Wenatchee Valley College graduation and nurses pinning ceremonies

Wenatchee Valley College commencement exercises are scheduled for Friday, June 15, for the Wenatchee campus and Saturday, June 16, for the Omak campus. The GED/high school completion graduations will be included in the ceremonies. The nurses pinnings will be held June 15 for the Wenatchee campus and June 16 for the Omak campus.

The Wenatchee commencement ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. in the Town Toyota Center. The Omak campus commencement will begin at 1 p.m. in the Omak Performing Arts Center.

The Wenatchee campus nurses pinning for completion of the registered nursing certificate and associate degree of nursing program will take place at 1 p.m. at the Town Toyota Center. The Omak campus capping and pinning ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. in the Omak Performing Arts Center.

Steve Weber, entrepreneur, speaker, aspiring author and actor, will speak to the Wenatchee campus graduates. Weber worked as a journeyman metal fabricator/welder in Philadelphia and later earned a degree in business-marketing from San Jose State University. He began a sales career in 1987 in the Silicon Valley, working as a high-tech parts and semi-conductor capital equipment sales representative. Since 1991, he has worked exclusively as a contract business consultant and commission-only sales representative. He now lives in the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. While working and traveling, seeing new cities and watching new businesses start up, Weber began using inspirational messages for entertainment and promotional purposes. He has developed a series of topics that are relevant to success in business and in life.

The guest speaker at the Omak ceremony will be Tamra Jackson, Bridgeport High School principal and a college English instructor. Jackson has been a leader in her school and community for nearly 26 years. Under her leadership, Bridgeport High School has enjoyed national attention, having been chosen as one of the top three finalists in the Race to the Top Presidential Commencement Challenge in spring 2011. The school was ranked as a Gold Medal School in the U.S. News & World Report’s Best High Schools this spring, as the eighth Best Public High School in Washington state, and it is in the top one percent of all high schools in the nation. The 2011 Washington State ASCD State Team Award for “College in the High School Program” was presented to Bridgeport High School and Wenatchee Valley College for their collaborative work to make a significant, positive impact on student learning and serving as a model for other educators.

Jackson was a 2009-10 Teacher Ambassador Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education and was selected to be the 2011-12 Distinguished League Principal of the Year for the Central Washington “B” League. She has worked as a member of the Writing Assessment Leadership Team for Washington state, and she volunteers as an EMT for the Bridgeport Volunteer Fire and Ambulance.

President’s Medals, Academic Achievement Awards, the WVC Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year and the WVC Distinguished Alumni Award, as well as the Omak campus Most Supportive Partner, are among the awards that will be presented during the college ceremonies.