WSU’s Congressional and Legislative Staff Tour continued Tuesday with a visit to the North Puget Sound. The day kicked off at the newest campus in the WSU system in Everett, where leaders from WSU Everett and regional community colleges spoke to the group about how their campuses are working together to prepare a homegrown workforce that industry leaders in the state need.
WSU Everett Chancellor Paul Pitre joined representatives from Everett and Edmonds community colleges and Skagit Valley College to talk through how they are working together to ease the movement of students from the two-year sector to the four-year sector and identify strategies for improvement.
The group also had the chance to hear directly from current and former WSU Everett students about their paths to higher education, and challenges and opportunities they encountered in seeking their degrees. Victoria Peters explained she was not ready after high school to take on the rigors of seeking a postsecondary credential but later found her prospects limited without one. After enrolling in Everett Community College, she discovered WSU’s Everett campus across the street, where she is now pursuing a degree in Business Management.
“I thought there was no way to go to Washington State…” she said. “I don’t think I could have found a better opportunity.”
Later, the tour visited the WSU Snohomish County Master Gardeners’ Jennings Park Demonstration Garden, a large working garden open to the public. The Master Gardeners that tend to this area have deep ties to the local community and provide education and resources to those looking to start their own gardens, regardless of the space available. Approximately 3,000 pounds of food grown in the garden last year was donated to local food banks.
The group then visited the nearby Marysville Historical Society Museum, where they met with WSU Extension food nutrition leaders from Snohomish, Whatcom, and Pierce counties to learn about the Food for Thought Backpack program. At the museum, tour participants helped pack bags of nutritional ingredients and a recipe for using them to prepare a nutritional pasta meal. The bags will be delivered to Domestic Violence Services Snohomish County.
The group departed Snohomish County, making a stop at DeLille Cellars in Woodinville en route to the WSU Puyallup Research & Extension Center to learn about the winery’s operations and hear from the Washington Wine Commission about how they collaborate closely with WSU to provide critical research to the growing industry.
“In order to make great wine, you’ve got to have great fruit. The ag piece is super important,” said Tom Dugan, general manager at the winery.
Being in Western Washington for the staff tour this year did not thwart the al fresco farm dinner that the trip is known for. The evening concluded with dinner at the WSU Pierce County Master Gardener’s Demonstration Garden where the group had a chance to see a demonstration by a recent Ph.D. graduate from the WSU BreadLab.
