West Seattle’s Roxhill Elementary is known as “Home of the Stars.” This past week, some of its students got to meet someone who has gotten closer to the stars than most of us ever will: A three-time NASA shuttle astronaut, retired U.S. Navy Capt. John O. Creighton (above, and below left).

Roxhill Principal Carmela Dellino (above center) shared photos along with news of last week’s surprise visit by Capt. Creighton and Rotary Club of Seattle secretary Ralph Davis, who brought presents for each third-grader: A dictionary, pens, and pencils.

From Capt. Creighton, autographed photos and stories about life in space. Principal Dellino says the third-graders “hurriedly looked up words like shuttle, launch and space station” in their new dictionaries.

Capt. Creighton piloted mission STS-51G of the shuttle Discovery in 1985 and commanded two missions – STS-36 on the shuttle Atlantis in 1990, and STS-48 back aboard Discovery in 1991. In addition, as noted in his official NASA biography, he served as “the astronaut representative to the Shuttle Program Manager” which included two years during which he “participated in all the key decisions following the Challenger disaster helping to shape the plan for resuming safe manned space flight.” The surprise astronaut visit and Rotarian gifts led one Roxhill third-grader, Victor G, to exclaim, as quoted by the principal: “I got a dictionary of my very own, and I met an astronaut! This is the best day of my life!”

(Photo courtesy Hope/Seattle Lutheran)
With Thanksgiving less than a week away, some words of thanks tonight for those who spent last Friday night giving to two local schools:

Last Friday night, on 11-11-11, over 360 people gathered at Hope Lutheran and Seattle Lutheran High Schools to “Light up the Night” for the kids – and Light it up they did! Head auctioneer Graham Crow kept the bidding fast and furious as items ranging from signed Seattle Sounders gear to paradise vacations to handmade gifts were auctioned off. In addition, the schools’ fund-a-need for Smart Boards was met with tremendous generosity, and as a result every classroom will soon be equipped with this technology! Scholarship funds were also funded to help ensure that we can provide assistance to families that need it.

In the end, all the goals for the event were exceeded, and the community surrounding these kids shined brighter than ever. We want to thank everyone that contributed in some way to the event; parents, students, alumni, church members, business owners, etc. It was inspiring to see how everyone came together for the kids.

Thanks
Stephanie Jensen and Myrna Burnett
Hope Lutheran & Seattle Lutheran 2011 Auction Co-Chairs

A gift from one school community to another is something that might not have become common knowledge – but in this case, the recipients let the Seattle Council PTSA and the district know about it, and that’s how we heard about it – we are publishing it with permission:

Last Thursday, November 10th, Roxhill fourth graders were treated to a Living Voices performance of Native Vision. Lisa Gladstone, a Blackfoot Indian from Browning, Montana did a remarkable job of engaging our students in the story of Alice, a Navajo girl sent to a government run boarding school in the 30’s and 40’s. Alice became a nurse in the Pacific during World War ll, struggling to keep true to her native culture in a changing world. Before the performance, Roxhill students had read about and discussed how native children fared in the boarding schools and had also learned about the contributions of the Navajo Code Talkers. Their rapt attention during the performance and perceptive questions afterward spoke to how valuable this performance was in enhancing their knowledge of a very complex subject.

I am writing to you because this performance was a gift to Roxhill, a gift from the PTSA of a neighboring West Seattle school, Schmitz Park. With more than 80% of our students on free and reduced lunch, Roxhill does not have the resources to pay for performances of this type. The Schmitz Park PTSA paid for the Living Voices performance at their school and gifted us with an additional performance. We at Roxhill would like to acknowledge this generous gift and applaud the Schmitz Park PTSA members for their dedication to the educational welfare of Seattle children who live beyond the boundaries of their own school.

We are deeply appreciative,

Pat Bliquez
Roxhill Teacher/Librarian

Carmela Dellino
Roxhill Principal

Just hours after school let out for the day at Roxhill Elementary … the campus was jumping again tonight, from PE specialist Chellie LaFayette and principal Carmela Dellino, to hundreds of students and their families:

The occasion: Family Fitness Night, with free dinner courtesy of Subway, lots of get-up-and-move activities, plus the chance to meet a Seahawks player – 26-year-old cornerback Kennard Cox:

Yes, he was mobbed, but he got a chance to talk with some of the kids one-on-one, too:

Afterward, he tweeted, “I had a blast!” Family Fitness Nights are co-sponsored by Communities in Schools of Seattle.

How should Seattle Public Schools deal with school overcrowding? You get another chance to make suggestions. Days after the district confirmed that it’s pushed back the decisionmaking process on short-term “capacity management” – particularly, where to reopen schools next year – it’s announced a new set of community meetings. The first one is in West Seattle: 6-7:30 pm Monday, November 28th, in the library at the new Denny International Middle School (2601 SW Kenyon). Previously, the district had said decisions would be made this month, and has had only one meeting in this area (October 6th – WSB coverage here). Today’s announcement says the meeting will include “presentations by Seattle Public School Capital Projects and Planning staff members, followed by a question and answer period. Comments from the community will be collected, recorded, considered and included in the District’s Short Term Capacity Management planning process.” The district’s webpage about the “capacity management” process is here.

As noted in the city’s ongoing budget process, Seattle’s city-run community centers offer a lot more than you might realize. If you think they are just places to go play basketball or hang out – you’re missing some of their well-kept secrets. At High Point Community Center (which has a city-organized public meeting tonight), the Small Scholars preschool program is under new leadership. We talked on Friday with Marquita Mosby, who took over Small Scholars this fall. The program (run by the Associated Recreation Council) is for ages 3-5, 9:30 am-1 pm on weekdays, with options for 2-, 3-, or 5-day participation. Marquita says she and her team pack a lot into those hours, from preschool traditions like circle time and play time, to language-learning (they’ve been working on Spanish).

With the expansive park and field grounds right out the door, the preschoolers take nature walks, too. When they show a particular interest, the curriculum responds, she explains – lately there’s been a lot of talk about volcanoes, so they’ve been talking about real-life volcanoes and checking out the ever-popular science-fair staple, the baking-soda-and-vinegar variety. There are openings in the program right now; find out more by calling 206-684-7422 (you can also reach Marquita directly at 206-321-7952).

At Westside School (WSB sponsor), they’re getting ready for an Open House tomorrow – the type to which prospective families are invited, so they can check out the campus. This afternoon, we got a firsthand look at some of the ways Westside students are integrating the newest technology into their work – iPads in math class. Above, teacher Marsha Lovely‘s kindergarteners; below, David Preston‘s 6th graders:

We’re told the middle-schoolers (this is Westside’s first year of middle school by the way – it’s being phased in, so they’ll add seventh grade next year) gave presentations to parents earlier today too, to show them what they’re doing with the iPads. Sixth graders get to use the iPads “full time,” we’re told, while the younger students share. You can find out more about Westside tomorrow at 10 am, which is when the open house begins – but if you can’t make it, you can also inquire about their weekly tours. They’re at 7740 34th SW.

ORIGINAL 9:45 AM REPORT: The timetable for deciding which schools will reopen to deal with West Seattle (and elsewhere) school overcrowding has been changed. When Seattle Public Schools hosted a “capacity management” meeting in West Seattle last month, as noted in our report, there was a projected timetable of decisionmaking for next school year: District officials’ slide presentation at the meeting said a proposal would be introduced at tomorrow’s School Board meeting, and voted on as soon as November 16th. However, we noticed that “capacity management” is NOT on tomorrow night’s agenda – though the board is having a workshop session on that topic today this week – and subsequently asked the district about the new timetable. SPS spokesperson Lesley Rogers tells WSB this morning, “Board action is expected in December/January for the fall 2012 plan, because we are going to do more community engagement, meeting dates to be announced soon. Also, the capacity management team wants more time for feedback from the newly formed Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee.” It has been widely expected that the plan for next year will include reopening the former Boren Junior High on Delridge; beyond that, it’s still in flux.

7:53 PM UPDATE: The newest timetable is reported on the Save Seattle Schools website, suggesting the next round of meetings will be in the first half of December, and a board vote in January.

Mayor McGinn plans another West Seattle visit this week. According to a media advisory sent out this afternoon, he’ll be at West Seattle High School this Wednesday morning “to call attention to the under-publicized benefits of school-based health centers funded by the Families & Education Levy.” That’s one of the measures on the ballot for the November 9th election. His visit will feature a tour of the WSHS health center, along with a group scheduled to include the CEO of Neighborcare – which operates the school centers – and an executive from Group Health.