On campus
2015 ALL-WASHINGTON ACADEMIC TEAM
Lidiya Nikolayev and Martin Parrao, both of Battle Ground and students at Clark College, were among 65 students statewide named to the 2015 All-Washington Academic Team. They were honored last month at a ceremony at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, as students who have found success in the face of adversity.
Nikolayev came to the U.S. with her parents from Moldova when she was 5. Her son, Ivan, was born with cerebral palsy and passed away in 2011; as Nikolayev recovered from her trauma, she became determined to go to college and find a career that would make her self-sufficient and allow her to create family-friendly jobs for other parents, believing that no parent should have to sacrifice time with their children to have a career. She enrolled at Clark in 2013, and was noticed for her aptitude and drive. In a recent quarter, she took 22 credits, divided between classes at Clark College and online at a community college in Texas.
Parrao moved from Chile to the Pacific Northwest with his family when he was 15 and spoke no English. Learning English was a challenge, but he was determined to show his parents that their efforts to come here were not in vain. He went from taking English as a Second Language classes to graduating from Battle Ground High School with honors in 2009. Although he’s a legal resident of the U.S., he’s not yet a citizen and was not eligible for federal or state financial aid. He works for months to save enough money to take a single class; for his first three years at Clark, he took only one or two classes a year.
EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
These Clark County students were named to the winter 2015 dean’s list.
Battle Ground: Mitchell Ball; Meghan Bradseth; Alyssa Castaneda; Kylie Chapman; Megan Darrow; Alla Drokina; Mary Head; Emily Jones; Amber Peterson; Morgan Rude; Anthony Taylor; Dylan Wells; Joel Wiley.
Brush Prairie: Samantha Berry; James Fleming; Kurtis Godfrey; Leah Howard; Katherine Lee; Megan Ostby; Elizabeth Sparks.
Camas: Joshua Bates; Christopher Bettis; Matthew Danis; Derrick Derryberry; Michael Digenova; Zachary Eagle; Reilly Hennessey; Alyssa Heredia; Danika Jones; Allyson Lesesne; Mikaela Norrish; McKenna Paulsen; Hali Ramirez; Courtney Swan; Renee Valenter; Madalena Volpi; Melissa Williams.
La Center: Joseph Hantho; Michael Hantho.
Vancouver: Olivia Beals; Christina Bennett; Zach Chapman; Drew Clark; Allyson Crooks; Anna Cuneta; Caitlind Douglass; Brittany Ellingsen; Meg Farness; Raymond Figuracion; Paige Halle; Kandise Holcomb; Tyler Jollie; Kira Kallem; Travis Landers; William Lopez; Ashley Marshall; Kaela Marti; Aaron Mathisen; Jacob Meyer; Justin Mitchell; Brittney Newell; Rebecca Oliver; Justice Oneel; Melissa Phillips; N’Diya Pumphery; Richard Santa Ana; Caitlyn Southerland; Tealagean Spring; Elohino Theodore; Destinee Thomas; Benjamin Thompson; Ashley Weber.
Washougal: Amanda Acheson; Kaitlyn Johnson; Kari Johnson; Erin Locke; Matthew Magers; Caylem Nunes; Trent Stauffer.
MULTNOMAH UNIVERSITY, PORTLAND
Abigail Ridgeway of Vancouver was named to the fall 2014 dean’s list.
P3: PEOPLE, PROSPERITY AND THE PLANET COMPETITION WINNERS
Ryan Sumner of Ridgefield, a chemistry student at Western Washington University, was part of a team of students that won a $75,000 first-place grant with its prototype of a Smart Solar Window in a competition headed by the Environmental Protection Agency, April 12 in Washington, D.C. The team of chemistry, engineering, design and business students — eight from WWU and one from the University of Washington — was awarded $15,000 earlier in the year by the EPA to develop the prototype and bring it to the P3 competition. The team will use the $75,000 grant to further develop the prototype. The design is the first transparent window that harnesses energy from the sun, converts it to electricity and cuts down on a building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning costs. The window can be operated wirelessly through a phone, computer or a building’s ventilation system, and automatically opens and closes to provide cooling and ventilation.
Submissions: pauline.sipponen@columbian.com or 360-735-4524.
