A local institution is moving on.
Nancy Pyburn, director of Tongue Point Job Corps Center, retires this month from a career working with young people. She served as Tongue Point director for the past seven years.
Pyburn has become well-known regionally as the positive public face of the center, and for her enthusiastic support for kids striving to change their lives for the better.
The Tongue Point Job Corps Center is located on the outskirts of Astoria. It’s a federally funded program, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor since 1964. There are 122 Job Corps centers nationwide.
Students ages 16 through 24 enroll in the residential program to learn a trade, and earn a high school diploma or a GED. Many come from troubled backgrounds, seeking a fresh start.
Pyburn, a native Oregonian, had been attending Boston University on her way to earning a Ph.D. almost two decades ago, when she began her career with Job Corps.
On a visit to Oregon, she took a trip to Astoria with friends and saw the Tongue Point Center. Curious, she asked officials for a tour. It was the beginning of a long, fruitful relationship.
"I realized this was where I wanted to be," she said. "I wanted to work with kids."
She soon got her first Job Corps assignment at the Tongue Point center as manager of academic programs, but later moved on to work for other centers within the Job Corps system, including facilities in Utah, Iowa, Nevada and Washington.
Seven years ago, she was center director at the Cascades Job Corps Center in Sedro Woolley, Washington, when she found out that the Tongue Point facility needed a director. Now, nearly a decade later, Pyburn said it’s time for a new phase of life to begin.
"I’ve loved every minute of it," she said. "It’s my fantasy to have started here and to end here."
Pyburn’s heart has always been with the kids; during awards ceremonies and other Tongue Point events she’s sometimes temporarily overcome by happy tears as she celebrates students’ successes.
That devotion and her abilities as a capable leader make her a hard act to follow.
But Pyburn said the center will be in good hands with new director Kim Shillinger, who comes to Tongue Point from the Cascades Job Corps Center, just as Pyburn did.
Pyburn worked with Shillinger when she was director there, and he rose to the director post when she left. Now she’s happy to be able to pave the way for him again at Tongue Point.
"When I decided to retire, I said, ‘I know who should be the next director.’" she said. "I like matchmaking, and I had the wonderful chance to choose my successor."
Shillinger said he’s looking forward to joining the Tongue Point team.
"It’s already a very well run center," he said. "I’ll be doing a lot of listening and learning in the first few months."
He said Job Corps offers a tremendous opportunity for kids.
"Seventy percent of our students are high school dropouts, many with drug problems," he said. "We help turn their lives around 180 degrees. We’re the only program like in the world."
Pyburn’s last day is Dec. 28; she expects it to be an emotional one. She’ll miss the kids, of course, and the staff, whom she described as an "incredible bunch to work with."
Her tentative plan for the future is to take a year off and see the sights.
"I’ll focus on travel and family," she said.
But memories of Tongue Point will stay with her forever.
"I’ll miss working with young people and watching them grow," she said. "And I will miss the problem solving – there’s joy in solving problems that stretch your thinking and make you grow."