Career Fair at Jemtegaard Middle School Helps Students Prepare for Future

Jemtegaard Middle School (JMS) students were provided the opportunity to explore a variety of possible careers at the JMS Career Fair held on February 26.

“The 29 presenters included many Washougal residents and businesses,” said David Cooke, JMS Principal.  “Each student took part in three half hour presentations.  The students picked two of their choices and we picked the other to expand their horizons.”  Some of the jobs included Secret Service Agent, Chiropractor, Cosmetologist, Pilot, Detective, Nurse, Firefighter, Movie Director, Videographer and Surgical Technician.

The day started with an assembly with guest speaker Jason Scukanec from the ESPN sports radio show, '1080 the Fan.'  Scukanec was a standout football player at Mt. View High School in Vancouver and had a brief career in the National Football League.  He is now a radio broadcaster and discussed the twists and turns in life and stressed the importance of a good education.

Danny Birch, Firefighter with the East County Fire and Rescue and Washougal resident, enjoys the part of his job that brings him into school classrooms. “Some kids are already thinking about becoming a firefighter and it is important to let them know what it takes to enter this career,” he said. “I tell them that it is challenging and knowing what I know now I would have worked harder in school to be prepared.”

“We wanted students to have a chance to see the many possible directions out there for careers so they can begin planning now,” Cooke said.  “We are very grateful to our community that took their valuable time to give students this experience.”

WHS Student Bobby Jacobs Earns Spot in Boeing Tech Prep Program

As a senior at Washougal High School, Bobby Jacobs is ahead of the curve in knowing what type of career and education he'll pursue after graduation.

Jacobs is just one of 12 students in Clark County to be selected for Boeing's TechPrep program, a paid summer internship that gives students hands-on experience in machining and manufacturing as well as job application skills and work experience. The program intends to bridge the gap between high school and college, to help students determine if they would like to pursue a career in manufacturing production and engineering.

Many students are deterred by the program's lengthy application process, with less than five percent of the hundreds of applicants being accepted. Fortunately for Jacobs, his persistence paid off. He was accepted to the program and completed the first four-week program last summer, where he spent 40 hours per week working with drills, mills and lathes.

He's learned how to read and create technical drawings as well as build a variety of things, including a telescoping hammer, which was his pick for a class project.

"In four weeks I learned as much as I would have learned in a whole semester in high school," said Jacobs. "This opportunity has really helped me get my foot in the door with Boeing."

In addition to gaining valuable hands-on skills, Jacobs learned all about working in a high-security professional organization. He's also learned how to abide by company procedures, work safely, and deal with security and confidentiality within a large organization.

Once Jacobs successfully completed his first summer session, he was invited back to participate in a second internship. This summer, he will work as part of a team to produce a rocket boat. After that, he'll be eligible to participate in a seven-week program where he will job-shadow professionals, gain interview skills, and create a resume. By the end of the program he will be poised to apply for a highly competitive job with the company or pursue a college education in engineering, which Boeing would likely pay for.

"He's gaining a lot of experience that's tough to come by anywhere else," said CTE Director Marsha Spencer.

WHS Students Participate in WMEA/WIAA All-State Conference and Honor Groups

Congratulations to the seven WHS students who were selected to take part in the WMEA/WIAA All-State Conference and Honor Groups in Yakima, WA in February.  Students submitted vocal and instrumental audition recording and competed against thousands of high school students from the state for placement in the honor groups.  They rehearsed over three days and had a Gala Performance on Sunday.  Congratulations to: Left to right: Nick Stevens, Sonja Adams, Zoe West, Allix Fisher and Bret Wade. Not pictures: Mac Wright and Austin Smith-Brown.

Rotary Scholar of the Month for February: Taylor Brown

Taylor Brown has been selected as the Camas Washougal Rotary Scholar of the Month for February 2014.  Taylor is a sophomore at Washougal High School and has a 4.0 GPA.  Bruce Stanton, Taylor's Honors Chemistry teacher simply states "she is an excellent honors Chemistry student," a sentiment many other teachers shared.  Rochelle Aiton, WHS Spanish teacher, notes that Taylor "comes to school with a determined attitude and a skip in her step."  She adds that "she consistently does all of her homework with attention to detail and a smile on her face."

Kelly Ritter, WHS Band teacher, reports that "Taylor is a clarinet player in Symphonic Band and Pep Band.  She is a hardworking, pleasant young lady with a very bright future!"   Taylor's teacher Rachel Webb shared that Taylor is a tenacious young lady who is not afraid to stand up for what is right.  Taylor is a strong willed person with determination and learning as her primary concern."  Taylor is the daughter of Don and Melissa Swanson. Congratulations Taylor!

Washougal Students Compete at Future Business Leaders of America Competition

Students at Washougal High School (WHS) and Jemtegaard Middle School (JMS) earned many top honors at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) 2014 Winter Business Leadership Conference held at Kalama High School on January 29, 2014.

The following students have qualified to attend the State FBLA Conference, to be held April 17-19 in Seattle.   They are led by faculty advisors Lisa Leonard and Kathy Sturdyvin-Scobba at WHS and Susan Nesmith at JMS.

The WHS winners were:

Madisen Baldwin
2nd Place Emerging Business Issues
3rd Place Job Interview

Faith Beard
2nd Place Emerging Business Issues
1st Place Agri-Business

Tiffany Brock
5th Place Hospitality Management

Kayla Donahue
5th Place Business Presentation

Allix Fisher
2nd Place Banking & Financial Systems
2nd Place Emerging Business Issues

Sayre Glaser
5th Place Business Presentation
5th Place Agri-Business
2nd Place FBLA Principles & Procedures

Michelle Greear
4th Place Banking & Financial Systems
5th Place Public Speaking II
2nd Place Global Business
5th Place Hospitality Management

Matt Hickey
5th Place Business Presentation
5th Place Computer Problem Solving
1st Place Intro to Information Technology

Adam Krout
4th Place Banking & Financial Systems
1st Place Business Ethics
4th Place Business Calculations
2nd Place Personal Finance

Bekah Luthi
2nd Place Global Business
5th Place Hospitality Management
1st Place Business Calculations
1st Place Business Procedures

Jacob Lively
2nd Place Global Business
1st Place Business Ethics

Brandon Mucke
2nd Place Banking & Financial Systems

Kaleen Shannon
2nd Place Banking & Financial Systems

Kaleb Weist
4th Place Banking & Financial System
1st Place Business Ethics

Middle school winners at this high school level competition were:

2nd place, Parliamentary Procedures, Mikayla Dodge, Rhianna Brown, Sarai Lintala, Chloe Seymour, Ryenn Soule

4th place, Parliamentary Procedures, Rose Elsensohn, Kyel Fisher, Brooke Hinson, Adela Osorio, Tristan Elliott

3rd place, Intro to Parliamentary Procedures, Rose Elsensohn

5th place, Creed, Rhianna Brown

4th place, Intro to Parliamentary Procedures, Brooke Hinson

5th place, Intro to Parliamentary Procedures, Ryenn Soule

5th place, Intro to Business, River Pike

5th place, Intro to Information Technology, Anna Allen

Congrats to all of these great FBLA students and their dedicated advisors!

Students Participate in Battle of the Books at Washougal Elementary Schools

The stage is set for the Battle of the Books at Washougal Elementary schools.

“The idea for the battle started at a Professional Learning Community (PLC) meeting of elementary library assistants last year,” said Kathy Stanton, Hathaway Elementary Librarian.  “We decided then to have a competition between our schools in April of this year.”  Library staff at Gause, Cape Horn-Skye and Hathaway Elementary schools chose twenty books for the battle and in September began encouraging students to read those titles. 

“A student must read eight books to qualify to compete on a battle team,” Stanton explained.  “There are four or five 4th and 5th graders per team. Teams are asked questions from any of the 20 books. Each question begins: "From what book....?", and each team answers with the title and author of the book they think the question is from.”

Points earned with correct answers decide the winners.

This spring, each elementary school will have an in-house battle to choose their top two teams. Then, on April 14, the winning teams will meet at Washougal High School to battle for the top honor.

Hathaway Elementary fifth grader, Brienna Elliott, from Erin Hayes’ class, was recently recognized for having already read 14 out of the 20 battle books.  Her prize?  She was given a special parley with the “Pirate King,” aka David Tudor, Washougal School District Curriculum Director.  The two sat down in the library over lunch last week and discussed her accomplishment and chatted about the books she had read.  Tudor also visited classrooms to help spur on excitement in the contest.