Cascade Ridge students embrace reading, technology in schoolwide contest
May 1, 2012
Ella Matias, 6, shows off her Eager Reader minutes. Contributed
If the students at Cascade Ridge Elementary School had a dollar for every minute they read last month, they’d be a long way toward paying for college.
At the beginning of April, the children were challenged to track how much time they spent reading for pleasure outside class. The numbers were tallied April 27 and in the end the students had read for 628,191 minutes — well over 10,000 hours.
Issaquah students selected for National Merit Scholarships
May 1, 2012
Three Issaquah students have been selected as corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship recipients.
The Boeing Co. supports merit scholarship awards annually for children of employees as a part of its comprehensive aid to education programs.
Karsten A. Ball, Daniel J. Gorrie and Steven Z. Yang join approximately 1,000 high school seniors nationwide who have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.
Ball and Gorrie — who attend Skyline and Interlake high schools, respectively — were awarded corporate scholarships from The Boeing Co. Ball plans to study foreign service, while Gorrie plans to study computer science.
Yang, an Issaquah High School student, received a merit scholarship sponsored by the Siemens Corp. He plans to study computer science.
Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.
Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
Liberty High School science teacher wins $10,000 prize
May 1, 2012
Celebrating are (from left) Alex Soldano, legislative aide to Rep. Marcie Maxwell; Liberty High School Principal Mike DeLetis; science teacher and winner of the Amgen award Mark Buchli; Carol Pawlak, of Amgen Corporate Communications and Philanthropy; Superintendent Steve Rasmussen; and Debbie Nye, district science specialist. By Jeffry Luke Photography
In a surprise presentation April 6, Mark Buchli, Liberty High School science teacher, was awarded the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence and a $10,000 prize.
In front of a cheering all-school assembly, Carol Pawlak, of Amgen, announced Buchli as the winner and delivered a check for $10,000 to Buchli and the school.
Pawlak let students guess why she was there, giving clues about the winning teacher saying, “This teacher has been described as dynamic, innovated, gifted, inspiring – even cosmic. This teacher’s classroom is a space where learning is held in the highest regard.”
After the final clue explaining the teacher knows hands-on science and field trips are the fastest way to a student’s mind, especially field trips to an amusement park, the students shouted out Buchli’s name.
For 23 years, Buchli has been living his dream of teaching science including Advanced Placement biology, honors physics, general chemistry and general physics, and has been at Liberty High School since 2008.
Issaquah Schools Foundation hosts annual fundraiser May 10
May 1, 2012
The Issaquah Schools Foundation is inviting the community to lunch.
The 14th annual Nourish Every Mind Benefit Luncheon begins at 11 a.m. May 10 with a program that aims to teach how community investment is elevating education for all Issaquah School District students.
Last year, the event raised a record $593,000. The foundation used that money to fund education projects in the district, including robotics clubs and the expansion of the Microsoft TEALS program to every high school. The money was also used to help purchase science curriculum materials for Issaquah classrooms.
This year, the luncheon will take place at the Issaquah Community Center and open with a silent auction of a variety of items for all budgets. The program starts at noon with John Curley leading as the master of ceremonies. Testimonials from students and teachers who have benefitted from the foundation are also planned.
Call 391-8557 to learn more.
The Beat is seeking teenage writers, photographers
May 1, 2012
The Beat is looking for writers and photographers for the coming school year.
The page — written by teens, for teens and about teens — takes the place of the Schools page the fourth week of the month.
“We’re looking for people to write for the newspaper and our Facebook page, help with fundraising, and take photographs for the newspaper and our websites,” said Kathleen R. Merrill, managing editor of The Press and The Beat.
“We meet once per month to learn about journalism, brainstorm ideas, plan the coming paper and our online coverage, and attend events to raise funds and awareness about our group,” she said. “We also have a lot of fun.”
Participants can be from Issaquah, Liberty, Skyline, Tiger Mountain Community and Eastside Catholic high schools. Freshmen and sophomores are especially encouraged to apply.
If you think you’ve got what it takes, email editor@isspress.com for an application. Completed applications are due May 7.
The (talent) show goes on at Skyline
May 1, 2012
Hall Monitor Michael Parducci Skyline High School
Tradition continued April 26-27 at Skyline High School with the 11th annual Spartan Night Live, a night when Skyline students put on a talent show for students, staff members and parents.
This year, hosts Peter Stromgren and Randy Yum provided entertainment in between each act. The performances included students playing instruments, singing, dancing and doing comedy.
All of the acts were great, but some of the fan favorites included dancing from Tavin Togia; singing and ukulele playing by Olivia Spokoiny to the song “Something About Hurricanes,” which she wrote; and the singing and guitar playing of “Simple Man,” played by Alex Daugherty and Jake Barokas. Of course, then there was the Riverdance by the senior guys.
Local high school activities heat up with the arrival of spring
April 24, 2012
Issaquah shines at AMP Night program
April 17 marked the second annual AMP Night at Issaquah High School, sponsored by the Issaquah Junior Class Council.
Samantha Garrard Issaquah High School
“AMP night is a great way for us to express our passion for music and get other people excited about music,” said Khalil Somani, a member of the group in the finale performance.
How to protect your online privacy
April 24, 2012
By Jacob Brunette Issaquah High School
In this day and age, everyone is connected to the Internet.
That means that everyone has some kind of personal information on the Web, and most of them will want to keep it private. This guide will give you a series of quick and easy steps that will let you create accounts for various websites while keeping your private life private.
1. Come up with a password. It should be easy to remember. (Example: encephalothapy)
2. Now, change all the e’s to 3’s, the o’s to 0’s, and the l’s to 1’s, and capitalize random letters. And type it backward. (Example: YpaHT01aHP3cN3)
3. This is your password. Don’t write it down, because if you do, someone could break into your house and log onto your Facebook account or something. You will have to memorize it.
Now that you have a password, it is time to fill out the remaining fields on the account creation screen. Let’s continue to the personal information section (name, address, etc.).
The myth of online privacy
April 24, 2012
By Kim Bussing Issaquah High School
From “keep out” signs swinging on our childhood bedroom doors to setting passcodes on our smart phones, personal privacy has always been regarded as something sacred.
While technological advances and judicial decisions further integrate privacy as one of our fundamental rights, it faces potential threats from the very devices and social networks that demand privacy.
Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook allow us to keep connected with relative ease and convenience. There’s no better way to get updates on homework, events and everyone’s spring break adventures than logging on to your preferred site; our lives are represented by timelines and tweets.
It can seem harmless, posting about the amazing ice cream you just had at the Ben and Jerry’s close to your house, or sharing your location when you head to Lincoln Cinemas to see “The Hunger Games.” And for the most part, it is. The likelihood of someone with malicious intent perusing your profile is slim, but updating statuses constantly or divulging personal information on one of these social media sites can undermine any efforts toward privacy.
The Hot List
April 24, 2012
Iman Baghai Issaquah High School
Movie: ‘The Avengers’
Set to come to the big screen May 4, The Avengers brings the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency to life. With a collection of Marvel’s biggest heroes: Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow all led by Nick Fury to save the world from the evil Loki. A movie with the star power of Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson can’t be missed by any action movie fan. Like with all Marvel movies, this should be a roller coaster ride that may be only worth it on the big screen, so get some of your comic nerd friends and go see the movie.
Music: ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded’ by Nicki Minaj
“Roman Reloaded” came out with a bang —Nicki Minaj’s album debuted as Billboard’s No. 1 album. This latest album released by hair-color-changing fanatic Minaj is following up her debut album, “Pink Friday.” Minaj’s vibrant album includes a flurry of appearances from other artists and is headlined by her single, “Starships.” This CD will keep your car pumping for a bit — but only before we get sick of her new hairdo.
