Marysville 5th-grader to dance in NYC
For the second time in two years, Danil Zinovyev, an 11-year-old Marysville dancer, has qualified to compete in the Youth America Grand Prix Finals, to be held in April in New York City.
Danil is a fifth-grader at Grove Elementary School and has been dancing since age 7. He dances with Emerald Ballet Theatre’s academy in Bellevue, where his parents teach.
Danil will dance with his partner, Mackenzie Jones, 11, of Snoqualmie. The pair took first place in the ensemble category at a recent semi-final event for their Bluebird Pas de Deux from “Sleeping Beauty.” They are coached by Russian ballet masters Roman Zinovyev and Tatiana Liabina and artistic director Viktoria Titova.
“When I went to New York last year, I was amazed and inspired by how good the kids were,” Danil said. “That made me want to work harder every day that I came to dance.”
Robotics teams head to state
Several local teams of students ages 9-14 will advance to the state level of competition in FIRST Lego League robotics after finishing well at a Feb. 9 semifinal event at Jackson High School in Mill Creek.
Heading to the state championship: LepBRICKcons from Camano Island; Robogators Team 1 (also won award for “Project: Innovative Solution”) and Robogators Team 2 (also “Core Values: Inspiration” award), both from Northshore Christian Academy in Everett; Ravenbots of Snohomish (also “Project: Research” award); Lego Guardians from Gateway Middle School in Everett (also “Robot: Mechanical Design” award); and Cognitive Corruption from Granite Falls (also “Project: Presentation” award).
The state finals are set for Feb. 22 at Central Washington University.
Technology students lobby in Olympia
Jackson High School senior Viante Dile-Basnight and Mountlake Terrace High School sophomore Haeley Johnston went to Olympia on Feb. 5 to participate in the Career and Technical Student Organization Legislative Day.
Both students are state officers for the Washington State Technology Association and were there to represent the 4,000 members of WTSA who compete in events that emphasize science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills combined with leadership and employability training. The state officers met with their local lawmakers to encourage increased funding for STEM and Career and Technical Education.
DECA entrepreneurs ring up success
The Mariner High School DECA marketing club’s school-based enterprise was among 221 in the United States to achieve Gold Level certification (or re-certification) this year and will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development Conference to be held May 3-6 in Atlanta.
The students who worked on the certification were Rafael Achacoso, Jale Beka, Tim Angelos, Stephanie Le, Julia Mashall and Valentin Reyes with the assistance of their adviser Nick Angelos. The school-based enterprise at Mariner High School has operated for eight years.
A school-based enterprise — often known as the student store — is described by DECA as “an entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods and services to meet the needs of the market.” Mariner has gotten Gold for eight years and Top 20 in the last two years.
Jackson senior picked for award
Jackson High School senior Viante Dile- Basnight was selected as the Snohomish County Branch NAACP Shirley Walthall Youth Leadership Award winner for 2013-14.
Dile-Basnight was selected from the group’s Students of the Month.
“He is a student with quiet reserve yet powerful influence on his surrounding environment,” said Connie Sperry, his school guidance counselor.
Viante will be recognized at the Snohomish County Branch NAACP Freedom Fund Gala, 6 p.m. March 1 at the Comcast Arena Conference Center in Everett.
Students meet with mayor about bowling
Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling met Feb. 10 with Soundview School fourth-graders Sage and Ella after the girls wrote persuasive essays in response to the closure of the Robin Hood Lanes bowling alley. Soundview is a private school in Lynnwood.
“I think we should have a bowling place in Edmonds because bowling is awesome,” Ella wrote.
“Robin Hood Lanes was the Best! You could eat but the food was actually good! And at a certain time they put up a disco ball,” Sage wrote.
Rotary honors Snohomish students
The Snohomish Rotary Club recently honored its secondary school Students of the Quarter from middle and high schools in the Snohomish School District: Alexander Helman, Kai Duan, Sir London Cairney, Nolan Armbruster, Jannie Garland, Shawna Krueger, Megan Brame, Araceli Daza, Emily Foley, Jesse Campbell, Hyrum Johnson, Omar Shebl, Demrie Anderson and Rachael Bruno.
Granite Falls honors alumni
Granite Falls High School inducted two alumni to its Hall of Fame at a boys varsity basketball game Feb. 6. This year’s inductees are Dave Larsen and Betty (Dennis) Mastrude.
Larsen, class of 1988, was an offensive lineman for the Granite Falls football team and is a former City Councilman and mayor pro-tem. He owns Marshall Signs.
Mastrude, class of 1966, was involved in several clubs during high school and went on to work for Snohomish County Public Works, Swedish Hospital, nursing homes and Father’s House food bank. She is now Fellowship Meal program coordinator at the Salvation Army.
Aeronautical Society honors fifth-grader
Jenna Thompkins, a fifth-grade student at Discovery Elementary School in Mukilteo, was presented a Certificate of Appreciation from the Seattle Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Jenna was honored for giving an outstanding speech about her school’s robotics club during the group’s annual Joe Sutter Black Tie Dinner, which was held at the Museum of Flight last November.
TSA students look ahead to state
The Western Washington Regional Technology Student Association Competition was held Feb. 8 at Jackson High School in Mill Creek. Students participated in nine individual and team events related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. Students now are preparing for the state conference to be held March 27-29 in Bellevue.
Local first-place winners from the regional competition: Haeley Johnston, Mountlake Terrace High School (career preparation); Viante Dile-Basnight, Jackson High School (extemporaneous speech); Leah Shin, Jackson (prepared presentations); Brandon Mar and Demetrius Badua, Jackson (music productions); Mathew Peters, Jackson (photographic technology); Brian Uyeda, Jackson (promotional graphics); Haeley Johnston and Joey Owens, Mountlake Terrace (structural engineering); Michelle Bohnen, Jackson (technology problem-solving); Heejoon Ahn, Hannah Cho, Leah Shin, Indira Rayaia, Peter Liao and Ashley Regudon, Jackson (bio-technology); Connor Hauenstein, Dean Reykdal, Ryan Hester, Jack Hylland and Mathew Peters, Jackson (digital video production).
Second- and third-place winners from Jackson High School: Chester Pham; Viante Dile-Basnight; Sabrina Smith; Amy Chiu and Janice Lim (team); Mathew Peters; Emily Heng, Ali Al-Ameedi, Colin Nordquist, Andrew Lee, John Youn and Jinzheng Li (team); Viante Dile-Basnight, Paul Moon and Demetrius Badua (team); Akshy Palanisamy, Naveen Janrathanan, Rafael Valdez and Sai Nimmagadda (team); Brian Uyeda, Joseph Yoon, Aaron Oh, Caleb Kim, Robert Kim and Andrew Lee (team).
Second- and third-place winners from Mountlake Terrace High School: AsiaLee Donnelly; Paxtyn Merten; Connor Ebright and Jonathan Thiem (team); Kristian Suzara and Aaron Quach (team); Paxtyn Merten and Asia Lee Donnelly (team); Tana Perington and Caleb Sill (team).
To submit items for School Winners, email newstips@heraldnet.com.
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