Arlington, Oak Harbor fare well in culinary competition
Oak Harbor High School won first place in cooking skills and Arlington High School took home top honors in overall combined score at a statewide culinary competition earlier this month in Spokane.
High school students statewide competed for honors and scholarships in the 2008 Boyd Coffee ProStart Invitational March 7 and 8 at the Red Lion at the Park in Spokane.
Washington high school teams sauteed, boiled, chopped and answered grueling quiz-bowl questions. At stake were scholarships totaling more than $450,000 provided by The Art Institutes, The Culinary Institute of America, International Air Hospitality, Johnson &Wales University and Washington State University School of Hospitality.
The competition also offered the chance to advance to the National ProStart Invitational April 24-26 in San Diego.
Oak Harbor and Lewis and Clark High School placed first in culinary and restaurant management respectively and now advance to the national competition, where they will face 350 other competitors.
This is the second straight year that Oak Harbor placed first in culinary skills — this year under extreme circumstances.
Overcoming a failed and flaming butane burner at the onset of the cooking portion of the competition, the team focused and repaired the situation with poise — all while under the scrutiny of judges and hundreds of onlookers.
Arlington High School placed third in the restaurant management portion. Overall top combined scores went to Arlington as well.
The invitational is part of a two-year program aimed at helping high school students launch careers in the restaurant industry. The ProStart program is managed locally by the Washington Restaurant Association Education Foundation in partnership with the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The program is in 40 schools throughout the state.
EvCC wins national grant to boost biology
The National Science Foundation has awarded Everett Community College a $58,000 grant for biology equipment and hands-on learning.
The funding will pay for additional laptop computers and molecular biology equipment.
“There are a lot of students for whom the traditional lecture and lab approach doesn’t work,” said EvCC biology instructor Pamela Pape-Lindstrom. “This approach changes the way we teach biology.”
Pape-Lindstrom wrote the grant with EvCC grant coordinator Carla Shafer and biology instructor Fayla Schwartz.
The grant focuses on interactive learning through computer programs and other methods.
For example, instead of just reading and listening about cellular signaling pathways, they would construct their own with the help of computer animation exercises.
Biology classes began using the active learning approach this fall with computers from the EvCC Library. Pape-Lindstrom hopes the new equipment will arrive for use by spring quarter.
She also hopes the active learning approach will encourage more students to pursue careers in science.
During her quarter of leave in 2006, Pape-Lindstrom developed the series for students working toward degrees in biology, pharmacy, medicine, dentistry and veterinary science. The courses are closely aligned with the prerequisites required by Washington state public four-year colleges and universities.
The biology grant follows an $89,000 NSF award in 2006 for chemistry equipment. The grant paid for an infrared spectrometer and a NMR spectrometer. The technology, used to determine the structure of chemical compounds is available to more than 400 EvCC chemistry students every year.
That grant proposal was developed by EvCC chemistry instructor Sumita Singh in conjunction with EvCC grant developer Carla Shafer.
The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. Each year, the foundation receives about 40,000 competitive requests for funding and makes about 11,000 new funding awards.
Stanwood qualifies for state Science Olympiad finals
The Stanwood High School science team finished third at the Northwest Regional Science Olympiad competition at Everett Community College on March 8.
Twenty high school teams from the Puget Sound area competed in 23 different science and engineering events.
The Stanwood team qualified to move on to the state Science Olympiad April 5 at Eastern Washington University. They are set to compete against the top 25 high school teams from around the state.
Medal winners from Stanwood High School at the regional competition were:
Astronomy, first place, Ryan Knott and Evan Jones
Boomilever, second place, Derek Britain and Steven Evans
Chemistry Lab, third place, AJ Brodin and Max Osnes
Circuit Lab, second place, Christy Swartz and Jimmy Bescanson
Disease Detective, fourth place, Klayton Brown and Christy Swartz
Electric Vehicle, first place, Jimmy Bescanson and Derek Britain
Fermi Questions, first place, Jason Ervin and Alec Parker
Food Science, first place, Alec Parker and Josh Hamre
Herpetology, second place, Josh Hamre and Alec Parker
Oceanography, second place, Emily Brodin and Ryan Knott
Physics Lab, third place, Briana Palmer and Christy Swartz
Robot Ramble, second place, Derek Britain and Jimmy Bescanson
Rocks &Minerals, first place, Ryan Knott and Steven Evans
Sounds of Music, first place, Jimmy Besancon and Christy Swartz
Shankar wins UW Bothell annual award
Gowri Shankar has been given the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Washington’s Bothell campus.
Shankar, an associate professor in the business program, has taught courses in finance, accounting and economics at UW Bothell since 2001. He has built a reputation among both his students and his faculty colleagues as a dedicated teacher with a strong commitment to the long-term intellectual and professional development of his students.
“Dr. Shankar is a model faculty member and his contributions to the classroom are tremendous,” Chancellor Kenyon Chan said. “He believes fully in preparing students for the ‘real world’ and continuously seeks new and innovative ways to help bridge textbook knowledge with practical workplace skills, paying particular attention to students who need additional support.”
Pete Nye, a professor in the business program, said that Shankar “teaches a range of courses, spanning several disciplines and skillfully engages students in thoughtful discussion and analysis in all his classes. Gowri loves the learning process and his enthusiasm is contagious. Both students and faculty enjoy working with him, and our MBA students have honored him twice for outstanding teaching.”
Shankar received the honor for his achievements in the classroom and for his commitment to developing a rigorous curriculum in finance and accounting. He has taught nine different courses at UW Bothell and had a pivotal role in designing the curriculum for the new accounting option, which will be offered for the first time next fall.
Before joining UW Bothell, Shankar taught at the State University of New York, Syracuse University and Cornell University.
The UW Bothell Distinguished Teaching Award, created in 1995, is presented each year to a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained excellence in teaching.
Lake Stevens High store wins gold certification
The student store at Lake Stevens High School has attracted attention nationally.
The store was among seven school stores in the state that achieved gold-level certification this year and will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development conference in Atlanta. DECA is an international student marketing organization.
LSHS student Shantelle Jones, with the assistance of the advisor Karen Morton, was credited with helping the store earn the certification.
For many students, school stores provide the first work experience; for others, they provide an opportunity to build management, supervision and leadership skills.
School stores can be certified at three levels: bronze, silver or gold. In order to apply for the certification, schools must submit extensive documentation showing how they have achieved set standards that are outlined in the certification guidelines. A review committee evaluates the documentation to determine which level of certification has been achieved.
The Lake Stevens DECA company has a new student store this year with modern equipment and new merchandise. The student store is operated and managed by the marketing management class at the high school.
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