News Releases

Making a Difference Through Education and Service

Clark College, nationally-recognized for its service-learning program, 
will welcome Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt as it honors 30 student volunteers
during a recognition ceremony on May 26

VANCOUVER, Wash. — National recognition, tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in service to regional agencies.  Those are just some of the accomplishments of Clark College’s service-learning program during the past year. 

For the second consecutive year, Clark College was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.

As part of its service-learning program, Clark College honors students serving the community through the President’s Volunteer Service Award program, an honor that recognizes the valuable contributions of volunteers nationwide who, according to organizers, “are answering President Barack Obama’s call to serve others through their current volunteer activities or lifetime service.” 

The award will be presented to approximately 15 students during a Service-Learning Recognition Ceremony on May 26. The ceremony will also include recognition of 15 students for their service-learning involvement through Service Learning Impacting Citizenship (SLIC), the Clark chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society and more.  Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, a Clark alumnus, will be the keynote speaker.  

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at noon in the Penguin Student Lounge, located in the Penguin Union Building on Clark’s main campus.  Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver.  Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps . 

Clark also offers Students in Service, a part-time AmeriCorps program that encourages and supports our students to make a difference in the community by agreeing to a minimum one-year term of service at a community nonprofit agency. In addition to earning valuable civic and workforce skills, students can earn an education award of up to $2,362 that can be used to pay tuition or student loans.

At Clark College, 36 students who have enrolled in the program will earn more than $50,000 in scholarship dollars during their terms of service.  According to figures based on the Independent Sector’s valuation of volunteer time, Clark students have contributed nearly $400,000 in volunteer time to regional agencies during the 2009-2010 academic year to date.  Those students were honored at a reception ceremony on May 14.  During that ceremony, the college recognized five Volunteers In Service to America (VISTA) volunteers from throughout Southwest Washington.  They included Nora Burmeister, who volunteers for Clark’s Adult Literacy Program.

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