Press Release

Release Date: February 25, 2010

Contact:  Sheila Dunn, EvCC East County Director, 425-239-8017; sdunn@everettcc.edu

EvCC Offers Daytime Classes in Monroe
Registration Starts March 4 

EVERETT, WA – Everett Community College’s East County Campus in Monroe is offering its first daytime classes starting March 29.

Daytime classes include English 101; Art 124 D – Understanding World Art; Nutrition 101; and Computer Literacy. Classes are at Sky Valley Education Center, 17072 Tye Street SE in Monroe.

The daytime classes were added to provide more convenient college classes for residents of Monroe, Snohomish, Mill Creek, Granite Falls, Lake Stevens, Sultan, Gold Bar and Index, said EvCC East County Campus director Sheila Dunn.

Registration for all classes starts March 4. To get started, contact Sheila Dunn at 425-239-8017 or 360-804-4523 or sdunn@everettcc.edu 

EvCC is also continuing to offer evening classes at Monroe High School, including Psychology 101; Math 99; English 102 – English Composition II; Spanish 123 – Spanish III; and Communications Studies 220 – Public Speaking.

Evening high school completion and English as a Second Language classes are offered at Park Place Middle School. Classes offered at the middle school and high school are through a partnership with Monroe Public Schools.

For more information, call Sheila Dunn at 425-239-8017 or 360-804-4523 or visit www.everettcc.edu/eastcounty

Wow! This is exciting! I’ve never actually been to a Harlem Globetrotters game before but, as a kid I always wanted to go. Now we get to see them right here at home in Everett at Comcast Arena.

There is a huge crowd wrapped around the arena and there are long lines but everyone looks happy and excited to be here. Especially the little kids who are jumping and clapping.

Running around the basketball court, the little mascot is a globe. He is too cute. The players are dancing with him and spinning the balls on their heads. The music is light and happy. They played The Baby Elephant song and Grease.

Audience participation is welcome and we are all getting on our feet. Even I yell out which means I am having fun and for me, that’s a rare occasion at a large event. They are even selling cotton candy…oohh and Italian ice. I love Italian ice. It’s like the perfect food.

The big famous player takes the court. Of course I do not know who this person is but he just riled up the crowd with, “I hear that Everett has the best wave ever!” I wonder if he says that to every city. I’m trying to write while the wave passes me so I have one hand writing with my arm on my notebook balancing it on my leg so I can raise my other hand to join the wave. The big famous guy agrees that Everett does indeed have the best wave.

Definitely a nice turn out for Everett families. I wonder how do little kids know who these Globetrotters are? I only remember them from commercials. My husband tells me it’s just something you have to see like every 30 years. He recalls when he went to see them when he was a kid, and the jokes today are exactly the same from 1980. They seem to dance a lot and they stop the music and do something funny. It’s great for kids.

The kids in front of me are hooting and hollering. It’s very cute. Their little delighted cheers are so heartwarming and their “boos” to the opposing team are kind of ….well, not really what I would expect from a child or the parent who, I guess is totally okay with it. I’ve always had this idea that this basketball game included kids learning a lot about good sportsmanship, being part of a team and just having a good time but I’m not really seeing that. I guess it’s just a show. Perhaps I am just getting old. Wow! I’m not really seeing the good winner skills that I would want my kid to see…if I had a kid. Oh I’m getting it. So here we have the big guys who laugh and do tricks and kind of pick on the opposing smaller, goofy team. Oh nice…short people jokes. I see it’s all in good fun. I may not be sure what good fun is. Am I being too cynical? Let’s see, the bigger popular team that wins…slapping and poking the smaller, goofy team…Not to be totally negative but in high school, I was definitely on the smaller, goofy team. The kids are having fun so that is all that really matters.

The family sitting next to us is a mom with her two young sons and tweenage daughter. The mom strikes up a conversation with us. Her name is Stephanie from Oak Harbor. It turns out her husband is a Navyman, currently deployed in Qatar.

“We came to see Big Easy and Flight Time, you know, from the Amazing Race,” Stephanie says.

A-ha, two of these trick basketball players are also reality show stars.

I get up from my seat to go get a snack. On my way to buying myself a licorice rope, the guy selling a newspaper ropes me over.

“You can have this free Globetrotters ball when you sign up for a subscription,” he says.

“Oh. No thank you,”

The last thing I need to do is have more papers being delivered to my house. I like to read the paper but not all of the time. He begins his pitch.

“Yes. But did you know that you can save money and even make money with all of the money saving coupons?”

Oh no he didn‘t. Back when I was about 20, I used to do telemarketing for newspapers and magazines. I totally knew the coupon pitch and was surprised that they are still using it.

“Oh no.” I say. “Thank you though. I prefer to just use coupons online.”

I’m kind of into my generation and I really like the paper free system and I live in the Seattle area so of course I want to save trees. I’m 37 ya know? I’m green. I’m a vegetarian and I gave up gluten and dairy recently. I know it’s probably annoying to some and I certainly do not judge anyone who lives any other way but buying the paper just isn’t right for me now.

Then he lays on the guilt.

“You’ll be helping to boost the economy of the community by keeping this paper alive, saving jobs like the loggers, reporters and people who recycle.”

Did he just say that? I’m pretty sure this particular paper was not produced in Everett. If you know me then you know that I love Everett and I do not want anyone to lose their job but would it really be my fault for not buying the paper. I’m not sure if I should explain that yes, recycling does create jobs but if we didn’t make the garbage out of living material we wouldn’t HAVE to recycle.

“And my daughter actually makes money with the money saving coupons.” he repeats and then actually goes into another story about how she saved $40 and the paper paid for itself. I wonder if he really has a daughter.

It’s kind of hard to think about the recession while I’m in line for 20 minutes to get my Italian ice because there‘s so many people buying basketballs and t-shirts, hats, toys and anything that has the Globetrotters logo. Parents spending money for things they absolutely do not need and they do it for the joy of a night with their children. It is what makes our country SO great.

I realize that I have to walk past the newspaper guy again to get back to my seat. I look away but our eyes meet. I feel for him. He seems like such a nice guy. I ask him how long he had been selling newspaper subscriptions. He says just a few months since he was laid off from his previous job. He tells me he is in survival mode. I feel so sad when he says that. I ask him what he really wants to do for a living. He told me that he actually owned his own business but his partners bailed out and he was left with debt. So, he’s got the dream but a bad situation can make a person feel like they failed totally. I sure understand that. I tell him that if he really believed, he could do what he really wanted to again regardless of the economy. He just shouldn’t give up.

I become so thankful that I have the freedom to love what I do and I want other people to know that they can do it too. With the economy, I understand it can be very difficult to find a job. But on the other side, the advancements in technology are making it easier and easier to help ourselves grow, become educated and even allow someone like me to own a business with very low cost….really low. We began this blog with twenty dollars and a really big dream that we believed would happen.

The newspaper salesman and I talk some more and he says he would throw in a twenty dollar gift certificate from well…a store that I do not shop at. I really didn’t want anything free. I’d rather see this guy go make his dreams come true like these basketball players that are loving life by entertaining these children. I walk away and pray that he gets to do exactly what he wants to do in life.

“Darn-it.” I just opened my giant licorice…when I looked down at the ingredients I saw my latest challenge…“ contains gluten.”

The game was fun and it ended quick. Like a six year old, I also have a short attention span so it was good for me. Everyone was invited to buy a ball and get a picture or autograph from one of the Globetrotters.

I didn’t expect that I would be the one to learn the lesson at the Globetrotters game. There are a lot of people that are struggling and a lot of people that are in abundance. Helping the people that are struggling is the real job of the people in abundance.