Education notebook: West Valley student gets National Merit honor

Jacob Barnhart, a student at West Valley High School, has been named a Commended Student in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.

More than 1.6 million students apply for the National Merit Scholarship Program after completing the Preliminary SAT or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Of the initial entrants, 50,000 of the highest scoring students qualify for recognition. Of that 50,000, two-thirds receive Letters of Commendation recognizing their outstanding academic promise. Commended students become candidates for sponsored scholarships.

Valley High teacher goes above, beyond

Spokane Valley High School teacher Eric Jurasin was awarded the Above and Beyond Award by the West Valley School District Board. Jurasin has been involved in several districtwide projects in addition to working toward the completion of the principal credential program.

Arcadia Elementary gets state award

Arcadia Elementary of the Deer Park School District has received the 2018 School of Distinction Award. The award is given by Washington’s Center for Educational Effectiveness, which is now in its 12th year of distinguishing schools for showing sustained and improved performance in English language arts and mathematics over a five-year period.

Athlete medals in Special Olympics

Cheney High School student Mariah Gilbert won three gold and two silver medals at the 50th annual Special Olympics competition this summer. Gilbert also started on the first stand-up paddleboarding team in the state of Washington at the Special Olympics.

Medical Lake teacher honored

Medical Lake High School and middle school band instructor Craig Johnson has been awarded Teacher of the Year by West Plains Chamber of Commerce. The award is a new category of the Annual Best of the West Awards and recognizes educators from the Medical Lake and Cheney school districts.

Johnson was noted by Medical Lake High principal Chris Spring for spending extra hours working with students and having a contagious passion for music, according to the MLSD website.