Not that they don’t have a tough-enough leader in Marcus Pimpleton already, but … imagine the pressure of hitting the right notes when Darth Vader is wielding the baton! The Chief Sealth International High School Band had a surprise guest conductor for a few minutes during their mini-concert this morning at the Pacific Science Center grand opening of “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.” We reported on Thursday about the band’s downtown gig to celebrate the Science Center opening the doors for the first ticketholders to the new exhibit; after they played a medley of key themes from the entire “Star Wars” movie series, an entourage of familiar characters made their entrance, including Lord Vader. (They’re from the 501st Legion – explained here; right after the opening event with the Sealth band, they paraded over to the new exhibit, posing for photos – which their leader had explained is part of the deal in exchange for the costuming help they get from Lucasfilm!)

ADDED 2:04 PM: The band’s performance of the “Star Wars” medley, WITHOUT Darth Vader. That’s above; click ahead, and after the jump you will find the section of the encore that featured the Dark Lord of the Sith, plus a few more photos from this morning’s event:Read More

Big week for Westside School (WSB sponsor) in Sunrise Heights – the admission letters for next year went out, and a high-energy set of assembly guests came in. Our video catches eight minutes of highlights from the Thursday assembly headlined by Alborada – a musical family from Mexico that has toured to perform at hundreds of schools, entertaining as well as educating. Westside’s David Bergler explained that they book “world music” whenever they can, and in this case, it complements Westside’s Spanish-language instruction, since the group performs in both English and Spanish. (You’ll see a school administrator addressing the kids en Español, too.) P.S. Westside is still taking applications for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade (the latter, as part of its first year of phasing in middle school – they’ll add 7th grade the following year, 8th grade the year after that) – more info here.

Separate from Karla‘s note gauging interest in a West Seattle-wide fundraiser for Japan (here’s that story if you haven’t seen it – watch for followups), we have two individual local benefit efforts to report tonight.

WINE-TASTING FUNDRAISER: Bin 41 wine shop in The Junction has regular Friday night tastings, usually with a $5 refundable fee. Tomorrow night, that fee will go entirely to benefit earthquake and tsunami victims. The featured winemakers are Stewart and Athena Boedecker from Oregon. Bin 41 says “100% (of the fee is) going into a community pot to raise funds for relief efforts for the earthquake and tsunami victims. We appreciate your support and look forward to taking part in helping those in need during this unprecedented natural disaster.” The tasting is 5:30-7 pm, 4707 California SW (next to KeyBank).

WEST SEATTLE ACADEMY ‘FLASH MOB’: Teacher Matt Evans explains:

I just read about Karla’s quest for ideas for a West Seattle-wide fundraising event for Japan. I am the science teacher for the middle school at West Seattle Montessori. Today, after viewing tsunami footage I selected to show my classes, I brainstormed with our 8th graders about we could do to raise money and help out those poor people. It is a busy time for us with our Science Fair next Wednesday, but we decided that we would dedicate our two hours set aside for PE next Thursday to try and raise some money. We decided on a “Flash Mob” style fundraiser where the students will descend upon the WS Junction next Thursday around 1 pm to solicit donations from shoppers. The kids will design their own donation box and either sing, perform, or otherwise exhibit their own individuality to (hopefully) gather donations. There is only 24 students in our middle school so it shouldn’t be too overwhelming or (hopefully not) bothersome for those going about their business in the Junction. … I believe that if the people of West Seattle know to expect the presence of 24 talented middle school kids in the middle of a school day, and know what their intentions are, it would benefit all involved and affected.

After the jump, the letter Matt sent home with his students:Read More

Last night we reported that West Seattle’s Sanislo Elementary made it into the citywide finals of the Seattle Public LIbrary‘s Global Reading Challenge, and then added the word this morning that Concord has too. Now we have word from Roxhill Elementary‘s head teacher Christopher Robert that Roxhill is also in the finals – he shares the photo above, and the report:

Roxhill joins Sanislo and Concord in representing West Seattle well in the Global Reading Challenge! Nine schools participated in one of the semifinals today. John Muir placed first, and Roxhill went into the lightning round with Graham Hill to be the second finalist from that semifinal round (after having gotten 29 out of 30 correct). Roxhill won the lightning round to advance, along with John Muir, to the finals on March 29! Also competing in this semifinal round was Gatewood, Highland Park, Wing Luke, Olympic Hills, Madrona, and Leschi. Way to go, Roxhill!

Roxhill’s representatives are Joshua, Salma, Shareena, Emily, Kelli, Jasmine, and Trinidy, photographed with the school’s Golden Apple Award-winning librarian Pat Bliquez. (P.S. Roxhill mom Lisa also asked us to be sure that the student coaches are credited too: Miarra, Mulualem and Crystal.) The finals are at the Central Library downtown on March 29th.

(ADDED 3:19 PM: Band & Mr. Pimpleton rehearsing Imperial fanfare this afternoon)
… local student musicians will play at the opening of the “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” exhibit at the Pacific Science Center downtown this Saturday. Local music coach extraordinaire Marcus Pimpleton confirms that his Chief Sealth International High School Band will perform music from “Star Wars” at the grand opening of the display, 10 am Saturday. From the media advisory for the opening:

*Performance by West Seattle’s Chief Sealth (Int’l) High School Concert Band with Music Director Marcus Pimpleton

o Performance includes John Williams’ “Star Wars: Main Theme,” “Parade of the Ewoks,” “Imperial March” and others.

* Appearances by more than 40 members of the 501st Garrison and Rebel Legion, worldwide Star Wars costuming organizations comprised of and operated by Star Wars fans. Costumed characters making an appearance including Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Obi-wan Kenobi, Chewbacca and more than one dozen Storm Troopers.

We’re still trying to confirm with PSC exactly where all this will be happening on the PSC campus. (Or maybe we should just look for the arriving X-wing fighters.) In case you can’t get out on opening day – the “Star Wars” exhibition will remain at the Science Center through May 8th.

(Photo of Sanislo GRC participants added Thursday afternoon, courtesy of Craig Seasholes)
At Seattle Public Library HQ downtown, it’s semifinals week for schools participating in the Global Reading Challenge – and we found out tonight that one elementary school in West Seattle scored big today – Here’s the story as told by Sanislo Elementary librarian Craig Seasholes:

Sanislo Elementary School’s “Ice Dodos” team tied with students from Thurgood Marshall school to win their Semi-Final round (in today’s) Global Reading Challenge semi-final match in front of hundreds of cheering classmates at the Seattle Public Library’s Microsoft Auditorium.

The “Ice Dodos” aced 29 of 30 question posed to the 9 school teams assembled at Wednesday’s semi-final match. Composed entirely of 4th graders, the seven-member “Ice Dodos” team was the first team from Sanislo to advance in the 16-year history of the contest. They will be facing 10 teams of 4th and 5th graders in the 16th annual city final competition to be held at the Central Library Microsoft Auditorium on Tuesday, March 29th.

Go Sanislo – Go Ice Dodos!

If you know of any other West Seattle school whose team is in the finals – let us know – Sanislo’s the first/only one we’ve heard of. Find out more about the Global Reading Challenge by going here! P.S. Sanislo’s 4th graders are the beneficiaries of the annual Used Book Sale at the school this Saturday, 10 am-2 pm (here’s the Facebook event page).

UPDATED 12:33 PM THURSDAY: Robin sends word that Concord International Elementary School, in South Park but considered part of the “West Seattle region,” also is off to the citywide finals with “The Orange Dragons” – fourth year running for Concord!

Just forwarded to us, the official Seattle Public Schools letter announcing that interim principal Ruth Medsker is now permanent principal of West Seattle High School. This comes two weeks after a meeting at the school seeking feedback on how she’s been doing since taking over WSHS this school year. Here’s the letter from interim Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield – in part, it says of the feedback the district received about Medsker:

We heard that Ms. Medsker has provided the school with strong leadership and she holds students and staff to high standards. Under her guidance, West Seattle High School has developed a␣more consistent schedule that facilitates increased focus on instruction. Staff are benefiting from a newly structured Professional Learning Community format, and the school is in the process of creating a registration process and master schedule that will work best for students.

Last weekend was a gala weekend, to say the least. We had reports on four big fundraisers – two nonprofits (West Seattle Community Orchestras and Nature Consortium) and two schools (Gatewood and Pathfinder). Turns out Madison Middle School had an auction over the weekend too – and teacher Jeanne Merritt shares not only a wrapup, but also video of the teacher performance that brought down the house. (Click the screengrab above to go to the page where you can watch the video.)

A few months ago Madison Middle School teachers Tim Owens and Jasmine Riach came up with the idea of resurrecting the annual auction. (It had been put on hold due to the economy.) They approached the PTSA, who agreed to proceed.

So-o-o, Madison Middle School hosted a sold-out auction Saturday night at The Hall at Fauntleroy. Items auctioned included certificates from many of our wonderful West Seattle businesses (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, THANK YOU!!!), class projects, week-end getaways, some handcrafted items and even an African safari!! Delicious food was provided by Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering. Fun events included the “dessert dash” where tables are called to grab a dessert according to their donations, and a “wine toss,” where participants threw rings trying to “catch” a good bottle of wine. There was a fund-an-item where attendees donated money to update Madison’s technology.

Madison staff members performed too! Technology teacher Sarah Isaacson led teachers in a dance routine for the parents. Teacher Juan Rubio danced really hot “salsa” and offered dance lessons in the auction.

Many thanks to these PTSA people for all their hard work: Mary Holllister, Dawn Sly, Lora Bunch, Amber Kormanik (and family!), Karen Golgart, Liz Murphy, Linda Sabee, Anne Weglin, Lesa Russell, Maureen Devlin, Anne Gillingham, Shhellie Nelson, Jon Douthwaite, Collin Hurlocker, Carl Sweetland. If we missed you, know that you were appreciated–there were multitudes of behind-the-scene volunteers. Also thanks to all the attendees who generously purchased our wares.

Todd Crooks was our auctioneer and Elliott Bay Brewery provided our beer. Thank you!! A good time was had by all.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: West Seattle High School‘s news publication Chinook shares stories/photos with WSHS on occasion; this is the most recent one we’ve received.)

Story by West Seattle High School Chinook staff
Photos by Nathan Solis
Special to West Seattle Blog

The Diversity Club at West Seattle High School hosted the Second Annual Bite of West Seattle Diversity Club Potluck last Thursday night.

More than 200 people came out for the event, which featured a variety of food dishes for sharing and nearly an hour’s worth of cultural dance performances. Attendance at this year’s event was more than double last year’s turnout. The Diversity Club put together the event in order to work towards its mission of bringing the many cultures of West Seattle High School together and to celebrate diversity.

“I was really happy with the turnout,” said club adviser Rebecka McKinney. “It really highlighted the reason Diversity Club was started in the first place, to bring different cultures together.”

All were welcome at this annual event and turnout included members of the several cultural clubs of WSHS: Diversity Club, Asian Student Union, Latino Club, Polynesian Club and Black Student Union. There were also families, staff and community members present as well as alumni.

Food went fast at the event, but there were many varieties to choose from including African American favorites such as macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, and corn bread. There were also many Asian dishes including humbao, egg rolls, lumpia and Vietnamese sandwiches. Then there were Italian dishes like fettuccine and spaghetti. There were chips and salsa from the Hispanic community and many desserts to share.

“There was a lot of variety in the food and I especially liked the fried zucchini, lumpia and the fettucine alfredo,” said Diversity Club secretary and senior Rojine De Las Alas.

After enjoying food and socializing, the night’s performances began. First on the schedule was a dance choreographed and performed by the Latino Club:

The girls were met by much applause for their dance.

Next up was the Asian Club, which performed several dances including the traditional Lion Dance (above) and fan dance, as well as a Vietnamese hat dance (below) and the Filipino coconut dance and a few other selections.

The Polynesian Club did a traditional island dance with the accompaniment of club adviser and school security specialist Greg Taufaasau:

Representatives from the Black Student Union performed a modern day hip hop dance.

The night ended with the Filipino candle dance and a group effort to clean up.

“The Diversity Club spent a lot of time planning this event so we were really glad that our work paid off,” said club co-president, senior Kaily Irons-Fuda. “I hope that all of our future events are so successful and that this event continues to grow each year.”
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You can see more work from West Seattle High School’s student journalists by going here.

(1st two photos courtesy Machel Spence)
One last round of scenes from weekend fundraisers – two on behalf of local schools. Above, Becca Cressell from the self-contained autism program at Pathfinder K-8 received the annual “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way” award (she’s shown with principal David Dockendorf) during the school’s “Pathfunder” auction event Saturday night at South Seattle Community College. The school website says the award is given each year to “a teacher, staff member or adult volunteer in the Pathfinder K-8 community who does an outstanding job of helping our children learn and develop … through dedication, innovative thinking, creativity and honoring the differences, strengths and uniqueness of each child.” (The award was created in honor of a former Pathfinder student who was helped there to work through the challenges of Asperger Syndrome.) Auction items included adventures and art:

(In the right background is a creation donated by Machel, who is a Pathfinder parent; you can take a closer look here.) We’re checking on fundraiser results. (UPDATE: Auction chair Sharon tells WSB, “We had a sold-out event, raising over $50,000. Over 100 people volunteered in one form or another. We more than met our goal of raising money for our Fund-A-Need – buying more books for our classroom libraries. It was a great night!”)

Friday night, Gatewood Elementary gathered for “Bids for Kids” at The Hall at Fauntleroy – with a superheroes theme:

(Photo courtesy Gail Ann Photography)
From left in the photo, it’s PTA vice president Nicole “Gator Girl” Sipila, principal Rhonda Claytor, and PTA president Mary Howland. Photographer Gail Ann quotes the principal as saying, “Our fundamental beliefs at Gatewood are that class size should be as small as possible, that children should have a variety of learning experience…this event is a crucial part of providing the funding to make these ideas continue to be an effective learning tool and a reality at Gatewood.” (You can see Gail Ann’s gallery from the gala by going here.) Auction chair Anita Schumacher tells WSB that the auction “grossed just over $60,000. The night was a blast with a lot of costumes to liven up the night.” Still ways to contribute – she’ll be cataloguing the few remaining auction items still up for grabs – keep an eye on the auction website for that. (And if you have a school event coming up, please make sure we know about it! Thanks!)

“I can’t wait to spend $50,000 on these kids!” enthused Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark as he accepted the Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence from the Alliance for Education, which brings with it a $50,000 grant for the winner and his school. A surprise ceremony was held a short time ago at Denny, with not only Clark, staff, and his 8th-grade students on hand, but also his wife and sons – future Denny Dolphins, as the principal proudly referred to his little boys – and a gallery of dignitaries, including two School Board members and newly appointed interim Seattle Public Schools superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield. Clark said it’s not just his award:

The Foster Award is given to an outstanding middle- or high-school principal each year. Among the dignitaries there to congratulate Clark was the man who received it two years ago, Phil Brockman, a former West Seattle High School principal who at the time was leading Ballard HS.

ADDED 4:09 PM: The official news release about the award:Read More

(Photo by David Roth)

Thanks to Sara for sharing the news this morning that you are invited to Lafayette Elementary‘s production of “Music Man Jr.” tonight and tomorrow at West Seattle High School:

Lafayette Elementary is staging a production of the classic musical The Music Man Jr. March 11 and 12.

The play begins at 7 pm, refreshments will be served and there is a $5 requested donation for admission.

Nearly 100 children are involved in the production and all costumes, sets, and props were donated or constructed by volunteers.

Our director is Melia Scranton – she is the art teacher at Lafayette Elementary. She has been working on the play as an afterschool program since November. Melia is a wonderful woman who never turns anyone away… hence: there are 97 kids (3rd, 4th and 5th graders) in our production of Music Man Jr. This show is huge and a lot to handle and she does it with an unending patience. The music is provided with the scripts and we have volunteers from West Seattle High School helping us in the sound booth

Since our play is volunteer based (a lot of parent volunteers!) we are asking for donations at the door (which pays for our scripts, costumes, sets, etc. and possible for a stipend for Melia next year because funding is tight). The costumes (which are fabulous!!!!) are designed and built by Kathy Wimer, Sara Jaecks, Jennifer Leigh and Gael Young.

To get to the WSHS Theater, enter from the southeastern side of the school – look for the gates by the lighted sign, and cross the courtyard to the entrance that’ll take you to the lobby outside the theater.