Dr. Duane Baker presents to about 900 Issaquah School District teachers at Skyline High School, telling the teachers about improving instruction through observing other teachers’ classrooms. By Laura Geggel

Teachers are a valuable resource, especially for one another.

The Issaquah School District drilled home that point, telling teachers about the STAR Protocol, a program inviting teachers to observe other teachers in action.

The district introduced the protocol to administrators and teacher leadership teams last year, and a Skyline High School workshop Aug. 25 allowed every teacher to learn about it, giving them tools to learn how to properly assess other teachers.

The STAR Protocol reminds teachers to take four steps when observing their colleagues teach lessons:

-Skills/knowledge: Are students gaining skills and knowledge to develop rigorous conceptual understanding, not just recalling facts?

-Thinking: When teachers ask open-ended questions, are students explaining their thinking process and reflecting on it?

-Application: Are students applying skills, knowledge and thinking during lessons?

-Relationships: Does the teacher promote a positive relationship by creating optimal learning conditions, maintaining high expectations and providing social support and tailored instruction based on student needs?

STAR also stands for something else:

-See classroom instruction,

-Talk about your observations,

-Apply it to your lessons and

-Reflect on your instructional practices.

By using the STAR Protocol, teachers can observe other teachers, incorporate new ideas into their own instruction and increase student learning.

Dr. Duane Baker, who has worked as a teacher, vice principal and assistant superintendent, as well as for the Gates Foundation, led the workshop. His company, the BREC Group, developed the STAR Protocol and consults with school districts across the country.

The protocol allows teachers to make instructional changes they want, when they want.

“This is for personal reflection,” Baker said. “The only time people change is when they want to change.”

He stressed that observations were for instructional purposes only — they would not be used for performance reviews or salary indicators.

During the workshop, he asked teachers to talk in small groups and decide what constituted powerful teaching. He also showed teachers videos and asked them to assess the teacher for each bullet in the protocol.

The teachers needed no more prompting. Challenger Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Susan Kelly said the teacher needed to move more around the room, which would break the traditional model and hold the students’ attention. Beaver Lake Middle School humanities teacher Laura Gawler said the teacher gave good cues to students, helping them with definitions in the math textbook glossary.

A shift to instruction

Washington and the country have focused on several national education movements, including standardized testing and the No Child Left Behind Act. While many movements focus on student assessment and sometimes curriculum, they don’t necessarily change the way material is delivered — classroom instruction.

In 1993, state House Bill 1209 became law, requiring Washington teachers to focus on learning for every child. The previous mindset had expected half of all children to fail, Baker said. Teachers delivered education, and if some students didn’t get it, the teacher might still move forward.

Now, the focus is not just delivering education, it’s student learning for every child, Baker said.

Another change has transformed teaching. Instead of motivating students to learn by giving them treats, teachers are encouraged to become cognitive scientists — understanding how their students’ brains work and how best to teach them.

Studies show that good instruction leads to better student achievement. The students of teachers who use good instructional strategies perform better on standardized testing, regardless of poverty, Baker said.

Observing other teachers through the STAR Protocol is a good way to expose teachers to other instructional ideas, he said.

Maywood Middle School math and culinary arts teacher Camille Wright said if teachers were given time during the school day to observe other teachers, “we can see what works for some teachers and some students and reflect on that.”

She said the program could be especially beneficial for new teachers, who could learn from more experienced instructors.

Jo Porter (left), director of transportation, with supervisors and coordinators Connie McCoy, Lucy Anderson, Gayle Morgan and Laurie Mulvihill, stand beside the high-backed seats in one of the school district's new buses. By Greg Farrar

With school back in session, Issaquah’s drivers are once more sharing the road with buses carrying students to and from school.

Some drivers are more patient than others when driving behind buses. Understanding bus safety rules would help everyone on the road, Issaquah School District Transportation Director Jo Porter said.

First and foremost, drivers should slow when they see a bus’ flashing amber lights. When the red lights begin flashing, drivers must stop.

“When buses are stopped on a two-lane road, when the road paddle comes up and the flashing red lights come on the school bus, it is a law they have to stop,” Porter said.

Roads that are three lanes or more are another story.

If a bus stops on a road that is three lanes or more, state law permits cars traveling in the opposite direction to continue driving, unless they are in a turning lane. Vehicles traveling in the same direction of the bus must stop.

Children are only allowed to cross a road that is two lanes or less, meaning that if a road is three lanes or more, then the bus driver must drive the bus to the other side of the street so the child does not cross it.

If a driver runs a bus with red flashing lights, that driver is subject to a $394 fine.

Porter said drivers must give their full attention to children entering or exiting a bus. If they see a car is not stopping, the driver might shout at the student to stop.

“It has happened,” Porter said. “I don’t know if the kids were scared, but it startles the drivers when that happens.”

Some drivers feel frustrated with school buses stopping routinely to pick up or drop off children, Porter said. Although buses might make frequent stops, they help relieve congestion, she said.

Elementary school buses usually have about 75 children on a bus and high school buses can carry about 50 students. Overall, Issaquah buses transport about 9,000 students.

“Each of one these children represents a car,” Porter said. “It seems like we’re congesting the roadway. We are in fact helping the roadway.”

Buses typically have the same schedule every day, so leave earlier or later to avoid school traffic, Porter advised drivers.

Sometimes, school buses will pull off onto a shoulder to drop off students or to allow cars to pass. Porter said she has received calls from drivers asking why school buses can’t pull off on Issaquah-Hobart Road Southeast to let cars pass in the morning.

It’s not so simple, Porter said.

“School buses can’t just pull off,” she said, “It’s got to be a nice large, secure shoulder.”

Cars are not required by law to yield to school buses as they are to Metro Transit buses, meaning it can be hard for school buses to return into traffic.

She added that it is both dangerous and illegal to pass a bus by crossing on a shoulder of a road or by driving into oncoming traffic going the opposite way.

Drivers should also be aware of children waiting at bus stops, walking or riding their bicycles to school. Drivers should be careful in school zones and school parking lots, too.

Laurie Mulvihill, district safety training coordinator, said bus drivers train students about safety rules three times a year.

She added that the Washington State Patrol inspects Issaquah buses twice a year. Most recently, Issaquah’s buses received an outstanding on their review.

Soon, Issaquah will have more buses on the road. Thanks to the voter-approved transportation levy, the district is ordering five new small buses for January 2011 and nine new large buses for August 2011.

Issaquah Valley Elementary School fell just shy of meeting standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act and is being sanctioned for not meeting standards in low-income reading.

This is Issaquah Valley’s second year in a row of not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress standards in low-income reading.

If a subgroup of students fails in reading or math, then the school or district does not meet AYP. Schools that do not meet AYP in a subgroup for two consecutive years face sanctions if they receive federal Title I dollars.

In the sanctions leveled against Issaquah Valley, the school will have to notify parents, give families the opportunity to send their children to another elementary school and pay for that transportation.

This is the first sanction that any school in the Issaquah School District has received since No Child Left Behind went into effect in 2003.

Schools are graded based on standardized test scores.

The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will release each school district’s 2010 standardized testing scores Aug. 31, but district spokeswoman Sara Niegowski, who has already seen the scores, said Issaquah Valley met or far-exceeded its learning targets in all other subgroups.

Issaquah Valley is hardly the only school in the district not meeting AYP.

The other six Issaquah schools that did not meet AYP in 2010 are not being sanctioned, nor is the district, because they either do not receive federal Title I dollars or they did not miss AYP for the same subgroup two years in a row. Schools receive Title I money based on their percentages of low-income students.

The schools that did not meet AYP in 2010 include:

• Briarwood Elementary: low-income reading
• Grand Ridge Elementary: special-education reading and math
• Issaquah Valley: low-income reading
• Beaver Lake Middle: special-education math
• Issaquah Middle: low-income math
• Issaquah High: special-education math
• Liberty High: special-education and low-income math

The district also didn’t meet standards in elementary low-income reading and math.

Issaquah Valley will be affected by the sanctions in five areas. First, school administrators notified parents of the school’s status in letters mailed Aug. 25. Second, the school will receive technical assistance to improve performance from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and might be eligible to receive federal funds for school-improvement activities.

Third, the school must develop or revise its two-year school improvement plan within three months. Fourth, it must offer parents the opportunity to transfer their students to another designated school in the district. In this case, the district has identified Clark Elementary School, because of its location and capacity, as an alternate for Issaquah Valley.

Finally, the district must pay for student transportation to the alternate school.

Clark Principal May Pelto e-mailed parents Aug. 26, alerting them about the changes.

“While I cannot predict how many Issaquah Valley students — if any — will take the opportunity to switch schools, I do guarantee that the high-quality learning environment at Clark will be unchanged,” she wrote. “The district suspects that the migration will not be dramatic. As a reminder, we are staffed on a prescribed student-teacher ratio, which means class sizes here will remain steady regardless of any student population growth.”

Issaquah Valley Principal Diane Holt will talk about student test scores and AYP next week.

Issaquah Valley secretary Wendee Fowler said she had only received a few calls from parents asking about the issue.

“It seems like they’re staying put,” Fowler said. “Most seem to act like it’s no big deal and they’re going to wait until Monday” to hear more.

She added that since No Child Left Behind started in the 2002-03 school year, the only subcategory Issaquah Valley missed was low-income reading during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years.

“We’re extremely proud of our school and our scores and achievements,” Fowler said.

Testing and No Child Left Behind

Every year, Issaquah students take state standardized tests. This year, students in third through eighth grades took the Measurements of Student Progress, and sophomores took the High School Proficiency Exam.

Federal legislatures who passed No Child Left Behind set a high goal for students and school districts, asking more children in fourth, seventh and 10th grades to pass standardized testing in reading and math each year. By 2013-14, 100 percent of students are expected to pass the tests.

The standardized test scores are divided into 37 subgroups for schools and 111 subgroups for school districts. Subgroups include categories delineating race and ethnicity, students with disabilities, English language learners and low-income students.

To meet AYP, schools and districts must also meet a number of other factors, including a certain on-time graduation rate and unexcused absence rate.

Learn more

Issaquah Valley Principal Diane Holt will present about student Measurements of Student Progress scores and Adequate Yearly Progress, as well as answer questions at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday in the school’s multipurpose room, 555 N.W. Holly St.

Cockerham began spending more time on homework and studying harder, transforming herself into an A student. Now, she works at The Boeing Co. as an environmental chemist.

“It just took having someone tell you, ‘You can do this’, and ‘I believe you can do this,’” she said.

In 2006, Cockerham decided to return the favor to Issaquah’s students. She registered with Volunteers Of Issaquah Changing Education — more commonly known as VOICE — and began mentoring high school students in physical science.

Cockerham is one of VOICE’s 155 mentors, and Director Susan Gierke said she hopes to raise membership to 200 volunteers this year.VOICE started during the 2004-05 school year at Issaquah Valley Elementary School and Issaquah Middle School, after the Issaquah Schools Foundation gave a needs-assessment survey and found that students needed more adult support.

The foundation continues to support VOICE, giving it $38,000 this year to continue training volunteers for Issaquah’s classrooms. VOICE’s steering committee also provides direction and support.

The program is stable and established at every school in the Issaquah School District, with the exceptions of Echo Glen Children’s Center and Tiger Mountain Community High School, which have only one volunteer each, Gierke said.

Briarwood Elementary School is still seeking volunteers, Principal Drew Terry said.

Anyone can apply to VOICE, including students in ninth grade or older, or adults who are working or retired. People interested in volunteering can download an application from the schools foundation website. All volunteers must pass a Washington state background check, submit two personal references and attend a training session with Gierke.

During the session, volunteers learn about confidentiality, teaching methods and expectations. Volunteers also meet with teachers or counselors to outline the students’ learning goals.

During the school year, Gierke organizes in-service programs for volunteers, so they can learn teaching techniques for specific subjects.

“The one about math was very helpful,” Cockerham said. “We learned some strategies and how to talk about negative numbers. We know how to do it, but it’s different to teach it.”

Kate Nuernberger, a retired horticulturalist in Redmond, started volunteering in 2007 after she learned about VOICE through Sammamish Presbyterian Church.

“I no longer have children of school age,” Nuernberger said. “We moved here a few years ago. Although there are children in the neighborhood, I hadn’t really thought about a way to step into schools.”

Nuernberger now mentors two boys at Challenger Elementary School in back-to-back sessions.

“This program gives as much back to me as I give to the boys that I mentor,” she said. “Sometimes, the most important part is not helping them with their school work, but it is being an adult presence in their life who is supportive, and who will listen and often just answer questions.”

When she learned one of her students was having trouble memorizing his multiplication tables, she introduced him to a multiplication box. Although his teacher had already showed the class a multiplication box, the student sometimes has trouble paying attention, Nuernberger said.

“When I first started working with him, he didn’t know he could use this box,” she said. “All it took was my sitting down with him, finding out he could not use this box, and showing him how he could use it. I know it sounds like such a simple thing, but for this child he knew he could use” it and it helped him.

With the help of teachers, counselors and administrators, Gierke matches volunteers with students, and helps them determine meeting times. Some volunteers meet during the school day; others meet after school ends in the afternoon.

“We have Skyline students working at Discovery and Sunny Hills because it’s right there, and Issaquah High School students at Clark,” Gierke said

Issaquah High School’s Harrison Cockerham plans to volunteer this year. Last year, he helped his mother Paula Cockerham tutor a girl in chemistry — one of the 188 students receiving help through VOICE.

“Helping somebody is fun,” he said. “Your assistance is really doing a good job. I’m really in it just to have fun, meet new people and help people.”

Issaquah students have been attending Bellevue’s St. Louise Parish School and Faith Formation Center for nearly 50 years. Contributed

Issaquah’s 7-year-old Amelia Aitken has finished her back-to-school shopping. She has a new uniform, new school supplies and a new school building, the St. Louise School and Faith Formation Center.

For nearly 50 years, the private Catholic school, near Crossroads in Bellevue, has provided a learning place for students in kindergarten through eighth grades from Seattle and the greater Eastside, including Issaquah. This year, 454 students will attend St. Louise — 46 of them from Issaquah.

“There is truly just a community feel that is unmatched there, and you can feel it when you first walk in the door,” said Amelia’s mother Erin Aitken, who used to teach fifth grade at St. Louise. “Although we have new doors, it’s the people, it’s the community. They have a wonderful focus on service and the academics there are very strong.”

Construction for the new St. Louise building began in June 2009, thanks to a three-year capital campaign that collected $8 million in donations and pledges from alumni, parishioners, school parents and friends. When school begins Sept. 7, students will find a new, two-story school with:

-a science lab

-an art room

-a library for school use during the day and parish meetings during evenings and weekends

-a computer lab and server room

-12 new classrooms

-lockers for junior high students

-a new administration section, which will hold the main school office, administrative offices and a faculty room.

Seattle Archdiocese Archbishop Alex Brunett will bless the school at its dedication Aug. 29.

St. Louise School principal, Dan Fitzpatrick said the improvements brought the school up to speed with the 21st century.

“We have installed interactive whiteboards and computer projectors in the classrooms,” he said. “Wireless access has been created throughout the building to benefit students in their research and collaborative work. And for the first time in our 50-year history, we have a dedicated science lab.”

The construction is part of a multiphased building plan, which includes additional school classrooms and an expanded church gathering space and outdoor courtyard.

Learn more about St. Louise School, including admissions openings for this upcoming school year, at www.stlouiseschool.org.

Get involved

St. Louise Parish School and Faith Formation Center

blessing and dedication

-3 p.m. Aug. 29

-133 156th Ave. S.E., Bellevue

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 241, or lgeggel@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Robin Earl, Creekside Elementary School principal, stands in a balcony hallway overlooking the library core. Large windows bring the outdoor beauty inside. By Christopher Huber

To the tune of hammering and buzzing saws on a hot day at the end of July, Principal Robin Earl walked through the crowded hallways of her new school.

Without a student in sight, the hallways at Creekside Elementary School were still full.

“It’s like Christmas,” Earl said, smiling at the boxes of paper, computers, desks and chairs.

Outside looking in

The school has a nearly identical floor plan to Grand Ridge and Newcastle elementary schools, but the feel of it is markedly different from its predecessors, district Director of Capital Projects Steve Crawford said, walking through the school with Earl.

Tucked at the back of a neighborhood, the school sits apart — its own entity among a large backdrop of trees.

There’s warmth to the building with exposed steel beams giving way to green, taupe and yellow tones, accented by bold splashes of red on the walls. Large windows and skylights bring the beauty of the outdoors inside.

“You can stand in any classroom and you’re going to see gorgeous trees,” Earl said. “The way they brought it together, there is this energy and calmness from outside. To me, it is very inspiring.”

The building’s design was planned around important pieces of nature, like two large cedar trees at the school’s front and back entrances.

“The school was essentially built around the tree,” Earl said of the 50-foot one at the front.

That required extra planning for construction coordinator Mike Archer, but the argument for keeping the tree was simple.

“It was here first,” he said, “and we actually saved even more trees than required by the city.”

The school has plenty of wildlife to see, including deer and ravens, Earl said. Not too long ago, she rescued a curious turtle that wandered near the site.

Built for success

Everything on the inside has been built with student learning in mind, from the teacher platforms to student chairs.

Creekside is the first elementary school in the district built with wireless Internet technology in mind.

The school opted to purchase a combination of desktop and laptop computers and a few netbook computers, Crawford said. Those computers can be taken into outdoor areas to gather scientific data, Earl said.

To save energy, building designers also included light shades, which help capture and reflect light at various times of the day, to infuse the school with more natural light and use less electricity. It also has energy-efficient fans in the ceiling to help circulate air in classrooms, maximizing the amount of air conditioning in use, Crawford said.

Even student chairs are tech savvy. With a slightly space-age feel, they’re ergonomically correct and made from durable, flexible materials that “will let kids get the wiggles out, without disturbing anyone else or taking away from class time,” Earl said.

In little more than a year of construction, Creekside is ready to receive students. Good weather and relatively few bumps in the construction process helped make that possible, Crawford said.

It’s taken a lot of planning, good fortune and determination to get this far this fast, but Earl said she and her faculty has been doggedly working for one purpose — the students.

“We’ve been dreaming up our plans and all of them have been geared toward trying to make the best learning environment possible, so we’re very excited for the kids to be here,” she said.

If so, district officials would like you to return the lime green enrollment postcard they sent to homes in mid-July.

The postcards help give the district an idea of how many students they can expect the first day of school to ensure they have enough teachers, and seats, at every grade level.

The first day of school is Aug. 31.

In addition to verifying your child’s enrollment, district officials also ask you to correct any invalid information on the card, such as an address or the grade your child is in.

If you send an e-mail or leave a voicemail, make sure you include the names of your student or students, plus grade levels, in your message.

This process is for elementary school students only. High school and middle school student enrollment verification occurs during August registration.

Get involved

To verify student enrollment or update family information:

-Mail the confirmation card: Correct any wrong information and drop the postage-paid card in the mail.

-E-mail your school here.

Issaquah School Board members unanimously voted to adopt the textbook “Chemistry 2008,” by Prentice Hall, at their July 14 meeting.

The new curriculum cost about $120,000 and was paid for with money donated to the district by the Issaquah Schools Foundation.

The curriculum replaces one the district has used for more than 14 years. While the science of chemistry hasn’t changed in that time, the best methods for teaching it has, district spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said.

The new books are more hands-on, she said, with more inquiry, deep-thinking problems and new laboratory experiments for students to do.

Prior to board members’ vote, a teacher-review committee vetted the curriculum, against nine others, for its connection to district, state and national learning goals. Teachers also tested the materials in their classrooms during laboratory experiments in high school chemistry courses.

The Prentice Hall book scored best in seven learning evaluation categories among teachers and students, according to a presentation created by the committee about the books.

The adoption of the new chemistry curriculum went markedly smoother than the adoption of the new high school math curriculum this spring.

That adoption took nearly two years to complete because of controversy surrounding the selected text, Key Curriculum Press’ “Discovering Mathematics” algebra and geometry books, which uses a combination of investigation and traditional practice drills to teach math.

A number of outspoken parents, residents and students formed Save Math In Issaquah, to rally against it in favor of selecting another text, “Holt Mathematics,” citing it taught math in a more traditional way.

School board members voted 4-1 to adopt “Discovering Mathematics” texts March 24.

While the Save Math In Issaquah officials threatened litigation against the district, the April 21 deadline to file a suit wasn’t met. To date, no other lawsuits have been filed.

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

What do school board members do during the summer?

Like the Issaquah School District’s administrative employees and students, summer is a time to break from the business of running the district for school board members.

Instead of having regular meetings in July, the board typically only meets once to approve items on the consent agenda.

Items on the agenda include curricula adoptions that have been discussed previously, resignations or retirements of employees, donations or gifts to the district, and construction change orders. By approving the consent agenda, board members ensure important business moves forward.

Board members also spend summer months attending conferences, keeping track of political issues, meet for a retreat and partake in a book study with Superintendent Steve Rasmussen.

The board resumes normal meetings at 7 p.m. Aug. 8 and 23 in the district administrative offices, 565 N.W. Holly St.

Learn more about the school board at the district website.

It’s official. Washington is out of the running for the Race to the Top federal education grant program.

On Tuesday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced 19 states as finalists advancing to the next round. Washington was not among them.

Race to the Top is an incentive-based grant program that asked states to submit bold education reform packages addressing assessment, teaching standards and professional development, early childhood education, increasing graduation rates and requirements, and closing the achievement gap.

The grant money is part of a nationwide initiative to kick-start a more competitive education system. At stake is a $3.4 billion grant jackpot to advance plans of the final states selected.

“We are disappointed that the Department of Education did not select Washington to move forward in their competition for these federal education dollars,” Gov. Chris Gregoire, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn and State Board of Education Chair Jeff Vincent said in a joint statement released Tuesday. “We knew the process would be extremely competitive.”

After a request from the Gregoire this spring, Issaquah and 265 of the state’s 295 school districts — including the Lake Washington, Snoqualmie Valley and Renton districts — signed on as partners to the state’s Race to the Top application.

The federal money could have infused nearly $250 million in education funding to the state amid a grim budget forecast. Issaquah would have also received a slice of that money.

“The Issaquah School District is disappointed that Washington state didn’t get those funds because every single bit helps in our funding crisis as it stands,” Issaquah district spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said. “But the good news is, just the efforts behind Race to the Top has everyone thinking about best practices in education and making all children get the best education possible.”

Washington entered the second round of Race to the Top to help fund and accelerate the state’s education reform partly ushered in by House Bill 2261 — a sweeping reform measure passed in 2009, but still in development.

The bill essentially re-creates the state’s education funding system and accountability mechanisms, and overhauls academic expectations from birth through 12th grade, including more rigorous math and science expectations. It also committed to adopting the national academic standards under creation now and commits to create financial incentives to get the best teachers and principals into rural, high-poverty and low-achieving schools.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina advance to the next Race to the Top round. Department of Education intend to announce the winners in September.

The department already awarded Tennessee and Delaware already a total of $600 million during the first round of the competition.

Miles Burns

The 10 applicants for the scholarship were each evaluated on their essay, The Significance of the Issaquah Alps, as well as basic academic information, according to Doug Simpson, vice president of the club.

The three runner-ups— Jaron Kent-Tobias and Rachel Grasso, of Skyline, and Jenna Lambdin, of Issaquah High School — each received $100.

Miles Burns finished 10th in his class at Skyline and had a cumulative 3.95 grade point average. He was also an International Baccalaureate diploma student, Key Club president, National Honor Society board member and he participated in Junior State of America Club at Skyline.This fall, he is headed to Davidson College in North Carolina, and he said he’s ready to experience more of the world.

“I love it out here and I love all the people,” he said. “I like the Seattle culture, but I’m definitely excited to head out and try something new.”

As for what he wants to study, Burns said it has been tough to decide, but that he is sure political science will be somehow involved.

He said he is very appreciative of the quality education he received from Skyline and how it prepared him for college.

“I think that the Full IB Diploma helps set you up for independence and be willing to put yourself out there and try something a little bit different,” he said.

Burns heard about the Issaquah Alps scholarship from the Career Center at Skyline, and just felt like he had something to say about the subject.

“I honestly just had something that I wanted to say about the Issaquah Alps because I think it’s a prominent feature in this area in particular,” he said. “I was shocked, really, that I won.”

Paige Collins: 392-6434 or isspress@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.