Category: Education

Source: Northwest Indian College

At the beginning of April, Northwest Indian College (NWIC) students headed to Scottsdale, Arizona with a business plan concept in their hands that they hoped was creative enough and put together well enough to out-compete the business plans of tribal college students from across the nation.

The students were in Arizona April 11-13 for the American Indian Business Leaders (AIBL) 2013 Annual National Conference, at which a student business plan competition took place.

The mission of AIBL is to increase the representation of American Indians and Alaska Natives in business and entrepreneurial ventures through education and leadership development opportunities. The business plan competition supports AIBL’s mission by requiring participating students to develop the concept for a business and a written plan for its implementation.

“The competition has us put an idea into words, and then come up with a solid plan for the idea, and then present it in a convincing and thorough enough way to persuade someone to support it,” said NWIC team member Stephanie Charlie, Suquamish. “It gave us hands-on, real world experience. We would have to do the same thing if we were applying for a loan, for instance.”

NWIC team members Jennifer Cordova-James, Allen Revey, Bonnie Russell, Robert Gladstone, and Stephanie Charlie were joined at the conference by NWIC business instructor Steve Zawoysky. Adib Jamshedi, from Lummi Ventures, didn’t attend the conference, but he did provide students with his expertise.

“Adib provided great support in developing the business plan concept,” Zawoysky said.

Students called their plan “Traditional Journeys,” a name that represents the plan’s cultural tourism focus. The plan’s four-hour journey would include a short canoe paddle, a traditional meal, storytelling, songs, dance, and a short nature walk discussing traditional plants and foods.

Charlie said she felt a mixture of emotions heading into the competition – she was both confident and nervous at the same time.

“I wasn’t nervous about the quality of our concept, but about presenting it because I get nervous speaking in front of people,” Charlie said. “Speaking about the plan got easier each time we practiced it, though.”

And the team practiced a lot, Zawoysky said.

“We spent eight to 10 additional hours just practicing the oral presentation once we arrived in Arizona,” Zawoysky said. “It was definitely a working trip.”

Charlie agreed.

“We didn’t have time to sight see, that’s for sure,” she said.

All of that practice paid off. The NWIC team’s plan and presentation was enough to win first place.

“It was really validating for the students,” Zawoysky said. “All of the students were dedicated and motivated to write and present this great business concept. The judges seemed to be most impressed with the cultural content of the concept, by the passionate presentation by the students, and sincere interest in sharing some of the cultural traditions of the Lummi people.”

Zawoysky hopes the win will help build enthusiasm and participation in NWIC’s AIBL chapter, and said it comes at an ideal time, as the college begins offering courses for its newly accredited Bachelor of Arts in Tribal Governance and Business Management program.

“I highly recommend other students get involved in AIBL,” Charlie said. “It’s an experience I will remember for the rest of my life and I look forward to going back again next year.”

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Northwest Indian College is an accredited, tribally chartered institution headquartered on the Lummi Reservation at 2522 Kwina Road in Bellingham Wash., 98226, and can be reached by phone at (866) 676-2772 or by email at info@nwic.edu.

Quil Ceda-Tulalip Elementary School wins Cultural Awareness Award

Source: The Herald

The Lakewood High School jazz choir, Swingbeat, took first place for the fourth consecutive year at the Pleasant Hill Jazz Festival, held April 20 in Oregon, the most recent of its accomplishments this year. In addition, Conrad Gruener took home a Festival Soloist Award for his guitar solo for a second year.

Other members of Swingbeat: Mariah Avellaneda, Kylie Bolin, Brent Cross, Ryan Cross, Charles Davis, Andrea Eitner, Cassidy Fry, Kelsi Fry, Kendra Guinn, Jamie Johnson, Megan Knibbe, Aaron Lapointe, Charlotte Mack, Jacob Mack, Megan Mccrorey, Sierra Murdzia, Cara Nordquist, Bryce Shepard, Laena Skiles, Caleb Smith, Ryleigh Stover, Kaley Trapp and Sylvia Wentz.

The choir also performed at the Frank DeMiero Jazz Festival in March, where vocalist Kelsi Fry won a solo award. Earlier, they performed on stage at Disneyland.

Director Katy Trapp said Swingbeat this year was the first vocal jazz group to be selected into KPLU’s School of Jazz, now in its ninth year. The group recently recorded with vocal jazz professional Greta Matassa; a CD will be released by KPLU in May.

Mariner choir enjoys success in Florida

Hard work paid off for members of the men’s, women’s and chamber choirs at Mariner High School in south Everett. All three groups earned first-place, gold medal awards at the Heritage Music Festival in Orlando over spring break and won the choir sweepstakes award. Senior Hector Ruiz also was awarded an individual excellence award.

Choir director Patty Schmidt said the students are now looking forward to accepting an invitation to perform at the National Youth Choir at Carnegie Hall in New York City next year. It will be the second time the group has received such an invitation.

Monroe students take top music honors

Musicians from the Monroe High School instrumental music program won the Sweepstakes Award for Best Instrumental Program at the recent Heritage Music Festival in Seattle, as well as the Adjudicators Award. The Monroe students competed against bands from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

In addition, the wind ensemble received the only Gold rating as well as first place, and the symphonic band received a Silver rating and second place in the 3A Concert Band division. Both groups also won Outstanding Band Group trophies. The percussion ensemble also received a silver rating.

Band director Lisa White said the wind ensemble now looks forward to competing by invitation at the national level.

Schools give away 330 books — to parents

Staff members from Monte Cristo and Mountain Way elementary schools in Granite Falls on April 23 gave away 330 free books to local parents to help increase literacy awareness as part of World Book Night.

Monte Cristo multiage teacher Debra Howell received a grant worth $5,000 in free books from the World Book Night organization to participate in the national event. Teachers distributed about 165 books at each school.

“We have a strong focus on children’s literacy in our elementary schools so this is a perfect way to promote adult literacy,” Howell said. “We don’t have a book store in Granite Falls for adults to purchase books so this is just one way for parents to receive a brand new book just for themselves,” she added.

Everett teen selected for German exchange

Maike Zehrung, a senior at Cascade High School in Everett, was one of 25 students in the United States chosen to be part of the Congress-Bundestag Vocational Youth Exchange Program.

The full-scholarship program will allow Zehrung to spend a year in Germany living with a host family and getting hands-on work experience through an internship with a German company.

Zehrung will leave in July for Washington, D.C. for orientation and then to Munich, Germany for an intensive German language course prior to the host family and internship assignment.

Math whiz named district Key Club treasurer

Eric Grewal, a member of Monroe High School’s Key Club, was recently elected treasurer of the Pacific Northwest District Key Club, thanks to his math skills and a successful election campaign.

This is the first time a Monroe Key Club member has been elected to a district office. The district includes four states and two provinces. Key Club is the high school level of Kiwanis International.

In campaigning for the position, Grewal said he used his DECA skills to sell himself and his qualifications. DECA is a high school marketing club. Eric heads to DECA International competitions later this month after placing fourth in business finance at a state competition.

Griffith inducted into honor society

Marysville resident Joshua Griffith was inducted into the Alpha Chi Honor Society April 20. Griffith is a senior computer science major at Harding University in Arkansas.

The society recognizes the academic excellence of college students nationwide. Selected students fall in the top 10 percent of their class.

Spanish teacher honored by Rotary

Beth Knutsen, Spanish teacher at Lynnwood High School, has been named the Alderwood-Terrace Rotary Club’s Educator of the Month for April. “She is a thoughtful person who manages to convey her deep desire for students to understand the culture of Spanish-speaking countries and the excitement of learning a foreign language,” Principal David Golden said.

Schools honored by state for best practices

Schools receiving 2012 Washington Achievement Awards will be honored at a ceremony on April 30 at Kentwood High School in Covington.

The award is based on the Washington Achievement Index and celebrates schools for overall excellence and special recognition in various subject areas.

Arlington School District: Kent Prairie Elementary (overall excellence and science)

Edmonds School District: Brier Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Challenge Elementary (math and science), Chase Lake Elementary (closing achievement gaps and high progress), Edmonds Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Edmonds Heights K-12 (extended graduation rate), Hazelwood Elementary (high progress), Maplewood Parent Coop (overall excellence and science), Meadowdale Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Meadowdale Middle School (closing achievement gaps), and Seaview Elementary (closing achievement gaps)

Everett School District: Cedar Wood Elementary gifted (overall excellence), Forest View Elementary (overall excellence and science), Gateway Middle School (overall excellence and science), Heatherwood Middle School (overall excellence), Jefferson Elementary (closing achievement gaps and science), Mill Creek Elementary (overall excellence-gifted), Silver Lake Elementary (overall excellence, math, science and high progress), and Woodside Elementary (science)

Lake Stevens School District: Hillcrest Elementary (closing achievement gaps and high progress)

Marysville School District: Marysville Coop Program (science) and Marysville Middle School (closing achievement gaps)

Monroe School District: Sky Valley Education Center (extended graduation rate)

Mukilteo School District: Columbia Elementary (closing achievement gaps), Fairmount Elementary (science), Kamiak High School (overall excellence and math), Mariner High School (language arts), Odyssey Elementary (overall excellence and science)

Snohomish School District: Glacier Peak High School (extended graduation rate)

Sultan School District: Sultan Elementary (closing achievement gaps and science)

WEA announces award winners

The Washington Education Association announced the winners of its Human and Civil Rights Awards on April 25 at its annual convention in Bellevue.

Winning one of the Cultural Awareness Awards was the entire staff of Quil Ceda-Tulalip Elementary School in Marysville for integrating Native culture in academics and, in the process, outperforming some 1,700 other schools across the country that receive Federal School Improvement Grants.

The Community Service Award went to the English Language Learners Family Literacy Program in the Edmonds area for the depth of the program and the numbers it serves. The program serves more than 600 parents, offers free English classes, on-site child care services and homework support.

Contact: Community Outreach Coordinator, Math Acceleration, Quilceda and Tulalip Elementary

Quilceda and Tulalip Elementary book fair, which will be held Monday through Friday, May 20-24,  is in need of volunteers.

We will begin with setting up the book fair on Friday, May 17th at 1:30 p.m. We will need as many volunteers as possible to help this get done quickly.

We will then need volunteers Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. We have half day options available as well. But a total of 3 people throughout the entire day.

We will then need as many volunteers as possible the evening of Wed, May 22nd to help with our pajama literacy night from 4:00-7:00 p.m.

Then we will clean up the book fair on Friday, May 24th at 4:00 p.m. Again, we will need as many volunteers as possible.

If you are interested in volunteering for any of these spots, please email me at kristine_leone@msvl.k12.wa.us so I can send you a personal invitation to view our volunteerspot.com online where you can sign up for the days and times that work for your schedule.

Basic education still covers the separate and growing expenses of bus transportation and of materials, supplies and operational costs. The state pays a different amount of money to each school district for buses and supplies. Those sums are based on the number of students and a complicated formula written into the recent laws. Today, the state does not cover the whole bill, which forces districts to divert local levy dollars from classroom instruction to make up the difference.

Those laws in 2009 and 2010 also required the state to do a lot more in certain areas of basic education by the 2017-18 school year.

Among the major changes are:

•Increasing the minimum number of instructional hours for seventh through 12th grades from 1,000 hours to 1,080 hours. It will remain at 1,000 hours for first through sixth grades.

Increasing the minimum number of credits for high school graduation from 20 to 24.

Boosting support of career and technical education and skill centers.

Providing full-day kindergarten in schools statewide.

Reducing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade.

Paying the entire bill for student transportation.

Increasing funds for maintenance, supplies and operation.

Increasing salaries for administrative and classified employees in line with a formula written into the 2010 legislation.

Facing the price tag

Lawmakers knew the price tag for these enhancements of basic education would be in the billions of dollars. But until the McCleary family sued and won, state leaders had shown little compunction to face the financial challenge.

This year, they are.

Budgets passed in the House and Senate and the proposal put forth by the governor each earmark at least $1 billion for the state’s unpaid portion of basic education.

All three plans designate the majority of new money for buses and supplies because it will free up local levy funds for instruction.

There are significant variations after that.

For example, the Senate puts $240 million into learning assistance programs and nothing into reducing the number of students in kindergarten through third-grade classes. The House, on the other hand, puts $225 million into class-size reduction and $22.8 million into remediation programs. Inslee’s approach is similar — $128 million for smaller classes and $28 million for LAP.

Inslee and leaders of the two chambers will work to settle this and other differences before the scheduled end of the session April 28.