PLU alumna Jenifer Leavens ’18 leads elementary education at Chief Leschi Schools
Jenifer Leavens was an experienced educator when she decided it was time to pursue a master’s degree in education. A transplant from California, she wasn’t sure which Puget Sound area university had the best program. So she asked some of her colleagues. “Hands down, people…
Building Community: A PLU Special Education Major Discovers the Beauty of Returning to His Childhood School District
Gavin Knapp ’23 reflects on Fife Public Schools with a new lens, now student teaching with one of his former educators. Gavin Knapp discovered his vocation for special education in an unusual way – volunteering with unified sports in high school. Although his former high…
Melanie Helle ’97 applies lessons learned at PLU to her work at Chief Leschi Schools
Melanie Helle ’97 walked into a new job in 2020, during the first year of the Covid pandemic. “That was my first year — the pandemic, virtual learning. I was learning on the job,” says the director of special services at Chief Leschi Schools, operated…
Quan Huynh ’25 Discusses her Internship at the Washington State Senate
Pacific Lutheran University Pre-Law Club President Quan Huynh ’25 unexpectedly stepped into the world of state government, with a bold new perspective. A self-described political newcomer, Huynh proudly represents PLU in Olympia as an intern at the Washington State Senate. As a member of Sen.…
PLU’s culturally sustaining STEM program helped prepare Becca Anderson to be a dynamic teacher
PLU alumna Becca Anderson ‘19, ‘22 is in her first year teaching biology to ninth graders at Sammamish High School in Bellevue. Her classroom consists of a diverse population of students — something her recent completion of the Culturally Sustaining STEM Teacher Program at Pacific…
A conversation with novelist Mari Matthias ‘94, author of “The Runestone’s Promise”
Mari Matthias ‘94 loved diagramming sentences back in the ninth grade. Later, she served on the staff of Saxifrage, PLU’s student-run literary and art magazine, during all four of her years on campus. Matthias describes herself as a self-taught novelist. “Once I decided to write…
PLU interns combat climate change one tree at a time
A group of PLU students interning with the Tacoma Tree Foundation spent the summer increasing the number of trees in the city to reduce polluted stormwater runoff and heat during the summer months and improving the livelihoods of those who live in urban areas. The…
Lute Powered: Port of Tacoma and Northwest Seaport Alliance
Together, the ports of Tacoma and Seattle are the fourth-largest container gateway for containerized cargo shipping between Asia and major distribution points in the Midwest, Ohio Valley and the East Coast. For this installment of Lute Powered, we interviewed three PLU alumni who are serving…
Connecting for Commerce: Port of Tacoma Executive Director Eric Johnson ’83
When Pacific Lutheran University alumnus Eric Johnson ’83 majored in political science and minored in biology, he wasn’t sure how the two would fit together in a career. After he graduated from PLU, he earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington…
NW Seaport Alliance CEO John Wolfe ’87 discusses his career in maritime leadership
Shortly after John Wolfe ’87 graduated from PLU he went to work for a Seattle-based company called SeaLand Shipping Line. In the years that followed he worked in sales, marketing, and operations for a variety of marine cargo companies and agencies. Eventually, he was appointed…
Opening Doors to Opportunity: Andrew Whitney ’12, Director of Seed Internships
I had two internships during my time at PLU. One led to a full-time offer and I stayed there for almost seven years. Getting that second internship was about my talent and also about the right place, right time, right skill set, right newsletter subscription.…
International Complexities: Mycal Ford ’12 discusses how he thinks about global policy
Mycal Ford ’12 deep dives into global challenges for a living. A double major in political science and Chinese studies at PLU, Ford is now an international affairs and economics analyst who has worked for both private firms and government agencies, including the U.S. Department…