The award’s nomination described Yoshikawa, who teaches first grade, as “one of the teachers that the kids love.”

Yoshikawa received a $100 gift certificate to The Woodman Lodge, courtesy of the Cascade Team Real Estate Agency.

She also received a gift certificate for a massage at Therapeutic Health in North Bend and a plaque from Issaquah Trophy and Awards.

Shannon Roubicek, a teacher at Snoqualmie Elementary School won the March award. Cascade View physical therapist Claudine Fairchild won the February award and Twin Falls Middle School teacher Kyle Wallace won it in January.

Pflug’s decision ends a 25-year career in the Snoqualmie Valley, the last 10 as Snoqualmie Elementary principal.

She owns a home in Leavenworth, 20 miles outside of Wenatchee, and will relocate with her husband in August.

District administrators have begun the search for her replacement, Pflug wrote in a letter to Snoqualmie Elementary families.

“My years at this wonderful school have been the best years of my professional career,” she wrote. “I have many great memories of SES that I will always cherish.”

Julia Monique Dorn and Morgan Scott Green, of North Bend; Paige Diane Ormiston and Chelsea Noel Smolke, of Snoqualmie; and Shaun Kelly Murphy, of Fall City, completed at least 14 graded credit hours during the quarter and finished in the top 10 percent of their class.

Smolke finished with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

Edwards and 2,499 other students were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists. Winners are judged on skills, accomplishments and potential for success.

Bases for the decision included grades, academic records, difficulty level of subjects studied, standardized test scores, leadership and contributions in school and the community; an essay; and a letter of recommendation from a high school official.

Fifty students from Washington received scholarships. A new group of winners was scheduled to be announced May 23 and July 9.

A bright future and big dreams of becoming an Air Force pilot. A great run as a Mount Si High School soccer player. A fine reputation as a student rep on the school board.

Now he was dead.

Sort of.

Carlson “died” in a mock car crash behind Mount Si High School May 17, when students and law enforcement officers showed in detail what may happen when teenagers drink and drive.

“It was a great experience for a great cause,” Carlson wrote in an email. Being “dead” required him to wear more than a half-gallon of fake blood.

“I really didn’t get to see much of the mock crash myself, since I was dead on impact,” he wrote. “My eyes were closed from the moment they lifted the tarp off to unveil us, until they covered me with a sheet to show I was dead.”

The mock crash reminded students of the consequences of their choices, with prom and graduation days away.

“It teaches them how it’s not about you,” said Megan McCulley, a Mount Si student who helped organize the mock crash. “It’s about your family, your friends. It affects everyone around you.”

Along with the mock crash and funeral, seniors received letters from fifth-graders encouraging them to make good choices on prom night.

During the mock crash, seven agencies participated, including the Washington State Patrol, Snoqualmie police and fire, and the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Students saw their peers play dead, injured or next-of-kin, some wearing gory makeup, while the lights atop police cars and fire trucks painted the gray skies with a tragic red hue.

Bruises, skid marks, screams. Blood, tears and the prospect of years in jail, all managed to enrapt teenagers in sepulchral silence, while Snoqualmie Fire Department Lieutenant Kelly Gall narrated.

“Imagine how her mom feels now,” he said, while paramedics carried a student away.”She has lost her only daughter.”

Students lined the fences on the west end of the school’s football field. They knew it was all fake, yet kept looking.

“I almost started crying, it was too real,” junior Danielle Reynolds said.

Her classmate Mary Ferner stood next to her, looking just as stunned.

“Just to think that people who normally don’t drink and drive would die from that,” she said. “It’s so sad.”

Accidents like this, Gall told the crowd, happen because people make the wrong choices: drinking and driving, texting while driving or simply getting a ride with someone who is doing either.

“This is what we don’t want to happen,” he said. “This is preventable.”

Juniors and seniors met at the school’s gymnasium after the fake crash, where coach Darren Brown eulogized Carlson.

Eric Munson, the husband of city of Snoqualmie employee Becky Munson, followed Brown with the story of a real-life tragedy: the death of their daughter in a car accident in 2004.

“I’m here to tell you,” Munson told students, some wiping away tears, “that this can happen to you.

“I will never be able to give her a hug or a kiss, see her smile or laugh, things that you take for granted.”

McCulley, the daughter of a Snoqualmie Police captain, closed the event with a short speech that left her in tears.

“I hope,” she said of her schoolmates afterward, “that they make good choices on prom night.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

Contributed Seventh-grader Kallin Spiller (center) was honored as a finalist in the state’s Letters About Literature contest May 12. Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed, left, and First Gentleman Mike Gregoire attended the ceremony in Olympia. Spiller wrote a letter to Dr. Seuss about the impact his book, ‘There’s a Wocket in My Pocket,’ had in her life.

Dead for 21 years, Theodor S. Geisel still gets letters.

“His books were my favorite when I was little to read with my family,” wrote Snoqualmie Middle School seventh-grader Kallin Spiller, the author of a letter to Geisel, better known by his fictitious medical degree and his middle name, Dr. Seuss.

Spiller’s letter to the children’s books author made her a finalist in the statewide Letters About Literature contest, where children write letters to their favorite authors.

Spiller’s letter talked about Seuss’ book “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket.”

Spiller began working on the letter in November and turned it in in January.

In the meantime, she had to brainstorm, do worksheets, analyze past letters, writhe a rough draft, have the letter edited and submit it.

“The hardest part of the project was ‘putting my heart on a plate,’” wrote Spiller, whose writing teacher Rene Peterson listed the letter as an assignment this year. “You were supposed to put so much emotion into the letter and that was what I found myself spending tons of time on.”

Students were discouraged from writing a fan letter. Instead of just praising an author, they had to connect the author’s works to their life, Spiller added.

“Honestly, I do not think there was any easy part of the actual project,” Spiller wrote. “Everything needed deep thought and consideration.”

Secretary of State Sam Reed and First Gentleman Mike Gregoire awarded finalists, runners-up and category champions in a May 11 ceremony in Olympia.

Port Townsend’s Samantha Smith won in Spiller’s seventh- and eighth-graders’ category, according to a press release from the Secretary of State’s office.

More than 5,000 students in grades four through 12 participated.

In Spiller’s category, only 49 of 1,187 letters made it to the finals.

“I believe what made my letter stand out was the idea of family that I put in my letter,” Spiller wrote. “Dr. Seuss really helped me connect with my family when I was younger.”

Spiller used to read Dr. Seuss books to her younger brother, Justin, she added.

The avid volleyball and basketball player’s U-13 volleyball team finished third out of 34 teams in a regional tournament in April.

Then, on Mother’s Day weekend, the same weekend of the ceremony in Olympia, Spiller’s AAU hoop team won the eighth-grade division of the Best in the West Tournament in Yakima.

Still, she wrote, she tries to make time to read and write.

“I love writing and have always considered writing one of my best skills,” she wrote. “I really enjoy literature and language arts at school and that is when I get my reading and writing in.”

With a busy sports schedule, she added, time to write for fun is scarce.

The payoff of writing, she wrote, is too big to ignore.

“What I like about writing is how much freedom and creativity you are given,” she wrote. “Whether it be voicing your own opinion or telling a story. Plus, there is always a new aspect of writing to learn, maybe a new form or new words to use. Writing is never completely known.”

Students wanting to follow in her footsteps to Olympia need to look inward when writing.

“Write from the heart,” she advised. “Writing is more interesting to others when they feel emotions, and if you do this, there is a good chance you will do very well in Letters About Literature.”

She has to drive a cah. And has to pahk it in the yahd.

Logan has earned a spot in “Golden Compass as Moral Compasses: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Fairy Tales and Fantasy,” a class at Harvard University, in Boston.

Logan was one of 15 teachers selected to attend “Hah-vahd” over the summer. Hundreds of people applied for the four-week class.

“To be admitted, I had to write an essay and submit a résumé,” Logan wrote in an email. “I got the call over spring break.”

Maria Tatar, a renowned Harvard professor of Germanic languages and literatures of folklore and mythology will teach the class, alongside guest lecturers, Logan added.

“This class will allow me to interface with experts in the field as well as educators from around the U.S.A.,” said Logan, who will live for a month in Harvard’s Adams House.

The National Endowment for the Humanities will fund the class, all out-of-pocket expenses paid.

The class, Logan said, will help teachers who want to introduce archetypes as a way to analyze literature in the classroom.

In literature, archetypes — the most basic and original example of something — refer to storytelling patterns that repeat from the beginning of recorded literature to this day.

“From cave fire to Kindle, the pattern never changes,” she wrote.

For instance, Logan wrote, every story’s hero is a wanderer, locked in a journey somewhere. Every hero is an orphan, separated or different from others in some way.

Every hero is a caretaker, having someone for whom they make sacrifices. Every hero is a warrior, locked in conflict with something or someone.

“Monsters come in all shapes and sizes,” she wrote. “Mean girls from school, dragons, fear, addiction, brutal authorities and so on.”

At the middle school these days, Logan teaches a workshop titled “The Hero’s Journey.”

“It is perfect timing,” she wrote.

Twelve troops competed in skills such as first aid, knot tying, knife safety and outdoor cooking. The girls from the troop, fifth-graders, also built a bench out of ropes and twigs; and cooked a brunch with eggs, cheese, onions and peppers, alongside apple sauce, sausages, muffins and coffee.

Competition took place at the Girl Scouts of Western Washington’s Camp River Ranch in Carnation.

The school scheduled the show for 6:30 p.m. May 21. Admission is free, but seating at the school’s auditorium is limited. Get tickets at www.raceto-nowhere.com/epostcard/5971.

The movie is rated PG-13.

Photos by Sebastian Moraga Makena Lau, of Fall City Elementary School, stands next to her drawing of pink and yellow flowers.

Where we see art, Bryce Meserve sees freedom.

“It’s uninhibited,” said Meserve, an art teacher at Mount Si High School. “They just want to create.”

They, in this case, are the elementary school students from the Snoqualmie Valley School District who presented their art during the district’s art show at the high school May 4.

Meserve marveled at how little difference existed in some cases between the elementary school students’ art and the older students’ art. But above all, he praised the youngest children’s creative freedom.

“They don’t really care what it’s going to end up looking like, and it often ends up looking good because of that,” he said.

High school and middle school students also presented art during the show. The older students tend to be more self conscious about their work, Meserve said.

“They don’t want to screw it up,” he said. “So they either stop drawing or painting, or they are really nervous and they don’t want to try new things with their art.”

During the show, parents marveled at the array of talent, and were even surprised by what they saw.

“I have never seen him do a human,” said Paige Dolecki, staring at a self-portrait of middle-schooler Spencer Dolecki, her son.

The art show displayed the district’s range of visual arts talent from kindergarten to 12th grade, said Ruth Huschle, a Snoqualmie Middle School art teacher and the show’s coordinator.

“A lot of the kids we showcase in this event aren’t kids that necessarily that get a lot of recognition in a lot of other places,” she said.

Students had received a postcard at home telling them they would represent their school at the show.

“It feels good,” said third-grader Makena Lau, who drew with crayons a landscape of pink and yellow flowers. “It feels good that other people can see my art and I can see what they think of it.”

Some didn’t even know about a postcard and instead found out through Huschle.

“A student called her mom and said, ‘Mom, guess what? My portrait got chosen to be in the art show.’ She was just thrilled,” Huschle said. “For some kids this is the thing that is their standout thing. They may not be super-strong athletes, but this is their really strong thing, so it’s a really special event.”

Children did not compete for spots in the show. Instead, teachers chose from works the students had done throughout the year. Lau’s flowers were at least a month old, for example.

“A competition changes the dynamics and it’s not really what this is about,” Huschle said. “It’s really about showing what we do in the district as far as the visual arts go.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.

A senior in high school building a bright future with the sounds of his instrument, Bumgardner declares the trombone to be “lame” without sounding clichéd or like a too-cool-for-school teenager.

“You don’t have nearly as much freedom as you have with other instruments, just because of the nature of it,” he said. “Just because it’s really difficult.”

That’s what keeps it a challenge for Bumgardner and what keeps him enthralled with it.

Contributed Matt Bumgardner, a senior at Mount Si High School, will perform in Japan and in the Monterey Jazz Festival this summer.

“There’s a bunch of good pianists, there’s a bunch of good drummers, there’s always going to be way too many saxophonists,” he said. “But when you can find a trombonist who can really find their own unique voice in the instrument, that’s really cool.”

Mount Si High School music teacher Adam Rupert has called Bumgardner the best jazz trombone improviser in the nation.

This after his trombone-playing prowess took Bumgardner to places like the Grammy Awards in California and before it earned him tickets to Japan this July through the Monterey Jazz Festival.

“They have auditions from around the country,” Bumgardner said of Monterey, “and they pick out a big band and then every summer they have a tour. Last year, they did kind of a West Coast tour and this year they are doing Japan.”

Then in September, the band, including Bumgardner, will play at the actual Monterey Jazz Festival.

An incoming freshman at the New School of Music in New York, Bumgardner said the important thing is not where he goes or will go, but whether he learns once he is there.

“Anytime I get the chance to play with people who are better than me, whether it’s professionals or other students, that really helps a lot,” he said. “It keeps your ego from getting too big and it keeps you working hard.”

Bumgardner said all of these trips make for a busy and stressful schedule.

“But it’s a good busy and a good stressful,” he added. “I’d rather be busy doing all these things than not do any of it at all.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.

Loves every day she gets to spend with her 5-year-old grandson Landon. And struggles to keep his world normal.

Baker is Landon’s primary caregiver. Has been for a year and a half, while Baker’s daughter tends to serious health issues.

Watching Landon grow feels great. Watching him feel like Mom left him hurts.

Caregivers endure similar combinations of pain and joy when raising the child of a relative.

“They love the child, but there’s definitely a bit of grieving because things aren’t going according to how they had thought,” said Emili Fletcher, family support manager at Encompass, a nonprofit family services organization in North Bend that offers resources for kinship care.

Most kinship care involves grandparents, Fletcher said. Sometimes even great-grandparents participate.

“Relative caregiving can be generational,” she said, “where it can be the third time that it happens. It’s a really unique situation, but it can happen.”

People in caregiver roles require multiple help, from legal advice to diapers and wet wipes, Fletcher said. Baker said many grandparents don’t realize help exists.

“We are not therapists,” Fletcher said. “We offer support and validation and empathy, but we are not therapists.”

Sometimes, people just like to know they are not alone.

“The Encompass people are fabulous,” said Baker, who will contribute to an Encompass blog with stories about raising Landon, an Encompass student.

Kinship caregivers remain optimistic, sometimes only to protect children from worry.

“They are all for unification. They are all really good with the kids,” Fletcher said of kinship caregivers.

Until unification occurs, they have to deal with diapers and plans changing all the time.

Baker said this is not how she pictured her golden years.

“You were picturing cruises,” she said. “And now you’re at a T-ball practice again.”

Instead of cruising, Baker and her husband find themselves navigating a child’s foundational years, while their buddies enjoy wine tastings.

On the downside, they have to witness their adult child being unable to be a parent and their grandchild struggling to understand why Mommy is not around.

On the upside, they know that the time they are giving up allows their daughter to get healthier and their grandson a chance to develop.

“We are providing a safe, stable home for him,” she said. “And it’s crucial at this time in his life.”

Besides, she said, life is more than just entertaining yourself.

“Just seeing how hard that caregiver works to make that life for that child,” Fletcher said. “They are all very compassionate people, but they are sacrificing, definitely.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. 

By Sebastian Moraga Cole Van Gerpen, at left, Michelle John, center, and Joey Petroske play during Future Jazz Heads, a mixture of music workshop and live performance for middle- and high-schoolers. The children play in front of paying customers and musical experts, receiving advice in between songs.

Make a mistake and you’re human. Make a mistake before a crowd and you’re an embarrassed human.

Make a mistake before a crowd and love it? Then, you’re a jazz head in the making.

Future Jazz Heads gathers middle- and high-schoolers to play music before an audience at Boxley’s restaurant in North Bend.

“Mistakes are a lot more prominent when people are watching,” said eighth-grader Will Crandall, who said failing before an audience is a powerful motivator.

When a musician errs during practice, eighth-grader Joey Petroske said, he or she can always start over. Not so with paying customers around.

“You have to keep going,” he said. “And fix your mistakes later.”

After and sometimes during each song, children learn from professional musicians like Twin Falls Middle School band director Matt Wenman, Mount Si High School band director Adam Rupert and longtime musician Chris Clark.

“It’s brought out a lot of things in me,” said the 72-year-old Clark, who began playing at age 8 and who played for stars like Jerry Lewis and Mel Torme. “While these kids have been playing for seven years, I have been playing for seven decades.”

The tips from the adults help children improve, eighth-grader Cole Van Gerpen said. The live-concert atmosphere helps them overcome stage fright, said eighth-grader Michelle John.

The most important lesson for the children, Clark said, is learning how to play as an ensemble, and listening to one another.

“What we want is a family that plays together,” Clark said. “As long as they look at it from the standpoint of only themselves, it will impede their progress. I call it the Me-Me-Me school, and there’s a lot of it in jazz.”

John and Crandall said their skills have improved since they joined Future Jazz Heads, which meets two Tuesday nights a month.

“It’s really helped me excel,” John said.

The pros also benefit from it.

“To see the moment when they really love what they are doing,” Wenman said, “it makes me want to work harder.”

Everything that happens at Future Jazz Heads benefits children, Wenman said. The only downside is that children are too busy to attend sometimes. When they do, they often can’t stay until the end of the show.

“To get them here on a Tuesday from 7 to 10 p.m.,” Wenman said, “if they stay here until then, when do they do homework? Once they are here, they want to do this every week.”

Wenman, who grew up in Gig Harbor, said he would have loved to have a chance like this back then, performing and learning at once.

Now the children of the Valley have that. It will be even better, Wenman said, once the community hears of it.

“If every kid and parent and teacher really knew how amazing this is,” he said, “on Tuesday nights you wouldn’t be able to find a seat.”

Sebastian Moraga, 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

The pro basketball coach patented the term “three-peat” for when his team achieved the feat of winning three championships in a row. It never happened for ol’ Pat, but a group of Snoqualmie Elementary School bookworms might just achieve that feat next year.

A team of Snoqualmie Elementary students won the annual Battle of the Books competition, which gathers one team from each elementary school in the district.

It’s the second year in a row a group from Snoqualmie Elementary won the contest. In 2010, a group from Snoqualmie Elementary finished second.

By Sebastian Moraga The 2012 Snoqualmie Valley School District’s Battle of the Books champions was the team No Names Needed. But here they are anyway: Taylor Talbott, left, Abbigal Triou, Emma Duim, Grace Wendlick and Victoria Copeland.

The contest requires students to answer questions from a list of books they had been reading for months. Each team won an intramural competition at its school to make it to the finals.

The Snoqualmie Elementary team, No Names Needed, counted Emma Duim as one of its members. In 2011, Emma won the competition with Book Busters.

“It feels awesome to have won it twice in a row,” said Emma, flanked by teammates Victoria Copeland, Taylor Talbott, Abbigal Triou and Grace Wendlick.

Things didn’t feel awesome for most of them just 12 hours earlier. Most of the No Names Needed crew had a rough time the eve of the competition.

“I felt like I was going to throw up,” said Abbigal, a fifth-grader like all her teammates.

Grace also said she had a tummy ache.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Taylor, as her parents watched.

Victoria said she woke up an hour earlier than usual because of nerves. It did not seem to hurt them any, as the No Names Needed crew mounted a great comeback late in the game.

Fall City Elementary School’s team had the lead until all but six of the contest’s 40 questions had been asked. With four questions left, Snoqualmie took the lead and did not give it up. At the end, Snoqualmie Elementary finished with 250 points — 10 more than Fall City Elementary School, 20 more than Cascade View Elementary School and Opstad Elementary School, and 60 more than North Bend Elementary School.

Now that the students have the trophy they can relax and sleep with a smile on their faces. And so can Mr. Riley, according to Snoqualmie Elementary fourth-grader Grace Richter’s prediction.

“We’re planning on keeping the trophy next year, too,” she said.

Or actually, a Haven.

Haven Beares, a second-grader at Cascade View Elementary School, won the statewide organization’s award of merit for his song “Sounds of Diversity.”

A piano student for two years, Beares composed the piece on his own at his grandma’s house.

He has loved music since age 2, said his mom, Stephanie Bullard-Beares.

“He would listen to music and pick out the instruments,” she said.

By Sebastian Moraga Haven Beares and some of his best friends, the keys on an electric piano keyboard. Beares won the Music Award of Merit given by the Washington State PTA for his song “Sounds of Diversity.”

The state’s PTA awards students in different areas like film and video, photography, visual arts, dance, writing and music.

This year’s theme was “Diversity Means…”

For each category, the PTA handed out an award for Outstanding Interpretation, an Award of Excellence and an Award of Merit.

According to an email from Cascade View Elementary, Beares’ song was one of 19 entries chosen to represent the Valley in this year’s Reflections contest. His was the only entry awarded.

Beares composed and practiced his song on an electronic keyboard. He said he would like to have a real piano someday.

“There are some songs that I have to practice and the keyboard doesn’t hold the note for long,” he said.

Mom said they are counting on Grandma to help out with the piano.

Bullard-Beares said she likes listening to her son play and knows he enjoys playing, too.

“I just hope he sticks with it,” she said.

In case he loses his love for music, a backup plan already exists, sort of. Beares won an award this month at Cascade View’s science fair for his experiment on tornados.

Asked whether he prefers music or science, he simply said, “Both.”

Kevin Beares, Haven’s father, said he was very impressed with his son’s success and his winning song, but even more impressed with how he went about it.

“Grandma said he would not let anybody help,” Kevin said.

The awards ceremony is May 6, during the state PTA’s annual convention at the DoubleTree Hotel in SeaTac.

By Sebastian Moraga Evan Symington has some fun with her science experiment, a bowl of non-Newtonian fluid.

A grade-schooler stood on stage at Cascade View Elementary School, faced three judges and spelled “tabernacle.”

“Geez,” a middle-schooler in the crowd told Cascade View Principal Ray Wilson, “I don’t even know what a tabernacle is.”

Scenes like that abounded at the Science, Art and Spelling Night, where kindergartners and grade-schoolers amazed older students and grownups with their skills in the three subjects.

Kindergartner Payton Stokesbary was one of those children. He had a slotted tray holding bits of ice. Plants sat underneath the tray. A kettle shot steam to the underside of the tray.

The kettle represented the sun, the plants were the earth and the ice cubes were the clouds. As the steam melted the ice, water rained on the plants.

“He’s really into science stuff,” said his mother, Kelly. “I’m happy, trust me. My 2-year-old is not that way.”

Students in the science competition had to follow the scientific method — formulate a hypothesis and a prediction, conduct an investigation, collect results and issue a conclusion.

“We are trying to avoid show-and-tell,” science competition judge Yvonne Stevens said. “We’re looking for something original, something that they have added their own element to it.”

That’s exactly what second-graders Molly Harris and Jackalyn Gates sought when they designed their experiment — cracking an egg.

“People think, ‘This is kind of easy, it’s an egg,’ and then you’re like, ‘Ugh,’” said Gates, squeezing the egg around its middle.

The children in the evening’s spelling contest had no chance to say “It’s easy, it’s ‘egg,’” as the easiest words the youngest contestants received were six letters long.

By the time the second-graders stood up to spell, they received fourth-grade words.

Adriana Schmieder won among first-graders.

Beck Hoffman won among second-graders and Daniel Henderson won among third graders. Fourth-grader Jillian Borrevik and fifth-grader Jenna Brandt completed the winners’ circle.

For some, winning had taken time.

“It’s been her goal since last year,” Sue Korol said of Jillian, her daughter. “She was eliminated in the finals last year, so she came back with a vengeance this year.”

For others, time was running out.

“It feels awesome,” said Jenna, who practiced 45 minutes a day every day prior to the contest. “It’s awesome since this is the last year I’m able to compete.”

By the time she got up to the stage to spell, most of Payton’s ice had melted and the tea kettle was off.

The judges had already visited with him, included Mount Si High School science teacher Kevin Knowles, who gave him one last quiz.

“Do you know the name of all this?” Knowles said pointing to the tray still dripping water onto the plants.

“Water cycle,” Payton whispered, impressing Knowles in the process.

“Hey,” Knowles told Payton, “I want to see you in my class in a few years.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

Roubicek, Megan’s teacher at Snoqualmie Elementary School, raves about the artistic talent of the fourth-grader, whose work has been selected as the poster art for the city’s 2013 Arbor Day.

“Megan is one of the most hardworking, dedicated and compassionate students I have ever taught,” Roubicek wrote in an email. “She always gives 110 percent effort in everything that she does and isn’t afraid to use her creative side.”

Contributed Megan Caro poses with her painting, ‘Trees are Terrific in All Shapes and Sizes,’ which will grace the Snoqualmie Arbor Day poster next year. Megan, a fourth-grader at Snoqualmie Elementary School, said her art depicted the variety of trees in the Valley.

Megan fulfilled a yearlong dream of hers just by participating. As a third-grader last year, she was not eligible to participate. This year, she competed and won.

Her watercolor painting, titled “Trees Are Terrific in All Shapes and Sizes,” shows the variety of trees in the Snoqualmie Valley, all under a purplish sky and a setting sun.

Her setting sun can be found behind a row of mountains, the opposite of what we experience in the Valley. Megan shrugs the anomaly off, in the process of scoring one for creative, imaginative people everywhere.

“What makes it fun,” Megan said, “is just being able to draw what you’re thinking and your emotions. I also like that nothing is perfect and everything is unique.”

Roubicek’s entire class entered the contest. Michelle Dutton, co-owner of Smart With Art and a parent of a classmate of Megan’s, gave the class a lesson in watercolors beforehand.

Roubicek said many of her students were not surprised Megan had won because “it was such an amazing painting.”

Roubicek said Megan and the rest of the class also entered a statewide contest. The winner of that gets his or her artwork on the cover of the Washington Voter’s Pamphlet.

In the meantime, they gladly share in Megan’s joy.

“We are incredibly excited for Megan,” Roubicek wrote.

Kathy Caro, Megan’s mom, said her daughter has always been artistic.

Even in preschool, Kathy said, Megan’s work stood out as more elaborate, fancier than the rest.

Nowadays, Megan’s 11-year-old brother seeks his little sister’s help when it comes to his school projects.

Nevertheless, Megan said winning was a big surprise, mostly because Kathy kept it a secret from her.

“There were other girls in the car,” Kathy said, “I wanted to tell her when we were by ourselves.”

Howland earned a 3.5 grade point average. About 3,338 students earned an average of 3.5 or higher, with 752 students earning straight As.

Students must carry at least 12 graded hours of course work to be included on the honor roll.

Macaroni Kid of Issaquah-Snoqualmie picks one teacher every month. The nomination for Roubicek called her a kind, encouraging and even-handed teacher.

“All in all, she is one amazing teacher,” the nomination read, with the word “amazing” in all capital letters.

Roubicek is a fourth-grade teacher at Snoqualmie Elementary.

She will receive a plaque from Issaquah Trophy & Awards, a massage gift certificate from Therapeutic Health in North Bend and a $100 gift certificate to the Woodman Lodge, courtesy of the lodge and the Cascade Team Real Estate Agency.

Claudine Fairchild, a physical therapist at Cascade View Elementary School, won the award in February.

Twin Falls Middle School teacher Kyle Wallace won it in January.

By Sebastian Moraga Emmitt Rudd leaps during the long-jump competition at the Mount Si Invitational Meet.

We meet again, at the meet.

After a 23-year hiatus, the Mount Si Invitational Meet returned to life April 21 at Mount Si High School.

Teams from all over the Puget Sound area arrived to celebrate the revival of what once was a staple of the spring athletics calendar in the Snoqualmie Valley.

The hosts did themselves proud, not only with a picturesque day of cloudless sunshine, but by putting on good performances. The girls tied Marysville-Pilchuck for first place with 148 points.

Lexi Swanson broke her personal best in the pole vault with a 10-foot leap. The mark placed her as the state’s fifth-best vaulter among 3A schools.

Kristen Kasel broke her personal best in the discus twice in a row, finishing second. She also had a personal record at the javelin, finishing second with 92 feet, 10 inches.

She credited her discus streak to adjustments she has made to her throws, staying lower and using her legs for more momentum.

Her top discus mark for the day was 90 feet, 9 inches, still shy of her final goal for the season.

“A hundred-and-something,” she said with a laugh.

The boys finished fourth. Bradly Stevens broke his personal record in the discus with 130 feet, 6 inches — good enough for first place. He also won the javelin with 190 feet, 1 inch.

Emmitt Rudd broke his personal best in the long jump.

“I felt good today, came in feeling confident,” Rudd said, “and got a good height on the jumps.”

He finished eighth in the competition.

The star of the day, without doubt, was the meet itself. Long condemned to the history books after the deteriorating cinder track made it impossible to keep hosting the event in 1989, the return of the meet had a special meaning for those who saw its heyday and decay.

A coach at Mount Si since the 1970s, girls head track coach David Clifford digs the return of the meet more than most.

“To have been part of it for as long as I was and then to see the last one, and then to have it restarted again,” he said.

Clifford said the old cinder track had 10 lanes, so the old meets would have nine teams, plus Mount Si.

“We were having money issues back in the 1980s, and the district just didn’t have the money to maintain the track and upgrading it to where it needed to be,” Clifford said.

Thanks to a bond, the school renovated its track and field facilities seven years ago, into what Clifford calls a top-notch track and  “the envy of the KingCo league.”

Putting on a meet again took a while, though. The envy of the KingCo league has no lights or covered stands. Still, the itch to revive the meet never disappeared.

“We’ve been wanting to put on a meet out here for a while,” assistant coach Chris Jackson said.

Clifford agreed.

“This year, we said, ‘The heck with it, we’re going to figure out a way to get stands out here and we’re going to have it during the day,’” Clifford said. “It’s basically restarting and re-establishing a meet we had for many years.”

The newer track has eight lanes. The meet still gathered nine teams, as two of them are not co-ed.

Teams including Sequim, Snohomish, Graham-Kapowsin, Clover Park, Holy Names and powerhouse O’Dea showed up for the meet.

More than 130 parents, students and community members volunteered during the meet. That plus the fans and teammates gave Mount Si an edge. When Swanson leapt over the bar at 10 feet, fans exploded in cheers.

“It’s a home-field advantage,” Rudd said. “And it’s great to have all these people here.”

Both teams scored two runs in the first inning at the Mount Si ball field, and goose eggs in the next three.

The Kangs took the lead with three more runs at the top of the fifth frame, just as rain started falling steadily.

Mount Si High School’s Britney Stevens leads off first base as slugger Mickey Blad gets ready to swing in the April 17 game against Lake Washington High School. The Wildcats won, 11-5.

Lake Washington errors helped the Wildcats put two more runs on the board in the fifth.

Celine Fowler hit a ball that bounced between the Kangs’ pitcher and catcher, and while the two tried to decide who should grab the ball, Fowler was already at first base.

Lake Washington’s shortstop missed Britney Stevens’ single, and Rachael Picchena hit a ball deep to centerfield, which allowed Fowler and Stevens to run across home plate.

The top and bottom of the sixth inning was a game changer for the Wildcats.

Mount Si freshman Paige Wetherbee relieved starting pitcher Kendra Lee, and struck out all three Lake Washington batters.

But that was the only inning she pitched due to a hand injury in the following inning, when she tripped rounding first base.

The Wildcats took the lead in the sixth when seven batters scored runs.

Jenny Carroll hit a single, and Wetherbee’s left-field hit could have been a double if not for the trip over first base. But the hit did allow Carroll to run home, tying the game, 5-5.

Fowler tapped the ball infield for a single.

Mount Si slugger Mickey Blad was then at bat. She’s got a .606 batting average so far this season, a virtually unheard of average in high school fastpitch.

But her powerful stick didn’t matter this time as Lake Washington’s pitcher tossed four balls her way.

The Mount Si crowd, in a friendly ribbing gesture, clapped and cheered and shouted, “Way to walk Mickey. Way to walk.”

With the bases loaded, Lauren Smith hit a single toward third base, but the ball was dropped and Wetherbee crossed home plate.

Picchena hit an infield ball that slipped through the Lake Washington shortstop’s glove, with Fowler and Blad crossing home plate, for a score of 8-5.

Smith ran home after Tamarra Crowe hit a double.

Carroll’s infield hit was missed by Lake Washington at third base, which allowed Picchena to cross the plate. But a series of errors led to Carroll running all three bases and diving into home for an 11-5 score.

Lake Washington got three big hits off Lee in the final inning, but two outfield catches and a toss out at third base ended the game.

Mount Si’s league record now stands at 8-1, putting them in KingCo 3A’s second place spot, just behind the undefeated Juanita High School. Their next game will be at 4:30 p.m. April 26 against Mercer Island at Mount Si, and at 4:30 p.m. May 1 against Bellevue at Bellevue High School.

By Clay Eals Occupational therapist Megan Daniels helps a student with sensory processing issues.

A net that looks like a hammock with its ends drawn together and suspended from the ceiling is a new type of therapy for Encompass, a nonprofit children and family services center in North Bend.

“The net suspension therapy is not new therapy, just new to us so we can make treatments more successful,” said Darlene Logan, an occupational therapist at Encompass.

The linear swinging motion of the net calms a child with an overstimulated sensory system, while a circular swinging motion revs up a child’s system, she said.

There are five basic sensory systems: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch (from the top of head to the soles of the feet), she added. Then there are the two hidden sensory systems: vestibular — which is our inner-ear gyroscope, and proprioceptive — which is how our muscles and joints help us feel what our body is doing.

“When our sensory systems are integrated we feel great,” Logan said.

But for some people, the information their senses are sending becomes confusing and they do not know how to behave in response. Many times, the behavior looks inappropriate. An example would be a child with a sensory processing disorder that is sensitive to sound and the fire alarm goes off at school. Directly after, the child hits a classmate.

Encompass helps children with sensory processing disorders to integrate their senses. Most of the children are seen once a week for one hour.

On a recent weekday afternoon, Megan Daniels, an occupational therapist assistant, worked with 5-year-old client Jake, on the net suspension system. She put squishy pillows around his body. He prefers to lie face down in the net, looking at the floor as she gently swings him in a forward and backward motion.

Daniels said that “being upside down is calming for a lot of kids.” Jake squirmed to keep his face-down position in the swing. The pillows surrounding him have a purpose. They press against his body, creating pressure so he can feel his arms and legs.

Logan clarified the concept: “Some sensory disorders are low-tone, which means kids can’t feel their body unless it is intense. That is why some kids are crashers and bangers, that’s how they feel their body.

“Autism, ADD, ADHD and cerebral palsy will all have a sensory component that goes with it – some are hypersensitive while others are hyposensitive,” Logan added.

As we get our sensory systems working better, Logan said, behaviors improve — the way society expects people to behave – so we can give appropriate responses to everyday situations.

Kim Kanzler can attest to that fact. She is Jake’s mom and a supervisor of the therapy staff at Encompass. She had some concerns about her preschool son’s handwriting and brought a sample in to show the occupational therapist at Encompass. After Jake was evaluated, the determination was that Jake’s handwriting problem was not a fine-motor issue but a sensory-processing issue.

“Jake has boy energy – bigger responses than I would expect for a situation,” Kanzler said.

She would discipline him, but now has learned from Encompass that “his energy is high, what factors made his energy go high, and how can I get him back to a better space?”

Kanzler said she asked Jake’s preschool teacher if she noticed a change in Jake in the four months since he began attending Encompass.

“His teacher said that Jake’s world has expanded,” Kanzler said. “He not only can recognize his own behavior but he can now recognize how his behavior affects other people.”

Encompass’ motto states that it is “a place where every child can achieve his or her learning potential.” Its preschool is nationally accredited. It also offers parenting workshops, parent-child interaction training and birth-to-3, early-intervention services.

Encompass is funded through three sources: fees for services, grants from government and foundations, and fundraising in the community. Encompasses’ “Dream With Me” Spring Gala fundraiser is Saturday, April 21, at The Golf Club at Newcastle.

There are three locations for Encompass: The main campus, 1407 Boalch Ave. N.W., in North Bend; the downtown North Bend campus, 209 Main Ave. S.; and the Issaquah Highlands campus, 2550 N.E. Park Drive.  Its phone number is 888-410-5905 toll free.

Learn more about Encompass at www.encompassnw.org.

Rose Marie Gai is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

Faced with people still smarting over the turning of SMS into a freshmen-only campus in 2013, Belcher told a group of SMS parents at that school’s library that the decision had been made.

“We need to shift the dialogue,” he said. “Too much energy is going into, ‘Can we reverse the decision?’’’

By Sebastian Moraga Mount Si High School principal John Belcher explains to Snoqualmie Middle School parents what the Freshman Learning Center opening in 2013 will look like. The center will take the place of SMS, returning the district to a two-middle school format until at least 2015.

Instead, Belcher and other district leaders once again pitched the freshmen-only campus’ merits.

“We are going to build a school based on what the kids want, not on whom we have hired,” Belcher said, promising the children would get something beyond a traditional experience at the freshmen-only campus.

“I want it to be so attractive that Issaquah families say, ‘What are they doing over there in the Snoqualmie Valley?’” Belcher said.

To make that experience a reality, they need more input from people, he said. And they need the conversation to shift permanently to the freshman campus and not to the middle school, whose place it will take in 2013 until at least 2015.

If a bond scheduled for February 2013 passes, a new SMS will open in 2015. The freshmen-only campus is set to open in fall 2013.

Current SMS Principal Vernie Newell will lead it.

“Vernie and I have a great plan in our heads, but is that the right plan?” Belcher asked. “We need everyone at the table to get it right.”

Some aspects of the freshmen-only campus, such as transportation, remain undefined, Belcher said.

“I’m asking you to hang tight on transportation,” he said.

A few parents balked at the wait-and-see approach.

“You are asking us to have faith and wait,” SMS parent Anna Sotelo said. “What if we wait and the solution is not acceptable? We have had faith for too long.”

Sotelo said she worried about three middle schools’ worth of children squeezing into two schools and the impact that might have on class size.

District Superintendent Joel Aune said class size would remain just about the same, given that staff levels would remain the same.

Parent Pam Kraycik said what Belcher and the district had put together sounded wonderful, but looked rushed.

“Can things be done well if they are done rushed?” she asked.

Skepticism aside, Belcher highlighted what he considered the educational and financial value of the freshman campus.

“We get this right, and as a community we are going to solve some issues on the budget, like reducing the dropout rate,” he said. “Each kid that drops out comes with a high price tag.”

A freshmen-only campus would free up space at the high school, and would give freshmen a place to exercise their own brand of leadership while allowing them to remain part of the high school, Belcher said.

Aune dispelled the notion of the freshmen-only campus lasting only a few years, like the one in Issaquah did. The freshmen-only campus in Issaquah was meant to be a short-term fix while a bigger high school was built, Newell added.

“The principal of that campus would have liked to see it continue on,” Newell said, “but could not because of the plan that was already in place.”

That will not be the case for the Valley, Aune said.

“We are not going to be driven out of this concept because of enrollment or overcrowding,” he said.

Just ask sixth-grader Ethan Saur, a student at Twin Falls Middle School, who tried to grow grass with water, milk, cola and soda. His ultimate discovery had little to do with science.

“Now I know Mom will get rid of my soda every time she gets a chance to,” he said.

By Sebastian Moraga Ben Rogers, a fourth-grader at North Bend Elementary School, plays with a pendulum eighth-grader Tanner Thomson built.

To be fair, Saur also discovered that grass does not grow well when you pour anything but H2O on it.

Saur waited four weeks for the grass to grow. He watched as mold grew on the milked-up soil and expanded when Saur poured fizzy soda on it.

Schoolmate Sarah McTier and Brenna McDaniel discovered that their best free throws happen when launched from atop their heads. Josette Vail discovered turning on a light bulb is hard work if you use fruit.

Dozens of other discoveries sat on display April 12 at the first Science Fair at Twin Falls Middle School.

Students conducted experiments that went from the serious to the silly, but always following a scientific approach of questioning, investigating, hypothesizing, testing, inferring and concluding.

Sixth-graders Sierra Spring and Jessica Copitzky measured the brightness of glow sticks in cold, warm and hot water. Eighth-grader Tanner Thomson timed pendulums swinging from different heights.

And then there’s Vail, who tried to see the proverbial light using a variety of fruits and veggies.

“I used an apple, a lemon, a grapefruit, a cucumber and a potato,” Vail said. “Then I took some nails and copper wire and measured the volts.”

None of the fruits or veggies turned on the bulb.

Thomson’s experiment went a little better, and a little simpler.

Thomson encountered concepts like “point of equilibrium,” while researching his pendulums, but chose to keep it understandable for his middle-school audience.

“I wanted to keep it as basic as I could, but also at an eighth-grade level,” he said.

Thomson said he would choose someplace other than his living room to test the pendulum. His two dogs would not leave him alone.

Then, when the testing ended and they could play with the pendulum, they ignored it.

“They just licked it and left,” Thomson said. “It really wasn’t that exciting to them unless they could not play with it.”

By Sebastian Moraga Shawn McNabb (from left), Chloe Bergstrom, Landon Edwards and Molly Boord, officers of the Mount Si High School Gay-Straight Alliance, display a homemade sign.

Four years removed from its moment in the spotlight, the Day of Silence returns to Mount Si High School April 20.

Students organizing the event, now in its 16th year nationwide and its seventh year at the school, reiterated their desire that the day be one of empathy, not criticism.

During the Day of Silence, people keep silent to honor those who have had to keep their sexual identities hidden over the years.

“It’s meant to be a day of solidarity with the LGBTQ community,” said Shawn McNabb, a junior at Mount Si and one of the officers of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, which organizes the Day of Silence. “It’s not intended to offend in any way any groups or individuals.”

LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning.

Day of Silence, Gay-Straight Alliance officer Landon Edwards said, is not a day of protest, either. Edwards called it a normal day of school.

“I am there and I learn,” Gay-Straight Alliance officer Molly Boord said. “But I don’t volunteer to say anything.”

Normalcy has not always been the case during Day of Silence.

In 2008, a group of people led by pastor Ken Hutcherson protested by waving signs outside of the school, while police watched.

Though the Day of Silence has been mostly peaceful since then, effects from that day still resonate on attendance sheets around the school.

Parents who have heard of the 2008 Day of Silence still associate that day with controversy and antagonism, and choose to keep their children at home, Edwards said.

“One of the things we are dealing with is a drop in attendance,” Edwards said. “We are really trying to work on that.”

Students who oppose the Day of Silence sometimes resort to stealing Day of Silence posters or writing on them, McNabb said.

On the other hand, Gay-Straight Alliance advisor Eric Goldhammer said instances of theft and vandalism have decreased, as has absenteeism.

Besides, that this year is the school’s seventh Day of Silence and participation keeps growing means the event has an effect on the students.

“It always succeeds,” Goldhammer said, “because it raises awareness.”

Gay-Straight Alliance Officer Chloe Bergstrom agreed.

“It shows those in the community that we are supporting them,” she said.

How much support? It depends on who you ask. The people the Day of Silence pays tribute to have been silent for years. How big of a difference can six hours of school make?

“You really can’t understand that kind of silence,” McNabb said. “But what you do is try to begin to understand that even a small amount of time can impress on you the weight of that silence.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

Sixth- through eighth-graders at Two Rivers School learned the intricacies of ham radio during a two-day, hands-on activity that turned part of the school into an amateur radio studio.

Stephen Kangas, a longtime ham radio aficionado, along with teacher Joe Burgener and his assistant Denise Atkinson, hosted the School Club Roundup.

The event, which occurred this winter, was the fifth year that Two Rivers has participated alongside schools across the nation, Kangas said in a press release.

Contributed Stephen Kangas (at right), a ham radio aficionado from North Bend, surrounds himself with budding amateur radio enthusiasts during the annual nationwide School Club Roundup.

The American Radio Relay League, which sponsored the event across the United States, described the roundup as a way to get young people interested in ham radio.

“Very often, a new operator will be intimidated by the fear of not knowing what to say to the stranger on the other side of the radio,” New York ham radio operator Lew Malchick wrote on the ARRL website. “The exchange of information helps to overcome this fear in a low-pressure format. Operators are encouraged to take some time to chat.”

Results from the February contest featured in the roundup have not been posted yet.

During the roundup, students of all ages, including the middle-schoolers at Two Rivers, used ham radios to learn about topics like politics, culture, law, foreign language, math and  science.

Students learn all of these subjects while attempting and achieving contact — via voice, computer and even Morse code — with other schools.

They learned how an antenna works, how its size relates to frequencies, and how the waves used for radio and TV through the air surround us all.

“For many of the kids, the most interesting part came on the second day, when they actually spent time behind the microphone,” Kangas said in the release, “talking to other kids and ham radio operators.”

Students huddled inside a Two Rivers classroom, and chatted with fellow amateur radio enthusiasts of all ages.

Some were close by, as close as Carnation. Some were far away, as far as Alaska, California, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. Topics ranged from just regular breeze-shooting to the Northern Lights.

“During these contacts, they learned about others’ lives, interests, geographic locations and more,” Kangas said.

The next roundup will be from Oct. 15-19, according to the ARRL website. Schools must either have a club license or have a licensed ham radio operator hosting.

Photos by Sebastian Moraga McKenna Esteb (from left), Annie Bruckner and Tori Rose, the first-, second-, and third-place finishers at the 2012 SnoValley Idol Junior contest March 31. Fourteen girls competed in the finals of the eight-year-old event.

On a wet night, musical talent reigned inside Mount Si High School on March 30.

The eighth annual SnoValley Idol Junior contest showcased some of the most talented teen and pre-teen singers in the region.

Fan-favorite McKenna Esteb, of Fall City, won the contest with a rendition of “Halo,” a Beyonce song. Annie Bruckner finished second and Tori Rose finished third.

Esteb, an eighth-grader at Chief Kanim Middle School, was the 11th of 14 singers that evening. She had a strong stage presence, stepping upstage to sing to the audience, and talking to the crowd (“I love you, I love you.”).

Her up-tempo choice of song and her talent also helped draw the crowd in.

This was Esteb’s first year in the competition.

A longtime singer, she said she only got serious about it last year, and began working with a vocal coach.

Esteb wants to be a professional singer when she grows up. She practiced on her church’s stage to prepare for the competition.

“I was pretty surprised. It took me a while to realize that I had won the whole thing,” she said.

She won a $50 gift card, a trophy and a teddy bear, whom she named after her friend Brianna, another contestant in the competition.

The contest featured mostly middle- and grade-schoolers and only one high-schooler — Mikaela Ballard, from Cedarcrest High School.

Eighth-grader Bruckner sang “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.” Actress Stockard Channing, as Betty Rizzo, sang it in the 1978 movie “Grease.”

“I have been watching that movie since I was 4,” Bruckner said. “I always felt bad for Rizzo.”

Sixth-grader Rose’s voice was a perfect fit for her choice of song, “Angel,” by Sarah McLachlan.

“I just knew the song and my mom really liked it,” Rose said, adding she did not mind finishing third.

“It’s a good experience anyway,” she said.

This was Rose’s fifth year in the contest and likely her last, she said.

“I just have done it five years and it’s time to try something new,” she added.

Judges selected Bruckner, Rose and Esteb as finalists and then let the audience vote for their favorite to decide the winner.

Both Rose and Esteb had brought a large contingent of fans, so when the emcee announced that Rose had finished third, Bruckner could not hide her surprise.

“I really thought I was going to get third,” Bruckner said. “I guess I feel OK finishing second, but it’s kind of a coincidence because Tori finished third last year, too.”

Bruckner and Rose differed on their views of how a winner gets elected.

“It’s a big popularity contest, and it’s been that way for a while,” Bruckner said matter-of-factly. “In the end it’s all about who brought the most friends.”

Rose said she liked getting the audience involved.

“It lets the audience be more of a part of it,” she said. “If it wasn’t that way it would not be as much fun for friends and stuff.”

Joe Dockery, the faculty adviser for the Mount Si High School chapter of Key Club, has been named the Key Club Faculty Adviser of the Year for the organization’s Pacific Northwest district.

The Pacific Northwest District spans northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska with thousands of high school chapters of Key Club.

Key Club is the high school version of Kiwanis, the international community service organization. Dockery received the honor at the Pacific Northwest district convention in SeaTac the weekend of April 1.

“That Joe is an exceptional teacher and adviser is actually not surprising to those who know of him,” Dave Humphrey, Kiwanis adviser to the Mount Si High School Key Club wrote in an email. “He has already had many honors bestowed upon him.”

Dockery began working with Humphries in 2007.

“He’s just a tremendous teacher,” Humphries said in a phone interview. “When he takes that into the Key Club, what he’s doing is using his skills in a really subtle way, but he empowers the kids and ultimately the kids run the meeting.”

One of those children is Molly Mabel, secretary of the school’s Key Club chapter. She called Dockery a great adviser.

“He sincerely cares about every project we work on,” Mabel wrote in an email. “He does not just oversee the work that the members do but he actively participates with us.”

Dockery was in New York on a field trip with students and was not available for comment.

He has won such awards as the KCTS Golden Apple Award, The Seattle Times Teacher of the Year and the Radio Shack National Technology Teacher of the Year.

Last year, Dockery won the Making IT Happen award from the International Society for Technology in Education.

“Those of us who know Joe Dockery, we know he is one of the leaders in the innovative things he is doing in technology,” Snoqualmie Valley Schools Superintendent Joel Aune said at the time. “We all know Mr. Dockery. We all know he is the best.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.

Vernie Newell, principal at Snoqualmie Middle School, will become principal of the Freshman Learning Center that will open in the SMS building in fall 2013.

Snoqualmie Valley Schools Superintendent Joel Aune appointed Newell March 30. Newell will continue as SMS principal this year and next.

“We believe that Vernie, working closely with Mount Si High School Principal John Belcher, will provide the leadership necessary to bring the vision of the Freshman Learning Center to reality,” Aune said in a statement the district released.

Newell, Aune added, has done a great job as principal of SMS for the past four years, and will be highly involved in creating the Freshman Learning Center.

“Vernie’s vision, core values, educational philosophy and professional experience combine to make him the perfect match for the work that lies ahead,” Aune said in the statement. “I am thrilled that he accepted the offer to assume the principalship there.”

By 2013, SMS will have become a freshmen-only campus and SMS students will have been relocated to the district’s two other middle schools, Twin Falls in North Bend and Chief Kanim in Fall City.

Belcher also praised Newell’s hiring, calling him the obvious choice for the job.

“I was looking for a leader that was strong in teaching and learning, strong in student and staff relationships, and someone with a track record of success as an administrator,” Belcher said in the same statement. “I am thrilled that Vernie is up for the challenge.”

A teacher and coach during his first 10 years in the district, Newell has worked as an administrator during his second decade in the district, first as assistant principal and athletic director and as principal since 2008.

“I feel honored to be chosen for this position, to work alongside Mr. Belcher to create an innovative new program that will serve all ninth-graders in our district,” Newell said in the statement.

Newell said he was also committed to offering a quality education at SMS.

“Please know that leading up to this transition, I’m committed to your students and our staff family at SMS and will continue to work towards and expect the same high quality educational outcomes that our efforts are achieving for your students,” Newell wrote in an email to SMS parents.