When the South Seattle Community College Foundation was formed in 1981, Helen served as the first president of the Board of Directors. Helen’s leadership helped the SSCC Foundation successfully complete a $2.1 million capital campaign for the Culinary Arts building; she also led efforts to create the six-acre arboretum on campus. In addition to her service at South Seattle Community College, Helen has also been very active in the Federated Women’s Club, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the P.E.O. Club. She has served as president for each of these groups.

Helen has received both local and national recognition for her dedication. She was appointed by three Washington State governors to serve on the Seattle Community College District Board of Trustees, where she served two terms as the chair. In 1982 Helen was among 12 community college volunteers to be invited by President Reagan to travel to the White House for a conference on volunteerism.

Mrs. Sutton was instrumental in the establishment of South Seattle Community College and was appointed by the governor to the Seattle Community College District Board of Trustees, serving two terms, from 1975 to 1985.

Roberta’s remarkable vision for forging partnerships between businesses and other organizations to create a vibrant community made her a natural leader in the Seattle area. South Seattle Community College President Emeritus Jerry M. Brockey immediately recognized her talents and invited Roberta to join the President’s Advisory Council to give him advice on how the College could meet the needs of area businesses.

Roberta’s service on the President’s Advisory Council was so impressive, that she was quickly asked to join the Foundation Board of Directors. “Right away I was impressed by the board’s passion for the College,” Roberta says. “I immediately felt like I belonged.”

Upon joining the Foundation Board of Directors, Roberta

jumped right into a leadership role. She served as cochair of the Culinary Arts Campaign, which was South’s first capital campaign. Thanks to Roberta’s leadership, the effort was an enormous success, raising $2.5 million for a new facility, program equipment and student scholarships.

In 2003, Roberta served as the President of the Foundation, during which time she implemented South’s signature event, “Gifts From the Earth,” which is a unique wine pairing dinner that has become a highlight for the entire community. During her time as President, the Foundation also awarded a record number of scholarships and began a campaign for the Landscape Horticulture program.

In addition to her many hours of volunteer work, Roberta also expresses her commitment through her personal gifts to the Foundation. “Not only do I know the power of the hundreds of lives South touches every year, but I know individual gifts are needed for this to happen. And it’s a great feeling to know that I’ve been able to help these students.”

South Seattle Community College is just one of the many organizations touched by Roberta’s dedication. She has held leadership positions for Altrusa International, the Seattle Aquarium Society and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. She is also active in Seattle Rotary #4 and was selected to be part of a trip to Ethiopia to bring polio vaccines and other supplies to the region. Recently, she was awarded the “The Jeri MacDonald Community Service Award” from Bank of America and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

Carolyn was selected after the awards committee received outstanding nominations and letters of support from her co-workers on campus. The following was in the letter announcing Carolyn’s honor: “We feel that you have consistently demonstrated commitment and excellence in job performance and dedication to the mission and goals of your institution, as well as dedication to the professional development of the classified staff on your campus.” Carolyn will receive her award at the 2007 STTACC Conference in August.

Betsy was given the award based on nominations from her colleagues. The following are two quotes that give you an idea of Betsy’s dedication: “Betsy is one of the wheels that keep the Duwamish campus running. She is dedicated and pays attention to even the smallest things that can make the site welcoming and pleasant. The support that she gives our program is exceptional.”

“Betsy has always been active in trying to make South a great place to work. She is continually connecting people and programs. In fact, she could be called a matchmaker for her unique ability to bring the neighborhood community into the campus community.”

“I’m more a forest than a trees person,” she says. “If I see that you can think, that’s sometimes more important than getting the answer right. In three-fourths of biology you can make the case for whatever you argue. Just be able to support your idea and convince me.

” After completing an MS in Marine Biology from Cal State, she spent six years as a research biologist conducting field work on the physical and reproductive health of marine mammals in Alaska. She returned to school to earn a PhD in physiology from UC Davis, followed by postdoctoral research in comparative reproduction and human reproductive physiology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Washington, where she was a National Institutes of Health researcher.

Dr. Browne realized she had a passion for teaching and appreciates the students here at South, ranging from Running Start teens to 60-year olds. “They bring an eclectic set of experiences to the classroom, which is fantastic,” she says. “They keep me on my toes.”

In her free time, Dr. Browne volunteers with Giving Real Options to Women (GROW), a non-profit organization that serves female inmates in the King County correctional system by providing educational workshops specifically designed to address the needs of incarcerated women.

After working in fatigue and damage tolerance at The Boeing Company for five years, she began her community college teaching career, joining South’s faculty in 2002.

As someone who started her educational path at a community college, she appreciates the quality a two-year school offers, noting that “At the community college, students can talk to the teacher, and the teacher wants to talk to students. Teachers are here because they love their subject and they really want to deal with students.”

He went on to earn a bachelors in Political Science, a masters in History, and a PhD in Political Science, History, and Arabic Languages & Literature from the University of Washington. He views history and political science as dynamic and inseparable, explaining, “History is data; political science tries to explain ‘why.’

A father of five, Dr. Othman’s concern for students is based on a simple principle.“I treat them the way I would like others to treat my own children. You have to let them know you care.”

After a distinguished 20-year military career, he began teaching composition, developmental writing and literature at South, where he appreciates the family-like atmosphere that encourages solidarity, fun, and close relationships.

Noting that some of his students have never read a complete book, he constantly works to convince them of literature’s relevance, showing them how situations found in books, even the classics, are representative of what’s going on in the world today.

“I also want them to realize how much enjoyment they can get out of literature, and how it can be related to them,” he adds. “I want them to realize that literature can have an impact.”

He considers the opportunity to really get to know his students through the personal stories they share in essays and composition an especially gratifying aspect of teaching.

“I get to know them as individuals, not just a name on the roster.”

That personal attention, plus the enthusiasm he generates for his subject matter, has made Dela-Cruz a favorite of South students for more than a decade.

“Diversity means differences. We have diversity all around us,” she says. “But when people start to treat those differences as bad, and start to judge people as having less value because of their differences, that’s the problem.”

South students, she believes, will be especially wellprepared for life in the global workforce not simply because of their exposure to diversity here, but the constant opportunities for interaction with others on campus and in the classroom.

California born and raised, Heard-Johnson earned a Master’s degree in Education Leadership from the University of Oregon. She was recently recognized for her advocacy and accomplishments with a Trustees Lifelong Learning award.

The former South ESL student graduated in 1997 from the Automotive Technology program and, after becoming an ASE-certified Master Technician and working as an industry professional, he returned to the college as a full-time instructor.

Students enter the program with widely varying skills, and seeing them grasp difficult concepts is his greatest satisfaction. “That kind of feeling is, believe me, stronger than the feeling when I get my paycheck,” he says, only half-jokingly. “Not that I don’t like my paycheck, but when students get something, that’s a different kind of payment. It’s very rewarding.”

Amesquita focuses on exposing students to the many possibilities open to them in the automotive industry, while preparing them not just for today, but a future of hybrids and increasingly complex automotive systems.

She has been described as having “enough energy to light up West Seattle … if not the entire city.” Impatient with things that slow down the process of learning, she keeps her classes lively and relevant.

Esterberg’s Spanish classes feature a similarly-spirited environment in which students explore the broad spectrum of ways we communicate and learn how to make that communication effective. “I try to make it as authentic and meaningful as possible,” she explains. “Language is more than just words; it’s an attitude you convey.” She finds that when students are committed and engaged in the process, “The payoff is really exciting.” Esterberg, raised in a multi-cultural family, embraced adventure early on. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Earlham College, she has lived and traveled extensively and remains actively involved in the Bainbridge- Ometepe (Nicaragua) Sister Islands Association (BOSIA), a humanitarian organization founded by her parents over 20 years ago. “It is a wonderful association that has become a fundamental part of my family’s shared experience,” she says.

Esterberg has developed and presented cross cultural training workshops for participating delegations of educators, medical personnel, students, and social workers, and has also served as an interpreter on site in Nicaragua. Both instructors were Teaching Assistants and earned graduate degrees from the University of Washington – Esterberg a Master’s in Spanish and Gilman a Master of Arts for Teachers (MAT) with a focus on writing. A community college teaching career appealed to each. Says Esterberg, “I wanted to teach in absolutely the most diverse environment possible, where it’s education for all people. It’s the most inspiring thing about this place. We get to interact with people from all over the world and communicate with one another. It’s a completely fantastic mix.”

Adds Gilman, who attended Tacoma Community College prior to the UW, “I’m a product of it, and I know what it’s like to be a community college student. Dollar for dollar, this is where it’s happening. There’s everything right with community colleges.“