They balanced, they bounced, they pedaled, they pivoted. And tomorrow night, the unicyclists of Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point will perform for hundreds of thousands of people in the Seafair Torchlight Parade downtown. They’ve been practicing every night this week, so we dropped by tonight to check on the final session. P-E teacher Lou Cutler coaches them – you may remember him from his Make-A-Wish work – listen to his excitement:
Whether you’re going downtown to watch the Torchlight Parade (preceded by the Torchlight Run, and remember that’ll close the Alaskan Way Viaduct northbound from about 5:30 pm-7 pm Saturday) or watching it on TV or online (Channel 7, kirotv.com), the Pathfinder unicyclists are part of an all-star West Seattle lineup you’ll see scattered through the parade – we listed everybody (that we know of so far) here.
Newly hung murals are gracing the walls of the closed-again Genesee Hill Elementary School … ironically, relocated from another closed Seattle Public Schools building, the former home of Van Asselt Elementary on Beacon Hill. That’s part of what’s happening as the new Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council continues working with the district to keep the vacated campus from becoming an eyesore (or worse) – and they’re inviting you to join in a cleanup this Saturday, 9 am-1 pm: it’ll involve gardening, too, starting with the front beds and moving to the north playground as time allows. The GSNC also promises, “There will be free popsicles at noon!”
Just learned from Hope Lutheran School board chair Mike Jensen that a new principal has been announced for Hope: Kristen Okabayashi is coming to Hope from Concordia Lutheran School in North Seattle, where she was Director of Preschool and Summer Enrichment Programs. And she’s already had experience with Hope – her four children are former students there. According to the announcement on the Hope Lutheran School website, Okabayashi starts on August 2nd.
Three and a half months after first word that Westside School had found a new home – leasing the former EC Hughes Elementary in Sunrise Heights from Seattle Public Schools – the sprucing-up is heating up, and some major moving is ahead this week. Westside’s David Bergler shares the above photo with this update:
Westside School parents and staff have been busy preparing to move to the new campus located in the former E.C. Hughes building on 34th Ave SW. The inside of the building is getting painted and polished, the playground is being upgraded and the landscaping is receiving the “spa” treatment. A real community effort is afoot with parents taking on a variety of tasks. Recently a crew of parent volunteers began work on the front gardens of the school. All of the upgrades should be completed by Labor Day. Westside School administrative offices are being moved on the 14th of July and the full campus move is planned for the first week of August
A long list of Seattle Public Schools leadership appointments that have just been announced includes some West Seattle news: First, two interim principals are now official: Madison Middle School‘s Henterson Carlisle and Alki Elementary‘s Clover Codd. Second, the announcement reiterates that Ruth Medsker is the interim principal at West Seattle High School (as noted here 2 weeks ago). Third, a new principal is announced for Highland Park Elementary, whose previous principal Ann Gray left for a new job in another district. Here’s the district’s announcement for HP:
Ben Ostrom has been appointed principal at Highland Park Elementary School, effective July 1, 2010. Mr. Ostrom comes to Highland Park Elementary from ORCA K-8, where he has served as principal since 2003. Prior to ORCA, he spent three years as principal at Loyal Heights Elementary. He also has extensive classroom experience, including six years as an elementary teacher at both Cooper Elementary School and Madrona K-8 school. Mr. Ostrom received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University and a Masters in Teaching from Seattle University. He also completed the Danforth Educational Leadership Program at the University of Washington.
We’d love to encourage the community to come out and cheer on the West Seattle Little League All Star teams. The West Seattle All Star 10/11 team will play the Rainiers tonight in the CHAMPIONSHIP game for District #7. If West Seattle wins- we go to the state tournament in Yakima in 2 weeks. 5:30 pm @ Bar S field
The West Seattle All Star 9/10 team will play the Championship game on Saturday @ 10am @ Bar S. NOT sure who we’re playing yet—depends on the winner of tonight’s game in the 9/10 bracket. If they win- they will go to state in Shoreline in 2 weeks.
Good luck, All-Stars! (If you’ve never been to Bar-S, it’s along the Alki Point end of Admiral Way – here’s a map.)
New WSB sponsors are offered the chance to let you know more about their business – and today, we welcome Sweet Pea Cottage Preschool of the Arts, opening in West Seattle this fall. Here’s what they would like you to know: Sweet Pea was founded by artist and educator Carmel Baird, who believes art is the window to learning, and ALL children should have access to an arts-based education. Carmel continues to touch the lives of young children at Sweet Pea Cottage on a daily basis in her role as Artistic Director. All of our teaching staff are also working artists in the Seattle community. We foster a lifelong appreciation of the arts through early exposure. We believe every child is an artist, and we encourage each child to connect with the artist within themselves. Families attending our program have often said that our program is unique and special because it incorporates the arts in every aspect of early childhood education, has amazingly talented teaching-artists, and fosters a sense of community among children and families. Most families seek us out because we have a reputation in the Seattle community for providing a top-notch early childhood arts education. There are hundreds of alumni families throughout the Seattle area that have a deep appreciation for the unique education their children experienced while at Sweet Pea, and we look forward to serving hundreds more! Sweet Pea Cottage Preschool of the Arts is online at sweetpeacottage.org, 206-217-9767, and other contact information here, if you’d like to find out more about their upcoming West Seattle location.
(From left, Sean Miller, Kimberly Miller, Carlie Williams, Alexa Severtsen, and their assistant, Seamus)
Today, we welcome a new WSB sponsor: Northwest Academy for the Healing Arts, a massage school located at 2707 California Ave SW. Here’s what they’d like you to know about the school: Its director, Sean Miller, says, “The Northwest Academy for the Healing Arts has set the new standard for massage education in Seattle. As Seattle’s only independent massage school, Northwest Academy offers a personalized education that is unparalleled.” All faculty members have a minimum of five years clinical experience and hold advanced health-care-related degrees, all the way up to the doctorate level. Sean also says, “We offer the smallest class sizes in Washington State, allowing for an individualized classroom experience. Our comprehensive curriculum integrates the art and science of massage therapy with a well-rounded holistic approach to client care.” The academy’s programs are approved by the Washington State Board of Massage, theNational Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and the Academy is licensed as a vocational school by the Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board. Sean adds, “We are dedicated to the success of our graduates. Therefore, we offer ongoing career services to all students and graduates to ensure professional fulfillment. Our career services department offers students and graduates support with career choices and assistance with job placement.” He said the one constant note of feedback he gets from his students is that the Northwest Academy offers a quality massage education as well as a supportive community. Northwest Academy for the Healing Arts is online at nw-academy.com; you can also call them at 206-932-5950.
For starters, the process of moving out of the temporary Chief Sealth International High School campus at Boren, getting ready to occupy the renovated permanent campus in fall, is a big job – we happened onto the band equipment getting packed up. But that’s not the main reason we were at the school:
It’s the first day of the first weeklong session of the 13th annual edition of the popular Chief Sealth Life Skills and Basketball Camp. In that view, everyone’s gathered for the team meeting. Guest coach this week with Coach Colin Slingsby(right) is recent Sealth grad Daniel Davis:
Coach Slingsby noted that Daniel first attended the Sealth camp way back in third grade – and now he’s coaching. Participants – 2nd through 9th grade boys/girls – spend the day in everything from warmups to specific basketball-skill-coaching to drills.
And as the name indicates, it’s more than sports. The printed schedule has the quote of the day: “You have not lived a perfect day, even if you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” For info on the summer’s remaining sessions, check out the brochure (PDF).
We thought we’d covered our last graduation for this school year. Then an invitation arrived – as a media advisory sent on behalf of a school we hadn’t heard of – Hope Academy. The advisory from the local Council on American Islamic Relations invited us, a newspaper, three TV stations, and three radio stations to cover its ceremony and banquet Saturday night in High Point, explaining:
Hope Academy will celebrate the achievements of its students during with its fourth annual banquet, themed “American Muslims: Defining Ourselves.” The event will be held at the West Seattle Elementary School from 4:45 pm to 6 pm. … The event will include award presentations to graduating students as well as other students. Muslim community leaders and activists from the area will join in the celebration.
As far as we could tell, we were the only media that showed up. However – as you can see in our photos – those on hand included Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell. We asked for more information about the school; Abdul Kadir Jama explained that Hope Academy is “a full-time community-based school that serves K-8.” He added, “We aim at educating the American Muslim children by providing them an opportunity to grow in a conducive environment where they can maintain their faith, culture and at the same time become good citizens.” Saturday night’s celebration included awards to two groups of students, in the photos above and below:
The ceremony included singing of the Somalia anthem, in tribute to the land Seattle’s Somali immigrants – including parents of the students honored Saturday night — left amid civil war that has raged on now for almost 20 years:
Councilmember Harrell spoke, with a message for the students’ parents:
Hope Academy’s classes are held at locations including the High Point Neighborhood Center, according to CAIR’s S. Arsalan Bukhari, who sent the graduation announcement. Looking for more information online about Hope Academy, we happened onto some YouTube clips on this channel, including a student discussing world geography.
(Riley Bunch at Madison Middle School’s 8th-grade promotion event)
Before the end of the school year gets too far in the rear-view mirror, we have one more story to share: Madison Middle School‘s Jeanne Merritt shares a photo and the story of Madison’s 8th-grade promotion earlier this week:
Madison Middle School eighth graders were promoted Monday night in a well-attended ceremony at West Seattle High.
Four student speakers reminisced about their social and educational experiences at Madison.
The inspirational speaker was Jesse Hagopian, former Madison teacher. He spoke about his experience being in the Haiti earthquake. Also, when the graduating eighth grade students were in seventh grade, Mr. Hagopian became a father. At that time he assigned the students to write letters of advice to a father. At the promotion ceremony Mr. Hagopian then turned that good advice back to the students.
The story continues with more on the students who were honored – and some adults, too!Read More
West Seattle High School just sent out an urgent request to anyone who can help: Mr. Jinan Jia arrives July 30th to be the WSHS Chinese teacher next year – enabling them to offer instruction up to Chinese III – but he needs a home while he’s here – and fast, to support his visa request. “This is an exciting opportunity for the host family to learn of the Chinese culture and Mandarin Chinese language,” notes WSHS principal Bruce Bivins. They prefer a home in West Seattle, since the teacher will use Metro to get to work. Here’s the application form; but first, please call (206) 252-8800 or e-mail brbivins@seattleschools.org if you are interested in being the host!
The last day of school was also the last day at Highland Park Elementary School for principal Ann Gray. An HP parent e-mailed to let us know about the letter from Gray, dated today, posted on the school’s website. She says she’s taken a new job as a principal in the Federal Way district, closer to her home, but describes her six years at HP as “amazing.” Read her letter here.
Speaking of the last day of school … it’s not just a momentous occasion for formal “graduates” moving from high school to college, or from college to the next chapter of their lives, but also for 8th graders moving into high school. Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clarksent photos this morning, reporting, “Last night … we had a terrific promotion ceremony as we celebrated the accomplishments of our eighth-graders. They are an amazing group of kids who are now ready for high school – the next stop on the road to their college graduation.”
(Any other schools’ 8th-grade ceremony photos, we’d be happy to share those too – send ’em along!) Congratulations to ALL of West Seattle’s students – and educators! – for their 2009-2010 accomplishments!
As work continues on Chief Sealth International High School renovations, and construction of the new Denny International Middle School next door, the date’s already set for two events celebrating the reopening of Sealth’s permanent campus (map): The day before classes start for next school year, a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned, 9:30 am September 7th, at the main entrance. Then on Saturday, September 25th, an all-community celebration is planned, described in the announcement as “an opportunity for the community to come tour the renovated main building, gym and new Galleria/Commons.” The galleria’s where this photo was taken earlier this month (it, and the photo above, are courtesy of the project team):
Thanks to Laurie for the tip on this week’s big win for Denny International Middle School students – and sharing the report that fellow Denny parent Lisa sent to a mailing list (republished here with permission):
On a wet and rainy Wednesday, Denny International Middle School took first place overall in the Seattle School District’s Middle School Math Olympiad. This was their second title in a row. They competed against a dozen other schools en route to their title defense. The team was led by 8th graders Bradley Marquez, Katy Carter, Lucille Bermes, and Eileen Lee. The 8th graders finished first overall, with the highest total score of all teams competing. The 7th grade finished 2nd in the 7th Grade division. The six members of the 6th grade team sacrificed their class field trip to the beach in order to participate in the event; however, the victory made the sacrifice worthwhile. The current 6th and 7th graders are looking forward to an unprecedented 3rd title in row next year. Congratulations to all who competed!
P.S. The new Denny continues taking shape nearby; while Chief Sealth International High School moves back to its renovated permanent buildings this fall (stand by for the next update), the adjacent new Denny isn’t scheduled for occupancy till 2011. Here’s a new aerial from the project team – top of the photo is north:
Story and photo by Evan Miglorie
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
More than 200 people gathered in the West Seattle High School theater last night to watch – and talk about – “Race to Nowhere,” a documentary that sets out to examine what it warns is “the dark side of America’s achievement culture.”
The night began with an introduction delivered in person by the film’s director, Vicki Abeles. Her film interviews five several students on their experience with the intense pressures of our education system. Teachers were also interviewed, contending that modern educational systems place too much emphasis on memorization for tests, rather than actual learning. Another main concern voiced by parents, teachers, and psychologists was the unyielding pressure to perform. The impacts of this come at a high cost, they warn – drugs, cheating and even suicide can result from too much pressure put on young students.
So what do local students think? Some spoke out right after the film.Read More
Tuesday is the final day of classes for Seattle Public Schools, and you can probably remember what it was like to try to get through those final few days till summer break – never mind the fact that, so far as we can remember, summer break used to arrive a lot earlier than it does now (at least where we grew up, elsewhere in the West). It’s a tradition for many schools to celebrate the year’s successes with special activities – and we received a few from two of the schools doing so yesterday – Top photo and next one are from Alki Elementary School‘s Razzle-Dazzle Day, courtesy of Nancy Woodland from WestSide Baby (which is sponsoring Guys’ Night Out 5 pm @ White Center Eagles tonight, don’t forget – sign up here!). Though we don’t have a photo, she says the principal even got dunked!
And at Lafayette Elementary School in the Admiral District, Friday was Field Day – Luckie shared the next two photos, explaining that the activities included hands-on sustainability adventures, like working with a worm bin:
Plus the more traditional goofy fun – water polo with spray bottles and a wading pool:
(Photos and video by Randall G. Hauk)
The ceremony last night at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) honored what was by far the largest graduating class in West Seattle – 721 students earning degrees and certificates! SSCC’s breakdown says that included 318 in academic transfer, 272 in professional/technical studies, 26 students in the college’s 4-year bachelor of applied science Hospitality Management degree program, 105 students earning high-school diplomas or GEDs. The school is of course well-known for its culinary programs, among others – listen to the list of degrees being read for this group of graduates:
Once the diplomas were presented, with so many graduates, it was quite the sight – and south – as they turned their tassels:
A few more scenes from a night of smiles:
And more smiles:
Other highlights of this year’s graduating class: the Hospitality bachelor’s degree recipients were the second graduating class; and SSCC also graduated the first recipient of its new associate of arts in Elementary Education (AEE) degree, “which prepares students to enter a four-year university to pursue bachelor’s degrees in elementary education,” according to the school’s graduation-preview news release. Dianne Dizon is that degree’s recipient. Congratulations to all! ADDED 8:20 AM: One more graduation photo – West Seattleite Stacey Fuda and sister Jamie Malek are “extra super proud” of their mom Kathy Malek, who graduated last night with a certificate in accounting. From left, Jamie, Kathy and Stacey:
(Stacey had mentioned on the WSB Facebook page that her mom would be among the grads, so we asked if she’d share a photo!)
(Photo by Jeff Siamas)
We’ve been covering the high-school and college (next story up!) graduations in West Seattle this past week – but hundreds of other students have been celebrating too – with ceremonies to mark transitions out of milestone years, such as kindergarten, fifth grade, and eighth grade. Katie shared the above photo taken Thursday at Tilden School; she reports, “Each graduate read their own original poem about their first day at Tilden School. Also, joined by the 4th graders, they sang ‘a farewell in song’ to the audience, singing ‘Where’er You Walk’ by Handel.” Tilden is a K-5 school just north of The Junction. Meantime, it’s the last few days for Seattle Public Schools students, and as Arbor Heights Elementary third-grade teacher Mark Ahlness writes, “the wheels on the bus are a little loose right now” – so it’s time to bring in some attention-getters:
One of Ahlness’s focuses, as a tech pioneer in the education world, has been to get his students writing and publishing online – and so he was thrilled to bring in Jeff Utecht, of whom he writes: “World class ed/tech blogger Jeff Utecht visited my classroom (Thursday) … He has just released a wonderful book on web 2.0 for educators. Jeff teaches in Bangkok, and spends summers in Seattle. He and his wife have Washington roots.”
(More end-of-year school news? Share it! And have a great summer!)
and ALL children should have access to an arts-based education. Carmel continues to touch the lives of young children at Sweet Pea Cottage on a daily basis in her role as Artistic Director. All of our teaching staff are also working artists in the Seattle community. We foster a lifelong appreciation of the arts through early exposure. We believe every child is an artist, and we encourage each child to connect with the artist within themselves. Families attending our program have often said that our program is unique and special because it incorporates the arts in every aspect of early childhood education, has amazingly talented teaching-artists, and fosters a sense of community among children and families. Most families seek us out because we have a reputation in the Seattle community for providing a top-notch early childhood arts education. There are hundreds of alumni families throughout the Seattle area that have a deep appreciation for the unique education their children experienced while at Sweet Pea, and we look forward to serving hundreds more! Sweet Pea Cottage Preschool of the Arts is online at 
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