March 6, 2024
Page 9
Cash Prizes To Students
Who Create Videos
Photo courtesy of Western Oregon University
Serving the Community
through Mentorship
2024 Students for Clean Water video contest
Impactful
Video
Promoting
Clean Water
Needed
Stormwater Partners of
Southwest Washington is proud
to announce the fourth annual
Students for Clean Water Stu-
dent Video Contest. Middle and
high school students through-
out Clark County are invited to
create fun and impactful short
videos to inspire stewardship
of our community’s water re-
sources. Stormwater Partners
is a coalition of local agencies
and organizations, including
Clark County and the cities
of Battle Ground, Camas, La
Center, Ridgefield, Vancouver
and Washougal.
Students currently in grades
6-12 can submit 25 to 60-second
videos on topics related to pol-
lution prevention, stewardship,
environmental justice and their
connection water. Videos are due
by April 22. Local businesses
and non-governmental organi-
zations are sponsoring five first-
place prizes of $500 each and
five honorable mention prizes of
$100 each. This year’s sponsors
include Consor, MacKay Sposi-
to, Northwest Watersheds LLC,
Olson Environmental, Otak,
Fourth Plain Forward, iUrban
Teen, Lower Columbia Estuary
Partnership and Watershed Alli-
ance of Southwest Washington.
One first prize and one honorable
mention prize will be awarded
in each of five categories “Pro-
tecting water in our community”
short (25-40 seconds) and long
(45-60 seconds) categories for
videos exploring infrastructure
and actions to protect water-
sheds.“Community storytelling”
asks students to share their per-
sonal or cultural connections to
water.“Clean water for all" en-
courages students to investigate
progress in environmental jus-
tice related to water resources.
“People’s choice” for the video
with the most views and engage-
ment from May 17-23, when
videos are shared online.
Winning videos will be
shared on Stormwater Part-
ners’ social media accounts
and at summer movie in the
park events. “Students have
an opportunity to share their
creative filmmaking skills and
passion for protecting water
with our community,” said
Clean Water Outreach Special-
ist Eric Lambert. “We’re excit-
ed to share their messages and
to recognize their efforts with
cash prizes provided by our
generous sponsors.”
Students and supporters can
visit stormwaterpartners.com/
video-contest for contest details
and to learn more about the con-
test categories and topics. Com-
munity members can also find
information on the Public Works
Twitter, Facebook and Insta-
gram profiles, and on NextDoor.
Youth Manufacturing Day Showcase
Continued from Page 3 pathways to semiconductor train- our community partners, staff
“It was a great opportunity to
share information about PCC's
manufacturing-related programs
that get students workforce ready
in three months to two years,”
said Ariel Ladum, PCC trainer
and education specialist. “The
students were highly engaged as
they moved through five interac-
tive stations hosted by PCC fac-
ulty and industry partners.”
Three programs were high-
lighted during the day to provide
ing for the students Semiconduc-
tor Essentials Training -- This
class is free to youth ages 17 to
24 years old who are interested
in the semiconductor industry.
Interested students can visit the
program's webpage, or call (971)
722-2623.
The NextGen Youth Program
provides a welcoming and sup-
portive space for youth ages
16–24 years old who are encoun-
tering barriers while trying to
enter the workforce. Along with
provides support for work tools,
books, fees, TriMet passes, and
more. To learn more visit the
program's webpage, or call (971)
722-2541 in Washington County
or (971) 722-2178 in Multnomah.
Opportunity Centers College &
Career Prep are for people who
want to go to school to earn a
family wage and need support
connecting to PCC and commu-
nity resources. For details, visit
the jobs webpage or call (971)
722-2688.
Fostering
Positive
Mentoring
Relationships
Since 1999, Western Oregon
University’s Division of Behav-
ioral Sciences has supported Tal-
madge Middle School students in
Independence, Oregon to foster
positive mentoring relationships.
Juniors and seniors at Western
interested in working with youth
in the fields of education, social
work, and/or counseling, have
the opportunity to mentor middle
school students and help them de-
velop skills for academic success
and emotional and social growth.
Many middle school students
who face socioeconomic, academ-
ic, behavioral, or familial chal-
lenges are recommended by their
school counselor to participate in
this program, and the positive out-
comes for students in this program
are astounding.
Since the program started 25
years ago, parents have unani-
mously reported that it has had a
positive influence on their chil-
dren. Children who participate
in the program show consistent,
measurable improvement across
several areas, including school
attendance, academic work, so-
cial skills, and self-esteem. They
also become more interested in
attending college. One parent ob-
served “The mentor was great and
worked with our crazy schedule
and truly cared about my child.
Well done.”
Mentees in the program shared
that participating in the program
boosted their confidence because
there was a steady supportive per-
son to talk to, and noted interest
in attending Western and giving
back to the program by becom-
ing a mentor. A student mentor
shared that mentoring had pro-
foundly impacted their life and
helped them solidify their desire
to pursue a career as a pediatric
clinical psychologist.
Assistant Professor of Psy-
chological Sciences and Program
Coordinator Brooke Dolenc Knott
Ph.D., noted that leading the
WOU-Talmadge mentoring pro-
gram has been the highlight of her
time at Western, as it intertwines
both transformative growth for
students and benefits the local
community. “This collaborative
effort not only supports local mid-
dle school students’ families but
also empowers WOU students to
go beyond the classroom learning
to apply psychological principles
in helping their middle school-
ers.” Dolenc Nott shares that it is
a joy to watch the lasting positive
impact that takes place each year
for both WOU and middle school
students in the program.
Hayley Atkinson, school coun-
selor at Talmadge Middle School
expresses her gratitude for the
mentorship program which pro-
vides intentional and additional
positive support and connection
to many of the participating stu-
dents. She shares that “Middle
school years can be difficult for
kids to navigate under the best
of circumstances, and the WOU
mentor program allows us to pro-
vide an extra boost of support to
some of our kids.” She adds that
her favorite part of the program
is getting to see the growth in
self-confidence and engagement
in both middle school students
and their college mentors. “Any-
one involved in the program can-
not help but be positively influ-
enced by it.”
This program has been a reg-
ular applicant to and recipient
of Competitive Grant Funding
from the Western Oregon Uni-
versity Foundation. Specifically,
the award supports social fami-
ly events and small stipends for
mentors to help motivate middle
school students’ success and fam-
ily involvement that strengthens
the mentoring relationship.