Seattle Public Schools

June 20, 2008

Photography © Susie Fitzhugh

District News

School Board Update - June 18 meeting highlights
The School Board voted to adopt a District Vision, Mission, and Core Beliefs statement. The Board also approved the Advanced Placement Incentive Grant Application, Highly Capable Grant and the Head Start Grant as well as the Denny/Sealth Construction Contract, Phase 1 and several other routine contracts. The BEX III, Transfer of Funds from BEX III Program Reserves to BEX III Athletic Fields Projects was also introduced and approved at the meeting.
     Chief Academic Officer Carla Santorno updated the Board on the Skill Center Study Report.
     Items introduced and scheduled for a vote at the July 9 meeting include the 2008-09 Operating Budget of $556.2 million and Capital Budget of $229.4 million. In addition, CFOO Don Kennedy presented budget highlights. Also introduced for consideration by the Board were an Internal Audit Policy and Emergency Management Policy; the BEX III, Denny/Sealth GCCM Construction Contract, School Copiers Contract, and the 21st Century Learning Community Center Grant Application.
     The next legislative meeting for the School Board is on Wednesday, July 9 at 6 p.m. Information about the meeting is available on the School Board Web site. In addition, a public hearing on the 2008-09 budgets is scheduled for Wednesday, June 25.

Cathy Thompson named Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction
     Cathy Thompson, currently principal at Roxhill Elementary School, has been appointed Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction. This is a newly established role that strengthens the Learning and Teaching function in support of the Strategic Plan. Before taking the leadership role at Roxhill, Cathy spent four years at Rainier View Elementary School, four years as a literacy instructional coach and six years as a first-grade teacher at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School.

Student Celebrations

Five Franklin High students honored for humanitarian actions on bus
     Five Franklin High School students were honored at a school assembly on June 6 for their efforts to resuscitate a male passenger who collapsed on a Metro bus. Hassan Dolal, Abdurahman Hassan, Jasmeon Mathews, Dat Nguyen, and Briana-Marie Sims were recognized for assisting the ailing man. The students were traveling south on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way on the bus when the man sitting next to them collapsed. One of the students asked the man if he was all right and, upon receiving no response, the five students took action. They took his pulse and administered CPR until paramedics arrived. City Councilman Larry Gossett, King County Police and Metro representatives attended the Quaker Day school assembly and presented the certificates of recognition.

Washington Middle School students win in biomedical essay contest

Washington Middle School students Khadija Diallo and Claudia Castro work with Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute scientist Melisa Ralston to extract DNA from cheek cells.

Five students from Washington Middle School were recognized for their winning entries in the “Biomedical Breakthroughs and My Life” middle school essay contest, sponsored annually by the Northwest Association for Biomedical Research. The association introduces students to biomedical research and the process of developing medical treatments and cures.
The 2008 winning essays, selected from more than 285 entries from seventh- and eighth-grade students throughout Washington and Oregon, were inspiring examples of the personal impacts of biomedical research. To read the 2008 winning essays and learn more about the ‘Biomedical Breakthroughs and My Life’ essay contest, visit: www.nwabr.org/education/contest.html.
All the winners are students of Stella Bass, Washington Middle School science teacher. Below are the names of contest winners and some links to their essays.

Student	Place	Category	Entry
Molly Linberg	Third	Overall Contest Winner	Malaria
Melissa Piccard	Second	Western Washington Regional Winner	Cancer
Greg Harper	Honorable Mention	Western Washington Regional Winner	Diabetes
Claudia Castro	First	ESL Western Washington Regional Winner	Ear Infections
Mary Yirdaw	Second	ESL Western Washington Regional Winner	Diabetes, Type 1
Khadija Diallo	Honorable Mention	ESL Western Washington Regional Winner	Diabetes, Type 1

Ballard High School films named finalists at national film festival
'Ladies in Armor' awarded second prize in documentary
Seven works by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program were named finalists for the Grand Prize at the 12th Annual Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival on May 31. The productions were:

• Checking Out, a comedic narrative by Justin Amorratanasuchad, Jacob Fabian and Annalee Milar;
•Brotherly Love, also a comedic narrative by Colin Colebrook, Mohamed Kassim and Devon Rensberger;
•4th Floor, an eerie drama by Coburn Erskine, Sami Kubo and Nolan O’Connor;
•Seattle Needle Exchange, a documentary by Coburn Erskine, William Pierce and Ben Steiner;
•Domestic Disturbance: One Family’s Struggle, a documentary by Justin Amorratanasuchad, Colin Colebrook and Lilah Horwitz;
•Ladies in Armor, a documentary by Diana Federighi, Sami Kubo and Audra McCafferty; and
•Spaced Out, a satiric narrative by Justin Amorratanasuchad, Michael Hipp and Devan Sizemore. At the conclusion of the festival, the documentary Ladies in Armor was awarded second prize.

Two B.F. Day Elementary School teams won medals at the Sally Ride Toy Challenge finals held May 31 in San Diego. The Gastavians, left photo, with team members Cecilia Bui, Gayle Chan, Asa Croatto, Amanda Le, and Isaac Perk, won an honorable mention medal. The Six-Headed Awesome Dawgs, right photo, with team members Adam Bergamini, Jonathan Castillo, Ellis Cox-McAllister, Isaac Floresca, Hanna Priebe, and Ella Tanaka, also won an honorable mention medal. Coaches for both teams are Lauri Boren and Shirley Day.

Two B.F. Day teams win medals at national Sally Ride Toy Challenge finals
Three teams of students from the classroom of Lauri Boren, science teacher at B.F. Day Elementary School, went to the finals of The Sally Ride Toy Challenge – with two teams taking home medals. The Gastavians made “The Weatherboard,” the 6 Headed Awesome Dawgs created “The Quado-stick,” and Utter Nonsense created “The Exo-Clock.” The Gastavians and the Six-Headed Awesome Dawgs both won honorable mention medals for their design, prototype and final product of a toy or game.

Meany Middle School team named overall winner in Algebrathon

The Meany Middle School team, left, was the overall winner in the June 4 Algebrathon held at the John Stanford Center. Almost 100 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from Aki Kurose, Denny, Meany and Mercer middle schools competed in Algebra. The students worked in teams of three to complete three increasingly difficult rounds of problems. The competition required collaboration, precision, determination and a desire to achieve efficient mathematical accuracy.

Staff Celebrations

Nurse receives award for work and efforts at Seattle Public Schools
     Samara Hoag, a nurse at Seattle Public Schools, received the 2008 Janet G. Newell Award for Community Service at a June 1 luncheon at Seattle First Baptist Church. Hoag was chosen by the Companis Board of Directors and recognized for her tireless work and outstanding personal acts requiring exceptional commitment, talent and time. Hoag has supported public education and worked to enable youth lead healthy lives at the elementary school level for 12 years and at the middle school level at Madison Middle School for the past 11 years.

Seattle Public Schools team selected to train staff on new math standards
     Alan Bond, an eighth-grade math teacher from Madison Middle School, and Remy Poon, May Ovalles, and Art Mabbott – three middle school mathematics coaches – have been selected to be part of the Washington State Mathematics Facilitation Team. The team will help introduce the newly adopted K-8 Mathematics Standards to all math teachers across Washington state. Similar training will most likely occur for Grades 9-12 math teachers once high school standards have been adopted by the State Board of Education.

Hawthorne Elementary teacher honored for environmental teaching

Hawthorne Elementary fourth-grade teacher, Jason Wong, received the 2008 Patsy Collins Award for Excellence in Education, Environment and Community at IslandWood on June 13. Wong was honored for his dedication to creating powerful learning experiences for students, and for connecting his students’ education to the real world while inspiring them towards community and environmental stewardship. Wong helped his students build an outdoor learning classroom, organized a school garden with the local Rotary organization and initiated a Hawthorne Goes Green campaign, including worm bins for recycling food waste. Wong received a $5,000 personal award and $2,500 to donate to a school or charity of his choice. Wong selected to donate to the association Friends of Hawthorne for the enhancement of the arts program in Hawthorne classrooms.

Hawthorne Elementary teacher, Jason Wong, center, received the 2008 Patsy Collins award for Excellence in Education, Environment, and Community at IslandWood. Wong is pictured with IslandWood founder Debbi Brainerd, and Executive Director Ben Klasky

Lisa Taylor recognized for outstanding service to children and youth
     Lisa M. Taylor, Community Partnerships manager at the School District’s Office for Community Learning, was recognized on June 3 for being an outstanding role model – exemplifying excellence and service for school-aged children and youth. Taylor received a 2008 SOAR Community Achievement Award and was honored for Outstanding Achievement in Leadership/Advocacy. At the Putting Pieces Together event, she was acknowledged for directing community learning efforts at Seattle Public Schools – and building strong, aligned and collaborative learning partnerships between community programs and the School District. She was recognized for her leadership, insights, practicality, humor, and knowledge about what kids need to succeed and thrive. She was also honored for having a lasting impact on afterschool programming for the children and youth of our community.

Whittier Elementary School principal named Rotarian of the Year
     Cothron McMillian, principal of Whittier Elementary School, has been selected Rotarian of the Year for 2008. McMillian was honored for “Service Above Self” to the children of the Seattle Public Schools and Rotary District 5030. McMillian was recognized for resurrecting the Rotary Dictionary Project in which 10,000 free dictionaries were presented to third-graders in Seattle Public Schools, as well as other schools around King County. McMillian is a member of the Rotary Club of Ballard and is one of 11 Assistant Governors during the Rotary Year 2008-09 which will begin July 1.

Around the Schools

Newsweek ranks Garfield in the top 5 percent of public high schools
     Newsweek magazine’s list of the top 1,300 high schools in the nation includes Garfield High School – with a rank of 299 – placing it in the top 5 percent of public high schools, according to a recent issue of the magazine. Newsweek ranked public schools according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews, a Washington Post and Newsweek education writer. The ranking is determined by the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; and are in the top 5 percent of public schools measured this way.

Beacon Hill International students perform 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Beacon Hill International fifth-graders perform 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' on June 11 for students and families. Powerful Arts teacher Heather Chavez and Seattle University intern Louisa Jackson helped organize the play, and offered workshops for younger students so they could better understand the story when they saw the performance.

Chief Sealth Web design students unveil client projects
Students of Sam Reed’s Web Design 2 class showed off their recent work to community “clients” at an event at Chief Sealth High School last month. Twelve students, some working in pairs and others independently, had spent weeks at meetings and working on Web site designs for local businesses, entrepreneurs and community agencies. The clients responded to a posting on the West Seattle Blog and were selected by the students who read through questionnaires of more than 35 interested parties. At the unveiling event, held in Reed’s classroom, students gave brief presentations on their projects, discussing among other things, teamwork, technology, and client relations. Students and their families, the clients and school administration attended the event. Questions and comments should be directed to Sam Reed at sjreed@seattleschools.org. For additional information on the Web design class or Chief Sealth High School, visit http://www.mrreedswebdesign.com or http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/chiefsealth/.

Center School students reflect on their school journey at 'Senior Celebration'
The Center School had their "Senior Celebration Day" last month in which seniors reflected on their high school journey and displayed a variety of their artistic work and projects. The students shared how they were "empowered and inspired to positively impact the world" – which is The Center School’s mission statement. In addition, students responded in writing to three reflection questions.

The Center School senior Oliver Wyckoff, left photo, shows one of his photographs taken from his study trip to Morocco. Sam Martin, right photo, drives an electric car that he designed and built from scratch.

Volunteers help spruce up Roxhill Elementary on June 20
About 200 partners and staff from the Seattle office of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will volunteer time and funds on June 20 to spruce up Roxhill Elementary school in support of the school's beautification efforts this past year. Volunteers will grout the new school mosaic sign that students, staff and community created. Volunteers will also prepare for landscaping around the school's new reader board sign; paint gamelines on the playground; and paint interior walls.

20 trees planted at Van Asselt Elementary
as part of 'Trees for Success' program
Fourth-grade students, teachers and volunteers from Van Asselt Elementary, The Home Depot and the community planted 20 trees around the school as part of the Arbor Day Foundation and The Home Depot Foundation's Trees for Success program. Van Asselt was selected from among hundreds of schools and parks nationwide for the program.

Coe Elementary music teacher incorporates technology into classroom
     At Coe Elementary School, music teacher Ken Pendergrass uses all the "regular" classroom tools – textbooks and instruments – but he has also incorporated technology into his classroom with the use of multimedia laptops and GarageBand, a music editing program. The program allows students to understand music forms and patterns, and create their own music compositions. For more information on how Pendergrass teaches music with technology or how other Seattle Public Schools teachers are using technology in the classroom, click on the Instructional Technology Blog.

Seattle Public Library's Global Reading Challenge completes 13th year
     More than 2,000 fourth- and fifth-grade students – grouped in 300 teams, from 40 schools – participated in the Global Reading Challenge during the 2007-08 school year. Students read 10 selected books, provided by Seattle Public Library and are quizzed on the content of the books. Winning teams go on to a semi-final, then a city final round.
     This year, John Hay’s "Half 'n Half Hansons" placed first in the city final; the Concord “Cougars” placed second, and Green Lake's "The Penguin People" and Kimball's "The Page Masters" tied for third. Van Asselt, Highland Park, and Bailey Gatzert also competed in the city final. The mission of the Global Reading Challenge is to encourage reading as a fun and recreational activity. Fourth and fifth-grade students of all reading abilities engage in the sport of reading.
     This citywide program is a collaborative effort between the Seattle Public Library, Seattle Public Schools, and libraries in Kalamazoo, Michigan and British Columbia, Canada. Seattle Public Library pays for the books purchased for the program, which is funded by the Mannix Canby Foundation, Elizabeth Finkel, Toni Myers, Jim and Diane Cowles, Suzanne Hittman, the University Book Store and the Ballard Rotary. Seattle Public Schools is very thankful for the leadership of the Seattle Public Library and the generous donors who make this outstanding program possible. A full report on the 2007-08 challenge is available on our Web site.

Northgate Elementary School students relax and read during the May 30 Friday Night Primetime event in which students spent the night reading, singing, and having fun.

Northgate Elementary students read, have fun at overnight reading event
     More than 30 Northgate Elementary School students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 stayed long after school until the following Saturday morning. The students participated in the May 30 Friday Night Primetime, an overnight event with a focus on reading activities. Teachers, staff and the principal organized and coordinated a busy evening of independent reading sessions, group singing, a movie, popcorn and much more. Students also performed a service by previewing the Intermediate Classroom Library selections and gave feedback to the book selection committee on various books they read.

Around the Community

Seattle Cares Mentoring Movement to hold July 5 rally seeking volunteers
     The Seattle Cares Mentoring Movement is holding a rally on July 5 to seek volunteers and partners to mentor at-risk children and youth attending Seattle Public Schools, especially schools which have a high percentage of students receiving free and reduced-price lunches. For more information, contact the 4C Coalition, the lead agency for the Seattle campaign, at (206) 772-1434 or the4coalition@qwest.net

     Seattle Cares Mentoring Movement
     Saturday, July 5
     noon – 3 p.m.
     Skyway United Methodist Church
     11800 Renton Ave. S.

Read A Million Words program receives $20,000 donation

SynapticMash Chief Executive Officer Ramona Pierson, Borders District Marketing Director Don Shaw and Seattle Storm team owner Anne Levinson present a sponsorship check to Seattle Public Schools Instructional Director Ruth Medsker for the District's Read A Million Words program. The check was presented at a May 30 Storm game in the KeyArena. From left are: Natalie Robinson, Schmitz Park student; Pierson, Shaw, Delvonte Felder, Meany Middle School student, Medsker, and Levinson.

Seattle Public Schools students read more than one billion words!

     Read a Million Words, Seattle!, launched in the fall, has captured the imagination of students across the District. The program has been wildly successful. More than 20,000 students in 45 schools read more than 1 billion words this school year – (1,146,740,763 words) – and that is just what was officially recorded! More than 3,000 students reached the million-word reader mark. Congratulations to every student, and thanks to their librarians, teachers and family members!
     Thanks to generous sponsor, SynapticMash, in partnership with the Seattle Storm, students received public recognition for their accomplishments. One-hundred million-word readers, and their families, were invited to the May 30, 2008, Storm game. The sponsors arranged for five readers, and their family members, to meet Storm player Sue Bird. Other students participated in the game’s ball exchange, receiving an autographed ball from Storm players. Before the game, SynapticMash presented a check for $20,000 to Seattle Public Schools’ Instructional Director Ruth Medsker. The contribution funds a series of rewards that students receive as they progress through to their goal. All one-million readers received a gift card to purchase a book. Other reading awards included passes to the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum, reading bracelets, pencils, and million dollar bookmarks. Thanks to SynapticMash, Seattle Storm, Borders and EMP for supporting this innovative program.

Communities in Schools of Seattle invites performers for fair showcase
      Communities In Schools of Seattle invites students and community groups to share their talents at the Puyallup Fair on Sept. 7 and 13. An informational flier is attached. For more information, contact Janeal Stevens at 252-0173 or Janeal@cisseattle.org.

Upcoming Events

Volunteers to build new play structure at Leschi Elementary on July 26      Leschi Elementary will be receiving a new play structure on July 26, thanks to Washington Mutual, the Leschi community and KaBOOM, a national playground advocacy organization. About 200 volunteers are expected to begin work about 8 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for mid-afternoon. Workers will also be assembling planter benches; painting maps and gamelines on the playground; painting murals; assembling children's activities, and cleaning up the grounds. The community and other volunteers are invited to participate. The project value exceeds $70,000, which includes the volunteers' time and food donations from local businesses. For more information, contact Gretchen DeDecker, Self Help Project Coordinator, at 252-0637 or gdedecker@seattleschools.org.

Leschi Elementary playground build
Saturday, July 28
8 a.m.
Leschi Elementary
135 32nd Ave.

South Lake High School to celebrate grand opening August 28
Seattle Public Schools will celebrate the grand opening of South Lake High School on August 28. South Lake is an alternative school offering programs to students whose needs are better served in a smaller environment than a traditional comprehensive high school. When it opens next school year, the 30,000-square-foot building will have a capacity for 200 students and offer general classrooms, science labs, shared learning spaces, a parenting lab, and on-site childcare. South Lake will share the 11.4 acres of land with The New School, scheduled to open in fall 2009. The South Lake project was made possible by the 2001 voter-approved Building Excellence II levy.

South Lake High School grand opening
Thursday, August 28
9 a.m.
South Lake High School
8601 Rainier Ave. S.

School and District Events Calendar
     If you would like to know about current special school events, fund-raisers or other District events, go online to the District Events Calendar where you can see what's going on monthly at Seattle Public Schools or search for specific events by date, school and type.

We Need Your Ideas
     The Public Affairs Office is always looking for stories on interesting classroom projects, inspirational people, or events in our schools to share with the greater Seattle community. We often highlight stories submitted by school staff for potential media coverage as well as District and community publications. For examples of stories we have published in the past, please visit this link. We would like to hear from you. If you have a unique story to share, please send your ideas directly to goodnews@seattleschools.org. This is the last issue of School Beat for the 2007-08 school year. Publication resumes in September 2008.

In the News
     For a sampling of this week's local newspaper stories on Seattle Public Schools, please click here.

SCHOOL BEAT is an electronic newsletter covering District and school-based news and is published twice a month for the staff and community of Seattle Public Schools. Community members can unsubscribe to this e-newsletter by clicking here and typing in "unsubscribe" in the subject heading.