Success Stories
Linda Ackers
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Kevin Alltucker
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Karin Clarke
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James Florendo
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Don Rainer
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Just married and bound for success: Rites of Passage grads look ahead
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Lane "completely turned my life around" says graduate Shyloh West
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Mother of 8 achieves her dream
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Melanie Harvey first came to Lane Community College in 1979
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Nursing student Dave Vizcaino loves the facilities at Lane
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Melisa McDowell is going to be a science teacher
"There aren't enough women teaching science. I'd like to change this. I want to be part of the solution."
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Darrell Wygle welds a second career
"It was hard to hold my head up when my world, as I knew it, came crashing down on me."
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Student veteran pursues new mission: get an education
“Sometimes I still walk like a Marine,” admits the 28-year-old military veteran. “I have a mission-oriented walk.”
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Online classes help athlete juggle multiple balls
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Student veteran sees education as the key to change
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Kevin Barrett maps a new career in GIS systems
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Broadway Apothecary prescription for success: LCC small business program
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John Morris enjoys a new career in health care
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Pepper Smelser finds second career in medical records
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Dale Duvall honored as Employee of the Year
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Energy inspires new career for Matt Heflin
Soon he may appear in your home again, or maybe your business, this time as an energy auditor with a degree from Lane Community College. |
Former construction supervisor designs second career in drafting
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Education helps Teresa Alonso help others
As migrant workers, her parents depended on Teresa to care for four younger siblings and to help manage the family finances. |
Distinguished Alumni: Dr. Bill Moshofsky
He enrolled at Lane in 1972 and transferred to the University of Oregon for a bachelor’s degree, and then to what’s now known as Oregon Health & Science University for a doctorate. He interned at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and worked at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to pay back a National Health Service Corp scholarship. He completed his residency in family medicine at the University of California Davis in 1985. |
Faculty Spotlight: Jim Garcia Multicultural Center welcomes student
One of the best places to find that support is at the college’s Multicultural Center, Jim says. |
Student Activism Empowers April-Kay Williams
“Lane, and Eugene, have had a great impact on my life,” Williams says. As a member of theOregon Students of Color Coalition, she provided firsthand accounts to legislators about how community college budget cuts would impact the lives of students of color. |
Distinguished Alumni: Fletcher Little
Fletcher graduated from Lane in 1974 with an associate degree in business management. He then began working at The Register-Guard as an ad services proof advisor. He moved up the ranks after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. In 1987 he was promoted to general manager, and in 2005 he became vice president of business development and Internet publishing. |
Faculty Spotlight: Jean Bishop Thrilled to be teaching
Soon after graduating, she discovered the readings of Maria Montessori. She agreed with the early 19th-Century educator’s philosophy that classroom teachers should respect and encourage each child’s expressions of creativity. She wanted to become a teacher and implement that philosophy herself. |
Pat Riggs-Henson earns Education Volunteer of the Year award
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Distinguished Alumni: Greg Ausland Designs Success
Ausland took engineering courses at Lane in the 1980s and transferred to Oregon State University to get his bachelor’s degree. After college, he got a job at OBEC Consulting Engineers of Eugene, where he is now a principal. OBEC is recognized as the state’s top engineering firm. |
Faculty Spotlight: Allison Cunningham Math fear? Not here!
Part-time at Lane since 2006, she says, “The students are so personally invested in their educations. I feel honored to be able to help them along the way.” |
Outstanding faculty win awards at Lane
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Women's basketball team defends 71-home game winning streak
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Serving students for 27 years |
Layne Clemen engineers success |
Spring Term Faculty Recognition Awards go to Imonen, DiMarco |
Jonathan Morton transfers to a teaching career
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These college grads are headed back to high school Russell student-taught high school math classes while still at Lane, and Soriano tutored biology students in the campus science resource center. |
Distinguished Alumni Betty Doerr refers her students to Lane Community College Betty earned an associate degree from Lane in 1991. She transferred to Western Oregon University where she earned a bachelor’s in psychology and teaching, and a master’s in education with an emphasis in learning disabilities. She graduated summa cum laude and at the top of her class. |
Faculty Spotlight: Merrill Watrous Educating the Teachers of Tomorrow Taking the exercise a step further, Watrous asks her students, all aspiring teachers, to learn something immediately about each classmate and to memorize every name. |
Path Takes Student From Parenting, to College, to Career But ever since she and her parents moved from Michoacan, Mexico to Lake Chelan, Washington in 1990, Radillo pushed ahead with a can-do attitude. She had a 6th grade education and spoke no English when she entered the sophomore class at a local high school. But English as a Second Language classes combined with the standard curricula helped her graduate a year and a half later with basic language and math skills. |
Distinguished Alumni Lorraine Kerwood: Takes the Next Step Lorraine started with adult education classes and then took college credit classes and joined the Transitions to Success program for women. She transferred to the University of Oregon and earned a bachelor’s degree, then returned to Lane for the Nonprofit Management Program at the Business Development Center. |
Faculty Spotlight: Mary Foust Instructor, helps students access career pathways They’re shy, yet they know they need additional academic skills to embark on a new career path. She and other ABSE instructors help students “who need to brush up on their skills after high school, or who come back for training, or who require extra help because English is their second language.” |
FACULTY AWARDS GO TO SUSAN REDDOOR, KATIE SWETT, AND TIM BLOOD |
Student begins speech pathology career at Lane |
Distinguished Alumni Juan Carlos Valle: Giving Back to the Community |
Faculty Spotlight: Velda Arnaud In just four years, instructor Velda Arnaud and her students have created one of the best honor society chapters in the nation at Lane Community College. |
After 18 years in manufacturing, Jeff Lande’s pursing a new career in radiology |
Congressman DeFazio helps secure $330,000 for Lane |
Fiji Native Starts a New Life at Lane |
Sherry Duerst-Higgins: Supporting Kids and Community |
Faculty Spotlight: Don Hildenbrand Don Hildenbrand has been teaching Tai Chi and other martial arts at Lane since 1975. While being semi-retired, he continues to teach Better Bones and Balance: A Risk Reduction Exercise Program for Osteoporosis and also Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance. |
Molly Bedortha: Caring for the Community |
Student Follows Her Dream |
Faculty Spotlight: Margaret Robertson Lane instructor Margaret Robertson balances her roles as educator and planner by allowing them to intertwine. Margaret teaches engineering graphics, landscape technology, and mechanical drafting courses, and she is the recipient of one of Lane’s 2008 Faculty Recognition Awards. The award recognizes her significant |
Lee Beyer: Political Science Student Becomes Community Leader |
Faculty Spotlight: Cindy Cabrera-Bratton Cindy Cabrera-Bratton studied nursing at Lane Community College. Now she teaches here and calls it the best challenge of a lifetime. “Nursing is such an evolving profession, you constantly have to learn or you fall behind the curve.” |
Flash Floods Sweep Athlete Into Track Career |
Cambra Ward: From intern to vice president |
Faculty Spotlight: Julia Munkvold Julia Munkvold’s proudest achievement in her teaching career is assisting thousands of students to "move into the professional nurse role with a sense of excellence and caring." Since coming to Lane in 1980, she has "taught just about every nursing course at one time or another," and Julia has been the coordinator of the nursing program for the past three years. She has been at the forefront of change in nursing education through her involvement in web-based instruction, simulation
technology, and collaboration with the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education. |
Students offer advice on Life @ Lane |
Dr. John Holtzapple cares for patients and community |
Learning leads to Activism for Marilen Delgado |
Veteran and humanitarian seeks flight degree |
Footbagger and scholar achieves her dreams at Lane |
A passion for caring transforms into a nursing career |
Three women succeed in college and life |
Faculty Spotlight: Kelly Collins In the mornings, he studies nursing. In the afternoons, he teaches Health Records Technology. Since Kelly knows what it's like to sweat a test, he uses interaction and humor to help students relax. He wrote a popular Pictionary game to explain the difficult jargon of medical terminology. |
Alison Donway's career took flight at Lane |
Matti instructs students in the proper methods of medical office procedures, and helps students prepare for certification exams and employment. |
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"The reward for me is to see students not only survive, but thrive," she says. |
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It happened again. A bright-eyed young woman approached Lane alumna Marciann Gaston in a public place and introduced herself. |
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As
a high school journalism student in 1968, Peter Gribskov was
wondering about life after graduation when he was assigned
to photograph Lane’s new 30th Avenue campus construction. |
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Kudos and congratulations to Linda Ackers, winner of Lane's November 2011 Classified Employee of the Month Award. Linda maintains the Lane Community College library website ( 
Today, engineer Kevin Alltucker is an advocate for at-risk children and families. His career began at Lane Community College where he enrolled in 1978, transferring two years later to Oregon State University for a degree in construction engineering. Kevin began working in the construction industry on large-scale international projects and later added advocacy for children to his life’s mission.
After earning a bachelor's degree in theatre arts at the University of Oregon, Karin Clarke wasn't ready to stop learning. She decided to enroll in Lane Community College's graphic arts program.
As a member of the Wasco nation, one of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, his deep roots in and knowledge of Native American traditions is a valuable asset in understanding the needs and dreams of the growing number of Native American students choosing Lane to begin their higher education.
Don Rainer was born and raised in Eugene. Lane Community College was the logical next step for Don when he graduated from Marist High School. He knew that he wanted to earn a four-year degree, but did not know what he would focus on.
Carmen and Justin Meyers are newlyweds. Both graduated from the African American Rites of Passage program for middle school and high school youth at Lane Community College, in different years.
"I had many people in my life tell me I was too smart to be selling myself short, that I needed to go back to school and do something better with my life. I had no idea what I wanted to do, except get my education up to par."
Meet college graduate Lorra Jones
"I lived 30 years knowing I had failed at something that meant so much to me. My life has made an abrupt turn in the past year and a half since I stepped back into the halls of LCC with renewed hope, strength, purpose, goals and dreams."
"Last year our classrooms and labs were scattered, overcrowded, and outdated. This new Health and Wellness Center creates a special environment for students and teachers to come together, collaborate, and achieve." 
Once nearly homeless, Melisa McDowell is on her way to a teaching career in science 
In 2008, Darrell Wygle was laid off from his job in a local machine shop. 
When Lane Community College student Matt Ray walks into a room, it’s hard not to notice his erect posture and no-nonsense gait.
If it weren’t for online courses, student
Makenzie Ficek says she might not
have the time to play on the Lane
Community College Titan basketball
team.
Rande White of Springfield, at age 52 he has begun to search for a future where he can give back to the community. He's getting started at Lane Community College.
Kevin Barrett was one of hundreds of people laid off from Monaco Coach in Coburg, Oregon in 2009. Monaco was one of Lane County's largest employers but could not resist the economic downturn sweeping the nation.
As Eugene's first compounding pharmacy, Broadway Apothecary offers custom-made medicines for people and pets. It is the first in the state of Oregon and one of the first in the nation to earn the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board's new seal of accreditation, awarded to pharmacies that have demonstrated the industry's highest quality and safety standards. 
John Morris of Eugene worked as a designer most of his life. Today he's working as a nursing assistant and considering continuing his education to become a physical or occupational therapy aide or even a therapist.
After Pepper Smelser received her lay off notice in 2008, she knew she needed to return to school to develop new job skills. Although she had refined her planning and organizational skills during 28 years as a "traffic" manager at a Northwest television station - ensuring that programming ran on time and was continuous, whether a TV program, a commercial or a public service announcement - she says the saturated broadcasting market offered few job possibilities.
Dale Duvall, network server administrator in the Information Technology department at Lane Community College, was honored as the Employee of the Year at college in-service on Sept. 23, 2010.
You might have a product of Matt Heflin's creativity in your home—he used to develop inkjet printer technology at Hewlett Packard. 
David Wright lost his job as a construction supervisor after 15 years with the same company. Mindful of the downward turn in the economy, he was not surprised. He started looking for options and found them at Lane Community College.
Teresa Alonso’s parents were dead set against her moving to Eugene to earn a General Equivalency Diploma (GED). A year later, she again had to convince them to let her enroll in transfer classes at Lane Community College.
It’s a long and arduous road to becoming a physician. Dr. Bill Moshofsky started his journey at Lane Community College.
First-time students and those who are the first in their families to attend college generally need a little extra support, says Jim Garcia, Chicano/Latino Student Program Coordinator at Lane Community College.
She says she used to be shy. These days, 23-year-old Lane Community College student April-Kay Williams is comfortable making 15-minute testimonies before Oregon legislators.
Lane Community College alumnus Fletcher Little has created a legacy of volunteerism.
Jean Bishop followed a very determined path to her work as an early childhood education instructor at Lane Community College.
Former Lane Community College Board of Education member Pat Riggs-Henson received the Education and Schools Volunteer of the Year Award at the sixth annual volunteer awards luncheon on April 22, 2010, sponsored by United Way of Lane County and The Register-Guard.
Ever admire Oregon’s historic covered bridges? Lane Community College alumnus and civil engineer Greg Ausland helped restore 26 of them.
Allison Cunningham loves her job as a math teacher at Thurston High School. So much so that she treasures the chance to spend her summers teaching algebra and math refresher classes at Lane Community College.
Jessica has demonstrated leadership and a commitment to students who are seeking a career in health professions. 
Starting sophomore and league all-star Theresa Brown, the last time Lane Community College's women's basketball team lost a home game was eight years ago - on Dec. 6, 2001.
Connie Rowlett, administrative coordinator for the Science Division at Lane Community College, was named Employee of the Year at fall in-service on Sept. 23, 2009. 
Layne Clemen started Lane Community College at 17. Now he works for Systems West and has been accepted into the University of California at Davis doctoral program in engineering. 
Spring term Faculty Recognition Awards were presented to sculpture instructor Lee Imonen and Transitions to Success instructor Cara DiMarco in surprise presentations last week. The awards are based on nominations from students, staff, faculty and alumni.
"Starting over is not impossible," he says, his dream of becoming a social studies teacher within reach. "Lane Community College showed me what I can be."
Recent Lane Community College graduates Andrea Russell and Jeremy Soriano are passionate learners who’ve demonstrated they’ll be passionate classroom teachers too.
Lane Community College served Betty Doerr so well that she refers all of her own students here.
On the first day of class, Merrill Watrous snaps photos of her Lane Community College students and asks them to write letters introducing
“I never in my dreams thought I would go to college,” admits 35-year-old Barbara Radillo, a married mother of two.
Lorraine Kerwood has looked to Lane Community College for almost 20 years to achieve her dreams.
Mary Foust understands that it takes courage for students to enroll in her Adult Basic and Secondary Education classes at Lane.
Winter Term Faculty Recognition Awards have been presented to three outstanding instructors.
Faculty Recognition Awards are conferred each term based on nominations from students, staff, faculty and alumni.
Access to an affordable education and a small class environment brought Maria Rosa Fabian Alvizo to Lane Community College. By next fall she will have completed an Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree, her first credential toward a career as a bilingual speech pathologist serving Spanish-speaking families with children.
He was an immigrant who didn’t finish high school and couldn’t speak English. Twice after arriving in Eugene, he found himself homeless.
Honor society advisor helps students achieve their best
Jeff Lande worked at PW Pipe in Eugene for 18 years. It was a good job. It paid well and provided health insurance, and along with his wife’s income as an educational assistant for special needs kids, the couple was able to buy a house, drive new cars, and look forward to a good future for themselves and their four children. Jeff even bought a fishing boat.
The federal omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 11, 2009, includes $330,000 for Lane Community College for nursing labs and equipment. Congressman Peter DeFazio worked for the appropriation over the past year.
Diraj Singh never dreamed that he would make the best professional
Ask real estate broker Sherry Duerst-Higgins where she gets her passion for public service, and she’s quick to say it’s all about “kids and community.”
Helping Students Achieve Better Balance
Imagine being a nurse with 24,000 possible patients. That’s the large and varied practice that Molly Bedortha maintains as a leader of the Triage Team at the University of Oregon’s Student Health Center.
Amber Adams wanted to keep sight of her professional goal, so in bold lipstick strokes across her bathroom mirror, she wrote: “I will become a dental hygienist.”
Planning for the Future
The roots of Lee Beyer's deep and flourishing public service career can be traced back to 1973 when he was a student at Lane Community College studying journalism and political science.
The challenge of a lifetime
Sometimes the path that a person should take in life becomes clear in a flash. For Cody Fleming, it came in a flash flood.
Cambra Ward has a big job. She's the vice president and general manager of KMTR-TV and the regional vice president of the Northwest Group for Clear Channel Television. Before her graduation from Lane Community College in 1984 with an associate of science degree in Broadcast and Visual Design, she took the first steps to reach her current position with an internship through Lane as a studio camera operator.
Teaching the nurses of today and tomorrow
Jessica Rojas admits that she "didn't know how to use a computer" when she enrolled at Lane four years ago. The 31-year-old student in Environmental Science says a Student Service Associate in Career and Employment Services helped
her to get started. "I was a little embarrassed, and they helped me through it."
Dr. John Holtzapple began his remarkable career in health care by earning an associate's degree in nursing at Lane Community College in 1983. Now, as a longtime family medical physician with PeaceHealth Medical Group, he is well known for his respectful and compassionate dedication to patients.
Marilen Delgado didn't intend to become a political activist. "It just kind of happened," she says, when she served as chair of the Latino Student Union at Lane Community College during her second year.
Tyson Bumgardner is achieving his dream of being a pilot, with a degree from Lane Community College.
Shawnell Tolliver is an associate degree student at Lane Community College--and a top freestyle footbagger!
Michaelia Carroll is the only one of 10 siblings to go to college. She’s earning an associate’s degree in nursing at Lane Community College. 
Three women succeed in college and life with support from the Transitions to Success program at Lane Community College. Seated: Lorna Zimmerman. Standing, from left: Jennifer Cromwell and Tamera Zimmerman.
You can’t keep Kelly Collins out of the classroom.
After Alison Donway graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in both English and economics, she decided to pursue an associate of applied science degree in Flight Technology at Lane Community College. Now, as service manager for the 750 pilots who fly for Horizon Air, she says, "Lane's flight program was the best choice by far" to give her the skills she needed for a successful career in aviation.
Matti Tabor graduated from the Medical Office Assisting program at Lane Community College at the top of her class. Today, she’s at the front of the class-teaching and inspiring others.
For 18-year-old Josh Simmons, enrolling in 
Mark Schmidt at Turner Construction Company keeps a vigilant eye on incoming e-mails from subcontractors working on the Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, currently the largest construction project in the Northwest.
Susanne Pechnick was in the right place at the right time when she landed a job as a phlebotomist at Oregon Medical Laboratories, the largest clinical and drug-testing laboratory in Oregon, headquartered in Eugene. The 48-year-old Pechnick was completing an internship at OML when a supervisor there told her about the job opening. “I was lucky because they needed someone right away.”
Morgan deVos is well on her way to becoming a massage therapist.
Rob Currier's career choice blends the best of practical and theoretical worlds
Daron Parmenter decided to learn the right way to bring his body back to health after receiving what he calls inferior rehabilitative care following an injury. He says the experience ultimately prompted him to pursue a career working with those who have physical injuries, disabilities and chronic illnesses.
Even after 35 years of teaching, Professional Fitness Training program instructor and Cooperative Education coordinator Sue Thompson still loves her work with a passion.
As a migrant farm worker, Juan José Mora Flores’ father wanted more for his children than a life of physical labor. So in 1993, he moved the family from Mexico to Eugene, where he enrolled Juan José in English as a Second Language classes. The then-9-year-old mastered English and found inspiration for his future.
After two decades working in a lumber mill, Frank Wilson wanted a change. Although uncertain about what to do, he was clear about one thing: “I didn’t want to just look for a job without any formal training,” he says.
A chance to play college hoops while staying close to home made the decision to attend
Lane Community College a slam dunk for Cora McVey. But other unexpected benefits of attending Lane—small class sizes, individual attention from instructors and high-quality core courses—helped Cora decide where she’ll complete her bachelor’s degree and what career path she’ll follow.
“Your course has been recognized as having met Quality Matters review standards,” wrote Kay Kane of the Quality Matters program. “Only about 50 percent of the courses reviewed have been recognized."
Jackie Bryson, career and employment advisor at Lane Community College, has helped three students in a row win the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship. She can be reached at 
When Justin Lam and Daniel Iles attended Lane’s Aviation Summer Academy in 2005, they shadowed air traffic controllers, security personnel and helicopter mechanics at the City of Eugene Airport.
When Henry Parada emigrated from his native war-torn El Salvador in 1985, he couldn’t in his wildest dreams have imagined that he might achieve his boyhood dream of becoming an aviation mechanic.
Even as a young child growing up in Moscow, Russia, Lada Korolknew she had a creative bent. But it wasn’t until she and her family had emigrated to the U.S. that she felt compelled to pursue a career in the graphic arts.
Sometimes the best things in life are free. Take Laneís College Now program ó a learning opportunity available to high school students in Lane County at no cost.
"Lane is phenomenal. There's just no other word for it. If you have any problem, any question, don't know what direction to go, the information and the people are there to help you."
“For me, LCC has been the foundation of everything I've done professionally.” —Marciann Gaston
"She consistently makes me think I can do anything and that even what I am doing is special and amazing," student Lara Coley says of instructor Jennifer von Ammon 
"Lane's impact on my life has been incredible," says 2005/06 Lane Community College Student Body President Jeremy Riel. 
“Here in Eugene, things have come full circle. It took a leap of faith, but I re-enrolled in college to make my dream a reality. —Ephraim C. Payne 
“We really form friendships with our patients; we come to understand many social issues and problems.” —Amy Hogan
“Lane
gave me the basics to help me be a success.” —Peter
Gribskov
"You
can live five weeks without food, five days without water,
but only five minutes without oxygen," notes Roger Hecht,
coordinator of Lane Community College's Respiratory Care program
in Eugene. 
When
Lane Community College diesel technology student Ryan Sederlin
won third place in a national vocational skills competition,
Caterpillar national in Illinois offered him a job. 
“We
are here for a reason, and we are all connected. We need to
find ways to help each other.” —Kathryn
Harrison
Thaddeus
Beebe, Lane flight instructor for the past year and a half
and a graduate of the flight technology program, leaves for
China this month to become a flight instructor at a new Pan
Am flight training facility in the city of Shijiazhuang, capital
of the Hebei province.
"I’ve
been able to use those skills that I started developing at
Lane to bring basic biological research into the applied side
of the world.” —Dan Luoma 
Lane
Community College art student Alex San Pedro loves the bronze sculpture
on Lane's campus depicting a boy in an oversized chair, with a tree
growing from his head...
The
full-sized wrestling ring in the family basement served as a classroom.
There, as young boys, Tom and Billy Pappas learned about persistence,
hard work and fair play...More Success Stories at Lane Community College
- Academic journal recognized for innovation
- Gustafson
Reduces Students’ Stress
- Lane
Graduate is Flying High With Success
- Klupenger
Teaches With Enthusiam
- Small
Business Management Program Produces a Rising Star
- Diesel
Tech Student Wins Third in National Competition
- Caring
and Expertise Earn Five Faculty High Praise
- Campus
Landscape Blooms Thanks to Gifts and Expert Care
- Donations
Boost Medical Office Assisting Program
- Culinary
Arts Graduate Plans a B&B for His Hometown Islet
- From
Illiteracy to University: A Very Determined Woman Finds Her Way
- Graduate
Lands Exciting Engineering Job
- Lane
Opens Doors for Minority Students
- Automotive
Technology Program Jumpstarts Student Success
- English
as a Second Language Program Builds Skills That Lead to Great
Jobs
- Visually
Impaired Student Sees Bright Future Ahead
- Native
Languages Course Weaves Linguistics, Phonetics, World Views and
Philosophies
- Career
Path Leads to Dental Assisting, Real Estate and Statewide Leadership
for This Lifelong Learner
- Worker
Returns to Train for Career as Air Tanker Pilot
- Culinary
Program Serves the Food Service Industry
- Opportunity
Knocks for High School Students
- Construction
Tech Students Help Build Home for Special Family
