The Bellingham Herald

• Explorations grad found volunteerism - and herself
  When Heidi Johnson graduates from Explorations Academy, she knows her next step will be attending Western Washington University in the fall. Just don't ask her what she'll study - she has too many interests to decide on just one. The 18-year-old loves animals and has wanted to be a veterinarian for a while. But she also enjoys teaching. And ballroom dancing.
  

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• WWU softball snags Canadian player
  Western Washington University softball coach Lonnie Hicks announced on Wednesday, June 10, that catcher Jackie Rothenberger of the White Rock Renegades and Team British Columbia has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Vikings beginning this fall.
  

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• Take 5: Collaborative performance
  The Bellingham Chamber Chorale collaborates with members of Bellingham Repertory Dance, Northwest Ballet Theatre and Western Washington University faculty and students in Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore," a dramatic work featuring vocal and instrumental music and a sung narrative at 8 p.m. Saturday at WWU's Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.

Seattle Times

• 57 community-college students earn four-year degrees
  This is not your typical class graduating with bachelor's degrees: One student had a baby midway through her studies, a second had to leave class whenever his employer paged him, a third had listed a four-year degree on her "bucket list" of things to do before she dies. What unites this group of Bellevue College students is an excitement that they have finally earned a baccalaureate degree.
  

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• Wazzu to cut Theatre and Dance Department
  The Washington State University Department of Theater and Dance will not survive the budget ax by merging with the University of Idaho program in nearby Moscow.
  WSU Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick Bayly said Tuesday the department, which has 105 students and was listed for elimination in a preliminary budget last month, will be cut.
  Bayly says the schools, with main campuses that sit about 10 miles apart in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, are discussing how they can help each other when offering the same courses.
  But Bayly told the Lewiston Tribune the proposal to merge the two theater and dance departments is a "non-starter."

Skagit Valley Herald

• Grad's family fled religious persecution in Iran for opportunities in the U.S.
  If Diba Samadani was still living in Iran, her life would be very different.
  “I would imagine I would be a wife with a kid on the way and no education. My husband would go to work and I would be at home doing housework,” she said.
  Instead, the 17-year-old, who was smuggled out of Iran as a toddler, graduated from Anacortes High School Friday.
  Samadani is looking forward to starting classes at Western Washington University in the fall, where she plans to major in international studies.