(Top photo: SCC president Kevin Brockbank with Taylor Bartoschek, Oluwanifemi Shola-Dare and CCS Chancellor Christine Johnson. Bottom photo: SFCC Acting President Nancy Fair-Szofran with Charissa Ratliff-Daddario, Katie Janzen and CCS Chancellor Christine Johnson)
Four Spokane college students are among the 59 students in Washington state recently recognized for their scholastic achievement and service to college and community. Taylor Bartoschek and Oluwanifemi Shola-Dare of Spokane Community College and Katie Janzen and Charissa Ratliff-Daddario of Spokane Falls Community College were accepted into the All-Washington Academic Team and will each receive a $250 scholarship from KeyBank. Shola-Dare also was awarded a $750 scholarship from the Washington State Employees Credit Union.
All the students were nominated by their college leaders and honored at the 23rd annual team celebration ceremony held recently at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was the keynote speaker.
Bartoschek, 18, is a senior at Colville High School and also in the Running Start program at SCC. She is a three-sport athlete, volunteers as a youth basketball coach, helps in veterinary offices and animal sanctuaries, and works part time as a cashier. She is an active member of the National Honor Society and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, which is the official honor society for two-year colleges and a founder of the academic teams nationally. Bartoschek plans to study veterinary sciences at Washington State University.
Shola-Dare, 21, lives in Spokane but grew up in Nigeria. Her older brother’s epilepsy led her to decide to become an academic neurosurgeon. At SCC, she started the Mental Health Awareness Club and a weekly therapy group that encourages conversations about mental health. She is also a leader in several college clubs and hopes to transfer to Washington State University this fall.
Janzen, 38, is from Spokane and wants to eventually teach physics in high school to inspire others into the STEM fields. She plans to complete an associate degree at SFCC and then transfer to Eastern Washington University for a bachelor’s degree in physics. Janzen is a vice president at the Phi Theta Kappa chapter at SFCC.
Ratliff-Daddario, 22, of Cheney, attends SFCC and has wanted to be a medical doctor for as long as she can remember. She plans to transfer to Harvard Extension School in Cambridge, Mass., this coming fall to work on a bachelor’s degree in biology. She will then apply to medical school and specialize in neurosurgery. She hopes to one day work in a teaching hospital.