Eighth-grade students at Valley View Middle School in Snohomish won a national challenge held by NASA for their inventions to address today’s issues.

NASA invited students nationwide to reimagine existing technologies in ways that would improve their communities and Natalie Evans, Zoey Stein, Kenda Eder and Alana Flores won for their design of a face mask that leverages NASA’s Particle Contamination Mitigation Methods to filter harmful pollution from the air.

Through photos, text and video, students brought their creative solutions to life, communicating their ideas in compelling, visual ways.

All winners were invited to Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for an award ceremony last month. Students met NASA scientists, explored labs and saw NASA facilities.

UW Bothell atop CNBC college rankings

In a list published by CNBC Make It, University of Washington Bothell was ranked as the No. 2 public college that provides the greatest return on investment.

Based on data from two studies, CNBC analyzed and determined UW Bothell to be the second best college that “pays off the most” due to the low average net cost for lower-income families, the median salary of alumni and the salary average during the career of an alumni.

“We are pleased by the recognition, because we believe in the power of a UW Bothell degree to transform lives and uplift communities,” said Sharon A. Jones, UW Bothell vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Therapy dog retires after 7 years

Harper Lea, a facility dog at Dawson Place, a child advocacy center in Everett, is retiring after serving Snohomish County for seven years.

She sat with children during forensic interviews, attended therapy with children and sat with them as they testified during court. She was also present following the Marysville Pilchuck School shooting and the Oso mudslide to provide comfort and support.

County places first in tech survey

The Center for Digital Government and the National Association for Counties announced Snohomish County as the winner of its 17th annual Digital Counties Survey in the 500,000-999,999 population category.

The county was honored for its innovative solutions to challenges faced by local government. Viggo Forde, county CIO and director of the Department of Information Technology, wanted to change the culture of government technology and utilize a collaborative approach for addressing IT needs.

Snohomish County adopted a cybersecurity strategy to keep data safe and ensure the continuation of government operations, while boasting an Information Services Plan and Report that is a model for other counties.

“Winning first place in the digital surveys award is an honor and a recognition of Snohomish County’s commitment to providing the best possible service to our residents,” said Dave Somers, Snohomish County executive. “We will continue to use technology to innovate and address our high priority issues. We appreciate the recognition for the county and the talents of our IT staff. We will continue to lead by pushing for smart technology solutions.”

Student from Edmonds wins Fulbright award

After recently graduating from Bates College in Maine, Sarah Freyd, a 2014 Edmonds-Woodway High School graduate, was awarded a Fulbright Student fellowship for the 2019-20 academic year.

Freyd was offered the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program to be awarded to her as an English teaching assistant. She will be traveling to Indonesia.

She has taught English at adult learning centers near her college and locally as a learning coordinator at East African Community Services in Seattle.

In her work, she learned “the immense value of implementing multifaceted approaches to education, where students engage deeply with the content, reach out to one another, and learn to love learning.”