Mason appointed to CV board
Amy Mason was appointed by the Central Valley School Board Monday to fill the seat vacated by longtime board member Anne Long.
Mason will serve until November when the seat will be filled during the general election, however, Mason is the only candidate who has filed to run for that seat.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Washington State University and taught Spanish and English at Post Falls High School from 1994 until 1999. She has two sons, one who attends Liberty Lake Elementary School and one who attends Greenacres Middle School.
Mason has served on the Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Committee and as the Liberty Lake Elementary PTSA president since 2009. She also volunteers as a soccer coach, team manager and worked on the district’s recent bond and levy campaigns.
“Having begun my career as a teacher, I understand the challenges, joys and frustrations of being in the classroom,” Mason said. “My parent hat gives me an entirely different view into what is important to Central Valley Schools. The sum of these experiences will allow me to take all sides into consideration when making decisions.”
New principal at McDonald
Scott Krentel has been selected to be the next principal at McDonald Elementary School in the Central Valley School District.
He is the current principal assistant of Greenacres Elementary School and has 20 years of education experience.
Krentel fills the position vacated by Kevin Longworth who has been at McDonald since 2007.
Krentel holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Washington, a master’s degree in teaching from City University in Renton and a master’s degree in school administration from Whitworth University.
He began teaching in 1992 as a preschool teacher in Seattle and has worked in the Central Valley School District since 1997. He helped open Liberty Lake Elementary School where he taught kindergarten, first and second grades. He was a member of the district’s staff development team from 2005-’08 before teaching fifth grade at Opportunity Elementary. He became the principal assistant at Greenacres Elementary last year.
“I’m excited to continue the great work that is already underway at McDonald Elementary,” Krentel said. “I’m looking forward to building relationships with staff, students and parents and want every member of the McDonald community to consider me their advocate.”
Last week of school
With the last day of school coming last week – Friday was the last day – schools in the Greater Spokane Valley held special events for the students before they were released for summer.
• At Greenacres Middle School in the Central Valley School District, eighth-grade students were treated to an activity day of their choice. They selected a day of learning to decorate cakes.
A volunteer from Michaels craft store came to the school and taught 65 students to decorate their cakes, which they were allowed to take home.
The school’s PTA sponsored the event which also included flag football, a Wii tournament, a basketball tournament, an engineering challenge, volleyball tournament, board games, jewelry making, scrapbooking, ultimate Frisbee and lasso golf.
• Opportunity Elementary School third-graders visited the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum this week and learned about their own school.
Opportunity School was originally opened in 1905 and was the first large school in the community.
The students watched demonstrations and learned about the community’s history.
Fifth-graders at Opportunity took part in a simulated Congressional hearing this week. Around 60 students gathered in the gymnasium and were divided into small teams. The teams responded to questions posed to them by 30 congressional panel members made up of elected officials, attorneys, business and community leaders.
The topic was the Constitution and each team was assigned a specific topic including the purposes of government, the writing of the Constitution, the three branches of government and more.
“Not only does the simulated congressional hearing reinforce what students have learned about the Constitution and our government,” said Principal Molly Carolan, “but they are required to apply their knowledge in response to questions posed by the judges. Students are also fine-tuning their reading, writing, research and presentation skills as part of this wonderful, hands-on learning opportunity.”
• Deona Behrens’ fifth-grade class at Trent Elementary School in the East Valley School District received a scholarship to visit the Leonardo da Vinci World Tour Exhibit at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane this week.
The students have been studying the artist’s work and have written biographical research projects about him.
They will see replica’s of the artist’s original work.
Special West Valley board meeting
The West Valley School Board canceled its June 22 meeting due to a lack of a quorum. The meeting was rescheduled for June 27 at 7 p.m. in the Millwood Conference Center, 8818 E. Grace Ave.
For more information, call the district office at (509) 924-2150.
Fundraiser
Elementary Schools throughout the Central Valley School District collected 1,150 pounds of pop tops to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House, or enough to cover 24 nights of lodging at the Ronald McDonald House.
The schools held a competition to see who could collect the most pop tops. Progress Elementary won the competition by collecting .54 ounces per students, or 196 pounds. Adams Elementary took second place, Chester Elementary took third place and Liberty Lake Elementary came in fourth.
Students from Progress received a special visit from Ronald McDonald. Adams students received a root beer float party.
Public hearing
The East Valley School Board held a public hearing Tuesday during its meeting to discuss the closure of Mountain View Middle School.
“Have you considered leaving the gym open?” one parent asked.
Superintendent John Glenewinkel said the district is discussing that and is hoping to find community partners to help fund its upkeep.
There were no other questions or comments, but the district will hold another public hearing during its next meeting June 28 at 6 p.m. in the district office, 12325 E. Grace.
For more information, call the office at (509) 924-1830.