{"id":3539,"date":"2024-12-10T14:24:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T22:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols-redesign-dev\/2024\/12\/10\/olsbc-environment-course-visit-gates-foundation-discovery-center-exhibit\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T14:58:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T21:58:23","slug":"olsbc-environment-course-visit-gates-foundation-discovery-center-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/2024\/12\/10\/olsbc-environment-course-visit-gates-foundation-discovery-center-exhibit\/","title":{"rendered":"OLSBC Environment Course Visit Gates Foundation Discovery Center Exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>The OLS Bellevue College (OLSBC) course made a visit to an exhibit at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center in Seattle, called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discovergates.org\/exhibitions\/a-better-way-to-go\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;A Better Way to Go: Toilets and the Future of Sanitation.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/Enviro-Community-Activity-Toilets_4-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Exhibit\" class=\"wp-image-16360\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>The humor is intentional, but the topic is a serious one: Improving public health in poor countries is a major part of the Gates Foundation\u2019s mission. As the exhibit points out, \u201c3.5 billion people \u2013 almost half the world\u2019s population \u2013 have no choice but to use unsafe toilets and sanitation facilities.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>OLSBC students got to see innovative designs that completely re-think how toilets operate. Some disinfect and recycle the water they use; others treat solid waste internally, rather than send it somewhere else. These self-contained units don\u2019t require vast underground sewer systems, or a constant water supply \u2013 distant luxuries in many parts of Asia and Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/Enviro-Community-Activity-Toilets_3-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS Students listen to a presentation at the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation exhibit\" class=\"wp-image-16361\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>The Discovery Center provided educational materials to introduce the subject, which were shown in class the day before. Students were also asked to work out how they would get to downtown Seattle; their plans included carpooling and Sound Transit buses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/Enviro-Community-Activity-Toilets_1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS Students listen to a presentation at the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation exhibit\" class=\"wp-image-16363\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Environment and Our Community Course<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>Environment &amp; Our Community is a three-course series taken in the second or third year of the OLSBC program and is one of the many&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/discover\/curriculum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">courses students take<\/a>&nbsp;to earn their associate degree. In this course, students build awareness of the Puget Sound by engaging in the pressing issues facing our communities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About Occupational &amp; Life Skills Bellevue College<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/\" target=\"_blank\">Occupational &amp; Life Skills Bellevue College (OLSBC)<\/a>&nbsp;is an associate degree program for students with learning disabilities. In our uniquely supportive skills-based program, students apply academic knowledge through community activities, service learning and social experiences. Students identify a career pathway, gain marketable, workplace-ready competencies, develop better interpersonal skills and complete an internship in alignment with their career goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>Learn more about our program at an upcoming&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/application-process\/information-sessions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Information Session<\/a>, open to all prospective students, family members\/guardians, educators, counselors and other service providers. Come learn why OLS Bellevue College is one of the best colleges for students with learning disabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The OLS Bellevue College (OLSBC) course made a visit to an exhibit at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center in Seattle, called &#8220;A Better Way to Go: Toilets&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1276,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-course-student-stories"],"acf":{"summary":"OLS students visited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center, and an exhibition called \"A Better Way to Go: Toilets and the Future of Sanitation.\"","featured_media_type":"image_horizontal","featured_image_horizontal":3544,"featured_image_vertical":"","featured_video_url":"","caption":"","author_override":"Maile Allen","contact":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3539"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4976,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions\/4976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}