North Wasco County School District is proud to announce that Leah Ferguson has been named the recipient of the Oregon ACTE New Teacher of the Year award. This recognition celebrates Ferguson’s outstanding contributions to Career and Technical Education (CTE) as well as highlights her dedication to student success at The Dalles High School.

Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC) is proud to announce that Emilie Sanchez-Lopez, Equitable Funding Support Navigator, has been honored with the prestigious Rising Star Award at the 2025 Student Success and Retention Conference in Portland.

Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC) is making waves in the manufacturing world with its Advanced Manufacturing and Fabrication program. On a snowy February Friday, the college took delivery of a cutting-edge Mazak Optiplex 3015 2.5kW CO₂ Laser, further enhancing its ability to support local industries in prototyping and manufacturing.

Jessamyn Duckwall, a writing instructor at CGCC and lifelong Hood River resident, has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious 2025 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship. Duckwall was chosen from a competitive pool of 479 applicants for this honor, which recognizes literary excellence and supports Oregon writers in their creative endeavors. Duckwall, who identifies as queer and autistic, received the Leslie Bradshaw Fellowship for their outstanding contributions to poetry.

Columbia Gorge Community College was just selected to receive a $1.97 million Department of Energy grant to develop a dedicated additive manufacturing training space, curriculum, and manufacturer assistance program that will promote sustainable manufacturing and material efficiency to the area's small and medium-sized manufacturers

Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC), in collaboration with local and industry partners, is happy to announce a new grant award and a productive community event that engaged local civic and business leaders in guiding the school’s strategic planning.

The Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC) Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting CGCC student scholarships as they pursue career, education, and lifelong learning goals. The Foundation is thrilled to share the success of its 23rd Annual Founders Cup Golf Tournament, held September 9, 2023, at the Indian Creek Golf Course in Hood River, Oregon.

Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC), with locations in The Dalles and Hood River, Oregon, announced today a partnership with a worldwide leader in outdoor education and urban and wilderness medicine training, the National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE).

City Manager, Matthew Klebes is pleased to announce Dan Spatz has joined the City of The Dalles team as the Economic Development Officer (EDO) starting July 17, 2023.

The CGCC Board named Dr. Kenneth Lawson the new president of Columbia Gorge Community College at its Tuesday, June 20 meeting after completing a search during the past several months. Lawson was chosen from a panel of four finalists that were seeking the position. He begins the job on Aug. 1.

The public is invited to attend forums to gain deeper insight into the candidates that are applying to be the next president of Columbia Gorge Community College on June 5, 8, 9 and 12  in The Dalles and Hood River as the Columbia Gorge Community College board nears a decision on the institution’s next president.

College board members, following recommendations of a 13-member search committee, last week announced the selection of potential successors to Dr. Marta Yera Cronin, who will be leaving the college effective June 30 to assume a community college presidency in Pennsylvania.

Columbia Gorge Community College board members agreed Tuesday, Jan. 31, to engage a professional search firm as the college prepares for the departure of Dr. Marta Yera Cronin, CGCC’s president in June.

If you’re considering a cannabis career, or your profession involves the emerging cannabis industry in other ways, Columbia Gorge Community College now offers the skills for success.

Columbia Gorge Community College distributed 75 Dell laptops to 10 public libraries in the college’s service area thanks to funding from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

Metallica rips in this encore that brings $100,000 in local scholarships to students in career-technology training at Columbia Gorge Community College.

The college awarded 195 certificates and degrees this year. Approximately 70 graduates participated in the ceremony, held in the outdoor amphitheatre on The Dalles Campus.

Activities include a color run/walk, pronoun button-making and “Let’s taco ‘bout it,” which will feature tacos, an informational discussion of LGBTQ+ issues and a viewing of the documentary Texas Strong. Interested people may RSVP for the events, request accessibility accommodations, and get the Zoom links by emailing EQUAL@cgcc.edu.

Scholarships will benefit four students enrolled in the college’s Early Childhood Education program this fall, said Wendy Patton, executive director of Columbia Gorge Community College Foundation. The awards will help students complete the program and enter the workforce.

Cary Lowe’s love of flight now has his family also elevating the vehicle that was at the center of so many great family memories. His 1963 Piper Cherokee 235 is being passed on to local college students for the expansion of their mechanical minds in the wake of Cary’s passing.