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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1998)
5 71 he ChckAMAS P rint Separate ceremony to be held for GED/AHSD Students Vanessa Lopez, Marina Onishchenko, Michael Storms and Shane Turpin have been chosen as the 1998- LYNN ELSEY Staff Writer Over 150 students will be honored at the inaugural General Educational Development (GED) and Adult High School Di ploma graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 11. During the ceremony college president John Keyser will present the Student Profiles. These awards highlight four stu dents who exemplify successful achievement in non-traditional education, often overcoming financial or personal obstacles. 1999 Award recipients. Dean Walch, College Publications Media Designer, will be the guest speaker at the ceremony. Like many of these students Walch received his High School Diploma through the college. “The traditional route just wasn’t working,” he said. Get ting his diploma at Clackamas “was such a wonderful expe rience. If gave me a feeling of worth and really helped me through college.” Walch completed his Associate of Arts degree at the college before transferring to Marylhurst Col lege where he received his bachelor’s degree. “Since I feel so strongly about the program I was quite hon ored, to be asked to speak,” Walch added. This is the first year the college has offered a separate ceremony for the GED/AHSD students. It is hoped that this will provide an opportunity for a more focused, and therefore more meaningful., ceremony. This also will allow the students to have the all-college | graduation to look forward to in future years. The GED/AHSD ceremony will be held in Randall Gym at 7 p.m. followed by a reception in Gregory Forum. Honored students have diverse backgrounds Shane Turpin_______ x A year ago Shane Turpin decided to change his life. He was living in northern California, surrounded by a number of bad influences, including gangs. ‘T knew I had to get away,” he said, afraid that otherwise he might end up in prison or dead. ... “I decided I wanted to get my di ploma,” Turpin said, who had left school during his senior year ofhigh school. It was a difficult decision to leave his family and friends but he felt that he had to leave the area in order to succeed. In August he moved in with his grandmother in Milwaukie and enrolled at the college. “Shane is certainly an inspiration to me and his fellow students; he has overcome difficult barriers to reach both his educational and personal goals,” said instructor Cathy Hanson. Turpin, 21, will be receiving his Adult High School Diploma at the ceremony. “It feels good,” he said, “it’s more of a personal goal so that I can go on to school.” Turpin plans to enroll in a community col lege in the near future. Controversy: Continued from page 1 technology in higher education for the last year. Social Science Instructor Eric Lewis asked for more study on the costs and the appropriateness of the technology. “I think we need to be cautious and thoughtful regarding when to use it; how to use it and why were using it.” Lewis said. “Those were the issues I was bringing up. I don’t have any problem with technology. I can see it has a use. I want us to look down the road before we get to the end and hopefully there is no cliff there,” he said. Instructor Linda Vogt made the point that online courses aren't for every subject and every person, but may be useful - even to students who come to campus for other courses. “ It isn’t about distance, it’s about flexibility,” she said, in reference to online courses. She added that the students and faculty have to think of the new technology as an opportunity, to do things differently. “We are going slowly but carefully with our online pres- - Michael Storms__________ Vanessa Lopez___________ Michael Storms will be proudly wearing his cap and gown at the graduation ceremony on June 11. It has taken him nearly twenty years to get his di ploma. Storms, now 45, dropped out of high school in the11th Vanessa Lopez’s life changed when she was 17. “Untiltoat timeljust did my own toing, got in toe wrongcrowd,” shesaid. She was liv ing in the Los Ange les area and had dropped out of high school. The birth of her son changed ev erything. “It just clicked,” Lopez said. Having a baby helped her focus on toe future. She de cided that she wanted to go to college which meant she first needed to get a diploma. After moving to Milwaukie with her family Lopez came to the college to study for her GED. ‘I really pursued it, I really wanted it,” she said. Her determi nation paid off. Lopez said that her family’s excitementwas even greater than her own when she found out she had passed the grade to join toe mili tary service, a deci sion he’s regretted for many years. “Even though outwardly you can say you don’t care,” Storms said, “inside there’s a part that does.” Over the years he missed out on small things like attending his high school class reunion and larger things like employment opportunities. Theeventthatfinally spurred him on was reading a newspaper advertisement for a job. Storms noted that although toe job itself wasn’t particularly sophisticated it required a high school di ploma—toe one thing he was missing. “All of a sudden some thing clicked,” he said. “I have never been a good finisher and was afraid of failure,” Storms confided, but earlier this year summoned up the courage to apply for the GED test Although Storms said he was extremely nervous when taking the exam, his scores put him in toe top 20% of students nation wide. ‘It’s closing a part of my life,” Storms said. Marina Onishchenko, 17, moved to the United States from Russia nearly ten years ago. “I didn’t speak English at all,” she said, “it was hard.” But she soon adjusted, becoming proficient in her new language and new life. Two years ago her family moved to the Portland area. Af ter completing ninth grade in a City school the family moved again, to Milwaukie. “I didn’t want to go to a new high school, in toe middle of the year,” she said. Onishchencko decided to take her GED Me a pari ofi£e 2Ot£. (Tlnnuaf teaching in a class of theater students, one of the best me diums for learning is to hold group discussion, something that he says is not nearly as affective on the computer, which Oregon Goasi he has tried. “Much of what we do is discussion. The discussion you can get among toe class you cannot get in a chat room. It just is not JICusic distance learning programs. Stiles said that toe technology and toe Internet give the stu dents access to other scholars, other materials and experts who would be nearly impossible to access by any other means. CCC.is starting six distance learning courses this fall: a re porting class, chemistry, computer science, a counseling course and two high school credit courses. “What we are trying to do is make sure education is avail able for lower cost and at a student’s convenience, making it so that people can get an education on their schedules; I think distance learning certainly helps do that,” said Stiles. Profiles and photos on this page by Lynn Elsey Marina Onishchenko ence,” said Vogt Theater Instructor Smith-English said that when he is the same kind of experience,” said Smith-English Someone who has been working towards an expanded online presence, Librarian Shannon Stiles, has for the last month been running a test of database providers at the library to help make her decision in choosing one for use by the faculty and stu dents in the future. One of the criteria she has been looking at is whether the service provided can be used by students in exam. “They made a big deal because they were so proud of me,” Lopez said, who came home to a surprise party thrown in her honor. The confidence from her family and from passing the GED helped Lopez make a successfill transition to college. Lopez is now pursuing her dream to become a Correctional officer as a student in the college’s criminal justice program. instead and prepared for the test at the Tri-Cities Alternative Program at toe Harmony Center. It only took her three months to pass. “She wanted to go on to college but didn’t know anything about what to take, how to register, what college was about. That was last fall,” recounts Cathy Stempski, college advising specialist. “This Spring she registered for her second term in an accounting program - no prompting, no assistance needed.” Onishchencko hopes that her experience in accounting will be useful in her family’s newly-formed business. Summer JlCusic Gamp on the Goast • Attend all of the Orchestra Performances • Attend informative lectures prior to the performances Giesiioai • Attend orchestra rehearsal of the Pop Concert • Find out the pleasure of Music Theory and how it can enhance musical understanding • Attend Master Classes given by members of the orchestra • Attend a lecture by Guest Pianist Abbey Simon • Receive instruction in computer software • Receive private lessons • Enjoy daily rehearsals • Participate in a public performance during the festival US 962-2838 ext: 7242 or for more info: (800) crosman @southwestern.cc. or. us The Oregon Coast Music Association, In cooperation with Southwestern Oregon Community College Wednesday, June 3, 1998
