Washington Governor Jay Inslee visited Clark College on April 30 to announce the state has certified two current Clark programs as Career Launch programs. The endorsement will provide students with opportunities to “earn as they learn” as Clark partners with local employers to provide students with meaningful, paid, on-the-job experience in their chosen industry. 

Clark College’s new Career Launch programs are: 

• A partnership with Eurobake Bakery to provide students with paid work experience as they earn an Associate in Applied Technology (AAT) degree in Professional Baking & Pastry Arts Management 
• A partnership with MacKay Sposito to provide students with paid work experience as they earn an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree in Surveying & Geomatics 

“This is a great opportunity for students at Clark College,” says Dr. Karin Edwards President of Clark College. “Working strategically with our industry partners, we can help develop the talent pipeline that will allow local companies to grow and will provide outstanding opportunities for our students to succeed.” 

Clark now has six Career Launch programs; three more are in development. Career Launch programs are a win-win for everyone. They create opportunities for students to get real-life paid work experience, complete their education and be successful in their chosen field. Career Launch helps our business partners fill the workforce pipeline with skilled, experienced employees.  

The two programs join the college’s already-existing Career Launch partnerships:  

• AAT in Mechanical Instrumentation (part of the Mechatronics program) in partnership with SEH America, Silicon Forest Electronics, Analog Devices, Inc., and Kyocera International, Inc. 
• AAT in Toyota T-TEN Automotive in partnership with Toyota America Corporation 
• AAT in HiTECC Automotive in partnership with Dick Hannah Dealerships 
• Associate in Science – Transfer Track 2 (AST2) in Engineering in partnership with SEH America  

Clark’s proposed Career Launch programs in cybersecurity and welding technologies are pending review by the Career Launch Endorsement Review Committee. 

Armetta Burney, Interim Dean of Workforce Professional and Technical Education and STEM, said, “At Clark College, we understand the value and importance of building relationships with our local industry partners. These relationships play a critical role in the growth and development of our students as they obtain the career and academic training they need to prepare them for their next step after graduation. Our goal is to develop Career Launch Endorsements across the many degree programs that we offer to include CTE, AA transfer and our BAS programs.” 

Benefits of Career Launch programs 

During his visit, the governor met students in the two new programs.  

Then he led a roundtable discussion about the benefits of Career Launch programs. Joining in the discussion were President Karin Edwards; Clark College Trustee Chair Rekah Strong; Armetta Burney, Interim Dean of Workforce Professional and Technical Education and STEM; Erielle Lamb, Clark Surveying & Geomatics instructor; Alison Dolder, Professional Baking & Pastry Arts Management instructor; Vickei Hrdina, Executive Director, Career Connect Southwest, Career Readiness & STEM Initiatives; and industry partners and three students. 

Geared for working adults, Clark’s Surveying & Geomatics program currently offers remote classes Monday through Thursday evenings with in-person, on-campus classes on Saturdays. About one-third of the program’s students already have a bachelor’s degree and are making a career change. Many are juggling a full-time job with full-time school. Going forward, students will benefit from being paid for their hands-on work opportunities with program partners—helping both them and their families. 

Tim Kent, the program’s coordinator, says, “It’s a grand opportunity for this to be a state-supported program that will benefit our ability to train up-and-coming survey professionals.” 

Partner input 

Industry partner Tim Schauer, past president and board of director chair of MacKay Sposito, said, “Without this program, we’d be training people ourselves—and that’s difficult and expensive.” 

He noted that these are family-wage jobs and said MacKay Sposito pays licensed land surveyors $125,000 in its Federal Way office. 

Industry partner Joshua Svenhard, Eurobake President, emphasized the benefits of the partnership with Clark College: “If I invest in the community in this way, it benefits the students, the college, Eurobake—and my industry.” 

Schauer of MacKay Sposito noted that because jobs are changing quickly, “the connection between community colleges and industry leaders is key.” 

Governor Inslee focused on the important role of community colleges in their communities: “Community colleges are the best bang for your buck. And they’re the point of entry for entry for any program you want to pursue. It opens up all those doors.”  

Looking around the room he added, “These are dream factories here.” 

Vaccination Visit 

Governor Inslee also visited a vaccination clinic being held the same day, also in the STEM Building. The clinic was conducted in conjunction with Rite Aid Pharmacies, WPEA, and AHE. It was open to Clark College employees, their families, and students. During the day, 179 individuals received the Pfizer vaccine for free. 

Vaccinations are an important step in the process of returning to on-campus operations. The college has announced it will be offering more than 500 classes with on-campus components in fall term—roughly one-third of its total class offerings for that term. 

The college will host another vaccination clinic in May so that participants can receive their second vaccine dose. Future clinics are under discussion. 

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.  

More photos can be seen here.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Governor Jay Inslee stopped by Clark College on Jan. 24 to tour the Oliva Family Early Learning Center and learn about the college’s approach to early learning.

Inslee had a chance to tour the 5,000 square-foot building, which features large windows and many natural elements in a space that comprises a toddler classroom, a preschool classroom, an industrial kitchen, and a spacious family meeting area warmed by a stone fireplace.

It was in that family room that a small group of staff, parents, and students gathered with Inslee to share what makes Clark’s Child and Family Services (CFS) program special, including the focus on experiential education for children, the workforce training for students studying Early Childhood Education (ECE), and the unusual level of parental involvement.

Parents whose children are enrolled in the CFS program attend parenting classes each quarter. “The parent credit is very unique,” said Michele Volk, Director of Child and Family Services. “Families are the first and best teachers for young people.”

Lisa Trisler attended Clark’s CFS program as a child and later enrolled her own daughter, Laurel, in the program. “As a part of my daughter’s education, I participated in the classroom, I was involved with her teachers, and I gained additional knowledge as a parent,” said Trisler. “I was pulled right into her education. We wouldn’t have had this experience in a traditional preschool setting.”

Her family so appreciated their experience that Trisler’s parents, Jan and Steve Oliva, donated funding to help make the new Early Learning Center a reality. The state of Washington provided $1 million for the project on the condition that the college raise matching funds. The Olivas’ gift allowed the project to move forward.

“We are proud of our public-private partnership,” said Dr. Tim Cook, Vice President of Instruction. The program may need to reach out to more private donors in the future: While the Oliva Center is considered a model child care facility for the region, much of the Child & Family Studies program is still housed in older buildings that will need to be replaced.

Inslee expressed his plans to fund early childhood education through the state budget and emphasized the importance of making an early investment in Washington’s youth, noting that there is a legal imperative as well as a social one for investing in education—namely, the recent McCleary Decision on Public Education Funding and Reform, which ordered state lawmakers to fully fund public schools through the state budget and address disparities between districts.

“The McCleary decision doesn’t include early childhood, but we think it is vital,” said Inslee who has stated in the past that he considers early learning an important part of closing the opportunity gap. In 2015, Inslee helped pass the Early Start Act, which raised standards for early learning facilities statewide.

Inslee’s visit to Clark concluded with a tour of classrooms led by current ECE student Miranda Malagon and a look the Little Penguins Garden outdoor play area. Clark’s CFS program places an emphasis on outdoor learning and is one of the few preschool programs with a dedicated outdoor teacher.

Summer Brown, Clark College Counseling & Health Center employee and parent of 2-year-old twins enrolled in CFS, sees the value of CFS in both her own life and the community: “My children are taught by teachers of 30 years. Former graduates go on to be teachers themselves. There is a continuous effort to keep people involved in the community.

“My kids have really benefitted,” said Brown.

To view more photos of the Governor’s visit, please visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clark_college/albums/72157679608103825

Photos: Clark College/Nick Bremer