DISTRICT

The Sequim School District is seeking input about the annual printed Parent Guide and Calendar. Go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MFPL3KF and complete a quick survey with eight questions.

The link to the survey also is on the main page of the district website at www.sequim.k12.wa.us. The survey will be up and available through Feb. 22. Thanks for your participation.

GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Richard Yongjae O’Neill, a world renowned Emmy Award-winning violist, returned to his hometown for the weekend and paid a special visit to Stephen Reno’s third-graders. He helped students make connections between math, science and the arts. At one point he let a student hold his viola which is more than 400 years old. It was a delight for Sequim students to see that even though our town may be small we can do big things.

Thanks to Greywolf Parent-Teacher Association for funding the repair of the WeatherBug! Current weather information now is available at weather.weatherbug.com/weather-forecast/now/sequim-wa-98382 or by tuning in to KING 5 TV.

Kelli Mishko’s kindergartners celebrated the 100th day of school on Feb. 13 by making hats, counting collections of 100 and building a structure with 100 cups. We are 100 days brighter!

SEQUIM MIDDLE SCHOOL

Seventh-grader Mayhsa Deol wrote a petition requesting soccer balls for the playground at recess:

“Have you ever pondered that something at your school should be changed to benefit students? Don’t worry, I perceived that too and decided to do something about it. I’m a seventh-grader at the Sequim Middle School. I started a successful petition to have more soccer balls at recess, in the end, I got over 100 students to sign it.

I used to always complain how there weren’t any soccer balls at recess but there were always a plethora of footballs. Sometimes, I would take my own soccer ball to school, but it was frustrating to carry it around all day since it kept on tumbling out of its bag.

So, one day I came home from school and researched how to start a school petition. The more I researched, the more I realized that starting a school petition wasn’t as arduous of a task as I thought. The next day, I was ready to start getting students to sign my petition.

After that, I was amazed about the feedback I got for the petition. So many students told me it was a good idea and I got tons of signatures in no time.

I got a lot of the signatures during the MLK march, I would ask one student to sign my petition and then the person walking next to them would ask to sign it, soon I had a whole crowd of middle schoolers around me wanting to sign the petition.

All in all, I’ve learned that you shouldn’t just complain about something, you should take the initiative and find a solution to it.”

Eighth-graders Lindsay Coffman and Amarya Sump use their SMS Rocks tickets to have lunch with School Resource Officer Randy Kellas. Students are given Rocks tickets based on positive behavior and can redeem them on items in the school store every other Thursday.

SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL

Nellie Bridge has an ongoing pen pal project with four of her classes. They have connected with high school students in other states. Paris Lukens and Jade Arnold, both seniors, are corresponding with students from a small high school in Brooklyn, NY. So far, they have each sent two letters and received one reply.

Paris says her pen pal, a girl, seems really nice, and is captain of the school’s rugby team. She is struck by the fact that her pen pal is a senior, but doesn’t have her driver’s license. Living in the big city, people get around using public transit. The school is very small, there is no cussing, and students are respectful. The pen pal says it is really rare to see someone you know on the street because there are so many people.

Jade reflected on his pen pal’s description of how they don’t drive in cars, but rather they ride the subway. His pen pal, who is eighteen, goes to museums and restaurants in New York City with friends. The girls’ volleyball team at his pen pal’s school went to state play-offs. Jade thinks while it might be nice to have more things to do (as in New York City), the big city would be too loud to suit him. In contrast, Jade loves that during the summer, he and his friends hang out in outdoor spots like Lake Crescent. However, he has always wanted to go to NYC, and feels it would be very cool to go and visit her.

Both Sequim students agree that the pen pal assignment at first was challenging, writing a letter to someone they didn’t know. Since they have received replies to their first letters, the project has become infinitely more interesting. Paris says, “It doesn’t even feel like a writing assignment now. I typed 350 words before I knew it! I was very excited, learning about my pen pal, picturing what her family and boyfriend look like, what we have in common, music, shows, books, playing soccer.”

Jade says,” I wish we could Facetime together. I feel like it would be easier to write to them if we knew what they looked like. We used disposable cameras to take photos of the mountains, our school’s campus, the trees and skyline to send to our pen pals. It’s been a great experience. It would have been cool to start this project in freshman year, and form a relationship through four years of letter writing.”

Spring sports paperwork is due by 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22. The first day of spring sports is Monday, Feb. 27.

The state mandated HIV/AIDS presentation has been rescheduled due to our recent snow day. The presentation will now be at 10:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 27. All seniors, remember, attendance at this presentation is a graduation requirement.

Sophomore Parent Night is at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27 in the cafeteria. Information will be available on Advanced Placement classes, graduation requirements, 2017-2018 registration, college admissions requirements and the Running Start program. Dr. Ann Renker will present “The Teenage Brain: How to Engage It and Keep It Focused on Schoolwork.”