In this Issue

LOCAL Community College Alum Wins National Honor

     Junki Yoshida, the CEO of Yoshida Group Companies, emigrated from Japan to the United States in 1968 in search of the American Dream.  He attended Highline from 1970 to 1973 and went on to create Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce, the first product in what would become a multimillion-dollar conglomerate.

     Yoshida is one of only six recipients of the award this year.  Since 1982, AACC has awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award to those individuals nominated by their community college who have excelled in their field and given back to their community.  His business success and humanitarian efforts also led Highline to name him the college's 2003 distinguished Alumni Award winner.

     At age 19, Yoshida left his parents and six siblings in Kyoto, Japan, to come to Washington state.  When he arrived, he sold his return airline ticket for $500 and purchased a used Plymouth Valiant, which he parked at Alki Beach and called home until he could make enough money to move into an apartment.  Yoshida soon applied to Seattle Pacific University to study ministry, but was denied admission due to his poor English-speaking skills.  He went on to enroll at Highline, where he taught karate lessons in exchange for college classes.

     Yoshida and his wife Linda, a fellow Highline student whom he met on campus, created Yoshida's gourmet Sauce in 1982 from his family's 60-year-old secret recipe for a teriyaki-based cooking sauce.  Now sold worldwide, the product led Yoshida to form his first company, Yoshida Food Products, the first of 18 diverse companies that make up the Oregon-based Yoshida Group, a conglomerate generating annual revenues of more than $180 million.

     "While building my businesses, I faced so many challenges over the years, including two near bankruptcies," explains Junki Yoshida.  "But, I refused to return to my family in Japan as a failure...I was determined to succeed because I have myself no other choice."

     Now 54, Yoshida is the father of three and a motivational speaker, seventh degree black belt, and an active member of his community.  He donates his time and money to a number of causes, including serving on the board of directors of the Mt. Hood Community College Foundation. 

     Yoshida will accept the prestigious award at a gala held during the AACC Annual Convention in Minneapolis, Minn., this coming April.

     "I feel incredibly honored to be among such distinguished award recipients," says Yoshida.  "Attending Highline Community College provided me with so many opportuniti4es, and as a karate instructor on campus, I learned the importance of leadership...a skill that I cherish in both my business and personal life to this day."

     The other recipients of this year's award are Penny Deligiannis (Advisor to His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios), Ernest Grant (Nursing Education Clinician for Burn Outreach), George Lucas (film director, writer, producer), Col. (Ret.) Frances Martin (former commander Maxwell Air Force Base), and Vice Admiral Richard Carmona (U.S. Surgeon General).

For more information on Junki Yoshida, visit www.yoshidagroup.com

Breeders Theater returns to E.B. Foote with Grape Expectations

Breeders Theater returns to E.B. Foote winery in January 2004 with a new show, Grape Expectations.  It’s the story of young Slop (Eric Hartley), an abandoned orphan trying to make his way through Victorian Burien.   

Grape Expectations was written by T.M. Sell, with music by Nancy Warren.  The production will be directed by J Howard Boyd, with choreography by Patricia M. Britton and costumes by Elisabeth Morgan.  The cast also features Eric Hartley, Marty MacKenzie, Carlos Calvo (a Highline student), Kurt Lutterman, Julie Haakenson, Linda Mathews, Doug Knoop, Kirsten Olds, Jim Cooper, J Howard Boyd and Patricia M. Britton.

Show dates are Jan. 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 30 and 31 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 18, 25 and Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.  Proceeds from the Jan. 19 show go to benefit the Highline Community College Foundation.  Tickets are $20 per person and include theater, hors d'oeuvres and wine tasting of award-winning E.B. Foote red wines.  E.B. Foote is a working winery, so patrons are advised to dress warmly.

Tickets are on sale at the winery, 127-B SW 153rd Street, Burien (206-242-3852) and Corky Cellars, 22511 Marine View Drive South, Des Moines (206-824-9462). Cash or check accepted – no refunds, but exchanges on availability.  Tickets for the January 19th show are also available through the HCC Foundation office.

Breeders Theater is a professional non-Equity company that provides original comedy in non-traditional venues.  The company has performed at Renton Civic Theatre, the Wildflower Restaurant in Snoqualmie, and Filiberto's in Burien.  This is BT’s fifth production at E.B. Foote.  The company was most recently seen at Bumbershoot, performing the award-winning Piglet.  Previous shows at E.B. Foote have included Justin Time 2.0: Send in the Clones last summer; last January’s sold-out run of Love’s Painful Itch; Murder, News & Wine in January 2002 and Empty Heads & Comet Tails, which featured the first episode of Justin Time, Space Commander in July 2002. 

For more information, contact T.M. Sell at breederstheater@aol.com

Puget Sound Water Quality Monitoring Activities at the Highline MaST Center

Highline faculty and students are actively monitoring water quality in the Redondo Community.  The monitoring project is part of Highline’s plan to raise public awareness of water quality issues that effect Puget Sound and the streams flowing into it.  Now that the MaST Center allows students easy access to the water and monitoring equipment, this will become an integral part of many Highline classes.  An expanded monitoring program will be used by students in Marine Biology, Oceanography, Environmental Science and other related courses.  This will enable Highline to expose more than 400 students per year to direct, hands-on activities related to water quality.  Our Marine Monitoring Program includes taking sample data from Poverty Bay in the Puget Sound at the Highline MaST Center.  Stream monitoring sites include Des Moines Creek, McSorley Creek, and the Redondo outfall. 

For more information, visit our web site and click on Research  

Faculty Information Bulletin from Access Services

Have You Always Wanted To Learn Sign Language?

 Well here is you opportunity!  Access Services along with the Deaf Club and ASL Club will be beginning a new campus service soon.  We will be sending a video stream link by email of various students and staff demonstrating a new sign for you to learn and use with our Deaf students on campus. By streaming this video to your computer you will be able to watch it and practice to make sure you are doing the sign correctly.  If you have any questions, contact Nancy Allen on extension 3858, or nallen@highline,edu.  Happy Signing!

.... Phil Droke is the current leader in sponsoring students for Honors Options. 

Random Act of Recognition Nominees

Will Chambers
Donna Weber
Frank Cunningham
Dee Dee Foster

Welcome to Our Team 
(since December  2003)

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Position

Department

Events

Martin Luther King Jr. Week
January 20-23, 2004
Highline will host speakers: Rev. Leslie Braxton of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church and Carlotta Walls LaNier, part of the famous Little Rock Nine. 
For more information, visit the website at http://www.highline.edu/stuserv/programs/MLKWEEK/mlkindex.htm

Breeders Theater Presents "Grape Expectations"
HCC Foundation-related event.  January 19, 7pm, $20.  All proceeds to the BT/Foundation scholarship. 
E.B. Foote Winery
Contact: Nancy Warren or TM Sell