Bob ’50 and Sally ’55 Schaefer with Oswald at the Clark County First Citizen ceremony

Clark College alumnus Robert Bob Schaefer 50 has plenty of accomplishments and accolades to his name: former Washington state Speaker of the House, a Fifty-Year Award of Honor from the Washington State Bar Association, 2006 Outstanding Clark Alumnus. On Oct. 1, he added another honor to that list when he was formally named the 2013 Clark County First Citizen.

Schaefer joined a group of 71 other community standouts during a ceremony at the Hilton Vancouver Washington.

Pat Jollota, the 2012 First Citizen, presented this year’s award to Schaefer after lauding him as “a very wise person.” Others called him a “solutions person” with a gift for bringing people together to improve things in his community.

A video highlighted Schaefer’s career, volunteer activities and family life. The presentation touched upon how Schaefer and his wife, Sally, have worked for decades to ensure a brighter future for Southwest Washington. Some of Schaefer’s lifelong passions include early learning education; local government leadership; and economic development, particularly the high-tech industry. He was instrumental in establishing Washington State University’s Vancouver campus and in creating Paradise Point State Park.

The event had a definite Clark College connection from the beginning—with musical performances by Clark students—to the end, when Schaefer announced he was donating half of his $1,000 award to Clark College Foundation.

Such generosity has been a hallmark of Schaefer’s career. Schaefer, 83, explained to the audience how he and his sister were adopted as children and were raised to help others. He grew up in Clark County, attending Vancouver public schools and Clark College, where he met Sally (Clark College class of 1955, recipient of the 2012 Iris Award, and a First Citizen recipient herself). He later transferred to Willamette University to study law.

Clark College President Bob Knight, far right, and SEH Vice President of Operations Ben Bagherpour ’75, far left, congratulate Bob Schaefer ’50, center, on his award.

After passing the bar, he got a job with Clark County Prosecutor’s Office, while serving in the Army Reserves. He ran for the Washington State Legislature in 1958, spending $560 on his campaign. He won that election, going on to serve four terms, from 1959 to 1967, and serving as Speaker of the House in his last term.

Reflecting on his past political work, Schaefer bemoaned the lack of compromise and personal relationships between current political parties. “I think it’s a sad commentary of our system that these (personal relationships) are not taking place today,” he said.

On the day that the federal government partially shut down because of legislative stalemate, he reminded the audience that public officials must compromise: “You just don’t get your way,” he said. “It has to be worked out, and it has to be in the public interest.”

Schaefer wrapped up his remarks with a reminder that Vancouver is a “can-do community.”

“My prayer is that each of us can participate in some way to carry out this can-do philosophy for the future,” he said.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley (see more photos on Flickr)

Katie Brown ’98, who was named Washington state’s 2014 Teacher of the Year, displaying her pride in Shuksan Middle School, where she has taught for 11 years.

Clark College ’98 alumna Katie Day Brown was named Washington state’s 2014 Teacher of the Year in an awards ceremony held on September 23 in Seattle.

Brown (whose last name was Day when she attended Clark) says that Clark was a crucial part of her educational journey. A graduate of Fort Vancouver High School, she began college at the University of the Redlands in California but realized that it wasn’t the right fit for her. However, her intended transfer destination–Western Washington University–wouldn’t accept her out-of-state credits.

“So I went back home and thought of Clark,” she says. “They immediately said, ‘OK, we can work with you.’ They got my credits to transfer and I was able to start as a sophomore. I don’t really know what decision I would have made if Clark hadn’t worked with me. It really helped me continue my education without any interruption.”

Brown adds that Clark was where she took her first anthropology class. “It was one of my favorite classes,” she says. “That’s what sparked my interest in anthropology.”

Indeed, after receiving her associate degree with honors from Clark in 1998, Brown went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from WWU in anthropology in 2000. Originally, she didn’t plan on becoming a teacher, but found herself drawn to the profession after what she calls a “series of aha moments”: volunteering at a high poverty school in college, playing soccer with kids while studying in Costa Rica, and listening to Alaskan tribal elders teach young people about their history as an AmeriCorps volunteer. She returned to WWU to earn a teaching certificate in 2003 and then earned her master’s degree in education from Seattle Pacific University in 2009.

Brown now serves as the English Learner Learner specialist at Shuksan Middle School in Bellingham, Washington, where she has earned praise for her ability to collaborate with her colleagues to respect diversity and serve students who may be experiencing language barriers.

As Washington state’s Teacher of the Year, Brown will serve as an ambassador for the teaching profession in 2013-14 while continuing her work at Shuksan. She also will be considered for national Teacher of the Year, which is awarded by the Council of Chief State School Officers. President Obama will announce the winner in a special ceremony at the White House in the spring.

Brown says that she remains a strong advocate for community colleges. “Here at Shuksan, whenever we talk about college, I make sure to include community college in the conversation,” she says. “It can be a really great option for the right student.”

Photo courtesy of Katie Day Brown

Left to right, George Welsh and President Bob Knight congratulate Outstanding Alumni Award recipient Professor Michael Greenwood.

Clark College’s alumni association celebrated connections and camaraderie at the annual Alumni Student Dinner on June 4.

Students and alumni gathered to honor Outstanding Alumni Award recipient Professor Michael Greenwood ’61, who taught mathematics at Clark for more than 30 years. He played a role in taking Clark and Washington State University Vancouver global when he taught at Krasnoyarsk State University in Russia on a Fulbright Award.

More than 120 students and alumni exchanged business cards and laughs over dinner, which was partially underwritten by community partner Riverview Community Bank.

The alumni association also gave two, $2,000 scholarships to Clark students Ashton Kyllo and Natalie Hendren. The awards were given to the students by a previous recipient, Rebecca Zeff, who is finishing her degree at WSUV and plans to attend medical school following graduation.

George Welsh ’67, alumni association president, said that bringing together alumni and students is a great opportunity to support each other.

“The students hear what is happening in our community from alumni, and the alumni are reminded of their own days at Clark, which helped begin many career paths,” Welsh said. “Clark is a special place and this event helps all of us stay connected.”

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

On Jan. 13, the day after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the island nation of Haiti just 16 miles outside of its capital, Port-au-Prince, Enrico “Rico” Selga received a call from Medical Teams International (MTI), a church-based nonprofit offering medical assistance to countries in need. Selga, a nurse, has volunteered with the group for about eight years and is on their “on call” list to respond to disasters right away. Immediately, Selga began preparing to leave for three weeks in Haiti–negotiating time off from work, gathering supplies, and squaring things away before his departure.

Nothing, however, could truly prepare him for the devastation he encountered when he arrived in Port-au-Prince on a United Nations plane. “You have to realize, after the earthquake 230,000 people died instantly,” he said. “But then there’s another half million homeless people, living in makeshift camps. They’re refugees inside their own country, living in tents, huts, cardboard boxes, most of them with just sheets to cover themselves. And we’re seeing 27 new camps start up a day. You can imagine the kind of chaos that brings.”

Selga is a familiar face at Clark College. After graduating from Mountain View High School in 1993, he attended Clark for two years, earning an Associate Degree in Nursing before transferring to WSU Vancouver to continue his education. With his wife, Jennifer, he owns the Coffee Lounge espresso stand in Foster Hall.

But while many Clarkers know Selga as an alumnus and a business owner, fewer know about Selga’s frequent trips–about one a year–to provide medical relief in some of the world’s most traumatized and impoverished nations. And fewer still realize what a toll his most recent trip to earthquake-stricken Haiti has taken on him and his fellow volunteers.

“I think the adjustment coming back is a lot harder than the adjustment you make going there,” he said during an interview just days after his return on March 1, pulling off his battered wire-frame glasses to rub his eyes wearily. “You always have a reverse culture shock. When you come back, everything’s hunky dory, people are walking around like nothing’s happened. And I–I just had my
soul shaken.”

Crowded together in unsanitary conditions and without access to clean drinking water, Haitians were easy prey for every kind of disease imaginable: malaria, fevers, diarrhea, infections. Additionally, even those who survived the earthquake often sustained serious injuries, and these were now becoming infected. And with the country’s infrastructure and medical institutions decimated by the quake, people had nowhere to go for treatment.

That’s where Selga came in. Working with a team of three other medical professionals, as well as with American and Nepalese military personnel to provide security, he set up a temporary clinic in one camp. “Instantly, you have a line of 200 to 300 people,” he says. “Even in the morning, it’s 85 degrees, totally humid, and people don’t care, they’re desperate for help.”

Selga and his teammates would work until it became too hot for them to function. Most of his colleagues got sick during their time in Haiti–either from heat stroke, dysentery, or plain exhaustion. “You get sick, and you just keep working,” Selga said. “You put yourself in a situation where people are suffering and you can help, and it becomes: Every second you don’t work, that’s people you could help, but aren’t.  You forget to eat. … Of course you get dehydrated. We had to start IVs on our own teammates.”

Back home, Jennifer Selga worried for her husband’s safety, but kept upbeat as she apprised Coffee Lounge customers of his work. Many patrons had learned about Selga’s trip when, just days before he left, a note on the Coffee Lounge tip jar explained that he would be donating all tips to Hatians. “Between Tuesday and Friday, we collected $200,” Jennifer Selga said.

That wasn’t the extent of Clarkers’ support. History professor Dr. Anita Fisher, who met Selga when he was part of Model UN as a student, mentioned the Haiti trip to the History Club, whose members quickly arranged a rummage sale to raise funds for Selga to take with him. Between the sale’s proceeds and Fisher’s own personal contribution, they were able to give Selga another $140, which he then distributed to Haitians personally when he got there.

Fisher has stayed in contact with Selga over the years. “He was a serious student,” she recalls. “He always did his work, and he was always interested in other people’s cultures. He was just a natural humanitarian–you just got that sense right from the beginning.”

Jennifer Selga said that she has grown accustomed to her husband’s giving away all his possessions on these trips–which, sure enough, he did before he left Haiti. “I’ve learned to give him presents for his car,” she said. “He can’t take his car with him.”

But Selga’s missions of mercy cost him more than just luggage. He’s taking unpaid leave, so he’s lost a month’s worth of salary. He comes home exhausted. And this time, he also lost something more precious than money or sleep: He lost a friend. One of Selga’s teammates, Issaquah nurse Matt Bouthillier, died of cardiac arrest on March 1, the day Selga flew out of Haiti.

“We heard about it when we touched down in Dallas,” Selga said. “I thought they were joking. I’d spent the whole last evening there with him, talking and laughing. … He looked healthy. It just happened so fast.”

Despite this grim reminder of the perils of his volunteer work, Selga doesn’t plan to quit anytime soon. In fact, he’s planning on returning to Haiti in the summer–and Fisher is considering going with him.

“There’s nothing that’s as rewarding as helping other people,” Selga said. “You could see it in the Haitians’ eyes, the gratitude; they didn’t have to say a word. They’re very gracious people, very kind and hospitable.”

Selga offered one last note of caution to people who might be tempted to forget about Haiti’s plight as it fades from the top of the news headlines. “This is the calm before the storm,” he warned. “The rainy season is coming, and people still don’t have shelter. You’re going to see a lot of people die.”

And somewhere in a tent, or a half-demolished church-turned-clinic, or a makeshift shelter in the middle of a refugee camp, Selga will be there, trying to stem the tide.

The photos accompanying this article were taken by Enrico Selga during his trip to Haiti. For those who would like to donate to Haiti relief efforts, Selga suggests choosing a “good charity that fits their values.” A good first step is to visit a site like Charity Navigator that rates charities’ effectiveness.