School life: Winners
Published 11:12 pm Monday, April 14, 2008
Mukilteo Winterguard teams win at state
Mukilteo School District high school students recently received first- and second-place awards at the Northwest Pageantry Association state championship.
The Kamiak High School Winterguard dance team won the state title for the third year in a row for a performance of its show “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”
The Mariner High School Winterguard won second place for its show “Tribal Dances: Opposition.”
Students make quilts for hospice patients
Students in Lyn Geronimi’s special education class at Kamiak High School have been making quilts for hospice patients at Providence Everett Medical Center through a grant the school received.
Last year, students from the Mukilteo School District campus made activity aprons for stroke patients at Providence.
The projects help students develop important skills as they learn to help others, Geronimi said.
Edmonds students go to nation’s capital
Five students in the deaf and hard-of-hearing program at Edmonds-Woodway High School have qualified for the national Deaf Academic Bowl in Washington, D.C., on April 24.
Led by coaches Lori Seago and Paul Glaser, team members are Jordan Paradis, captain, and Thadeus Brown, Taylor Yukawa, Daniil Dovgopolyy and Kyle Brossoit.
Everett students receive updated computer lab
The Everett campus of Cedar Park Christian School has opened an updated computer lab.
The lab and improvements to the school’s wiring were largely funded through a school auction and donations by parents.
Students at the school are expected to use the technology beginning in kindergarten and continuing through high school.
Granite Falls student places in spelling bee
Aakash Sethi, a seventh-grade student at Granite Falls Middle School, recently won sixth place in the regional spelling bee in downtown Seattle.
Aakash was one of 53 finalists in King and Snohomish counties to participate in the regional finals. The annual bee is open to students in grades six, seven and eight.
Sultan student given chance to study abroad
Nicholas Gregg, a Sultan High School student from Gold Bar, has been awarded an AFS Awards for Excellence scholarship to study abroad.
Gregg is among only 120 students nationwide to receive the scholarship. He will receive $1,000 to study with AFS in Russia. AFS used to stand for American Field Service.
More than 1,400 students were nominated for the program, which is sponsored by AFS Intercultural Programs, USA, a leader in international high school student exchange for more than 60 years.
Gregg was nominated by Jill Sumpter, his music and drama teacher at Sultan High School.
This year’s scholarships, totaling nearly $200,000, provide recipients with the opportunity to study abroad in one of 40 countries around the world.
Cosmetology students raise $530 for animals
Students at the Milan Institute of Cosmetology in Everett raised $530 for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals event “Go Orange for Animals Day.”
The students and staff who participated in the fundraiser are Sally Urlin, Cali Manni, Brittny Thomas, Heather DeGroot, Sharon Sparling, Rebecca Wysiel, Collette Beltran, Courtney Barry, Megan Spane, Stephanie Lindbloom, Kelly Deal, Miranda Silva, Brittany Graham, Amber Robertson, Katie Lopacinski, Alisha Harris, Haley Brown, Ami Newman, Melinda Harrison, Jamie Kissner, Tina Sun, Isis Juarez, Leilani Lobdell, Ayla Webster, Amy Aman, Rita Aronson, Alycen McIssac, Andrea Murphy, Colette Beltran, Amy Brenberger, LaDonna Dawson, Chuck Dawson and Mary Ann Davis.
Arlington vocal jazz choir wins first place
The Jazzmine vocal jazz choir from Arlington High School finished first in the vocal jazz contest portion at the eighth annual University of North Texas Jazz Festival in Addison, Texas.
Jazzmine singers Jen Wilson, Colt Kesselring, Crissa Crooks and Jacob Martin also captured four of six outstanding-soloist awards. Kesselring also won a scholarship to a University of North Texas jazz workshop.
After placing first and winning an award for superior performance, Jazzmine was selected to open for the evening performance.
The University of North Texas, where Nora Jones majored in jazz piano, is one of the premier jazz study programs in the country.
Archbishop Murphy mock trial places sixth at state
The Archbishop Murphy High School senior mock trial team recently placed sixth out of 20 teams in the 2008 state championship meet in Olympia.
Their win qualifies them to travel to North Carolina for the American Mock Trial Invitational.
Ten seniors and their chaperones will travel to Charlotte on May 16 for the event. In the last two years, Archbishop Murphy has been the only school in Snohomish County to place in the top six in the event.
Participants from the winning teams included attorneys Christine Baele, Sean Connelly, Shannon Hoban, Kestle Olson and Tim Yates. Witnesses were Isaac Bond, Kelly Gale, Fred Hines, Brian Mayerchak and Sky Muller. Other seniors who participated included attorney Kylen Stevenson, witnesses Emily Bigler and Stephanie Kaczka, and bailiff Spencer Getz.
The “Returners,” the younger Archbishop Murphy mock trial team, had a record of 2-2, and placed 15th. Attorneys were Lainie Boyle and Dan Oestreich. Witnesses were Marie Adams and Sarah Carratt.
Mock trial allows students to participate in a true-to-life courtroom drama. High school attorneys and witnesses prepare the case for trial and compete at district levels before real judges in actual courtrooms.
Elementary students dedicate new soccer field
Kindergarten through eighth-grade students at Northshore Christian Academy in Everett will gather at 2:30 p.m. Friday around their school soccer field for a dedication ceremony.
The event celebrates the $82,000 the students raised during their Field of Dreams walk-a-thon last June.
This year’s student walk-a-thon, Raise the Big Top, is set for June 3.
Students hope to raise $100,000 to match the $100,000 they received from the academy’s parent-teacher fellowship annual auction at Comcast Arena at the Everett Events Center. Those funds are for a covered playground.
Schools win English Language Learners grant
Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace high schools have been awarded an English Language Learners Parent Education Program grant by the Public Education Foundation for the Children of the Edmonds School District.
An end-of-term celebration is 7 p.m. Thursday at Mountlake Terrace High School. Each participating parent will receive a certificate.
The grant is used to help parents learn English so they can become more involved in their children’s education. The Public Education Foundation and the Edmonds School District support the parent literacy program.
Monroe student places third in geography bee
Zulqurnain Hussain, an eighth-grader at Monroe Middle School, recently won third place in the National Geographic Bee state finals in a contest that covers all areas of geography, including national and international geography and current events.
He was among 100 contestants from Washington to compete at the state level, and the only student from the Monroe School District.
The contest recently was held at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center.
This year, 21 contestants earned perfect scores, the first time in the contest’s history in Washington, said state coordinator Evelyn McNeal. A tie-breaker narrowed the group to 10.
For his finish, Zulqurnain received two certificates, a T-shirt, a medal, a ribbon, a world globe and $50 from the National Geographic Society.
First-place winners go to the National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C., May 20 and 21.
