Student Newspaper: Cascades Insight
July 2007

Cascades Insight is published monthly by
Cascades Job Corps Center, Sedro-Woolley, Washington.
Managing Editor: Bob Cockburn
Typographer and Web Design: Kate Weisel

Cascades Insight is a monthly publication of Cascades Job Corps Center in Sedro-Woolley. All items for publication must be turned in to the Newspaper Mailbox in the Staff Lounge in the administration building by the 10th of every month. Letters to the Editor must be legible, double spaced, and signed by the writer with complete address and phone number. No letter will be published that is of a personal, libelous, or malicious nature. The writer's name may be deleted by request of writer and acceptance of the editor.

Please scroll down this page to read stories from this issue.

Personal Electronic Devices

The U.S. Department of Labor and Cascades Job Corps Center will NOT be responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged personal electronic devices. This includes cell phones, cameras, laptops, computers, iPods or other MP3 players, PDAs, Blackberry, CD players, or other similar devices.

We encourage students and staff not to bring them on Center, especially the higher-priced mobile devices that are so vulnerable to loss or damage. If you bring them on Center for your personal use, it will be at your OWN RISK only. Thank you for your cooperation.

Center Director's Message

Last Sunday evening we had a front row seat to witness the awesome power of Mother Nature. Five of our students were literally "on stage" when bolts of lightning struck our center. All five were taken to the hospital with a variety of symptoms. We feel very fortunate that they have all recovered. One of them suffered a direct strike; luckily, he lived to tell about it. They will attest, it was too close for comfort. A tree that was struck by lightning during the storm had to be taken down. It was more than 120 feet tall.

It was a semi-cloudy day before the storm struck. Very large dark clouds approached the center and the wind increased. Thunder and lightning were heard and seen in the distance. Lightning storms of this nature are a rarity in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the warning signs were overlooked.

We will be more responsive to the warning signs of severe weather in the future. Training for both staff and students will occur including preventive measures to avoid threats to our personal safety. This was a wake-up call that will not be ignored. Yes, we were very fortunate.

The lesson to be learned is to be more aware of warning signs and take action to prevent harm to ourselves and others. This lesson can be applied to every facet of our lives, not just the weather. We cannot prevent all tragedy and accidents, but some can be minimized and others avoided by heeding the danger signs and taking appropriate action.

Painters Get Work Experience Painting trade students get valuable work experience in this community service project. They are shown painting the Hoogdal Community Club.

Forklift Certification Earned

Several students received their forklift certificates on June 7, 2007. From left to right they are Wade Powell, Bob Tensfeld, Jay Fry, and Adam Lasyone.

The 3rd Annual Diversity Game Show, Brain Freeze

Shown here are Adam Anderson, Amanda Wilder, and Tasha Terwilliger. For results of the Brain Freeze contest.

We had a wonderful turnout June 20, with 35 students that came for some fun and prizes. If any of the winners listed below are in your area, give them a quick congratulations on their prize!. The winners are:

• 1st place, Adam Anderson, $50 cash
• 2nd place, Amanda Wilder, $30 cash
• 3rd place, Tasha Terwilliger, $20 cash

Door Prizes were also handed out to audience members:

• Adam Lasyone won a TV, DVD player, and two movie tickets for an incredible performance in the Repeat After Me game; and showing no greed when he gave up his chance at a second TV to one of the audience members. What a stand up guy!;
• Desirae Golis won a TV for her outstanding performance singing the "SpongeBob" song to our audience;
• Joey McManus won a DVD player;
• Jenny Scollan won a DVD player and a movie ticket;
• Alberto Garcia won 2 movie tickets (he came close to a TV twice!);
• Wallace Crom won 4 movie tickets;
• Leanna Campbell won the TV that we had such a hard time giving away;
• Nick Kenney won 2 movie tickets.

Fun, Games, Food and Friends, Playday June 22

Staff and students enjoyed the recent Playday held at Cascades. Activities included a climbing wall, bounce and balance ride, ink portraits, staff vs student pool tournament, chess games, and many others. The food was great and the sun was shining. A nice break from routine!

Letter to Cascades, Grad's Experience

I have completed! It has been 22 months and I finally stand here proud. I chose Dental Assisting as my trade of choice; it was a hard, very long road that I traveled down. I have met so many great people, including the love of my life, and some really low people.

Everyone always says, 'stay out of the drama and keep to your school work'. Yes, for the most part that is true, but then... you can't really stay out of drama, it's everywhere in life, no matter what. You just have to make the right decisions on how to sort it all out, in order to make your stay here a drama-free zone.

Also hold your head high, but not to high. The teachers and staff here are good, honest, and hard-working people who really care; they really do teach you things that prepare you for the big world, believe it or not. They know how hard it is to be coming from somewhere that's nothing like this; and they were our age once, too. Get to know the staff; if you get to know them they may help you in ways you thought they wouldn't before you got to know them. I am going to truly miss this place; everywhere I look there are memories. Make the most of this place and it will make the most out of you.

Center-wide Creative Writing Contest

The Boy With No Skin

Oh... my... God...
The boy
With no skin
Is staring at me again
Why does he stare at me?
I'm just an ordinary girl
Plain old me
Nothing special
Nothing much at all
I hope he doesn't like me
He does ... Doesn't he?
Damn it. Why him?
Why not someone else?
Why not anyone else?
Well... almost anyone else...
I mean...
I'm not rich
I'm not very pretty
I don't do anything cool
I don't have any nice clothes
I'm just some weird girl...
He's been looking at me
For... like... a long time now
Why doesn't he go like
One of those cheerleaders?
Or something
Maybe a band geek
Or a drama nerd
I don't know...
I don't do anything
I never did anything to him
To deserve this
Oh no...v What if my Mom was serious?
What if she really didn't leave me that flower?
That means he...v And maybe that other time too...
Ew... Oh brother...
Why can't some normal boy like me?
He doesn't even have to be cool
He just has to have skin
Why doesn't he have skin anyway?
Never mind, I don't even care...
It's just gross...
It's all sticky and shiny
And lint gets stuck to it all the time
And I do mean... all the time
I seem to notice every time
He looks at me
I am so sick of this
Him leaving me things
Him always looking at me
I am so sick of this
Sick of... sick of him
And all of his passive crap
You know what?
I'm going to tell him
Right now
I'm going to tell him he makes me sick
Yeah... Then...
Then I'll tell him I think
About how gross he is all the time
Then I'll make him tell me why
Why he likes me
Why he stares at me
Why he leaves me
The stupidest stuff
Like flowers... I hate flowers
I hate him
Yeah... I'm going to do it
Right now! "So yeah!"
A crowd has formed.
"It bothers me
It bothers me a lot!
And I think about it all the time
I think about you
And how weird you are
and how..."
"I know..."
"What? You know what?"
"I knew that you would think about it and think about it,
And think about it
Until you finally came up and talked to me. It's the main reason I like you, I like the way you think."
*Blush*
So... I found out why he stared at me
Now I kinda like it
We've been dating for a couple of weeks now
My Mom loves him
We mostly just lie around and talk for hours
About whatever comes to mind
It's great
It's really great...

A Woman Such as Her

What is respect? Respect is to show consideration for one being or to look highly upon them. There's common respect, respect that you give to a person whether you know them or not, it's just a friendly greeting that gives them a good first impression. There's given respect, which is the respect you have for someone like an employer. They're your boss, they're in charge and you respect them by doing what they ask of you without any smart remarks. It may seem that you are doing all the work; it may also seem as if you're going out of your way but you're not. When you treat others with respect, respect is given back. Without respect it would be very difficult to communicate in any way what so ever.

One person for whom I have great respect for is my late aunt Julie "Hulie" Sampson who passed away February 3, 2007. My aunt was the most warm-hearted person who had so much love for everyone, regardless of who they were and where they had come from. Don't get me wrong she had a mouth and she wasn't afraid to use it. If you were someone who disrespected her or her family, it was on and poppin' as she would say. My aunt spent many years working at the Seattle Salvation Army, where she was a supervisor of a women's shelter. She went out of her way on many occasions at her job to make food for the women or organize different activities for them to enjoy. Although her contributions to the shelter didn't directly affect me, it felt good to see her care so much for the people in her life.

My aunt took me into her house about halfway through my seventh grade year; I lived with her until the summer after my eighth grade year. During that time period she helped me cope with so many challenges I was facing. The biggest challenge was dealing with the fact that my mom was a drug addict who had abandoned her children and potentially ended a relationship with a great man after an estimated eight or nine years. My aunt reassured me that through anything that may happen she would be there for me, and I reassured her that if anything were to happen to her I would be there for her, and that I did.

My aunt's health reached an all-time low, and she was going to the hospital for all different types of things on a daily basis. This happened while I lived there and continued even after I moved back home. I lost partial touch with her when I returned to my mom's for a year and a half, not because I wanted to, but it was just hard to stay in contact. I moved in with my sister half way through my sophomore year after some problems with my mom and my step-dad; and after doing so I found myself calling or visiting my aunt every day. With her health problems progressing, especially after her stroke, my aunt was admitted to a Seattle rehabilitation center. She lived there for about two years; until she was sent home with news that she was doing a lot better. Two days later my aunt was back in the hospital and a day following that she passed away.

I consider my aunt a true icon; she lived life knowing that God had never promised another day. She took each day for what it was and tried to make the best out of it. She worked extremely hard to support her family and tried to please everyone as best as she could.

Hulie demonstrated what a true woman was, she held her head high, and she walked with confidence, daring anybody to attempt to bring her down. She was my aunt, my rock, and my friend.

You ask, what would she had to have done to lose my respect? If it was anyone else I would have an answer, but for her, there's nothing. In no way could she have lost my respect, she had done way too much good for me and others for me to ever think bad of her, or not treat her with the utmost respect. I believe the question should be; what would I have had to do to lose her respect? Fortunately, I did nothing to break the bond between my aunt and myself. I live each day never forgetting who this woman was and what she had done for me. She had always said she would make me the man, the man I had never had in my life; and that I feel she has done. I am an independent man working hard to achieve all that is being offered and more. I take no crap from anyone, but I have learned when and when not to open my mouth. I have dreams, but I also have goals. My biggest dream is to someday share time with someone I have affected greatly, as my aunt did with me. My biggest goal is to accomplish living a life filled with hard work, dedication, perseverance, and happiness.

Julie Sampson was one person I have always had respect for no matter what; she is the beautiful flower you see blowing in the breeze, she is the brightly lit moon that shines in the night, and she is most importantly the woman who raised me to be all I am today, she is my aunt.