West Seattle, Washington
26 Tuesday
(SSCC President Gary Oertli speaks to SW District Council, with SW Precinct Capt. Steve Paulsen and the city Department of Neighborhoods’ Southwest District Coordinator Stan Lock at right)
More from last night’s Southwest District Council meeting: The SWDC, which has long met at South Seattle Community College, got to officially meet its new president, Gary Oertli, a born-and-raised West Seattle native. “West Seattle is a state of mind – diverse, entrepreneurial, innovative – we hope South Seattle Community College reflects that in the same way.” He shared some data points with council members, and you might not know them either:
*More than 15,000 students
*West Seattle and Georgetown campuses, New Holly Park and “Airport University” locations
*Average age: 33
*70 percent of students work part-time or full-time
*Largest program: Its transfer program
*300 students in wine-technology program
*Hundreds in Running Start
*340 international students
*Annual operating budget of $53 million, with 500 employees
The numbers weren’t all rosy; Oertli also talked about the 25 percent budget cuts that community colleges have endured in the past two years, with more to come because of the state’s financial situation, but SSCC is working hard to keep serving people including the “thousands of laid-off workers (who) have turned to community colleges to upgrade their skills,” in addition to other students. And they’re working to expand the 13th Year Promise Scholarship program, with one free year of community college for students at Cleveland High School: “Our goal is to do that for EVERY student at the high schools in our service area.” Finally – they’re reaching out to the West Seattle community for increased partnership, and inviting everyone to find out more about SSCC. One place to start: The next wine-release event for its popular program is coming up November 15th (find out more here).
Lots of product-pushing national press releases having nothing to do with West Seattle turn up in the WSB inbox these days for some reason, but once in a while, there’s truly a local angle. And so it is with this: Foster Farms is touring with the turkeys it’s taking to the White House for the famous pre-Thanksgiving pardoning ceremony. They’re meeting with students from two schools in the metro area – and one will be West Seattle Montessori (WSB sponsor). For reasons we haven’t yet investigated, the stop itself will be at Delridge Community Center, 9:30 am November 15th. The turkeys will be accompanied by humans including Washington Agriculture in the Classroom reps and Foster Farms’ “Vice President of Turkey.”
The posters are up, all over the hallways inside West Seattle High School – but the invitation extends to the rest of the community, too: The WSHS Drama Club is two nights away from opening its fall production, the jury-deliberations drama “12 Angry People” (known in earlier incarnations as “12 Angry Men”). Drama teacher and “12 Angry People” director Andrew Finley allowed WSB to sit in on dress rehearsal Monday evening, so we grabbed a bit of video during one of the production’s most-emotional scenes:
“What I love about (this play) is that it’s a character study,” Finley told us during a quick chat on the sidelines while the student actors continued their run-through. “The playwriting term is ‘an elevator play’ – the characters are locked in a room, and have to work things out.” For Finley, teaching drama (along with other subjects he teaches) isn’t just a career – it’s in his blood, truly, considering that both his parents are actors, and there’s so much theatrical involvement on his family tree, he jokes that an uncle who is an “international businessman” is considered the “black sheep of the family.”
His cast for “Twelve Angry People” spans the class roster at WSHS – for example, he notes juror #3 is a senior who’s been in the Drama Club for years, while juror #8 is a freshman. (If you’ve never seen a variation of this half-century-old play, it follows the jurors through their debate over a verdict in the case of a young man accused of murdering his father.) Here’s the full cast, from the official website:
FOREMAN: Taylor Schuler
JUROR NO. 2: Matthew Carlson
JUROR NO. 3: David Ramirez
JUROR NO. 4: Flannery Denison
JUROR NO. 5: Nanna Darden
JUROR NO. 6: Matt Bohl
JUROR NO. 7: Johnny Le
JUROR NO. 8: Kayla Swedlow
JUROR NO. 9: Kaily Irons-Fuda
JUROR NO. 10: Sterling Espinoza
JUROR NO. 11: Biruktawit Mengistu
JUROR NO. 12: Mackenzie Jennings
BAILIFF: Margie Alamario
So if you’re not associated with WSHS, why come see a student play? Finley – in his ninth year at WSHS – thinks for a moment, then suggests that one thing setting this apart from other student productions – “I have almost unreasonably high standards,” because of his background. And indeed, as our visit to dress rehearsal wraps up, the actors take a break, and Finley briskly points out one major glitch they’d just displayed – but in a tough-coach sense, not a berating-tyrant sense. They continued working into the night, and will be ready to show their stuff for you and other audience members, Thursday-Saturday this week (Nov. 4-6) and next (Nov. 11-13). Showtime at the WSHS Theater is 7:30 pm nightly; admission is $7 with a reservation, $12 without (all explained online) – to make a reservation, call 206-252-8834. (And stay tuned within the next few weeks for the announcement of two more WSHS productions to come!)
As school resumes this morning after Halloween weekend, one local class has not only the weekend activities to discuss, but also the excitement that concluded the week: Dano Beal‘s 2nd-grade class from Lafayette Elementary found out the truth about spiders. Above, they’re at Camp Long on Friday, getting briefed by naturalist Stewart Wechsler before going out on a spider hunt. But first, back at school on Thursday, they showed off their own spiders, built primarily from edible material such as vegetables:
One of the requirements: The creations had to represent real spiders. This one nested in a box:
Many of the students were quite excited to show off their spiders’ attributes – some took great pride in insisting theirs were particularly deadly (this was before the Camp Long myth-debunking session). For example, this piece of paper demonstrated the relative distance a spider can jump :
The Thursday classroom event was billed as a “Creepy, Crawly Tea,” including this spooky brew:
Mr. Beal explained that spiders are a subject that not only gets students’ attention, but is also a topic they can really dive into.
Final score from Memorial Stadium downtown: Eastside Catholic 47, West Seattle High School 13.
ADDED 9:44 PM: More from the game, including video:Read More
You might say this event and a Monday morning tribute to the school librarian “bookended” this week for Roxhill Elementary School. Some students dressed up as literary characters today – like the “Go, Dog, Go!”-inspired outfit above – for a “Walk From School” event concluding Walk To School Month. Even the chicken who showed up on Monday reappeared for this event:
Students, parents and teachers were encouraged to sing Roxhill’s school song as they paraded down 30th Avenue SW. Some waved signs. King County Food and FItness Initiative reps helped put this together
. Students who couldn’t walk home got to at least walk to a school-bus staging area at Roxhill Park.
(Earlier today, we covered a Walk to School event with King County Executive Dow Constantine in White Center – see that coverage here.)
From the WSB inbox: Denny International Middle School yearbook adviser Kathy Saxon is asking for your help if you have anything to say about Denny’s half-century-plus history. This is the last year that the old building is scheduled to be in operation as a school before getting torn down (if you missed our coverage the past few years, the replacement is explained here), so they would like to hear from anyone who has “a note or quote to say about their years at the old Denny … it would be a tremendous help toward the outcome of our yearbook, which is going along the theme of the architectural features of Denny and saying goodbye to the past. Denny has been around for over 50 years, and there are so many stories that other generations could share with the current generation of Denny; we would love to include these aspects in our yearbook this year.” E-mail your “note or quote” to kmsaxon@seattleschools.org.
Two quick notes about good news from two West Seattle schools today: First, Madison Middle School has just learned that it’s been recognized as a School of Distinction for the third consecutive year – one of only 12 schools in the state to have achieved that; it honors an ongoing pattern of academic improvement. Second, Seattle Lutheran High School shares word that it was presented today with its official Notice of Accreditation by the National Lutheran School Accreditation Association and Northwest Association of Accredited Schools.
At Chief Sealth International High School today, Ugandan visitor James Okullu taught a lesson you just can’t get from a book. He and Robert Anywar visited the school today as part of Invisible Children, a nonprofit that has worked for peace in Uganda and education for the children who for years had been kidnapped and forced to fight. James is 19 and recently graduated from Anaka Secondary School, still a rare feat; he spoke to hundreds of Sealth students during the day at an assembly, but also delivered a more personal message to Leeann Olson‘s second-period class:
They also talked with the class, studying world affairs, about the root of the long-running war, and how northern Uganda has become more peaceful. Today’s visit came in conjunction with Sealth launching a club as part of Invisible Children’s Schools for Schools campaign, raising money to rebuild schools damaged or destroyed in the Ugandan war – including the one from which James graduated.
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe Johnson brought her “community coffee” conversation tour to West Seattle Elementary School Monday night. The number of community members who attended was almost matched by the number of district staffers on hand, but those who came brought up some challenging issues – primarily class size and closed schools. Most of the discussion centered on elementary-level class sizes; if classes hold 28 or more, Dr. Goodloe-Johnson said, it’s up to the school’s principal to work with teachers and find solutions. School population in general is an issue as well; crowded elementary schools in West Seattle were mentioned, particularly Schmitz Park Elementary, which is now over 400 students – some parents asked when the district would open closed schools to relieve some of the crowding. The superintendent said her staff is currently reviewing the latest enrollment numbers (keep in mind, this is the first year of the new Student Assignment Plan). While schools have been reopened in other parts of the city, Dr. Goodloe-Johnson didn’t commit to doing that in West Seattle (which currently has two closed and not-in-use elementary buildings, Fairmount Park and Genesee Hill). Other topics included the school levy that’s on next week’s ballot and the district’s response to criticisms contained in a state-conducted audit (she noted they’re addressed on the district website). The superintendent has two more “coffee chats” elsewhere in the city (full list here), but if you want to discuss West Seattle SPS issues sooner, local school board rep Steve Sundquist has his next community chat 11 am Wednesday at Delridge Library.
Just back from Roxhill Elementary School, where the Monday morning assembly included a special celebration for librarian Pat Bliquez, who – as reported here a week and a half ago – is a Golden Apple Award winner. Our video above includes a special tribute led by principal Carmela Dellino and head teacher Christopher Robert – plus a song from the students. The formal award presentation for Bliquez is yet to come – the Golden Apple Awards are presented by KCTS. Meantime, this morning’s assembly also celebrated ongoing Walk to School Month, with a special guest:
“Giant Chicken” (who, we have it on good authority, is actually a high-ranking member of the Roxhill team, but we’ll never tell) also demonstrated other safe walking tips like looking both ways. This Friday, the school plans special walking-home activities – even kids who take the buses will participate; the buses will be at a nearby park, so students will get some exercise walking over to board them.
A few quick high-school-sports notes: First, the score from the last of this weekend’s three varsity-football games involving local teams: In Fife, Seattle Lutheran High School lost 47-37. However, in confirming the score, SLHS’s Bil Hood also noted “… our soccer team is looking strong [9-1-1 so far], and Matt Haggerty took 4th at the Cross Country league meet.” Meantime, congratulations to West Seattle High School‘s volleyball team – athletic director George Foster mentioned during the Huling Bowl on Friday night that the team has won its division (they’re 11-4 overall). Got another success story to share? Let us know!
(Photo courtesy Sweet Pea Cottage Preschool of the Arts)
A month and a half after the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation moved into its newly renovated church in Gatewood (which by the way will be formally dedicated in a ceremony tomorrow night), they are sharing some of the spacious church campus with Sweet Pea Cottage Preschool of the Arts, which announced its West Seattle plans earlier this year. This Tuesday night (October 26), Sweet Pea welcomes you to a grand-opening open house, 5:30-7 pm. They’re offering classroom tours, a chance to talk with the teaching staff, plus snacks, music, art projects, and face painting. Sweet Pea Cottage says it’s not just an event for prospective students, but also, “It’s a community celebration – all are welcome to join us. Bring friends, family members, and neighbors, too!” The address is 7141 California.
The Huling brothers weren’t around to present the trophy after last night’s almost-three-hours Huling Bowl game at Southwest Athletic Complex, but West Seattle High School‘s varsity-football team managed to jubilantly accept it just the same, after their 43-7 win against host team Chief Sealth International High School. Athletic directors George Foster from WSHS and Sam Reed from CSIHS stood in:
The win extends WSHS’s season – Foster told WSB at the stadium last night that they’re expecting a playoff game against Eastside Catholic next Friday or Saturday at Memorial Stadium down. Meantime, besides the game itself, last night included a joint performance by the two schools’ bands:
Lots of opportunities for the two cheer squads to show off their moves – here’s the Sealth squad:
The Wildcats brought their mascot:
One other note: The referees wore, and used, the pink whistles they’re sporting for breast-cancer awareness this month:
Believe it or not, there’s actually been a bit of controversy about those whistles, according to this story from the Eastside. P.S. We posted a shorter report about the game last night, and you might be interested in the discussion in its comment section.
ORIGINAL 7:09 PM REPORT: That’s the trophy at stake tonight at Southwest Athletic Complex in Westwood, with Chief Sealth International High School as the home team this year for the annual Sealth vs. West Seattle High School varsity-football faceoff. The game’s just getting under way; we’re tweeting updates from the stadium on our sports/special-events @wsblive Twitter account (you can click there to see the latest, even if you’re not a Twitter member). We’ll have a full report later on both the game and the surrounding festivities.
8:55 PM: If you aren’t at the game or following Twitter updates, it was WSHS 23, Sealth 7 at the half. Second half now under way.
10:09 PM: Game now over. Final score WSHS 43, Chief Sealth 7. The trophy presentation is yet to come. We’ll have a separate story with video highlights later.
Big week for West Seattle’s biggest elementary school (526 students as of the newest enrollment report), Lafayette. Yesterday, we showed you a second-grade class’s special field trip; today, the entire school’s involved in the biggest fundraiser of the year, the annual Walk-A-Thon. Above, lining the course to cheer on the walkers – some run:
And some get company – that’s WestSide Baby‘s Nancy Woodland taking a lap earlier this morning. School fundraisers like this rustle up cash for what the budget just doesn’t cover any more – though at least the schools still get great folks like the Lafayette office team, Ms. Selena and Ms. Connie:
For years, by the way, Lafayette has been working on upgrade its playground – and an entirely different round of fundraisers is under way to take advantage of a grant that’ll evaporate if not matched – look for that story coming up here on WSB. And if you have a school fundraiser, celebration, event, need, whatever, that you want to make sure the greater West Seattle community knows about – send the info this way! Thanks!
(We hear from Tilden School’s fifth-graders from time to time. Tonight – they explain their recent forest-restoration project.)
By Tilden School’s Fifth Graders
Special to West Seattle Blog
On October 8th, our fifth-grade class joined Nature Consortium’s Restoration Project Director Mark Tomkiewicz (aka Buphalo) and Restoration Project Coordinator Lizzie Petrin in the West Duwamish Greenbelt here in West Seattle. Nature Consortium is a nonprofit organization “whose mission is to connect people, arts, and nature,” and Buphalo and Lizzie spent a whole day teaching us how to be stewards of the environment through hands-on habitat restoration activities. Even though the word “green” is in “Greenbelt,” and it is green, this West Seattle forest is unhealthy and needs our help.
The West Duwamish Greenbelt is covered with both invasive and native species. Common invasive species include Himalayan blackberry, evergreen blackberry, and English ivy. Our class picked up trash and ripped out invasive species, so we could plant native species, specifically western red cedars. When native species grow near invasive species, they can be killed, but we can save native species by removing invasive plants and planting native ones.
The western red cedars we planted are young coniferous trees. Mature coniferous trees are not currently in the West Duwamish Greenbelt, but if they were, we would gain many benefits. One of them is carbon reduction. You might ask why, and the answer would be under the bark. Coniferous trees do a great job of capturing the carbon dioxide we produce. The Pacific Northwest actually holds the top ten carbon-storing forests in the U.S., according to the Wilderness Society. If you cut down the trees that hold the carbon, it is released into the atmosphere to contribute to global warming as greenhouse gas.
Even though the West Duwamish Greenbelt has few evergreen trees, the forest is still green. It’s a common misconception that since it’s bright and green, it’s healthy. That’s not the case. Invasive species can be green, and they kill off the more important coniferous trees! Also, most of the green, mature trees in the Greenbelt are short-living and deciduous, thus not storing much carbon and allowing invasive species to take over. Coniferous trees are long-living (some over 1,000 years), store much more carbon, and stay green and oxygen-producing all year round. So, here’s the proper conception of a thriving forest: if it’s a green forest in winter, chances are it’s a healthy forest!
The West Duwamish Greenbelt is a large watershed whose naturally-filtered water should drain right into the Duwamish River, one of the most polluted rivers in the U.S. However, because West Marginal Way and industrialized land stand between the Greenbelt and the Duwamish River, the healthy water from the Greenbelt cannot flow directly into the toxic river. If it could, it would help clean up the river, creating a healthier, salmon-filled waterway.
Even though we may have only made a small dent in the giant wall of ecosystem-destroying forces, our effort to stop the reign of pollution and invasive species will lead to a better world. We have begun to improve our future and that of generations to come. With year-round opportunities to volunteer with Nature Consortium, we all can save the West Duwamish Greenbelt by fighting for native species and against invasive species.
When Pacific Science Center downtown had a media sneak peek for its new “Harry Potter” exhibition today, some local students got a preview too – Dano Beal‘s second-graders from West Seattle’s Lafayette Elementary School were front and center. Their teacher is known for classroom themes, and we’re told it’s currently decked out as Hogwarts. PSC’s Stan Orchard shared the photo. The exhibition officially opens this Saturday (here’s the info page on the PSC site).
A beautiful day to be out by a creek, in a forest, and that’s exactly what students from Little Pilgrim School got to do today. They’re part of a first-of-its-kind program with EarthCorps trainees from several states and countries, installing 400 native plants along the restoration area at Fauntleroy Creek’s last degraded segment.
According to Fauntleroy Creek neighbor and steward Judy Pickens, the $52,000 project is funded by the City of Seattle, King County, the King Conservation District, and Fauntleroy Church, which owns the site. Little Pilgrim School is headquartered in the church; EarthCorps is based in North Seattle, and its team members talked with the kids in their classrooms just before they came out to plant (one group this morning, one group this afternoon).
P.S. You have a chance to lend a hand to Fauntleroy Creek this weekend – 5 pm Sunday at the creek overlook across Fauntleroy Way from the ferry terminal, it’s the annual gathering to drum, chant, and sing to call the coho home. Everybody welcome.
It’s an annual crosstown-rivalry football tradition, and it’s coming up Friday night – Chief Sealth athletic director Sam Reed just sent full details of this year’s Huling Bowl:
Chief Sealth International High School vs. West Seattle High School
Friday, October 22, 2010
Southwest Athletic Complex (SWAC)
Game time: 7:00 p.m.
Festivities start: 5:00pmJoin both schools, alumni and the entire West Seattle community in this annual contest between friendly rivals. Festivities include a free pre-game barbecue provided by long-time supporters, Steve and Tom Huling. Everyone is invited to start the day with a guided tour of the newly finished Chief Sealth International High School.
Half-time entertainment includes an exciting joint performances from the two bands as well a light-hearted competition between the two schools’ student leaders. The Chief Sealth cheerleaders will also perform.
Following the conclusion of the game Chief Sealth senior football players will be recognized as part of their “Senior Night.”
Pre-game:
· 5:00: Early ticket sales open at SWAC main entrance
· 5:00: Nels Enquist will lead a tour of the new Sealth facilities for all interested
· 5:30: Pre-game BBQ starts (provided by Steve and Tom Huling)
· 6:00: Stadium gates open
· 6:55: Sealth Band performs National Anthem
· 7:00: KickoffHalf-time (20 minutes):
· 10 minutes: Sealth and West Seattle band in joint field show
· 3 minutes: Sealth Cheer performs
· 5 minutes: Sealth vs. West Seattle student government “punt, pass & kick” competitionPost-game:
· Sealth’s “Senior Night” presentations
The Southwest Athletic Complex is at 2801 SW Thistle, right across the street from the Chief Sealth campus.
Two more area schools have issued invitations for vendors at their upcoming holiday bazaars. Schmitz Park Elementary started lining up its vendors last month – here’s our previous story – 
and tonight we have invites from both Highland Park Elementary and Shorewood Elementary. Highland Park (1012 SW Trenton) is having its bazaar 10 am-3 pm on December 4th – in addition to the bazaar itself, they’re having a raffle, with donations from vendors and local businesses, linked to a food drive for the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks (bring a nonperishable food item, get a free raffle ticket). If you’re intererested in being a vendor, e-mail highlandparkpta@hotmail.com. Meantime, Shorewood (2725 SW 116th) is looking for craft vendors for its bazaar, 10 am-4 pm on November 13th; e-mail shorewoodbazaar@gmail.com to find out more. (P.S. If your school or organization has a bazaar coming up, please share the info! editor@westseattleblog.com – if you’re looking for vendors, we can share the news; if you’re not, we want to be sure it’s at least on the WSB Events calendar.)
(Tailgating in the chilly sunshine before the game)
This weekend’s final local high-school football game is over – at West Seattle Stadium, it was Orcas Island 28, Seattle Lutheran High School 20. This was homecoming for the Saints, so lots of ceremony. ADDED SATURDAY NIGHT: Video (including the guest band from Chief Sealth) and more details after the jump:Read More
(Roxhill librarian Pat Bliquez, visiting China in 2007, photo from school website)
Roxhill Elementary School principal Carmela Dellino sends word of a big honor for a member of her team:
Roxhill Elementary is proud to announce that our librarian, Pat Bliquez, has been selected as one of the seven 19th Annual Golden Apple Award winners for Excellence in Teaching in Washington State!
http://kcts9.org/kids/golden-apple-awardsThis year almost 200 educators from across the state were nominated for this award. This award was the idea of the Golden Apple founder Martin J. (Mike) Koldyke, who felt that excellent teachers did not receive adequate recognition for their contributions to building a stronger, better-educated society. Pat will be officially recognized during January at the Awards Banquet, but we will be honoring her at Roxhill later this month. …
Pat is 1000% dedicated to all students’ success. She is acutely aware of how to help Roxhill students become the best global citizens that they can become. She imbeds this instruction into her daily lessons for every grade level. She includes – truly and authentically – includes our self-contained Autism students, our Head Start students, our developmental preschool students, our transitional kindergarten students, as well as our general education students into this kind of learning.
She has devoted millions of hours (I can tell you that is NO exaggeration) to helping the lives and learning of students. Ms. Bliquez believes AND LIVES on a daily basis the importance that every student can excel at a very high level. She reaches those students who struggle academically and those who academically far exceed their peers. She brings in a global perspective to her lessons. Our students learn about Chinese characters and culture, the Holocaust, about slavery through the text of Elijah, Home of the Brave, and a myriad of other social justice topics.
And it doesn’t stop there. They say that a library is supposed to be the hub of a school. Our librarian IS the hub of our school. Learning centers around her work and efforts. She is the cog in the wheel. She goes out of her way to support every single teacher, support staff and the principal so that learning can be engaging, enriching, intentional and meaningful. Roxhill would not be the same without her.
She knows how to challenge thinking; push her own thinking; and help all of us grow (students and staff) as thinkers.
I could talk about the endless hours, the endless summer hours, the being the first to get here and sometimes the last to leave, but perhaps what resounds in my heart the most is the profound impact she makes on the intellectual, emotional, social and personal lives of every educator and student at Roxhill.
She IS the Golden Apple Award.
The principal says Roxhill head teacher Christopher Robert – himself a past Golden Apple recipient – nominated Pat Bliquez for the award. Congratulations to her and to Roxhill!
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