Chalk Talk April 13, 2016

Published 3:00 pm Tuesday, April 12, 2016

DISTRICT

The next school board meeting is April 18, with a workshop planned for 5:30 p.m., followed by a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom.

The boardroom is within the auditorium building at 533 N. Sequim Ave. An agenda is available on the district website under Board of Directors.

The public is encouraged to attend and time is set aside at each meeting for public comment.

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

GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Halie Maynock’s fifth-grade Language Arts students have been studying the elements of poetry. Throughout the unit, the students had several opportunities to tap into their creativity and write poems using a variety of techniques.

In the Mirror

Oh dear Owl, whom I loved at first sight,

Your great silver feathers made me marvel,

And when I looked into your crystal eyes,

I saw my own feelings in that mirror.

Thank You! I thought,

As you rubbed your silky head against your feathers.

I will never forget the peaceful feelings

You placed inside me.

Anastasia Updike

Change is Life

In a way we never grow up

Our heart and soul stay young forever

Even though we change

Our friends, family, life

But change is sometimes good

Change is life

Life is what makes you happy, sad

Makes you want to fly, or die

But change is life

If you could go back in time

And change anything,

Would you?

Julia Jeffers

What Is Happening?

What is happening to our world?

I try to forgive but I will never forget.

I ponder this thought every day,

It sends a shiver down my spine

To think … aren’t we better than this?

For I will never know the truth.

We are hurting our hearts and heads,

To think such a thought.

For I will never forget.

Kendall Hastings

Whispering Dream

The wind howls and cackles,

Like a howling coyote, searching for food.

But when the whisper ends,

The coyote is helpless.

A new night’s approach is underway,

Here, in the darkening forest.

Like a sharpened pencil,

The coyote finds life.

But with a new day,

The dream ends,

Turning into a conversational reality.

Zackary Thompson

Summer

The piercing waves

The blazing sun,

Summer skies like a painting

Lemonade;

Tart, bubbly, sweet

Air like a blanket,

Holding on like a tender memory

Until our dreams depart,

And the sky fades dark

Rae Douglas

The piano

The piano, so flowing like a river

With notes so beautiful

The composer uses as a test

To create beauty for all;

With songs so delicate, like glass

Fingers pressing keys

As you play a song on the piano

With sharps and flats.

Ava Bower

We are more than halfway through our first year of all-day kindergarten. With the extended day, students have been able to see a specialist each day for 50 minutes. They receive science, physical education, art, music, library and computer lessons from Bethanie Robbins throughout the week.

Also new to our school this year is a program called Typing Agent. Initially thinking it would just be a nice way to expose children to home row and letter placement on the keyboard, the staff was presently surprised and amazed to see students in all four classes mastering the program and surpassing the goals suggested for kindergarten. Kindergarten-aged students are expected to reach a goal of three to four words per minute (WPM) while occasionally using home row. Instead, to our amazement and delight, a majority of the students are typing consistently using home row and reaching between 8-12 WPM!

SEQUIM MIDDLE SCHOOL

Former students from Caleb Gentry’s Robotics class, Porter Funston and Flora Walchenbach, now Sequim High School freshmen, are headed for national competition in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana State University campus on May 20-21. In qualifying for this opportunity, the two-person team took first place overall in regional competition in three aquatic robot (ROV) in-pool technical challenges: Plane Entry and Vaccine Recovery, Oil Leak Mitigation, and Head to Head competition. The team also earned two special awards for Outstanding Storyboard Presentation and Team Spirit. At nationals, they will compete with over 150 teams in two challenges: Obstacle Course and Orbs (smallish objects that must be collected and stored).

More information about the National Seaperch Challenge can be found at www.seaperch.org/seaperch_challenge.

On Friday, March 25, eighth-grade students from across the North Olympic Peninsula gathered at Peninsula College to learn about their post-high school education options at Eighth-Grade College Exploration Day. The annual March event is sponsored by the Washington Council for High School and College Relations and was created to assist all Washington students in accessing and engaging in post-secondary opportunities.

Thanks to a grant from the Sequim Education Foundation, a busload of 52 eighth-graders were able to be a part of this Career and College Readiness event.

Principal Vince Riccobene, Bryan Bissell and Tracy Barnes helped to chaperone the students, along with Mitzi Sanders, career and college specialist, and Principal Shawn Langston, both from Sequim High School.

SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL

Knowledge Bowl is open to any student at the high school, says teacher and faculty advisor Laura Gould. Questions used in the tournaments can be on any subject imaginable, covering math, science, geography, politics, literature, pop culture, etc.

After-school practices begin in November and culminate in March. The Knowledge Bowl team won the Summit Award for 2A teams at our second Knowledge Bowl Tournament this year held at Fort Worden State Park. Summit Awards are given to the team in each division with the highest combined score of their top two squads.

The winning students are John Purvis (sophomore), Liam Stevenson (sophomore), Addie Berg (sophomore), Devin Hibler (sophomore), Logan Habner (senior), Anthony Creasey (senior), Jessica Craig (senior), Eric Anderson (senior) and Blake Eriks (senior).

John Lorentzen, choir director, reports that the choir students did a great job at the Heritage/WorldStrides Choral Festival at Fullerton College. The Select Choir received a gold (highest) rating and were ranked second place in their category; the Women’s Chorus received a gold rating and were ranked first place; the Men’s Ensemble received a gold rating and were the only men’s ensemble, and the Vocal Ensemble received a Silver (second-highest) rating.

Said Mr. Lorentzen, “The real surprise was when we received the Choral Sweepstakes Award at the award ceremony in Disneyland. This award (a large trophy) is given to a school with two or more choirs performing at the festival whose choirs received the highest average overall scores of all competing choirs, regardless of classification. Needless to say, I was so proud of the students and they had an awesome moment at the ceremony with Mickey and friends.”