People laugh, cry, remember fourth-grader at celebration of her life
February 8, 2012
By Sebastian Moraga A picture of Lily Gallacher adorned the entrance to a room at the Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Course, where about 200 people gathered to remember the Cascade View Elementary School student who died in late January.
Those who had never met her cried.
Those who had met her and will miss her most laughed.
Lily Gallacher, a Cascade View Elementary School fourth-grader who died Jan. 18, was remembered Feb. 1 as a funny, talented, loving child who charmed everyone she met.
Skill, colors, attitude are on display at library’s teen art show
February 8, 2012
She came, she yawned, she doodled. She won.
“I just got really bored in my horticulture class and just started doodling,” Mount Si High School student Sydney Tulip said.
She doodled the profile of an Indian from South America. She had researched the Indians earlier that week, after she — you guessed it — got bored.
“I like to do mindless research,” she said.
By Sebastian Moraga At right, Hannah Granby stands next to “A Little Bit of Heaven,” left, and “Self-Portrait,” right.
Then, she submitted the doodle to the North Bend Library’s teen art contest, and won first place.
Tulip submitted two other pieces, none of which placed, but all of which have something in common to the Indian doodle. They all show a person from the side, including herself.
“Sometimes I really get bored,” she said. “And I draw myself. I like profiles and I like my nose.”
Tulip drew the Indian doodle with pencils and then worked the background with watercolor.
“I’m very surprised I won first place. It feels pretty awesome,” Tulip said.
Grange academy is offering Wintergrass youth scholarship
February 8, 2012
The Sallal Grange in North Bend will award a Snoqualmie Valley student a scholarship to the Wintergrass Youth Academy.
The academy will occur during the Wintergrass Music Festival, Feb. 23-24, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bellevue. It will feature music educators from Washington, California, Oregon and Ohio.
The winner of the scholarship will receive a four-day pass for the festival, according to a Grange press release.
Applicants for the scholarship must submit a short essay about why they should win. Letters of recommendation are optional.
Applicants must include name, school, grade and contact information, and send the application to the Sallal Grange and Community Hall, P.O. Box 1688, North Bend, WA 98045. They may also email it to info@sallalgrange.org.
The deadline is Feb. 10.
Twin Falls teacher wins monthly award
February 8, 2012
Kyle Wallace, a sixth-grade math and science teacher at Twin Falls Middle School, has been named the Macaroni Kid Teacher of the Month for January.
Wallace will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Woodman Lodge, a massage gift certificate from Therapeutic Health and a plaque.
Cascade View Elementary School teacher Calla Kinghorn won the award in November and North Bend Elementary School teacher Alan Tepper won it in September. The October and December awards went to Issaquah School District teachers.
Sign on, sign off
February 8, 2012
They wore their new colors with pride, and with relief.
“It’s finally final, it’s written down on paper,” said Josh Mitchell, after inking his letter of intent with Oregon State University Feb. 1. “I’ve been looking forward to it for some time, and it’s nice to have it done with.”
Letter of Intent Day was a big deal for Mitchell, a Mount Si High School senior who wore an orange OSU shirt to the event. Mitchell was one of four athletes signing letters of intent that day. A fifth, George Washington University-bound Maura Murphy, stayed home nursing a concussion suffered while playing her sport, softball.
By Sebastian Moraga Davis Karaica, Josh Mitchell, Reece Karalus and Nate Popp pose after signing letters of intent.
Three more student-athletes — Reece Karalus (Santa Clara), Davis Karaica (Seattle Pacific) and Nate Popp (Western Washington) — also signed.
“This is the first day that we get to know for sure what we will be doing for the next year of our life,” said Popp, a soccer player.
The cap-and-gown graduation waits, still a few months ahead, but for Karalus this was sort of a graduation.
Peruvian delegation arrives in Snoqualmie
February 1, 2012
By Sebastian Moraga Valeria Gamonal, left, and Michelle Riedner brought a collection of Peruvian butterflies from their home nation. Gamonal, Riedner and Renato Cocchella (not pictured) are exchange students from the South American nation, visiting the Valley for about a month.
By his own admission, Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson’s Spanish skills need a little, um, ayuda.
Asked if he spoke the language of Cervantes, Larson replied, “Un poquito. I don’t know what the word for ‘very’ is, but very, very un poquito.”
Well, now the mayor and the city have a golden opportunity to refine their skills.
Nikki Winters charms at Wildcat Idol
February 1, 2012
Nikki Winters is a junior at Mount Si High School. And in the dark auditorium of her school, she shined.
Winters, a student with autism, won first place at the ninth annual Wildcat Idol contest, earning thunderous applause each of the three times she sang during the two-week competition.
Nothing unusual about that, said her family. Nikki’s last name may evoke clouds, but her personality is famously sunny.
By Sebastian Moraga Nikki Winters, a Mount Si High School student, performs during the semifinals of the ninth annual Wildcat Idol. Winters went on to win the competition.
“I attended this school,” her older sister Megan said. “And people knew Nikki. Everyone knew Nikki, and they only later realized that I was her sister.”
During the first week of Wildcat Idol, Nikki earned herself a standing ovation. The second week, she blew the audience away again.
And these weren’t aw-look-at-her-try ovations. These ovations are the kind you give someone who moves you, who charms you.
Who shines.
Sallal Grange funds academy scholarship
February 1, 2012
The Sallal Grange in North Bend will award a Snoqualmie Valley student a scholarship to the Wintergrass Youth Academy.
The academy will occur during the Wintergrass Music Festival, Feb. 23-24, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bellevue. It will feature music educators from Washington, California, Oregon and Ohio.
The winner of the scholarship, a Grange press release stated, will receive a four-day pass for the festival.
Applicants for the scholarship must submit a short essay on why they should win. Letters of recommendation are optional.
Applicants must include name, school, grade and contact information and send the application to the Sallal Grange and Community Hall, P.O. Box 1688, North Bend, WA 98045. They may also email it to info@sallalgrange.org.
The deadline is Feb. 10.
Area collegians are earning plenty of accolades
February 1, 2012
Snoqualmie Valley students earned academic honors at several colleges and universities this fall.
At Western Washington University, Hannah Piper, of North Bend, received a $1,500 Alumni Association Leader scholarship for the 2011-12 school year.
The scholarship awards outstanding students in the university’s College of Business and Economics. Piper has a 3.59 grade point average, while majoring in manufacturing and supply chain management.
At Nebraska’s Chadron State College, Rachel Swamy, of North Bend, qualified for the college’s president’s list, which requires straight As.
At Montana State University, Tucker Kirschner, of North Bend, earned a spot on the dean’s honor roll, which gathers students who earned grade point averages of 3.5 or higher during the fall semester.
Twin Falls teacher wins monthly award
February 1, 2012
Kyle Wallace, a sixth-grade math and science teacher at Twin Falls Middle School, has been named the Macaroni Kid Teacher of the Month for January.
Wallace will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Woodman Lodge, a massage gift certificate from Therapeutic Health and a plaque.
Cascade View Elementary School teacher Calla Kinghorn won the award in November and North Bend Elementary School teacher Alan Tepper won it in September. The October and December awards went to Issaquah School District teachers.
