College students get busy to learn about city

EVERETT — In preparation for their move to Everett this fall, 40 students from Trinity Lutheran College are making an “urban plunge” in Everett this weekend as a kind of reconnaissance mission to learn about the city. The students are completing the plunge as part of a religion class entitled Altar and Street Vocation Formation, said Dr. Harvey Stalwick, Trinity’s social work department chairman.

While here, the students plan to participate in various service learning projects and to meet with community leaders to learn about future volunteer opportunities.

The college is moving to the five-story Port Gardner Building at 2802 Wetmore Ave., prior to the first day of school, Sept. 10. The admissions office plans to move during the week of May 5 and will be housed in the new campus center and at student housing.

The students arrived by bus on Friday at Central Lutheran Church in Everett, where they stayed for the night. They plan to participate in the Festival Cinco de Mayo at Everett Community College today before returning to Issaquah.

Today the students also plan to work at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN for an active outdoor experience going door-to-door in poorer areas of Everett to hand out posters and information about drug awareness, tax credit benefits and community meetings.

They also plan to serve at Lutheran Community Services Familias Unidas Latino Resource Center, which organizes the annual Festival Cinco de Mayo at Everett Community College.

At the Kiwanis House in Lynn­wood, students plan to help with yard work, painting and repairs at a transitional house for homeless women and children. At First Presbyterian Church in Everett, students are slated to help with the renovation and painting of the soon-to-be reopened preschool.

The students kicked off their adventure Friday with a cultural scavenger hunt around Everett where they took photos of images downtown. Historic Everett and the Everett City Concierge visitor information service provided packets with maps and city information for the hunt. After dinner at the Central Lutheran fellowship hall, John Flowers, a local lawyer with an interest in urban history, provided a presentation about the city.

The students then went out in groups to help with various social needs at the locations of several community service organizations. They tutored children, helped shelve food and do cleaning tasks, among other things. The organizations they helped included the Interfaith Family Shelter in Everett, the Volunteers of America Everett Food Bank and the Salvation Army.

The group also met with community organizers for a profile of what’s going on in the City of Everett. The panel included Teresa Rugg, group leader of Snohomish County RESULTS, a nonprofit grassroots advocacy organization; Jim Strickland, an educator working with Marysville Youth Action Network and the Hmong youth group; Wendy McClure, coordinator for the City of Everett Office of Neighborhoods; JJ Frank, volunteer with the Minority Achievers Program at the Marysville YMCA; and Kinuko Noborikawa, who works with the Communities of Color Coalition in Everett.