Thanks to Explorer West Middle School for sharing photos from a special guest appearance last week by King County Executive Dow Constantine. Every year, the school focuses on a sustainability issue, and this year it’s “What makes a society sustainable?” so that’s what he talked about, before answering students’ questions. The school says his presentation included an explanation of balancing environmental sustainability with economic health plus reminiscences of his early involvement in community organizing to help save West Seattle’s College Street Ravine (side note, the Nature Consortium‘s quarterly work party there in his honor is coming up 10 am Tuesday – RSVP to 206.923.0853). So how did the school get West Seattle’s top politician to come speak? The event had a unique origin: Explorer West parent Judith Arvidson was the winning bidder for an appearance that Executive Constantine donated to the Southwest Youth and Family Services auction last year, and decided to in turn donate it to her daughter’s school.