AT&T proposes constructing cell tower near school
June 14, 2011
King County is considering a proposal from AT&T to build a 150-foot tall cell tower on the Sammamish Plateau near Endeavour Elementary School.
The telecommunications company applied for a permit from the King County Department of Development and Environmental Services to build a tower for cellular antennae and a shelter for equipment at 26325 S.E. 39th St., about a mile northeast of the Klahanie Center shopping complex and less than a half-mile from the elementary school.
The county permitting agency is in the process of determining potential environmental impacts of the projects. Residents can send comments about the environmental impacts to DDES — Building and Fire Services Division, 900 Oakesdale Ave. S.W., Renton, WA 98057-5212. The public comment period ends June 30.
Residents can also review the applications and any environmental studies at the Renton office.
Math students calculate the best way to success
June 7, 2011
The Beaver Lake Middle School math team poses with awards after the 2011 Washington State Math Championship May 7 in Blaine. By Dennis Rogers
Eighth-grader Tommy Lin does not care if people call him a nerd because he likes math.
Adventures await at school district’s summer camp
May 3, 2011
From archeological digs to building a garden, rope courses to hiking, adventure awaits Issaquah campers this summer.
Club Connection, for kindergarten through fifth grades, is held at four locations, including Apollo, Discovery, Endeavour and Sunset elementary schools. !MPACT, for grades six through eight, is held at Beaver Lake and Pacific Cascade middle schools.
Issaquah School District Day Camps are from June 20 to Aug. 19. The camps cost $40 per day, with a three-day minimum per week. All camps provide multiple field trips, on-site learning activities, simple and extensive crafts, cooperative games, physical challenges, team-building exercises and access to enrichment specialists from various fields.
Registration ends May 6. Download a form at http://connect.issaquah.wednet.edu. Go to “District,” at the top menu and click on “Before and After School Enrichment.”
Top volunteers honored at Golden Acorn Awards
April 5, 2011
For every strong school, there are strong volunteers who organize cultural fairs, chaperone field trips, coordinate family fun nights, photocopy assignments and hold bank days for student deposits.
The Issaquah PTSA Council awarded 73 volunteers from 23 schools with Golden Acorn Awards at the 2011 Recognizing Our All-Stars reception March 29.
Boy Scout Troop Pack 636 started the function with a flag salute, and Issaquah PTSA Council President Janine Kotan welcomed the crowd.
The ceremony had a sports theme, with presenters dressed in their favorite sports garb and giving speeches about how volunteers had wowed their fans and hit home runs for their schools.
Jennifer Good, a parent volunteer at Challenger Elementary School, said she began volunteering to meet people and promote education. She organized an ice cream social at the beginning of the year, while Ruth Steck, another parent volunteer, regularly snaps photos of students for the Challenger yearbook.
Both women said they appreciated the Golden Acorn Awards, though, “You don’t do it to be recognized,” Good said.
Schools learned lessons from Nisqually earthquake
February 22, 2011
Kathy Connally remembers sitting at her classroom desk, looking out the window at the students playing during recess, when the earth started shaking 10 years ago.
Her Discovery Elementary School second-grade students were in music class with a teacher who was eighth months pregnant.
“My first through was, ‘Oh my gosh, my kids are out in a portable at music where there are no desks,’” Connally said.
Issaquah High School students waited for more than an hour on the school's football field Feb. 28, 2001, after the Nisqually earthquake. File
She took cover under her desk, and then ran to the portable, where “My students were all safe and sound. They had stopped, dropped and covered.”
The entire school headed away from the building toward the field, where teachers released students if their parents had come to collect them, and then released the rest at the regular bell time.
“One of my students came back and said, ‘Was that a drill or was that for real?’” Connally said.
At Liberty High School, the earthquake happened during lunch, when some upperclassmen were off campus eating at restaurants. After the quake, students reported to their first period class on football field where teaches took attendance.
Students save with pocket change
February 1, 2011
Endeavour Elementary School third-grader Zoe Czaja gives her deposit to her mom Teresa Czaja while third-grader Zander Schock forks over his money to his mom Alison Schock. By Laura Geggel
Whether depositing four quarters or a $30 check, Endeavour Elementary School students are saving for their futures through school banking. Read more
Issaquah schools face end of Salmon in the Classroom
January 4, 2011
State program is a casualty of deep budget cuts
The salmon — or, more specifically, delicate salmon eggs no larger than a pencil eraser — return to a Clark Elementary School classroom each year.
But fourth- and fifth-grade teacher Liza Rickey could face a change in the curriculum soon as the state Salmon in the Classroom program ends.
In the program, students raise salmon, learn about water quality and salmon habitat, and discover the relationship between Issaquah Creek and Puget Sound.
State legislators eliminated dollars for the program in a round of budget cuts during a Dec. 11 special session. The program is a casualty of cuts as state leaders face a $4 billion budget hole. Read more
Donated gifts saved Christmas for Issaquah families
December 28, 2010
Debra Rowley-Petruccelli did not want to fill out a wish list for the holidays, but her friends at the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank insisted.
Rowley-Petruccelli began frequenting the bank soon after a divorce tore apart her world five years ago. Between surgeries for intestinal problems and going back to school to get a degree, she has relied on the food bank.
“It’s the heartbeat of the city for those who don’t have anything,” she said. “You got to have that heartbeat and then everything else works. It prevents people from being lost. It provides them services.” Read more
Sammamish children sing, dance to honor veterans
November 16, 2010
Members of the Sunny Hills choir wave flags as they sing for the crowd in the school’s multipurpose room. By Christopher Huber
World War II veteran Phil Sulman, always says he’s got 195 stories to tell for his 195 days of combat.
10 local students place on talented youth test
November 9, 2010
Ten students in the Issaquah School District received recognition from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth at an Oct. 9 awards ceremony at Seattle Pacific University.
For the past 30 years, the Center for Talented Youth has conducted national and international talent searches to find the best and brightest students, according to the program website. During the search, students take a test designed for students much older than they are. How the high-performing students score helps the organization identify their gifted academic areas. Read more
