Ronald McDonald visits CV Kindergarten Center

Ronald McDonald visited students at the Central Valley Kindergarten Center last week.

The school won the honor in a districtwide contest to collect the most pop tops for the Ronald McDonald House. Winners were chosen by the ounces collected per student at the school. The Kindergarten Center students collected 0.604 ounces per student last year. The second place prize went to Progress Elementary School where students collected 0.593 ounces.

The competition, which collects pop tops from 13 Central Valley schools, collected 1,155 pounds of pop tops during the 2012-13 school year. Since the competition began more than five years ago, the district has collected 3,750 pounds – more than 4 million pop tops.

EVSB candidate debates set

With the general election a little more than a month away, there will be a series of candidate debate forums for those running for the East Valley School Board.

There are several candidates this year after the district eliminated the middle schools and opted to have students stay at their neighborhood schools through eighth grade, among other changes. While proponents of this change say students will have more opportunities to succeed academically, athletically and socially, those who disagree with the change say the district lacks the infrastructure for this change.

Incumbent Heidi Gillingham is running against Justin Voelker in District 3. Current board chairwoman Kerri Lunstroth is running against Fred Helms in District 4. District 5 has a race between two newcomers, Deanna Ervin and Mike Novakovich. Roger Trainor, who currently holds the seat, withdrew his name from the ballot before the primary election.

The first of these debates will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Starr Road Baptist Church, 4720 N. Starr Road, Otis Orchards. The second will be 6:30 to 8:30 Oct. 12 at the Steel Workers Union Hall, 14015 E. Trent Ave., and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 16 in the Trent Elementary Auditorium, 3303 N. Pines.

Attendees can write their questions on cards at the meeting, which will be placed in a bucket. The moderator will draw cards for the candidates to answer.

For more information about the debate, call Mindy Stewart at (509) 280-6050.

Marching band showcase

University High School marching band and color guard will host the sixth annual Spokane Preview Showcase today at 10 a.m. at the school, 12420 E. 32nd Ave.

The all-day event offers high school marching bands a chance to receive critiques and clinics from judges and also a chance to perform their shows in front of a crowd. It’s not a competition.

This year’s showcase will feature University, East Valley, Lewis and Clark, Cheney, Clarkston, West Valley and Mt. Spokane high schools.

Admission for Central Valley School District middle school students is free with their ASB cards. Each of these students can bring one parent for free. Admission for all others is $5 and $3 for children 12 and younger.

For more information, visit www.spokanepreviewshow case.weebly.com, or call the school at (509) 228-5240.