Amnesty delivers help to needy in Seattle
Sy Bean
Six Pirates travel downtown to support the Union Gospel Mission Men’s Shelter.
fore mealtime. Like clockwork, many homeless men, addicts, and those who simply don’t have a place to sleep at night seek refuge at The Union Gospel Mission Men’s Shelter.
For the average person, getting food from grocery stores, restaurants, take-outs, is something of the norm. But for people in need, waiting in line for an hour for food is their daily routine.
The Union Gospel Mission Men’s Shelter in downtown Seattle is responsible for providing this type of care, and more, seven days a week, three times a day.
Five Vashon amnesty members, Carter Roberts, Paige Vogel, Adria Engelhard, Anna Jones, and Katie Chale, with guidance of teacher Harris Levinson, trekked off the island by metro bus to give their support to the Mission and to the many people in need.
“It was a great experience volunteering,” said Vogel “I’ve volunteered before and it was fun being there.”
The group of six helped prepare and serve dinner to street walk-ins who were looking for a warm meal on a cold Wednesday evening. The dining hall is a cafeteria setting that presents paintings of Jesus Christ on the wall and quotes from the Bible. The words provide support for the eaters who have little elsewhere to turn.
Students open own business
Rowan Eister
Soon, instead of waiting in line, paying for a ferry ticket, and enlisting an off-Island service to repair a computer, Islanders can access a Mac and PC service center right here on Vashon. Vashon Island Tech Support, opening February 20 in the former travel agency space across the street from Rock Island Pub and Pizza, is being managed and operated by infamous VHS tech-gurus, seniors Jordan Soltman, Tyler Sayvetz, Joey Sullivan and Dylan Payne.
For the last four years Sayvetz and Soltman have been offering their services to Island residents in need of computer repairs or assistance, but until now they have not had an official facility to operate from.
After countless hours of trimming, re-flooring and painting, Vashon Island Tech Support is now ready to open. Sayvetz, Soltman, Sullivan and Payne say they have been interested in computers and technology since middle school and, although all most likely leave the Island next year, they plan to keep their business running.
Wilting winter tourism taken on by Blonde Ambition
Jessica Omhert
ales are down in Vashon town. The tourists are all gone; it’s wintertime, and Strawberry Festival is far off. The way of Vashon has always been to have big, booming business in the summertime when off-islanders are all scurrying to get a taste of our brand of paradise. When the leaves begin to fall, they run back to their suburban homes, taking their business with them. Residents do buy locally, but will plan a full day’s trip to the mainland if they feel they can get a better deal. What are our small Island businesses to do?
The chamber of commerce took this question last year and spent some serious thought and time researching other small towns. It was clear that the residents of Vashon could not support the roughly 800 businesses enough to keep them all afloat. It was also apparent that the chamber themselves could only do so much, as it is entirely made up of volunteers, all business owners themselves. So, to tackle the issue, they’ve hired Blonde Ambition, a small group of four Vashonites, to help bring in the dough.
Blonde Ambition’s President, Amy Herbig, wants to do whatever is necessary to help the Vashon community, with the condition that the community itself remains as it is.
“We don’t want this place to turn into a Leavenworth or a Gig Harbor,” she said.
The idea is to help bring in more business during the off seasons. Herbig said it was clear that no more business is needed during the summer, and that the Island didn’t need any more Strawberry Festivals. In fact, she said, many of the events the Island already holds, such as First Fridays, could be used to attract tourists.
VHS Band wows all
Kirstie Edwards
Musicians astound judges at solo and ensemble competition. Some will progress to State in April.
There is no doubt that VHS is proud of the school band. From concerts to competitions the band has blown away many with their performances. February 6 was just another example of their talent at the Regional Solo and Ensemble competition held on at Stadium High School.
The brass ensemble, BA Brass, consisting of seniors Tynan Lazarus, Ramsey Walker, Eli Hoyt, Madeline Osborne, and sophomore Dylan Basurto were judged superior ranking and are state bound. Ramsey Walker performed a trombone solo, and Sophomore Erica Walker also performed an oboe and piano solo; both were also placed at superior ranking and are going to state.
Furthermore, junior Dylan Green performed multiple percussion and was judged as superior ranking; he also, is state bound. Junior Aiden Morrison played a guitar solo and is the first alternate for state.
Some of the judge’s feedback on what to work on was playing with emotion, interaction, and interpretation. Greene described the comments as ‘helpful’.
The judges enjoyed the performances the band put on. One of the judges even responded that Basurto’s performance “made his day”.
In addition, the entire VHS Percussion Ensemble performed on Saturday and was ranked superior and they will be going to state the last Friday and Saturday of April.
A Call for Artists
Two Wall Gallery announces a call for artists to design a Vashon Flag. The Gallery invites you to imagine that Vashon-Maury Islands could be an independent geo-political entity, with an official flag, seal, stamps, etc. We invite you to submit flag designs that will be exhibited at the gallery (with an opening on First Friday) during the month of May. One of the designs will be chosen as the “official” Vashon flag, and you can rest assured that there will be a prize worth winning. Judges will be selected from the local arts community, and we will endeavor to have an actual flag made from the winning design.
Flag designs should be submitted in color on paper or board (any media) that is no larger than 11x17 and drawn to scale such that the design can be easily enlarged to create a flag that is three feet by five feet in finished size. For instance, if you submit a design that is 6x10 inches, it can be enlarged to 3x5 feet. Designs can be hand-drawn or otherwise created, and will be judged on content rather than execution. Each artist should also include a paragraph describing the design and the theme(s) that he/she used to create the design and that are employed to represent the island.
For submission information, contact Greg Wessel at 206-250-2222 or email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Or finished designs with their explanatory paragraph and contact information can be dropped off at The Heron’s Nest Gallery, c/o George Wright. All entries must be received by April 1st. We’re not fooling.
Teams of three for the Spelling Bee
The Bee is back. As with every year, the scholarship foundation is hosing a spelling bee. This year, it will be held on February 28 at the Vashon High School Theatre. The committee is encouraging high school students to team up and wow the Vashon community with their incredible spelling.
If there are any students who don’t have a team go to either Counselor Laurie Martin or Counselor Linda Mather to find other students to team up with. The objective of the spelling bee is to raise money for scholarships for the seniors who created scholarship notebooks.
The process is fairly straightforward; it will follow in the footsteps of the Scripps National Spelling Bee with only one exception that instead of individuals competing there are teams of three. Each team will be given a certain amount of time in which they may confer with their team mates before a selected member will spell the word for the emcees. If requested by the team, the emcees will provide the word origin, definition and proper usage. This is a lighthearted but competitive competition.
Jeff Hoyt will be emceeing the event with Melanie Salonen as the “Queen Bee.” The Bee was excellently organized by Barbara Gustafson and any questions can be directed to her either by phone at 206-463-638 or by email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
To pick up an application go to either Ms. Martin or Ms. Mather’s office. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased either at the Vashon Bookshop or at the front door.
Also, for those who wish to make a donation there are $25-50 advertisements in the program or just a simple donation to the scholarship foundation.
To see a video of last year’s competition got to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nLrYXUmMlg.
-Marja Haflinger, Co-Editor-In-Chief
Let’s Talk Trash
Sy Bean
Vashon Maury Island Community Council is hosting a Community Forum on February 24, 7:15 pm, at McMurray Middle School to discuss a subject common to most islands: trash. Guest speakers at the forum will include Jeff Gaisford and Sharon Aller of the Recycling and Environmental Services Division for King County Waste Management, Clinton Christine who supervises Vashon’s Transfer Station, also know as the dump, and a representative from the private garbage hauler who services residences and business.
The county has operated the Vashon landfill since the 1960s. It was upgraded in the mid-1980s and garbage is now hauled off Island to the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill while recyclables are taken to separate facilities for processing. Once the plastic, metal and paper are separated, these items are sent to market to be made into new products.
Three year transition to standard grading strives for consistency amongst teachers and students.
Meaghan Connors
1, 2, 3, 4 Chautaqua grade system following Washington suit
Say goodbye to plus and minuses and hello to conceptual understanding. As of last year, the Washington standard for public elementary school students grading was implemented and used at Chautaqua Elementary school. It was a three year gradual change- 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grades implemented it three years ago, kindergarten and 4th grade implemented it two years ago, and multi-age and 1st grade implemented it last year.
The standardized report card is a continual initiative by the state. It has been in affect since the Educational Reform Act of 1993. It uses a 1-4 rating system. One: not meeting standard-novice work; Two: approaching standard-basic work; Three: at standard-proficient work; Four: exceeds standards-advanced work. Grade reports come out at the end of each trimester.
Another development is having the electronic report cards. That is similar to the online grades for VHS.
Principal Katherine Baehr said that though there are no “plus and minuses”- something the computer won’t allow teachers to submit- there are ranges in the numbers. Students can receive “a high three”; it would be shown in the comments made by the teacher. There are many aspects to the standard system that make it a matter of qualitative measure. Along with the definition of what each number represents, teachers can supplement with their own qualitative assessment. This system provides a way to show progression of an elementary’s students abilities- progressing benchmarks instead of averages.
In terms of complying with state standards, Baehr said “I think putting those at the forefront of our thinking is really important. Anytime we are doing collaborative work, unit development: we need to know what the end result is expected so that we know what we are working towards.”
A colleague of Baehr’s considered it ‘The North Star’. “Along the way your path may be a slightly divergent path, but you know what that end expectation is still there. Because the uniqueness of teach is still there, how you get there is up to the teachers,” Baehr said.
Students on the Individualized Education Plan continue to receive a different form and evaluation.
Amnesty Interacts with community to gather support
Shannon Slater
Since the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, news stations have been flooded with reports of the devastation in the small, Caribbean nation. In the short time since the earthquake, many Islanders have begun helping the Haitians with local fundraising efforts.
One Islander, Devon Atkins, is doing her part by organizing several fundraisers such as the Four Corners Fund Raiser at the heart of Vashon. Similar to fire fighter four corner fund raisers, volunteers stand at the four way stop with baskets, hoping to collect spare change from passing cars. In partner with Amnesty Interact, Atkins hopes to have this specific fund raiser happen several Saturdays in a row. The first Saturday took place January 30 from 10 to 4 at the four-way stop.
To track how much money fundraising efforts have made, Atkins created a website with Partners in Health, an organization that has helped Haiti for almost 20 years. Because of the sudden rush of donations for Haiti, Partners in Health created http://www.standwithhaiti.org. Here all supporters of Partners in Health can see the donations for Haiti accumulate and grow, and Islanders can see how their local fund raisers are helping the devastated country.
“Hopefully people will volunteer to work the Corners on Saturdays, the basketball games, dances, outside of Thirftway or wherever there is a small glut of Vashon humanity,” said Atkins. “The money will be donated on the Partners In Health website on the Vashon Island page.”
As well as helping to organize the Four Corners Fundraiser, Atkins has also helped to organize smaller fundraisers around Vashon. In addition to hosting the Poetry Open Mics at Café Luna, she has also encouraged donations by passing around a bucket where people can donate a few dollars. At the last Poetry Open Mic on January 21, the donation bucket raised $55 dollars for Haiti. The Poetry Open Mic is every third Thursday at Café Luna, and Atkins hopes to be able to raise even more money for Haiti.
“Haiti is obviously in trouble, they always have been, and we’re not, so why wouldn’t we help? It takes so little to start the effort,” said Atkins.
Ping-Pong and rummage sale
Mary-Margaret Pearson
Answered Prayers, a Washington-based 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, has been supporting 3 orphanages in Haiti for many years. Of the 150 orphans being cared for at the time of the earthquake, 100 have gone home to their adoptive families in Spain, Holland, Canada and the US, but over 40 children remain behind in Port au Prince, some being cared for in hospitals. Because 2 of the orphanages are not safe for occupancy, all the children and their caregivers are now living in the yard of one of the 3.
In the short-term, the priority for Answered Prayers continues to be providing them with clean drinking water and food. The next phase will involve structural inspections of all 3 orphanages and then the decision to rebuild or start from scratch.
To help with both short-term needs and long-term goals, Answered Prayers is sponsoring a number of fundraisers on the island. The first will be a Huge Rummage Sale for Haiti that will be held on Saturday, February 27, at the Bethel Church from 10am until 4pm. Items large and small can be dropped off at the Church between 3-8pm on Friday, February 26. Please call Krissy Durston at 463-0338 if you have items you wish to donate. Coffee and baked goods will be available for purchase.