Japanese students enjoying their stay in Valley bubble
March 30, 2011
Back home, despair turns into urgency and fear.
At their temporary home in America, quiet turns into a frantic search. For Easter eggs.
Twenty students and two chaperones from southern Japan have spent the past two weeks in the Valley, removed from the crisis affecting their homeland.
On their last day as students at Mount Si High School, the students signed jerseys with the school logo, wrote on an American classmate’s arm and raced along the auditorium seats for treats.
Students from Naga High School in Japan, flashing the universal peace sign, visited Mount Si High School for 11 days, from March 17-28. By Sebastian Moraga
“They haven’t seen or talked about what’s going on at home,” said Jinto Yasutebu, a teacher at Japan’s Naga High School and a chaperone during the trip. “They don’t understand the TV news in English because it’s too fast, so they are in something of a bubble.”
Yasutebu, speaking through a translator, said the real challenge will come once the students return home and learn more about what the tsunami did.
Kim Sales is high school educator of the year
March 30, 2011
Kim Sales holding court on the second floor of Mount Si High School. Sales, who teaches American law, finance and criminal justice won the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation High School Educator of the Year award. By Sebastian Moraga
Kim Sales just about jumps out of her chair, so animated she is talking about the profession she adores.
“Teaching needs more passion and less bureaucracy,” she said. “Seems like educators are great for talking a lot — ‘This is what needs to happen in our schools’ — but we don’t have a process where we can get down to the down and dirty and get it done. It’s like it has to be talked about forever until you can’t remember where you started. And I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’”
History and heroics crowd the halls of Cascade View
March 30, 2011
An autograph hunter could have made a bundle March 23 at Cascade View Elementary School.
Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Ellen DeGeneres and even President Obama showed up to tell parents, teachers and other visitors how they had changed the world for the better.
Then again, the signatures would have looked like a 10-year-old wrote them.
Wax Museum, which teaches fourth-graders how to work a long-term project and about the lives of real-life heroes and heroines, filled the school with children in costumes that went from the simple to the elaborate.
Bella Freitas (left) is Ben Franklin and Erik Thurston is John Lennon at Cascade View’s wax museum. By Sebastian Moraga
Students researched their characters for days, set up a display with information and answered questions from grown-ups and classmates for an hour the day of the exhibit.
Sara Christopherson, aka Roald Dahl, said she picked the author because he wrote some of her favorite books.
“If he was here,” she said of Willie Wonka, “he would say ‘Come to my factory. Have a chocolate.’”
Tayte Heutmaker, aka Christopher Columbus, said he picked the Italian explorer because he looked like an interesting guy.
Professor calls on teachers to engage students
March 30, 2011
Daniel W. Rasmus, a former Microsoft executive and now a consultant and visiting liberal arts fellow at Bellevue College, told Valley educators to lose their fear of saying “I don’t know.”
“Let’s just say we don’t know something and co-learn with students,” he said during the annual Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation fundraiser. The event raised more than $70,000 for Valley schools.
Rasmus shared his experience as a first-time grant proposal writer. He did not know how, so he asked graduate students for help.
Rasmus told the audience of more than 200 people at the Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club that one of the fundamental skills of the 21st century is learning how to learn.
By Sebastian Moraga Daniel W. Rasmus, a Bellevue College consultant, speaks to a crowd of more than 200 at a Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation luncheon.
“Our tests are multiple choice, short answer and essays,” he said. “That’s how we teach. But that’s not how students communicate.”
As an example, he offered his “Social Media in Higher Education” class at Bellevue College, where students do homework via Twitter and blogs.
With the Valley’s push toward an improved science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum, Rasmus reminded educators of the speed of education in those areas.
Wildcat track makes a statement at first home meet
March 30, 2011
The Mount Si High School high jumpers during their first home meet of the season. The boys track and field team lost to Bellevue, while the girls defeated the Wolverines. By Sebastian Moraga
Bradly Stevens just wanted to do well at his first home meet of the season.
He said he was hoping to throw the javelin about 170 feet.
Instead, he became the top 3A thrower in the state, with an 181-foot, 11-inch throw against Bellevue March 24.
Mount Si soccer ends the week on a positive note
March 30, 2011
First, there was the exquisite goal by Aaron Baumgardner, assisted by his brother Eric.
Then, there was the rival, a tough Sammamish squad that struggled to stop the Wildcat wingers.
Then, there was the fact that three days earlier, March 22, these very Wildcats had lost to Liberty, 3-1, in Renton.
Add all of that up and the score of the game against the Totems March 25 is almost incidental.
Yes, the Wildcats lost to the Totems, 2-1, in Bellevue, but the team closed the week in an upswing, something almost unthinkable after the ugly Liberty loss.
That night, in Renton, Sammamish loomed large, as if its towering defenders planned to play with one atop the shoulders of another.
But March 25, the Totems could only score via set plays, a header off a free kick in the third minute and another header off a corner kick in the 59th. The rest had a decidedly Valley feel, as much as the pesky rain that fell upon the Totems’ field.
Wildcats hit big in pre-season after opening loss to Redmond
March 30, 2011
Mount Si’s baseball preseason started with an 11-1 drubbing from 4A Redmond. But the Wildcats bounced back, rolling over Bothell and Auburn-Mountainview.
Pitcher Reece Karalus took the mound March 18 against Auburn-Mountainview, throwing strikes and challenging batters. He held them to two runs, giving up only one walk and notching six strikeouts.
His fastball had good velocity, topping out at about 88-89 mph, said coach Elliott Cribby.
Karalus’ performance was a big improvement from his earlier outing against Redmond, when he gave up six runs and five walks.
Against Bothell on March 16, it was the Trevor Lane show as Mount Si routed the home team 8-2.
Taking the mound for the Wildcats, Lane kept Bothell’s bats quiet. At the plate, the junior connected for a three-run home run in the fifth inning to ensure the win.
The Wildcats showed their resolve in shaking off the 11-1 drubbing they received from Redmond in their first preseason game. As with the Mustangs, Mount Si was taking on a 4A squad. Last season, Bothell finished the year with a 17-8 overall record.
Scoreboard
March 30, 2011
Prep baseball
Nonleague
March 22 Game
MOUNT SI 11, SKYLINE 5
Mount Si 201 242 0 – 11 12 0
Skyline 500 000 0 – 5 8 2
W: Trevor Lane, L: Brandon Lundeberg.
Mount Si highlights: Max Brown 1-3, 2B; Robb Lane 3-4, 2 RBIs, 2B; Tim Proudfoot 1-5, 1 run, 2 RBIs, HR; T. Lane 4 IP, 5 Ks.
Skyline highlights: Zach Liddle 2-4, 2B; Nate Litka 2-3, 1 RBI, 2B.
Mount Si soccer earns 1-1 draw against Issaquah in preseason play
March 30, 2011
The Wildcats matched 4A Issaquah High School to a 1-1 draw March 12 in preseason play.
The team showed it is building on last year’s historic success. In 2010, Mount Si finished 12-2-4 and won its first KingCo Conference championship. The team also won its first ever state playoff game.
The Wildcats drew first blood. Team co-captain Eric Baumgardner scored on a pass from Kody Clearman 9 minutes into the game. Baumgardner, a senior, is a midfielder, and Clearman, a freshman, is a forward.
But Issaquah struck back in the second half. James Garcia scored after 69 minutes. Michael Roberts picked up the assist.
The match highlighted the young team’s strengths.
The Wildcats demonstrated their ability to control the ball and maintain possession, Coach Darren Brown wrote on the team’s website.
Some new varsity members showed their skill.
“Alex Censullo just has a great pace to his game and is a dangerous threat on the outside,” Brown said.
Censullo, a sophomore, plays in the midfield.
But the match also underscored some areas that need improvement.
“I think we need more work on our defensive sets and corners, as well as finishing,” Brown said.
Clubs
March 30, 2011
- Mental illness support group, 7-8:30 p.m. Fridays, Snoqualmie Fire Station, 37600 Snoqualmie Parkway, Snoqualmie. The group is free of charge for anyone with a mental illness or a family member with a mental illness. Call 829-2417.
- Mount Si Artist Guild meeting, 9:15-11 a.m. the third Saturday, Mount Si Senior Center, 411 Main Ave. S., North Bend, www.mtsiartistguild.org
- Sno-Valley Beekeepers meets the second Tuesday at the Meadowbrook
- Interpretive Center, Meadowbrook Farm, 1711 Boalch Ave., North Bend. Go to www.snoqualmievalleybeekeepers.org.
- Trellis gardening club meets at 10 a.m. the third Saturday, at Valley Christian Assembly, 32725 S.E. 42nd St., Fall City.
Trellis is an informal support group for the Snoqualmie Valley’s vegetable gardeners, who have special climactic challenges and rewards. New and experienced gardeners are welcome.
- Elk Management Group meets at 6:30 p.m. the second Wednesday at the U.S. Forest Service conference room at 130 Thrasher Ave., behind the visitors’ center on North Bend Way. Interagency committee meetings are at 1:30 p.m. the first Monday at the North Bend City Hall annex, 126 Fourth St. Both meetings are open to the public. Go to snoqualmievalleyelk.org.
- Mount Si Fish and Game Club meets at 7:30 p.m. the first Thursday, October through May, at the Snoqualmie Police Department.
- Sallal Grange, 12912 432nd Ave. S.E., North Bend, meets the first Friday for a potluck and open mic with local musicians. The potluck starts at 6 p.m. with the music from 7 p.m. to midnight. Open to all people/ages. Go to www.sallalgrange.org.
- Snoqualmie Valley Chess Club, 7 p.m. Thursdays, North Bend Library, 115 E. Fourth St. Learn to play chess or get a game going. All ages and skill levels are welcome.
- The North Bend Chess Club meets every Thursday from 7-9 p.m. at the North Bend Library, 115 E. Fourth St. All ages and skill levels are invited.
- Snoqualmie Valley Rotary Club meets at 7 a.m. every Thursday at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club Restaurant. All are welcome. Go to www.snoqualmievalleyrotary.org.
- American Legion Post 79 and the American Legion Auxiliary meet at 6 p.m. the second Thursday at 38625 S.E. River St., Snoqualmie. Call 888-1206.
Submit an item for the community calendar by emailing editor@snovalleystar.com or go to www.snovalleystar.com.
