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.
Mostly Americana Concert sounds at Issaquah High
April 5, 2011
The community is invited to the sixth annual Mostly Americana Concert at 7 p.m. April 16 at Issaquah High School, 700 Second Ave. S.E.
Dessert comes with the ticket, costing $16.50 online at www.seatyourself.biz/issaquah and $20 at the door. Veterans are free and will be honored during the program.
The show includes entertainment from hundreds of performers, including the Issaquah High choir and musicians from Pacific Cascade Middle School, Issaquah Middle School and Sunset Elementary School, as well as special guest choir Breath of Aire.
Salmon in the Classroom reaches crossroads
March 29, 2011
Clark Elementary School students (from left) Callie Mejia, 10, Hannah Halstead, 10, Jackson Rubin, 10, and Caelan Varner, 11, take turns feeding the coho salmon fry growing in the science room aquarium. By Greg Farrar
Questions remain about start-up costs, permits
For a Clark Elementary School class, raising coho salmon from eggs no larger than a BB pellet to miniscule fish is part lesson, part ritual.
Students traipse down the hallway from class to the aquarium in a science room in the morning, again at lunchtime and before the last bell rings in the afternoon. Using a small spatula, students scoop salmon food — a coarse substance similar to dirt in color and texture — into the aquarium.
Resisting raising children who feel entitled
March 29, 2011
How should parents manage children who automatically think they should have every new electronic game? What are strategies to tame their desire for instant gratification and feelings of entitlement? How can parents teach responsibility and accountability?
The community is invited to see noted author and parent educator Jan Faull talk about raising responsible children from 7-8:30 p.m. April 18 at Sunset Elementary School, 4229 W. Lake Sammamish Parkway S.E., Bellevue. The PTSA-sponsored event is free and no registration is required.
Students get in battle of words at Global Reading Challenge
March 15, 2011
They had read the books over and over. They had quizzed each other. They had triumphed at their schools’ Global Reading Challenge, landing them a spot at the Issaquah School District’s competition at the Issaquah Library.
A group of elementary school students convenes, deciding what to write for their response to a question at the King County Library System Global Reading Challenge. By Laura Geggel
In a room overflowing with about 60 parents, teachers and friends, 42 fourth- and fifth-grade students sat raptly listening as librarians quizzed them about books.
Parent Toni Nankova said her daughter Daniela Nankova absorbed the books like a sponge does water.
“After she was done reading, she would say, “Mom, this book is really good. You have to read it,” Toni Nankova said. “And then she would quiz me on it. If I got it wrong, she’d say, ‘You have to go back and read it.’”
Students began preparing for the challenge in October. Each group had seven people and 10 books to read, with some students reading a few books and others reading the whole stack.
First, they competed against other groups at their school. The winning teams from Creekside, Discovery, Grand Ridge, Issaquah Valley, Maple Hills and Sunset elementary schools trooped to the Issaquah Library on March 2 to duke it out with their friends and rivals.
Mineral madness: Science labs boost test scores
March 8, 2011
Sunset Elementary School third-graders Glen McInerney and his rocks-and-minerals partner Catherine Griffin do a streak test to see which minerals leave a mark on paper. By Laura Geggel
Fluorite fluoresces green under an ultraviolet light and graphite leaves a silvery streak across paper. Sunset Elementary School third-graders tried myriad tests on a bagful of minerals, identifying each one for their unit about rocks and minerals Feb. 17.
Gold Star
January 11, 2011
Sunset student collects for troops
Jack Sercu
Jack Sercu, a fifth-grade student at Sunset Elementary School, organized a drive for the U.S. armed forces on Veterans Day and raised about 150 pounds of candy, magazines, puzzle books, DVDs, CDs, personal care products and even some handwritten thank-you notes for the troops.
Sercu spearheaded the drive after reading about Operation Support Our Troops’ Christmas stocking drive in The Issaquah Press.
“My dad was in the Army and we talk a lot about what it was like to be away from home,” Jack said. “He loved when his family sent him magazines, photos and chewing gum to help him focus.”
Jack said he hopes to make the drive into an annual event.
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
Construction prompts city to close northbound Front Street
January 4, 2011
NEW — 10:30 a.m. Jan. 4, 2011
Steer clear of Front Street and East Sunset Way on Tuesday as crews started to replace a traffic signal pole at the bustling downtown Issaquah intersection.
Crews closed northbound Front Street at about 10:30 a.m. The closure is expected to last several hours.
The city has suggested for motorists to use alternate routes, including Newport Way Northwest or Second Avenue Southeast.
The closure stems from a Dec. 22 accident. In the early morning collision, a tractor-trailer destroyed a decorative pole and traffic signal at the intersection. City crews toiled throughout the day in order to install a temporary traffic signal — rented from the state Department of Transportation — at the scene.
The construction Tuesday is a step in the process to add another sturdier, temporary pole. Then, the city waits for a decorative pole to be cast and shipped. The process could take about six months to complete.
Issaquah schools face end of Salmon in the Classroom program
December 25, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. Dec. 25, 2010
The salmon — or, more specifically, salmon eggs — return to a Clark Elementary School classroom each year.
But fourth- and fifth-grade teacher Liza Rickey could face a change in the curriculum next month: the end of the Salmon in the Classroom program.
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 the Dec. 11 special session. The program is a casualty of cuts as state leaders face a gaping budget hole.
“It’s such a worthy project for the kids to see,” Rickey said. “It’s hands on, it’s real world. It’s a very important resource in our area, and now it’s not even available for them to experience in that way.”
