High school students visit Clark’s Automotive Technology program for a quick lesson under the hood during the 2015 Professional Technical Day.

Last Thursday 375 high school students visited Clark during its 24th annual Professional Technical Day, visiting with instructors in 18 different programs and finding out more about how to enter these fields themselves.

“Professional Technical Day is fantastic way to introduce local high school students, career counselors, teachers and administrators to the career technical educational opportunities that are available here at Clark College,” says Genevieve Howard,

Students in Clark’s Bakery program share their experiences with high school students during the 2015 Professional Technical Day.

Clark College Dean of Workforce, Career & Technical Education. “With the reduction of career technical education programs in the high schools, this is often the first exposure many students have to these career opportunities, and I think Clark faculty and staff do a great job of getting students excited and engaged around these opportunities.”

The students came from 15 different high schools from the Vancouver and Portland area, including Mountain View, Ft. Vancouver, Union, and Grant. Each student could pick two different program presentations during the half-day event. Popular programs included Automotive (and its highly regarded Toyoto T-TEN program), Welding, Bakery, Nursing/Dental Hygiene, Early Childhood Education, Business Technology, and Medical Office.

Area high school counselors and educators had a chance to hear about the future of technical careers from industry experts during Clark’s 2015 Professional Technical Day.

In addition to the students, 45 counselors, teachers, and principals attended the event. They were given a full tour of the available programs, as well as the opportunity to hear a panel discussion with industry experts about job prospects and educational requirements for today’s professional technical careers. Panelists were: Jim Lucey, human resources director of Linear Technology; Matt Houghton, general manager of Schurman Machine; Natalie Pacholl, training program specialist at SEH America; and Craig Baldwin, head of worldwide operations at nLight.

“At Professional Technical Day, high school students get a rare opportunity to interact with Clark College instructors and professors in hands-on learning environments that demonstrate the academic rigor and technical skill involved in career pathways such as: Welding Technology, Automotive Technology, Mechatronics, and Computer Networking, Science and Engineering,” says Clark College Student Recruitment Specialist Jami Fordyce, who helped organize the event. “We hope that students leave inspired and more confident than ever that college is part of their future, and that Clark College is a wonderful place to start.”

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Clark College Band Director Rich Inouye leads the Clark College Jazz Ensemble at the college’s 52nd annual Jazz Festival.

From January 30 through February 1, Gaiser Student Center was swinging with the sounds of big-band jazz during Clark College’s renowned Jazz Festival. The event brought 60 jazz bands from middle and high schools around the region to compete in multiple divisions.

But while the sounds were big, some of the musicians were still quite small: The first day of this annual tradition was devoted entirely to middle school performers. Festival director and Clark College music professor Rich Inouye explained the importance of including these young performers in the competition.

Aspire Middle School participates in the Jazz Festival.

“Encouraging jazz performance at the middle-school level is very important to ensuring young people realize how important jazz music is to our culture,” he said. “The style and characteristics of the music promote independence of thought, self-discipline, responsibility, communication, and teamwork, and the festival environment not only allows them to strive for excellence in their performance, but also allows them to listen to the excellence their peers from the other schools represent.”

On Friday night, before the A and AA awards were announced, Inouye gave the gathered competitors another source of inspiration: Before he led the Clark College Jazz Ensemble through their own performance, he introduced his students by name and said which high school each had attended, illustrating how many had come from A and AA schools. The crowd cheered loudly as the names of their schools were mentioned.

This year’s Jazz Festival poster and program were designed by Clark College student Luke Acevedo, who is nearing the completion of his Associate of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design at Clark College.

“I have been fortunate to have all the high school directors in the area encourage their students to perform in my bands at Clark,” Inouye said later. “I appreciate all the students who have chosen to come to Clark to play in our bands, but in the last couple years I have had the privilege of getting the top musicians from smaller schools in the outlying areas. The Greater Vancouver-area high schools have some of the strongest band programs in the country … but having been the product of a small, rural school myself, I do have affinity for the smaller, outlying schools. I believe the mix of these students with some of the students from the larger schools is what provides the excitement and distinction for what we do here.”

Now in its 52nd year, the Clark College Jazz Festival is one of Southwest Washington’s largest jazz festivals. Trophies are presented in all divisions, and individual outstanding musician awards are presented at the end of each day’s preliminary competitions. On Saturday evening, the the Dale Beacock Memorial Sweepstakes Award is presented to one outstanding band selected from the entire festival.

For 2014, the Dale Beacock Memorial Sweepstakes trophy was awarded to Garfield High School from Seattle, Washington.

Thursday, January 30, 2014 middle school jazz ensemble finals results:

1^st place – Eckstein Middle School from Seattle, Washington
2^nd place – Beaumont Middle School from Portland, Oregon
3^rd place – Hamilton International Middle School from Seattle, Washington

Special recognition went to Washington Middle School from Seattle, Washington, for being asked to perform in the evening finals.

Outstanding Middle School Jazz Musician certificates were presented to:

Hannah Wells and Joseph Gardner from Aspire Middle School, Lacey, Washington
Milli McFall, Misae Nguyen from Hamilton International Middle School, Seattle, Washington
Brayton Sobolewski and Daniel Conway from Vancouver School of Arts and Academics Middle School, Vancouver, Washington
Eltan Davis and Sammie Wiegand from Beaumont Middle School, Portland, Oregon
Marco Thompson from Washington Middle School, Seattle, Washington
Kai Despain, Sean Bowman, Julia Tanner, Austin Isgrig, and David Maltby from Eckstein Middle School, Seattle, Washington
Katriana Armstrong and Vanessa Gress from Chief Umtuch Middle School, Battle Ground, Washington
Jerich Embleton from Creswell Middle School, Creswell, Oregon
Shermon Mattson from Pleasant Valley Middle School, Vancouver, WA
Shane Walz, Morgan Kennedy, and Ainsle Cromer from Tukes Valley Middle School, Battle Ground, Washington
Skyler Verity from Laurin Middle School, Vancouver, Washington

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Jazz Festival at Clark College (middle school competition)

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

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Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

Jazz Festival at Clark College (middle school competition)

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

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Jazz Festival at Clark College (middle school competition)

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

Jazz Festival at Clark College (middle school competition)

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

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Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

Jazz Festival at Clark College (middle school competition)

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

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Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

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Jazz Festival at Clark College

Clark College hosts the 52nd annual Jazz Festival. Schools from the region come to compete and participate in music clinics at Clark Colleee.

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Friday, January 31, 2014 A and AA division high school jazz ensemble finals results:

A Division:
1^st place – Ridgefield High School Jazz I, Ridgefield, Washington
2^nd place – Woodland High School, Woodland, Washington
3^rd place – Astoria High School, Astoria, Oregon

AA Division:
1^st place – Hockinson High School, Brush Prairie, Washington
2^nd place – Fife High School from Tacoma, Washington
3^rd place – Washougal High School from Washougal, Washington

Outstanding high school musician awards for the A Division were presented to:

John Mcgee from Philomath High School, Philomath, Oregon
Devin Van Laar from Trout Lake High School, Trout Lake, Washington
Nick Bischoff from Ridgefield High School II, Ridgefield, Washington
Nathan Mitchell and Gabrielle Allegri from Ridgefield High School I, Ridgefield, Washington

Outstanding AA high school musician awards for the AA Division were presented to:

T Anderson from Washougal High School, Washougal, Washington
Erin Jones from Fife High School, Tacoma, Washington
Nathan Nyseth and Lillian Quintana from Hockinson High School, Brush Prairie, Washington
Jack Tietjen from R.A. Long High School, Longview, Washington
Daniel Kransuler and Jenny Kim from Sammamish High School, Bellevue, Washington

Saturday February 1, 2014 AAA and AAAA division high school jazz ensemble finals results:

AAA Division:
1^st place – Meadowdale High School from Lynnwood, Washington
2^nd place – Mt. Spokane High School from Spokane, Washington
3^rd place – Mead High School Jazz I, Spokane, Washington

AAAA Division:
1^st place – Garfield High School from Seattle, Washington
2^nd place – Battleground High School from Battleground, Washington
3^rd place – Union High School from Camas, Washington

Outstanding high school musician awards for the AAA Division were presented to:

Cormac Liotta Sharma from Roosevelt High School II, Seattle, Washington
Ori Levari from Meadowdale High School, Lynnwood, Washington
Andrew Sauage and Travis Widmer from Mt. Spokane High School, Spokane, Washington
Lanie Pham form Battle Ground High School, Battle Ground, Washington
Jorge Marcia from Vancouver School for the Arts and Academics, Vancouver, Washington

Outstanding high school musician awards for the AAAA Division were presented to:

Kaleb Armstrong, Steve Mantecucco, and Nickolas Schell from Battle Ground High School, Battle Ground, Washington
Devin Perez from West Salem High School, Salem, Oregon
Isak Washuburn-Gaines, Alice Mar-Abe, and Jack Swigget from Garfield High School, Seattle, Washington
Stephen Reid from Union High School Jazz I, Camas, Washington
Jimmy Root from Lake Stevens High School, Lake Stevens, Washington

Shelly Williams contributed to this article.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

See more photos on Flickr.

A student gets assistance during an annual open house event for Running Start students that’s held at the Clark College Bookstore during the start of each fall quarter.

High school sophomores and juniors can learn how to take the next step in their education by attending one of two optional Running Start Information Night sessions at Clark College.

The identical sessions will be held 7:00-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, in the Clark College gymnasium in the O’Connell Sports Center, located on the southwest corner of Clark College’s main campus.

Running Start allows eligible juniors and seniors to earn college credit while they fulfill their high school graduation requirements. Running Start students attend Clark classes along with “regular” college students. They can choose from a full range of academic and professional/technical courses as long as the students meet the criteria and the classes are college-level.

The program, which can significantly reduce the cost of a four-year college degree, has proven popular in Southwest Washington. Some Running Start students are so motivated that they earn their associate degree from Clark at the same time that they earn their high school diploma. According to Associate Director of Running Start Linda Calvert, these annual information nights frequently attract hundreds of interested students and parents to the college, which is why the college hosts two sessions. In fall 2013, Clark College welcomed 1,904 Running Start students, surpassing all other Running Start enrollments in the state community college system.

Associate Director of Running Start Linda Calvert, far left, supplying information to students at the Bookstore’s Running Start Open House in 2012.

These information sessions are for students and parents who want to know more about beginning the program in fall 2014. Calvert explained, “These optional sessions provide a great chance to hear current Running Start students candidly describe their experiences in the program. You’ll also hear about the eligibility criteria, testing procedures, deadlines, and more.”

Running Start students pay for books, transportation, and some fees, but do not pay full Clark College tuition. Students can be part-time or full-time in Running Start. Fees are subject to change by the Washington State Legislature. Fee waivers and limited textbook assistance are available for those demonstrating financial need.

Linda Calvert noted, “Running Start is not for everyone. It requires not only college-level skills, but also college-level maturity. Successful program participants are generally self-motivated and looking for additional academic challenges. Students frequently tell us that they like the learning environment at the college and the ability to gradually sample the college environment.”

Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way in Vancouver, Wash. Parking will be available in the college’s red lots on the east side of Fort Vancouver Way and in the purple lot on the west side of Fort Vancouver Way. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

Individuals who need 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), or visit Gaiser Hall Room 137 two weeks in advance of the events.

For information about Running Start Information Nights, call 360-992-2366.