Bertha Ortega
Yakima Valley College is pleased to welcome Bertha Ortega to YVC’s Board of Trustees. Ortega was one of the founders of Heritage University and served as its vice president of academic afairs at the time of her retirement in 2013. Ortega grew up in Toppenish, Wash., and graduated from Toppenish High School. Throughout her career, she has focused on improving education and quality of life in the Yakima Valley. Prior to helping establish Heritage University, she worked as an instructor for health and human services at Seattle Central Community College, director of education transportation and early childhood specialist for the Yakama Nation and as a state bilingual liaison for the Ofce of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “I’m honored to serve as a trustee for YVC,” stated Ortega. “Dr. Kaminski has brought a new culture of what a community college can do for education, especially in a rural community. She has advanced the opportunities of a community college education to new heights and I want to be a part of a team of educators that aford those opportunities to our communities!” Ortega replaces Rosalinda Mendoza whose term ended on Sept. 30, 2020. Her term of ofce is efective January 27, 2021. YVC History Instructor John T. Menard recently presented on the topic of Bert Grant and Yakima Beer during the Sunrise Rotary Club’s monthly meeting. The subject, which was part of Menard’s master’s thesis, is one he’s presented on in the past, including last year during the YVC Faculty Lecture Series. Menard is working on a formal publication of his thesis work.
Jef Turner
Congratulations to Jef Turner, recipient of the Fall 2020 Classifed Employee of the Quarter. Turner is a Maintenance Mechanic II in Facility Operations.
YVC says goodbye to Brown, Hassen, Ferguson and Harves YVC’s campus community has sufered the loss of four former staf and friends of the college. Terry Brown served as president of Yakima Valley College from 1981 to 1985. He later served as chancellor of the Community Colleges of Spokane from 1987 until he retired in 1998. During his tenure at YVC, he was responsible for attracting seven Oregon community colleges to the NW Athletics Association of Community Colleges and initiated the YVC Athletic Hall of Fame. Carol Hassen taught art classes at YVC from 1985 to 1992 and was director of the Larson Gallery from 1989 to 2006. She also taught art at CWU for 9 years; served on the Advisory Board for the CWU College of Arts and Humanities for 7 years; and was the executive director for Gallery One in Ellensburg for 5 years. Her work has been featured in various local, state and national exhibitions. Most recently, Hassen and her husband, former YVC faculty member Bob Fisher, opened their working studio (Hassen Fisher Studio) to the public. Pam Ferguson was instrumental in the development of YVC’s English-as-a-Second Language program in which she taught and coordinated community locations from 1987 to 2015. Her instructional approach was grounded in the lives of her students and the futures they desired for themselves and their families. Ferguson was a key advocate for developing transition programs that enabled students to move beyond ESL into college courses, including being a moving force behind the development of YVC’s Spanish for Heritage Learners program. Mike Harves' frst teaching position was in Australia for two years. When he returned to the States, he began his teaching career in Union Gap, moved to Davis High School and ended his career at Yakima Valley College, where he taught from September 1991-June 2010. Upon retirement he moved to Spokane and volunteered to tutor nursing students at Spokane Falls Community College. He greatly relished his time with all of his students.
Winter 2021 18
PEOPLE
YVC welcomes Bertha Ortega to Board of Trustees
