Marny Lombard

1. Terry Vaughan begins a test in his American Sign Language class at East Valley High by asking for silence. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Terry Vaughan shows students a sign in his sign language class at East Valley. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

An audience of suburban parents and educators got a sobering wake-up call this week from a Seattle-area gang expert. Debra Drain offered an unsettling and detailed picture of violent and dangerous youth behavior. She spoke of seeing gang members with initiation marks, burns so deep that doctors had trouble getting skin grafts to heal. "Don't say it doesn't happen here, because it does," said Drain.

Let's think of knowledge and logic as a sort of playing field. And let's say, for a moment, that agile young brains are the bulging muscles of these "athletes." In that case, high school debate could be considered a sport. Nothing would make Chad Duncan, Kristina Culnane and Rick Gorka happier. These Central Valley High School debaters would like to see their love, their passion, accorded the same respect - and funding - that conventional sports have.

CORRECTION: 12-6-97; V9 The cost of renovating Bowdish Junior High School is $7.8 million. A story in Thursday's Valley Voice contained an incorrect figure. Dennis Olson will be principal at Liberty Lake Elementary when it is finished. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

East Valley School District has saved $180,000 in energy costs and other resources in the last two years. East Valley works with Washington Water Power, looking for ways to conserve and cut costs of electricity, natural gas - even water, sewer and garbage. "It's just a super program," said Dean Lueck, who helps janitors, teachers and others find ways to save. The WWP program is active in several other area school districts, including Mead, Odessa, Medical Lake, Chewelah and Colville.

The Valley YMCA before-and after-school programs need a few good leaders. The programs operate at nine sites around the Valley, caring for children attending 19 elementary schools. For some reason, hiring staff this year has proved an enormous challenge for director Kuray Arland.

The Fiero family is hosting Daniel Samaniego (second from left), an exchange student from Mexico. Also, from left, are Jonathan, 9, Jennifer, Franki, 11, and Amy, 24. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Question: Where do Central Valley and East Valley teachers learn how to use computers in their classrooms? Circle your choice: A) in Honolulu at a 14-day, mid-January conference. B) an all-expense paid seminar in Las Vegas. C) Right here in River City. Those who answer C just might be thinking of the Barker Center Technology Center. A $579,000 grant won by the two districts last year has made it possible to wire two classrooms with computers, scanners, digital photo equipment and everything else necessary to do multi-media presentations.

A Spokane Valley family has sued Central Valley School District over an accident their son suffered in gym class. In October 1995, Robert Dickinson joined an indoor baseball game during physical education at North Pines Junior High. According to the lawsuit, home plate was situated near a wall, and Dickinson hit the plate at full stride and crashed into the wall. He shattered his left wrist, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday by the boy's parents, Lori and Philip Dickinson.

Bruce Metzger has been in the business for 25 years. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Central Valley School District patrons may be voting in the spring on the future of Central Valley and University high schools. The district has surveyed nearly 600 residents to learn how much support there is for two options: remodeling both schools, or remodeling CV and building a new U-Hi at Pines and 32nd. Results of that survey will be announced to the board on Dec. 1.

Assistant Secretary of State Ian Carter gives instructions to the president while Secretary of State Sheila Doyle watches. It was a day of dealing with nuclear disarmament for the seventh- and eighth-grade students at St. Paschal's School. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

The head of Spokane County's parks board wants his committee to take a fresh look at which properties should be protected under the conservation futures tax. Spokane County voters approved taxing themselves to protect certain undeveloped properties in Tuesday's election. The vote was advisory, but county commissioners have said they would follow the voters' say on the issue. "I hope the board will spend some time revisiting properties and re-prioritize them," said Ed Sharman, chairman of the parks advisory committee.

Trasi Parrish can't understand why Central Valley School District won't move her 9-year-old daughter into a special education class. Tasha Parrish, a third-grader at Greenacres Elementary School, is 2.6 years behind her classmates, her mother said. That's what special testing for Tasha showed earlier this fall. In reading, Tasha tests as a starting first-grader, her mother said. In writing and math, she tests as an end-of-the-year kindergartener.

1. Jamie Tracy is getting career experience as a volunteer caring for big cats like this one at Cat Tales. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2.Joey Tilton is a wiring wizard who worked on the pickup to create a $20,000 electronics masterpiece complete with a TV, VCR and navigational system. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

When new principal Val Anderson wanted to know about problems on Keystone Elementary School's playground, she turned to the experts. The school's fifth- and sixth-graders. Reinventing an idea from her previous assignment as vice principal at North Pines Junior High, Anderson started a playground safety committee.

Other schools Challengers were heading off incumbents in two school board races as Spokane County election results trickled in Tuesday night. Sue Wentz, an East Valley School Board challenger who ran on a platform of change and availability, was solidly ahead of incumbent Karen Cecil in early voting returns. Wentz praised current East Valley school board members, including Cecil, but said any board can benefit from new ideas.

Phineas, the corn snake, is back in his cage at Central Valley High School. "The prodigal serpent has come home," said Nels Pitotti, science teacher at CV and one of biology's great punsters. Monday evening, the four-foot Phineas slithered out from a sink cabinet in Pitotti's classroom.

Helping kids is important to Judy Rigby. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

The Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association hopes to find willing young workers - and their parents, grandparents, you name it - to help create the new youth sports complex at Plantes Ferry Park.

West Valley's ASB president, Alex Donaldson: "Not living the TV lifestyle, that's alternative to me." Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Third-graders at St. Mary's Catholic School spent two half-days this week in their own retreat. Free from arithmetic and reading, the 30-odd students concentrated on kindness, compliments and "vulturing." Vulturing? At St. Mary's, the term means putting others down, or just being mean.

The teachers at University High School were the students on Tuesday. They sat at desks facing their instructors-for-a-day - a sprinkling of business people from Spokane. Their lesson was on writing. Specifically, writing in the workplace. The teachers listened carefully; they were looking for ideas to take to their own students.

1. Above: In step and on key, the Central Valley Marching Band heads down the track during a recent practice at the school's football field. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. Left, top: Repetition makes perfect for Kristi Johnson, 14, and Philip Crouse, 16. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 3. Left, bottom: Breathing a tranquil note into his sousaphone is Pual Gorsline, 15. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review