Chemeketa Community College

Chemeketa Community College will be hosting open auditions for its production Brighton Beach Memoirs at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1. Call backs are slated for 4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 2.

Interested players should report to the Chemeketa Auditorium, Building 6 on the Salem campus, 4000 Lancaster Drive N.E.Auditions will focus on cold readings and theatre games, but prepared monologues are welcome.

Brighton Beach Memoirs, by Neil Simon, is a family coming-of-age comedy about Eugene Jerome, a 15 year old boy who is just coming to terms with girls, his family, and life in general.

The play takes place in Brooklyn in 1937, and concerns a Jewish family trying to make ends meet in the shadow of the Great Depression under the looming threat of World War II.For additional information, contact Gabrielle Brewer-Wallin at 503-365-4727.

Another year, another first day of classes. Welcome back to all of our returning students and faculty, and, to all our new students, we’re happy to have you along for the next chapter in Chemeketa’s journey.If you’re reading this, you’ve made your way to the Chemeketa Community College news blog, its purpose is two-fold. Primarily, it serves as a way for us to let everyone know about upcoming events, but its secondary objective is to lift up the lives and work of our students. If you have news, art, poetry, fiction, music, movies or anything else you would like to see featured here, please contact me at ehowald@chemeketa.edu or drop by my office in Building 2, Room 208. We have an incredibly diverse population we want to tell the world about, but we can’t shout your praises if we don’t know you’re out there.We have some fellow travelers along with us this year, and I encourage you to check out their blogs as well.First up is Justus Ballard, a writing and film instructor.Laura Mack is an art instructor extraordinaire.And Peter Starr, is blogging about politics in his role as our civic engagement coordinator.For a student perspective, check out the blogs of Jose and Angela.We’re hoping to add many more over the next year and I’ll let you know about them as they go live. We already have a ton of cool things in the pipeline, but I don’t want to reveal them all at once. Check in regularly to make sure you don’t miss anything or to catch up on the events that slipped by.We’re elated to have you along for the ride.All the best,Eric

Chemeketa is hosting one Thursday, Oct. 2.Secretary of state candidates Kate Brown, Rick Dancer, and Seth Woolley, and candidates Bill Burgess and Randy Franke for Marion County Clerk will participate in the 2008 Election Forum, Making the Case for Good Governance, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates during the forum.

Peter Starr, Chemeketa’s civic engagement coordinator, will be talking about the importance of voting in the Multicultural Center Wednesday, Oct. 1, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

Peter will not only be talking about the importance of voting, but about tactics to encourage others to vote and how to sign them up once they’re convinced.

Chemeketa Community College is hosting a free information session about its Evening and Weekend College Tuesday, Sept. 9, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.Light refreshments will be served and prospective students can learn about class offerings, consult with an advisor and schedule placement tests all in one streamlined evening.

Chemeketa’s expanded weekend offerings in math, science and writing will allow students to get the education they need – at times when it’s convenient – to achieve their career goals.

“Working adult students have multiple demands on their time including job commitments and parenting responsibilities. Evening and weekends are often the only available times they can attend classes. At Chemeketa, we want to make education a workable part of their life,” Barry said.

Many employers provide tuition reimbursement for full-time employees attending evening and weekend classes. Working in partnership with such businesses, Chemeketa can educate and develop employees at any level.

For more information about programs, contact Evening and Weekend College office at 503-399-6564.

Click here to visit the Evening and Weekend College website.

A $540,000 congressionally-directed grant recently awarded to Chemeketa Community College will allow the college to purchase new training equipment for its health sciences programs.

The grant will be used to purchase interactive, pediatric simulation manikins, electronic infusion pumps and EKG units, X-ray and pharmacy equipment for training students in fields such as nursing, dental assisting, dental hygiene, and pharmacy tech. Much of the new equipment will be in use at the college by spring 2009.

“It’s a huge boost for our health sciences students who will be entering the workforce more prepared than ever,” said Kay Carnegie, associate dean of the Chemeketa health sciences program.

The grant will have a substantial impact on Chemeketa’s pharmacy technician students. The pharmacy tech program started in fall 2007 with just 12 students, but is already enrolled to capacity for the coming fall term. The grant will pay for the purchase equipment used in preparing medications.

A significant portion of the grant will be used to purchase equipment used by students studying dental hygiene and dental assisting. Chemeketa is partnering with the Oregon Institute of Technology to offer a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene.

Chemeketa officials had to demonstrate a regional impact as part of the grant process, and the success of Chemeketa’s health science programs, like pharmacy tech, made that an easy challenge to meet.

“We already have a growing demand for graduates in pharmacy tech, and the new equipment will likely allow grads an opportunity for state of the art training which will make their transition into working at any pharmacy in the state much easier,” Carnegie said.

The need for new equipment is also based on changing industry trends. Once upon a time, nursing students had more training time in hospitals, but opportunities for those hands-on experiences are waning as more and more patients receive care in-home, Carnegie said.

Grant funds will come from the federal Fund for Improving Post-Secondary Education, a U.S. Department of Education Program. Cheryl Roberts, Chemeketa president, thanked Rep. Darlene Hooley for the significant role she played in the grant process.

“Without Rep. Hooley, Chemeketa would likely have had a more difficult struggle to secure this much-needed training equipment,” she said.

Roberts also thanked the community for their reinvestment in Chemeketa’s promises, to provide affordable higher education to all and strengthen Oregon’s economy, with the passage of the college’s May bond measure.

“New facilities and new equipment for our health sciences programs will allow us to continue meeting increasing demands for highly-trained employees in these high-wage fields,” Roberts said.