Peninsula People
Soldotna man joins Marines
Marine Corps Pvt. Thomas W. Wagenaar, a 2002 graduate of Skyview High School, recently completed 12 weeks of basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.
Wagenaar began training at 5 a.m., by running three miles and performing calisthenics. In addition to the physical conditioning program, Wagenaar spent numerous hours in classroom and field assignments, which included learning first aid, uniform regulations, combat water survival, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat and assorted weapons training. He performed close order drill, and he and other recruits operated as a small infantry unit during field training.
Wagenaar also received instruction on the Marine Corps' core values honor, courage and commitment and what the words mean in guiding personal and professional conduct.
Wagenaar and fellow recruits ended the training phase with The Crucible, a 54-hour team evolution culminating in an emotional ceremony in which recruits are presented the Marine Corps Emblem and addressed as "Marines" for the first time in their careers.
Seward woman begins duty with Air Force
Air Force Airman Candice L. Johnson recently arrived for duty at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. She is an inventory management apprentice with the 5th Logistics and Readiness Squadron. She has one year of military service.
She is the daughter of Nena F. Butts of Seward and wife of Jason Johnson of Somerset, Ky. She also is a 2001 graduate of Seward High School.
Soldotna woman's husband sent overseas
Army Sgt. Darrin T. Grant recently was deployed overseas to a forward operating location to support the mission of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a maintenance supervisor with nine years of military service. His wife, Darcy, is the daughter of Lee Olsen of Soldotna and Judy Olsen of Spokane, Wash.
Soldotna man completes basic training
Air Force Airman Jason R. cockroft
Air Force Airman Jason R. Cockroft recently graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. During the six weeks of training, Cockroft studied the Air Force mission, organization and military customs and courtesies; performed drill and ceremony marches; and received instruction in physical training, rifle marksmanship, field training exercises and human relations. Cockroft is the son of Linda Cockroft of Soldotna and a 1998 Soldotna High School graduate.
Kenai man enters Air Force Academy
Mark C. McCartan recently entered basic cadet training at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., in preparation for his first academic year at the academy. The six-week, two-phased orientation program trains men and women to meet the rigorous mental and physical challenges of a cadet.
McCartan is the son of Richard and Michele McCartan of Kenai and a 2002 graduate of Soldotna High School.
Kenai students earn degrees in Arizona
Dustin Jung and Jason Allan Kornfield of Kenai recently graduated from Central Arizona College's Signal Peak Campus. They each received associate's degrees. Jung also was named to the dean's list for the spring semester, earning a grade point average of at least 3.5.
Soldotna student earns associate's degree
Autumn Thurmond of Soldotna recently graduated from Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan. She received an associate's degree.
Kasilof student attends medical forum
Vanessa Williams of Kasilof attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in Arizona from June 22 to July 1. Williams joined more than 350 high school juniors and seniors from across the country at the forum, learning firsthand from medical professionals about medical ethics, the global effects of infectious disease, genetic research and public health.
Throughout the program, Williams and other students experienced problem-based learning in a series of intense and stimulating simulations, similar to those experience by medical students throughout the country.
The forum culminated in the Public Health Symposium, in which students developed programs to directly impact their communities on the issues of adolescent fitness, health care for the elderly and chronic diseases.
Soldotna woman plans volunteer trip to Africa
Celina Robinson of Soldotna is a volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions, a nonprofit volunteer organization that works in partnership with local community development projects in countries such as India, China and Peru. Robinson will be going to Tanzania, Africa, for three weeks in October to assist in an orphanage or elementary school.
Robinson is a 1995 graduate of Skyview High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in natural science from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., in 2000. She lives in Soldotna and said she hopes to share her cultural experience with others upon her return.
To contribute to Robinson's program costs, call her at 398-6341. All donations are tax deductible. For more information, contact Cross-Cultural Solutions at 47 Potter Ave., New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801, (800) 380-4777 or www.crossculturalsolutions.org.
The Community page appears each Monday in the Peninsula Clarion. Submissions are welcome. Relevant items may be sent in by fax at 283-3299, by e-mail at clarion@alaska.net or dropped off at either Clarion location.