EHS Student of the Month - Desirae Hite

Excelsior High School, Washougal’s alternative school, is proud to announce the May Student of the Month or “Phoenix on Fire”. Desirae Hite has overcome many challenges in life and is thriving, graduating, and applying for college entrance. Desire exemplifies the characteristics we would like to see all of our students at Excelsior achieve:

Inspiring
Responsible
Respectful
Have great attendance
An Excellent work Ethic
Positive Attitude

March’s student of the month is Desirae Hite

Battle of the Books inspires love of reading

The Battle of the Books wrapped up its fifth year April 16 with a fun competition on Battle Day. The program promotes literacy as Cape Horn-Skye and Canyon Creek students read and summarize a series of books in preparation for the final celebration and competition.

The voluntary reading program kicked off last June when a list of 30 book titles was released so students could read over the summer if they wished. Students are required to read and verbally summarize 10 books to qualify for Battle Day. This year 84 Canyon students and Cape 5th graders submitted at least one book summary. Twenty-one students qualified for Battle Day and two students read all 30 books!

On Battle Day, students are divided into teams with a mixture of different grade levels on each team.

This year the theme was:

SURVIVOR : Canyon Creek

Out Play - Out Wit - Out READ

Decorations and food centered around the Survivor TV show and the reading list had a number of adventure/survival type selections as well. Students played four preliminary rounds in the morning with the top two scoring teams compete in the Grand Battle after lunch in the gym in front of an audience from both schools. 

Food service staff Mark Jasper and Chef Dave treated Book Battlers to a South Pacific lunch of skewered chicken and jicama salad with pineapple and strawberries. Students created colorful posters and signs to give the school a festive look and played Survivor-type relay games including Elephant Bowling.

Librarian Holly Vonderohe coordinates the event with the help of 32 staff and parents who help with the monthly reward parties and on Battle Day.

In the end, Team Amazon won the Grand Battle but not by much. Both teams did a great job.

Team Amazon: Cody Harding, Emma Hein, Rebekah Muir, Megan Stogin, and William Weihl.

Team Borneo: Eric Brown, Victoria Corkum, Samantha Eakins, Cameron Hatton, Gus Shelley, and Hadley Warta.

 

The Grand Battle Winners with organizer and librarian Holly Vonderohe.

Kam Lawrence and David Tudor,
judges for the morning battle.

Superintendent Dawn Tarzian and Boo Stevens
review the rules before the Grand Battle.

The winners of the Grand Battle.

A group discussing an answer.

Rotary Scholar of the Month for May: Mackenzie Kitchen

Mackenzie Kitchen was selected as the Camas Washougal Rotary Scholar of the Month for May 2013. Mackenzie is a sophomore at Washougal High School and has a 3.6 GPA.  Misty Young, WHS Athletic Secretary, says "Mackenzie is a fabulous student and athlete." Mackenzie's Geometry Teacher, Karen Wysaske, describes her as "always a joy to have in class; she comes in with a smile and gives her best in math, regardless of whatever else is happening."

Rochelle Aiton, WHS Spanish Teacher adds that "Mackenzie is a young lady with a sweet disposition and a strong determination to succeed." WHS World History teacher Ryan Isaacson echos that determination, adding that "She played basketball for me as a Freshman with a quiet determination that accepted nothing less than her best."  Mackenzie is the daughter of Cameron and Beth MacKenzie.  Congratulations, Mackenzie!

Washougal Elementary Runners Prepare for The Stride

Community volunteer and avid runner, Tracey Stinchfield, was amazed at the turn out for her new running club for elementary students in Washougal.  Nearly 100 Gause Elementary students and around 50 Hathaway Elementary students signed on to participate in the six-week program offered through Washougal Community Education and Recreation.

“I know that not all kids like team sports, but they do like to be with friends, and be active and run,” Stinchfield said.  “So I thought it would be fun for those kids to be a part of a running club.”  The club was free to participants thanks to parent volunteers and Discovery Dental who covered course expenses.

Using the Student Stride for Education Fun Run (The Stride) as a goal event for the runners to prepare for, Stinchfield leads the groups from 3:30-5:00 p.m. once a week.  “After the first week the kids said that running is hard,” Stinchfield admitted.  “But what they discovered is the more you do it the easier it becomes.”

In order to make running fun, Stinchfield mixes up the work outs.  “One week we did a warrior dash with a bunch of obstacles,” she explained.  “Some days we run relays, or play running games like capture the flag and or running drills.  We also focus on teaching kids how to run and to think about things like pacing.”

Second grader, Caroline Collins, has run The Stride for two years and is looking forward to participating again this year. She agreed with Stinchfield that, “Running was hard when we started but now it feels easier.  And it is fun.”

Stinchfield did not know what to expect when she offered the program but was delighted to find the kids eager to learn and participate. “I hope they leave this experience with the impression that running is fun to do and that they will continue to have an active life.”

The Student Stride for Education, on May 18, is a student fun run and adult 5K run and walk to benefit Washougal public education through the Washougal Schools Foundation. It is held at the Washougal High School stadium and surrounding areas.

For more information about the Stride, please visit http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us/stride/
For information about Discovery Dentistry, please visit http://www.discoverydentistry.com

Tracey Stinchfield makes exercise fun for Hathaway running club students with creative courses and obstacles to move through.

Washougal Eighth Grade Students Look Beyond the Classroom at Volunteerism Projects and Potential Careers

Eighth grade students at Canyon Creek and Jemtegaard Middle Schools in Washougal are preparing for success at high school and in the real world through two differently focused programs.  Both are designed to make students stretch personally as they develop new skills and a broader understanding of society and themselves.

Hana Nekvapil, CCMS 8th grader, enjoyed her work helping raise research funds for conditions such as scoliosis at the Doernbacher's Child Annual Spring Brunch Auction at the Hilton Vancouver. 

The 8th grade project at Canyon Creek is based on volunteerism.  Students first choose an area of interest that excites them.  From there they are required to write a research paper, complete a minimum amount of volunteer hours that supports their topic, create a poster illustrating their work, and make a presentation to a large audience of parents and peers.

"Students come away from this experience with the realization there is more out there in life than they thought," said Pete Forgey, CCMS 8th grade Social Studies teacher.  "They benefit from the experience of working with new people and come away knowing it isn't so scary out there.  Students also realize that there are people who need help, and they can help them. "

According to Forgey the most significant source of accomplishment of these projects is the public speaking component.  "They have to stand in the gym with a microphone and speak to a large audience of parents and peers.  They practice and practice, and in the end say, 'Wow, I did it!'  It probably overrides everything else in the project in terms of personal growth.  I've not lost a student yet," Forgey teased.

By volunteering at the Jack, Will and Rob Center, CCMS 8th grader, Levi McDonald, helped kids be active to support this study topic of preventing childhood obesity.

Morgan Goetz found an interest in homelessness and helping families in need, handing out food with his church outreach group.  "It really gave me quite a different perspective on life," Goetz explained. "Homeless people are just like us, except they had a crisis or something bad come down in their life.  They are not all on drugs.  Many are families." Goetz said he plans to keep volunteering with his church.

Over the past three years, Hana Nekvapil has been treated at Shriner's Hospital every six months for her severe scoliosis.  Her research project allowed her to learn more about the disease and its treatment. Nakvapil's community service was helping with the Doernbacher's Child Annual Spring Brunch Auction at the Hilton Vancouver.  She assembled auction baskets, labeled them and worked at the event.  "It felt really good to help others by raising money for research," Nekvapil said.

For the JMS 8th grade project, students work over six weeks and investigate a potential career.  "We are giving students a chance to explore the possibility of their dreams," said Anna Linde, JMS 8th grade Language Arts teacher.

Students must complete a research paper about a career and what it takes to become qualified, create a PowerPoint presentation and then present what they have learned to their peers.  The work is outlined in a project guide and is modeled after work that will be expected of them in high school.  They research using books, web and interviews with people working in their area of interest.

"Some students get very excited about their career direction and can start making high school course decisions based on what they've learned they will need. And some, after taking a closer look, realize this is not something they want to do with their life.  Both are important things to learn," Linde pointed out.

CCMS 8th grader Mark Calderone studied habitat restoration and volunteered at the Steigerwald Natural Refuge planting and protecting trees.

The project opens up lots of discussions in class and at home.  Students learn vocabulary such as career and job, wage and salary and what FICA is.   "We go through a budget exercise where students find out what you need to earn to be on your own.  They see that what may seem like a large income right now may only cover a family's basic needs," Linde said.

Students also discover many different types of educational opportunities other than traditional college like trade schools, internships, and training as an apprentice.  Some careers studied included police officer, marine biologist, stunt man, underwater welder and anesthesiologist.

Lauren Scott chose to look at novelist as a career.  "I was surprised at how little they actually make," she said.  "It is actually a hard job and most people that do this also have a second job."

"I was surprised as how much police officers need to know to do their job properly," said Avery M. Chan about his research into police work.  "You see them pulling people over on television but you have no sense for what it really takes for them to do their job like all the detailed reporting."

Both Chan and Scott are still interested in pursuing the careers they studied and both agree that now they have a better idea of what they need to do to prepare as they take the next steps into their high school education.

Congratulations to Excelsior's April Phoenix on Fire: Cayden Gehrke

Excelsior High School, Washougal’s alternative school, has instituted a Student of the Month program called “Phoenix on Fire”. These students exemplify the characteristics we would like to see all of our students at Excelsior achieve. Our students are striving to become: Inspiring, Responsible, Respectful, Have great attendance, An Excellent work Ethic, and have a Positive Attitude.
March’s student of the month is Cayden Gehrke.

Congratulations, Cayden!

Student Musicians Win Awards

Washougal High School and Jemtegaard Middle School music departments both recently won top honors at local competitions.

 WHS Jazz Band won a 2nd place finish at the University of Portland Jazz Festival on Thursday, April 11. According to Kelly Ritter, band director, “The group worked very hard this year, and they have come a very long way.” You can catch them in concert on Thursday, April 18th at 7 p.m. at WHS.

Jemtegaard Middle School’s Husky Singers wowed the crowd and the judges at the Regional Middle School Choir Festival on March 26. The scores just came in and JMS ranked 3rd out of twelve, missing 2nd place by just one point. This was only their second time competing and music teacher Jen Mahorney was extremely proud of them adding that the students represented JMS with maturity and pride.