The Campaign for Olympic College

the place the programs the promise

THE CAMPAIGN FOR OLYMPIC COLLEGE

“I can’t overstate the value of Olympic College in contributing to the overall health and economic prosperity of our community.”

Executive Director, Kitsap Economic Development Alliance John Powers

Intro For more than 70 years, Olympic College has put higher education – and the opportunities that come with it – within reach for Kitsap and Mason county residents. Students who are the first in their families to go to college, workers who need retraining, veterans re-entering the civilian workforce, single moms determined to build a better life for their children, and high school students getting a Running Start toward college degrees all turn to OC. As the only higher education institution serving 320,000 Kitsap and Mason county residents, the college plays a vital role in our region’s future. We help students forge a path to the middle class, deliver skilled workers to area businesses and pour more than $400 million a year into the economy.

If you’re not an Olympic College graduate, you probably know someone who is. More than 90 percent of our students come from Kitsap and Mason counties and most stay here after graduation, contributing to our community. Year after year, OC provides educational excellence close to home and the results are attracting national attention. The Aspen Institute consistently ranks OC among America’s top 150 community colleges and, in 2014-15, named it to the top 10.

“I’m supporting this campaign because of the incredible economic and educational opportunities OC provides for members of our community.”

OC Campaign Committee Chair Dr. Nathan Schlicher

THE CAMPAIGN FOR OLYMPIC COLLEGE

The Campaign As we face a future where a growing number of jobs require post-secondary education, Olympic College’s role in our community has never been more important. We have the tools in place – exceptional leadership, faculty, programs and facilities – to prepare our students for the challenges of a complex and ever-changing world. But it will take a combination of public and private funding to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to turn their educational dreams into reality. That’s why we’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $5 million by 2020 to address three critical priorities:

THE PLACE – OC’s newest building has the potential to be both a community arts center and the creative and technical hub of the Bremerton campus, but first we must provide state-of-the-art equipment for nursing, digital filmmaking, art, music and design.

THE PROGRAMS – To ensure our students excel no matter their circumstances or interests, we are committed to providing emergency funding for students, support for veterans, and unique learning opportunities at Yama Archaeology Field School and Barner Learning Landscape.

THE PROMISE – We believe the opportunity for higher education should be available to every student in Kitsap and Mason counties, regardless of their ability to pay. To support that vision, we’re creating an endowment to provide one tuition-free year at Olympic College for every high school graduate in our service area, starting with Bremerton High School.

The Place After more than a decade of planning and dreaming, the $46.5-million College Instruction Center is ready to serve students and the community. The innovative building replaces aging art, music and theater facilities with an integrated space that brings the arts, science and technology together and encourages students to learn across disciplines.

Nursing students use computer-controlled medical mannequins to practice life-saving skills. Filmmakers, artists, designers and musicians hone their crafts on a soundstage, in studios and in soundproof practice and ensemble rooms. And the art gallery and 276-seat William D. Harvey Theatre serve as both classrooms and an arts center for the community.

The building also houses OC’s first active-learning classroom, designed to foster collaboration among students in small and large groups with linked video displays, laptop computers and dry-erase surfaces. Here, students collaborate on a presentation, debrief after a nursing simulation or plot out a screenplay.

The state funded construction. Now, we must rely on private support to equip the building and realize its potential as a creative environment that connects learning with practice and the campus with the community.

COLLEGE INSTRUCTION CENTER An elderly patient’s blood pressure crashes. The victim of a hit-and-run has a seizure. A new mother hemorrhages.

Anything can happen in the Olympic College nursing simulation lab and when it does, students have to act quickly to save the patient’s life.

“It puts us in the worst-case scenario without having to worry about harming someone,” said Alec, a second-year nursing student.

The “patients” are computer-controlled medical mannequins and studies show they are remarkably effective in training nurses. One of the best things about them is that nobody gets hurt when students make mistakes.

“Mistakes are going to happen. If we can make them in the nursing lab rather than in the hospital, we’re going to save more lives,” said Alec, who plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing at OC. Alec and his fellow nursing students have twice as much space for simulations in the new College Instruction Center, which will be equipped with an updated maternity mannequin to allow for more realistic simulations of pregnancy complications. The new facility also includes a room where students can practice administering medications and assessing patients’ reactions.

The expansion means the nursing program can run multiple simulations at the same time, offering the program’s 70 students more hands-on learning opportunities.

For Alec, that adds up to better preparation for his long-term goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. “I like coming up with a diagnosis. I like solving problems and the simulations give me that satisfaction.”

THE CAMPAIGN FOR OLYMPIC COLLEGE

The Programs Olympic College is committed to helping all students succeed. Sometimes that means removing financial barriers through emergency funding or a textbook lending library. Sometimes it means stoking a student’s passion with a unique learning experience in archaeology or environmental science. To ensure our students excel no matter their circumstances or interests, we are seeking support for these signature programs:

EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR STUDENTS – When students have to choose between paying the electric bill or buying textbooks; buying diapers or putting gas in the car to get to class, the OC Foundation is there to help. By providing emergency funds and supplies to over 4,000 students a year, the foundation helps them stay in school and removes barriers that can knock them off track.

SUPPORT FOR MILITARY – OC’s Military and Veterans Support Center helps ease the transition from service to civilian life for the 20 percent of our students who are veterans, military and family members. The military one-stop shop provides a variety of services, including mentoring, workshops, resource referral and help applying for GI benefits. But the GI Bill may not cover books or fees, so we need additional funds to help these students successfully complete their educational mission.

BARNER LEARNING LANDSCAPE

– This 2.5-acre outdoor learning environment is unique in the Puget Sound region and includes an orchard, native vegetation, exotic species, heritage trees, open spaces and a beach with a variety of marine ecosystems. With your support, we can turn this site into an accessible outdoor classroom for disciplines as diverse as ecology, anthropology and art, and create a regional environmental learning center that will serve OC and the community.

YAMA PROJECT – The archaeological field school at Yama Village on Bainbridge Island has discovered more than 4,700 artifacts at the site of one of the best preserved Japanese immigrant settlements in the Pacific Northwest. By developing a field school at the community college level, OC is offering a rare and affordable learning experience that teaches undergraduates every aspect of archaeological methods and techniques. Additional funding will help our students make the most of this opportunity and continue to unlock the site’s historically significant secrets.

“I have good days and I have bad days, but what keeps me going is that I have a community of people who believe in me.”

EMERGENCY FUNDS In less than two years, Josh has gone from being homeless to being on the path to self-sufficiency and a fulfilling career.

He couldn’t have done it without community support.

In February 2016, Josh and his dad were homeless. They slept in a car, moving from parking lot to parking lot. Although Josh had a job in retail, he couldn’t get ahead. He was living paycheck to paycheck and feared that was going to be his future.

Then he learned about Coffee Oasis. A caseworker there helped him find housing and encouraged him to think about what he wanted to do with his life. After learning that he liked to work with his hands, she suggested the Olympic College welding program.

Josh didn’t think he could afford college. But the Olympic College Foundation was able to invest in his future with a scholarship and connect him with the Students in Need Group, which helped him with books and safety equipment for the welding program.

Today, Josh, who confides that he barely graduated from high school, is more than halfway through the two-year welding program and has a 3.4 GPA. His long-term goal is to work at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

“This program is something I’m passionate about. I love welding and I feel like I’ve got a knack for it,” he said.

“Just like they had a mission in the service, vets need somebody to help them find that mission again at OC.”

MILITARY SUPPORT Tatiane spent nearly five years in the Navy, but left the service to have a baby just a few months short of earning benefits that would have paid for her education. She prioritized being a mom, but quickly found out how difficult it was to support a child without a college degree.

Her experience as a hospital corpsman didn’t translate well to the civilian medical field, so she ended up in a low-paying job and on public assistance. Then a caseworker told her about the WorkFirst program, which paid for her first year of studies at Olympic College and helped her take the first steps toward earning a bachelor’s degree in business from OC’s partner in education, Western Washington University.

Now she works for OC, helping veterans, service members

and their families forge a life-changing path the same way a caseworker once helped her.

Tatiane is one of the reasons that OC is recognized as a “Military Friendly School” and “Best for Vets College.”

She’s part of a military one-stop shop for veterans, service members and their families that assists with the complex process of applying for education benefits and provides a host of support services.

About 20 percent of OC students are connected to the military and Tatiane knows exactly what they’re going through. “It helps me go the extra mile,” she said. “Sometimes they have a question about their benefits. Sometimes they just need someone to say, ‘You can do it!’”

LEARNING LANDSCAPE Biology Professor Amy Lawrence is a woman of science, but she believes there’s something magical about Barner Learning Landscape.

“People can’t believe there’s such a wild and natural space so close to the city,” she said. “It’s kind of like a secret garden.”

The 2.5-acre site, which features more than 200 native and exotic species and offers saltwater access, is being used on a limited basis by OC students in varied disciplines. It needs extensive work to be opened to the public and for widespread use by students.

Budding engineers have drawn up plans for beach access.

Environmental science students tackled a master plan for the former residential property. Art students have drawn and painted its green vistas.

For the past four years, it’s also been used during GEMS (Girls Exploring Math and Science) Conferences, to introduce fifth- through eighth-graders to hands-on science. “It’s making the natural world more a part of their reality and more meaningful. And it’s making science not so scary,” said Lawrence.

One of Lawrence’s favorite learning exercises is to ask students to tune out the world and tune into nature by silently observing the landscape for five minutes. No talking.

No cell phones. No interruptions.

“Most walk away saying they want to do more of that. They say that it’s healing. It’s really powerful.”

“It’s kind of like a secret garden.”

THE CAMPAIGN FOR OLYMPIC COLLEGE

YAMA PROJECT Donna was in her 50s when she enrolled at Olympic College and found her passion at Yama, the college’s archaeological field school at the site of a Bainbridge Island Japanese village that dates back to the 1880s.

After supporting her husband and daughter as they earned college degrees, it was her turn. She also had a nudge from her dying mother, who had always dreamed of her daughter going to college.

“What I didn’t realize was how much fun it would be to learn.”

“I said, ‘Mom, I’m too old.’ But I promised her before she died that I would try,” recalled Donna. “What I didn’t realize was how much fun it would be to learn.”

The former marine planned to become a physical therapist assistant, but a broken leg and some elective anthropology classes set her on a new path. She earned an associate’s degree in 2015 and plans to complete as much additional course work as possible at OC before finishing her bachelor’s degree in anthropology on-line.

Donna was a student at the Yama field school in 2015 and has volunteered in subsequent years, helping to catalogue more than 4,700 artifacts. She loves cleaning the fragments of porcelain, whiteware and glass to reveal their underlying beauty, and researching their origins and uses.

“It just makes you more curious. I think that’s why I keep coming back,” she said. “It’s amazing to see how the Japanese people kept their own culture but integrated American culture into their way of life.”

That melding of cultures is one of the reasons that the village of lumber mill workers is so significant. “I tell new students, ‘Someday, what you’re doing may be in the history books.’”

THE CAMPAIGN FOR OLYMPIC COLLEGE

The Promise ACHIEVING THE AMERICAN DREAM: By 2020, 65% of jobs will require training beyond high school. The Promise provides one tuition-free year at Olympic College for all Kitsap and Mason county students – beginning with Bremerton High School graduates – and encourages our young people to dream of a brighter future.

GRADUATE KITSAP AND MASON’S GOAL: 70% of regional students will complete a post-secondary program by 2030, compared to 27% in 2007.

Bremerton High School Class of 2017 Photo credit: The Kitsap Sun

A KEY STRATEGY: The OC Promise

3824 ENTER 9TH GRADE

796

3028

79% GRADUATE HIGHSCHOOL

DO NOT GRADUATE HIGHSCHOOL

1715

1313

56% ENTER COLLEGE

DO NOT CONTINUE EDUCATION

743

DROP OUT OF COLLEGE

972

Infographic represents the ‘Leaky Pipeline’ for Graduate Kitsap and Mason class of 2014

2852

‘LEAK’ OUT OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

32% EARN A DEGREE OR CERTIFICATE

“My education at OC has totally changed my life. I never thought I would get to go to college and I never even imagined I would be getting a bachelor’s degree.”

Two years ago, Destiny was on public assistance. Now, the mother of three has a full-time job and is finishing a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and technical management at Olympic College.

The OC Promise is a bold plan to encourage students like Destiny to dream big by providing one free year of tuition at Olympic College for every area high school student, beginning with Bremerton High School.

“My education at OC has totally changed my life,” she said. “I never thought I would get to go to college and I never even imagined I would be getting a bachelor’s degree.”

A similar program begun in 2008 by South Seattle College tripled enrollment from area high schools and encouraged low-income students and students of color to aspire to higher education. Half of participating students said they would not have attended college without the 13th-year program.

The first-generation college student has worked hard, but she couldn’t have done it without help. Government assistance, Foundation scholarships, a work-study job and a host of mentors helped Destiny rewrite her story.

And her example has had far-reaching consequences. She’s inspired her mother, husband and sister to go to OC, and become a powerful role model for her children, ages 2, 5 and 12.

“This is something my children can learn from. Every day, I’m showing them it is possible regardless of whatever circumstances happen in your life.”

That translates into a whole lot more students like Destiny who are ready for the jobs of the future and that’s a happy ending for students, employers, taxpayers and the community.

Fulfill the promise. There are many ways to support The Campaign for Olympic College. Please contact us today for details about how your tax-deductible gift can make a difference for our students and our community.

PLEASE CONTACT DAVID EMMONS: Olympic College Foundation 1600 Chester Ave, CSC 530 Bremerton, WA 98337

360.475.7120 foundation@olympic.edu www.olympic.edu