DISTRICT

A series of meetings for the purpose of developing a 6-year Strategic Plan for the district will be held at Sequim’s Transit Center, 190 W Cedar St. The kick-off session is at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, March 30. Dr. Dave Engle, retired superintendent from Port Townsend School District, will serve as facilitator.

For more information, contact Marilyn Walsh at 582-3262 or mwalsh@ sequim.k12.wa.us.

Spring break is April 3-7. Classes resume at 9:15 a.m. Monday, April 10. During spring break week, the district office is open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (closed from noon-1 p.m.).

GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Master Gardeners from the WSU Extension program visited last week to demonstrate, reinforce and supplement the language arts curriculum about the life cycle of plants. Students shared their own knowledge and learned even more about how a seed starts, what it needs to grow, how plants are pollinated and how the cycle repeats itself.

The volunteers helped all 83 second-graders make a root-viewer with pea, corn, sunflower, radish and bean seeds. Students measured and poured soil in a cup which was lined with damp paper towel pieces. The seeds were then planted between the paper towel and the cup so students were able to examine the progress of the seeds.

Students excitedly journaled, measured and drew about the growth of their seedlings for almost 10 days. They were encouraged to plant the seeds in larger containers once they take them home.

This wonderful program comes to our school each year and the program has been around since 1973. Thank you, Master Gardeners!

HELEN HALLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Tiffany Malean’s Special Education class recently visited the Dungeness Creamery. Brad Meckley set up the field trip event with his middle school Life Skill’s class and invited us to join him. Malean said, “When we got there, our tour guide Ryan let us pet the calves and told us about them. Then, we got to meet the cows and learn about the milking process. Afterwards, we met a really nice dog and got to taste some farm-fresh milk!”

SEQUIM MIDDLE SCHOOL

Teachers Paul Pinza and Hillary Hornor offered an update on a new school program: At Hope Academy, we live in the present with our eyes on the future. We see ourselves in the future in an effort to focus on goals and realize we can achieve what we put our minds to. We use experiential learning as much as possible by taking numerous field trips and getting out into the community.

Recently, Hope Academy students went to Forks and learned about local history, natural sciences and legends. The group visited John’s Beachcombing Museum, a retired plumber’s collection of beach detritus, and the Forks Timber Museum, with exhibits and information about homesteading, farming and the 1970s “Logging Capital of the World.”

Hope Academy students also have been job shadowing different individuals in our community. The students’ writings about their experiences are posted on the bulletin board in the hallway to share with others.

Here are letters of thanks they wrote to their mentors:

Dear Dr. Heather Short at Sequim Animal Hospital,

Thank you for letting me come and job shadow you. I had a lot of fun. It was really cool to watch the rabbit get neutered and the dog get the C-section. This really helped me decide if I want to be a vet when I get older and I really do want to be a vet when I get older. Watching the surgeries really helped me understand the type of things you guys do and what I should prepare myself for. My favorite part about this was probably being able to see the C-section. I’m happy I got to help with the puppies. I hope if we have another job shadow I can come back. I also had fun when your assistants had me feed the rabbit after surgery. The rabbit was really nice and also very pretty. Getting shown around and meeting everyone was also very fun, everyone was very nice. I had an amazing time. Thank you so much! Sincerely, Aurora Williams, eighth grade

Dear Northwestern Territories Inc. (NTI),

Thank you for letting me job shadow your company. It was very interesting. I learned a lot about land surveying and drafting. I got to edit property and got to learn all about the software CAD Autodesk 2016 ™. I got to design a lagoon that is out in Joyce and I hope I get to see it when it is finished. NTI also has a vault. Inside the vault is a room with a crazy amount of maps of projects, towns and cities, like a 100-year-old map of Port Townsend and a map of Sequim when it was first being made. This is definitely something I would consider doing when I grow up. Sincerely, Joseph Beck, seventh grade

Dear Jeremy Cays at Jeremy Cays Productions,

Thanks! It was awesome learning how to record and it was fun. Especially learning how to make beats! Wow! I could do that forever! You have an awesome job. I am definitely going to tell people about your business! Hopefully I can come back! I’m still improving my song. Now I know what cool beat to use and I took your advice and I’m getting into piano. It’s super cool. Thanks, again! Sincerely, Eli Worley, seventh grade

Dear Kenny Hall at Anytime Fitness,

Thank you for letting me shadow you. It was a pleasure to shadow you for two hours. I like how you showed me how you brag about people when you work them out. And thank you for telling me about the schooling and how I would need a bachelor of science and clinical physiology and the highest certification in strength and conditioning, speed and agility. I learned that a normal work day is between 8-10 hours and the first part of the month is the busiest. Your hours depend on how many clients you get. The best part about the job is helping people, and the worst part about the job is unreasonable customer complaints. To do your job you have to love it and you see in the future other little gyms going up. Sincerely, Chase Bedinger, eighth grade

Students presented Disney’s “The Lion King, Jr.” on March 16-17 to a packed house in the high school auditorium. Bravo to directors John Lorentzen, Tom Saffold and Robin Hall, as well as student actors/actresses and choir members!

SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL

In second year American Sign Language (ASL) class, taught by Sonja Miller, students were assigned the task of sharing about their weekends with five other students. In their signed conversation, they needed to use the sign for describing “one interesting thing” and the sign for “one warning” to describe something unique that happened as well as something they have/had advice about. For example, they might have signed how they went to see the movie “Beauty and the Beast” as their “one interesting thing” and that the lines at the movie theater were long as their “one warning.”

Some of these ASL students use signing at their place of work:

Senior Terrance Tveit works at Dairy Queen and has a few customers each week who are hearing impaired. The opportunity to use signing at work as well as in school has helped Terrance acquire a broad range of vocabulary.

Senior Jamie McCracken works at the Coffee Cottage in Port Angeles and has some regulars that come in, needing to communicate by ASL. One gentleman who came with his white board was very appreciative that she could use ASL to communicate with him. They had a conversation for about a half an hour and he has become a regular customer. Jamie is interested in obtaining a teacher degree and minoring in deaf studies. She would like to incorporate ASL into her teaching.

Senior Jett Gagnon works at Walmart and finds that hearing impaired customers are very appreciate of his ability to converse in ASL. ASL as a career would be a backup plan for him, as he intends to major in Spanish in college. Jett enjoys being expressive with in his signing and says, “I find that people I converse with in ASL enjoy the expressiveness. It enriches the language.”

Sophomore Ash Francis works at the YMCA in Sequim and watches deaf children in the play care room while their parents work out. Ash learned signing at an orphanage in Ethiopia to communicate with some children who were hearing impaired. Once he moved to America, he had to learn ASL. Ash plans to go into medicine and feels signing will be useful in communicating with deaf patients.

Welding teacher Bill Seabolt shared an account of local businesses working with the school district. Junior Cameron Hatt made a headache rack for his truck and it turned out very professional. Seabolt went to Dog House Powder Coat and arranged with owners Steve and Lori Harwood to allow Cameron to use their sandblast room and do his own sandblasting and powder coat his project himself.

Said Seabolt, “This type of relationship with local businesses allows our students an opportunity to explore new and different job fields that are not offered by the school district. Without this type of arrangement students would not get to work in an industry-type atmosphere and get to handle and work with equipment otherwise not available to them.”

“This is one benefit of having a dedicated Advanced Welding program and Career Technology Education (CTE) Program,” Seabolt said. “Over my years here (at Sequim High School), I have maintained a great working relationship with many of the local businesses. This year we are partnering with Armstrong Marine to have a successful aluminum welding program at the high school, and all to the benefit of our students. I take my hat off to the local businesses like Dog House Powder Coating and Armstrong Marine that support our future workforce and citizens of our community.”