School Winners

Jackson technology students honored

Twenty students from the Henry M. Jackson High School Technology Student Association and their advisers returned from the 35th annual TSA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., on July 3 having earned significant honors.

“We had many great accomplishments that have reached far beyond our past successes,” said Rick Wigre, TSA adviser and recipient of the 2012-13 Adviser of the Year Award for Washington state.

“For the first time in its history, the National TSA elected two national officers from Washington state. Both of them are from Jackson High School. Sai Nimmagadda was elected treasurer and Sri Nimmagadda was elected vice president.”

The Nimmagaddas also placed second in “Debating Technological Issues,” and Sri Nimmagadda placed third in “Extemporaneous Speech.” Other Jackson students who placed in the top 10 for various categories included Everett Wang, Sabrina Smith, Peter Hauge and Viante Dile-Basnight. Leadership awards went to Wang, Sri Nimmagadda and Brandon Mar.

In addition to these individual awards, Jackson High School TSA was awarded the 2012-13 TSA Chapter Excellence Award for Washington state.

Kamiak grad a Robinson Scholar

Joel Bervell, of Snohomish, will be among the freshman class of Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars Class of 2017. Bervell attended Kamiak High School and will attend Yale College in the fall. The Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship provides $30,000 in grants over four years and includes a host of services and support to select college-bound students who demonstrate leadership potential and financial need. The Foundation was established in 1973 by Rachel Robinson, wife of the groundbreaking baseball player.

Arlington teen back from art program

Nicholas Buell, of Arlington, and a student at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, was awarded a full-tuition, room and board scholarship to attend a session of The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation 2013 Summer Seminar Program, June 30-July 13 on the campus of The Colorado College in Colorado Springs. The national art institute offers an intensive visual art studio program for gifted high school juniors.

Teachers study at ‘Hutch’ cancer center

Several Snohomish County teachers are among more than 20 science teachers from communities across Washington spending part of the summer at “summer school,” working beside scientists in research laboratories at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and several other partner sites throughout Seattle. The summer Science Education Partnership workshop will run through the end of July.

Working in labs at Fred Hutch and partnering local academic research institutions and biotechnology firms, this year’s cadre of teachers will begin as students, learning concepts and techniques before they join the research scientists in the labs.

Participating teachers include Gail Walters (Henry M. Jackson High School), Gail Wellenstein (Archbishop Murphy High School), Adam Welman (Mountlake Terrace High School) and Kaitlin Maile (Sultan High School). Three others are attending as lead teachers, part of the Science Education Partnership faculty: Cindy McIntyre (Everett High School), Mike Fellows (Lakewood High School) and Jean Ingersoll (Glacier Peak High School).

Fire Academy recruits graduate

Twenty-one Everett Community College Fire Academy recruits earned IFSAC Firefighter I &II and Hazardous Materials Awareness &Operations certification after completing 12 weeks of training.

Graduates include: Jorge Cascante, Patrick Cho, Miguel Delos Santos, Andrew Dial, Brandon Dunson, Chris Finley, Chad Groesbeck, Tyler Hoglund, Mitchell Larson, Anthony Lopez, Elvis Malfabon, Jeremy Martin, Dillan Monson, Ben Pace, Ethan Pedersen, Andrew Ramsey, Cale Robertson, Tucker Rockwell, Nolan Sasse, Jeffrey Stanley and Kevin Stone.

The drillmaster for the group was Dave Neyens, a retired battalion chief with the Everett Fire Department.

EvCC offers firefighter academies each year in the fall and spring. The next academy begins Sept. 3. Fire Science information sessions are offered monthly. The next sessions are Aug. 14 and Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. both days. Go to www.everettcc.edu/firescience for more information.

Lake Stevens teens attend Boys State

Five juniors represented Lake Stevens High School at the 2013 Boys State leadership conference last month on the Central Washington State University in Ellensburg. About 250 of the best students from schools around Washington are accepted to the week-long simulation in government each year. Teens act as citizens at the local, county and state levels of the government in the simulated “State of Evergreen.”

Brian Tran and Kyle McCroskey were each elected mayors of their cities. Aiden Quigley was elected to his city council and also as the precinct officer for his party. Josh Rommel was elected to serve as city clerk, and Josh Pulley was his city’s prosecuting attorney.

“Boys State was an eye-opening experience for me. It made me want to pursue a career in law,” Pulley said.

The teens’ tuition, room and board, and transportation was paid by Lake Stevens Memorial American Legion Post 181, Auxiliary Unit 181, and a private donor. Boys can also compete for college scholarships while at Boys State.

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