BEST students prepare new home

If all goes well, the Lake Washington School District's Basic Education Skills Training (BEST) students will have a new home in the fall.

Benn Henry, teacher - director of the program, said the move of the BEST portable building from its current location on the district's Voc-Tech campus to the unused playshed on the Central School campus hinges on city approval of a conditional use permit application. A hearing on the application is set for an August planning commission meeting.

Henry and teachers Rosalind Spitzer and Carol Poliak believe the move will be good for the 40 students in the BEST program, all potential dropouts or returning dropouts from the district's three high schools. The windows in the portable in the present location now look out on a gray building. At the new location they will have a view of the Kirkland waterfront and the Central School playfield.

The site also offers room for expansion. Henry said a grant application is in which would fund building of a greenhouse for students use. The BEST program emphasizes practical and vocational training, as well as basic skills education.

Henry said the move has generated some support -- already, donations of bolts, some lumber and plywood and other building materials have come in. Henry said other contributions would be welcome. The biggest contributions the community could make to the program, however, are in time and effort, he added. He said an appeal to the business community for tutoring assistance was not answered last fall.

He does, however, have the assistance of a University of Washington student who is volunteering his time this summer to assist about 10 student volunteers in demolition of part of the playshed and design of the portable housing.

"This project will help students be more involved in their program. They may learn something, too." Henry said.

Quite a bit of orderly demolition had been accomplished since work began June 5 -- with all the usable spare lumber saved. But the project is going slow until a city go-ahead is certain. Henry said he hopes the move can be accomplished before the slated school opening.

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