Liberty High School senior Alexis Court and Alexander Munson (above) enjoy the annual Read Across America Read Aloud, held March 4 to coincide with the birthday of ‘The Cat in the Hat’ author Dr. Seuss. Below, elementary students and their families from Apollo, Briarwood, Maple Hills and Newcastle attended the event. Contributed

With more than 300 students reading, March 4 was a night at Liberty High School to do Dr. Seuss proud — after all, it was the famed author’s birthday

Librarians throughout the south end helped students celebrate in style by hosting a Read Across America Read Aloud celebration honoring Seuss and his works.

“It was wonderful,” said Liberty High School librarian Irene Braillard. “Everyone had such a wonderful time.”

The evening is part of a national commitment to keep students and families reading aloud for fun. The night has been celebrated at Liberty for more than a decade, Braillard said.

Liberty students and faculty invite elementary school students from the school’s attendance area, which includes Apollo, Briarwood, Maple Hills and Newcastle elementary schools, for a night of reading and storytelling.

“They arrived in their pajamas, clutching pillows and stuffed animals in anticipation of hearing their favorite books read aloud,” Briarwood librarian Barbara Soel wrote in an e-mail. “There were many tall white-and-red striped hats among the crowd, as well as red-and-white helium balloons to help create a fun atmosphere for the kids.”

In addition, high school art students volunteered to paint students’ faces with fun Seuss-themed characters.

“I mostly enjoyed seeing the excitement on the painted faces of the children,” said Liberty student Leah Lynch. “The theme was Dr. Seuss, so everyone had cat whiskers on. But the best occurrence was when a young girl ran up to me and announced that she was a ‘pretty kitten.’ Her contagious smile stretched from ear to ear. It was heartwarming how happy she was.”

For every high school student leading a reading group, there were two or three other elementary school students listening in.

“What I think it does is let the little ones know that big kids read and big kids like it,” Braillard said. “It shows they’re lifelong learners and gives them something to look forward to.”

As proof, Braillard said this year she had several Liberty students who volunteered to read who had come to the event themselves about 10 years ago.

“They love reading to the younger students, because they remember going,” she added. “I think they also love to see their elementary librarians.”

“Read Across America is an important event for children, because it gives them an opportunity to socialize with different people in a variety of ages in a safe environment,” Leah said. “Events like these help with a child’s social and emotional development, which is crucial at a young age. Read Across America also encourages the importance of reading to children at a young age.”

To complete the night of fun, Liberty’s culinary program baked 16 dozen cookies for the event, which Braillard said were gone by the end of the night.

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Hall Monitor Stacy Buell Issaquah High School

So, Stacy, I am having some serious problems with my life. Like, for serious serious.

My boyfriend texted his friend that he was considering breaking up with me, so he texted his friend, who told my best friend during English, who called me after school to tell me about my boyfriend’s stupidity.

So, I decided to flirt with my boyfriend’s best friend, so that he would be jealous, but it turns out that my other friend is going out with him so she isn’t talking to me.Since she isn’t talking to me, I had to tell my best friend to tell her to tell her boyfriend to tell my boyfriend that I thought he was a horrible person.

But instead of telling my boyfriend privately, they all Facebooked him about how I was flirting with his best friend and now I think our relationship is over.

This is all just such a mess and I don’t know what to do. Help?

Little Miss Talkative

Well Little Miss Talkative,

First, you need to get some less catty friends. This is what they have done to you:

1. Publicly humiliated you over the Internet.

2. Probably jacked up your phone bill by a few hundred dollars with all of these texts and phone calls.

3. Broken your trust.

Second, break up with your boyfriend, because you guys are obviously having communication problems, and that seems to be what he wants. Just do yourself a favor and go have an actual conversation with him to break up with him.

Finally, let’s try talking directly to people’s faces about your problems instead of going through four different modes of technology, shall we?

Stacy

High School Proficiency Exams for sophomores will start March 16.

The exams are a state requirement — in addition to coursework and credits — for students to receive their high school diplomas.

Exams include reading, writing, math and science questions. The reading exam will be administered March 16, and the writing exam will follow March 17-18. The math exam will be given April 13, and the science portion will be April 15.

Due to the exam times, Issaquah School District schools will operate on alternate schedules March 17. Check your student’s school calendar or the district Web site for more information.

This is the first year the High School Proficiency Exams will be taken by students statewide. The exams replace the former Washington Assessment of Student Learning tests.

The exams will be given to all high school sophomores, and will also be administered to juniors and seniors who have not passed state requirements in at least one area. Letters were sent home to students in 11th or 12th grade who have yet to pass the state requirements.

Pine Lake seventh-grader Danielle Backman and eighth-grader Hope Chapman work on their awareness video Feb. 24 in the PLMS computer lab. By Christopher Huber

Pine Lake Middle School eighth-graders Kyle Feuerberg and Henry Jarvis threw a Super Bowl party for 25 homeless men for their multimedia elective class.

It sounds strange, but the pair teamed up, raised money for food and goodies, found a venue and invited homeless people to hang out Feb. 7 at Saint Luke’s Church in Bellevue. They get a grade for producing videos and multimedia content to promote the cause.

It’s all part of teacher Eric Ensey’s new hybrid multimedia class — Computers4Causes. It combines all the basics of the class with real-world community service.

“It’s a lot more exciting than just doing a presentation on the computer,” Jarvis said. It’s nice to know we made a difference and helped out.”

The idea to mix service with a multimedia class came to Ensey last school year. Pine Lake students are used to promoting local causes and service projects — such as coin drives to help free slaves — he wanted to give them more tangible incentives to a technology-heavy class.

“I was literally running on the treadmill. All of a sudden this light went on,” Ensey said. “The focus of the class was just on the technology,” he said. “I thought, ‘what if I took this idea and combined it with service learning?’”

It took about six months to plan and his study-skills students even helped him develop the grading system.

The first day of class last fall, he asked the multimedia students, “Can you make a difference?”

They proceeded to watch and study awareness videos on various causes and talk about how else to use technology to promote something. Ensey also brought in guest speakers like a video producer for World Vision and a local photographer, he said. All the while he tried to infuse students’ natural interests into the project.

“I teach 21st century skills to use them for a purpose,” Ensey said. The focus was, “how do you take what they like … and serve somebody with it?”

Students broke into eight different groups to promote eight different causes. Throughout the term, they research and choose a cause, document the process, create two videos, a Web page and various graphics to promote the event or cause.

Ensey, a veteran teacher, said he’s been pleasantly surprised at his students’ enthusiasm for the projects. Rather than sitting to study a math book, it gives them something to go out into the world and do, then come back and work with their hands in the media lab. The key, he said, is connecting the students to the real world.

“I get a sense that they’re loving it,” he said. “The kids are thirsting to give back.”

Among the multimedia class service projects were a book drive to benefit students in Africa, spending time with senior citizens and working with the Humane Society.

“I never thought I’d teach a class like this,” Ensey said.

Many of the ideas came from parents, like Stacy Witte, who have connections with charities or just want to help the students do a good job.

Witte, a Pine Lake parent and the volunteer coordinator for Bellevue-based Congregations for the Homeless, helped Feuerberg and Jarvis throw the Super Bowl party. About 25 men came.

“It was a great day,” she said. “I think they learned, if nothing else, every man had a story. Football gives them something in common to talk about then they branch off from there.”

The boys said what most impacted them during this project was putting a face to homelessness — they’re not necessarily dirty or alcoholic.

“We pretty much wanted to break the stereotype of homeless people for kids our age,” Feuerberg said as the pair worked on their video and Web site. “I think they should keep doing this class throughout Pine Lake.”

Ensey said he’s not sure what his end goal is for the class, but it will continue each semester.

“I hope this would be the blueprint for future classes in the school,” Ensey said.

Christopher Huber: 392-6434, ext. 242, chuber@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Hall Monitor Eric Bice Liberty High School

These past few months have taught me something very important about the students at Liberty High School. They have taught me that despite the worst economic recession of our lifetimes, we have been able to step up and contribute our hard-earned money toward Haitian relief efforts.

Haiti was devastated by an earthquake and represents a country in dire need of our monetary support. This is important, because there is no greater need for children to give than toward Haiti, and as of recently, Chile.I have been surprised at just how far some students have gone in helping these countries with which we have little connection. One student even went as far as selflessly donating the money he received for his birthday. In all, Liberty students have raised $1,405 for the Haitian relief effort, despite having a small school population, which includes a number of families dealing with job lay-offs and other financial issues.

Kids at Liberty are beginning to realize that they are part of a global community and not just the isolated community they call home. What is astounding about this is the fact that kids are looking at themselves as young adults who should take an active interest in striving for the common welfare of everyone.

As many of these students prepare to graduate in June, they will walk away from 12 years of public education with a greater understanding of the benefits of serving others. Whether you donate blood, time or money, you will be happy knowing you have made a difference in someone’s life.

In these difficult economic times, the tendency is to withdraw from making donations due to self pity. The true cure for this, however, comes from the deep satisfaction associated with helping those who are even less fortunate than yourself.

Hall Monitor Page Dormier Issaquah High School

In my generation, we spend a lot of time focusing on and comparing other people’s lives. What we ourselves strive for is to become the best and most talked about. The way we know so much about one another is simple — the Internet.

If teenagers want to get exposure when it comes to singing, acting, modeling or even selling their own products, the Internet is the best way to do so. Anyone can make his or her own Web site at any age. Therefore, teenagers have the opportunity to show what they are made of to people all over the world. Some even become famous off free Web sites, such as MySpace or YouTube. Sites of all kinds have given teens a chance to become successful even before they graduate from high school.Unfortunately, there is always a down side to most topics. For this one, the Internet can also be a nightmare for most teens. Because there are so many ways to communicate and put information out there, a lot more gossip and bullying happens in the cyber world.

When it does not involve one-on-one interaction, people become more willing to say anything they please, and can cause more problems than anything else.

Putting yourself out there is always a risk for anyone. People will respect you or be a fan, while others will judge you and put you down, because they are threatened for your chances of success. In the end, the Internet can make you or break you.

The class is hosting its annual Battle of the Bands competition for high school students March 11.

The battle is one of the most anticipated events each year, said student Maria Tilden.

While rocking out, though, your admission and donations will go to a good cause, the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund.

About 10 bands from the school will play three songs each throughout the night.

Leadership students are still finalizing the lineup, but they said it’s guaranteed to be a good time for the community.

“I’m looking forward to seeing all the different bands and help expose them to the public, because I just think it’s great that we have so many talented high school bands and I think that is awesome,” said student Lindsay Baringer.

Judges and the audience will help determine the winner.

But this year’s competition won’t just be a fight for bragging rights. The night will also feature a special guest, Barefoot Contingent.

“I think this concert is a great opportunity to expose and witness our extremely talented local groups, several of which the audience may not yet be familiar with, and to be brought together with hundreds of community members by the common cause of benefiting Haiti,” Tilden wrote in an e-mail. “Attendance is certainly directly related to the amount of relief we can send to Haiti, so we’re excited to host as many people as possible in this concert/battle of the bands. The performing groups will be qualified through auditions, so we are sure to feature some raw talent.”

“Helping other people is just a good deed for your life,” Baringer said. “At this moment, Haiti needs a lot of help and if we can help change a life around or give a meal to a kid by donating because we are so blessed, I think we need to share that.

“We would like to invite everybody to come, kids from Skyline and from Liberty and PCFC. Really, anyone in the community,” she added. “Everybody should come out to support our local artists and Haiti as a whole.”

If you go

Issaquah High School Battle of the Bands & Haiti Relief Concert

6:30 p.m. March 11

Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus,

24635 S.E. Issaquah Fall City Road

Admission — $5 at the door

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or c.lusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

On display at Beaver Lake Middle School’s Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco Awareness week is the Acura Integra after a July crash that killed Chase Tinsley, 18, and Zackary Oliver, 21, of Algona, after they were drinking at a party. By Chantelle Lusebrink

Twisted metal and stained car seats are all that remain of a car crash that claimed the lives of two best friends.

Chase Tinsley, 18, and Zackary Oliver, 21, were only going to drive about a mile to sleep at a friend’s house after a party on Lake Tapps that morning. They never made it.

Instead, something went very wrong. Their car hit a tree and fell 25 feet down an embankment; Chase was killed instantly. Zach was pinned inside the car, which landed upside down in a pond below. Emergency crews were unable to get him out in time, Chase’s mother Margaret Tinsley said Feb. 8.

“When I saw the car, it sent shivers up my spine and I don’t think anyone deserves that to happen to them,” seventh-grader Sadie Wilbur said.

“It is a strong deterrent from drinking,” seventh-grader Erik Crouch added. “It’s amazing that in two seconds, two lives were taken away. I don’t think anyone who sees that car will ever drink and drive.”

So why was a car belonging to a couple of Algona friends in Sammamish? It’s all part of Beaver Lake Middle School’s annual Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco and Addiction awareness week.

The school has hosted the weeklong awareness program for several years.DATA week —Feb. 8-12 — was adapted from a similar program used at Inglewood Jr. High School in the Lake Washington School District. It is the third year Beaver Lake has hosted the event, sponsored by the Parents, Teachers and Students Association, school officials and the Greater Issaquah Youth and Family Network.

It is designed to provide students with education and information about illegal and controlled substances before they’re confronted with having to choose whether to do them or not, said the week’s coordinator Alayna Niehaus.

“This is something that is really impact-full for the kids,” PTSA co-president Janine Kotan said. “They really pay attention to the stories, especially when there is a parent here to share the story.”

“The ache in my heart will never go away,” Margaret Tinsley said. “But if by speaking I can prevent one family from having to go through this, it is worth it.”

Prior to the kickoff, PTSA officials hosted an informational evening for parents with questions, since some of the materials presented, like the car, are graphic.

Included in this year’s week was a presentation by Sammamish police, who brought a drug-sniffing dog and goggles that distort your vision to mimic the sight of someone who is intoxicated.

Registered nurse Kathy Ketchum, program director for the nonprofit Choice & Consequence, was also there. To students, she’s better known as “The Organ Lady,” as she makes her rounds to many Washington schools with a car full of donated damaged organs from teens and adults who died after making bad decisions. She said it is the parents’ hope their son or daughter’s story lives on and hopefully changes decisions made by the students who see them.

Dramatically, she holds up cancerous black lungs, a heart with a bullet hole, a tumor-riddled tongue in front of students. Each organ has a person it used to belong to, and a story that goes with it. The stories cover the scope of bad choices teens can make — not using seat belts, doing drugs, drinking alcohol, racing, using tobacco, and drinking and driving.

This year, Ketchum made her presentation to sixth-graders at the school Feb. 12.

During the week, students and parents were also given a Contract for Life for students and parents to sign. The contract stipulates that teens and parents communicate with each other about decisions and challenges they face, to avoid risky behaviors and to support a healthy lifestyle for both.

While Beaver Lake has had wrecked cars on display before, it is the first year the car came with a parent speaker.

“Today, I really want to talk to the children and tell them to please, take this story home and tell their parents and older siblings, because our lives have been changed forever by this horrible mistake,” Tinsley said. “We’ve lived in Algona for years, because of the community and because of our two families, but it has been changed forever.”

On the Web

Choice & Consequence

www.choiceandconsequence.org

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@gmail.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Michelle Dvorak

The best part about being in a band, Nick Luempert said, “is jamming with friends.” For Neil Gregerson, it’s making music and “figuring out how to put the pieces together.”

The two seniors started their band, Masters and Johnson, during the summer of their sophomore year at Issaquah High School. You can catch them playing at a number of music venues, including the Old Firehouse in Issaquah, and at art galleries, such as the Ursa Minor in Seattle.

Masters and Johnson draws from “crazy jazz drumming,” “punk music, ’60s underground” and “Captain Beefheart and Sonic Youth,” the members said. The result is eclectic yet distinctively Seattle, a bit of punk and some Indie for the underground scene.

The two say they like messing around with different instruments. Gregerson sticks with guitar and vocals, but is also a drummer at the Chilladelphia in Seattle with roots in viola. Luempert plays the drums, but started out on bass guitar and piano. They had only a few months of classical lessons, but felt there’s more freedom in self-teaching.

In the various garages they play in, experimentation reigns. Gregerson fiddles with the drums, tunes his strings alternatively and mashes up 30 parts for one song. They change patterns, sounds, even instruments. The music, Luempert said, “just evolves.”

Both have hopes of attending Evergreen State College, where they could study history, sociology or even library sciences.

“It’s hard to see where the arts and music come in,” Gregerson said.

But music is not something either of them will give up. A place to practice on campus without drawing complaints from neighbors would be ideal.

“I feel the most natural doing music,” Gregerson said.

Olivia Spokoiny

In a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Allen Suner and Doug Dietzel fight for the Quaffle as (from left) Aseem Chipalkatti, Max Sherman, Sam Schneble, Erin Hoffman, Sam Stendal, David Zhong and Joseph Choung look on. By Jordan Rixon

Skyline High School’s Harry Potter Club is the largest (and certainly the quirkiest) club that the high school offers this year. Juniors Erin Hoffman and Erin Pazaski, founders and “Head Mistresses,” said the idea evolved over the past summer.

At the first meeting, more than 150 Skyline students were sorted into houses — Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw — according to results from surveys created by the Head Mistresses.

The students show remarkable pride for their houses, and are eager to participate in meeting activities, which exclusively revolve around the Harry Potter saga. The club meetings, every other Wednesday, consistently draw about 50 attendees.

The houses compete to earn the most points throughout the year, and creativity counts. The Hufflepuff house was recently rewarded with points for making a mascot entirely out of duct tape. Points can also be earned through trivia, spell-dueling and Quidditch matches.

Despite the rivalry, the eclectic group is brought together for one reason and one reason only, according to Hufflepuff Elaine Pazaski, “It’s all for the love of Harry Potter!”

Clay time

By Rachel Osgood

The outlandish phenomenon sweeping its way through Issaquah High School will surely recapture your childhood fancies. Clay Club, a unique gathering for the Play-Doh-obsessed, gives students the chance to satisfy their artistic whims every other Friday.

Spencer Hilde (left) and Christian Osgood show off their unique clay creations. By Rachel Osgood

Shannon Chen and Grace Wu, juniors and current presidents of the club, were asked by the founder to carry on the tradition. The rapidly expanding club has since cultivated a group of about 10 regulars.

Members eagerly embrace the light-hearted pastime.

“Clay Club is my favorite part of the week,” said senior Spencer Hilde. “I’m always looking forward to those two Fridays every month, during which I can hang out and learn how to make creations ranging from roses to lollipops.”

Clay Club is a unique place for socializing as well.

“I love going to Clay Club to visit with my friends and cultivate my skills with clay,” said Amy Bear, a senior and a regular club member.

Certainly one of the most unusual clubs offered at Issaquah High, Clay Club is open to anyone looking for an entertaining way to meet new people while appreciating the art of clay.

Japan Club: Not your  average kurabu

By Daniel Pickering

Members of the Japan Club actively engaged in a game of ‘Jeopardy!’ By Nathan Wilhelm

When the Japanese language class is not enough to properly immerse oneself in Japanese culture, look no further than Liberty’s Japan Club.

“The goal of it is to get more people to see past the stereotypical anime stuff and see how rich in culture Japan is, and how unique they are,” club treasurer and junior Amanda Howard said.

Instead of having a central focus or mission, the club breaks off into smaller groups. At a typical meeting, several things will be happening at once.

“Half the club will watch anime and half the club will do something random, like learn to draw manga, or origami,” club member and junior Lisa Perry said. “There are also some people who aren’t in Japanese class that the club has taught some Japanese language to.”

“Not too many people from the actual class are in the club,” Howard said. “And those that aren’t in the class now want to be, thanks to the club. It’s really helped to get more people to take the Japanese class.”

Japan club meets every Monday and Thursday in Matthew Harvey’s classroom from 2:30-4 p.m.