Students get random "stimulus" aid from alumni association
Twenty students held winning tickets for bookstore gift certificates of $25 and $50 at a drawing held on April 7 by the Clark College Alumni Association. One hundred numbered raffle tickets were quickly distributed to eager students by alumni association members Maya Muller, Tim Leavitt, Donna Roberge-Nozel, and George Welsh. "We all had good experiences at Clark and we want to share those with today's students," said Welsh, alumni association president.
The students who held winning numbers were happy about the unexpected windfall and most planned to spend it immediately on books. "We know what a financial challenge it is for students to purchase books and supplies," said Leavitt. "We want to make it as painless as possible for them."
Students had to be present to win when the numbers were announced a few minutes following the ticket distribution. "I don't know who had a better time - the alumni or the students!" exclaimed Muller. "We hope the students see how much the alumni care about them and that, someday, they will consider doing the same thing."
Clark student earns national recognition and scholarship dollars
Clark College student Melissa Smithdeal will receive a $1,000 scholarship as a 2009 Coca-Cola National Finalist. Smithdeal earned the scholarship based on her scores in the All-USA Academic Team competition.
The program, which is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, is administered by Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the international honor society which recognizes and encourages scholarship among two-year college students.
In addition, Smithdeal was named to the 2009 All-Washington Academic Team. She and fellow Clark College student and All-Washington Academic Team member Lorene Boyd, and the other honorees from across Washington's community and technical colleges, accepted their awards from Gov. Chris Gregoire during a ceremony at South Puget Sound Community College on March 26.
As All-Washington Academic Team members, Smithdeal and Boyd will receive scholarships from the Clark College Foundation, KeyBank and the Northwest Education Loan Association, as well as scholarship offers from several public and independent four-year colleges in Washington.
Nursing program grads honor accomplishment with pinning ceremony
At the end of each quarter, a pinning ceremony, sponsored by the graduates themselves, is held in honor of their completion of the Clark College nursing program. On Wednesday, March 18, class #101 of the nursing program observed this ritual by "pinning" 37 new nurses as they completed their program of study.
The nursing pinning ceremony is a symbolic welcoming of newly-graduated nurses into the nursing profession. The first pin was presented to the graduating class of 1880 at the Bellevue Hospital of Nursing in New York City. Although today's nurses do not wear the traditional white uniforms and nursing cap in the health care environment, they do proudly wear their nursing school pin and the name tag that clearly states that they are an RN (registered nurse) - distinguishing them from all other health care professionals and para-professionals.
Family pictures, along with thank you messages written by each student, were projected on the large screen before the ceremony began. A slide show highlighting the graduates' experiences as they progressed through the nursing program was also shared. This gave graduates and their family and friends a chance to relive moments from the classroom, skills lab, clinical settings, and the testing center - as well as other program activities.
Following the ceremony, a reception was held for the graduates, families, friends and faculty members.
To date, the Clark College nursing program has pinned 2,790 graduates (including the 37 graduates in class #101). Each graduate is "pinned" by family members, friends, or significant others. Some students also chose to receive their nursing cap at this time.
