More than 175 area home-school students are expected to compete in the Puget Sound Speech and Debate Qualifier Feb. 18-20, including three Lynnwood-based teams.
The competition will be held at CrossPointe Church, 19527 104th Ave. NE, Bothell. The public is invited to attend.
Volunteers are needed to judge the event.
For more information visit pugetsoundqualifier.homeschooldebate.net.
This year, students debate the philosophy of competition versus cooperation and environmental policies. Speech students will deliver oratory from literature and give persuasive talks on contemporary issues.
The top 75 students will go on to a regional tournament.
More teens graduating from Everett schools
The Everett School District’s official graduation rates soared in 2009.
The on-time graduation rate – teens who graduated in the typical four years of high school – rose from 53 percent for the class of 2003 to 83.8 percent for the class of 2009. The extended graduation rate, including teens who took longer than four years to earn their diploma, was 90.3 percent for the class of 2009, up from 61 percent of the class of 2004.
The annual dropout rate has, in turn, declined from 6.7 percent for the class of 2003 to 2.4 percent for 2009.
An On Time Graduation Task Force has been meeting nearly every Tuesday morning the last six years to focus on the issue.
Cleaned-up data, tracking down lost students, focusing on the bridge from middle school and more one-on-one attention are among the reasons administrators credit for improved rates.
“The graduation rate increase is an impressive statistic, but more importantly, it means a better future for each student who goes through this public school system,” Superintendent Gary Cohn said.
Hoops for Haiti at LHS
Lynnwood High School will host a “Hoops for Haiti” 3-on-3 indoor basketball tournament March 6 to benefit the American Red Cross’ earthquake relief efforts.
The cost is $25 per team. Boys, girls and adult divisions, from third grade on up, are forming.
Registration deadline is Feb. 19.
For more information and a registration packet, visit www.edmonds.wednet.edu/lhs and click on “Activities.” Contact Aly Nelson at 425-431-5247 or nelsona@edmonds.wednet.edu.
SCC hosts humanitarian conference
The Global Affairs Center at Shoreline Community College will host “Four Days to Change the World,” a symposium on international humanitarian assistance, Feb. 22-25.
Guests include Arlene Mitchell, senior program officer for the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation, and Heidi Peterson, national director for leadership gifts with CARE. A premiere of “Once in Afghanistan,” about women who volunteered for a Peace Corps effort in 1969, also will be shown.
For more information, visit www.shoreline.edu/GAC.
EdCC Foundation offers scholarships
The Edmonds Community College Foundation is accepting applications for its scholarship program, which includes more than 20 awards ranging from $200 to $2,500.
Students complete one online application to be considered for all of the Foundation’s available scholarships. Apply at www.edcc.edu/foundation. Deadline is by 4 p.m. April 9.
Students represent college, earn scholarships
Edmonds Community College students Boris Davidovsky, 28, of Woodinville, and Danielle Latimer, 19, of Mukilteo, will be recognized for their scholarship, leadership and community service at a ceremony at noon March 25 at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia.
Davidovsky and Latimer, representing Edmonds CC, are among 63 of the state’s top scholars, who will receive recognition as members of the All-Washington Academic Team. Each two-year college in the state may nominate two students for the honor, which comes with a $500 scholarship from the Northwest Education Loan Association.
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