Eagle Scout project encourages more reading

Eagle Scout project encourages more reading

Eagle Scout candidate Parker Kee presented his “Read More!” sharing libraries to Machias Elementary School staff and teachers in September. Parker, 16, was project manager for his project that took 1,169 hours to complete.

The sharing libraries are historic replicas of past Machias schools, designed from 1904 and 1910 photographs. Features built into the libraries include oak shelf cabinets on casters, over 2,500 custom cut cedar shingles, and scale trim and porch detail. A small book drive was also organized to seed the libraries with age-appropriate books. The shorter library was built for kindergarten through third-grade students and the taller library was for those in fourth through sixth grades.

Parker is a Life Scout with Troop 288, The Bridge Church, in Snohomish and a junior at Snohomish High School. Working with the principal of Machias Elementary, he developed the concept for the libraries in March 2018 in order to “help get kids to read more,” and built his literacy message around it, “Read More!”

Parker’s love of history led him to research about the old Machias schools and weave them into his project. Parker established three goals for his Eagle Scout Project: To encourage students to “Read More!” at least 30 minutes a day. To create a sharing community with access to free books — “Take a book and leave a book. And to connect students with their local history.

Parker assembled a team of sponsors to fund and help with the project: Machias Elementary School, TRICO Companies, Capital Architects, Scout Troop 288, and the Kee, Solie and Jacobs families. Parker compiled funding and in-kind donations for the project of $2,434. He built and led a team of 74 volunteers to contribute 1,169 hours of labor from design to woodworking. Personally, Parker contributed 291 hours of service coordinating, managing and directly working on the libraries.

Parker thinks about all the kids and people who will enjoy the libraries and a future where his own children may get the opportunity to use the libraries. But he will say, “That is a long way off.” For now, he remains focused on his schoolwork, Marine Corps JROTC activities, Scouts and on the next step to becoming an Eagle Scout, with a board interview in the coming months.

Source: Roger Kee

Mukilteo Way Garden Club’s $1,000 winner

Ricardo Naranjo is the recipient of the Mukilteo Way Garden Club’s $1,000 Horticultural Scholarship for 2019-2020.

Naranjo, of Cashmere, will be a senior, continuing his studies at Washington State University, Pullman. Previously, he worked fulltime and attended Wenatchee Valley College to earn a degree in Sustainable Agriculture. After working for the Institute of Environmental Health, he enrolled at WSU where he is carrying a double major in fruit and vegetable management and greenhouse nursery and landscape management and a double minor in horticulture and agriculture systems. He interned over the summer at an entomology lab and continues to seek other horticultural experiences such as vitaculture.

His statement: “I am not just going to school for myself, but for everyone that has helped me throughout this journey. I aspire to one day be in a position in which I may be able to help other students out as well.”

The Mukilteo Way Garden Club established their annual scholarship in 2007 with proceeds from the first Mukilteo Garden and Quilt Tour. The tour has been presented biennially with the Mukilteo Lighthouse Quilters since. The next tour is July 2021.

Source: Mukilteo Way Garden Club

Compass Health Building Communities of Hope gala raises over $288,000

Compass Health’s Building Communities of Hope Gala raised more than $288,000 to support hundreds of youth whose lives have been impacted by behavioral health challenges and family substance use disorders.

More than 520 people attended the September event, surpassing attendance and fundraising goals for the third consecutive year. Organizers attribute the momentum, in part, to a greater recognition of the role that behavioral healthcare plays in addressing challenges at the community level, and its ability to support whole person health.

Funds will support two of Compass Health’s most transformational youth programs: Camp Outside the Box and Camp Mariposa. The camps help youth who face significant personal behavioral health challenges and family chemical dependency issues. Compass Health unveiled a new video at the event, which illustrates the power of the programs to help children and teens make connections, learn skills to cope and, ultimately, to thrive.

The event, presented by Coast Property Management and the Martyn Family Foundation, featured TED speaker, comedian and mental health advocate Bill Bernat, as the keynote speaker. Bernat used comedy and storytelling to deliver an inspirational talk that married his personal story with the innovative approach of Compass Health’s youth services. A recovering addict living with bipolar condition, he discussed his own mental health struggles as a child and highlighted the importance of early intervention and outreach.

For more than a century, Compass Health has served youth in Northwest Washington communities, demonstrating a continued commitment to its youth mental health programs. The two programs that benefited from the gala are led by mental health professionals and counselors from Compass Health and administered through Compass Health’s Wraparound with Intensive Services program.

More than 160 youth from the Wraparound program participate in Compass Health’s Camp Outside the Box, which complements individuals’ ongoing treatment plans and helps campers with peer relationship building, communication-skills, pro-social behaviors and self-esteem.

Camp Mariposa is a national addiction prevention and mentoring program serving youth that have been impacted by substance abuse in their families. Held in partnership with the Eluna Network, this free program offers traditional camp activities combined with educational exercises led by trained mentors. Additional mentoring services and support activities are available to youth, teens and their families year-round.