DISTRICT
The next school board meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, June 4, at Greywolf Elementary School, 171 Carlsborg Road. The public is invited to attend, and time is set aside for public comment. To view the agenda and minutes of past meetings, click on “Board of Directors” and “2017-2018 agendas” on the district’s website at www.sequimschools.org.
GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
On April 23, students at Greywolf Elementary had the opportunity to travel into the future! No, they haven’t invented a time-machine. They participated in a Hobby & Recreation Fair to explore options they might enjoy as adults.
Twenty-five Greywolf parents and community members volunteered their time to share about some of their favorite hobbies. Presentations detailed how they first became interested in their hobby, how they developed their skills, what academic subjects support their hobby, and why it is an enjoyable way to spend their free time. Many brought the actual items they use for their hobby, others brought photos or shared videos.
This fair complemented a Career Fair held earlier in the year, and both helped students see the value in their education and goal setting for the future. Students loved the variety of the presentations and are looking forward to fun-filled futures!
We would like to give our sincere thanks to our presenters:
Aaron Witherell, wake-surfing
Mark Simpson, skateboarding
Robin Bookter, gardening
Kate Treece, cake decorating
Magan Waldron, pageantry
Brad Moore, woodworking
Juan Gonzalez, soccer
Fani Hernandez, make-up artistry
Josh King, surfing
Christy Marazon, pickleball
Sheryl Lamb, Zumba
Scott Simpler, remote-control cars
Don Bradley, dinosaur fossil restoration and artistry
Jason Doig, golfing
Gary and Katerina Parrish, car collecting
Caitlin Sundin, yoga
Caleb Robbins, rock climbing
Linda Sundquist, biking
Stephanie Clark, singing
David Updike, backpacking
Andy Sallee, pilot
Sharon Pysden, gardening
Dan Owens, art
Cindy Mounts, Flame-working and jewelry-making
Fifth-grade students from Jennifer Lopez’s class were recent recipients of biography books donated by Janet Thomas of Sequim. The students each chose a famous person to read about and selected a second source to further their research. Students were given the task of choosing whether their famous person would best be described as creative, persistent, or hard working and backing up their opinion with evidence from their research.
Here are more of their essays:
“Pesticides Blocker”
By Jade-Evelyn C. Reynolds
The word that best describes amazing, Rachel Carson, is persistent. One reason for this is her work on pesticides. Rachel learned about pesticides and knew they were a danger to her world. Therefore, she decided to speak out and try to help her growing world.
In the book, “Who Was Rachel Carson?” on page 79, the author talks about her work while she was fighting cancer, “She was discovering how pollution and pesticides threatened birds, insects, fish, and other insects.” This proves she wanted her work to be accurate and was researching so many things about pesticides. Even though she was fighting cancer, she still found time to research and help her world.
In the Biography.com article “Rachel Carson,” it states, “Rachel Carson alerted the world of the environmental impact of fertilizers and pesticides.” This shows she was telling as many people as she could, because she was persistent and devoted to letting the world know the dangers of pesticides so she could help the environment.
In “Who was Rachel Carson?” on page 83, the text says, “Double-checked facts. She even asked scientists to read her work to be absolutely certain that is was accurate.” This is proof she was persistent and dedicated to giving people facts that prove pesticides are bad.
All of this is related because even though she had deaths in her family, many illnesses, and was even fighting cancer, she still was dedicated and persistent about her work to make the world a healthier place.
“Biography: Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis”
By Cameryn Hampton
I think the best word to describe Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis is hard working.
I would describe her as this because in the article Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis it states “in 1942 she enrolled in Vassar College” and “she graduated from George Washington university 1951” I used these quotes because a lot of people go to college and drop because it’s too hard or because they can’t afford the money.
Also it states that when she first went to college it was 1942 and when she graduated at the university it was 1951 so that means that she took 9 years of learning just to get to that point in her life and that’s important to work that hard for your education.
Also another reason that Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis is hard working because in the book who is Jaqueline Kennedy on page 60 it states “he was running for president, and Jaqueline initially traveled with her husband. However after becoming pregnant again, she stayed at home on the advice of the doctors but continued to be involved in the campaign. She notably wrote “campaign wife” a weekly news column.” Which means Jaqueline would try to work as hard as she could even when pregnant to campaign with her husband.
One last reason that Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis is hard working is that in the article it states “Jaqueline announced that she intended to make the white house a show case for Americas most talented and accomplished individuals… Her most-enduring contribution was her work to restore the white house to its original elegance and to protect its holdings.” This means she worked as hard as to keep the white house in its original shape.
All this I hope therefore proves to you that the best word to describe Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis is hard-working.
“One word to describe Harry Houdini”
By Josh McNair
One word that describes Harry Houdini is persistent.
In the book, “Who was Harry Houdini?” it says, “It had taken five years to make the handcuffs. But it had taken Houdini only one hour to escape from them.” This shows that he is persistent because he did not give up on trying to escape the handcuffs like most people would have. He kept trying till he got out of them and escaped. This is not the only reason I think he is persistent though.
In the same book it says, “Harry had to wait more than a month before he and his plane actually got off the ground.” This also shows that Harry Houdini was a persistent person because unlike some people he kept trying to fly and fulfill his dream. Some people probably didn’t even try to fly a plane. There is still one more reason why I think Harry Houdini is a persistent person.
Lastly on Biography.com it says, “Houdini continued performing escape acts until his death.” This shows that Harry Houdini was a persistent person because he did not just stop doing what he loved to do, he kept doing it until he died. I don’t know anybody else who would willingly do dangerous escape acts until they died.
All this shows that Harry Houdini was definitely a persistent person.
“Dolly Parton, an amazing Hard-working person!”
By Elissa Brown
I would describe Dolly Parton as hard-working because she used to be a very poor child who came from a very large but poor family who lived in Tennessee. Her father was a farmer and did not make much money. When she was 18 she packed her bags and moved to Nashville. Dolly Parton was very hard working, in Who is Dolly Parton? on page 45 it says, “Everyday Dolly knocked on doors and tried to give tapes away of her songs. No luck she took waitress and office jobs to get by.” This shows that she will work until she has accomplished what she wants.
In the same book it also says on page 45, “Dolly finally got to work on a local TV show at 5 a.m. every morning. But Dolly had hardly any left for food. Sometimes she ate ketchup and water soup. Dolly was so hungry that she went into hotels and took leftovers from trays that people had put in halls.” This shows that Dolly Parton was very had-working about her career.
Dolly Parton tried out to be a singer on a TV show with 20 others, and she got the job! The audience missed the singer she replaced and they would heckle Dolly. On page 52 of the book it said, “Dolly suffered six months but she stuck it out.” Most people would quit because of an audience like that!
The book also said, “Dolly did a hundred shows in recording sessions. They might tape two shows in an hour!” This shows that she is a very hard-working person and she will not rest until the job is done! What really shows how hard-working Dolly Parton is on page 55 in my book it said, “Dolly only got a few hours of sleep each night. Sometimes she slept in her makeup and wig so she could get to work early in the morning, the next day.” This shows she was very hard working with her career because she was only getting a few hours of sleep every day.
After working with Wagoner for quite a while, she was recognized by RCA Records and was signed as an artist. In the Encyclopedia Brittanica article, “Dolly Parton,” paragraph three says, “Parton soon came to the attention of the music industry moguls at the RCA Records and subsequently recorded more than a dozen songs together with Wagoner-on hit songs-together for the RCA label. She rapidly emerged as one of country music’s most popular singers.” This shows how all of Dolly Parton’s work has paid off, and she is a very hard-working person.
In the same article, paragraph 7 it said, “In 1999 she was inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame. The next year Parton received the U.S Government National Medal of Arts, and in 2006 she was recognized at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C for her lifetime artistic achievement.” So, all of these medals show that Dolly Parton is a very hard-working person.
“The Most Hard-Working Person: Clara Barton”
Kinzley Henrikson
The word that describes Clara Barton the best is hard-working.
I think hard-working is the best word because on page 25 in the book, Who was Clara Barton, it says, “Schools were not free in New Jersey, as they were in Massachusetts, and that seemed unfair to her… and asked its members to open a free school, she would she would teach there without pay.” So, she is convincing the school board to open a free school, and not even pay her! That takes a hard-working person.
Then in Encyclopedia Britannica, “Clara Barton” paragraph 3 it states, “In 1881 she organized the America Association of the Red Cross, known from 1889 as the American National Red Cross, and served as its president until 1904.” So, she started the Red Cross, and was its president for 23 years! It probably took a lot of work for a person to start the Red Cross.
In, Who was Clara Barton, it says on page 90, “At age seventy-five Clara led a relief mission to help Armenians who were under attack in Turkey.” So Clara brought the Red Cross to Turkey to help people who were under attack, and, she was 75 years old! I think it takes a very, very, hard-working person to do that, especially at 75 years old.
So that is why I picked hard-working as the best word to describe Clara Barton.
“Alexander Hamilton”
By Nickolas Jaggar
Hard-working best describes Alexander Hamilton.
In the article, “Alexander Hamilton” on page 1 in paragraph 3 it states, “In 1722 his ability, industry, and engaging manners won an advancement from bookkeeper to manager.” He finally got a promotion through hard work and manners. This supports my case because he was only 11 at the time. It takes a lot of hard work for an adult to be promoted to manager, let alone an 11-year-old.
In the book, “Who was Alexander Hamilton?” on page 33 it says, “In August of that year, a British warship arrived in New York harbor, and everyone feared that the British would steal the 2 dozen cannons kept in New York.” 12 year-old Alexander and 15 others members of the Hearts of Oak saved 10 out of 24 cannons stationed there in New York. This supports my case because it takes a lot of hard work to save 10 cannons when you’re only 12.
My last reason that proves that hard-working best describes Alexander Hamilton comes from the article “Alexander Hamilton” from paragraph 4 on page 1, “He organized his own company at the battle of Trenton, when he and his men prevented Cornwallis from crossing the Raritan River.”
Alexander Hamilton stopped Cornwallis from crossing a giant river which was important because if Cornwallis got past Alexander’s army they would attack Washington’s main army while they were resting and ultimately defeat the continental army. This supports my case because Alexander Hamilton who is barely 20 stopped Great Britain’s best general.
By these reasons my argument about how Alexander Hamilton is best described by hard-working can’t be argued with.
Sources:
“Who was Alexander Hamilton?”
“Alexander Hamilton from school.eb.com/Levels/article/Alexander-Hamilton/39033”
Monique Brasher’s first-grade class were recently invited to visit the First Teacher preschool youths and their parents/guardians.
The first-graders got to sing songs, make some art and most importantly, practice reading with the preschool class.
The following are some of the important things Mrs. Brasher’s class had to say about the preschool visit:
• We liked doing the art project. (Azias, Ben, Barrett and Lila)
• We liked singing with them. (Noah, Maelyn, Jordyn and Finn)
• We liked reading to them. (Elizabeth, Ashley and Ellise)
• The preschoolers were being good for us. (Lucas, Saydey and Cash)
• The preschoolers acted out what I read. (Xilion, A.J., Lucas and Michael)
• We liked that everyone was listened and didn’t talk when we read. (Allora, Skyler and Caine)
Thank you to Nicole Brewer and the families and preschoolers at First Teacher for hosting the first-grade students. What a fun morning for everyone, and what great readers the first grade has become!
More than 90 third-grade students from Sherri Burke’s, Shannon Green’s, Rio Nersinger’s and Sara Benjamin’s classes at Greywolf Elementary recently planted about 450 trees under the supervision of Merrill & Ring and Alta Forest Products at a nearby logging site in Sequim.
This is the fourth year the students have committed to planting trees for the future and we loved it! Students learn about our renewable resource and gain insight into the day and life of a forester.
This year we also were especially proud of two Sequim graduates who are on their way to becoming foresters. They worked with our students helping to plant trees. The students were able to see what the future holds for them through education.
Over the course of several visits with Sequim High School FFA members, Greywolf students learned about different types of farming, what can be found on farms, what is needed to maintain a successful farm and how farms are helpful to us.
The visits concluded with FFA students bringing some of their farm animals to Greywolf. Students were able see a goat and her kids, a baby lamb, a chicken, a bunny — and second-grade student Timmy Seelye brought Rosie, his own goat, to show and talk about.
Greywolf Second graders want to thank Sequim High School FFA for taking the time to visit our classrooms and share their knowledge and experience with us. Many students expressed an interest in being part of FFA themselves one day!
Second-grade students at Greywolf Elementary recently got a visit from representatives at the Dungeness River Audubon Center. Students learned about birds native to our area — how they live, what they eat and how they are helpful to our environment. They got to see up-close examples as well as ask questions.
During library time, Greywolf students researched topics related to Earth Day. Then, to celebrate both Earth Day and National Poetry month, they wrote poems using nouns and verbs we brainstormed as class.
— Librarian Dena Riccobene
Earth is …
Trees growing
Flowers grooving
Fish playing
Horses jumping
Cheetahs running
Plants growing
— Maelyn Noble
Earth is …
Trees swaying
Horses running
Spiders crawling
Sand scratching
Forests growing
Wasps buzzing
— Finn Tomco
Earth is …
Water traveling
Trees growing
Sand crunching
Fish whooshing
Beavers building
Horses jumping
— Barrett Brilhart
Earth is …
Cactus sticking
Sand drying
Hawks hunting
Wings flying
Feathers flapping
Beaks eating
— Nolan Stewart
Earth is …
Penguins huddling
Bees buzzing
Rocks tumbling
Corn popping
Fish swimming
Crocodiles chomping
— Brennan Slack
Earth is …
Butterflies fluttering
Lakes splashing
Fish swimming
Doves cooing
Roses blooming
Birds chirping
— Olive Register
Earth is …
Tornadoes spinning
Grass sprouting
Rocks tumbling
Dust flying
Fish swishing
Sand crunching
— Owen Sawby-Smith
Earth is …
Tornadoes twirling
Rocks rumbling
Bees stinging
Thunder cracking
Sharks chomping
Flowers growing
— Lincoln Humphries
Earth is …
Grasshoppers jumping
Eggs cracking
Snow falling
Sun rising
Spiders crawling
Grass bending
— Blake Arnold
Earth is …
Sunsets glowing
Water rushing
Sunrays sparkling
Fish splashing
Lava spilling
Butterflies flapping
— Kara Hamilton
Earth is …
Water dancing
Lava splashing
Diamonds sparkling
Trees wiggling
Ice freezing
Lakes flowing
— Brayden Wahlsten
Earth is …
Water splashing
Giraffes running
Palm trees dancing
Trees flowing
Waterfalls bubbling
Rocks rolling
— Mikomi Olivarri
Earth is …
Lava flowing
Volcanoes erupting
Gold shining
Llamas kicking
Silver sparkling
Water moving
— Max Brouillard
Earth is …
Trees dancing
Lions roaring
Rivers flowing
Bugs crawling
Snow melting
Thunder booming
— Inara Miles
Earth is …
Volcanoes booming
Gold shining
Rivers flowing
Bugs crawling
Plants blooming
Cactus poking
— Kohrbyn Henderson
Earth is …
Cats meowing
Flowers dancing
Gold glimmering
Trees swaying
Volcanoes erupting
Ice melting
— Alexis Gierth
Earth is …
Pollen dusting
Cats meowing
Corn popping
Oceans flowing
Dens hiding
Dogs jogging
– Zuri Kurtze
Earth is …
Butterflies flapping
Lava bubbling
Mountains stretching
Dolphins splashing
Fish playing
Peppers crunching
— Jocelin Hough
Earth is …
Eggs cracking
Moss squishing
Snow twirling
Water shining
Fish swimming
Rain falling
— Elise Sundin
Earth is …
Bees buzzing
Creeks running
Islands floating
Kids playing
Feathers whooshing
Snow sprinkling
— Silas Hagar
Earth is …
Sap sticking
Water swishing
Bees buzzing
Sand crunching
Seasons passing
Plants growing
— Adrian Aceves-Servin
Earth is …
Rocks shining
Frogs hopping
Animals sleeping
Mountains climbing
Leaves changing
Apples growing
— Kendra Martinez
Earth is …
Sunsets glowing
Water waving
Rocks rolling
Birds chirping
Lions roaring
Caves breaking
— Evan Chavez
Earth is …
Trees growing
Rocks sitting
Lava flowing
Water falling
Gold shining
Cherries rolling
— Lydia Brock
Earth is …
Frogs hopping
Birds chirping
Worms digging
Monkeys swinging
Volcanoes exploding
Rain dripping
— Riley Savage
Earth is …
Cats running
Silver shining
Flowers growing
Oceans waving
Grass swirling
Lava bubbling
— Mylee Beeter
HELEN HALLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Fifth-grade students in Eric Danielson’s classroom recently did research on a topic, took a position on the issue, and then wrote a persuasive essay to share their opinion. They worked on building arguments to support with specific evidence:
“Genetically Modified Foods”
By Isaac McKeen
Do you want world hunger? I know I don’t. Genetically modified (GM) foods could help increase the food supply and that could help solve world hunger.
Genetically modified foods could help lower food prices. Some GM foods are designed to make themselves grow faster and that makes more food to sell. With more food to sell that could lower the cost of certain foods because with certain genes you could harvest twice a season. Therefore making the prices go down.
GM foods could help people in need. By making plants grow more that could increase the food supply as I mentioned before. However, that could also help people in need. It could do that by making more food than we need. That could make people want to give more food to food drives. They will give it to people in need.
Once I got some organic oranges to try. So I ate one and left them on the counter overnight. The next day I looked and they were rotten. With GM foods, these kinds of problems could stop happening because of the benefit of longevity. For example scientists can put certain genes in foods to make them last longer. It could also save you money by having to buy new food less often.
That is why you shouldn’t worry about GM foods. All they do is help not harm. GM foods give many more benefits than I mentioned. So if your town or city is trying to pass a law against GM foods, vote no. All they will do is take away some benefits.
“The Removal of the Elwha River Dams”
by Ian Baylon
In my opinion, the removal of the Elwha River dams was a very important act. They were barely producing enough power for a couple of mills. Why keep something that served no real purpose?
The Elwha River was home to all five types of salmon found here in the Pacific Northwest, along with 11 other species of trout. After they built the dams, salmon migration was just about completely abolished due to dams blocking waterways leading to salmon spawning grounds. This put a huge dent in the salmon population around the Elwha since they could not spawn and no spawning meant no more salmon were being born. Salmon were also limited to about five miles (8 kilometers) of river, with some trout receiving even less space.
Along with cutting off spawning grounds for salmon, the dams were flooding vegetation and forests around the reservoirs. In reservoirs behind the dams water was getting caught and just pooling up. Vegetation in this area was being drowned and dying. After the dams went down, water starting moving upstream and stopped pooling when heavy rain came. Lots of native plants then started reappearing around these areas where the reservoirs used to be.
Lots of people say that the dams were a valuable source of green energy and removing them was a waste of resources. While this used to be true, it was not anymore. Local logger Bill Hermann was a big anti-dam removal supporter until he looked into it a little more. In an interview with the Seattle Times he stated,” The lower dam was so outdated even the owner wasn’t sure it was worth saving. The dams don’t produce much power.
The upside for salmon, the river and the national park were potentially so large that removing at least the lower dam was worth a try.” The energy lost from the dams is being replaced in the area around the Elwha. Except instead of hydroelectric, it’s a biomass boiler running off waste slash left from timber harvests.
Yes, the dams may have at one point been doing what they were supposed to, but not anymore. Along with this, they were drowning native plants and stopping salmon from spawning upstream. If they were doing all of this and producing almost no energy, why should we have kept them?
Sources:
“Rebirth of a River” by Jeffrey J. Duda, Jonathon Warrick and Christopher S. Magirl; www.nps.gov/teachers/index.htm
SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL
Sequim High School’s Scholarship Awards Ceremony is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, at 6 p.m. in the SHS auditorium. Students who have received scholarships will be recognized during this ceremony. A brief reception will be held in the cafeteria following the ceremony.
Graduation ticket distribution for graduating (walking) seniors is Wednesday, June 6. Seniors will need to pick up and sign for their tickets in the main office. Sorry, family and friends are not allowed to pick up the tickets. Note: lost or stolen tickets will not be replaced.
Ticket holders will be admitted to the stadium between 5-6 p.m. Seating will be on a first-come basis; there will be no reserved seating. A section will be marked off near the bleachers for those that need wheelchair access. Also, the first row of the bleachers will be for those not able to climb stairs/steps.
