Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 2003)
F eature D ecember 3,2003 T he C lackamas P rint • 6 Prestigious award honors volunteer Karen Hill F eature E ditor For some, volunteering might mean an hour serving at a soup kitchen or an afternoon coaching Little League, but for Dena Whitley, it means spending nearly every weekend instructing teams of mentally retarded athletes in the Clackamas County Special Olympics. Whitley was recently presented with a Banyan award, given by College President Dr. Joe Johnson, largely due to her dedication to the Special Olympics. The Banyan award, given at the discretion of the president, is mod eled after the college symbol—the Banyan tree. The Banyan tree sends out multiple roots through out the years, thus getting stronger with age; representing the efforts of staff members reaching out to the community and thus contribut ing to the strength of the college. Whitley works enough for the Special Olympics to make it her Whitley drew and designed a dozen holi day greeting cards, each displaying a portrait of a Special Olympic ath lete, to help raise funds for the Special Olympics. The inside of the cards read, “Wishing you special mem ories this hol iday season!” full-time job, with Saturday arid Sunday spent coaching the athletes and the rest of the week fulfilling her duties as public relationyuirec- 'tor; she also has a ^career at Clackamas as the purchasing, sprinting and warehousing manager. L Whitley was honored for her endless amount of time and effort, given freely to the Special Olympics. But, as Whitley made clear, she has received more from the athletes than she could ever provide to them. “It’s a really humbling experi ence working with them, but it’s really enriching too,” said Whitley. “I get more out of it than I could ever give.” There are no paid positions for the Special Olympics. “We’re all volunteers,” said Whitley. Whitley’s interest in the Special Olympics began when she received a flyer in the mail, stating the need for a bowling coach. Feeling compelled to know moré about the program, so she attended the meeting. “I thought it was going to be a bunch of 8 year-olds with Down syndrome,” said Whitley. “Wrong!” The ages of the athletes range from eight to 50-something, and span several degrees of mental retardation. Whitley admits she almost walked out in the beginning, not feeling comfortable with a room full of approximately 80 athletes. But she mustered up enough courage to stay. “I just jumped in and within min utes, they caught my heart right there,” said Whitley, who now coaches basketball, track and field, and bowling for the Special Olympics. “I’d do anything for them now. I don’t see my life without them; they are the neatest people in the world. They’re just so loving and so trusting and so giving.” During the track and field compe titions, Whitley smiles when she watches wheelchairs cross the finish line. “There’s more cheering for that last wheelchair that comes over the line than there is for the first one,” said Whitley. “It’s really neat to see how they support each other on that.” The bowling competitions are made possible by putting a ramp next to the alley, in which the ath lete just needs to get the ball rolling down the ramp. The slope of the ramp gives the ball the momentum to continue down the lane. During last year’s state champi onships, Whitley watched, teary- eyed, as an assistant massaged the hand of a man who was almost completely paralyzed.' The* small movement of one finger, nearly an impossible task for the individual, was all that was needed to send the ball Tolling down the lane. “When you looked at his face, you knew he knew what he did and he was excited about it,” said Whitley. Whitley also volunteers as the- public relations director for the CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Lenny Erwin (left) is one of the many athletes Whitley coaches for the CLackamas County Special Olympics. “I don’t see my life without them,” said Whitley. Special Olympics and works throughout the week to obtain maximum publicity to raise money for the organization. She writes newsletters, approaches newspa pers for exposure and recently cre ated holiday greeting cards to help raise money. The cards, drawn and designed by Whitley, display portraits of various athletes on the front, and names and sports on the inside left. The inside of the greeting card reads, “Wishing you special mem ories this holiday season!” There are a dozen designs, each display ing a different competitor. The pro ceeds from the cards, which sell in packages of 12 cards and envelopes for $10, go to the Clackamas — County Special Olympics to benefit the 300 ath letes involved. “We don’t charge them a penny,” said Whitley. Whitley also enjoys seeing the smiles on the athletes’ faces and the energy and dedication they exhibit. “Tliey put their all and all into these sports; they just live for it,” said wTiitley. “They show up for practice at the bowling alley— we start at noon and they’ll be there at 7 a.m. They don’t want to miss it.” During the holidays, Whitley, several other coaches and “Santa Claus” visit the group homes of many of the athletes, delivering little gifts. “It’s really what Christmas is about,” said Whitley. Whitley, who has been involved in the Special Olympics for die three years, never imagined a letter inthe mail could bring about what she has now. “It’s wonderful to be with them,” she said. “You can [have] a horrible week, working like crazy, but on Saturday it’s just all worth it.” Phi Theta Kappa President goes for the gold Cyndee Mady Co E ditor - in - cheif Working part-time as a nanny, making time for family and taking 20-credit hours doesn’t stop 18- year-old Stacie Bariesheff from investing plenty of time in extra curricular activities on campus. Although younger than many first-year students, Bariesheff is already on her fourth year at Clackamas. She started in the home school options program at the age of 15, studying first-year French, and subsequently stepped into a full-time schedule of college courses. “I’m just here another year because I wanted to do speech team for another year,” said Bariesheff. “I still have one more year of eligi bility left at the two-year level and in my opinion, we have the best BARISHEFF speech team ever.” Bariesheff took she said. “It wasn’t something that home two bronze medals from last I could see doing with my life, and year’s Nationals, led by Forensics skating takes a huge commitment.” Coach Kelly Brennan. Bariesheff now applies herself “Stacie is one of those competi to the esteemed position of tors that coaches dream of. She has President of Phi Theta Kappa poise, confidence, dedication and (PTK), an international two-year loyalty,” Brennan said. “Above all, honor society. she is one of those competitors that, “I wanted to be involved in when she is done competing against more school activities. PTK is a [her opponents], they wish that reward for doing well in school and they had never competed against a wonderful experience,” said Bariesheff. her—because she is that good.” Part of the mis Bariesheff has sion of PTK is to “[Barisheff] is high hopes for this work on a service one of those year’s Nationals. project for the com “ I w o u 1 d competitors that munity, which for absolutely love to the past few years coaches dream has been the take home a gold,” she said. American Cancer of. She has In the last two Society (ACS). poise, confi speech and debate Bariesheff is plan tournaments, ning several sympo dence, dedica Bariesheff has won siums for winter tion and term. a total of seven awards, including “[The sympo loyalty.” first-place in Senior siums] will inform Impromptu. people of the Ke/ly Brennan .. She . is no American Cancer Speech Team Coach stranger to compe Society and all the tition, though. benefits, Formerly, she com Bariesheff said. peted as a figure “Everybody is skater, trained by Tanya Harding. going to know somebody who has “That was one of the best expe cancer or somebody in their family riences that I’ve ever had. is going to get cancer. What we [Harding] is an amazing skater, so I want to do is make people aware learned a tremendous amount from that there is a lot of help for them.” Art Department Chair and PTK her,” said Bariesheff. “I got to see what it was like to live in her life, Advisor Dave Anderson speaks and just how horrible people can highly of Bariesheff and her work be. She’s one of the nicest people, with the honor society. “She’s been a wonderful presi and in my opinion, one of the best dent and I know that she is an skaters in the world.” What brought Bariesheff to the exceptional student,” he said. “We have a whole bunch of things on the decision to quit skating? “It was just that season in my docket planned for winter and life where it was over. I wanted to spring and Stacie will be coordinat apply myself to school a lot more,” ing all of it.” Bariesheff also makes time for her family and is very close to her sixteen-year-old brother, Russell, who is still in high school but fol lows in her footsteps at Clackamas. “I’m going to take a class with him this winter. He’s a big inspira tion to me,” said Bariesheff. “It’s going to be sad when I’m at anoth er school and he’s still here.” As a political science major with a- minor in communications, Bariesheff aspires to become an attorney in international relations or domestic government. She cur rently has her sites set on Lewis and Clark and is seeking scholar ship opportunities there. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in political science, Bariesheff plans to continue her education at Lewis and Clark Law School, acceptance and scholarship permitting. LIVE UP TO YOURS. An Associate Degree is just the beginning. How far you go is entirely up to you. At DeVry University, you can get a Bachelor's Degree on your terms. Classes are offered days, nights, weekends and online at locations convenient to where you live or work. Then add to your education with a Master’s Degree from our Keller Graduate School of Management Our goal at DeVry is to give you the education, skills and confidence you need to reach your career potential. Portland 866-863-7810 Petercort Center II 9755 SW Barnes Road, Suite 150 Portland, OR 97225 Or, e-mail us at transfer@devry.edu Now recruiting for our Winter Class from our temporary recruiting office located at Petercort Center I, 9555 SW Barnes Road, Suite 295. DeVry ze. K7 University YOUR BEST CAREER MOVE” www.devry.edu © 2003 DeVry Unwnrty. Accredted ty re Hgher Laming Commission and a member of the North Central Association 0<Cft.3ON.LsSWte Street. Chicago. IL 80602, ncihtfwrtaamingcaflwisslofuxg
