Pierce College News

Brian Purugganan has been named the new head coach for the Pierce College Women’s Basketball program. 

Purugganan comes to Pierce after nine seasons as head coach of the varsity girls’ team at Foss High School, where he led the Falcons to the state tournament twice and to the West Central District Tournament six times. His Falcons were the Narrows Bridge Division Champions in 2007-08 and Purugganan was named the division Coach of the Year in 2004. 

“We feel very fortunate to have someone of Brian’s caliber and experience joining our staff and we are looking forward to getting the Raiders Women’s Basketball program back on the map in the NWAACC,” said Duncan Stevenson, Pierce College athletic director.  “Brian will bring a new energy, a positive attitude, and a desire to succeed to the program.” 

Similarly, Purugganan is excited to make the leap to college coaching. 

“I consider it an honor and privilege to be working at this level, where I can mold and shape young athletes and prepare them for the future,” he said. “I look forward to the challenge of building a winning tradition with the Raiders basketball program.”

A Tacoma-area resident for 27 years, Purugganan has coached a number of Amateur Athletic Union teams in Seattle and Tacoma, and has run team camps and clinics for the Boys and Girls Club in Tacoma and for various high school girls’ varsity programs. Prior to coaching at Foss High School, Purugganan was head coach at Clover Park High School (1995-2000) and at Christian Faith High School (1990-1995).

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom is celebrating the work of student filmmakers at its Spring Film Festival on May 27 and 29 in the new Black Box Theater (located in the Cascade building at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, 9401 Farwest Drive SW).

Beginning filmmakers will be featured from noon to 2 p.m. May 27. Filmmakers are encouraged to bring their film to the festival on a DVD or mini-DV tape, or bring a DVD compatible camcorder. To be shown, films should be 15 minutes or shorter in length and be no more risqué than a PG-13 rating. 

More advanced filmmakers will be featured from 7 to 9 p.m. May 29. Also featured during this time will be the world premier of “Inside the Indie,” a documentary chronicling several Seattle-Tacoma singers and songwriters and their struggle to have their music heard. It is directed by Kevin Defy. 

All festival events are free and open to the public. There are no tickets needed. Simply come by the theater at the above times. 

For more information or questions about bringing your film to either festival day, contact Fred Metzger, Pierce theater instructor, at (253) 964- 6659.

“Methinks this summer doth stink too much” need not be your mantra for yet another boring summer. Pierce College is offering fun and excitement with a Shakespearean flair during June and July.

 Earn 10 English or drama credits and see six plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore., with the Pierce College Continuing Education program this summer. (Note: K-12 teachers can choose to earn clock hours through the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction instead of college credits for completing this course.)

 The Oregon Shakespeare Festival series includes eight evening classes at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom in June and July to help you understand the language and the culture. Then, put those new skills to work with a trip to Ashland, Ore., July 6-9, for the festival. You’ll see six plays, including “The Music Man,” Don Quixote,” “Macbeth,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” Equivocation,” and “Henry VIII.” 

Cost is $989 and includes Pierce College tuition, tickets to all six plays, a backstage tour and discussion with an actor or director, and four nights in a hotel (double occupancy). Students must provide only their own meals and transportation to and from the festival.

For more information or to register, visit www.pierce.ctc.edu/conted or call Kathleen Beaumont at (253) 840-8450.  

Grammy-nominated saxophonist Joshua Redman will be the featured performer at the 2009 Pierce College Jazz Band Expo at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 30, at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma. 

Tickets start at $15. All proceeds benefit music scholarships at Pierce College. Tickets are available online at www. broadwaycenter.org or by calling (253) 591-5894.

Jazz Expo is sponsored in part by the Pierce College Foundation and the Tacoma School of the Arts. 

Students and musicians are invited to take special opportunity to meet Joshua Redman at a jazz workshop at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 30, at the Tacoma School of the Arts Theatre, 1117 Commerce St.. This event is free, but space is severely limited. Attendance will be allowed on a first come, first served basis.

Joshua Redman has released nine albums, including his Grammy-nominated self-titled debut in 1993 and Momentum in 2005. He served as artistic director of the San Francisco Jazz Spring Season from 2000 to 2007, and was one of the founders of the San Francisco Jazz Collective, a “workshop band” dedicated to new music. 

This year, he released Compass, a follow-up to, and an extension of, his wildly successful trio project Back East, which was released in 2007. 

For a full biography of Joshua Redman and links to audio samples of his work, visit his Web site at www.joshuaredman.com.