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Volunteer Spotlight |
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Dianne Stryker – Hazel Valley Elementary
Submitted by Helen Ewings, Librarian
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Dianne Stryker, Volunteer |
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Annah Petersen-Benitez, our principal here at Hazel
Valley, approached me recently to tell me about a new
feature of the District News. She showed me a
nomination form for the Volunteer Spotlight and suggested
Dianne Stryker. I was pleased to be able to help Mrs.
Benitez honor Dianne in this way.
Dianne Stryker has
been a volunteer at the Hazel Valley Elementary library
for over 16 years. She has made such a difference because
of all of her work.
She helps us with our books. She mends all of the books
that need repair. Without that, we would probably have to
discard many of them. She processes all of the books by
stamping them, covering them with mylar, and putting
pockets in them. Then she packs them up and sends them off
to be catalogued. She takes the markings out of all of our
discarded books. This is another time-consuming task.
She has labeled almost all of our Accelerated Reader
books. That’s over 2,000 books she has labeled. When we
color coded our AR labels, she had to redo many of them.
She processes our magazines. When she is finished, they
are taped for the color of the year. They have a book
pocket. And they are labeled.
When she finishes all of the work like this, she looks for
work in the library. She will read the shelves, put books
where they belong, and take books out that need repairing.
I don’t know what we would do in the library without her
help. She comes every day and volunteers for several
hours. She is friendly and thoughtful and just makes a big
difference in our school. Because of her help, we are all
able to give more time to students and teachers. She is a
Hazel Valley’s hidden blessing.
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Bond Election March 14 |
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Informational material available
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Shorewood is one of the schools to be replaced if
the bond passes. |
Highline Public Schools is in the process of building the
last of the new facilities funded by the bond approved by
voters in 2002. The replacement of aging facilities with
new schools has improved the learning environment for
hundreds of our students. Yet there are hundreds of
students who still attend school in old facilities that
are overdue for replacement. Because of that need, the
Highline school board has placed a $148 million bond on
the March 14, 2006 ballot. The new bond has five
components: four new elementary schools (plus one built
with state matching funds), renovations to Camp Waskowitz,
security and safety improvements for secondary schools,
district-wide technology upgrades, and a capital
improvement/emergency fund.
The bond election is fast approaching and it’s important
to have information readily available for staff, parents,
and community members. Printer-friendly resources have
been made available on the district Website. Please review
this information and educate yourself on the issues so you
are able to address questions that come your way.
Simply click on the options below:
http://www.hsd401.org/
http://www.hsd401.org/bondfactpage.htm
http://www.hsd401.org/bondgeneral.htm
http://www.hsd401.org/bondhighlights.htm
http://www.hsd401.org/bondfaq.htm
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Intel Hosts Math and Science Career Fair |
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Highline Students Participate
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Highline High School students with
teacher Nanci Leonard.
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At
the invitation of Representative Adam Smith, 90 students
from Global Connections High School at Tyee, Evergreen
High School, and the Highline High School’s AVID program
attended the January 20 event hosted by Intel at their
Dupont campus.
In his invitation, Representative Smith said, “Promoting
math and science in our nation’s education system is an
incredibly important part of ensuring that we continue to
be the world’s leader in scientific innovation.” Using his
role as a Member of Congress, Smith hosted the Launch
Your Future Now: A Math and Science Career Fair
to foster and support interest in math and science
education. The focus of the event was to highlight the
many non-traditional opportunities in a variety of fields
that rely on advanced math and science skills and
training, such theater lighting, fashion design, and law
enforcement, to name just a few.
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L-R Highline High School's Tonya B., Tyressa S.,
Tutor Elise Dupre', Counselor Holly Hughes, and
Marisol R. |
The
fair included booths hosted by a variety of the region’s
businesses. Each booth participant provided interactive
ways to highlight the mission of their organization and
what it takes to succeed in their field. Visiting the
booths offered the students an invaluable opportunity to
meet some of the business leaders from our area. In
addition, many of Washington’s higher education and
technical training institutions were represented.
Superintendent Welch expressed excitement at the
opportunity for Highline students to participate. “This
kind of event is just what is needed to underscore the
need for proficiency in math and science. Raising the
awareness level of previously unknown career options may
serve as the catalyst to remain engaged in math and
science throughout a student’s secondary education to
prepare for college and career.”
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Waiver Day Experiences Enrich
Students |
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AmeriCorps Led Projects
Bethany Dearborn, Highline’s AmeriCorps member from the
Youth Volunteer Corps, recently led a group of seven
students on a service project at the West Seattle Food
Bank. The students chose this project as a waiver day
activity option. The group was assigned tasks in two
areas; half worked in the back room bagging bulk food for
distribution while the other half served food in the lunch
line. The groups traded places half way through their time
so everyone could experience both responsibilities.
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Sally, Loi, Cam, and Jherica |
The students learned about how a food bank works, and they
also had the opportunity to visit with the clients while
they served them. One of the students was struck by how
important it is to make eye contact and really connect
with the people. Another student wrote in a reflection
afterwards, “I wanted to volunteer to benefit people who
can’t afford certain things, [and] I had so much fun
during this project. [I was also able to see that] little
things make a huge difference…” Other students mentioned
that they “wanted to volunteer today because it helps the
community out a lot and because of the incredible amount
of happiness you get after volunteering.”
Bethany also facilitated a group of students who
participated in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
celebration events at the Seattle Center. The students
volunteered in a variety of activities during the day;
welcoming people to the event, passing out brochures,
running a coloring booth for children, and even acting as
emcees! The students also got to cheer on and be
recognized as Ruth K., a sophomore at Mount Rainier High
School, received one of three pre-nominated and selected MLK Youth Award during the event. Mayor Greg Nickels
presented an engraved crystal plaque to her as part of her
award.
“These students do a great job with every volunteer
project,” Bethany comments. “They are eager to volunteer
and help in anyway that they can while they are doing a
project. It is a joy to work with them and I look forward
to every project.”
If you have questions or suggestions about service
learning or additional projects, sponsored by Youth
Volunteer Corps, please contact Bethany at
dearbobl@hsd401.org.
There will be events scheduled for the remaining waiver
days as well as mid-winter break. Check out
www.campfire-usa.org/YVC/ for more info
about volunteer projects during mid-winter and spring
breaks.
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Global Connections Student Wins
Scholarship |
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Celebration of Cultural Diversity
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Alyssa S.(right) next to KING 5's Josephine Cheng,
who was the evening's emcee.
Photo credit: Team Photogenic 2006
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Global Connections senior Alyssa S. was recently
honored at Nordstrom’s annual “Celebration of Cultural
Diversity Scholarship Awards” dinner. The awards ceremony
is held to recognize four high school seniors selected as
this year’s scholarship winners.
"We feel privileged to award this scholarship to such
deserving students," said Johnetta Rowsey, Nordstrom
director of diversity affairs, Washington/Alaska Region.
"These young people are future leaders of their
generation. They inspire us not only by their scholastic
accomplishments but also by the impact they are making in
their communities."
Alana Vinther, the marketing teacher at Global
Connections, attended the ceremony in support of Alyssa.
She observed, “You really left the evening thinking how
amazing these students are, what a difference they have
made in this world, and how hopeful our future is with
these students leading the way.”
“This is a great example of the small learning
communities’ ability to form connections that extend
outside the school,” commented Max Silverman,
former Tyee High School principal. “Ms. Vinther wrote a
recommendation for Alyssa’s application for this
scholarship – and then supported her through the process –
including the celebration!”
Each student was awarded $10,000 scholarships to be paid
over four years. In addition, they each received an Apple
iBook computer, complete with software, as a surprise
bonus gift from Nordstrom.
For the past 16 years, Nordstrom has recognized local
individuals for their efforts to promote cultural harmony
in the Puget Sound community through "A Salute to Cultural
Diversity." Nordstrom started this program in 1990 in
honor of Black History Month, recognizing individuals for
their efforts to promote cultural and racial harmony.
Today, the program has evolved into Celebration of
Cultural Diversity, a scholarship designed to encourage
high school students from all communities to pursue higher
education in an effort to create avenues of opportunity
for career success through scholarships.
A committee made up of educators, business leaders,
community volunteers, and representatives from Nordstrom
and Potlatch Fund chose the scholarship recipients.
Potlatch Fund is a native-led grant-making foundation and
leadership development organization that finds long-term
solutions to systemic challenges facing Northwest Indian
People. Their mission is to promote economic development,
natural resource protection, education, cultural
preservation, civic participation, and the overall health
of native people and their communities.
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Keeping His Dream Alive... |
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Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Submitted by Rebekah Kim, Marvista principal
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Students used body portraits to represent the
differences in their own classroom. |
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On January 13, the Marvista students and staff had
the opportunity to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
during our afternoon assemblies. To recognize this hero,
Mrs. Adlum’s class shared what their dream would be
using the theme of “How to make sure students at Marvista
feel safe and are kind to one another.” Some of those
dreams included, “Be kind to new students and don’t
fight.”
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Gwyneth Borden addresses Marvista students. |
We also had a special guest speaker, Gwyneth Borden,
who flew from San Francisco to share her passion of
diversity and equality for all. Ms. Borden was recently a
guest columnist in the Seattle Times, focusing on the need
to personalize instruction for students from all cultures.
She had students interact by identifying what was
different about one another. By doing this, the students
recognized we are all different in how we look and where
we come from. That opened the perfect opportunity to teach
the lesson that “differences should not change how we
treat one another.”
Ms. Borden heads corporate community relations in the
Pacific Northwest for IBM, managing the company's
philanthropic and volunteer activities with a focus on
preK-12 education, adult literacy and work-force
development.
During the last couple of weeks Marvista’s art docents
worked on various projects representing multi-cultural art
which were displayed in our main hallway. A special thank
you to the committee and volunteers who made this such a
beautiful display! Please stop by and see the oustanding
student artwork!
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Blake H. and Austin D. recite Dr. King’s famous
speech. |
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Two sixth graders, Blake H. from Mrs. Kolbe’s class
and Austin D. from Mr. Watt’s class, approached me,
indicating they had a desire to share Dr. King’s speech
during the upcoming assembly. They spent time practicing
the speech and WOW’d the school by reciting memorized
parts of Dr. King’s speech, “I have a dream that my four
children will one day live in a nation where they will not
be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character. I have a dream today…” Great job Blake
and Austin!
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OSC Students Participate in DECA
Conferences |
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Several Receive Awards
Students from Highline’s Occupational Skills Center
recently participated in two conferences in conjunction
with the DECA program.
The Area Conference took place in Bellevue and included
student competitions in written tests as well as “live
action” tests depicting possible retail interactions. Both
competitions challenged the students from the Apparel and
Accessories Management program to apply the lessons
learned in class to real world situations and think on
their feet. To be successful, they had to demonstrate the
ability to adapt quickly and efficiently and be good
problem solvers.
Jill Price-Crawley, Fashion Design and Marketing
instructor, is pleased with the leadership component of
the DECA program. She said, “It’s really opening doors
with local businesses as the students are more experienced
and ready to take on real-life challenges.”
Katie O. and Ashlyn L., both of Mount
Rainier High School, received awards in the competition.
Several of the Fashion Design and Marketing students also
attended a week-long training session in New York
recently. The students had the opportunity to meet with
clothing, costume, and shoe designers and engineers,
textile designers, and tour facilities. They were also
able to visit ESP, the trend lab that produces a
forecasting tool for the auto, fashion, and home interiors
businesses.
While in New York, the students also had some “tourist”
time. They visited Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty,
Ground Zero, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “It was
six action-packed days of education related to their
chosen profession,” said Ms. Price-Crawley. “They were
able to see and do things they would never been able to
prior to making the decision to study the industry.”
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Sylvester Middle School Student Chosen as Page |
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A follow up to last edition’s story…
Representative Eileen Cody will sponsor a student from
Sylvester Middle School, Umelo U., as a legislative page
in Olympia during the month of February.
This appointment stems from the same leadership class
assignment by Claire Waistell as reported in the last
edition of District News. Refer back to the January 19
issue for the complete text of Ms. Waistell’s comments
about the assignment.
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Foundation for Early Learning
Awards Grants |
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White Center Heights Elementary a Recipient
Some children start school knowing how to share with other
children, sit in a circle, and wait for their turn. They
know lots of words and how to use them and they can sort
things by shape, color and size. They know how to use the
restroom independently and how to ask for help. They feel
good about themselves. They are school-ready.
Unfortunately, kindergarten teachers report that half of
the children who enter school are not ready. They are
unprepared to take advantage of the education available to
them. As we know so well from the research, children are
learning from birth and during the first five years we
have a critical opportunity to help them build the brain
capacity and establish behaviors for their success in
school and in life.
Early learning is the key to school readiness. The
Getting School Ready!
Campaign will focus efforts on trying to close the
"preparation gap" that too many of our children face.
The Getting School Ready Action Team recently announced
five winners of grants to do just that. White Center
Heights Elementary School is one of those awarded a grant.
The funds are to be used to create Neighborhood/School
Transition Teams. Greta Salmi, principal of White
Center Heights, outlines their plan, “In coordination with
Head Start and other preschools, we will be arranging
visits between the kindergarten and preschool teachers,
opportunities for parents to meet kindergarten teachers
and discuss school readiness and tours of the school and
classrooms for incoming kindergarten students.”
The Foundation for Early Learning stems from a 1998
Governor's Commission on Early Learning chartered to
identify gaps in programs for children and parents, focus
public attention on the learning of our state's youngest
children, and ensure that every child in Washington goes
to school prepared to succeed.
With seed money from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, the Foundation for Early Learning was formed.
The foundation's vision is that all children birth through
age five in Washington are nurtured by their families,
caregivers, and community in a healthy environment that
ensures social, emotional, and academic success.
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Max Silverman, Director of High School Improvement |
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 Max Silverman has been named to the new position of
Director of High School Improvement. This position is
funded through the grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation that was awarded to Highline last fall. Max
will assist all high schools with continuous improvement
and the transition to small learning communities, and he
will coordinate activities funded through the Gates
grant.
Previously, Max served as principal at Tyee High School.
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Emergency Response Grant |
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We are pleased to announce that Highline Public Schools
is one of several school districts across the state that
will benefit from an 18-month federal grant titled
Emergency Response Crisis Management. The $30,000
grant will pay for assistance from facilitator Martin
Speckmaier, a retired Edmonds police officer and school
resource officer. Mr. Speckmaier will work closely with
Tony Zeman, Highline Director of Security & Safety to
review and update our emergency procedures to ensure
that they comply with the National Incident Management
System (NIMS). He will also facilitate NIMS training for
all school administrators.
The grant will fund coordination with key emergency
response community partners to review the four phases of
an effective emergency plan (prevention/mitigation,
preparedness, response, and recovery), to assign
representatives to advise and monitor the progress of
this endeavor from now through March 2007, and to
enhance current crisis response planning and training.
Martin Speckmaier will also be available to assist with
needs assessments at the building level. Principals
interested in receiving assistance should contact Tony
Zeman. Principals will also be able to access training
for building-level staff for crisis planning, crisis
response teams, debriefing after a trauma, and violence
prevention training and support.
If you have questions or particular needs please contact
Tony Zeman.
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Highline Council PTA Recognizes Student Artists |
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Over 540 students from 14 PTAs in Highline participated
in the National PTA Reflections Arts Program this year.
Reflections is an arts enrichment program that
encourages students to create artwork based on a theme
that changes each year. Students created literature,
visual arts, photography, music, film, and dance around
this year's theme "I Wonder Why." PTAs sponsor the
program and some even have workshops that allow students
to create their art after school or during lunch recess
time.
Once the art entries are created by students at the
local PTA, they are judged by that PTA and given
recognition. Some of the entries from each participating
PTA are then sent on to Highline Council PTSA for
additional judging in order to be considered for
district-wide recognition. We had 195 entries to review
at the council level before selecting 60 entries to
receive Highline Council PTSA Awards. These 60 student
artists were honored at the HCPTSA Reflections
Celebration held on January 23 at the Performing Arts
Center. Student winners received medals for their
artwork and some performed music or read literature
pieces. It was a wonderful night of recognition for a
wonderful group of students.
Reflections visual arts entries and photography were on
display during the month of January in the ERAC lobby
and also in the City of Burien Art Gallery located at
Burien City Hall. Congratulations to all of the students
who participated in Reflections. We hope students will
create more art for next year's program when the theme
will be "My Favorite Place."
Congratulations to the HCPTSA 2006 Reflections Award
Winners
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Primary (K – 2nd grade) |
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Literature |
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Photography |
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Benji Box, Gregory Heights |
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Gemma Gendreau, Marvista |
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Sophie Loughlin, Marvista |
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Juliann Mudge, Gregory Heights |
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Devin Mays, Gregory Heights |
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Abbey Plankinton, Shorewood |
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Rebecca Tiffany, Parkside |
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Amanda Whitesitt, Marvista |
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Visual Arts |
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Choreography/Dance |
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Chelsi Haskin, Gregory Heights |
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Avery Gardner, Marvista |
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Miles Hoefs, Des Moines |
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Anders Hunt, Marvista |
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Music |
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Amber Jarve, Cedarhurst |
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Cassia Gilbert, Marvista |
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Shawn Gilbert, Marvista |
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Film/Video |
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Tyler Holm, Hazel Valley |
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Brandon Fairbanks, Shorewood |
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Intermediate (3rd – 5th grade) |
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Literature |
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Photography |
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Monea Bridges, Des Moines |
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Raquel Chase, Hazel Valley |
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Kyle Chilton, Marvista |
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Kayla Loy, Gregory Heights |
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Nicole Mays, Gregory Heights |
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Katherine Purdy, Marvista |
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Sabrina Niklaus, Marvista |
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Wendy Zaballos, Gregory Heights |
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Visual Arts |
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Music |
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Kaiti Freeberg, Marvista |
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Jackie Beal, Des Moines |
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Hudson Hohimer, Marvista |
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Surbhhi Ghadia, Gregory Heights |
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Madison Napier, Marvista |
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Clara McMichael, Parkside |
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Jenna Shamseldin, Marvista |
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Kateah Nims, Shorewood |
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Choreography/Dance |
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Film/Video |
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Natalie Gee, Gregory Heights |
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Erick Andrews, Marvista |
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Middle/Junior (6th – 8th grade) |
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Literature |
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Photography |
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Marina Davies, Sylvester |
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Audrey Figgins, Shorewood |
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Jaspreet Kaur, North Hill |
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Elissa Johnson, Pacific |
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Kira Mori, Pacific |
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Marie Thoma, Sylvester |
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Skye Reash, Sylvester |
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Danny Zaballos, Sylvester |
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Visual Arts |
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Music |
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Ciera Boyd, Pacific |
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Navid Shafa, Sylvester |
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Emily Fenster, Sylvester |
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Garrett White, Shorewood |
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Rebecca Morris, Gregory Heights |
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Amanda Powell, Sylvester |
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Senior (9th – 12th grade) |
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Literature |
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Photography |
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Julia Huang, Evergreen |
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Cati Gilbert, Highline |
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Uyen Le, Evergreen |
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Stephanie Sheridan, Highline |
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Frank Plute, Evergreen |
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Thao Nguyen, Evergreen |
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Visual Arts |
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Music |
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Romatyan Ho, Evergreen |
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Tyler Kimmel, Highline |
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Michelle Hwang, Evergreen |
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Sarah Malchodi, Evergreen |
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Tammy Tran, Evergreen |
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Students in bold received Award of Excellence and
move on to Washington State PTA level of Reflections
judging.
Contributed by Debbie Thoma
HCPTSA Reflections
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Speak YOUR Languages Videos |
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Now Available in Secondary Schools
Speak YOUR Languages a series of short videos about
bilingual adults who are using their bilingual skills in
their careers. They are designed to motivate students to
improve their skills in both English and their other
language.
These videos were created by Highline Public Schools as
part of a grant with Social Venture Partners. This grant
also funded the development of the student interpreter
program and the translation & interpreting program
offered at Sea-Tac Occupational Skills Center. This
grant has paid for a set of videos at each of our
secondary schools.
Each video begins with the featured adult telling about
their own school experience and attitudes toward
bilingualism. Then, we see how they discovered the value
of being bilingual and learn about their career and why
it provides them great personal satisfaction. The
videos, each about eight minutes running time, are
designed to spark interest and generate discussion. You
can learn more about the videos from our website at
www.speakyourlanguages.com.
A Discussion Guide permits teachers to use the videos to
generate a class discussion about issues many of our
students face. This guide can be downloaded from the
website at
www.speakyourlanguages.com/user.htm.
You will find a wide variety of uses for these videos.
For schools trying to improve the cultural knowledge
of their staff, a video can be shown at a staff meeting
to help teachers better understand our students’
backgrounds, talents and opportunities.
ESL teachers can use these videos to motivate students
to work hard to improve their English while taking pride
in their native language.
World language teachers can use these videos to
motivate language study by showing a variety of career
options.
Career centers and counselors can use these videos as
an additional tool to acquaint students with options for
the future and to motivate them to undertake the
necessary preparation while in high school.
These videos are now being distributed nationally by the
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
and via the Speak YOUR Languages on-line store. Users
include major universities such as the University of
Washington, Portland State University, the University of
Texas, the University of Michigan and UCLA.
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Cascade’s Community Dance Benefits Many |
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Cascade Middle School hosted a community dance on
Friday, January 20. The dance was sponsored by A
Moment’s Notice who also provided the music. Additional
entertainment was provided by the Van Lang School
performance group, who performed traditional Vietnamese
dances. It was a great multi-cultural event and proceeds
will be sent to Pitcher Jr. High in Covington,
Louisiana, a school impacted by Katrina, and to
Cascade’s Saul Haas fund.
Contributed by Pat Larson, principal
Cascade Middle School
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