Marny Lombard

A million minutes of reading is worth ... what? At Pasadena Park Elementary, the roughly 265 students won the right Monday to pelt their long-suffering principal with whipped cream. "I'm proud of you, boys and girls," said Principal Larry Bush, and he plunged down a double line of kids armed with whipped cream. It didn't take long for the children to plaster Bush white from head to toe. Then he sprinted to a waiting hose and washed off.

It's time for parents to search out that rite of summer: swimming lessons. Several places in the Valley offer lessons: pool or lake, small or large, costly or inexpensive. Parents who take the time to look can find lessons that are right for their child. The two major providers, Spokane County Parks and Recreation and the YMCA, are offering lessons at their regular locations.

Today's high school seniors have learned some lessons that can't be found in the classroom. Volunteers from around the Spokane Valley gave their time and aid to our community's elderly, young and needy. One helped a teenage mom. Another organized the region's Girl Scout cookie sale. A third volunteered as a translator for Vietnamese refugees. Many worked on Christmas projects. What follows is not a comprehensive listing. But it's a wide-ranging sample of good works by Spokane Valley teens.

Middle school students who aren't connecting well in regular classes will have a new option this fall in the East Valley School District. An alternative program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders is starting up. Special programs director Larry Busse said the program will go ahead if as few as 10 students are accepted. Plans call for a smaller than usual class size - ideally, 16 students to one teacher. District officials say they've identified 81 potential candidates for the school.

Elaine Welk is losing patience. She's ready, more than ready, for sunshine. She thinks a sun dance might do the trick. "I want basil weather," she cries. Then she pads away across the damp lawn, her back to the vast succession of garden beds. Welk's herbs have more patience than she does with this rainy spring. On the ridge north of Broadway and just west of North Pines Junior High School, the Heritage Herb Farm shimmers under the clouds with a dozen shades of green.

It's Ellis Island and Angela Slaughter, right, along with other eighth-graders at Centennial Middle School, plays the role of an immigrant to the United States. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

1. Cortez Couch is a fifth-year senior who is scrambling to finish the year with 14 classes. He also works 30 hours a week at Home Base. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Shelby Burgess needs to complete about 45 hours of physical education to be eligible for graduation from CV. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

1. University High School Principal Eric Ohlund speaks to a group of parents about the proposal to change Central Valley School District class schedules. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. CV High teacher Steve Bernard takes a quiz from a student in his world affairs class, a model for the four-period day. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Kristin Sederstrom created "A Dinosaur's Courage" with the help of her signing interpreter and aide, Mary Hirst. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

In two hours, Steve Bernard's class in current world affairs ranged from the ValuJet plane crash in the Florida Everglades to Bo Gritz and his survivalist settlement in Kamiah, Idaho, to discussion about why federal agents haven't simply arrested the Freemen in Montana. The 20-odd Central Valley High School seniors moved from a quiz to a brief newsclip, from lecture to small groups working at computers. They did so with little fuss and steady, serious note-taking. The students in Bernard's class range from 4.0 students to those "who don't very much want to be in school," said Bernard, who has taught the block class for two years.

Never mind the smell of fish fertilizer. Never mind that the greenhouse was so crowded with zinnias, marigolds and tomato plants, East Valley High School students had to move carefully - or send a flat of plants flying to the floor., The scientific research of students Jenny Howald and Cynthia Williams is a success. Under the guidance of EVHS biology teacher John Swett, the two seniors have learned horticulture and greenhouse management, then designed and taught a basic horticulture course to four other students. The tomatoes look healthy and ready to brave the outdoors, at least as soon as our nighttime temps warm up a bit. The marigolds and zinnias are budding up nicely.

Kristy Luce, now a junior at West Valley High, with her fourth-grade teacher, Sally Cannon, who now teaches at Contract Based Education. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Members of the Opportunity Elementary School Marching Team practice towel surfing for an appearance in this weekend's Junior Lilac Parade. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Broadway Elementary fifth-grader Bobby Kitchen shows off a piece of obsidian at the dig site his class worked on this week. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

A final set of community information meetings on Central Valley School District's four-period day proposal will be held on Wednesday. Parents and others who want to know more about the proposal to change high school schedules should attend the 7 p.m. meetings at Bowdish and Evergreen junior high libraries. The district has held several meetings to explain the controversial plan.

If you see someone wearing an orange and black ribbon this weekend, remember two mourning Spokane families - and know that the ribbon is "one last little warm fuzzy" for Telisha Shaver and Jade Moore. The ribbons, made by volunteers, represent a groundswell of caring that has risen in the face of Spokane's latest tragedy, the beating deaths last week of Moore and Shaver. Both were West Valley High School graduates.

FOR THE RECORD (May 1, 1996): Correction: KaLee Role was a graduate of University High School. An article Tuesday incorrectly identified her alma mater.

Marissa Hood drives this Icelandic horse after school each day. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Cathy Ostby and Alice Hylland dance to "Sailing Along the Silver Moon" at Holman Gardens Spring Fling. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Two afternoons a week, 13 students sit down for a two-hour session of introduction to literature. The professor is Don Goodwin of Eastern Washington University. The classroom is at West Valley High School. And 12 of the 13 students are West Valley juniors and seniors.

Here's the challenge: The honchos at Tidyman's Water Purification Systems have grown sick of L.A.'s crime and high costs. They want to relocate. But where? Ninety-odd ninth-graders from Greenacres Junior High School puzzled over this problem for three days. They worked in teams, each from a major city - Tallahassee, Seattle, Minneapolis, Houston, Denver, St. Louis and Dallas. The business conference finished Thursday with a banquet at which each team wooed the Tidyman's brass - played in real life by officials from Tidyman's Foods and the Central Valley School Board.

Mike Rinaldi

Martina Whalshula of the Colville Confederated Tribes dances at North Pines Junior High for 30 Japanese exchange students and their new friends. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Irv and Diana Pils along with their son are the rock people of Trent Avenue. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review