MOUNT VIEW ELEMENTARY NEEDS BOOKS: West Seattleite Shoshanna Cohen, the ELL Interventionist at Mount View Elementary in White Center, asks for your help as they vie for a $5,000 grant to buy books. Many of the kids at MV Elementary speak Spanish as their first language, and the school has few books in Spanish – Cohen explains, “There is so much research showing that by promoting the student’s first language, their growth in their second language (English) is astronomical.” Just contribute a vote by going to this webpage and clicking the lower-right link that says VOTAR/VOTE. You’ll go to a page with the entries – look for the student in the Cat in the Hat-striped hat, and that’s for Mount View. Just click the “vote” link you’ll find with that specific photo, and that’s it, no strings attached. The contest runs through this weekend.

WEST SEATTLE STEM NEEDS TECH: And while we’re talking about online votes for school grants – West Seattle STEM Elementary (aka K-5 STEM) has a month left in their bid for a $50,000 tech grant – here’s our original story, which explains how to vote.