Student advisor bill passes WA House
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
A bill sponsored by state Rep. Julia Reed would increase opportunities for students to work as near-peer access advisors.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | February 13, 2024 5:36 PM
OLYMPIA — A bill aimed at increasing the number of students earning postsecondary credentials passed the Washington State House this week, according to an announcement from the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Julia Reed, D-Seattle.
HB 2025 the bill increases opportunities for students receiving federal work study grants to work as near-peer college access advisors, according to the announcement.
“Applying to and enrolling in college can be overwhelming,” Reed wrote in the announcement. “Who better to help students navigate the process than someone who’s recently completed the process?”
The bill allows for the Office of Student Financial Assistance to grant reimbursement rates greater than 80% for off-campus community service placements and make hiring college students to serve in college access roles less expensive, according to the announcement. Near peer counselors address the shortage of high school college counselors in Washington state, Reed wrote. The negative effects of this shortage are felt most in underserved districts.
“High school graduation rates are the highest they’ve ever been,” Reed wrote. “That’s great, but it’s only half of the equation. If Washington is going to meet its workforce demands, we have to make sure we’re hitting that 70% mark for post-secondary credentials.”
HB 2025 passed the House with a vote of 95 to 2. It moves on to the Senate for consideration
MORE STORIES
Bill seeking to pull 10 seats from Western medical education consortium passes Idaho House
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 2 months ago
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
A few extra steps can prevent a kitchen tragedy
MOSES LAKE — One of the most dangerous things you can do at home is also something most people do every day. “If you look at the statistics, cooking is the leading cause of home fires,” said Travis Svilar, battalion chief with Grant County Fire District 5. The data from the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office bears that out. Last year, Washington fire agencies responded to more than 700 structure fires that had started in the kitchen
Folk and Food Festival returns to Soap Lake
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Folk and Food Festival will have some changes the second time around. “This year we decided to have it a month earlier because last year on that day it was 100 degrees and higher,” said Ruthann Tobiason of Friends of the Lower Grand Coulee, which sponsors the event. “We know it kept a fair number of people away … We actually had a performer back out at the last minute because it was too hot and dang, I don’t blame her.” Last year’s one-day event drew a respectable turnout for an inaugural effort, enough that it’s been expanded to two days this year, June 20-21. Friday’s festivities will be homegrown, with an open mic at the Soap Lake Community Center and open mic followed by live music from Rebel Hearts at Cloudview Kitchen.
‘Whiskey Rebel’
Novel draws on Moses Coulee for isolated setting
MOSES LAKE — Out in the high desert country of Moses Coulee, it’s easy to imagine that strange things are happening just over the next ridge. There’s something peacefully secretive about the area northwest of Ephrata in the southern part of Douglas County, as though time stopped there and nobody was around to notice.