March 2, 2007   

Superintendent Presents Two Proclamations at Board Meeting

At the February 28 Board meeting, Superintendent John Welch read two proclamations into the record. Read Across America is a literacy campaign sponsored by the NEA each year on Dr. Seuss’s birthday, March 2.   March 12-16 has been proclaimed this year’s Classified School Employee Week. This proclamation honors the important contribution made by our classified employees and acknowledges their dedication to our students.   Read both proclamations..>>     Back to eHighlights

2006 – 2007 Excel Grants Awarded

Principal Karin Jones, Grantee Kathleen Bolomey, Highline Schools Foundation Trustee Anna Vornbrock and Grantee Katie Postlewait     The Board of Trustees of Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence recently announced the 2006-07 Excel Grant awards. These grants are funded with generous support from Boeing Employee’s Credit Union, MAD Grants, Saint Gobain Containers, the Joe & Jane McGeehan Fund for the Arts, and Glacier Northwest. "Thank you to everyone who applied," commented the Foundation's Director Kathy McCabe. "We can’t wait to hear your innovative ideas for student learning in 2007-08!" The Foundation received 152 requests representing nearly $100,000. Of these, 49 projects were funded for a total of $25,253. Highlights of this year’s projects include: Building Units of Measure with Tinker Toys submitted by Mary Fernley, math teacher at Sylvester Middle School. With the grant, Mary will purchase Tinker Toys and dowels to allow students in Connected Math to build larger units of measure to extend their vision beyond the desktop. Environmental Science Classes award to Katie Postlewait, sixth-grade teacher at Des Moines Elementary. This grant funds classes on salmon and water quality from the Environmental Science Center and scientific inquiry using data collection at Des Moines Beach Park. Both projects are in preparation for the science fair. Making Mosaics submitted by Trina Samson, librarian at Mount View Elementary. Trina will use the grant to purchase supplies to make a mosaic for the library as an all-school project, with students working cooperatively and showing community pride. College Ready! College Visit awarded to Alexis McFarland, teacher, at Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment. The grant funds buses and teacher supervision for 100 ninth graders to visit the University of Washington to get an idea of what college is like. For a complete listing of projects funded, see www.fund4excellence.org. Established to inspire innovative teaching and enrich student learning, an Excel Grant is an award of $50 to $1,000 for a specific project. According to one teacher, "The Excel Grant from Highline Schools Foundation allowed me to share one of my passions with my students and strengthen their academic skills at the same time." All schools that submitted requests had at least one project funded. More than $58,000 has been distributed to HPS teachers since 2002. Look for the next application announcement in September.   Back to eHighlights

Aviation High Robotics Team to Compete

By Robert Steele, Aviation High School teacher The Aviation High School robotics team is named the Skunkworks…this is a reference to a high-tech aerospace group from Lockheed Martin that developed many famous and highly secretive projects like the U-2 airplane and the technologies that resulted in the Stealth series of fighters and bombers for the United States. We thought it entirely appropriate to name our team after this famous group of engineers and test pilots. The team will travel to Portland, Oregon, to compete in the FIRST Robotics Northwest Regional competition on March 1-3. We will also be traveling to Las Vegas to compete in another FIRST Regional held at the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus. We will compete with many very prestigious teams from across the country including Hi Tech High from California and the Cocoa Beach Robotics team from Florida that is sponsored by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. We hope to present our school in its best light and will try and honor all of the students at AHS. We have been working many nights and weekends to complete this complicated robot. Our work has been supported greatly by the help of Reba, Susan, Lenore, Melissa and Theda in the office, a wonderful group of mentors, sponsors, and some incredible parents who help us perform this difficult task. Thank you to everyone who has helped us in any way. And wish us well in Portland and Las Vegas!!! Team members are: Isaac Ackerman, Alex Campisteguy, Mike Davis, Branden Gee, Keiko Hiranaka, Stephanie Hoag, Eugene Kim, Lamond Le, Dave McLaughlin, Tedrick Mealy, Daniel Nguyen, Griffin Nicoll, Tony Nordholm, Justin O’Keefe, Brian Richards, Sam Swan, Scott Totten, Jamie Wallin, Crystalyn Wolfe, and Zach Wydick.   Back to eHighlights

Math Matters (aka MathCounts) at Highline

l-r: Andrea Lin, Betsy Smith, Thomas DeSilva, Nicholas Mead, and math coach Mary Fernley.     The Sylvester Middle School math teams recently competed in the chapter level competition of MathCounts, a nationwide, math-enrichment program whose purpose is to increase enthusiasm for and enhance achievement in middle school math. One of the teams won 1st place! In addition, seventh grader Andrea Lin won the 1st place Individual award and 1st place in the Countdown Round. The winners now goes on to state competition. Congratulations to the entire Sylvester team! MathCounts is sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers.     Back to eHighlights

Parkside Students Off to College

By Christie Brown, Parkside Challenge Program When they were asked, "Are you old enough to be in college?" my fifth and sixth graders stood a bit taller and answered an emphatic, "Yes!" We were walking across the Highline Community College campus on our second visit to work in the computer lab, and they were pretty sure this was a good place to spend time. "We wanted to use PowerPoint to create a presentation about ancient cultures, but needed more equipment than we have in our lab," observed sixth grader Cameron Stedman. Arrangements were made with Nancy Kent at Highline Community College to teach my students the needed skills in one of the state-of-the-art labs on campus. Parkside Elementary School is just under a mile walk from the college and the students were game to walk to there for three afternoon sessions. In collaboration with Nancy Kent, the webmaster for HCC, and Dave, a computer tutor, we outlined the plans for the three sessions, and they met us in the lab the first afternoon. The fifth and sixth graders were impressed that the "real" students they passed all seemed serious and that they worked quietly. They thought the building was amazing because of the technology, the couches, and the clean bathrooms. They each sat at a computer with a chair that swiveled and began learning about PowerPoint. They were very quick studies, and we had to change our lesson plans several times to keep up with them. The first day one of the HCC librarians explained about copyrights and bibliographies. Nancy talked with them about creating easily read and informative PowerPoint slides and Dave taught specific techniques – and then, the students were able to actually make a few slides. On the next visit, the students created slide shows about themselves with a photograph and information they had written to describe themselves. Dave gathered their slides into a show to present to them at our last lesson. Hannah Fuchigami, a fifth grader, summed it up, "I learned a lot about PowerPoint, and had fun learning it too! I didn’t know anything about PowerPoint before, but now I know exactly how to use it. I even learned how to add special effects. It’s fun because you can really make it your own design." On our last visit to the college, my students ate lunch in the school cafeteria. They brought money to buy something to supplement their sack lunch and learned a bit about ordering food and making choices. On the way to the computer lab, there were many students around campus where before it had been fairly empty when we were walking around. I explained that this is the first time we had been there between classes and people were moving from one class to another. Our work at the community college has left a lasting impression on the fifth and sixth graders in my class! They know what a college looks like and, for the most part, liked what they saw. In the words of one of the students, fifth grader Jessica Dzuranyi, "Believe me, most of us can’t wait for college!" It’s all about getting prepared along the way – starting in elementary school!     Back to eHighlights

Washington Aerospace Scholars

Sixteen students from Highline’s Aviation High School are among those selected to participate in the Washington Aerospace Scholars program. This prestigious program for high school juniors is a state-wide, interactive, on-line learning experience, culminating in a six-day residential internship for select participants at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. The students are: Drew Collins, Shelby Cramer, Sokha Danh, Ao Ding, Andrew Ely, Stephanie Hoag, Matt Kastner, Tedrick Mealy, Natalie Nason, Tony Nordholm, Stanley Ong, Lelah Stivers, Reo Tsuchiya, Arianna Woltkamp, Zach Wydick, and Jessica Yu. Students from every legislative district across Washington State compete to take part in this exciting program. The students are recommended by teachers and chosen for the summer residency by state legislators. According to Rosie Bailer, program coordinator, the scholars are currently working on phase one: distance learning with a NASA-designed curriculum. From home, school, or a public library, students complete web-based activities such as space shuttle exploration, space station life, and lunar and Mars explorations. They also take quizzes, work math problems, write essays, and create graphics concerning these studies using links to virtual reality models, interactive tutorials, videos, and 3-D graphics. Students will undergo a second round of selection for phase two of the program: the summer residency. Selected scholars will attend a six-day residential summer experience at The Museum of Flight. During this experience, students will work in teams to complete hands-on engineering activities associated with the design of a human mission to Mars; participate in briefings from engineers, scientists, and aerospace professionals; and attend tours and field trips. Students are mentored by aerospace engineers, college staff/students, and teachers. Certified Washington teachers serve as program counselors during the residential summer experience. Selected teachers receive transportation, housing and meals, and guide the students through their learning experiences. Teacher applications will soon be available on the Museum’s website: www.museumofflight.org/washingtonaerospacescholars.    Back to eHighlights

United Way

Identifying Issues…Investing in Solutions…Improving Lives By Dan Davis, United Way District Campaign coordinator   Our 2006 United Way campaign officially ended on November 17, 2006. As a district we donated just over $78,000, with $70,000 going directly to United Way and over $8,000 going directly to the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence. I’d like to thank all of the building/site United Way Ambassadors for all of their hard work with the campaign.    Thanks to this year’s ambassadors:   Elementary Beverly Park Bow Lake Cedarhurst Des Moines Gregory Heights Hazel Valley Hilltop Madrona Marvista McMicken Heights Midway Mount View North Hill Parkside Seahurst Shorewood Southern Heights Valley View White Center Heights   Middle Schools Cascade Chinook Pacific Sylvester High Schools Aviation Big Picture Evergreen Highline Mount Rainer OSC Tyee – A.C.E. Tyee – Global Connections Tyee – Odyssey Department/Site Admin/ERAC Upper Computer Services Facilities Human Resources Lower ERAC Performing Arts Center Security Transportation Waskowitz New Start/Home School/CHOICE     Bonnie Omura Maggie Lewis Mohammad Anegebeode Megan Parnell Kaylynn Griffee Barb Smith Dan Davis Crystal Daniels Sue Goheen Pat Bale Keitha Bryson Vivienne Alcantara Mia Burris Mary Sharp Rosemary Krsak & Lucy Taskar Margie Paynton Rosanne Jamison LeeAnn Robertson Scott Coleman     Theresa Carlson Lynda Johanson Mike McLeod Vicki Fisher   Nancy Flynn Jeff Petty Jackie Lewis Alice Hammond Julie Ausen Dave Estes Stacey Spector Debbie Melchior Suzanne Duffy-Kane   Judy Balko Barbara Enghusen Katherine Kitts Jackie Martinez Pam Hallenius & Cheryl Schindel Amy Daligcon-Dowell Suzie Junell Debbie Irving Sherri Richardson Trudie Nichols   Here’s another way United Way of King County and other partners help the community. KING COUNTY 2-1-1 – King County 2-1-1 is an easy-to-remember, free phone connection that connects people needing help-or those wanting to help others-with the appropriate resources. Who does a single mother call when she has no food and her children are hungry? Who do you call when an earthquake strikes, and you need to find shelter? Who does a worried father call to find drug counseling for his teenager? Who do you call when an older parent needs support to continue living independently? Who do you call when you want to volunteer your time and talents? Please use this link http://www.uwkc.org/ourcommunity/211.asp  to read more about King County 2-1-1.       Back to eHighlights

Mount Rainier Junior Nominated for Honor

By Andrea Crisler, Mount Rainier High School counselor   Congratulations to Constance Spoor, junior at Mount Rainier High School. Constance was nominated by the MRHS staff for the HARVARD PRIZE BOOK. This is awarded to an outstanding Junior who "combines excellence in scholarship and high character, with achievement in other fields." This year, twenty-two area high schools are participating in the program; there are over 1,800 high schools participating in the program worldwide. The Harvard Club of Seattle participates in a nation-wide "Prize Book" program conducted under the auspices of the Harvard Alumni Association. Constance is the daughter of Sarah Spoor, teacher at Sylvester Middle School.     Back to eHighlights

Run for Guenther

By Jessica Butler, Tyee alumni If you have visited Tyee High School in the last 43 years, you may have had the opportunity to meet Coach Guenther. If you have, chances are you consider him to be a friend. Everyone who meets Coach can’t help but love him. Guenther joined the Tyee family in 1964, where he taught science and coached the Track and Cross Country teams. He led his boys’ team to a State Cross Country Championship in 1975 and then again in 1976. Even more important to Guenther than the trophies he’s won are the individual student athletes he has coached over the last couple of generations. He finds and appreciates the uniqueness of every student. He encourages each individual to succeed and strive for the best. There have been many occasions when an athlete could not afford running shoes, only to find that Guenther would provide a pair out of his own pocket. Coach appreciates victory at the end of the race, but he also stresses to all of his athletes the importance of the love for the sport, as well as the discipline running brings to the lives of young individuals. At the end of each season, he gives out awards to the students. Each student also gets an album of photos taken by Guenther during the cross country season. Every athlete is recognized for what he or she brought to the team. It’s always an emotional time for Guenther, and we all notice a couple tears as he congratulates each athlete and wishes them luck in their future. He has been long-retired from teaching, yet he continues coaching into his mid-eighties. He carries on with friendships that last long after his athletes graduate from Tyee. He still darts around the cross country course to cheer on his athletes. However in the last year, many have noticed that Guenther has slowed down a little bit. His cheering for the runners is a little hoarser. This is because he has lung cancer. He was diagnosed in October, and has been undergoing chemo therapy treatments and surgeries to slow down the cancer. Something that really speaks to Guenther’s character is the fact that, while he is in great pain, his greatest concern was making sure that the cross country athletes still received their awards at the end of the season. Unfortunately, Guenther’s bills are mounting. He is the best coach, friend, and mentor anybody could wish for. He has dedicated his life to inspire young individuals, and has never asked for help. It’s time that we give back to someone who, for 43 years, has given so much to us. Guenther has given so much to his students and the community, yet has never asked for anything in return. None of his past or present athletes can bear to think of him having to deal with the stress of bills, when he should be focusing on his health. We've decided to give back to a man who has given so much to us. That is why we are holding a "Run for Guenther" on March 11 (Sunday) from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. at the Tyee track in SeaTac. Athletes will have pledge sheets and will be accepting donations. Money can be pledged per lap run (ex: Jim will give me $5 per lap up to $30) or flat donations will be accepted. Our goal is to have as many people attend the run as possible so our fundraiser is successful, and also because we want Guenther to know that there are many people who love and care about him. Checks can be made out to "Run for Guenther" and brought to the event, or deposited at any Wells Fargo. For more information, contact Jessica Butler at 206-295-9492 or butl1131@seattleu.edu.   Click here for pledge sheet..>>      Back to eHighlights

March on PSETV

By Joan Tritchler, assistant to the superintendent, communications & governmental relations, Puget Sound Educational Service District Spring is ...almost in the air. Days are getting longer, and PSETV continues to bloom with new shows. "Howe About Science" (with host David Howe) continues with a loop back through the Rainforest module (for those of you that may have missed a show here and there) and is joined by a new one: Mission to Mars! These 14 episodes were filmed around the time of the Mars rover landing, and bring all that excitement back. Classroom (or home, for that matter) activities include hot air balloons, seltzer rockets, and how to build a hovercraft! Another new show debuting this month is "Primary Spanish" - an immersion language program designed for young children. But we've been learning a bit too. And with 66 episodes, there's plenty to learn! Like other StepStar programs, this one has all the hooks; a lively host, short films galore, and participation from remote classrooms during the recording. Hearing "other kids" learning the same thing makes it more fun somehow. There are a few special shows filling out our weekends. The "National Gallery of Art" series runs every weekday, but some of the longer shows won't fit - so we've made space for them Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Leonardo and Gauguin are featured, as well as Art Nouveau. "People for Puget Sound" have produced some specials about ...well, Puget Sound that are fantastic. Spectacular underwater footage illustrates many of the environmental issues facing us today. Tune in at 11:00 a.m. or 9:00 p.m. on Sundays to learn more about your local landscape. And with that final tip of the hat to our beautiful, almost sunny outdoors, we're done! Check out our online schedule for more shows - you can search by title or date - and as always, thanks for watching PSETV. Visit us at www.psetv.org.     Back to eHighlights

Local Students Create High Fashion from Trash!

By Denise Henrikson, director, ReUseResources.org No, really! High school students at the Sea-Tac Occupational Skills Center (OSC) are working with fashion designer Robin Worley to create runway-worthy outfits from what others have thrown away. In a collaborative effort, Washington State DECA (An Association of Marketing Students), Haute Trash Fashions (www.hautetrash.org), REstore (www.re-store.org), King County Solid Waste Division, and ReUseResources (www.ReUseResources.org) are providing an intensive workshop in "trash fashion." Fashion Design and Marketing students in Jill Price-Crawley’s class at the Sea-Tac OSC will be creating fashions that will be put on the runway during the opening ceremony at the Washington State DECA Career Development Conference. Over 3,000 high school students from across the state will attend the March 8-10 conference, being held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Marketing is moving green! Students have taken their critical and creative eyes through their neighborhoods, including to their local grocery stores to see what types of packaging is commonly thrown away after one use. Students also toured Weyerhaeuser’s Recycling plant in Kent to increase their awareness of the waste stream and expand their knowledge of materials sciences. Now, it’s back to the classroom where they are transforming waste into wearable art! Each student also drafted a personal statement about environmental awareness, to be presented with their designs on their trip down the runway. Over 3,000 students from across the state will be entertained through this fun and educational fashion show at the Washington State DECA Career Development Conference on March 8.     Back to eHighlights

Students Work Selected for Art Show

By Teresa Matthews, Highline High School community liaison The Frye Art Museum on Capitol Hill is featuring a juried show of student work through the Washington Art Educators Association. Out of the 20 pieces accepted into the show, three are from Renaissance at Highline High School by artists Erin Cook, Doan Nguyen, and Brooke Noel. Erin, Doan, and Brooke all submitted experimental, interactive pieces. Their work shows unique emotional depth, craftsmanship, and understanding of alternative media. The show is open until March 24, with an artists' reception on March 10 from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.     Back to eHighlights

Board Minutes

Click the date to read the minutes from the January 24, 2007 and February 13, 2007 board meetings.       Back to eHighlights