Washougal Middle School Students Get the Fact Drugs and Alcohol

Schools all across the country took part in National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week January 25-29.   NDAFW is a national health observance for teens to promote local events that use National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIDA) science to shatter the myths about drugs.  More than 1,800 events were held across the country and internationally that week.

“We are taking advantage of this week in Washougal to start conversations about drugs and alcohol with youth,” said Wendy Butler C.W.D.P., Student Assistance Counselor from Educational Service District 112 working in Washougal. “The focus on drug and alcohol information has changed since the days of using scare tactics for kids. Now our information is more evidence based facts.”

Butler spent two days each at Canyon Creek and Jemtegaard Middle Schools talking to students at lunch time.  “They would line up for a chance to read a slip of paper with a fact about drugs or alcohol on it,” Butler explained. “They would read the fact and then paraphrase the information back to me.”  Stating the fact in their own words helps students to understand and retain the information.

“We are not with these kids every second so they need to be prepared with the tools to think on their own,” Butler said.  “It is best to give them information to process so they can make their own decisions.  We are approaching our kids on a more mature level.”  An outcome of the fact sharing is also to create student interest in Prevention Clubs starting at both schools.

“I think it is cool and interesting to hear these facts,” said CCMS 8th grader Alexis Brock.  Brock’s fact was about e-cigarettes, a topic she was already aware of. “I have talked with my family about how it is not right that e-cigarettes can be sold to kids when it is really the same stuff in them as regular cigarettes!”

CCMS 8th grader Casey Rappe’ said he found the facts interesting to think about.  “My fact was on alcohol blood levels,” he said.  “Some kids don’t realize that what you drink gets into your blood.  That is what makes you woozy but it can also kill you if you have too much.  It is kind of scary that know that alcohol goes into your blood.”

Facts were presented in several categories including marijuana, tobacco and nicotine, synthetic drugs, prescription drugs and alcohol.  “Kids are surprised by the information about prescription drugs and that it is the source of most drug overdoses,” Butler said.  The danger of additives in synthetic drugs is also new to many.

“We want to let them know the most important thing they have is their brain and they should not harm it while they are still growing,” Butler said.  “My job is really to empower kids to make positive choices.”

JMS Parents attend iPad Training and Internet Safety Night

Parents of students at Jemtegaard Middle School attended an evening of learning about the iPads and ways to help students be safe online on April 23.  JMS teachers Kelli Dizmang, Cherise Marshall, and Rebecca Bohlin worked with students who served as "experts" to develop the lessons taught to their peers' parents.  Approximately 40 to 50 parents attended with at least that many students.

“Parents went with their students to a series of stations where they learned about the apps that students use in class, projects that are done on the iPads, how to access WESPaC from a mobile device, and more,” said Les Brown, WSD Director of Technology.  “Each station was run by a JMS student, who created their mini-lesson on an iPad to share with parents and other students.  The parents who attended shared that they were amazed at how much the students have learned, and the variety of skills they have with the iPads.”

Parents also attended a session on Internet Safety and building student's skills to make wise choices and be safe online.  The session focused on practical steps parents can take to help keep kids safe while online.  “We discussed parents’ concerns about online safety, helping make sure they have an awareness of monitoring student activities online, as well as tools and strategies to help them make sure their kids are learning to be good digital citizens while staying safe online,” Brown said.

“Many of the parents who attended the Internet safety presentation were taking notes, sharing their own safety tips, and asking more questions about how we can work together to keep kids safe online,” said Dizmang.  “The response was very positive.  Many parents were also surprised to discover how much their middle schoolers know about using technology for learning, and were amazed at what the kids do and create every day.  Our students did an excellent job sharing their skills with parents!”

The act of students presenting the lessons was a sign of the success for the tech parent night in the eyes of Bohlin.  “It demonstrated to parents how students are benefiting and learning from the technology they have the chance to use in school,” she said.

According to Bohlin, student are already asking about having the event next year.  “The way that students stepped up to create quality presentations was outstanding! I was so impressed with what students put together to show parents, including QR code activities, wi-fi troubleshooting situations, thoughtful questions, and hands-on demonstrations.”

Jemtegaard Middle School​ students compete in Japanese Speech Contest

Three Jemtegaard Middle School​ students were winners in the 27th Annual Japanese Speech Contest held April 18 in Portland.  Winners of Middle School Division 1 were first place, Imagen Huey; second place, Brandon MacArthur; and third place, Monty Scott.

The competition is organized by the Consular Office of Japan for students studying Japanese language in high school, middle school and immersion programs in Oregon and SW Washington.  There were 22 students participating from 10 schools.

Awards were presented by Consul General Hiroshi Furusawa.

Middle School Honor Band Members Selected to Play in Regional Honor Band

Six Washougal middle school students are among those selected to play in the Clark County Honor Band.  They will participate in 2 days of rehearsal, work with Mr. Dan Ogren, current Metropolitan Youth Symphony Concert Band Director, and perform in concert with other Clark County band students on Saturday, February 21, 2015.

Musicians from Jemtegaard Middle School are Emily Johnson, 8th grade, trumpet; Ian Palmer, 7th grade, percussion; and Clara Harris, 8th grade, clarinet.  From Canyon Creek Middle School they are Kyle Hendrickson, 7th grade, trombone; Audrey Hinchliff 8th grade, clarinet; and William Weihl, 7th grade, percussion.

The application for Honor Band involved the students writing an essay. In the essay students shared their experience with music, band, honors, awards, and why they should be selected for an honor band. Their music instructors then ranked students in areas of musicianship, solo ability, character and responsibility, and then ranked all of the students from their school who were applying.

"I remember participating honor bands in middle and high school,” said Dr. Jennifer Bohn, music instructor at JMS. “It was a once in a life time experience working under the baton of renown conductors and performing with the best of the best. Our students will learn a great deal, perform challenging band literature, perform with students from all over Clark County, and no doubt have an incredible experience."

Having the opportunity to play music with students at a high skill level is one of the reasons Harris is excited to be in the honor band.  Johnson agrees saying, “It will be a challenge to play with new people and see their different levels of skill.”

JMS Symphonic Band Students Accepted into 2015 North County Honor Band

Please join us in congratulating the following JMS Symphonic Band students for being accepted into the  2015 North County Honor Band:

Emily Johnson - trumpet
Ian Palmer - percussion
Clara Harris - clarinet

Students will participate in 2 days of rehearsal, work with Mr. Dan Ogren, current Metropolitan Youth Symphony Concert Band Director, and perform in concert with other Clark County band students on Saturday, February 21, 2015.

Great day to be a JMS Husky band student!! BRAVO to Washougal music students!!

JMS Choir Singers Find Success at Regional Festival

The Husky Singers had a fantastic day at the Regional Middle School Choir festival at Camas HS on Tuesday.  Our students performed and behaved at such a professional level, the second judge (who usually does not talk to a group if the other judge does) actually came on stage to tell us how professional we were.  The other judge praised our clear tone, our blend, and literature choice.  Beyond the performance, our singers sat quietly and respectfully watching eleven other choirs perform.  We received a II+ (Excellent) and a solid I (Superior).

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.”

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!

Canyon Creek and Jemtegaard Students Participate in Outdoor School

More than 80 sixth grade students from Canyon Creek Middle School in Washougal put on their hiking boots and enjoyed the wonder of outdoor school June 6 and 7. Students did not have to travel far to be at two sites rich for environmental study; Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Beacon Rock State Park.

Washougal School District has worked with Friends of the Gorge for the past three years on the outdoor school program. The Friends have sponsored the trip, put together volunteers for each of the sites and planned the daily activities. At Steigerwald students took a nature walk with volunteers who specializes in the projects there and know the land, animals and plants.  Students also participate in a Learning Service Project to remove invasive weeds.  While at Beacon Rock students visited a variety of stations learning about nature around the Columbia River Gorge including learning about trees, plants, animal tracks, leaves, and Lewis and Clark.

 Approximately 150 students from Jemtegaard Middle School in Washougal will have their outdoor school experience June 12, 13, and 14.

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.

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.

Jemtegaard and CCMS Students Visit East Coast for History

Twenty five eigth grade students from Jemtegaard and Canyon Creek Middle School visited the East coast for a US History trip, visiting Washington, D.C. and New York. The trip was organized by Jemtegaard History teacher Scott Rainey, and chaperoned by volunteers. To read more, please read this article in the Camas Washougal Post Record about the trip. 

Students benefit from outdoor school program

Washougal middle school students will participate in Outdoor School 2012, a 2-day outdoor science education field trip at both Beacon Rock Park and Steigerwald Natural Refuge. Sponsored by Friends of the Gorge, the experience offers students hands-on science learning about trees, leaves, animal footprints, the nature trail and even a snapshot of Lewis and Clark. Students will walk the Steigerwald nature path, learn about plants, animals and how the mountains were formed, and participate in a Service Learning Project, pulling invasive plants. Students will interact with experts in the fields of biology, naturalist, arborist, botanist, and history.

David Shapiro, author of Terra Tempo spoke to Canyon Creek Middle School students May 17. The story starts in Portland, Oregon and takes readers on an adventure with three kids traveling through the ice age to see how the Columbia River Gorge was formed.

“Outdoor School is no ordinary field trip,” said teacher Lori Schilling. “It gives students an interactive and hands-on learning experience on how the Missoula Floods and Ice Age formed the Columbia River Gorge, which is Washougal’s backyard.”

Students will participate in the program May 24-25 and May 31-June 1.  The program is a partnership between Washougal School District and the Friends of the Columbia Gorge with funding from the Clausen Youth Fund, which was established in 2008 by long-time supporter and Vancouver resident Phyllis Clausen in honor of her late-husband.

The goal of the program is to expose local youth to the wonders of the ColumbiaGorge, its significance as a national treasure, and story of its preservation through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Act.

To view a slide show of last year’s adventure, visit: https://picasaweb.google.com/Maegan1979/YouthProgram?authkey=Gv1sRgCNbzja-p3cfRBQ#slideshow/5630889672148327042

Clausen Youth Program allows students to explore the Gorge

Washougal School District middle school students had the opportunity to participate in the Clausen Youth Program, a two-day outdoor themed program focusing on history, stewardship, and plant & animal identification in the Columbia Gorge. The program is a partnership between Washougal School District and the Friends of the Columbia Gorge and allows students to experience the Gorge in a new way, aligned with state standards. “The Gorge is such a wonderful resource in our own back yard and we feel so grateful to the Friends of the Columbia Gorge for giving our students a chance to experience it in a meaningful and educational way,” said Assistant Superintendent Rebecca Miner.

The Clausen Youth Fund was established in 2008 by long-time supporter and Vancouver resident Phyllis Clausen in honor of her late-husband. With a strong environmental background, Phyllis saw the need to provide an environmental education experience.

The goal of the program is to expose local youth to the wonders of the Columbia Gorge, its significance as a national treasure, and story of its preservation through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Act.