Trail Band Concert at Washburn Performing Arts Center Nov. 26, 2011

Always a holiday favorite, the Trail Band is returning to the Washburn Performing Arts Center on November 26th at 7 PM. Tickets are $30, $20, and $15. The event is a fundraiser for the Grant and Scholarship program of the Washougal Schools Foundation. For more information, please visit the Washougal Schools Foundation website, or call Roger Daniels at 360-852-5151 or e-mail rogerdaniels@windermere.com �

To learn more about the Trail Band, visit their website at http://www.trailband.com/

Holiday Marketplace Bazaar at Washougal High School Nov. 19, 2011

Please support Washougal High School's Associated Student Body by coming to this year's Holiday Marketplace Bazaar, on Saturday, November 19th, 2011. Booths will be open from 9 AM to 4 PM. The ASB and class officers are helping set up and clean up after the event. Vendors from a variety of businesses and individuals will be selling hand crafted products. Please stop by and check out the event, to get a head-start on your holiday shopping. For more information, please contact Gordon Washburn at 360-954-3103. �

Free Breakfast Week Nov. 7-11, 2011

Free Breakfast Week (November 7 - 11, 2011)

Students at all grade levels in the Washougal School District will have access to breakfast at no charge from November 7-11, 2011. For this week, regardless of the student’s free and reduced status, all schools in the district will offer free breakfast. It is our hope that exposure to the school breakfast program will encourage children who might normally skip breakfast to eat breakfast on a regular basis.

According to studies, the benefits of eating breakfast include:
•    Eating breakfast can help improve math, reading, and standardized test scores.
•    Children who eat breakfast are more likely to behave better in school and get along with their peers than those who do not.
•    Breakfast helps children pay attention, perform problem-solving tasks, and improves memory.
•    Children who eat school breakfast are likely to have fewer absences and incidents of tardiness than those who do not.
•    By eating breakfast, students get more of important nutrients, vitamins and minerals such as calcium, dietary fiber, folate and protein.
•    Studies have shown that children who eat breakfast on a regular basis are less likely to be overweight.
•    Eating breakfast as a child is important for establishing healthy habits for later in life.
•    School Breakfast provides ¼ the recommended amounts of protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C for the day.�

Stuff the Bus 2011

Stuff the Bus 2011

For the last three years, Washougal High School has joined Camas High School in a friendly rivalry to see which school can gather the most food and toys for needy families on one day. Last year, Camas High beat Washougal High, but the real winners were the families in need who live in Camas and Washougal. The East County Family Resource Center of Children's Home Society, Camas Treasure House and other charities that provide food and household supplies to needy families joyfully accepted over 70,000 pounds of goods donated by our communities last December.

This year, Stuff the Bus will run through December 9. When Washougal High School ASB leaders and students show their community spirit, it is enough to inspire all of us to join this great cause. Community members are invited to drop off non-perishable canned or boxed foods, household supplies and unwrapped toys at any Washougal school. The big yellow bus will be parked in front of Washougal High School all day on 12/9/2011, and this is when the action is the most exciting. The ASB is also accepting cash donations which will be used for purchasing additional food and household supply items throughout the day.

Stuff the Bus is a community project of the Camas-Washougal Business Alliance, and supports local families in need. All goods received benefit local charities right here in Camas and Washougal.

Please Support Washougal School District's students and staff as they try to beat Camas in a rematch of last year's "Stuff the Bus" fundraiser. Bring a donation to any Washougal School, and leave it in the "Stuff the Bus" bins.

WHS Football Team Featured in Columbian Article

Members of the Washougal High School Football Team were featured in an article in the Columbian newspaper on September 30, 2011. The article highlights the front line of the Panther's team and their impressive 4-0 record so far this year.

To read more, please visit the Columbian at:

http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/sep/30/it-starts-up-front-at-washougal/

Washougal Teachers Learn to Use Google Sites to Create Webpages

Two groups of Washougal educators attended optional, district-sponsored classes on creating web pages using Google Sites on September 22 and 28, 2011. These hands-on classes were co-facilitated by Washougal High School Teachers James Bennett and Rochelle Aiton, with assistance from Director of Technology Les Brown.

Participating teachers were led through the process of creating an account, customizing a main page in Google sites, adding feeds from subpages, integrating a Google Calendar, linking to external sites, and adding attachments via the File Cabinet feature or Google Docs.

Hathaway Teacher Lisa Kaaihue said, " I really appreciated all of the choices and variety of features the Google Sites class offered for developing Web pages. I have used other sites to create web pages and felt this site offered the most diversity of features."

For more information about these classes or other staff development initiatives, please visit the Staff Development page of the Washougal School District Website.�

Pictured are Gause Teachers Allison Such and Wendy Morrill.

Washougal Teachers Learn to Use Research Databases with Students

A group of Washougal educators attended an optional, district-sponsored class on integrating research databases available from the Fort Vancouver Regional Library (FVRL) into their curriculum on Tuesday, September 20. The project-based, hands-on class was taught by Washougal High School Teacher-Librarian Kim Dillon and Director of Technology Les Brown. Washougal Community Library’s new Community Librarian, Chris Hughey, was introduced at the class and helped provide information about the databases covered as well as other services offered through the public library, including school and classroom visits.

Participating teachers were led through the process of brainstorming a topic, defining search terms, expanding or narrowing a research idea, and then searching and recording results from the following electronic resources: Britannica Online, Britannica Online for Kids, World Book for Kids, CultureGrams, Thinkfinity, and General One File. Access to FVRL’s research databases is free with a public library card. Finally, teachers learned evaluation strategies to help students become critical consumers of information. Feedback received was very positive, and staff members who participated were enthusiastic about the opportunity to share these high quality research databases with students. Cape Horn-Skye Teacher Jocelyn Aldridge said, "My wheels are already turning with ideas for my 2nd graders to use as we begin to learn how to write mini-reports this year. Who knew that all of this information was available, and that it is so easy to access?"

For more information about this class or other staff development initiatives, please visit the Staff Development page of the Washougal School District Website.

Les Brown discusses research strategies with Canyon Creek Middle School Teacher Kay Ball, and Washougal High School Teacher Sheila Good during a class held in the WHS Library. Brown, WSD Director of Technology, recently assumed primary responsibilities for presenting Technology Staff Development programs in the District. He is always interested in hearing from staff members willing to help present professional development topics and can be reached at 360-954-3310.

Photo credit: Kim Dillon.