Olympia Menorah Lit for Chanukah

Above: Rabbi Yosef Schtroks of The Chabad Jewish Center of Olympia lit a giant Menorah at Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia Sunday night. It will be displayed at the park the entire week of Chanukah, December 2 through December 10.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“The message of Chanukah is the message of light. The nature of light is that it is always victorious over darkness. A small amount of light dispels a lot of darkness. Another act of goodness and kindness, another act of light, can make all the difference,” said Rabbi Yosef Schtroks of The Chabad Jewish Center of Olympia.

Remembering the loss of 11 people killed at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue in late October, a giant Menorah was lit for Chanukah at Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia Sunday night.

Rabbi Schtroks said that the gathering “showed that spirits would not be dampened by those who wish to bring more darkness to the world.”  

“Upon reflection of these current events and the holiday of Chanukah, I was reminded of the message taught by the Lubavitcher Rebbe of saintly memory.

“The Hebrew word Chanukah has multiple meanings. One of the definitions shows how Chanukah comes from the Hebrew root word Chinuch, which translates as “education.”

“The Chanukah story is very much about education….Jewish children were risking their lives to study Torah using the Dreidel to fool the guards who sought to enforce the ban on Torah study….In the wonderful free country that we live in, let us not forget the critical nature of education. More than information, education should also remind us of a higher purpose in life, in fact, a divine purpose in life.

“In this regard, each and every one of us can touch our sphere of influence. We can discuss this - parents with our children, and the rest of us with our colleagues, friends, and family. What does it mean to be a human being? What does it mean to be a refined human being? What does it mean to be a divine human being?

“The wisdom of the Torah and the guidelines in the seven universal laws given to Noah remind us to look out for others, to value human life and to use every opportunity to bring more peace into the world, whether in the spiritual sense or in the plain and simple.

“Let’s resolve to make our inner Menorah shine so bright this year that it illuminates our actions and every aspect of our lives with the notion of a higher purpose,” said Rabbi Schtroks.

The local Chabad group is a branch of the global Chabad-Lubavitch movement which has about 1,800 Jewish centers across North America, including the Pittsburgh Tree of Life, and over 20 in Washington State.

The Chabad Jewish Center of Olympia, a non-membership based group of approximately 1,500 individuals, has been a Jewish resource and Synagogue in Olympia since 2007. 

The group has displayed the giant Menorah at Sylvester Park since 2008.

Above: A first-ever gelt drop of chocolates by the Olympia Fire Department added to the evening’s festivities.

Upcoming Events

First Annual Yelm Chanukah Celebration and Menorah Lighting, Yelm City Park, December 3 at 5:30 p.m.

Menorah Lighting and Chanukah Celebration, Red Square, The Evergreen State College, December 5 at 1:15p.m.

For more information, contact Rabbi Yosef Schtroks, Chabad Jewish Center of Olympia, 1770 Barnes Blvd. SW Tumwater, WA 98512, www.jewisholympia.com, and at The Evergreen State College, go to www.jewishgreeners.com

Tumwater Educators Strike, School Delayed

Above: A young member of the Kressin family gives second grade teacher Lauren Roberts, center, a big hug Tuesday morning outside Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School. Kristina Kressin and her children came to show their love and support for the teachers. 

Teacher Lauren Roberts wants lower class sizes and language in her contract that addresses safety issues

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Tumwater school children met their teachers and brought them cookies and snacks at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School on Tuesday.

Teachers, crouching low, gave out big hugs while laughing and exclaiming how big their students had grown over the summer.

But instead of all these greetings happening in the classroom, they were out on the picket line outside the school.

School was scheduled to start on Wednesday, but that will be delayed for the Tumwater School District.

Day by day, Washington Education Association union members from across Washington State have been able to bargain agreements, but Tumwater School District and Tumwater Education Association (TEA) members have not.

“There will be no school September 5th due to the TEA decision for a teacher strike,” read the Tumwater School District website on Tuesday. 

“Both the district and TEA bargaining teams are coming to the table on September 6th to continue working to reach an agreement. If you have an appointment scheduled at any of our schools, it will need to be rescheduled when schools reopen. We will communicate Wednesday when we have more information.”

No negotiations were ongoing on Tuesday.

Above: Members of the Tumwater Education Association and children strike outside Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School on Dennis Street in Tumwater Tuesday morning.

Parent Kristina Kressin of Tumwater says her soon-to-be third grader, TJ, 8, is a smart little boy who has had the best teachers at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School.  

“He has had the best teachers who have made sure he is challenged - they've gone above and beyond and have helped him encourage other kids. The teachers deserve to get paid like everybody else. This school district made the top ten in all of Washington but are not being paid as much as those in Olympia and Thurston County.”

With her four year old daughter starting kindergarten next year and a five month old son, Kressin says she wants all her children to have the same teachers.

“I was going to be the mom who homeschooled her kids, but then I met his kindergarten teacher and fell in love.  I would really like to keep the caliber of teachers we have here. This is our home and I don’t want to lose our teachers because they can’t afford to live here.”

Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School second grade teacher Lauren Roberts of Tumwater says she is on strike in support of lower class sizes and language in her contract that addresses safety issues. 

She has been an educator for 12 years and is passionate about her classroom children.

“We do everything in our power to make sure their day is the absolute best that it can be and sometimes that’s hard. And most of the time, it’s the best thing in the whole entire world. It’s so fun. I wouldn’t do anything else but I also deserve to be paid fairly.

“We have a lot more kids these days. Some come from challenging home lives and they are not always ready. Some of those behaviors come out in the classroom. We love them through and through but it’s sometimes hard for the other kids in the classroom to see those outbursts.”

She said there have even been injuries.

“It can take its toll emotionally on a teacher and on a classroom. Those kids who act out end up being some of my favorites but we also need language in our contract that supports teachers during those challenging times.”

Roberts was asked what that support would look like.

“It would look like somebody covering the classroom for ten minutes so I can remove myself or help a kid take some time out, not as punishment, but to recognize that there may have been a trigger for something and we need to do something else. Maybe we could look for it in advance. Luckily at Peter G., our admin is so supportive of this and works really hard with us, but having that language in our contract helps protect us and helps us say, ‘No, we really need this.’”

She said that this year, she will have 24 children in her classroom.

“We’re in public education, so we are going to teach these kids, all of them. Our contract from before says that 24 kids is our trigger limit, so if I get a 25th kid, I get overage pay. We have five second grades right now. Three of us are at 24 kids and the other two are at 23. Those are really high numbers. Really, if we had one more teacher, we’d all be at 19.5 kids, which is a reasonable number. In the high schools, the class sizes are even higher.”

According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tumwater is 277 out of 295 statewide districts for student to classroom teacher ratio.

Decision to Strike

The last thing Tumwater Education Association union members wanted to do is strike, said Tumwater Education Association president Tim Voie, but that’s what happened as of 12:01 a.m. September 1.

On August 27, voting 91 percent in favor, Tumwater Education Association members authorized a vote to strike if a contract agreement wasn’t reached by August 31. An agreement was not reached.

The Association’s goal was to start school on time with smaller, safer classes. The union is also calling for the Tumwater School District to pay its teachers competitively in order to attract and retain high quality teachers.

In accordance with the McCleary Decision to fully fund education, the Legislature increased state funding for public school by billions, including $2 billion to increase educator salaries in the 2018-19 school year.

As of Tuesday evening, nearly 6,000 Washington Education Association members are on strike in nine Western Washington school districts.

For more information about the negotiations and the Tumwater Educator Association, go to Little Hollywood and read the August 25 story, “Tumwater Educator Union Members Rally,” at http://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/2018/08/tumwater-educator-union-members-rally.html

Tumwater Educator Union Members Rally

Above: Jillian Emerson, 17, and Jessica Bowerman, 17, will be seniors at Black Hills High School in September. They rallied in support of their teachers and others represented by the Tumwater Education Association outside Tumwater School District offices on Saturday afternoon.

“I really believe that with the numbers we have right now, over 90 percent of our members will vote to strike,” says Tim Voie, Tumwater Education Association union president.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https:/janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“The last thing we want to do is strike,” said Tim Voie, Tumwater Education Association president at a rally held outside Tumwater School District offices on Saturday afternoon.

Inside, union representatives were working on a contract while Voie and union members were outside calling for lower class sizes and professional pay and respect.

Many families are on vacation squeezing out the last bits out of summer or shopping for back-to-school clothes and supplies while educator union members around the state are bargaining for fair wages.

In its January, 2012 McCleary decision, the Washington State Supreme Court ordered the state to fully fund K-12 public schools as required by Article IX of the Washington Constitution.

This past June, the court ruled that the state is in compliance with the McCleary decision. The Legislature increased state funding for public schools by billions, including $2 billion to increase educator salaries in the 2018-19 school year.

Although the money is there, pay raises at the local level in each school district need to be negotiated.

An educator for 26 years, Voie is a teacher at Secondary Options, Tumwater’s alternative high school. This is his fifth year as president of the Tumwater Education Association.

The Association has been in negotiations with the Tumwater School District since May. 

“At that time, they offered us a 3.1 percent pay raise. Then we spent the summer watching districts around the state get significant pay increases. We believe that the teachers of Tumwater should get a fair portion that the state allotted in the McCleary decision for teacher’s salaries.”

The 3.1 percent figure, Voie says, is an imaginary number.

“So many districts have flown past that percentage that the district finally agreed yesterday that the 3.1 percent number is a non-factor. Now we’re trying to bargain a contract to get us to an equal footing similar to our like-sized districts from around the state. What we’re finding is that in order to attract and retain great teachers, we’re going to have to offer a salary that’s going to do so,” said Voie.

“Right now, the offer the district has put on the table will not be ratified by our membership when we present the numbers to them. We’ve got a strike authorization vote for Monday. I really believe that with the numbers we have right now, over 90 percent of our members will vote to strike. That doesn’t mean we’re on strike then. We’ve still got until August 31 to work on it. That’s when our current contract expires, so we so could vote to authorize a strike and we could keep working on negotiations.”

There are about 6,000 students in Tumwater and about 400 certificated staff. Members of the union include not just teachers, but psychologists, counselors, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, and nurses.

Tumwater Education Association negotiators include five certificated members and one representative of the Washington Education Association.

Voie was asked if Tumwater union members have ever before reached this point of contention.

“Not to this point. We went to mediation a couple of years ago and had to use a mediator to settle but we’ve never reached a point where a strike was imminent. We’re there now. Again, that’s the last thing we want to do. That’s not good for anybody, but neither does settling for a salary that we think doesn’t value and honor the teachers.” 

Above: Tumwater Education Association members rally on Saturday.

Jillian Emerson, 17, and Jessica Bowerman, 17, both students at Black Hills High School, spent their Saturday supporting their teachers and Tumwater school district staff.

Amid noisy, supportive horn honking by cars driving past the rally, Bowerman said she moved to Tumwater from Minneapolis when she was in the eighth grade. She says she wants to be an engineer.

“I really like math and took calculus last year,” she said.

Emerson, who has attended Tumwater schools since kindergarten, says she wants to go into the medical field, perhaps as a physical therapist.

“I love all my teachers. They deserve fair pay. We’ve lost some good teachers to other districts because of the pay. I don’t want them to go on strike. My dad is a bus driver and I want my dad to work. I definitely support what the teachers are asking for,” said Emerson.

Olympia Education Association Bargaining Session on Monday

Adam Brickell, president of the Olympia Education Association, was at the rally in support of the demonstration. Brickell represents about 700 union members.

Brickell, a speech and language pathologist, works with special education students with speech delays. He’s been an educator for 22 years and has held his position as union president for almost six years.

Brickell says Olympia is still having good, constructive talks at the bargaining table. His union is not considering a strike and his members are out supporting others. 

The Olympia Education Association has an all-day bargaining session scheduled for Monday. He hopes they can get a temporary agreement so they can ratify it at their general membership meeting on August 29.

“Everyone is bargaining right now and trying to wrap things up before school starts, so you’re going to see a lot happening in this next week,” said Bricklin.

Above: Jennifer Hyer-Long, a physical education teacher at Tumwater Middle School, with her son, Chase, who is almost 13 years old, on Saturday afternoon. Holding her homemade sign, Hyer-Long said she has lived in Tumwater since the fourth grade. 

Juliana v. U.S. Youth Addresses Climate Convention

Above: Aji Piper, 17, spoke at the South Sound Climate Action Convention held in Lacey on Saturday. Piper is one of 21 youth suing the United States government in a landmark federal climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“What are you going to do? You should know or at least figure it out. What are you going to do now to protect future generations?” Aji Piper, 17, Seattle, asked the audience.

As the keynote speaker at the day-long South Sound Climate Action Convention held in Lacey on Saturday, Piper posed the question to over 200 participants, including local officials and state legislators, but he wasn’t waiting around for an answer.

Piper is one of 21 youth suing the United States government in a landmark federal climate change related lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.

Following multiple rulings issued in favor of the youth plaintiffs and the organization supporting them, Our Children’s Trust, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon earlier this week set October 29 as the first day of the trial. 

The trial will be held in Eugene and is being billed as the “trial of the century.”

Piper learned about climate change, ocean acidification, wildfires, deadly public health outbreaks and coal trains when he moved from Port Orchard, Washington to Seattle.

He wanted to do something about it all so he started planting trees and getting active in local protests. He co-founded Future Voters for 350 ppm.

“I should be able to be a kid…I needed to feel a stronger impact from my actions. I needed a solid course of action...so, I took them to court,” he said, as he explained his journey as a young climate activist.

In 2011, Piper was also a plaintiff in another youth-driven lawsuit demanding that the Washington State Department of Ecology update its emission regulations based on the latest climate science, saying the agency was required to do so through the Public Trust Doctrine, which says the government has a duty to protect natural resources for future generations.

Technically, he is the future, and while a strong ruling favored his case, nothing has happened to enforce it and the case has been refiled.

The difference between the state and federal cases, he said, is that the federal government has known about the dangers of fossil fuel use and the destructive forces of climate change for about fifty years.

“By acting against that information, they have violated our rights and the Public Trust Doctrine.”

According to a press release from Our Children’s Trust, Juliana v. United States is not about the government’s failure to act on climate. Instead, the 21 young plaintiffs assert that the U.S. government, through its affirmative actions in creating a national energy system that causes climate change, has violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, and has failed to protect essential public trust resources.

The case is one of many related legal actions brought by youth seeking science-based action by governments to stabilize the climate system.

Above: Averi Azar, a student in the Masters of Environmental Science program at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, staffs a table about the program during the South Sound Climate Action Convention. She is pursuing her masters thesis about sea star wasting disease.

Engaging Youth in Climate Change Conversations

The South Sound Climate Action Convention was held at the Lacey branch of South Puget Sound Community College and was organized by the Thurston Climate Action Team.

It featured a wide variety of speakers and presenters who geared their talks and workshops around climate change issues such as youth engagement, food sustainability, waste reduction, renewable energy technologies and options, carbon pricing initiatives and other legislative issues.

Aji Piper co-facilitated a morning workshop on how to engage youth in climate change conversations and related what actions and strategies work for him.

“Don’t make it boring, youth don’t want to sit in meetings…we sit enough at school. I didn’t get involved in climate change to stand outside of official buildings and shout....While those are tried and true approaches, and not to discredit those, but we’ve been doing those for years.”

Piper related a 2009 campaign he liked which encouraged the Royal Bank of Canada to divest from the Alberta tar sands projects. The strategy of banners and bumper sticker messages with the one ultimately unfurled on the side of the bank that said, “Please help us Mrs. Nixon.com,” created buzz.

His comment encouraged workshop participants to generate a range of actions and ideas that included die-ins, music, the creative arts, light projections on buildings, and the creation of large puppetry.

Olympia musician Holly Gwinn Graham strongly encouraged early childhood arts education in the school system.

“They are ready to be involved, to hear the truth. They’re ready to be creative and be part of something beautiful. It teaches kids to be politically active and use different forms of expression, encourages conversation, communication and intergenerational and non-familial connections with people,” she said.

Piper acknowledged that there is room for all kinds of artistic expression. 

“I grew up playing outside in the forest with my little brother and there's a difference...it's why I don’t do social media....I sing a lot. I get a song stuck in my head and start humming it, or my brother does. Singing and performing is different than speaking, just like poetry is different than an essay,” he said.

Above: Aji Piper received a standing ovation for his keynote speech addressing his involvement with climate change issues at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on Saturday.

For more information about the South Sound Climate Action Convention and a list of participating organizations, go to southsoundclimateconvention.org

To learn more about the Thurston Climate Action Team, go to https:/janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/2018/02/carbon-free-thurston-efforts-underway.html

A Community Conversation with SPSCC President Timothy Stokes

 

Above: South Puget Sound Community College President Timothy Stokes

By Janine Unsoeld
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“It’s an exciting time to be a community college president,” laughed South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) President Timothy Stokes.

Meeting with a handful of community members at a Lacey area coffee shop two weeks ago, Stokes revealed several new announcements and how the innovation and inclusiveness of a community college can change individual lives and the face of a whole community.

In the candid, wide ranging conversation, former Lacey mayor Graeme Sackrison told Stokes that he was a mediocre student in high school and his father wasn’t sure if he was a good investment.

“So, he said, ‘If you can make it through the first two years of college, then we’ll help you with the remainder.’”

So, Sackrison went to Centralia Community College for two years, worked at Miller’s Department in downtown Olympia store fulltime, then transferred to Western Washington University and graduated in 1966.

“…But it was clear to me that, without the community college and low tuition, it wouldn’t have been possible, so I’m a big fan of the community college system,” said Sackrison.

“That’s our story, right there,” responded Stokes.

Stokes was versed in all aspects of the college’s history, and seems well prepared to be part of its future.

On the job for just two years and one full week, Stokes came to Thurston County after serving in the community college system in Tacoma for 10 years, and in several other states.

“It was harder in Pierce County where there are five community colleges – it’s easy here in Thurston County.…It’s a pretty good gig,” he laughed. The position pays $161,875, according to an Office of Financial Management 2013 Report.

Above: SPSCC’s newest building on campus is Gold LEED certified. The 90,000 square foot, $43 million center for student services is a far cry from the surplus portables provided to SPSCC from Joint Base Lewis McChord. “We’re down to two portables and we hope they will be gone next month - it’s time for them to go!” says SPSCC President Timothy Stokes.

SPSCC Beginnings

The college on Mottman Road has come a long way since its humble beginnings.

In September 1962, the Olympia School District founded the current college as Olympia Vocational Technical Institute (OVTI) in the Montgomery Ward Building in downtown Olympia. OVTI was the formalization of the adult education offerings the school district began offering in 1957 out of Olympia High School. Anticipating growth, the school district had the foresight to move OVTI out to the sticks in 1971.

The college now offers several associate degrees and certificates. Enrollment statistics as of Fall quarter lists 5,842 students total (4,129 full time); 758 Running Start students, and 151 international students.

The campus sits on 102 acres, has 19 buildings, three of which are Gold LEED certified. The Hawks Prairie Center, opened in 1995, will be closed and students will be relocated to the new Lacey campus in the Woodland District. Occupancy in the new digs is scheduled for the Fall of 2015.

Stokes ticked off the college’s successes and looks forward to its role in creating a smarter workforce to compete in today’s job market. The community college is now a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship, serving as a point of entry for a diverse population and a catalyst for business development needs.

And they were doing all this before President Obama announced his new initiative, “America’s College Promise” in early January to provide "free" community college tuition for eligible students, up to $3,800 per year.

SPSCC's in-state tuition is $4,470 and $9,861 for out-of-state students. Estimated book expenses, supplies and other needs total about $4,000.

“A lot of people ask, ‘Are community college presidents for free tuition?’ And the answer is yes, we are, absolutely we are. We’re all in…we think that it will be a great investment in the future and keeping us competitive in the global marketplace. It’s a struggle for our students to pay for tuition. Our tuition has gone up…so, (according to Obama’s plan) after the first $3,800 is paid, there’s $600 left to pay for a year, so that’s $200 a quarter.”

Diverse Student Population

SPSCC caters to a diverse population, mostly transfer and workforce students. Military and those who need basic skills make up the rest. Former service members and transition enrollment has doubled due to Joint Base Lewis McChord in the last two years. Previously, they went north to Pierce College.

SPSCC’s ethnic make-up also adds to the college’s diversity: 23.18 percent are International, African American, Asian or Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Multi-racial, Native American or Alaskan Native.  The Caucasian population is 61.5 percent, and the rest is unknown.

“Our placement rate and transfers to a four year college or a job is at 96 percent, the rest are just coming to enhance their skills – 65 percent graduate with a credential – very high for a two year college. On average it’s 46 percent.” The time it takes is about 2.2 to 3 years.

As for meeting the basic literacy needs of some students, Stokes says the fastest growing population we have is low literacy adults, “because there is no employment for adults with low literacy….Having worked in Tacoma for 10 years, I’d say our students are coming out of high school in Thurston County well qualified and college ready.”

“Half of our students are planning to transfer to a four year institution…40 percent are workforce students – those are students getting a two year degree with an Associate in Arts for a marketable, high wage job.”

Stokes listed several educational degree and credential options include nursing, medical assisting, automotive service engineering, welding, computer aided design, dentistry and much more.

Legislative Issues and Budgetary Concerns

Asked what role he is playing during the state Legislative session, Stokes said he has 117 bills on his watch list. He’s introduced several new legislators to the community college system.

Stokes says his message is: "Even though you have a big issue in front of you, (the McCleary decision) those students have to go somewhere when they graduate. You can’t continue to cut higher ed, increase tuition, and expect to continue to have the graduation rates that we have."

There are several reasons for tuition increases, said Stokes.  SPSCC’s budget has been cut over 29 percent in the last three years and 46 percent in the last five years. The state used to fund 85 percent of their budget and tuition made up the rest.  Now the state provides 50 percent of the budget. The cost of health care benefits and retirement system costs are also factors.

“We try to be fair and equitable and our adjunct faculty receive health care benefits - one of the only states in the nation that pays health care for adjunct faculty. They also invest in our retirement system costs,” says Stokes.

Regarding the budget, Stokes said, “We like the governor’s (Jay Inslee's) budget in that it doesn’t propose cuts to the community college system, but there’s a little piece we’re having conversations about. His budget proposes a three percent salary increase to all our employees, which we certainly support - we haven’t had one for six years – but it directs that it would come out of tuition and the tuition has already increased to backfill from the cuts they’ve already made.”

Stokes’ goal is to not raise tuition for the next five years.

Challenges 

Asked what his immediate challenges are, Stokes said the college needs to unload their 53 acre property in Hawks Prairie before it can complete the Lacey campus in five years. The property was bought in anticipation of  becoming an SPSCC satellite branch. They had intentions to share intercollegiate athletic facilities John Paul II High School.

Another challenge is that despite the increased need for health care programs, mental health, and chemical dependency counseling/training, Stokes says they were graduating students in those low paying fields with substantial debt. It was this ethical dilemma on how much debt can you burden a student with that led to the closure of SPSCC’s horticultural program.

“Looking at higher wages, we can do some partnership programs where there will be an extension program in health care in the next few years, and in occupational therapy and physical therapy assistance.”

The New and Improved Nursing Program

Asked about the loss of accreditation for the nursing program, which occurred just as Stokes took over the college presidency, Stokes said there hasn’t been a big impact. He said that out of 23 community college nursing programs in the state, nine are no longer accredited.

“It was a very dated nursing education program… and the program had been on probation for six years,” says Stokes.

“National accreditation is not required to be a licensed nursing program in Washington but we felt it was important to stop the program and re-design it. We will be applying for the new accreditation - we have to have two years of graduates – and we did increase our student’s pass rate for the state certification test from a 76 percent pass rate to 100 percent. We hired a new director from Oregon – a top notch educator – and we’re rebuilding the program.”

Stokes knows that the prerequisites to get into SPSCC’s nursing program are higher than at other community colleges and was pleased to announce yet another recent success:

“We will be the first college to implement the “three plus one” program to get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. We just signed a state agreement and got approval and of all 34 colleges eligible to participate, we’re the first to produce the program. So even though it was hard, it was necessary to increase the quality of our graduates and it was the right time because we’ll be the first to produce this three plus one program. It will put more Bachelor of Science Nurses out there (in the job market) and that’s becoming the standard for entry into the practice. They will leave SPSCC with three years education and finish up with one year at St. Martin’s University.”

SPSCC’s New Lacey Woodland District Campus

Stokes is perhaps most excited about a new partnership between SPSCC and the Thurston Economic Development Council and the creation of a new 125,000 square foot campus in what is becoming downtown Lacey in the Woodland District near College and Sixth Avenue.

The area across the street from the Lacey Intercity Transit station, Fred Meyer, Dancing Goats Coffee and many other businesses near South Center Mall is set to be a hub of student activity.

“The city is very happy about us being their first $20 million investor in their revitalization plan…the project is going really well. We’re rehabbing a former state office building of the state Department of Information Systems. We had an option of tearing everything down and building new but we decided to rehab the buildings because we just think it’s better for the environment.

“A developer has bought three vacant state office buildings in Woodland – his plan is to put retail on the first floor and create student housing for St. Martin’s College. The area will be a place to live, learn, work, and play - 750 students and 10,000 state employees will be coming through that facility for training - very exciting.”

A new advanced manufacturing program started in January on the new Lacey campus.

“As we look at the Boeing expansion – Fredrickson is going to make the winglet – the turn up on the wings and they are going to have to produce thousands of those -  we’re concerned because it will pull the skilled workforce out of Thurston County so we opened that program to help replace some of that advanced manufacturing labor in the community. They are great jobs – on average if you have a three dimensional certificate, you can earn $75,000 – $80,000 a year,” says Stokes.

Also new is the adding of an entrepreneurship program to all occupational courses. The college is also forging partnerships with manufacturing companies such as H20 Jet and Diamond Technologies, and received a one million dollar National Science Foundation grant to buy equipment for a lab in the lower level of building three.

“It’s a stunningly beautiful lab,” gushed Stokes.

Community Collaboration

Also in the Woodland District, the Thurston County Economic Development Center’s South Thurston Economic Development Initiative and SPSCC will collaborate to create a small development center. To help small businesses grow, senior executives will go out to the community and help people start businesses or more importantly, counsel them to “gazelle” their businesses.

“….So if a business is making $75,000 - $125,000, they will help them “gazelle” their business to $500,000 and develop a business plan to get them there. Our training center will have 18 conference rooms where you can start your business and be there for nine to 12 months,” says Stokes.

The most exciting part of the center will be the angel investment network and micro-lending program.

“We want to train people how to put together their business plans and develop a micro-lending angel investment network. There is none in Thurston County. We have a lot of people starting their businesses in their garages, a lot of software and app development, craft brewing and distilling. We want to help people grow those businesses. We’ll rival the one in Pierce/King County.” Stokes admitted there are a lot of cannabis businesses starting in their garages too, but didn’t want to go there.

“I rent a place on the west side of Olympia, but I can’t decide if I want to live in Woodland or downtown Olympia! I’m an urban kind of guy - I want to be in the heart of it. I want to be where it is,” laughed Stokes.

No doubt, Stokes is, well, stoked about the success and impact the college is having in Thurston County.

For more information about South Puget Sound Community College, go to www.spscc.ctc.edu or call (360) 754-7711 or go to 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia.

The community meeting with Dr. Timothy Stokes was coordinated by Thurston County Commissioner Sandra Romero, who hosts monthly chats on topical issues with various speakers. For more information, contact Commissioner Romero at www.co.thurston.wa.us/bocc or (360) 786-5440.

Above: Juan Carlos Ruiz Duran, 28, is currently a student at SPSCC and will transfer to The Evergreen State College next Fall. He is getting his Associate of Arts in education and teaching.

“This is the third college I’ve tried. SPSCC is different – it’s more inclusive. I have connections and relationships that have made my journey here easier.”

Born in Mexico, Ruiz Duran came to the United States in 1995 and to Washington State the following year. He went to Olympia High School and graduated from Avanti in 2008.

Ruiz Duran started SPSCC’s first Latino identity student group, Latino Student Union, and collaborates with St. Martin University’s Latino Student Alliance and Evergreen’s MeChA.