Connie Meuller (LK01) Kitsap Community Resources
Education Day was held November 13, 2015 on the Olympic College Bremerton campus and gave class members insight into education from birth to adult continuing education in Kitsap County. The day began with Board member Tom Jacobs (LK12) facilitating our Positive Leadership discussion on the leadership capacity of Purpose – the “why” behind what we do as leaders, and how Purpose relates to education. Kitsap Community Resources Executive Director, Larry Eyer and Director of Early Learning & Family Services, Connie Mueller (LK 01) shared the importance of early learning and early childhood development.
Lisa Heaman, Principal West Hills STEM Academy
Doug Dowell, Central Kitsap School District STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Math) Coordinator; Lisa Heaman, West Hills STEM Academy Principal; and Angela Dorsey, Olympic College Advising shared the exciting and innovative ways STEM is being taught from Kindergarten through High School in Kitsap County and encouraged as an area of study at Olympic College.
David Emmons (LK14), Director of the Olympic College Foundation and LK Board member, spoke to the class about the value of partnerships in education and Olympic College’s role in the community. A great example of this is Washington State University’s Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at Olympic College. The Mechanical Engineering program is a partnership between Washington State University and Olympic College to offer a four-year Mechanical Engineering degree in Bremerton. The class had the opportunity to tour the state-of-the-art engineering lab facilitated by Olympic College Engineering faculty Dr. Jeff Brown and WSU Professor and Program Coordinator Dr. Marvin Pitts.
Amy Hatfield, Olympic College Dean of Workforce Development
After the tour, Olympic College President Dr. David Mitchell welcomed the class to Olympic College and joined the class for a delicious lunch prepared by the College’s Culinary Arts students.
Bremerton High School Principal, John Polm introduced and facilitated a panel of Bremerton High School Seniors in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. The program’s mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing ALL students for college readiness and success. The program begins in middle school and goes through high school in the Bremerton School District. The impressive group of students were all highly motivated to be successful in school and beyond.
Kitsap Regional Library STEM programs
Martin Cockroft, Director of Applied Baccalaureate at Olympic College, gave an update of the various applied baccalaureate degrees available at the college. Currently there are several degrees available with more being planned to serve the needs of local and state employers. Amy Hatfield, Olympic College Dean of Workforce Development, expanded the conversation and gave an eye opening presentation about the great economic need in Kitsap County for professional technical degrees.
Kitsap Regional Librarians: Megan Carlin, Teen Services Librarian; Seth Ciotti, Youth Services Librarian; and Megan May, Adult Services Librarian, divided the class into three groups and rotated the groups through three library programs while discussing the various opportunities for continuing education for all ages at the library.
It was a very inspiring and eye-opening day! Thank you to our Education Day Sponsors: Kitsap Community Resources and Olympic College Foundation.