Lake Washington High School Wins Scion Showdown
Toyota of Kirkland held a challenge between Lake Washington High School 
and Juanita High School, called the Scion Showdown. Each school painted a Toyota Scion representing their school, and then the Kirkland community was able to vote for their favorite. The final vote was LWHS 876 and JHS 513. Sarah Staeck, a senior at LWHS and Dawn Wyatt, her teacher won the prize of $1000 for the school’s Saul Haus scholarship fund, which will be matched by another $1000 and $500 to Sarah, which she plans to use towards her college tuition.
East-King School Retirees’ Association Presents Mini-Grants
The East-King School Retirees’ Association recently presented three mini-grants totaling $1478 to Lake Washington School District teachers.
Tina Kilroy of Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary received funds to purchase poetry books for a language and art infusion program. Anne Jordan of Kamiakin Junior High was funded for historical novels and activity books that will promote understanding of social studies content. A.G. Bell’s Julie Hembree, already known for her “Reading with Rover” program, received funds to buy books about animals for a backpack buddies program, which includes stuffed animals, to be used by primary students.
The East-King unit of the Washington State School Retirees’ Association meets monthly throughout the year and welcomes school employees and retired school employees at its meetings. The more than 340 members of the East-King unit raise funds year-round so they can assist active educators in need of extra funding for projects and programs. Grant applications are available each year in late November and need to be returned by the end of January. Grants are awarded in March.
Redmond High School Student Wins National Environmental Grant
Rachel Nakanishi, a senior at Redmond High School, has been awarded a National Environmental Education Foundation Planet Connect grant. Rachel’s grant will be used for her “1,000 Cup Challenge.” She noticed that customers at her local Starbucks did not know about or use Starbucks’ discount for reusing Starbucks cups or personal reusable cups. She plans to challenge their customer base to reuse their cups or bring their own personal cups from home by creating posters to educate the public about how waste impacts the store’s carbon footprint and will convert cups saved into pounds of carbon dioxide saved from the atmosphere. Rachel hopes that her project can serve as a model to be used by many other businesses. The funding for this project will be used to purchase a Starbucks-approved trash container for recycling, a Starbucks approved trash container for composting, and bio bags for composting. Planet Connect is a component of Classroom Earth, a national initiative in partnership with The Weather Channel. Planet Connect is an interactive social networking site for teens interested in the environment. Rachel is one of only 29 students from across the country to receive such a grant and one of two from Washington. She and the other students will serve as national models for how high school students can take an active role in improving an environmental issue within their school or community.
Lake Washington High School Student Selected as Rotary’s Student of the Month
Sam Woo, a senior at Lake Washington High School, is Kirkland Rotary’s Student of Month for April. Sam is the State Secretary for Washington’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter as well as ASB Treasurer at Lake Washington High School. As the student of the month, Sam has been invited to attend the group’s meetings throughout the month.
Explorer Wins “Kids Are Growing” Contest
Explorer Community School won a contest sponsored by the Washington State Potato Commission, PCC, and the International Greenhouse Company called “Kids Are Growing.” They were awarded $1,000 from the Commission, a greenhouse from the International Greenhouse Company, and additional money and prizes from PCC. King 5 sponsored the advertising of the contest. All of these organizations will be coming to the school on Tuesday, April 14, at 2:30 p.m. to make the official presentation to the students for their efforts in sustainable/organic gardening practices that support their local Hope Link Food Bank. The school will use the winnings to create an outdoor science lab, including the purchase of tables, a greenhouse, additional native plant garden, etc., and to increase their yield for the food bank.
The Fifteen Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
March was reading month at Sandburg Elementary and Discovery Community School. The students were challenged to read 100 minutes per hat. The challenge was delivered at an assembly on March 9. If they collected 1500 hats by March 25, Principal Mark Blomquist would read a Dr. Seuss story to them from the roof of the building at all morning recesses. The students were determined, and combined they turned in 1743 hats. Collectively, that is equal to 174,300 minutes of reading. Shown: Principal Bloomquist reading from the rooftop.
LWHS Students Receives President’s Award Scholarship
Lake Washington High School senior Lyndsey Burke received the President’s Award Scholarship worth $40,000 from Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. There is only one President’s award given each year. Corcoran invited Lyndsey and her family for a private tour at the end of March.
LWEF Funds Rose Hill Junior High Band Trip to Victoria
The Lake Washington Education Foundation (LWEF) approved a grant to fund the Rose Hill Junior High Symphonic Band’s trip to Victoria B.C. on March 5. Angela Laulainen, the band director at RHJH wrote a proposal to the LWEF to help fund the trip, which included several specific purposes, including giving the students the chance to experience border crossing and the culture and diversity of Victoria. The amount of funds approved covered the entire student cost for the trip. The band traveled to Victoria to participate in an International Band Festival at the University of Victoria during a day of international travel. The day included a morning rehearsal, border crossing, a guided city bus tour and time exploring the city. The band festival included a performance, adjudication, and an on-stage clinic. The band students gave a professional and high quality performance at the festival, and should be congratulated for the work that went into their performance.
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News from the Schools is compiled by the Lake Washington School District Communications Department. For more information or to submit your school's news, please e-mail Kathryn Reith or Shannon Parthemer.