Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2007)
Arts Culture Clackamas Print Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 3 Who are you going to call? CERC! . Emily Walters & Culture Editor Clackamas students are no stingers to school bills. But many students have dif ficulty getting hired for a job. ■ Whether due to a busy sched ule, inexperience or a combi nation of several factors, the Career and Employer Resource Center can help. ■ The Career and Employer Resource Center - or the CERC I- is a plethora of information land guidance for Clackamas ¡students and community mem- ¡Ars. There are many elements to consider when searching, apply ing and interviewing for jobs. “A combination of things, involving the resume, cover letter and interviewing skills,” Linda Wood said, should be the main focus in order to obtain a job. Wood is one of three career and development special ists at the CERC, the others being Clara Dawson and Ethel Swanson. “The three of us - Linda, Ethel and myself - help stu dents search for jobs,” said Dawson. “We work very closely with the Oregon Employment Department.” Many special services are provided by the CERC for those looking for work. The CERC has two different assessments to help students determine their skills and pos sible career options. They are the Discover assessment and the Career Information System (CIS). These are great tools for students who are undecided about what field they would like to enter and what majors to explore in college. Also available in the CERC are two separate sets of mod ules, which anyone can check out. The first set concerns Career Exploration, and the second is about the Job Search. Students and community members have several acces sible computers in the CERC to use specifically for their job searching, away from most of the hubbub of noise throughout the rest of the campus. On these computers is a pro gram to test skills and practice them, and links to labor mar kets, such as the Oregon Labor Market Information System (OLMIS). These services are in addition to the normal pro grams which are on the general use computers at the college. “These are all free servic es for anyone in the commu nity, but especially students,” Dawson said. Extra resources at the CERC are those geared toward spe cific groups of students. I Career & Employe : 9 Elizabeth Hitz Clackamas Print The Career and Employer Resource Center sign hangs inside the Advising and Counseling Center in the Bill Brod Community Center. Operating hours are weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “We work back and forth with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). It is a grant through the Department of Labor,” said Dawson. Shalee Hodgson, an employ ment and training specialist, works closely with that particu lar branch of the CERC. “I work with employers to find what they need,” she said. Hodgson also finds jobs and helps people in the WIA stay employed. Readily available in the CERC is the Occupational Skills Training section (OST), which works mostly with indi viduals who have mental dis abilities. “Vocational Rehabilitation pays for whatever Financial Aid does not,” said Ron Cleaver, a specialist who heads the OST. The office of Employment and Training Specialist Melissa Coombs, who heads the Cooperative Work Experience (CWE), is also located in the CERC. CWE is a program at the college through which stu dents may receive help finding an internship in their field of interest while receiving college credit. Courses can be found in the college’s schedule of classes. The CERC is located inside the Advising and Counseling Center in the Community Center. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Stop in today for job search assistance from any of the experts. For additional information on the CERC, call ext. 2409, e-mail career@clackamas.edu or go to http://depts.clackamas. edu/career. Dance classes take center stage as physical education option Andrea Simpson [Hie Clackamas Print ■Every Tuesday and Thursday on the third floor of Randall Hall, you can hear the sweet blend of tap shoes and Natalie Cole. ■ Tap dancing is only one of a variety of dance classes offered through the Physical Education Department. Ballet, swing, jazz and hip-hop are also offered at var ious times throughout the week . try every thing until you find something that you love. There is a type of dance for everyone,99 Taina Heiberg, Tap Instructor ■Since the dance room was moved three years ago to its cur rent location in room 208, Tap Instructor Taina Heiberg says she has seen a decline in interest in dance classes. ■ “When we were down near the wrestling room, people would walk by and look in; it created interest,” Heiberg said. “I would like to see ■ore promotion about the fact that we have a beautiful, new dance room on the third floor.” Heiberg has been teaching dancing since she was 14, and has been teaching here for 18 years. In that time, she has seen many changes in the program. ‘T applaud the college for bring ing different types of dance here,” she said. “If lads don’t have the freshest thing to sign up for, they are going to go somewhere else.” Jazz and Hip-Hop Instructor Jenelle Yarbrough says that the dance classes offer advantages that traditional physical educa tion classes may not. “Dance helps build coor dination and memory,” said Yarbrough. “It’s different from playing a sport in the way that you have to learn how to coordi nate different parts of your body in rhythm to music. It takes layers and layers of coordination and movement.” Yarbrough is especially excit ed about the turnout for the hip-hop classes. “On the first day, my hip-hop class was com pletely filled,” she said. “I said, ‘Hey, if you like this class, try jazz.’ Street Jazz is hip-hop with a twist It’s hip-hop with some slight jazz influences, and we do some leaps and turns in jazz.” Even though this is Yarbrough’s first year teaching at Clackamas, she has high hopes for the pro gram. “I would hope that the program would grow to the point where it can invest in itself for things like a decent sound system. I would also like to see a performing arts show case of classes - an opportunity for the students to work towards something instead of having class end semester after semester.” “I would like to see better pro motion for the dance program. I think students just don’t know about it,” Heiberg said. “Tap is a fun form of exercise.” And if you think that dance is not for you? “Figure out what interests you, and try everything until you find something you love. There is a type of dance for everyone,” said Yarbrough. Heiberg said, “If they know their left foot from their right foot, I can teach them to dance.” Alexandna Vallelunga Clackamas Print Above: The hip-hop class gets their groove on. Left: Tap Instructor Taina Heiberg shows off some footwork with her talented toes.
