Applause

Game on for Everett kids

More than 130 children came to the Everett Boys &Girls Club on Aug. 26 for their own Summer Olympics-style fun, with a long jump, 50-yard dash, basketball shootouts, football toss and other games.

The event was sponsored by UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Washington as part of an effort to raise awareness about nutrition and to promote physical activity to fight childhood obesity.

Girl Scouts earn elite Gold Award

Two local Girl Scouts recently earned their Gold Awards, the group’s highest honor. Nationally, less than 6 percent of Scouts achieve Gold Award status. A service project is a key part of earning the award.

Emma Kate Ramsey, from Troop 52148 in Everett, wrote and illustrated an educational comic about dyscalculia, an impairment of mathematical ability due to an organic condition of the brain. The comic can be found at www.theduckwebcomics.com/Dyscalculia. Ramsey attends Everett Community College and plans to pursue a career in illustration.

“This award is a symbol of having accomplished something big and having made a difference. For me, the award is education and fighting the lack of public knowledge on a condition that is believed to be even more common than we know,” she said.

Henry M Jackson High School graduate Sarah Christopher, from Troop 42012, developed a peer-to-peer buddy program for teens with special needs. Her program encouraged one-on-one buddy meetings as well as group outings to cool places like the zoo. Christopher attends Western Washington University, where she’s studying special education and elementary education with a minor in French language and culture.

“I got to see how much special needs families have to deal with (especially on outings) and see how that can affect the students. This really opened my eyes to some of the challenges they face and how I can make sure that I help them as much as possible when I have my own classroom and students,” she said.

Guns ‘n’ Hoses raises more than $400

Lake Stevens police officers and firefighters competed in an annual Guns ‘n’ Hoses charity softball game Aug. 18. Fire won the game, 16-9.

Volunteers included Bob Justice, Pam Stevens, Justin Reid, Boy Scout Troop 43, Savannah Anderson and the umpires.

A barbecue following the game raised $418, in addition to three boxes of donated school supplies, for the Lake Stevens Family Center.

Fluke employees clean up Jetty

More than 30 employees from Fluke Corp., headquartered in Everett, held a “Lend the Sand a Hand” volunteer event Aug. 20 to help clean up Jetty Island of trash and invasive Scotch broom plants. It was the inaugural event for the employee-led Fluke Accelerate community outreach group.

“It was sweaty, back-breaking work, but really rewarding to see how much progress we made in just a few hours,” Aaron Montgomery said.