This week, I leave for Peru to participate in one of the Seattle Community Colleges’ Global Impact programs. For the last five years, the district has sponsored two- to three-week service learning trips to rural areas in Vietnam, Tanzania, India and in Peru. Teams of students, staff and faculty join volunteers from our community to provide healthcare services and education. Their work has expanded to include sustainable infrastructure projects such as building clean-burning stoves and composting toilets that contribute to the overall health of the villages they visit. If you'd like to learn a little more about this program, I invite you to read this essay published by the League for Innovation.
The Global Impact programs demonstrate our district's commitment to preparing students for the global economy by providing first-hand experience and education. I'll be in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Urubamba Valley, high in the Andes and close to the Inca capital of Cusco — which is more than 11,000 feet above sea level.
I'm looking forward to working with the team of Seattle volunteers. We've participated in two orientations to prepare us to survive and thrive. At our first meeting, it was interesting to see the wide range of participants and hear about their varying reasons for taking part. They range in age from 20 to 70, half of them students and half community members. Many students view this as an important part of their college education and others want to share their skills to make a community a healthier place to live. Some of the volunteers told me they are exploring health careers, and still others want to meet and work with people from other cultures.
I'm going to experience the program first-hand, to get to know the local residents and to make a difference in a community. Our Peru Quest team will participate in activities ranging from varnishing teeth to assembling stoves that vent outside the homes. I've purchased some jump ropes and Frisbees for the kids to play with while they're waiting for treatments. I've been told that hundreds of children will be there for teeth treatments.
This is my first trip with Global Impact, and I'm excited and a bit nervous. I've been told that this will be a life-changing experience. I'm committed to keeping an open mind and to connecting with the people whose communities we are visiting. And I’m especially looking forward to a scheduled weekend trip to Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, high on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba valley.
I'll write more as the journey progresses.
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Green for the 21st Century in Seattle
Innovations in curriculum and operations have earned the 2009 Green Washington Award for the Seattle Community Colleges – Central, North and South. All three colleges are active members of the Seattle Climate Partnership and North was an early signer of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. A district-wide Chancellor’s Sustainability Initiative provides energy, focus and a forum for emerging training and initiatives.
Sustainability is infused into programs ranging from urban agriculture at Central to environmental science, real estate and building management across the district. Students have funded a sustainability coordinator. Campus activities include reducing the carbon footprint and promoting recycling and energy conservation, which earned a “Recycler of the Year” award for South. Last year, the college culinary operations diverted 31 tons of materials to a regional composting facility – which returned the compost to “green” the college landscape.
For more information visit www.seattlecolleges.edu/green
International Service Learning
The Seattle Community Colleges are making a difference in the lives of people in developing countries around the world through Global Impact, a service learning program presented in partnership with Seattle-area medical, education and service organizations. Each summer, volunteer students, faculty, health care professionals and other community members provide healthcare and other volunteer services, and are themselves changed by their experience. Global Impact was inspired by the international programs of the Seattle Community Colleges, which serve students from more than 100 countries around the world; by the region’s leadership in health care; and by the health care education focus of the colleges, whose combined programs comprise the largest health care education provider in the region.
“These elements provide the foundation for taking our education programs to the next level of development and significance,” according to Global Impact program administrator Dr. Andrea Insley, district-wide coordinator of International Programs. Program destinations for 2008 include Vietnam, Peru and Tanzania.
For more information visit www.seattlecolleges.edu/globalimpact
A coalition of community partners was instrumental in creating a unique training facility that meets the region’s need for workers in high-demand fields, including training for new generations of green jobs. Representatives of education, business, labor, government, economic development organizations and community groups helped spur a land swap that doubled the size of the Duwamish branch campus of South Seattle Community College, located in the heart of the region’s industrial-manufacturing corridor. The coalition then identified critical workforce needs and educational services for the facility, which set the foundation for the Puget Sound Industrial Excellence Center, new construction and a newly renamed Georgetown Campus, reflecting the new strategic direction and community focus. Dedicated in 2008, the PSIEC serves as a focal point for economic development, educational opportunities, family-wage jobs and global competitiveness, and it has won statewide and regional awards.
For more information visit georgetown.southseattle.edu
Seattle Central Community College is located on Capitol Hill, a vibrant neighborhood that reflects the diversity and activity of the city. The campus is minutes from downtown Seattle and accessible from every part of the city via public transportation.
Seattle Central is an educational home for its students, who come from all backgrounds and cultures, and from more than 50 countries around the world. Seattle Central was recently included in a New York Times “Education Life” article that featured ten top transfer programs across the nation.
The college has also received national recognition for its innovative student services and academic programs. Its team-taught, multi-disciplinary Coordinated Studies curriculum was among the country’s first at a two-year college, and is the longest continually running program of learning communities. The college’s 30 workforce education programs range from Apparel Design to Wood Construction and include the renowned Seattle Culinary Academy. Seattle Central is also among the first colleges in the state to offer a baccalaureate degree, with a new Bachelor of Applied Behavioral Science degree.
The campus continues to expand in its urban neighborhood and beyond. The college recently opened a landmark Science and Math Building and a Creative Arts Academy for students in the Graphic Arts, Photography and Publishing Arts programs. In the next few years, the college plans to add a $26 million facility at its Wood Construction Center and an $18 million project at the Seattle Maritime Academy on the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
Located in a residential neighborhood five miles north of downtown, the North Seattle Community College campus includes environmentally sensitive wetlands which have inspired a college-wide commitment to sustainability.
North is the starting point for many students who complete their bachelor’s degrees at top universities across the country, including Dartmouth, Penn State and University of California at Berkeley. Strong academic preparation, small classes, an innovative integrated studies program, broad e-Learning options and a variety of partnerships with four-year schools facilitate transfer and support student success. North consistently ranks among the highest community colleges in number of transfers accepted at UW Seattle, and graduates fare as well as or better than other transfers or students who started at UW as freshmen.
North also provides outstanding career training in more than 50 certificate and degree programs, many in emerging fields such as Nanotechnology, Anesthesia Technical Services, and Green Real Estate. In response to the growing demand for healthcare workers, North has expanded access to training and opportunities for advancement, incorporating the I-BEST teaching model, which helps students develop literacy, basic skills and workplace skills at the same time. The college partners with hospitals, non-profits, and trade and labor organizations to present programs on and off-campus. North has also been selected for “Military-Friendly School” designation by GI Jobs Magazine for two years in a row.
South Seattle Community College overlooks downtown Seattle and Elliott Bay from an 87-acre wooded campus in West Seattle. The college is distinguished by its innovative professional-technical programs, a new University Center, and one of the state’s first four-year degree programs.
South’s Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree in Hospitality Management is the only one of its kind in Western Washington, preparing students for management-level positions or enhancing their career skills. The Northwest Wine Academy features an on-campus winery where students consistently produce award-winning vintages.
The main campus features a six-acre Arboretum used by Landscape Horticulture students and adjacent to the landmark Seattle Chinese Garden. The Georgetown Campus houses the Apprenticeship & Education Center, Puget Sound Industrial Excellence Center, and the Labor Education & Research Center.
The college is a leader in instructional innovation: South pioneered the I-BEST curriculum, which incorporates English skills development into course content, an approach that has been widely adopted across the country.
In 2008, South was awarded a $2.4 million federal grant to support student retention and success, with a special focus on Asian-American and Pacific Islander students. In Fall 2010, the college competed successfully for a five-year $2 million Strengthening Institutions grant from the U.S. Department of Education, involving strategies to help students achieve the 45-credit benchmark that is a strong indicator of graduation.
Seattle Vocational Institute, located in the city’s Central District, is a division of Seattle Central Community College and collaborates with all the colleges in the district as well as with business, labor, government and community-based organizations.
SVI has developed the area’s largest delivery system for short-term workforce training and education leading directly to employment. The training center is focused on providing its diverse student body, primarily adults, with –
Every year, more than 1,400 students are enrolled in the Business Computer, Medical, Dental, Cosmetology, and Multiple Trades programs. SVI also offers English as a Second Language, Adult Basic Education, and GED preparation. Special programs assist students with the basic skills necessary to begin training, attain an education and become employed.