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.
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