“We are waiting for our 30-day (progress) reports because the first ones didn’t come out right. Spring break is almost here. I’m looking forward to working out for football. Hopefully, we can break the record next year.”
– Kaden Karras,
ninth grade, referring to the school’s long winless streak
Explorer Middle School recently placed ninth among the top 50 schools in the state in a Washington State MathCounts competition in Seattle, thanks in part to strong performances from eighth-graders Cullen Wash and Kurt Doten.
Cullen finished in the top 10 percent among some of the state’s top young mathematicians while Kurt placed in the top 25 percent. Both took geometry as seventh-graders and plan to take trigonometry as high school freshmen next year. Each said they enjoyed the competition.
“What could be more fun than spending a whole Saturday doing math?” Kurt said.
“It’s better than spending a whole Saturday doing chores,” Cullen said.
Other members of the state-qualifying team were Danny Kitt, Ashwin Vaidyanathan, Alice Kim and Timothy Chang. Damon Schafte and Jen Munson were Explorer’s coaches. Explorer, which won regionals for the north Puget Sound area in February, is in the Mukilteo School District.
Students at Monroe Elementary School in Everett raised $1,859.06 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The total beat nearby rival Silver Lake Elementary School, which raised an almost equally impressive $1,806 during a three-week campaign.
For their hard work, Monroe students were treated Friday to watching principal Gerard Holzman walk around with his hair colored red, white and blue – the school’s colors.
“I promised them I’d do it if they raised more than Silver Lake,” Holzman said Friday afternoon, adding that he had a sign on his back thanking students for raising so much money. “That made it very personal for them, which is why I did it.”
Wednesday is the last day to suggest a name for Arlington’s second middle school, scheduled to open during the 2005-06 school year.
For more information, visit www.asd.wednet.edu.
School board policy says buildings can be named after people who have attained national or local prominence, past U.S. presidents or Washington national senators or representatives, or local geography.
Gary Taber is expected to become the new principal of North Lake Middle School. The Lake Stevens School Board will be asked to approve his hiring at the April 28 meeting. Principal Fran Ennis is retiring after 16 years at Lake Stevens High School and North Lake Middle School.
Taber has more than 35 years of experience in Maryland, Canada and Great Britain, and is now principal at Otter Valley Union High School in Vermont.
Taber will visit North Lake Middle School on April 13 and 14 and people will have a chance to meet him. An afternoon welcome and ice cream social is planned for 3 p.m. April 13.
What’s up at your school? Call us at 425-339-3036 or schoolfyi@heraldnet.com.
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