West Seattle, Washington
28 Wednesday
On the last day before the biggest break of the school year, many schools have something special. We just learned today about this special annual tradition at Madison Middle School – luminarias! Award-winning counseling-team leader Lauren Divina explains that it’s a tradition dating back to the mid-’90s, “We lighted up luminarias along the pathway in front of the building to welcome our students on the last school day before the school break! … The entire staff greet the students at the front steps as they start coming in, we give candies, and there’s background music for the holidays.” Thanks for sharing the photos – we’re marking our calendar to go check this out in person next year!
Meantime, at Pathfinder K-8, the day before winter break was Crazy Hat Day, Akemi explained, sharing this photo:
According to Akemi, that’s Pathfinder 8th-grader Evaro: “Guess if we can’t use the viaduct, might as well wear it!” (Which reminds us, have you noticed lately how the south-end demolition is almost done? Here’s one of the newest WSDOT photos via Flickr.)
That’s the clip we showed you last month with news that Chief Sealth International High School‘s Marching Band was back in the KZOK “Battle of the Bands” competition – the only Seattle school in the running. Today, band director Marcus Pimpleton is thanking everyone for the support that helped Sealth come in second (here’s the news on the KZOK website) – which brings a $5,000 prize! The competition included both public voting and expert judging. So what will the money go toward? we asked. Here’s the reply:
Right now the funds will just be sitting in our music ASB account until we determine which of our many priorities needs attention first. We have a few things we are hoping to fund this year – additional band uniforms and mallet percussion instruments are currently at the top of the list, but our jazz band is auditioning for the prestigious Essentially Ellington competition in New York. Our acceptance is a long shot but the students are working very hard and if they are accepted it is a possibility that we may have to delay acquiring more band uniforms and use funds to support that.
(UPDATED 7:42 PM FRIDAY: Added comment from Marty McLaren, who now represents West Seattle on the School Board)
ORIGINAL 10:10 AM REPORT: Just received from Seattle Public Schools – Dr. Susan Enfield says she doesn’t want to be permanently appointed to the job she’s been doing temporarily:
In March, when I was appointed Interim Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, the District was in crisis. I was tasked with assembling the very best team of professionals to help lead this District, create transparency, improve communication and restore trust between families, the community and Seattle Public Schools.
I am incredibly proud of the work our students, teachers, principals and staff have accomplished over the past 10 months. Seattle is fortunate to have such a team of dedicated educational professionals. The progress we have made is significant:
Seattle Public Schools students outperformed the state average in every tested subject in grades 3-8
Our four-year graduation rate is up from 67 percent to 73 percent in the last year
Our overall school performance is increasing, with 27 schools increasing their overall performance level during 2010-2011
Enrollment is on the rise
Our city passed yet another Families and Education levy that will provide essential supports to our studentsWhile I am proud of what we have accomplished together, today I am announcing my decision to neither seek nor accept the permanent position of superintendent after my contract ends in June. This was not an easy decision for me to make given my commitment to Seattle and to our students.
As you can hear Madison Middle School principal Henterson Carlisle say in that clip, pep rallies happen all the time for athletics, so why not for academics? His students gathered in the Madison gym on Thursday afternoon to cheer two major awards the school has won this year. We’ve reported one of them, the fourth consecutive School of Distinction award, given for academic improvement. That award is statewide; the other one is national – as announced last month, Madison won the Career Awareness and Exploration Award from the National Consortium for State Guidance Leadership. First time in 15 years a school here has won that award, said Mike Hubert from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who high-fived the Madison staffers involved in providing those services, led by Lauren Divina:
(added) Here’s the official school photo of Hubert with, from left, Linda Mundinger, Lauren Divina, and Claudia Whitaker-Greenway:
As for the School of Distinction Award, Carlisle said it’s a reason for everybody involved with the school to stand tall:
Madison was one of two West Seattle schools to receive that award this year, along with Alki Elementary.
Two schools are celebrating award-winning students’ arts achievements tonight. First, from Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor):
The photo showing some of the Explorer West seventh-graders in the drama program is from Amy, and the report of two student honorees is from Alice:
On Monday night, two seventh grade students from West Seattle’s Explorer West Middle School won prestigious awards from the ACT Theater Young Playwrights Program.
For the past ten weeks, EWMS seventh graders have been working with ACT Theater Young Playwrights Program in the schools. Across Seattle 400 students submitted plays, in hopes of their play being selected for a production at ACT Theater. EWMS was one of two middle schools invited to participate in a mostly high-school-based contest with sixteen schools in Puget Sound, The Young Playwrights Festival. The top 47 plays were honored with an honorable mention and eight were selected for a full production at ACT THeater.
Winning in the top eight was seventh-grade student and lifelong West Seattle resident, twelve-year-old Finnley Kafer for her play, “The Trial of the Wolf and the Three Little Pigs”. Her play will be produced March 15 through 17 at ACT Theater.
Earning an Honorable mention was seventh-grader Jackson Rockowitz for his play, “The Epic Story of Snuffles the Goat Farmer.”
Meantime, Chief Sealth International High School student Pazuzu Jindrich, 15, won a contest for her banner design commemorating Human Rights Day (which was December 10th).
The folks at PugetSoundOff.org held the contest and say Pazuzu was chosen the winner from among more than 125 entries! Listen to her explain it in this short video clip:
As you can see in the video – Pazuzu won a Kindle for her award-winning design.
Though a mostly final proposal isn’t expected until the January 4th Seattle School Board meeting, we do know now what Seattle Public Schools is suggesting for relieving the crowding at six elementary schools in West Seattle. Their proposal is in the PowerPoint presented last night at the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting (see it here). Pages 16 and 17 are the heart of what’s proposed here, broken out by middle-school “service area.” The booed-at-last-month’s-community-meeting (WSB coverage here) suggestions about splitting off kindergarten or 5th graders appear to have been scrapped. But reopening Boren (the former “junior high” at 5950 Delridge Way SW) as the temporary home of a STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) option elementary is on the list. Portables are suggested for Gatewood, Lafayette, Schmitz Park, and West Seattle elementaries, but not Arbor Heights and Roxhill. From the above-linked presentation:
We have a message out to West Seattle’s new school-board rep Marty McLaren, asking for comment. The official schedule calls for the final “short-term capacity management” plan – this is only the first phase, covering next school year – to be introduced at the January 4th school-board meeting, and then put to a vote two weeks later. (A longer-term plan, involving reopening/building more school/s, will be hashed out next year – and that’s when the district proposes figuring out where the new STEM elementary would be permanently located.)
The ‘crop’ those Gatewood Elementary students (and others) helped “harvest” is now out in the world, supporting good work. From Gatewood teacher Darren Radu:
Once again this year, kids from all across the school worked together to bring in close to 400 pounds of pennies (and other coins) as part of the 2011 Penny Harvest. We shipped our bags of coins to the local Penny Harvest offices on Thursday.
In the New Year, we will convene a Philanthropy Roundtable, where students from each grade will research organizations working for justice in the community, country, and world, and determine which organizations are in most need of support. The Philanthropy Roundtable will then allocate grant funds from the pennies raised to these organizations. One of the Roundtable’s most important criteria is ‘leverage per dollar’ – the Philanthropists use their research to allocate funds in a way that works most effectively to make a positive difference in the world. Last year, Gatewood students awarded Penny Harvest grants to Save the Children Japan, Southwest Boys and Girls Clubs, and the Nature Consortium. Students weighed the impact of their decisions and made the final call on where to send the money.
The attached photo shows some of our many ‘harvesters’ with a few of the 30-pound bags they filled.
You can find out more about the Penny Harvest here:
Much ‘Gator Gratitude’ goes out to our Gatewood neighbors, families, and friends, for supporting this worthwhile work!
The tales of generosity and compassion keep rolling in, especially from the communities centered around local schools. Lisa Keith coordinated the Sanislo Elementary food drive again this year, and shares photos and a wrapup report:
Once again, the big-hearted kids at Sanislo Elementary School have had a tremendous annual food drive. The students and families of our community gave BIG this year, and the result is Sanislo’s largest food drive total in recent memory, with donations of food, toiletries, cleaning products and baby needs totaling over 1612 pounds!
There is a friendly (but fierce) competition between classes to see which group can bring in the most donations and win the coveted Food Drive Cup. This December, the honor goes to Mr. Simmons’ 4th graders, who brought in 348 pounds. In second place was Ms. O’ Connor’s 3rd grade class, with 248 lbs., and in third, Ms. Tsuboi’s 1st graders, with 206 pounds. (Ms. Tsuboi’s class should really get an honorable mention for “Cutest and Most Consistent Donors” during our daily weigh-ins, as well.)
A huge thanks goes to students from Ms. Crowley’s 5th grade class for helping to sort our many, many donations, and to Laura Probst and Julie Robinson-Jasper, who assisted with the weigh-in and sorting each day during our two week drive. With over half our students qualifying for free and reduced meals through the district, we also very much appreciate the efforts of our school social worker, Nina Bowman, who will distribute the donations to Sanislo families in need. Children who may have gone hungry during winter break will now have a happier holiday.
Two West Seattle elementary schools have achievements to share. First, from Roxhill:
Young adults in service to help kids – that’s the fundamental mission of City Year, which operates in several West Seattle schools (among many other places). And a recent event involving Roxhill’s City Year team stretched beyond those involved, raising global awareness. Team leader Hollis Hernandez shares the photos and this report:
On December 1st, the City Year team at Roxhill Elementary School celebrated the end of a school-wide Hunger Awareness Month Campaign with the school’s first Empty Bowls Banquet. All students and families were invited to share a humble meal of soup and bread out of student-decorated bowls and to hear students’ amazing essays on how to combat hunger around the world. It was a powerful and inspiring evening that could only have been possible with the generous donations from Endolyne Joe’s, Ivar’s, Target, and Great Harvest Bread.
Students were excited to get up onstage to read their essays – short and sweet, like this one from a girl named Faith:
Get food for the kids! Parents feed their kids but, some parents want to get more food for their kids because they don’t have enough food. If this happens all the kids will grow. The village will grow stronger with the help a community. The community will grow stronger if all the nations unite. Together we can help change the world to change ourselves.
Now, from Lafayette Elementary , an update on students getting involved with technology – not just to use it, but to strategize and compete: We have an update on a big day for the school’s new LaSER (Lafayette Science, Engineering, Robotics) club!
From Matt Jensen:
Robotics teams from Lafayette’s LaSER club had a great showing at the 26-team South Seattle FLL robot tournament on Saturday. The Mystic Mindstormers and Lego Minds, mixed teams of 2nd and 3rd graders, were the youngest teams there and outscored a number of older teams. The girls’ team, the Go-Go Bots, scored well and won a Core Values Award for Gracious Professionalism.
9:30 PM: Thriller at Chief Sealth International High School tonight – the boys’ varsity basketball team beat Nathan Hale in overtime, 71-69.
12:38 AM: The full story:
Story and video by Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Chief Sealth junior point guard Bronte Corbray scored 21 points in his team’s 71-69 overtime victory over Nathan Hale, including two from a pull-up jumper with 7 seconds remaining in regulation to pull the Seahawks even with the visiting Raiders:
In overtime, it was senior Pepe Hernandez doing the honors with consecutive field goals in less than a minute late in the overtime to take his team from down 62-60 to a 64-62 lead.
From West Seattle High School teacher Michelle Sloan:
The West Seattle High School Marketing Club and class needs your help judging the annual regional marketing competition.
Where: Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, Washington, (Parking included for judges)
When: January 11th, 2012, 8:45am- 1:30 pm (Snacks and coffee included)What exactly do I have to do?: You will be listening to Marketing students “pitch” their marketing plans to you. Students will have approximately 7 minutes to explain their Marketing Plan and then you will score their presentation based on the scoring rubrics we will provide you. You will have a 5 minute break between presentations to score their performances. You will also have a break in the morning and a snack break.
How is this helpful?: Judges have a very important job of helping Marketing students take their presentation skill more seriously. It helps students to work harder knowing they will have to present their ideas to you. Working on presentation skill will help students in many areas of school and life.
Who is hosting this event: Washington DECA Marketing Club
Parking: We pay for your parking in the MeydenbauerIf you can help out please contact:
Michelle Sloan, West Seattle High School Ceramics/Marketing/Photography Teacher, masloan@seattleschools.org
This Saturday, there are bazaars a-plenty around West Seattle (as listed here) – including Schmitz Park Elementary, where a parent shared news that some of the merchandise will help a local nonprofit:
Just wanted to let folks know that the Holiday Bazaar at Schmitz Park Elementary on 12/3 will include an opportunity to shop and give at the same time. The West Seattle Food Bank will be the recipient of proceeds from sales of hand made paper crafts from Ms. Grasel’s 1st grade class. The kids will be selling flowers and picture frames they constructed out of recycled paper, that can be used as gift toppers or ornaments. They will also be collecting food donations for the Food Bank. Of course there will lots of other lovely hand made crafts to purchase there as well.
From left are 1st graders Kian Hufford, Leeia Stroh, Sylvia Lamphere, and Kayley Thom. The bazaar/craft fair runs 10 am-3 pm Saturday (5000 SW Spokane).
(Photos courtesy Seattle Public Schools)
After the official swearing-in ceremony this afternoon – Puget Ridge resident and retired teacher Marty McLaren is now the District 6 (West Seattle and vicinity) representative on the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors. That’s Diann Shope (left) administering the oath. Also sworn in for four-year terms today, new board member Sharon Peaslee and returnees Harium Martin-Morris and Sherry Carr. Here’s the full board afterward:
Final election results were certified yesterday (see the four school-board races’ results here). We profiled McLaren in this story published last Sunday.
(Photo courtesy Westside School)
Field trips come in all sizes. This one for Westside School (WSB sponsor) was pretty big, providing students a chance to follow in explorers Lewis and Clark‘s foosteps:
Recently, twenty 5th-grade Westside School middle-school students went on an overnight field trip to Fort Clatsop, in Astoria Oregon, to enhance their understanding of Lewis and Clark’s Corps. of Discovery. Their social studies unit focused on the Louisiana Purchase and Thomas Jefferson’s desire to explore a water route to the Pacific.
After leaving school at 8 am on Thursday and arriving in Astoria by lunchtime, students visited the fort and completed a tour and research session. Later that evening, the group took a stroll on the beach and experienced the sun setting, over the Pacific Ocean. Teacher Glyn Jenkins observed two of his students sitting on a log with their eyes closed. He was curious and asked about their thoughts. “We are listening to the waves, wind, and bird sounds, just like Lewis & Clark must have,” they said, and closed their eyes again and smiled. Later the 5th graders conducted a group reflection activity, where they explained what they appreciated most about the Lewis and Clark expedition. On Friday morning, the trip continued to the Interpretive Center at Cape Disappointment, where the students completed a fact finding mission, which provided information for a play that they wrote, upon returning to school. The play will be performed at the end of the winter term.
Families interested in Westside are invited to an “Information Night” tomorrow (6-7:30 pm Thursday 12/1) for students entering 5th, 6th, and 7th grade next school year. Besides Q/A time, students will participate in an interactive activity to demonstrate Westside’s experiential curriculum. (7740 34th Ave SW); if you have questions, you’re welcome to contact Westside’s Director of Admission David Bergler at davidb@westsideschool.org or (206) 932-2511.
South Seattle Community College is known for an ever-longer list of specialties … food, wine, horticulture, automotive technology, to name a few. The latter was in the spotlight today at a ceremony unveiling a sign in honor of its forthcoming Steve and Sharon Huling Automotive Center. This was a followup to the announcement last year that the Hulings would be the namesakes of the center, which is about to undergo an $18 million renovation, increasing to 45,590 square feet with 27 shop bays (up from the current 18), enabling an enrollment expansion. Dozens of dignitaries and students, from the Hulings and SSCC president Gary Oertli to a large contingent of the program’s faculty and students, participated in the ceremony. Here’s our video:
The Hulings have long been strong supporters of SSCC, with Steve Huling currently on its President’s Advisory Council. The couple shared a champagne toast with the president after the sign unveiling:
Given the family history in the automotive business (until 2007), the center is perfect synergy, especially since it will offer a “dealership environment” for students to work on vehicles. A few datapoints about the program at SSCC, as mentioned during today’s ceremony: Its faculty includes three full-time in automotive technology and one in collision repair, with more than 80 students; a six-quarter Associate of Applied Science degree is available in Auto Tech, as well as training certificates in various areas. It’s won a “Top 4 Automotive Schools” award, and they expect to be offering classes soon in alternative fuels. The future Steve and Sharon Huling-named center is on the north side of the main campus.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Monday night’s Seattle Public Schools “capacity-management” meeting at the Denny International Middle School Library provided a visual metaphor of the problem it was meant to address.
Every chair in the library was filled by the time the meeting began … and people just kept coming, requiring extras to be brought in, until the room was full, wall to wall.
Six elementary schools in West Seattle are perceived to have a “capacity-management” – overcrowding – problem so serious that something must be done before next year. A seventh school in the area – Chief Sealth International High School – is stuffed too, but while the district is only putting it on a “watch list” for now, its teachers are circulating a petition to get portables, which happen to be among the options proposed for the brimming elementary schools.
If you would like to see and hear the meeting for yourself, here’s our unedited hour-and-a-half video:
And/or, read more details ahead:Read More
(Photo courtesy WSHS)
Drug and alcohol education is standard fare for high-school health class – but 100 students at West Seattle High School got information from two special visitors today: Miss Washington, Brittney Henry, and Washington National Guard’s anti-drug task-force Specialist Brian Eagen. Teachers Sarah Orton and Craig Richardson report that the two visitors discussed the “Effects of Drugs and Alcohol” through “personal stories, surveying students on their knowledge, and teaching the students about drugs and the short/long-term effects of drugs on the body.”
Just announced and potentially of interest to local families as well as educators: Holy Family Parish School is hosting a forum on “dual language immersion,” 8 am-3 pm this Saturday, and principal Frank Cantwell says the public is invited; it’s not specifically about his school, but about this educational philosophy/method in general:
Seattle and Highline Public Schools have been operating immersion schools for a number of years, and have agreed to come and discuss their programs. In the afternoon, we will have a panel of experts who will answer questions on the subject. We are inviting the public to come and listen to the speakers. This is an opportunity to learn more about this new and exciting way to teach languages. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the principal of Holy Family, Frank Cantwell, at 206-767-6640.
Here’s a flyer with more information.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
In three days, West Seattle will have a new representative on the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors.
As she campaigned, Marty McLaren insisted the board needed someone who’s been a teacher, and voters apparently agreed. Though the vote won’t be certified till Tuesday, with McLaren scheduled to be sworn in Wednesday, she is 12,999 votes (eight percentage points) ahead of incumbent Steve Sundquist, who ascended to the board presidency last year. (Her official Facebook page already incorporates her almost-official new title.)
With no chance the results would change, we sat down this week with McLaren, to find out more about the person now charged with representing the peninsula’s interests as the district continues through a time of change on so many fronts – deciding how to deal with brimming schools and dwindling state funding, among other challenges. (The former, aka “capacity management,” is the subject of another community meeting in West Seattle tomorrow night.)
We talked at the Puget Ridge home where McLaren has lived for 17 years. She is not a Seattle native – born in Brooklyn, New York, in fact – but has spent her entire adult life in the Puget Sound area, after her dad’s Navy career moved her family many places, finally landing them at Bangor in Kitsap County. She finished high school in the Highline district just south of Seattle in the early ’60s.
Her introduction to Seattle Public Schools came before her teaching career:
Yet another West Seattle holiday tradition – handmade wreaths from Pathfinder K-8. Their booth made its WS Farmers’ Market debut today, with Yumi and Willow displaying two of this year’s creations. You can find them under a canopy by the KeyBank west-side doors (right next to the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, selling tickets for next Saturday’s pancake breakfast – more on that later).
P.S. Yes, they’ll be selling wreaths every Sunday between now and Christmas (12/4, 12/11, 12/18) – as long as supplies last! As the school website points out, the wreath sales have been going on for almost 20 years.
Perfect morning downtown for the annual Macy’s Holiday Parade; we checked it out to watch for West Seattle participants. Two were obvious – top video, it’s not a holiday parade without the Chief Sealth International High School Marching Band, directed by the award-winning Marcus Pimpleton; below, Salty’s on Alki team members with a few of the restaurant’s famous nutcrackers:
(If you were in the parade too, let us know in the comment section!) Kudos to everybody out in the early-morning chill to celebrate the holidays (including marching bands from as far away as Centralia, Sequim, and Canada …).
ADDED 3:28 PM: One more group we have on video – with strong West Seattle/White Center ties – Rat City Rollergirls:
Their next season opens at KeyArena on January 21.
55 families will have a happier Thanksgiving, thanks to students, staff, and parents at Madison Middle School. Students collected 1,100 pounds of canned food – more than half a ton! – in a science-department competition, and a staff/parents fundraising drive brought in $3,000 to buy turkey, vegetables, fruit, rice, milk, eggs, and other items.
That resulted in baskets for 45 Madison families and grocery-store gift cards for 10 more, while 25 Madison students sorted the cans and put together the baskets:
Thanks to Madison parent Anne for sharing the story, including school nurse Samara Hoag‘s summary: “We are happy to help our families have a nice holiday.” (P.S. West Seattle’s food banks can still use last-minute holiday help – more on that later this morning after we check in with them.)
Tonight, the Seattle School Board held another “work session” about capacity management – how to relieve school overcrowding now, and how to plan for the future. This is in preparation for another round of public meetings, including one here in West Seattle next Monday. The presentation assembled for the work session is already online. It includes the latest list of potential options for how current West Seattle elementary-school overcrowding could be relieved, the idea of reopening the former Hughes Elementary – leased and renovated a year ago by private Westside School (WSB sponsor)’s new home – is suddenly off the list; only the shuttered Boren Junior High and Fairmount Park Elementary are mentioned, the former as soon as next fall, the latter possibly by fall 2013 as a Science/Tech/Engineering/Math “option school.” The new document lays out what’s possible, school by school – including maybe even moving fifth graders from two crowded schools into the nearest middle school. More after the jump:Read More
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