Bemiss students selected to receive new coats
On Friday, the gymnasium at Bemiss Elementary School will be turned into a clothing store.
Getting a new look will be 585 students, including third- and fourth-graders attending Bemiss while Lidgerwood is being rebuilt.
The North Side school was chosen by Charming Shoppes Inc. for its annual Keep Kids Warm program. Each child in the school will be given a brand new winter coat, scarf and gloves. No two coats will be alike for members of the same class.
Charming Shoppes Inc. is a retail women’s apparel company that operates Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines Plus Sizes stores in Spokane.
The corporation has distributed approximately 34,000 coats since the program began 10 years ago.
“This year we decided to kick it up a notch. We’ll be distributing 16,000 coats nationwide. Spokane is the farthest west we’ve ever gone. We hope in the future to continue to serve the Northwest,” said James Rosa of Charming Shoppes’ home office.
Vicky Van Gilder, local manager for Catherines, wrote a letter nominating Bemiss. Van Gilder wrote, “The school you chose will always remember this wonderful and thoughtful giving experience. I would like the students at Bemiss to experience this once in a lifetime experience.”
Volunteers from the three local stores will begin unloading trucks and setting up tables in the school’s gym at 5:30 a.m.
Classroom by classroom, the students will be individually fitted with their new coats.
Bemiss Principal Kevin Peterson said he found out Bemiss had been selected last May, and he notified the parents.
Peterson said the parents were very appreciative and excited about being chosen for the program.
National Merit semifinalists
St. George’s seniors Katherine Kerschen and Caitlin Mauk are among 16,000 semifinalists in the 51st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
They will be competing with 8,200 semifinalists for the awards, worth $33 million, offered next spring.
More than 1.3 million juniors from nearly 21,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2006 National Merit Program by taking the 2004 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test.
The semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of high school seniors and include the highest scoring entrants in each state.
NWC students named AP scholars
Eight Northwest Christian High School students have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college level Advanced Placement exams.
Elizabeth Beaulieu and John Hauck qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction award, by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.
Eric Schmitz earned the AP Scholar with Honor award, with an average of 3.25 on all AP exams and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.
Sara Fairburn, Nichole Holland, Bethany Indahl, Garrett MacDonald and Jessica McFaul earned the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more exams with grades of 3 or higher.