West Seattle, Washington
16 Sunday
Out of the WSB inbox tonight from Jonathan French:
Tomorrow (Sunday) from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM the 5th grade class of Our Lady of Guadalupe School will be serving one of their bi-annual free dinners to senior citizens. It will be in the school lunch room (34th Ave. SW Entrance). The 5th Graders have been hosting this event for years, and many area seniors look forward to the event. The dinner will be deliciously prepared by Petros Fotopoulos, OLG Parent & proprietor of Christos on Alki. West Seattle seniors are invited & encouraged to come by for a delicious dinner tomorrow (Sunday), served by the proud 5th grade class. There will be raffles & prizes as well. For more information, contact Eleni French (eleni@alki.net). The next dinner will be early 2011.
Haven’t been to OLG? 34th and Myrtle (just east of the water towers); here’s a map.
(L to R: Quentin “L.J.” Burns, Maia Jordan-Griffin, Michelle Steele, Justice Burwell, Sam Orlin, Brady Crane)
The first schoolwide Read-a-Thon is under way at Denny International Middle School – to raise money for books for Denny’s literacy program, and “to inspire reading among all Denny students,” according to Susan McLain, one of the organizers. And you can support them by using a special voucher at Barnes and Noble later this month (more on that in a moment). “Denny International Middle School needs books. We have a diverse population of kids who read in several different languages. We need books that are geared to each child’s reading level,” McLain explains. “We also need books that inspire kids to keep reading because the subject matter is interesting. Often, a child will pick up one book in a series, and then they are pulled into reading the entire series because the books are so compelling to them.”
(L to R: Sophie Strongman, Anne Jorgenson, Gavin Garcia Penor, Aisaya Corbray, Brady Crane, Nicole Roes, and Abdirisaq Diriye Abdi)
For the Read-a-Thon, Denny students are asking friends and family members for pledges, based on how many books or pages the students read up until December 3. You are also encouraged to shop at Barnes and Noble in Westwood Village on November 20 using the voucher found here, or you can use that same voucher number online between November 20 – November 27. Part of the proceeds from each purchase will benefit Denny International Middle School PTSA. And if you’d like to buy a book for Denny as part of this – here’s the wish list.
Three news items from Chief Sealth International High School:
BENEFIT AUCTION NEXT WEEK: The second annual Seahawk Spirit Dinner and Auction is one week from tomorrow night – Thursday, November 18th. The 5:30 pm event will be preceded by guided tours of the school at 4:30 pm. It’ll be highlighted by presentation of the Community Partner Award to: Friends of Sealth (Chief Sealth’s alumni organization) & Sealth’s Latino Community Partners: El Centro de la Raza, Campana Quetzal, Consejo, Sea Mar and South Park Community Center. The dinner/auction is sponsored by Chief Sealth PTSA, Chief Sealth Performing Arts, and Friends of Sealth. Tickets are on sale and auction donations are still being accepted. Information for both is online here, or you can contact Dick Lee at rjlee@seattleschools.org.
GOLF TOURNAMENT: A new fundraiser for Chief Sealth athletics has just been announced – a first-ever golf tournament and dinner, set for Friday, June 3, 2011, at Rainier Golf & Country Club. Information regarding how to participate should become available soon.
FALL SPORTS WRAPUP: As celebrated at the CSIHS sports banquet last night, here are the highlights of the sports season just concluded, courtesy of athletic director Sam Reed:
The Seahawks’ 2010 Fall sports season was a very successful one, in that it saw solid team improvement, outstanding individual achievements and tremendous overall achievement both in the field of play and in the classroom. Overall 175 student-athletes donned helmets, knee pads, shin guards, running shoes or spikes and represented Chief Sealth International in Metro League competition.
Read on to see what they achieved:Read More
Retired Brigadier Gen. Steve Ritchie, legendary as a pilot ace during the Vietnam War, is speaking at two local schools on this day before Veterans Day, and one appearance is open to the public. This morning, he’s at a Seattle Lutheran High School assembly; tonight, Holy Family Parish School invites the community to hear him speak to the Seattle Chapter of the Air Force Association and the Puget Sound Chapter of the United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates. That appearance is at 7 pm, 9615 20th SW (map), no admission (though school donations accepted), but principal Frank Cantwell requests that you RSVP – fcantwell@hfseattle.org.
“I thought Veterans Day was just another day until July 23rd of this year,” you’ll hear Will Newlove tell Chief Sealth International High School students in our clip. He spoke during their Veterans Day assembly today, as a tribute to his brother Petty Officer Jarod Newlove, also a Sealth graduate, missing in Afghanistan on that day in July. He tells the story of how they got the news, first that his brother was missing – then, that he was gone. Like his brother, as you might have deduced from the uniform, he is in the US Navy. Also at the assembly, Sealth singers performed the national anthem:
(The Sealth honor choir is raising money for a once-in-a-lifetime trip – separate story on that is in the works.) Also acknowledged during the assembly, five Sealth staffers who are veterans: assistant principal Lupe Barnes, a former Army ROTC 1st lieutenant; literature teacher James MacDonald, a U.S. Army veteran whose wide-ranging experience included Operation Silent Echo, which removed short-range nuclear weapons from Europe; former MP “Jimbo” Di Obilda, now working security; and two Marine Corps veterans, DuWayne Young and Mr. Jewels. A plaque honoring 15 Sealth graduates who lost their lives in combat was presented today as well.
The actual Veterans Day is this Thursday – and Seattle Public Schools, along with many others, are closed that day.
Seattle Public Schools is out this morning with new reports on every school in the system. Our partners at the Seattle Times have gone through the documents already and report that Lafayette and Schmitz Park Elementaries in West Seattle are among twelve schools citywide receiving the highest rating possible. Here’s the Times story; here’s a link to the page from which you can access all the school reports.
Big announcement from Westside School (WSB sponsor) today – as they had hoped would be possible once they moved into the former EC Hughes site in Sunrise Heights (here’s our coverage of the dedication 2 months ago), they’re expanding to add middle-school grades. It’ll be an incremental expansion – Westside will add 6th grade in fall 2011, then 7th grade in fall 2012, and as of fall 2013 will be fully preschool through 8th grade. The school says it’ll be organizing Middle School as a unique “rigorous, high-school-preparatory curriculum,” not just adding classes; we’re scheduled to talk with Head of School Jo Ann Yockey momentarily to find out more, and will add to this report later.
ADDED 2:11 PM: More details, as promised! For starters, there’ll be there is now a new section on the Westside website with middle-school details. As for what we learned in a conversation with Jo Ann Yockey, read on:Read More
“The epicenter of the achievement gap in Seattle.” If you watch that video clip from our partners at the Seattle Times, you will hear West Seattle Elementary fourth-grader teacher Chrissie Coxon use that phrase. In the start of a special series of Times stories, she discusses how they are working to close it – and her hopes for her students. The Times also reports that because of implementation of the mandated transformation plan for West Seattle Elementary, which must shake itself out of being one of the lowest-performing schools in the state, about half of last year’s teaching staff chose to leave. Find the Times’ first story here.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
This weekend’s Lafayette Elementary Sports Swap – drop off donations/consignment till 3 pm today, shop and “swap” 9 am-3 pm Sunday (flyer here) – is the current fundraiser for a longrunning project that’s suddenly attained new urgency: Upgrading the playground for West Seattle’s most populous public elementary school.
The playground-upgrading project has been under way for years (Lafayette is one of the schools our son attended, and we recall fundraisers up to six years ago!) – but now, there’s a “use it or lose it” component: A $100,000 city Neighborhood Matching Fund grant for Phase 2 (outlined here) that MUST be matched with cash and other contributions by the end of January, or else it goes away.
To get the job done, there’s now a catchy campaign name – Play It Forward – and parent volunteers specifically focused on marketing (including production of the explanatory video you can watch atop this story). We chatted recently with the Lafayette moms who are project co-chairs, to find out why this is a matter of concern beyond even the 530-plus families with students at the school now:Read More
Two high-school football games tonight – Chief Sealth International High School defeated Lakeside, 21-14; Seattle Lutheran High School is playing Rainier Christian right now, and we’re tweeting live at @wsblive (will update with the score here when it’s over). UPDATE: SLHS won 57-7. After the jump – more details and video from both Friday games:Read More
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
A gathering tonight on Alki marked the end of a 2-week adventure for more than a dozen West Seattle High School students and their families, as well as their new friends from thousands of miles away.
It was the traditional farewell beach fire – s’mores and all – for students visiting WSHS from Seattle’s sister city Nantes, France, in a unique two-part annual exchange program that teacher Douglas Peterman says is the only one of its kind in the city.
WSB visited his classroom earlier this week to meet some of the participating West Seattle and Nantes students, as well as their chaperones and a local host parent. Among the lessons we learned – the real pronunciation of Nantes, and the relevance of an exchange program in a day and age when some say technology has reduced the need to travel. Read on for the story!
(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!
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