Clark College’s own Chef Aaron Guerra competed in the Soup’s On Battle of the Chefs fundraiser for SHARE at Ilani Casino Resort in Ridgefield on Sunday, Oct. 15.

Chef Aaron was one of nine celebrity chefs who created a delicious soup for the event. Each chef prepared about 20 gallons of their soup, which was sampled by more than 800 soup tasters who lined up, bowls in hand. Everyone had an opportunity to vote for their favorite soup, bestowing the winning chef with the Golden Ladle. The winner was Chef Joe Reid, Hudson’s Bar & Grill for his beer cheese soup with rye croutons and brisket burnt end sausage.

Before the event doors opened, all nine chefs sat down for a soup tasting. Each voted for their favorite. They were not allowed to vote for their own soup. Chef’s Choice Award was a four-way tie between the chefs representing AC Hotels Marriott, Line & Lure Seafood Kitchen & Tap and Kuya’s Casa Kitchen. Heathen Brewing was awarded the top soup by the presenting sponsor.

Alas, Chef Aaron did not win the Golden Ladle Award this year, but his delicious corn and crawfish chowder was eaten up by appreciative soup tasters.

Chef Aaron used these ingredients: crawfish, butter, flour, white onion, fresh roasted corn, milk, heavy cream, bell peppers, red potatoes, celery, garlic, Italian parsley, green onions, Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper, chives and bread croutons.

He said, “My team of students and I made everything from scratch with the freshest ingredients. We roasted ears of corn and made corn stock with the cobs and student-made croutons.”

It took a large volume of ingredients to make enough chowder for 800 people. Chef Aaron and his team used 24 pounds of crawfish meat. They roasted 40 pounds of corn on the cob, then cut a quarter of the corn from the cob and made stock from the cobs.

SHARE’s Soup’s On celebrity chefs and their soups:

• Aaron Guerra, Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College prepared crawfish and corn chowder
• Tanner Genck, AC Hotels Marriott prepared Deadpool’s chimichanga soup
• Michael Garafolo, Heathen Brewing Feral Public House prepared Hulk’s smashed squash soup
• Joe Reid, Hudson’s Bar & Grill prepared Guardians of the Gourmet beer cheese soup with rye croutons and brisket burnt end sausage
• Fernando Martinez, Kuya’s Casa Kitchen prepared Levanta Muertos (revive the dead) soup
• Ryan Ziegler, Line & Lure Seafood Kitchen & Tap prepared coconut chicken curry soup
• Bobby Rasaphangthong, Nom Nom Restaurant & Grill prepared wonton soup
• Micheal Castaneda, Woody’s Tacos prepared hearty beef stew
• Brandon Edgerton, Wyld Pines Public House prepared lobster bisque

About SHAREand its Soup’s On: Battle of the Chefs event:

SHARE’s Soup’s On event began in 2002 and originally was called Share-a-Bowl.

SHARE’s Executive Director Amy Reynolds said, “The event first began as a way for community members to better understand the experience people have each day when they wait in a ‘soup line,’ just as hundreds of our neighbors do each day at SHARE’s Hot Meals kitchen.”

She added, “SHARE has done incredible work in the community for the past 45 years and with so many people living outside and experiencing food insecurity, there is clearly much more work to do.”

SHARE provides food for all ages—including through its backpack program for kids, operates four shelters, provides rental assistance with case management to help clients secure affordable housing, and assists people living on the streets as well as those in risk of losing their home. Learn more here.

Clark College recently received certification of three new Career Launch programs at the college. 

The programs join six other Career Launch at the college. Career Launch is a Washington state program that provides students with opportunities to “earn as they learn” through partnerships between public educational institutions and local employers that provide meaningful, high-quality, and paid on-the-job experience as well as classroom learning. 

Clark College’s new Career Launch programs are: 

• a partnership with Beaches Restaurant, Bar and Catering to provide students with paid work experience as they earn an Associate in Applied Technology (AAT) degree in Cuisine Management  
• a partnership with PeaceHealth to provide students with paid work experience as they earn a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree in Cybersecurity. 
• a partnership with Madden Fabrication to provide students with paid work experience as they earn a degree in Associate in Applied Technology (AAT) degree in Welding Technologies.  

These two programs join Clark College’s six already-existing Career Launch partnerships:  

• an AAT in Mechanical Instrumentation (part of the Mechatronics program) in partnership with SEH America, Silicon Forest Electronics, Analog Devices, Inc., and Kyocera International, Inc.;  
• an AAT in Toyota T-TEN Automotive in partnership with Toyota America Corporation;  
• an AAT in HiTECC Automotive in partnership with Dick Hannah Dealerships;  
• an Associate in Science – Transfer Track 2 (AST2) in Engineering in partnership with SEH America.  
• an AAT in Professional Baking & Pastry Arts Management with Eurobake Bakery  
• an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Surveying & Geomatics with MacKay Sposito   

About Clark College  

Founded in 1933, Clark College provides residents of Southwest Washington with affordable, high-quality academic and technical education. It is a public community college offering more than 100 degree and certificate programs, including bachelor’s and associate degrees; professional certificates; high school diplomas and GED preparation; and non-credit community and continuing education. Clark serves a wide range of students including high school students, displaced workers, veterans, parents, non-native English speakers, and mature learners. Approximately three-quarters of its students are in the first generation of their families to attend college.  

About Career Launch  

Career Launch is a program of Career Connect Washington (CCW), an organization founded to bring industry and education together to provide pathways for young people to succeed in college and career. There are already 10,000 students enrolled in Career Launch programs, including Registered Apprenticeships. The recently passed 2021-2023 biennial budget provides additional resources for Career Connect Washington to reach more young people, especially those furthest from opportunity, at a time when they are so impacted by COVID-19.  

Clark College celebrated the emancipation of Black enslaved people with its inaugural Juneteenth Drive-Through Cookout on Friday, June 11. The event was organized by the college’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and culinary programs. Clark College’s McClaskey Culinary Institute and ODEI provided 100 boxed lunches for students. 

In an email to the college community, Rashida Willard, Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, explained the significance of Juneteenth, which is also known as Emancipation Day and Freedom Day: “On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended, and that Black slaves were now free, nearly two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Many celebrate this holiday honoring Black culture through social gatherings, cookouts, and time with family.”  

Cuisine instructor Earl Frederick said, “Barbecue is recognized as a Black contribution to American culture. It was slaves who passed through the Caribbean, cooking animals over pits on sticks. This style of cooking called barbacoa translates now into what we know as Southern barbecue. They also picked up seeds from hot peppers in the Caribbean, which became an important flavoring for the pork in the South.” 

Cuisine students made smoked turkey, baked beans, collard greens and cornbread. Students in Professional Baking and Pastry Arts made individual hand pies for dessert. Clark’s students made all the food except for barbecued pork, which was donated by Donnie Vercher, owner of Daddy D’s Southern Style BBQ. (Vercher’s daughter, Ramona Vercher, is a Clark College alumna and recipient of the 2013-14 Community College President’s Award.) On the morning of the event, cuisine students were busy in the kitchen packing 100 lunches in boxes highlighting significant people and events in Black history.  

Students had signed up in advance to receive the lunches. During the event, students drove into the parking lot west of Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute, rolled down their window and were handed a boxed lunch from a cuisine student.   

Despite persistent rain, it was a party. Deejay Mark Kernell played Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September” as he spun what he called “good ‘70s and ‘80s R&B, backyard barbecue music.” 

Nearby, Clark College President Karin Edwards chatted with Frederick, who was busy stirring a pot of Caribbean-style paella at the wood-fired grill. A pot of gumbo simmered alongside it. 

Frederick said his maternal grandmother, a sharecropper from North Carolina, told him stories about the significance of barbecue. 

“My grandmother told me that barbecue is something that Blacks and whites in the South share,” he said. “When tobacco was harvested in the fall, it was all-hands-on-deck with Blacks and whites working together doing the harvest.” 

Workers hung tobacco leaves in tobacco barns that have slats to let air through. To prevent spoilage, this work had to happen quickly, so a big oak fire was built to cure, dry and smoke the tobacco. Throughout the night, workers stoked the fire, which accumulated hot coals.  

Frederick explained, “The tradition developed to roast a pig using those hot coals. People dug a hole in the ground, put hot coals in the bottom of the pit, put a grate over the coals, and put a butchered pig on the grate to slowly cook the pig. Everybody—black and white—ate the pig together. Something that didn’t happen any other time.” 

Next year when Clark College holds its second annual event, Juneteenth will be a state holiday, thanks to legislation passed in May. The law will go into effect in 2022. 

Since the global pandemic began, Penguin Pantry—the college’s on-campus food bank for students—has doubled the amount of food it distributes monthly. It typically has distributed one box of shelf-stable food and a loaf of bread donated by community partners. Now Clark College is partnering with its own instructional programs to increase the food support it provides to students.

In October, Clark’s Cuisine and Professional Baking programs began donating food made in their lab classes to Penguin Pantry. This new partnership is a win-win for everyone. Students and their families are receiving nutritious, from-scratch meals. Culinary students are getting hands-on experience at a time when the pandemic has closed the campus restaurant, food service, and bakery.

“We’re giving it away, since we still need the practice and our restaurant is still closed,” said Daryl Oest, Culinary support technician.

In the inaugural partnership event on October 27, Penguin Pantry distributed 108 food boxes to Clark students and their families during a seamless curbside pickup system in the Red Lot 3 roundabout. Each box contained a breakfast, lunch, and lasagna dinner.

Cuisine faculty member Robert Earl Frederick and his first-year students baked pans and pans of lasagna to provide 120 meals. Professional Baking department head Alison Dolder and baking students baked full-size pies. Additionally, students received a large box of nonperishable food and a loaf of bread.

Michael Scheidt, 20, a first-year cuisine student, maneuvered a wheeled cart laden with brown paper grocery bags containing a breakfast, lunch and dinner toward the curb outside Penguin Union Building.

“It feels really good to give back to the community,” he said. “We’ve all had hard times.”

During remote operations, Penguin Pantry has set aside one day a month to distribute food boxes. Students sign up in advance to secure a time slot to pick up the food in the parking lot. Those with dietary restrictions can request vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, or pescatarian items.

A student who drove up to the curb was assisted by Sharon Toliver, Security & Safety Services; Samantha Lelo, Student Life Program Support Supervisor; and Lauren Boys, ASCC Civics and Sustainability Director. They checked the student’s name against a list and loaded food into the trunk. Sarah Gruhler, Director of Student Life, supervised the distribution and ensured all ran smoothly.

Afterward Gruhler said, “The distribution went very smoothly. The students were so excited about the additional food. We’ve already had 22 returning students sign up for November’s distribution.”

Frederick added, “We are all looking forward to continuing this partnership in the long run.”

And in fact, while October’s distribution event was impressive, it was just a dress rehearsal for the big event: Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving dinner

November’s Penguin Pantry curbside distribution during Thanksgiving week will be a full, cooked Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.

“We have plans for Thanksgiving to make sure our students are well taken care of during this tough time,” said Oest.

Frederick anticipates roasting 20 turkeys to prepare 150 Thanksgiving meals for students and their families. Dolder says baking students will contribute pies—not only tradition pumpkin, but also apple, marionberry, cherry, and pecan—as well as dinner rolls and a morning treat.

Dolder estimates it will take her baking students two weeks of class hours to make individual pies to feed 150 people. The job will be broken down into smaller tasks: making and freezing the dough, making the pie filling, rolling out pie crusts, and shaping them into disposable pie tins. Eventually, the pies will be assembled, baked, and then frozen again. When students pick up their Thanksgiving food boxes, their pies—and the entire cooked Thanksgiving dinner—will be frozen.

“It’s easier for us to serve frozen pies,” Dolder says. “And we have a ton of freezer space.”

Frederick adds, “It’s safer to distribute frozen food.”

With COVID, a greater need

Last spring, COVID prevented the on-campus Penguin Pantry from opening for walk-in visitors. Beginning in May, the Penguin Pantry began a monthly curbside food distribution following COVID safety protocols. In May, the pantry distributed 1,125 pounds of food to 165 people in 40 households.

As the pandemic has continued and many students and their families have lost their jobs in the subsequent recession, the number of students requesting food assistance continues to grow steadily. In September the pantry distributed 2,500 pounds to 305 students and their families. That’s more than double the amount from May.

As a partner with Clark County Food Bank, Penguin Pantry must carefully track its numbers and report them to the food bank.

The college has reached out to students to make sure students know about this resource—sharing information about it in online classes, on social media, and through a new text-message service the college has invested in.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the number of students requesting food,” says Gruhler. “Since we’ve been able to text students, there’s greater awareness of Penguin Pantry.”

Culinary school during COVID

Cuisine and baking students have continued their studies during the pandemic. They are able to meet in the kitchens for in-person lab classes using face coverings, social distancing, and daily temperature checks–all of which is becoming part of their career preparation. Their industry is changing rapidly because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“The industry will change,” said Oest. “We can’t see the crystal ball yet but whether it’s startups, more corporate food service, smaller restaurants, there will be food services moving forward. There will still be the need. These students have learned best safe practices for the post-COVID workplace.”

When Sofiya Saakyan, a student in Clark College’s Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program, called Baron Patisserie in early April to check on her planned spring quarter internship there, the bakery was closed indefinitely due to COVID-19. The owner told her he wasn’t sure when the bakery could open again—or when Saakyan could fulfill her internship.  

Saakyan is one of nine students graduating in June with an Associate in Applied Technology degree in Clark’s Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program. The program’s final requirement is to complete a five-week industry internship during spring term. Students work 24 hours a week gaining real-world experience before they graduate. Students cannot graduate without completing an internship. 

Department Head Alison Dolder had arranged student internships in bakeries, patisseries, and chocolatiers in Vancouver and Portland. When COVID-19 restrictions shut down most food operations, Dolder had to act quickly to secure new internships for Saakyan and the other students. Because of the COVID-19 shutdown, all internships were pushed to the second half of the quarter while the department figured things out.   

That’s when Dolder called Josh Svenhard, co-owner and Vice President Operations at Eurobake.

Coming up with a Plan B, in a hurry

Eurobake, a Portland wholesale baker, remained operating as an essential business during the COVID-19 shutdown. Svenhard is a member of Clark’s Professional Baking & Pastry Arts Advisory Committee. This is the first quarter Eurobake has provided internship opportunities for Clark students. 

“I think we’re a perfect fit,” Svenhard said. “We can bring in students during COVID-19 because we’re not a retail bakery with customers, so students aren’t being exposed to the public. It’s important for a business to give back to its own industry, as well as the community.” 

Dolder offered all nine of the students the option of an internship at Eurobake, which is near Portland International Airport.  

“We left it up to the students to do what’s best for their families,” Dolder said.

Six of the nine Clark students chose to complete an internship at Eurobake spring quarter. One student chose not to do the internship at this time due to family reasons. Two other students had been laid off from their jobs and couldn’t afford to travel to Portland for the internship. Those three students are waiting for an opportunity to do an internship in Vancouver during summer term, when COVID-19 rules allow more bakeries to open. 

Two students per week are scheduled to work at Eurobake. The bakery operates from 3:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., providing ample opportunity to work around the students’ schedules. It allows students to maintain their other jobs. 

Dolder said, “Eurobake is rotating our students through their bakery for their internship and is providing hands-on learning following proper social-distancing protocol. It’s a great opportunity for our students. Some want to finish the program and be available to be hired when everything opens up.”

To accommodate students, Dolder said the baking program is not taking its standard break between spring and summer term to allow students to finish their internships, even if they started later in the quarter. 

Safety first

Working in a wholesale bakery during a global pandemic is no different from working in a bakery pre-COVID-19, Svenhard said. Eurobake’s follows strict safety protocol. “The baking industry has become one of the most careful,” he said. “Food safety starts with washing your hands and ends when the product gets into the packing in an unadulterated form. The industry has evolved to require handwashing, not touching your face, wearing hairnets and gloves. These things are common practice every day in a bakery. We can show student interns how these safety measures can be used to safely operate a business.” 

Svenhard said, “We want to ensure the Clark students aren’t just working at Eurobake, but also learning. We’re working with only two Clark students at a time so we can give them individual attention.” 

Dolder said, “It takes time to train students. Bakeries that accept students for internships are training students for the way their business operates, their product line.” 

Svenhard explained the importance of students getting hands-on experience: “They’re learning to use their skills. Learning the repetition and how to become efficient with your movement is a key part in baking, or any manufacturing business. To make hundreds of uniform products. To develop a rhythm.” 

He added, “The real-world bakery experience is production at speed, keeping up with line and the crew. Teaching students about food safety, R & D [research & development] projects we’re working on. We have a cake department, a bread department, and a pastry line. Students are operating different kinds of machinery in each department.”  

Eurobake staff also talks with interns about the business side of operating a bakery. They work with their interns to do a cost analysis on what to charge for each product in order to make a profit.  

There’s always summer 

Dolder told her students who chose to intern at Eurobake that she would contact the other shops where they had planned internships before COVID-19 shut everything down, to see if they will allow Clark students to do internships in the summer after more businesses can open.  

Dolder and the program’s other instructors have worked to build relationships with local bakeries. In previous years, Clark baking students have completed internships at highly respected Portland restaurants and retail bakeries including Papa Haydn, St. Honore Patisserie, and Fleur de Lis Bakery and Cafe.  

Dolder said, “The best outcome is if we get a student interning at a bakery or shop where they want to be, and then they get hired. It happens quite a bit.” 

Sofiya’s Story 

During a class Zoom meeting after COVID-19 pushed the pause button on baking internships, Dolder told students about the new internship opportunities at Eurobake. Sofiya Saakyan chose to start the internship as soon as possible so she could graduate from Clark and start working in her chosen field. She works three eight-hour days at Eurobake. One of her favorite tasks is at Eurobake is braiding sweet raisin bread. 

“You get to practice it a lot,” Saakyan said. “We make hundreds of loaves. There are multiple people making it on the same bench.” 

She said her classes at Clark prepared her for her internship.  

“I built confidence in my classes at Clark,” Saakyan said. “You learn good skills and get to practice so you can be confident that you know how to do certain things and not be afraid of many challenges.” 

Saakyan grew up in Ukraine, where she learned home baking from her mother. Her family immigrated to Vancouver five years ago when she was 15. She graduated from Fort Vancouver High School, where she spent three years in that school’s baking program.  

Saakyan said she hopes to land a baking job that allows her to stay in Vancouver.

“I’m very thankful for the internship,” she said. “I thank my advisor and Eurobake, who took me in. The opportunities—and the internship opportunities—at Clark College are awesome.” 

Those opportunities haven’t ended: With Dolder’s help, Saakyan has landed a summer internship at the Vancouver-based Baron Patisserie, where she had originally planned to intern during spring term.

Saakyan offered advice to future baking students: “Make sure you love what you do. When you’re a baker and you love baking, I think people can taste that.”  

On Tuesday, November 28, Clark College will launch a new era in the region’s culinary scene as it hosts the ribbon-cutting ceremony for its Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute.

The modern, 20,615-square-foot facility provides a variety of fast, fresh, and healthy dining options for students, faculty, staff, and the community. The space features three kiosks, a full-service baking retail store and barista bar, and grab-and-go items. Next year, a fourth kiosk and student-run restaurant will open. The space also offers indoor and outdoor seating.

The McClaskey Culinary Institute is also home to the college’s completely redesigned Cuisine Management and Baking and Pastry Arts programs, which restarted this fall after years on hiatus. The design of the space allows visitors to see and interact with students, bringing food preparation and learning to the whole college.

“We are so excited to be opening the McClaskey Culinary Institute and bringing food service back to the college,” said Genevieve Howard, dean of Workforce, Professional & Technical Education. “The institute provides education for students, nutritious meals for students, and a great place for the community to come in and be part of Clark College.”

The McClaskey Culinary Institute will officially open to the public with the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. and will include a thank-you to donors, cooking and baking demonstrations, and tours of the $10.5 million facility. The event is free and open to the public.

“Opening the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute is the realization of many years of effort on the part of the college and our community partners,” said Clark College President Bob Knight. “It will not only help us to prepare our students for jobs in the food and hospitality industries, but also establish Southwest Washington as a hub of culinary innovation. It is also the only public culinary program within 120 miles.”

For more information about food service and hours, visit www.clark.edu/cc/dining.

Photo: Clark College/Wei Zhuang

The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute will improve students’ access to food on campus and provide a state-of-the-art training center for the culinary arts.

Clark College is excited to announce the launch of the new Cuisine Management and Professional Bakery and Pastry Arts programs. After four years of developing an updated curriculum and modernizing the existing kitchens and dining spaces, the new Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute will welcome its first class of students in the fall of 2017.

The college is hosting two free informational sessions for prospective students interested in the culinary programs on Thursday, February 23 and Monday, March 6. Both sessions will be held at 6 p.m. in PUB 161 on Clark’s main campus. Maps and directions are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

Thanks to a $4 million gift from The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Family Foundation, Clark was able to transform its existing facility into a state-of-the-art teaching and dining establishment. The new building will create a community space on campus that highlights the growing influence of food on our culture and also provides students with real-world experience in a production kitchen, retail bakery, full-service dining room, and variety of food kiosks. All services will be open to Clark’s community and the general public.

“This new facility will provide an immediate positive impact for both the college community and the culinary programs,” said Dr. Tim Cook, Vice President of Instruction at Clark College. “We are able to provide students with career-focused, affordable culinary education at a time when many other local programs are closing their doors. When the institute opens, it will be the only public culinary program within 120 miles.”

Clark culinary students can choose between two modern, competitive programs: Cuisine or Professional Baking and Pastry Arts. In both programs, students learn classic techniques, kitchen fundamentals, and real-world skills, and then combine that knowledge with practical experience in high-volume food production.

One-year certificate programs and a two-year associate degree will be offered. Additionally, students interested in four-year degrees can advance their culinary careers with Clark College’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Management degree program—or take advantage of transfer partnership agreements the college has forged with both the Cascadia Technical Academy and Washington State University Vancouver.

“There is a growing demand for culinary and hospitality professionals in this region,” said Aaron Guerra, executive chef instructor and head of the culinary arts department. “The culinary landscape is shifting and Clark College is well suited to face the changing industry because we’re not afraid to do things differently.”

Individuals who are interested in learning more about the Cuisine and Professional Baking and Pastry Arts programs, but are unable to attend either informational session, may visit www.clark.edu/cc/culinary.

The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute will improve students’ access to food on campus and provide a state-of-the-art training center for the culinary arts.

Clark College President Robert K. Knight announced that the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Family Foundation made a $4 million gift to the college’s culinary program that will transform the learning process for students, as well as the community’s on-campus dining experience.

During a celebration for donors on Wednesday evening at Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver, Knight revealed that the college’s new dining and teaching facility, which will undergo remodeling, will be known as the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College. It will showcase Clark’s Cuisine and Professional Baking and Pastry Arts programs.

The lead gift from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Family Foundation simultaneously changes the face of the college’s culinary building, while dramatically enhancing the student learning experience.

The Tod & Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute will boast an artisanal bakery, barista station, and comfortable seating.

A redesign of the building includes a glass façade, outdoor dining space, contemporary restaurant, diverse food choices and an open food court layout. A revamped academic curriculum aligns with industry standards and prepares the college to be accredited by the American Culinary Federation. This top-priority project also addresses the nutritional needs of the college community and supports student retention by providing access to food service on campus.

Knight extolled Tod and Maxine McClaskey’s contribution to the business community during Savoring Excellence, Clark College Foundation’s annual celebratory dinner.

“This gift will positively affect every student at Clark College whether they just stop by the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute for a healthy option on the way to class or graduate from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute ready to go to work for one of the many great culinary options in the region,” said Knight.

Tod McClaskey was one of the founders of the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay, a popular hotel and restaurant enterprise that began in Vancouver.

Lisa Gibert, president/CEO of Clark College Foundation spoke about the McClaskeys’ passionate vision and values for the hospitality business and how naming the institute after them is a perfect fit to honor their memory.

“Tod believed in first-class service and an excellent dining experience. The Red Lion was also the launching pad for hundreds of careers in the hospitality business for this region and beyond. That light of excellence for the McClaskeys will now shine for generations,” said Gibert.

The McClaskey family expressed excitement about being an integral part of the college’s future.

“Clark’s new culinary program fits our family’s ideals for excellent food preparation and management, as well as collaborating with other state educational organizations. We are thrilled to be a part of this innovative project,” said Jillian Hagstrom, granddaughter of Tod and Maxine McClaskey.

Slated to open midway through 2017, the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute will improve students’ access to food on campus.

Clark College has educational partnerships with the Clark County Skills Center and Washington State University Vancouver that consolidates the steps toward achieving a college degree.

The new facility is expected to be under construction for several months with portions of it opening in spring 2017. There will a food court with several kiosks offering cooked-to-order items, soups, sandwiches, salads, and food-sensitive choices from a variety of global cuisines. A full-service bakery will serve artisanal desserts, breads and espresso. And Clark’s popular restaurant will return, modeled after modern, open-kitchen dining establishments. All services will be open to Clark’s community as well as the general public.

Clark College Foundation is accepting donations for the culinary project, which is expected to cost $10.5 million. For more information, contact Joel B. Munson, vice president of development at (360) 992-2428.

Clark College Foundation is a nonprofit organization serving as the fundraising partner of Clark College in support of student learning. Nationally recognized for excellence in fundraising and communications, we are the 2015 gold winner for our campaign fundraising communications by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in District VIII. We are also the recipient of the 2015 Educational Fundraising Award in overall performance and overall improvement from national CASE, based in Washington, D.C.

Students were greeted with sunshine as they started a new academic year on September 21, 2015.

The parking lots were filled. The Bookstore was bustling. And the sunshine poured down as if to comfort those who were still mourning the end of their summers as they started the 2015 fall quarter at Clark College on Monday, September 21.

View of Gaiser Hall from the new STEM Building, currently slated to open in fall 2016.

Returning students got to see how much progress had been made on the college’s new Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Building, which broke ground last fall and is slated to open in fall 2016. What had been mostly a collection of girders when students left in June has now grown into an imposing presence on Ft. Vancouver Way with walls and roof.

This will not be the only construction students will see on the main campus this year: Gaiser will undergo a remodel in preparation for a significantly restructured and modernized Culinary Arts program, and C-TRAN’s Bus Rapid Transit Project is likely to also bring some minor construction along Ft. Vancouver Way.

While official numbers are not available until after the 10th day of class, the quarter began with 11,187 students enrolled, or 4 percent fewer students than the first day of the 2014 fall quarter. This decrease in enrollment is consistent with numbers throughout the state, as a strengthening economy has softened the enrollment spike seen during the recent recession. Oregon two-year colleges are also experiencing significant decreases in enrollment.

While enrollment declined overall, some specific segments saw increases. Running Start, which allows high school students to earn college credits while still in high school, saw its enrollment rise by 14 percent from its fall 2014 numbers to more than 2,200 students. Elearning (or online) courses grew this year by 5 percent, with more than 3,700 students taking advantage of the flexibility to take online classes at times and places that work for them. The college continued to see slow but steady growth in students of color, up 1 percent compared with fall 2014. Students of color now make up 31 percent of Clark’s student body.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

International students make new friends in the International Student Lounge on the first day of fall quarter. Fall 2013 marks record enrollment for International Programs.

On Monday, September 23, Clark College opened the doors for its 2013-2014 academic year. The college welcomed 13,373 students on opening day, down slightly from fall 2012, when the college welcomed 13,927 students.

The start of fall quarter is always a time of new beginnings at the college, but this year is seeing a number of changes to the way the college enhances student learning. Some highlights:

• Expanded hours at CTC: For the first time, Clark College at Columbia Tech Center will be open for credit classes on Fridays. The expanded schedule will make it easier for residents of East Vancouver to complete their degrees entirely at CTC, without traveling to take classes on Clark’s main campus.
• Expansion into the Gorge: In response to demand from local businesses and residents, Clark College is offering college-level classes to the communities of the Columbia River Gorge through its new satellite location in the Wind River Education Center in Carson. Until now, residents had to travel 20 miles or more to attend the nearest community college—and that college is located out of state, in Oregon.
• New Phlebotomy program: Clark College has redesigned its Phlebotomy certification program and relocated it to specially configured classrooms and labs on the campus of Washington State University Vancouver in the college’s health care instruction building, which also houses the college’s Nursing and Pharmacy Technician programs.
• Bachelor’s degrees in Health Informatics : Clark College and Bellevue College have signed an articulation agreement that allows students at Clark to earn a bachelor’s degree in Health Informatics Information Technology (HIIT) from Bellevue through online and remote classes—without leaving the Clark College campus. “In our ongoing conversations with regional employers, we realized there was a need for Health Informatics Information Technology professionals and responded quickly to that need, but we also realized that there would be a need for students to take their education to the next level,” said Debra Ortiz, director of allied health programs at Clark College.
• Record number of Running Start and international students: Clark expects to see more than 1,770 students enrolled in Washington state’s popular Running Start program, which allows high school students to earn college credit for little or no cost. This number is a 5-percent increase over last year’s Running Start enrollment. Meanwhile, Clark is also seeing a record number of international students at the college this year. A total of 103 students from 31 different countries are attending the college this quarter.
• Mechatronics offers evening classes: Clark College’s state-of-the-art Mechatronics program will begin offering evening course, allowing workers to retrain for modern industrial jobs without leaving their current positions. This expansion is designed to boost the region’s economy; it was prompted by local businesses who wanted more opportunities to retrain their employees.
  

  Food carts make their debut on campus.

• New food carts serve campus while Culinary Arts program is on hiatus: Clark is discontinuing its Culinary Arts – Food program while it launches an ambitious new redesign of the program that will make it more responsive to modern culinary trends. Three privately owned food carts are supplying food service to the college while the program is overhauled. The college’s widely respected Culinary Arts – Bakery program will continue operating during this time.
• Water-bottle filling stations: Students and college administration have worked together to help preserve the environment by setting up water-bottle filling stations around the main campus, thereby reducing the number of disposable plastic water bottles bought and discarded at the college.