Monday, March 3, four Clark College Bookstore employees visited Crestline Elementary School’s temporary location, which was created after the school was destroyed in a fire last year. Their mission: To distribute to the school’s kindergarten and first-grade students the 190 copies of the Dr. Seuss classic One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish that the Bookstore had gathered through its annual Seuss-a-Palooza book drive. They also read the book aloud to classrooms as part of Read Across America Day.

“The best part of the event is always seeing the look on the children’s faces when you hand them a book and tell them that it is their very own to keep and take home to share with their family and friends,” said Bookstore buyer Kaina Barba, who visited Crestline with his colleagues Michael Owenby, Ashley Anderson, and Michal Neubauer. Indeed, many children gasped when they received their books, peppering the Bookstore staff with questions like “how did you get all these books here?” and “I really get to take this book home?”

“The children were absolutely thrilled to receive books of their own,” said Crestline Budget Secretary Lori Boyd. “Many of our students come from homes where there is not extra money to purchase books, and having their very own, brand-new book to keep is a special treat.”

In addition to the Bookstore’s Crestline visit, 56 Clark students participated in Read Across America Day by reading to children at Harney and Fruit Valley elementary schools through Clark’s Volunteer & Service Learning program.

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Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

WSUV’s Butch T. Cougar and Clark’s own Oswald the Penguin, as well as volunteers and Student Ambassadors from Clark College, were on hand to greet guests at College Goal Washington. Photo: Matthew Hunt/Doghouse Graphics.

On January 26, Clark College hosted a College Goal Washington event in Gaiser Student Center, attracting approximately 250 guests–more than any other such event in Southwest Washington.

College Goal Washington (also called “College Goal Sunday”) is a state-based volunteer program that provides free information and assistance to students and families who are applying for financial aid for post-secondary education. Financial aid specialists from both Clark College and Washington State University Vancouver were on hand to help families fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Volunteers were able to provide assistance in both Spanish and Russian, as well as in English.

The afternoon-long event included three break-out sessions: “Getting to College & Succeeding,” “Financial Aid 101,” and “Scholarships.” Translation into Spanish and Russian was also provided for these sessions.

Financial Aid Program Coordinator Kendra Graham contributed this article.

Clark College hosts numerous job fairs at its main campus each year, all of them open to the public.

Clark College hosts its second annual Summer Job and Internship Fair from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, in the Gaiser Student Center. The event is designed to help job-seekers find summer internship and employment opportunities with Portland- and Vancouver-area employers.

New this year, the college is partnering with the Vancouver Housing Authority (VHA) to co-sponsor the fair. According to VHA Community Involvement and Employment Manager Bridgette Farnbulleh, the VHA has organized its own summer job fair for the past two years, but was eager to join forces with the Clark College.

Clark College’s job fairs draw dozens of employers and hundreds of job-seekers.

“We wanted to connect with Clark College because of the educational aspect,” Farnbulleh said. “We wanted our youth to be on a college campus, and to understand that the kind of job you get is closely connected to the education you get. We’re trying to break the cycle, to make sure that just because they may have grown up in poverty doesn’t mean they have to live in second-generation poverty themselves.”

“I’m looking forward to this year’s job fair,” said Sarah Weinberger, Employer Relations and Job Developer at Clark College. “We have already doubled the number of registered employers from last year, and the collaboration with the VHA will make our event even stronger. Previously, the Summer Job and Internship Fair was held in May, but many employers had already hired for a June start date by that point. We are now holding the event in March because it’s when students need to start planning for summer employment.”

Positions offered at the fair may be full-time, part-time and in the case of internships, they may be paid or unpaid. There will also be a mock interview room set up to help job seekers prepare for real-life interviews.

The Summer Job & Internship Fair is sponsored by Clark College Career Services and the Vancouver Housing Authority. The event’s Gold Level sponsor is LaborWorks. Some of the employers who will be at the event are Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Washington, Entercom Portland, Firestone Pacific Foods, LOWE’S, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Trackers Earth, and YWCA Clark County. There are over 30 registered employers currently, with room for more. The event is open to any company or organization offering internships or summer employment, but space is limited so interested employers should act quickly to register.

A list of participating employers is available on the Career Center’s Pinterest page.

The event  is free and open to the public. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Wash. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

If you need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event, you should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP), or visit Gaiser Hall room 137, as soon as possible.

Elizabeth Christopher contributed to this article.

Photos: Clark College archives/Jenny Shadley

On Saturday, November 2, Clark College’s main campus was fizzing like a lab beaker as hundreds of students participated in the Southwest Washington Elementary Science Olympiad. Almost 300 third-through-fifth grade students from 19 local elementary schools participated in the half-day event, which included five competitions: Green Eggs Go Bam!, Chopper Challenge, Tug-o-War Gunk, Benthic Bugs, and Buoyant Barges. (See complete results from the contest.) In addition to hosting the event, Clark provided more than 60 volunteers, most of them students. This was Clark’s sixth year of hosting the event, which helps promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) among young learners.
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Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

View photos from this event on Flickr.

Clark College is hosting two major community events this coming weekend that may affect access to the main campus. Read below for information about how to plan around the events if you were expecting to be on campus this weekend—or why you might want to come, even if you weren’t.

COUVAPALOOZA – SATURDAY, AUGUST 17

What it is: Now in its second year, Couvapalooza is a daylong, all-ages music festival benefiting local music-education programs, including Clark’s.

How it affects Penguins: The event takes place 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the South Lawn in front of McLoughlin Blvd. Setup will begin on Friday, August 16. Classes will continue as scheduled. However, the event has rented all the Red lots and Blue Lot 1, so they will be unavailable to the college community. Also, expect some noise—these are rock bands, after all.

Why you might want to go: Besides the fact that some of the proceeds will go toward Clark’s own music program, the event is boasting a well-known band as its headliner: Everclear, performers of modern-rock radio staples like “Santa Monica,” “I Will Buy You a New Life,” and “Everything to Everyone.” Other acts include Santa Barbara rock band Winchester Rebels, Seattle-based alternative country singer Dylan Jakobsen, and Dallas artist Remington. A total of 16 bands are scheduled to perform including local favorites Smoochknob, One From Many, Foreign Talks, Seth Myzel and the Battle Ground High School Advanced Jazz Band. A beer and wine garden managed by Northwest Battle Buddies will be available for attendees 21 and up. Activities for children will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., including a music wall, balloon animals and face painting. The festival will also feature local art, craft and food vendors.

SUNDAY STREETS ALIVE – SUNDAY, AUGUST 18

What it is: Sunday Streets Alive is Clark County’s first open street event, in which several streets in Vancouver will be closed to traffic so that pedestrians, bicyclists, and others can travel between six activity areas, one of which is located on the southwest side of the main campus.

How it affects Penguins: McLoughlin is one of the roads closed to traffic (visit the official event website for a complete map of the route). Parking in the Red lots, as well as the restrooms in O’Connell Sports Center, will be open to participants, so expect more activity than normal in those areas. The event lasts 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other college events will continue as scheduled.

Why you might want to go: The 4.2-mile route winds through downtown, Fort Vancouver, and up past Clark College and Uptown Village. Each of the six activity areas boasts food, vendors, entertainment, and fun activities. Clark is actively participating in this event—in fact, the college is still looking for volunteers, so contact Michelle Golder at mgolder@clark.edu as soon as possible if you’d like to help out—with information tables for Admissions, Financial Aid, Veterans Programs, Career Services, and N.E.R.D. Girls. College personnel are also leading activities and demonstrations that include hiking, zumba, line dancing, t’ai chi, cooking, and a basketball competition.