West Seattle Blog…

Power’s back on at Sanislo Elementary and school IS on for Friday

Got a note from Lynette Jeung from the Sanislo Elementary PTA, asking if we would make note that the power IS back on at Sanislo Elementary and there WILL be school tomorrow. That’s according to a phone call from Sanislo principal Bruce Rhodes. (Sanislo was affected by today’s power problems, which are all now resolved.)

Congratulations! Arbor Heights Elementary’s Super Ultimate Nerdy Ninjas make the finals

The semifinals of the Seattle Public Library‘s Global Reading Challenge are under way downtown – and we have our first word of a West Seattle team making it to the GRC’s finals: SPL’s Mary Palmer tells us the Super Ultimate Nerdy Ninjas from Arbor Heights Elementary did well enough today to advance to the March 18th final. One more West Seattle team has yet to have its semifinal round – that’s Roxhill, tomorrow.

‘Don’t throw the world away’: Plastic pollution’s the focus for this year’s World Water Week @ Chief Sealth International HS

That’s the trailer for “Midway,” a film by photographer/filmmaker Chris Jordan telling the story of plastics pollution in the Pacific through birds whose stomachs are filled with it. On Tuesday, March 25th, Jordan will be the public keynote speaker for this year’s World Water Week at Chief Sealth International High School – plastics pollution is the focus of the fourth annual edition of the weeklong “idea festival” organized by social-studies teacher Noah Zeichner and his students, as explained here:

We started WWW four years ago during our first year as an international school. We chose the theme of water because we thought it would be relevant to students and teachers and of course, it is one of the most critical global issues on the planet. WWW is a weeklong series of assemblies, synchronous lessons, a student conference, evening keynotes, service learning, and celebration. Each of the four years has had a sub-theme. The first year it was global scarcity and local conservation. The second year was food security. Last year was sanitation (toilets). This year’s theme is plastic pollution. We wanted to help students see the interconnections between all of these complex global issues, with water at the center of it all.

Students leading WWW this year are 11th graders Aisaya Corbray and Paloma Robertson with the support of senior Tasha Addington-Ferris, with dozens of others working in support. World Water Week also is tying in this year with the Sealth 9th graders’ Water, Ecology, and Sustainability Team (WEST) Project, which they will be presenting to 8th graders at adjacent Denny International Middle School. The WEST Project work will be on display during a resource fair preceding Chris Jordan’s appearance on March 25th, and the WWW team hopes you will join them that night. Here’s the full schedule of what they will be working on, including a student conference all day Wednesday, March 26th. (Jordan will be working with students that day.) Stand by for more as WWW gets closer.

West Seattle High School baseball team ready to follow up second-in-state season

Remember that splash of sunshine on Monday afternoon? It arrived at just the right moment for the West Seattle High School baseball team, parent Greg Slader reports:

High School Baseball started on Monday and West Seattle enjoyed a brief glimpse of sunshine at Monday’s practice. This year’s team returns 10 seniors from last year’s team, which made a fantastic run in the state tournament to 2nd place. The pre-season jamboree is scheduled for March 15th in Liberty @ 10 am.

After that, the WSHS team has two games at home at Hiawatha, hosting Garfield on March 18th and Ballard on March 20th. Two games against crosstown rival Chief Sealth International High School are on the schedule for April 30th (at Southwest Athletic Complex) and May 2nd (at home).

Extra time to buy your ticket for Arbor Heights Elementary auction

Since they know you’re busy, organizers of this year’s Arbor Heights Elementary School auction have extended the ticket-buying deadline to this Friday (March 7th). The auction is at The Hall at Fauntleroy on Friday, March 14th – doors open and bidding begins at 5:30 pm, dinner at 7 pm; see the official flyer here. This year’s “raise the paddle” direct donations are helping buy science equipment! You can buy your ticket(s) right now online, here.

Video: See what champion ‘artistic cyclists’ did on 2 wheels during Roxhill Elementary visit before Bike Expo shows

Corrina Hein, Stefan Musu and Lukas Matla - world-champion artistic cyclists from Germany – are performing at the Seattle Bike Expo this weekend, and warmed up by performing at local schools, including West Seattle’s Roxhill Elementary on Friday afternoon, where we of course had to capture them on video:

If you’re going to the Bike Expo, their remaining performances are today at 1:20 pm, 3 pm, and 5 pm, and tomorrow at 11:15 am, 1:15 pm, and 3 pm. The expo is at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal in Magnolia.

West Seattle weekend scene: WSHS Big Band Dinner Dance

A big boost for the band at West Seattle High School, which entertained during Friday night’s Big Band Dinner Dance fundraiser – thanks to Anne Weglin for the top photo. Guest-starring to support the student musicians was the West Seattle Big Band, whose Jim Edwards shared the next view of the party:

Supporting student musicians is the WSBB’s mission, so you’ll see them at events like this several times a year. The WSHS event on Friday was planned as a fundraiser for competition and travel in the months ahead.

Steps at Stevens: Designing a safe path to the west side of ‘Westside’

West Seattle High School is also fondly known as “Westside,” but it’s not easy to get safely to the west side of Westside on foot. A new project called Steps at Stevens will fix that – thanks to a city matching-fund grant. Here’s the official overview:

The Steps at Stevens project proposes a safe non-vehicular route from 3000 California Avenue SW, at SW Stevens Street, to West Seattle High School. Stairs, an accessible pathway, and a walkway to the school building’s primary entrance will promote everyday safe transit. Landscape and wayfinding will further enhance West Seattle High School’s primary entrance and strengthen community connections.

The first major step toward Steps at Stevens is happening right now – the West Seattle High School PTSA, one of the project sponsors, has issued a Request for Qualifications, seeking those interested in design/consultant work for the project, made possible by the $20,000 matching-fund grant. The deadline to get in on this is March 24th,and you can read all about it here.

ADDED 9:51 PM: If you’re interested in even more information, project organizers forwarded text of a story that is in a recent edition of the WSHS student news publication but is not otherwise available online. It’s republished with its writer’s permission.

SAT for free! Grant money gets 270 at Sealth to take The Test

It’s a fixture of getting ready for college – taking the test known as the SAT. It usually entails paying a fee and spending several hours somewhere outside the school day – but today, a special event at Chief Sealth International High School made the test possible for about a fifth of the entire student body:

Thanks to grant funds, about 270 Sealth students (mostly juniors) were able to take the SAT test today at no cost! The grant provided registration fees ($50/student), an online SAT-prep course ($70/student), and a healthy snack to students who registered. A unified effort between Lori Douglas, Academic Dean, and Cheryl Sullivan, Assistant Principal, ensured as many students who were eligible got registered for this excellent opportunity! Students had (and continue to maintain) the ability to send scores to any college(s) they chose, or they could just use the results as a “barometer.”

Thanks to assistant principal Sullivan for the report and photo; she says the grant money originated with the Race to the Top program.

3 local schools get $310,000 grants from Families and Education Levy

The city has just announced four schools will get grants of $310,000 each from the 2011 Families and Education Levy for next school year – and three of them are from this area: West Seattle Elementary, Sanislo Elementary, and Concord International Elementary. The “Elementary Innovation” grants “will fund after-school tutoring programs, family support services, and in-school academic support,” according to the official city announcement, which also mentions new Summer Learning grants for six sites around the city including Southwest Early Learning.

You can help! WSHS sophomores’ charity-benefit tournament needs basketball players, volunteer refs

Know a 6th-through-12th grader who loves to play basketball? The West Seattle High School Class of 2016 hopes they’ll sign up (ASAP!) for an upcoming charity-benefit tournament. Sophomore-class rep Gabby Carufel shares the invitation – and says they’re looking for volunteer referees, too:

The West Seattle High School Sophomore class is hosting a 3 x 3 Basketball tournament “206 BANG OUT” on Saturday, March 15th which will benefit Treehouse and help improve lives of foster kids in our community.

This event is for 6th – 12th grade kids, with open divisions for all skill levels, Saturday, March 15th, from 9-3 pm in the WSHS Gym. Cost is $20 dollars per team.

To sign up, please contact: 206bangoutrsvp@gmail.com Entry deadline is March 3rd.

We are also looking for experienced people who would like to help with refereeing at this event.

Bring your friends, bring your family and take it to the hoops!

Download the registration form here (PDF).

West Seattle schools: Student musicians back from ‘phenomenal’ event

That’s the Jazz Band from Denny International Middle School, whose principal Jeff Clark reports that they’re one of three local student jazz bands just back from a big trip:

I am very pleased to share that this morning the Chief Sealth International High School Jazz Combo, the Denny International Middle School Jazz Band, and the West Seattle High School Jazz Band returned home from what has been a phenomenal weekend of music and workshops at the University of Idaho. This is the second year that ensembles from the three schools have traveled together for this festival.

The middle school band performed Thursday afternoon at the LDS Student Stake Center in Moscow, with the high school ensembles performed on Saturday. All three groups received critiques from well-respected jazz educators and had the opportunity to participate in numerous workshops touching upon issues from leadership development, to improvisation, to instrument fundamentals.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights the students attended star-studded concerts featuring a host of national recording artists and touring professionals including three National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters – Benny Golson, Eddie Palmieri, and Sheila Jordan.

The Denny International Middle School Jazz Band was awarded a Noteworthy Performance commendation on the festivals Outstanding Young Artists site for their performance Thursday night.

Congratulations to all of these outstanding musicians!

Before school’s out for the year, you’ll have more chances to see local student musicians perform in the area – next one on our calendar is this coming Friday night at the West Seattle High School Big Band Dinner Dance; details here.

Sealth swimmer Carlos Morgan Montemayor finishes 2nd @ state

Congratulations to Chief Sealth International High School swimmer Carlos Morgan Montemayor for finishing #2 in the 100 backstroke at the state meet last night in Federal Way. Trisha Montemayor, who has been sharing Sealth swimming results with us this season, reports that Carlos’s 50.35 “is the 8th fastest time in 3A history in this event and an All American Consideration time. This is also the highest placement at State for a Sealth swimmer in school history.” AAC, she adds, is a recognition of both athletic and academic achievement, for high-school-student athletes with GPA’s of 3.5 or higher plus times that meet or exceed a preset time standard in their sport.

Congratulations are also due to Sealth’s Michael Stewart, also swimming in the final day of the state meet; Trisha reports that Michael “finished in 16th place in the 50 free event with a time of 22:58.” You can see full results by scrolling down the left-side window on this page.

‘Money is not a reason to not play tennis’: West Seattle High School coach hopes you’ll help her swing at a budget better than -$15

(Photo courtesy Cathy Thom)
Did you know there’s an extra charge to play a high-school sport – and some sports still have no budget? West Seattle High School second-year head tennis coach Cathy Thom she’s been told she has a budget of -$15. So she is trying to creatively raise some money to cover costs as the season approaches, and she’s launched a crowdfunding page as part of the plan. In an e-mail exchange, we asked Coach Cathy if she might want to illustrate with a photo of “sorry-looking equipment you need to replace,” and she replied:

Well, I need squeegees for the courts, and I’d love to take a picture of them, but some people stole them from the courts, and well, we need tennis balls and racquets — the essentials to running the season, and sorry I don’t have any pictures of items we don’t even have!.. But I’m also hoping to raise money to help kids with the sports fee(s). I can’t believe it costs $100 to play a sport. No wonder kids are opting out and playing video games! So I want to have extra funds available for those who can’t afford the sports fee or who can’t afford the uniforms.

Despite the challenges, two of Cathy’s players made it to state competition last year, and she’s hoping to get more there this year, “with proper equipment, and being able to focus on the kids more than focusing on my budget … My ultimate goal is to get this team to be top of the line. I’ve played college tennis (division 1) and know I’ve got the knowledge to get these kids in line to get tennis scholarships if desired. … I’d like to open up doors for these kids … So far it looks like I need uniforms for incoming players (jackets and shirts), tennis balls, squeegees for the courts when it rains, and some scorecards.” Just go here and use the PayPal “donate” button (if you don’t have a PP account, you can use a credit card).

Chief Sealth swimmers @ state championships: First-night updates

Thanks to Trisha Montemayor for sharing another update on Chief Sealth International High School swimmers’ postseason competition: The two-day state championships conclude tonight at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Trisha’s report on Friday night:

Sealth sent their 200 Medley Relay team to state and finished 22nd. Top 16 in each race move on to finals. Michael Stewart will be swimming in the consolation final of the 50 free, having finished tied for 15th today. Michael also finished 19th in the 100 free, just missing the finals for that. Carlos Morgan Montemayor swam the 100 butterfly and finished tied for 10th but will not swim it (Saturday), to concentrate on swimming the 100 backstroke. He will swim the Championship final, going into it in 2nd place.

Good luck to Carlos and Michael! If you’re interested in seeing the times and other results – go to this page and click any event in the left sidebar to bring up full results in the larger window.

West Seattle High School girls’ season over after loss to Liberty

(WSHS #22 Annalisa Ursino, #12 Lydia Giomi, #10 Charli Elliott; photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
9:32 PM: The final score in Bellevue minutes ago was 43-30, with the West Seattle High School girls’ basketball team out of the postseason after a loss to Liberty HS (Issaquah district), but the game was a lot closer most of the way than the final score reflects. More photos and details later tonight.

ADDED EARLY SATURDAY: First, the scoring rundown for WSHS – Giomi led the field with 10 points, #30 Lexi Iaone (above) was second with 7 points including the Wildcats’ only three-pointer of the game. #21 Gabby Sarver (next photo) was third with 5 points.

Elliott followed with four, and scoring was completed by #15 Sarah Cooper (photo below) and Ursino with 2 points each.

Liberty got out to a 5-0 lead before WSHS finally scored midway through the first quarter and went on to take the lead 7-5, promptly losing it when the Patriots hit one of several 3-pointers, answered by the one by Ioane, which gave West Seattle the lead again.

Everything was hard-fought, from rebounds to breaking through the two sides’ respective defenses.

WSHS led 12-8 at the end of the first quarter but Liberty came back out fighting in the next one – including its very vocal fan contingent (WSHS had a hearty turnout too) — and the lead see-sawed a while, with Liberty ahead 22-21 at halftime after a run including two 3-pointers.

West Seattle’s rebounding was strong in the second half but its shooting was on the cold side. They did take back the lead a few minutes in, 23-22, and the lead was extended to three points after a pair of foul shots by Giomi.

But five unanswered points, including yet another 3-pointer, by the Patriots gave them the lead again, 27-25, and Liberty held it the rest of the way, including a few flashes of full-court-press defense. They were one point up over WSHS, 29-28, at the end of the third quarter, and it wasn’t that close again. The Wildcats had many shots but few successes. They scored only once more, a basket by Sarver with just under 3 minutes to go, while Liberty opened it up, including yet another 3-pointer along the way, until the 43-30 final.

Head coach Sonya Elliott has the chance to keep the same strong team growing next year, since none are seniors – yet.

Congrats! Seattle Lutheran HS senior scholar-athletes to be honored

Congratulations to Seattle Lutheran High School seniors Grant Doerr (above with parents Julia and Cary Doerr) and Jacob Fincher (below with parents Julia and Joe Fincher).

The announcement from SLHS:

Both students were nominated for The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Award given to student athletes who exhibit academic, leadership and football talent. Schools in King County may nominate a senior lineman and a senior back/receiver for these awards; four finalists are selected for each. Doerr was selected as a finalist in the Back/Receiver category.

Doerr and Fincher will be honored Sunday (February 23) at CenturyLink Field in the West Club Lounge at 10 am.

Read more about the award program, and past recipients, here.

Postseason basketball: West Seattle HS girls lose to Mercer Island

(TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Next game for WSHS set; scroll down)

(WSHS #30, Lexi Iaone; photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
4:39 PM: In postseason competition at Ingraham High School in North Seattle this afternoon, the West Seattle High School girls’ basketball team has just lost to Mercer Island, 52-49; down by nine points at the start of the 4th quarter, head coach Sonya Elliott‘s young team (no seniors) embarked on a comeback, but fell short.

(WSHS #12 Lydia Giomi, #21 Gabby Sarver, #10 Charli Elliott)
They’re not out of the postseason yet; our crew reports the Wildcats are expected to play again Friday night in Bellevue, opponent TBA. (More photos & game details later this evening.)

ADDED 11:02 PM: Coach Elliott tells WSB their next opponent is Liberty, 8:15 pm Friday at Bellevue College. Ahead, notes and a few more photos from today’s game:

Click to read the rest of Postseason basketball: West Seattle HS girls lose to Mercer Island…

Clothes to donate? West Seattle High School seniors will take them!

Though school is out all week, West Seattle High School seniors have a clothing drive going for area shelters, with two auxiliary locations until the WSHS campus reopens – donation boxes at the Old Navy stores downtown and at Southcenter. Class of 2014 rep Madison Miller says, “Some items we are looking for (as recommended by shelters) are packages of men’s socks, underwear, and T-shirts, but we are also accepting any kind of clothing donation as well.” Madison says you’ll also be able to bring donations to WSHS when school resumes next week, Monday 2/24 through Friday 2/28.

‘Black Mythical Mustangs’ win Global Reading Challenge at Concord

Though school is out this week, we suspect many young readers are in training as the Global Reading Challenge continues. We showed you Arbor Heights Elementary‘s winning team last week; today, we have a report from Concord International Elementary 4th-grade teacher Marina Pita:

My 4th Grade Dual Language Students (The Black Mythical Mustangs) won our school’s Global Reading Challenge and will advance to the Semi-Final at the Seattle Public Library on Wednesday, March 5th. Attached is a picture of the team with our principal Dr. Zavala, our Librarian Mindy Terr, and our local librarian Ms. B. Our whole 4th Grade Dual Language team (students included) will be at the library to cheer the team on for the Semi-Final!

Concord is in South Park but is part of the district’s West Seattle region. To be ready to compete in the GRC, students have to read 10 books – see this year’s list here. They get to choose their own often-whimsical team names. Other participating schools in West Seattle and the rest of the city are listed here; the city final is March 18th.

WSHS boys’ basketball season ends with 2nd trip to playoffs

Congratulations to head coach Keffrey Fazio and the West Seattle High School boys-varsity basketball team on a second consecutive season with postseason play. Their final report is just in:

The West Seattle High School boys basketball season came to an end on Saturday night, falling to Seattle Prep 63-59 in an overtime thriller.

The WSHS boys were one game from making the 3A Regional playoffs, which consists of the top 16 teams in the state.

The Wildcats have now gone to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, and this year made it to the district tournament.

This season was a true journey for the team as they battled through adversity and achieved great things on and off the court.

The future is bright for the Wildcat boys, as the youth in the program has great potential and will be training hard in the off season to get back to the post season.

Lots of postseason sports updates this weekend – see them all in our sports-coverage archives here (reverse chronological order).

More athletes to state competition: 2 Sealth swimmers

One more update on local student athletes in this weekend’s postseason high-school-sports events – a swimming update from Trisha Montemayor:

Chief Sealth participated in the Boys 3A Sea-King District 2 Swim Championships this weekend. Preliminaries were held (Friday) and finals (Saturday). Chief Sealth had two relays participate in finals, finishing 11th in both and dropping 5 seconds of time in each relay. Boys in the relays were Carlos Montemayor, John Woefel, Eliot Nichols and Michael Stewart. Michael Stewart also swam finals in the 50 free and 100 free, qualifying for state in the 100 free with a time of 49:18 and finishing 8th overall. Carlos Montemayor swam the 100 back final, finishing 2nd in a time of 52.84. He will swim both the 100 fly and 100 back at State. Boys 3A State championships are Friday, February 21 at 6:15 at King County Aquatic Center for preliminaries and Saturday, February 22 at 6:30 for finals.

The aquatic center is in Federal Way.

High-school wrestling: 4 from Sealth compete at regionals, 2 moving on to state

More high-school-sports postseason news: Thanks to Lynn Ogdon-Perrine for sharing the photo and update after four Chief Sealth International High School wrestlers who won in the Metro League tournament last week competed regionally on Saturday. From left, freshman Nathan Perrine, sophomore Daron Comacho, junior Greg Tauti, and sophomore Orlando Lopez. At regionals, Daron placed second at 195 pounds and Greg placed fourth at 285, so they will represent Sealth in statewide competition at the Tacoma Dome next Friday and Saturday.

More basketball: Seattle Lutheran boys win playoff game

Also victorious in Saturday postseason basketball: The Seattle Lutheran High School boys-varsity team, with an 86-55 win over, and at, Orcas in their first playoff game of the year; here’s the scoring breakdown published at SeattleTimes.com (WSB partner). Next game is at Auburn Adventist on Wednesday night (February 19th). Thanks to Seana for the photo!

Nailbiter victory for West Seattle High School girls over Eastside Catholic

(UPDATED 11:59 PM with full story – lead paragraph was original, brief 8:34 pm report)

(Final seconds of the game – WSB Instagram video)
Story by Tracy Record
Photos by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

Lights flickered in the gym but stayed on and so did the West Seattle High School girls’ basketball team, pulling out a nailbiter postseason win 34-33 over visiting Eastside Catholic.

The Wildcats’ #12 Lydia Giomi scored West Seattle’s first two points while singlehandedly racking up almost half the team’s total, finishing with 15 points before fouling out with about seven seconds left in the game.

Click to read the rest of Nailbiter victory for West Seattle High School girls over Eastside Catholic…

‘Genius Hour’ at Alki Elementary: Students ‘given free range’

Maybe you’ve heard of “Genius Hour,” inspired by Google, with the company legendarily giving employees time to work on projects that interested them, rather than the assignments they were given. For the past six weeks, two classes at Alki Elementary got that chance – one hour per week during which third- and fourth-graders “were given free range to investigate and study a topic of their choice,” as teacher Anna Coghill put it. On Friday, students in her class and Kelli Soccorsy‘s class showed off those projects, and invited us to come have a look along with some other visitors (including the parents who gave us permission to feature their kids). Top photo, Charlotte‘s project was recycling art; next, Julian put together a tutorial on the history of perhaps the most famous superhero ever, Superman:

And in our final photo, with Alki’s first-year principal Shannon Stanton, is Owen, whose “Genius Hour” project involved engineering a catapult:

While Google is believed to have moved away from the “Genius Hour” type of time allotment, it’s a thriving idea in schools, with projects like the one the Alki students and teachers have just completed.

You’re invited! West Seattle High School Big Band Dinner Dance

Just announced:

Come to the West Seattle High School Big Band Dinner Dance, enjoy fabulous big band music and support West Seattle High School’s music program!

Friday Feb 28 2014 at West Seattle High School. Dinner served 6-7, Swing Dancing Music provided by WSHS Jazz Band and the West Seattle Big Band from 7-9.

Tickets purchased in advance are $15 each, or $17 at the door.

Special deal for students only – $8 ticket purchased at the door for dancing only (no dinner).

Swing dance instruction, door prizes, beverages, dinner & desserts all included!

This event is a fundraiser and West Seattle High School band, orchestra and jazz band students are raising money to pay for their performance and competition trips this spring.

Check out our Facebook page. For more info or to purchase tickets online- please e-mail WestSeattleHSMusic@gmail.com