Students place pinwheels for peace

Hundreds of colorful pinwheels carrying messages of hope, peace and harmony were planted by Woodway Elementary School students and staff in a ceremony Thursday to mark International Peace Day.

Several of the children read portions of their own pinwheel messages.

The school’s participation was originally planned as part of Woodway Elementary’s commitment to promote global awareness, diversity and creative expression among its students and the community. The event also became an opportunity to honor the school’s most recent PTA president, Don Kreiman, who died earlier this month.

“We have decided to dedicate our school garden to Don,” said teacher Dara Barker. “Don was so devoted to our school, and this project was very important to him.”

The garden will be named the Don Kreiman Memorial Peace Garden.

The Pinwheels for Peace project was started in 2005 by two art teachers. The first year, about 500,000 pinwheels were planted in more than 1,350 locations throughout the world. In 2006, nearly 1 million pinwheels were planted in more than 2,500 locations.

Woodway Elementary School is one of only four sites in Washington state to host the project.

UW awards scholarships to local high school graduates

Six students from Snohomish County are among 63 recipients of 2007-08 University of Washington Academic Excellence Awards. The scholarship winners, who will be freshmen at the University beginning autumn quarter, come from 47 high schools and 32 cities and towns in the state.

University officials say the scholarship winners were chosen from among all resident freshmen admitted to the UW for the 2007 autumn quarter. A variety of factors were considered in making the selections, including financial need, high school academic achievement, leadership potential and civic involvement.

The scholarships consist of partial waivers of full-time tuition and mandatory fees, and are limited to residents of the state of Washington. Each award is worth a total of $2,500 per year for four years.

Local winners were Xe Chang, Su Yu, Tram Le, Alexander Olson, Khue Nguyen and Nicole Vongpanya.

EvCC instructor earns geography program grant

Everett Community College geography instructor Kerry Lyste has received a two-year training grant from the National Science Foundation to enhance the college’s geographic information system program.

EvCC was one of 20 colleges nationwide chosen to participate in the Integrated Geospatial Education and Technology Training grant. The goal is to help community colleges and technical colleges meet the industry demands for geospatial technology skills.

The geographic information system and mapping industry is one of the fastest growing parts of the computer industry. EvCC’s 45-credit GIS certificate program teaches students to use a computer-based system for managing, analyzing and displaying geographic data.

The technology is widely used throughout science, government, business and industry with applications including real estate, public health, crime mapping, national defense, sustainable development, natural resources, landscape architecture, archaeology, regional and community planning, transportation and logistics.

The grant pays for software, two summer institutes for Lyste, plus ongoing technical and educational support.

For more information about Everett Community College’s GIS program, visit www.everettcc.edu, or call Kerry Lyste at 425-388-9381. Fall quarter classes begin Sept. 24.

Terrace principal honored for school newspaper work

Mountlake Terrace High School Principal Greg Schwab was honored Thursday with the Washington Journalism Education Association’s Administrator of the Year Award for 2007.

Schwab accepted the award at the association’s annual Journalism Day at the University of Washington in Seattle. The daylong program draws high school journalists from across the state.

In accepting the award, Schwab, 44, thanked Edmonds School District Superintendent Nick Brossoit and the school board for “allowing our students to work in an environment that promotes responsible journalism.” He also said he has always believed in giving students freedom of expression and has never considered prior review of student publications.

He was nominated for the award by Vince DeMiero, advisor of Mountlake Terrace High’s award-winning Hawkeye student newspaper. DeMiero called Schwab “a calm, strong presence.”

Granite Falls schools honor volunteer, business

The Granite Falls School District Success in Education Volunteer and Partnership of the Year awards were presented at the school board meeting Sept. 19.

The awards are presented annually to an individual for outstanding volunteer service and to a business, organization or civic group for understanding the importance of education and providing a service to students, staff and the community.

Jim Raymond was presented the volunteer award based on his work with elementary students. Raymond has been involved in elementary literacy efforts for many years. He has been a book buddy and a weekly classroom volunteer at Mountain Way Elementary School for seven years.

He was also one of the first local residents to volunteer to be a mentor six years ago. As an active member with a local Masons lodge, he spearheaded the organizations’ effort to donate two books to every second-grade student through Operation Outreach. Last year, he introduced the Masons new program “Bikes for Reading,” an incentive program where students can enter a drawing for a new bike based on reading goals.

Hutteball and Oremus Architecture was presented with the Partnership of the Year award. Tom Chapel and Kevin Oremus accepted the award. Beginning in 2001, Hutteball and Oremus helped with the development of the new high school. The firm has been instrumental in the design and educational specifications of the school.

More class officers

Last week, The Herald ran a partial list of senior class officers from high schools across the Snohomish County. Here are officers from other schools:

Arlington High School

President: Luke Passalaqua

Vice president: Jake Allen

Secretary: Brittany Baugh

Treasurer: Chelsea Roys

Public relations manager: Savannah Bridges

Activities manager: Colt Kesselring

Kamiak High School

President: Karsten McIntosh

Vice president: Brian Byrnes

Secretary: Rayan Carter

Treasurer: Jerod Fuchs

Lake Stevens High School

President: Hannah Madison

Vice president: Daryn Wiseman

Secretary and treasurer: Jordan Young

Senators: Kayla Bollen, Heather Hiblar, Kelsey Kreft, Tesa Meyer, Lindsey Nelson, Lanae Olsen, Elliot Perez

Mariner High School

President: Michael Tuon

Vice president: Chelle Thomas

Secretary: Laurel Johnston

Treasurer: Hannah Blakeslee

Spirit leader: Charmaine Hunter

Press secretary: Sarah Bartlett

Monroe High School

Senior senators: Raeanna Levine, Curtis Giboney, James MacIntyre, Kelsey King

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