leaders answered students’ questions and shared information about getting involved with student government. Learn about ASCC here.
Students stopped by the Activities Programming Board table to learn about upcoming opportunities to connect with fellow students—including Bingo on October 2, Stuff a Sasquatch on October 9, and watch a free family night movie, “The Barbie Movie” with free pizza and soda, on October 18. Learn more here.
At the Phi Theta Kappa Student Honor Society table, PTK students distributed backpacks filled with school supplies to students who had requested them. Darci Feider said PTK received 133 requests for backpacks, and with help from faculty and staff, purchased and filled 116 backpacks for Clark students. This year, PTK students will volunteer with Penguin Pantry every month. Learn more about PTK here.
At the Columbia Writers Series table, English professors invited the college community to meet writer Sindya Bhanoo on Oct. 19.League of Women Voters volunteers encouraged students to register to vote.Members of the Korean Club participated in the Fall Student Involvement Fair on September 27.A student artist spread the word that The Igloo Clark’s annual comics magazine will publish in October.
At the Columbia Writers Series table, students learned about the literary series and an opportunity to meet 2023 Oregon Book Award Winner Sindya Bhanoo, author of the story collection, Seeking Fortune Elsewhere, on campus on October 19. Learn more here.
At the Igloo table, students picked up past issues of the art department’s annual comics magazine and learned that the 2023 Igloo will be distributed in October.
Clark Aerospace members show off their Little Penguin rocket.
At the Korean Club table students saw traditional clothing and learned what the club offers: K-Pop, K-Dramas, Korean food, history and much more.
At the Clark Aerospace table, students displayed their “Little Penguin” rocket they designed and built last academic year. Over the summer, some of the students competed in the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket competition in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Volunteers from League of Woman Voters Clark County encouraged students to register to vote. Were you born on or before November 5, 2006? Then you can vote in the March 2024 presidential primary election. Register to vote here.
With food prices rising, students talked with Clark County Food Bank volunteers to learn about food resources available in the community.
Clark College wants to ensure students know about and can access wrap-around services, including Penguin Pantry, Disability Support Services, Counseling and Health Center and more.
McClaskey Culinary Institute
Chef Sonny talking about kitchen garden for KGW-TV.
The kitchen garden that wraps around three sides of the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College is reaping a bountiful, colorful harvest for students to use in their recipes. There is still time to visit the garden before everything is harvested.
Students and instructors from both the Cuisine Management program and the Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program have been harvesting herbs, vegetables and fruit throughout the summer. This is the second year the garden has produced a harvest.
“The tomatoes are really coming in and the squashes are still producing,” said Chef James “Sonny” Demartini, a cuisine instructor who spearheaded the kitchen garden project with Fay Shorten, a stockroom attendant in the college’s food services department.
Clark College renovated its culinary space in 2017, thanks to a grant from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation. The blueprints included plans for culinary gardens around all three sides of the building, but there was no funding for a garden.
Demartini and Shorten did not let the lack of funding become a barrier to creating a kitchen garden for their students. They cleared otherwise unused space outside the building and created gardens including fruit trees, berries, herbs and vegetables.
Demartini is a Midwesterner who grew up immersed in gardening. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Sweat equity from Demartini, Shorten and many others laid the groundwork. Demartini made a list of everything they would need to get started.
The first step was recruiting a team of volunteers to get to work amending the soil, including adding nutrient-rich composted produce from the college’s kitchens. The culinary programs save all organic food scraps—from carrot tops to eggshells. Demartini feeds the scraps into a blue Landworks industrial wood chipper he converted into a food waste mulcher. Rather than waiting for many weeks for the food to become compost, it chops food waste into rich, organic matter that immediately can be worked into the garden soil.
Demartini credits the college’s hard-working grounds crew that has provided much labor, including revamping an irrigation system. Demartini and Shorten found ways to get products at no cost. This includes getting deliveries of bark chips from pear trees removed from Washington State School for the Blind. Demartini also pointed to a stack of pear logs that students will use to cure and smoke meats.
Chef Sonny inspects the food waste he turned into compost with a chipper.Chef Sonny harvests squash in the kitchen garden.Chef Sonny harvests squash in the kitchen garden outside McClaskey Culinary Institute.Chef Sonny during KGW-TV interview.Chef Sonny checks the nastirtiums planted in galvanized stock tanks.Chef Sonny being interviewed by KGW-TV.Chef Sonny adds nutrient-rich compost into the garden soil.Chef James Sonny Martini harvesting squash.
Not everything was free. About $8,000 in grant money was used to purchase some items, including the chipper, galvanized stock tanks they have repurposed as raised beds. Although some plants and seeds were donated, they also purchased others.
Concrete planters along the north entrance to Gaiser Hall—and just steps from the McClaskey Institute—are bursting with tomatoes, squash, peppers and an assortment of fragrant herbs, including sage, mint, rosemary, sorrel, lovage, parsley and chives.
Red grapes hang from the vines.
Hops grow high above the roof.
Thriving fruit trees include five different types of espalier apple and pear trees plus plum, quince and fig trees.
A dozen varieties of sunflowers, which have edible petals and seeds. These were harvested earlier this month.
Nasturtiums provide edible petals, a pretty garnish and an infusion in oils and vinegars.
An assortment of edible wildflowers also attracts pollinators to the garden.
Sunflowers and wildflowers in the garden facing Fort Vancouver Way.Hops have grown taller than the culinary building.Chef Sonny inspects the wildflowers that attract pollinators to the garden.
Shorten said that when she worked in the garden, the college community and the public stopped by to admire the garden.
“When I’ve worked in the garden, people always tell me how good it looks.” Shorten said. “The veterans on the other side of Fort Vancouver Way came over and told us how good it looks. One of the gals who works for ODEI brought us strawberry plants. It’s so nice to go out and sit with all the plants.”
Clark College has offered culinary education for more than 60 years. The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College is the only public, accredited culinary program in the metro region that offers a two-year associate in applied technology degree. Clark’s program offers competitive programs, a seasoned team of instructors with real-world experience, a state-of-the-art culinary facility and collaborative industry partnerships. Learn more about Cuisine Management at Clark College here and Professional Baking and Pastry Arts here.
Clark hosts Sand Mandala Oct. 2-6
Clark College community, we hope you will stop by Cannell Library during the week of October 2-6 to observe Tibetan Buddhist monks constructing a sand mandala. It’s a rare opportunity for us.
Clark College will host Tibetan Buddhist monks as they construct a sand mandala in Cannell Library on the college’s main campus. This will be the third time monks have constructed a sand mandala on campus. Previously, mandalas were constructed at Clark College in 2012 and 2020.
All events are free and open to the community. They are co-sponsored by Clark College International Programs, Clark College Libraries, and Dharma Light Tibetan Buddhist Association of Vancouver. (See full schedule below.)
This project can be appreciated simply as a beautiful and intricate time-based art form. According to Tibetan Buddhist belief, a sand mandala is meant to create a profound experience of compassion for any who attend. The positive effects of a sand mandala construction are believed to radiate out over the entire region, blessing the environment and the beings therein, in an effort for world peace. The mandala is destroyed in the closing ceremony, as a lesson in the impermanence of all phenomena.
The opening and closing ceremonies will include traditional Tibetan Buddhist chanting and music.
The closing ceremony also will include meeting at the Grant Street Pier at Vancouver Waterfront Park (West Waterfront Way and Grant Street).
Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), prior to the event.
View a video from the 2012 sand mandala construction on Clark College’s YouTube channel.
Venerable Lobsang Dawa will speak about the history and meaning of the sand mandala and the importance of compassion in daily life.
Mandala construction
• Monday, October 2, 12:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, October 3, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 4, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Thursday, October 5, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Friday, October 6, 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Closing ceremony with music
• Friday, October 6, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Procession to Columbia River at Grant Street Pier
• Friday, October 6, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Spaceport America Cup
Four Clark Aerospace students carry their Little Penguin rocket to the launch pad at Spaceport America Cup.
The Clark Aerospace team launched its rocket, Little Penguin, at Spaceport America Cup competition in Las Cruces, New Mexico in June. It is the world’s largest IREC (Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition) for student rocketry teams.
Nearly 6,000 rocketeers on 158 teams hailing from 24 countries competed at Spaceport. Clark College was the only community college accepted to participate in the competition.
Xiunu “Sophie” Lin, Ph.D., Professor of Physics and Director of Clark Aerospace Program, shared the team’s video with college staff in an email: “I’m excited to share a brief video that showcases the Clark Aerospace rocket team’s incredible journey to the 2023 Spaceport America Cup competition. This video provides a glimpse into our experience at the event and offers valuable insights into our participation.”
Watch the team’s video about their experience at Spaceport America Cup Competition here.
Read an earlier Clark 24/7 News story about the team’s rocket test launch in April here.
Fall and winter: Building the rocket
In October 2022, a team of six Clark students, an advisor, and a mentor was organized by the Clark Aerospace program to build a rocket for the 2023 Spaceport America Cup.
Clark College Aerospace rocket team:
Students Tyler James Lawrence, Samuel Remus Banceu, Ethan Lloyd Walters, Vyacheslav Timofeyevich Lukiyanchuk, Osvaldo Monroy, and Vee Dunn
Mentor Jack Caynon, who guided and supported the team from beginning to end
Xiunu “Sophie” Lin, Ph.D., Professor of Physics and Director of the Clark Aerospace Program
Rocket specs:
Name: “Little Penguin”
Length: 114 inches
Diameter: 5 inches
Weight: 39 pounds without a motor
The team spent about six months building the rocket for the competition. After several flight test failures and rebuilds, eventually, they had a rocket ready for the competition.
Image from test flight in April, Sophie Lin pictured second from the right in the hat.
Spring: Test flight
Every spring, the college’s Aerospace program travels to the scrappy sagebrush landscape of Brothers, Oregon, a premier launch site for high-altitude rocket projects, 40 miles east of Bend to launch their rockets in test flights.
Clark Aerospace launched their rocket, dubbed “Little Penguin” on April 28 using an M1845 motor. According to the team’s simulations, the rocket with that motor could potentially reach a high point of about 16,000 feet (called “apogee” in rocket lingo).
Little Penguin launched—and reached an apogee of about 12,000 feet, but the team quickly lost sight of it. Several hours later, the team located their rocket 11 miles from the launch site. It was banged up and hadn’t held up as well as they’d hoped.
Dr. Lin said, “After the flight test at Brothers, we had to rebuild some parts of the rocket to make it stronger.”
Spaceport America’s Cup
Day 1 (June 18), Arrival:
Clark Aerospace team flew to Las Cruces, New Mexico, and checked in at Spaceport. One Clark Aerospace student observed: “It was thrilling to finally meet so many young rocketeers who share the same passion and dream we have about space and technology.”
Day 2, Project Presentation:
Clark Aerospace showcased their rocket at Las Cruces Convention Center. The team’s rocket attracted much attention. Next, the team took their rocket through the flight safety review. Eventually, they were granted permission to fly the following day.
The night before the launch, students worked in the garage of the Airbnb house to correct some minor issues identified during the flight safety review. Together, they prepared the rocket for the next day’s launch.
Day 3, Scheduled Launch Day:
Students worked on the rocket to earn the opportunity to launch the rocket on the first day and accumulate more points. They took the rocket to the flight readiness safety inspection, where the launch control officer reviewed their rocket. It passed the final safety check. They were cleared to take their rocket to the launch site.
Unfortunately, strong winds picked up in the late afternoon. All launch events were suspended. Little Penguin would have to wait another day to fly.
Day 4, Second Launch Day:
The students awoke at 3 a.m. and lined up at the gate of the launch site at 6 a.m. Building their rocket in the early morning light, Clark Aerospace was in the first group of teams to set up the tent and work on their rockets.
One student said, “We were trying all we could to earn an edge to compete with the four-year universities. There is not much difference between us and the students from four-year universities, as long as we are willing to work as hard, or even harder than them.”
Just like the previous day, they lined up for the flight readiness safety inspection. They were given the green light to take their rocket to the vertical launch site, where they set up their rocket. Then they settled into the bleachers to watch Little Penguin fly.
The launch site announcer said: “We’re looking at Clark College. This is a community college. It’s good to see community colleges participate. You don’t have to be a major Division 1 school. You just need students who have the passion and interest, a little bit of support from the community and the school. Clark Aerospace is launching from Pad B3. Skies are clear. LCO (launch control officer) is counting it down. Launching in 5-4-3-2-1!”
The rocket lifted up. For this flight, the team had attached an M1419 motor. The rocket reached an apogee of 8,529 feet. Little Penguin was recovered about 200 feet away from the launchpad, a new record for the rocket team.
Dr. Lin said, “Our program’s projects offer a valuable chance for students to voluntarily step up and take on responsibility, enabling them to delve deeper into their true potential and explore the possibilities of who they can become.”
Spaceport America Cup by the numbers:
5,913 rocketeers participating
158 teams
1,329 (22%) of participants were women
Students hailed from 24 countries on 6 continents (Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Nepal, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States)
Next challenge: Spaceport 2024
The next challenge for Clark Aerospace: Building their project to compete in the next Spaceport America Cup competition in June 2024. The team plans to make their own motor, build a six-inch diameter rocket, and compete in the SRAD (Student Researched and Designed) 10,000-foot category.
Interested in joining?
Clark Aerospace is looking for interested Clark students to join them. No prior experience with rockets is required.
Clark’s Aerospace Club actively participates in science, technology, engineering, and math-based experiential project/aerospace design competitions, and students also attend launch events, museums, and aerospace-related activities.
Clark’s food pantry for students marks its fifth anniversary in July. Penguin Pantry had a soft opening on July 24, 2017, and an official grand opening on October 25, 2017.
Penguin Pantry supports a healthy college community by reducing hunger and food insecurity on campus and connecting students with essential resources. Over the past five years, the pantry has become an important resource to help Clark College students stay on the path to graduation. The global pandemic, inflation, and skyrocketing prices have created more barriers for students trying to stay in school and complete their degree.
Director of Student Life Sarah Gruhler, who supervises Penguin Pantry, says it is helping to ease the financial burden of students.
“The Penguin Pantry was created to address student hunger at Clark,” said Gruhler. “The goal is to provide support for students’ basic needs and serve as a bridge to campus and community resources. We want students to persist to graduation and goal completion – and know the pantry can help with this.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, food banks nationwide have witnessed sharp increases in the number of people facing food insecurity and accessing emergency food aid. This correlates to significant increases in the cost of food, housing, fuel, and utilities.
Clark County Food Bank reported an increase in food insecurity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Clark County Food Bank provided food to more than 23 percent of the population of Clark County.
In 2021, 40% of students at community and technical colleges nationwide were food insecure, according to the Seattle-based nonprofit organization Northwest Harvest.
In 2017 when the Penguin Pantry opened, almost half of Clark’s student body was classified as lower income, according to data from the college’s Office of Planning & Effectiveness
In 2018, campus-wide surveys indicated that 43% of Clark students were low-income and 23% had dependent children.
Any currently enrolled Clark College student may access pantry services simply by filling out an online form on MyClark@Clark. Food is distributed once per month, usually on the last Tuesday of the month.
Before the pandemic, students shopped for food by walking into the Penguin Pantry inside the Penguin Union Building. But the COVID pandemic changed the delivery model to a no-contact, seamless curbside pickup system on the side of Gaiser Hall off Fort Vancouver Way. That delivery method continues today. Students make appointments to pick up their food, pull their car into the lot, pop their trunk, and staff and volunteers load the food box into the trunk.
Clark College/Susan Parrish
Penguin Pantry Q & A with Sarah Gruhler
Q: How much food does Penguin Pantry distribute during an academic year?
During the 2022-23 academic year the pantry has served:
511 Individual students
1,863 family members of students
1,243 boxes of food distributed
28,630 pounds of food distributed
SG: Each month the pantry also offers a bonus item – either toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, and deodorant), laundry soap, or toilet paper and a gift card to Fred Meyer or Safeway.
Q: What are the most popular items?
SG: The items we hear most about are our bonus items like laundry soap and gift cards. Students express a lot of thanks for those items.
Q: Where does Penguin Pantry get its food?
SG: Thanks todonations from community partners, we purchase shelf-stable items from Costco and get supplemental items as we can from Clark County Food Bank.
Q: Is the pantry paid for by donations?
SG: Yes. Other than staffing, Penguin Pantry is supported by donations. Faculty and staff are our main contributors, through monthly contributions and during our annual Thanksgiving meal drive. Anyone can donate via Clark College Foundation.
Upcoming Penguin Pantry distribution:
Tuesday, August 29
Tuesday, October 24
How students can request a monthly pre-packaged food box:
By mail: Mail your check/money order to: Clark College, Attn: Cashier’s Office (PUB 153), 1933 Ft. Vancouver Way. Write the check to “Clark College” and write “Penguin Pantry” in the comments area.
Congratulations to Clark College adjunct piano instructor Melissa Espindola Terrall, who recently received a Fulbright grant for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Melissa will travel to Mexico to study and conduct research in piano at Conservatorio Nacional in Mexico City. Her research will focus on Mexican classical piano repertoire as she works to publish an anthology of music from this era. While abroad, Terrall will also perform recitals featuring the work of Mexican and American composers.
The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. The U.S. Student Fulbright program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as their record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. Fulbright grants provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident insurance and, where relevant, tuition.
Terrall lives in Portland. She earned a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Kansas in 2022.
Students present their final projects in the STEM building’s Collaboratorium on June 6.
Every term, Professors Tina Barsotti and Carol Hsu pose a real-life problem to their engineering students and instruct them to design and build an object that solves the problem.
The last step of the project: During a three-hour competition, teams of students present their built project and then test it in front of their peers and judges from the community. Teams of engineering students competed in the challenge on June 6.
The topic of the 2023 spring competition, International Space Station Challenge, was proposed by Clark engineering alum Sarah Morgan. For the past decade, she has worked for Boeing in Houston ensuring engineering systems are working on the International Space Station.
International Space Station challenge
Sarah contacted her former professors with an idea for the competition that was based on a project her team was working on.
Problem to solve: On the International Space Station, a pressure ventilation valve is damaged. To keep astronauts safe, students must design and build a temporary protective cover.
Sarah met with Clark engineering students via Zoom to answer their questions about the project.
“Our students were really excited about this project and got a chance to talk with an engineer with real life experience with the International Space Station,” said Professor Hsu. “Students also gain invaluable experience working with teams to solve problems.”
The Challenge
Sarah presented the challenge to the engineering students: “On the International Space Station (ISS), keeping a module pressurized is very important, but it’s also important to keep the pressure inside the station from getting too high. With this need to balance pressure in a specific range, there are ventilation lines/valves that go from the inside of the Space Station to the outside and ‘pop off’ at certain pressures.”
The immediate problem: “One such line/valve has been damaged and an exposed portion is in an area that puts it at risk of being kicked by crew. If kicked, the vent line could become a hole from the inside of the pressurized module to the vacuum of space.”
Problem statement: How might we design a temporary ventilation valve cover that can be assembled and disassembled and be able to withstand a 12-pound kick force?
Working toward a permanent solution: A design team is working on a permanent solution to protect the exposed portion of this line. However, the design project is expected to take several months to develop and build before it can be flown on a supply vehicle.
Students create a proposed temporary solution: “In the meantime, to ensure the safety of the astronauts on the ISS, an immediate temporary protective cover is required.”
Design a Solution
Drop Kick Dynamics presents their design.
Students chose their team names, which included Space Penguins, Drop Kick Dynamics, and the Three Astroneers, to name a few.
Teams got to work designing a proposed temporary solution. Students chose various materials to build their valve covers: cardboard, block foam, aluminum, and polylactic acid (PLA), a popular material used in desktop 3D printing. Designs ranged from a trampoline-inspired fabric cover to a 3D-printed dome.
At the competition, each team took a turn standing in front of their professors and peers to explain their solution. Then came the moment of truth—testing what they had built. Two engineering students conducted the test of striking the design with a long-handled metal sledgehammer set to impact at a certain degree. Which designs would fail? Which designs would remain intact and protect the valve?
Top Three Teams
Team Hephaestus look on during the testing their ISS valve.
Professor Hsu said, “Winning the engineering competition earns the team bragging rights!”
Team: Aerospace and Friends Students: Clark Hegewald, Tyler Lawrence, Jack McMahon, Osvaldo Monroy Project: ViceGuardian ValveArmor
Team: Stariod Engineers Students: David Bogdanov, David Albulov, Gregory Wanner Project: Tin Can Cover
About Sarah Morgan
When Sarah was enrolled in the engineering program at Clark College, she was president of N.E.R.D. Girls (Not Even Remotely Dorky) and was involved in the Engineering Club. After she earned an Associate of Science, Engineering transfer degree at Clark in 2011, she earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering at WSU Vancouver in 2013.
Immediately after Sarah graduated, she was hired by Boeing in Houston as a structural analysis engineer on the International Space Station’s structural integrity team. She has worked at Boeing for a decade. Since 2021, she has been the ISS mission evaluation room manager, leading and integrating engineering systems for operational success.
Read a story about Sarah Morgan in WSU’s Crimson and Grey Magazinehere
