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.
Orthodontist sponsors contest to recognize local teachers
January 25, 2012
Essays highlight outstanding educators in Snoqualmie Valley
Contributed Twin Falls Middle School eighth-grade teacher Carolyn Phelps, student Amanda Antoch and Dr. Kirby Nelson celebrate Antoch’s contest-winning essay about why Phelps is the best teacher in North Bend. The contest was sponsored by Kirby Nelson Orthodontics.
About every two months, Kirby Nelson Orthodontics holds a contest throughout the Snoqualmie Valley to get its patients involved with the office.
From live tutors to online help, libraries offer academic aid
January 25, 2012
“Fundamentally, we can find almost anything almost anytime for almost anybody,” said Marsha Iverson, public relations specialist for the King County Library System.
From its “Ask a Librarian” service to online help, the library system offers numerous types of homework and study help for students of all ages.
That’s a good thing, added Ann Crewdson, the children’s section supervisor for the Issaquah and Sammamish branch libraries.
Studies show the stronger the relationship between local libraries and local schools, the higher the average test scores in those schools, Crewdson said.
The KCLS Study Zone program is one of the more noteworthy local programs aimed at students, said Jerene Battisti, KCLS education and teen services coordinator.
Study Zone provides tutors who visit branch libraries, including the North Bend and Snoqualmie libraries.
Anderson supports charter schools
January 25, 2012
State Rep. Glenn Anderson (R-Fall City) has backed a bill that would introduce a number of charter schools in Washington and another that would change the way public school teachers are evaluated.
Charter schools are public schools that operate independent from a district board of education.
Voters in Washington have repeatedly rejected charter schools.
More than 30 states have them.
According to the Washington House Republicans website, Anderson said it’s time to inject greater innovation and energy into the state’s underperforming and failing schools.
The second bill, introduced Jan. 12, would include performance into hiring decisions and allow teachers with poor evaluations to lose tenure.
“Excellent teachers are the proven solution to dramatically improve our children’s learning,” Anderson said. “We cannot continue to leave 30 percent of our children behind and allow many more to graduate without essential basic skills to attend a four-year university or a community college without some remedial coursework.”
Anderson is a co-sponsor of the bills. He is retiring from the Legislature to run for lieutenant governor in November.
Local alum makes dean’s list at UW
January 25, 2012
Mount Si High School alum Taylor Campbell is making the grade at the University of Washington, where he is studying aeronautical engineering.
Campbell, who graduated from Mount Si in 2010, was recently named to the dean’s list for the university’s school of engineering.
Students find the way using new technology
January 18, 2012
Looking at a map got a great deal more fun this year for middle school students. District teachers now use StrataLogica, a software that allows students to create maps, charts and presentations about any place in the world throughout history. By Sebastian Moraga
With the click of a mouse, the world comes alive at middle school classrooms.
Students in social studies classes from sixth to eighth grades have begun using StrataLogica, a mapping and layering software that allows students to create custom maps of any place in the world at any point in history.
