The Lake Stevens High School Jazz Band took first place in the Columbia Basin College Jazz Unlimited festival’s 4A jazz competition, held April 13 in Pasco. Four students also earned outstanding soloist awards.
The band is Taylor Wagner (outstanding soloist, tenor sax), Paige Sickles, Chase Mattson, Chelsea Burlile, Neal Akins, Savannah Murphy and Robert Goodwin on saxophones; Chris Amey-Gonzales, Arlene Narcisso, Nathaniel (Hiko) Addison (outstanding soloist), Danae Vickery, Cody Bates, Patrick Stanton on trombones; Nate Main (outstanding soloist, Flugel horn), Andrew Newmark, Jake Johnson, Alaura Tuck, Tristan Baldwin, Anthony McDermott and Brittany Delaney on trumpets; and Hannahniah Reed (outstanding soloist, vocals), Jacob Lavelle, Jon Stockman, Will Stratmeyer and Holden Humphrey on rhythm.
The group played a Count Basie Orchestra tune called “Vine Street Rumble,” Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” featuring Reed on Ella Fitzgerald-like vocals, and closed with a Latin Mark Taylor composition called “Granada Smoothie.”
“This win was a long time and a … lot of work in the making,” said Neil Proff, the school’s bands director.
Robotics teams ratchet up wins
Local robotics teams racked up the awards at a series of FIRST Robotics Competition regional events held in March and April in Ellensburg, Seattle and Spokane.
Individual awards:
Rebekah Kelley, Marysville’s Arts and Technology High School: FIRST Dean’s List (Spokane)
Sahida Badji, Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center: FIRST Dean’s List (Seattle)
Team awards:
Marysville Arts and Technology High School: Team Spirit Award (Spokane)
Lynnwood High School: Entrepreneurship Award (Spokane)
Cedar Park Christian School: Excellence in Engineering Award (Spokane), Regional Finalist (Seattle), Innovation in Control Award (Seattle)
Glacier Peak High School: Regional Finalist (Seattle)
Cascade High School: Rookie Inspiration Award (Seattle)
Henry M. Jackson High School: Gracious Professionalism Award (Seattle), Engineering Inspiration Award (Ellensburg)
Lynnwood High School: Quality Award (Seattle)
Cascade senior named a UW Scholar
Cascade High School senior Ruby David Kassala is the recipient of the University of Washington Bothell’s UW Diversity Scholar award.
The award provides Kassala with a scholarship of up to $40,000 over four years to attend UW Bothell.
Kassala said her parents, who came to the U.S. from Ethiopia, are the inspiration behind her exceptional grades. “When I learned everything that they went through, it really gave me motivation to work hard in everything that I do because I realize how blessed I am to be able to do what I want to do with my life,” she said.
FCCLA students prepare for nationals
Several local students qualified to move on to the national Family, Career and Community Leaders of America competition this July in Nashville, Tenn., after faring well at a state event April 10-12 in Wenatchee.
Lake Stevens High School: Javon Brown, Jaclyn Caudle, Taryn Rasmussen, Beth Court, Amanda Kristofferson, Larisa Kreft, Ashlynne Norton, Stacey Van Dyke, Yvette Herrera, Ernie Kilburn and Samantha Weaver.
Lynnwood High School: Allison Holbrook.
Marysville Mountain View High School: Jenaya Greenleaf and Kira Bryant.
Lake Stevens also had two state officers elected: Yvette Herrera as vice president for Region 5 and Katie Ellis as director of competitive events.
Students’ research reaps awards
The Henry M. Jackson High School Research Club has been cruising engineering and science events this year and compiling a distinguished list of honors.
Top research papers have touched on such topics as nitrate overdoses, school athlete head injuries, capturing kinetic energy from ocean waves, “Phytoremediation of Arsenic in Coal Dust Using Polystichum munitum” and what happens to methane production when you digest cow manure with biodegradable plastic — among many others.
Club members are Katelyn Luque, Shruti Parikh, Yifan Gu, Miles Goetz, Jackie Nguyen, Nikita Sharma, Celia Evans, Hannah Cho, Indira Rayala, Mariah Wilson, Miranda Aiken, Artyom Kozorezov, Maddy Warnke, Emma Torve, Peter Cung, Anthony Miyasaki, Akshy Palanisamy, Brooke Parsons, Michelle Pyles and Anastasia Redina.
Research by three of those — Artyom, Indira and Shruti — were among 310 projects recently selected from around the world to compete at the International Genius Olympiad, set for June in Oswego, N.Y.
See a full list of honors at www.everett.k12.wa.us/jacksonhigh/Awards.
Can you spell bunyanesque?
Ryan Garvan earned third place at the recent King-Snohomish Regional Spelling Bee, at Seattle’s Town Hall.
Garvan attends classes in the Monroe School District’s parent partnership program at Sky Valley Education Center.
The regional competition lasted four hours. After accurately spelling discipline, vaccine, promethean, bunyanesque and more, Garvan was finally stumped by the word “ostreiform,” which means shaped like an oyster. He missed it by just one letter.
Garvan is already making plans to compete in next year’s bee. It will be his last year of eligibility. “I like spelling,” he said.
Snohomish native part of winning debate team
Snohomish native Carly Johnson is a member of the debate team for Whitman College in Walla Walla, which recently won the National Parliamentary Debate Association School National Championship Sweepstakes.
Individually, Johnson came in 17th place at the competition.
Johnson is the daughter of Raymond and Valinda Johnson and a 2009 graduate of Snohomish High School. She is a senior gender studies major.
AHS sophomore serves as state Senate page
Emily Beaton, a sophomore at Arlington High School, recently spent a week working as a page for the state Senate at the Capitol in Olympia.
“Seeing the senators working on the floor to perfect bills was really exhilarating,” Beaton said.
Sen. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, sponsored Beaton for the week.
Beaton enjoys studying and spending time outdoors. She is the daughter of Pamela and Monte Beaton of Arlington.
Mountlake Terrace High honored by SPLC program
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance program has named Mountlake Terrace High School as a Mix It Up Model School for its exemplary efforts to foster respect and understanding among students and throughout campus during the 2012-13 school year.
Mountlake Terrace High is one of 63 schools from across the country receiving the honor.
EvCC director receives award
Mary Kaye Bredeson, executive director of the Washington State Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Materials Manufacturing, based at Everett Community College, has received an exemplary leadership award from The Chair Academy, an organization focused on developing leadership in colleges and universities around the world.
Bredeson was honored with the 2013 Idahlynn Karre Exemplary Leadership award April 6 in Phoenix, Ariz.
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