Pierce College Blogs

One of the Puget Sound region’s most respected artists, Sarah Waldo, is the featured artist at the inaugural show of the 2010-11 gallery season at the Pierce College Fort Steilacoom Fine Arts Gallery.

A reception for Waldo will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome to attend.

Waldo’s painting have been featured at more than 60 juried shows and 45 invitational shows in the U.S. and Japan. She’s won numerous awards and has served as a member of the Puget Sound Sumi Artists and the Women Painters of Washington. Her work will be on display at Pierce College through Oct. 15.

The Fine Arts Gallery is located at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, 9401 Farwest Drive SW, Lakewood. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to noon Friday.

For more information, call Gallery Director Jennifer Olson-Rudenko at (253) 964-6535 or visit the Web site at www.pierce.ctc.edu/dist/art.

Student enrollment is at an all-time high across the state and classes at Pierce College are filling fast!

• If you are a worker retraining student, you should register immediately.

• If you are a transfer student, your choices are extremely limited.

• To search for available classes, view our online course schedule at https://my.pierce.ctc.edu/webapps/classsched/scheduleViewCredit.aspx.

Otherwise, please call the Fort Steilacoom Welcome Center at 964-6705 or the Puyallup Advising Center at 840-8431 for assistance. Due to the lack of course availability, new students should start planning now for winter quarter.

We also encourage you to check out course offerings through the Pierce College Military Program (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) at http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/dist/military. For more information, call 964-6606 or 964-6567.

Starting next spring, Pierce College is offering a new option for students wishing to pursue careers in healthcare. The Physical Therapist Assistant program targets students interested in receiving high-quality career training, while still maintaining their family and work schedules.

The deadline to apply for the Physical Therapist Assistant program is Nov. 5. Classes start in March.

The nine-quarter, part-time Physical Therapist Assistant program is offered to Pierce College students through a partnership with Whatcom Community College in Bellingham. Pierce students take online classes and complete in-person lab experiences one weekend per month in Bellingham. It’s a schedule that accommodates students with family and work obligations, said Lisa Murray, advising coordinator at Pierce College.

“This is the perfect option for working students and parents wishing to break into a really exciting healthcare field,” she said. “Physical therapist assistants typically enjoy high wages, fairly flexible schedules, and satisfaction from knowing they’re helping people recover from, or cope with, illness and injury.”

Physical therapist assistants work with licensed physical therapists to provide treatment for physical injuries and disabilities. This includes training patients in therapeutic exercises, providing hands-on treatment, documenting patient progress, and using special equipment. Assistants are needed in hospitals, pediatric centers, sports medicine clinics, private practices, retirement communities, and home health agencies.

For more information on the Physical Therapist Assistant program at Pierce College, contact Lisa Murray at (253) 964-6482 or lmurray@pierce.ctc.edu.

ORTING — A perfect day of light breezes and warm sunshine welcomed a packed field of 129 golfers at High Cedars Golf Club on Aug. 12 for the 17th Annual Pierce College Scholarship Scramble. This year’s event raised nearly $43,000 for student scholarships, enough to pay for 56 quarters of education for deserving students at Pierce College in 2010-11.

“There’s no denying that the Scholarship Scramble is a lot of fun. Our golfers get to play a great course and spend a gorgeous day outside, playing games and having a fantastic time. But, it’s so much more than that,” said Suzy Ames, executive director of the Pierce College Foundation, which hosts the annual golf scramble. “Supporting the scramble means supporting the hard work of Pierce College students and that’s a really satisfying experience in itself. That’s why players come back year after year.”

This year’s notable teams included former Foundation board member John Collins and his wife Becki, a former vice-president of administrative services at Pierce College, and Ron and Gina Eaton, which won the Mixed Division, and the team led by Pierce College science professor Tom Bush and the members of his reunited high school golf team from the 1970s, which posted the lowest score for teams with handicaps of 14 or lower.

Waste Connections, of Tacoma, was the title sponsor for the sixth straight year. More than 75 students, employees, and Foundation board members volunteered their time to manage the event.

Following the day of golf, live and silent auctions were held to raise additional funds for the Pierce College Foundation’s many scholarship opportunities. Over the scramble’s 17 years, it has raised more than $500,000 for students.

For more information on the Pierce College Foundation and its scholarship offerings, call (253) 864-3261.

Pierce College was recently awarded a five-year, $1.2 million grant from the Department of Education to continue the TRIO Student Support Services program at the Fort Steilacoom campus. This grant was especially competitive as the Department of Education reduced the total number of projects by 40 for this award cycle.

Since 2001, the TRIO SSS program has provided academic and personal support to 160 first-generation, low-income and/or disabled students each year, helping them navigate higher education. This new grant will allow Pierce College to continue offering this critical service to students for an additional five years. The TRIO SSS program works with students who have traditionally struggled to be successful in post-secondary education and helps them to reach their academic goals.

“The continued funding of Pierce College demonstrates the importance of this program and validates the hard work of Pierce College staff and faculty in helping students to be successful,” said Joelle Pretty, Pierce College’s TRIO director. “Many TRIO students need extra help when they first come to Pierce College because their math and English skills are below college level. Because of this grant, 160 individuals who might get discouraged early in their education are given the support and encouragement to thrive.”

The TRIO SSS program provides structured events and activities plus college-level courses that help students develop study skills, identify and maximize their learning styles, set goals, and build personal resources for success. Comprehensive, early assessment and ongoing interaction with advisors give students effective, personal educational plans that incorporate their long-term goals.

For more information on the TRIO program at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, visit the program website at www.pierce.ctc.edu/dist/supportservices/trio or call (253) 912-3644.

In keeping its commitment to provide quality education and support services to its growing veteran student population, Pierce College is seeking the help of a federal grant to raise the level of services even higher.

Pierce College applied to the federal Department of Education for a three-year, $364,000 grant for the development of a Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Success at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom. This center would provide veteran students a designated space to gather and learn, a person to help with one-on-one attention, and services to help them be successful in higher education and transition into civilian life.

Pierce College serves a large number of veteran students. Last year, the Fort Steilacoom campus alone served 1,084 veteran students.

“The center would provide Pierce College the opportunity to give back to veteran students who have given so much to their country by supporting their educational dreams,” said Carol Green, vice president of learning and student success at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom.

Pierce College anticipates the center would provide veterans with dedicated tutors, small-group instruction groups in critical courses, and evening and weekend study tables staffed with additional math and writing tutors. The grant would also provide veterans with directed funds for child care and transportation assistance, as well as other emergency needs, including housing assistance. Pierce College faculty and staff would be specially trained to increase their knowledge of the effects of war zone stressors and the complex needs of veterans.

Grant awards are expected to be announced in September. If Pierce is named a recipient, the center could be in the works as early as October.

For class on tues 8/17, I will not be there but Erin will administer the test for you and go over your homework. She will go over the hoimework first, admin the test under the rules according to my syllabus, and then you can work on your histo notebook until lab time is finished. You have until 7:45 to finish and turn in your test to Erin. Thanks. Nancy

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom’s TRiO program was notified on Friday that we will continue to be funded! We are so excited to gear up for fall and have renewed energy now that the stress of waiting and wondering has been lifted. Now we will devote our time to finding excellent students in developmental levels of math for our math review course, and to filling up our Math 60/College 107 learning community! Contact 253.912.3644 for more information.

A fun day on the links Aug. 12 will help students achieve their dreams of a college education and job training.

The Pierce College Scholarship Scramble is now recruiting golfers for its annual tournament at High Cedars Golf Club in Orting. The four-person scramble begins with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. The tournament is fast-paced and there are prizes and games, including wine tasting from Basel Cellars, a putting contest, and a Hole in One competition, scattered throughout the course. Single players are invited and will be paired up at the course.

Following the tournament, golfers will enjoy a steak dinner and both a live and silent auction. Cost to play is $150 per person and includes green fees and cart, lunch, a player gift, and dinner. Tickets are also available for the dinner and auction events only. Those are $25 per person.

All proceeds benefit the Pierce College Foundation’s scholarship programs. Last year, the event raised $50,000. This year, it’s especially critical to raise scholarship money as record numbers of adults seek to retrain for new careers.

Register online at www.pierce.ctc.edu/foundation or call Ruth Ann Hatchett at (253) 864-3261.

Through Sept. 3, Pierce College is on a revised summer schedule. All student services offices (including cashiering, financial aid, and admissions) are now open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. All offices are closed Fridays.