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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Meghann M. Cuniff

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

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News >  Spokane

Schools reject dropout risk study

Cusick High School senior Ryan Garner will graduate in June and head off to college, where he may study criminal justice in order become a game warden. Garner's classmate, Danny Pontius, 17, is considering a career in law enforcement, possibly as an agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
News >  Spokane

Union, others help with school supplies

Each year Melissa Plenty worries about how to outfit her children with the supplies needed to head back to school. And this year is no different for the mother of three. Plenty, 31, estimates her family needs about $600 to buy supplies and clothes for her kindergartner, second-grader and fourth-grader to head to Spokane's Linwood Elementary School.
News >  Voices

At Timberlake, they know how to get their kicks

Stubborn donkeys may not seem like the best basketball players, but when they've been trained to do it all their lives, they seem to manage. Several rousing games of donkey basketball – that's basketball on donkey-back– at Timberlake High School on Tuesday featured temperamental donkeys but, lucky for the fans, good-natured students, parents and teachers willing to, well, make an ass of themselves (pun intended).

News >  Idaho

Students earn spot in regional spelling bee

Students from all over Kootenai County were brushing up on their phonics and making good use of their dictionaries the past few weeks. Now a select few will continue on to the regional spelling bee at North Idaho College on March 10. A total of 55 fourth- through eighth-graders from the five northern counties of Idaho will participate in the fourth annual bee, the winner of which will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 80th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee May 30 and 31.
News >  Idaho

Inside our Schools: Lego ban intrigues local educators

Brightly colored Lego building blocks have infatuated kids for more than 60 years. Children all over the world spend about 5 billion hours total each year playing with the toys, according to the Lego Co. Just the other week, a Lego-building contest sponsored by the Coeur d'Alene Library attracted 100 participants. But a press release from the publication Rethinking Schools shows not everyone thinks quite as highly of the popular toys.
News >  Idaho

Champion of the Month

As a 20-year veteran at Lakes Middle School, Steve Bartlett has helped more than a few scared sixth-graders. But last week was the first time his help was honored in front of the entire student body during a surprise assembly. Bartlett, a teaching aide, is Numerica Credit Union's newest School Champion of the Month.
News >  Idaho

Students learn about world in geography bee

If students in Bryan Elementary School's Geography Bee last week were guessing correctly, Missoula is in Wyoming; Columbus, Mo., is farther south than Little Rock; Arkansas is more prone to blizzards than Idaho; Russia was under U.S control until 1946; and Islam is a country, not a religion. Makes you realize how much you learn about the world after age 10.
News >  Idaho

‘Opportunity of a lifetime’

The booming textile and fabrics industry in India is an inviting place for anyone in the fashion and apparel business. But seeing the country and exploring the textile industry are expensive and challenging, requiring knowing the right people.
News >  Idaho

Academy of the Master students present holiday play

In the mood for some holiday festivities? Students at the Lutheran Academy of the Master in Coeur d'Alene, are performing their annual Christmas pageant tonight in the school's gymnasium. The show, "The Christmas You Always Dreamed Of," is a "Christian version of Scrooge, in a nutshell," said Kurt Wandrey, a pastor at the Lutheran Church of the Master.
News >  Idaho

Charter Academy students scholarship semifinalists

Julian Lemke used choice words when describing himself and his Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy classmates Jake Lauer and Alex Kramar. "Basically, we're a bunch of ostracized nerds," the 17-year-old senior said.
News >  Idaho

Grandparents pay a visit to Ramsey Elementary

You could tell something was up the moment you walked in Ramsey Elementary School on Monday. Everywhere, adults, most over the age of 50, were milling about. Led by kids, many hand in hand, the folks were checking out the school, hanging out in the classrooms and eating lunch. It was Grandparent's Day at Ramsey, and, according to the grandparents and school employees who attended, it was a huge success. "Isn't this a great way to bring families into the school?" said Claudia Stevens, grandmother of Ramsey students Braeden and Kennedy Gelnette. Stevens was with her husband, Dennis, and 6-year-old Braeden in the lunch line.
News >  Idaho

Cruise on Lake CdA visits Santa’s workshop

It was dark ahead as the boat cruised over the choppy waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Suddenly, hundreds of little lights went on, spelling "Welcome to the North Pole" in big letters. Moments later, the boat arrived at Santa Claus' workshop. Then Santa himself read the names of every child on the boat while Mrs. Claus looked on. "You made it on Santa's good list," Spokane resident Dianah Toland told her 3-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, after Santa read her name.
News >  Idaho

Inside our schools: Veterans share stories during school assembly

Ed Holt was captured by the Japanese while serving in the Philippines during World War II. He was a prisoner of war for more than two years before being freed and eventually marrying his wife of 60 years, Jean. The Holts, who now live in Coeur d'Alene, shared some of their stories during a Veterans Day assembly last week at Bryan Elementary School. Their great-granddaughter, Katalina, is a first-grader at Bryan.
News >  Voices

Bus driver honored

When school bus driver Marty Coon walked in the doors of Winton Elementary School on Tuesday, he knew he wasn't there for a good time. His boss and co-workers had told him the school principal was concerned with the speed the buses were – or weren't – leaving the school. They were there to listen to her concerns and figure out how to improve. Turns out that couldn't have been further from the truth.
News >  Idaho

Cheney stumps in Idaho

Vice President Dick Cheney criticized those calling for a change in the Iraq war and warned about 2,000 people gathered Thursday at the Coeur d'Alene Airport that taxes will increase dramatically if Democrats win control of Congress. "There are lots of Democrats and independents in Idaho who do not have much in common with Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi," Cheney told supporters gathered in an airplane hangar for the rally.
News >  Idaho

4th-graders face challenges on ‘Homework Island’

It started with 31. It ended with 11. Casualties were seen on the first day. Some had left theirs at home. Others forgot to do it completely. Some made it as far as day six, but by the seventh day of Atlas Elementary fourth-grade teacher Charlene Babb's homework challenge, it was clear who was a survivor and who wasn't. Eleven students survived the "Survivor: Homework Island" challenge, completing every one of the 10 assignments on time and without errors. Participation was optional, but those who chose to take part had serious rules to follow.
News >  Idaho

Elementary students make their vote count

While the national political scene consumes itself with scandals and smear campaigns during its busiest time of the year and voters try to decipher the rhetoric to make an informed choice, elementary school students in the Coeur d'Alene School District had a choice of their own to make – Pete Pizza, Heddi Spaghetti, Sally Salad, Ricky Chicken or Rocco Taco. Call it cafeteria-style democracy.
News >  Idaho

Ponderosa Elementary baker named Champion

Ramona Hansen has worked as a baker for 29 years, 26 of them at Ponderosa Elementary School. In that time, she's baked 4,564,000 cookies and 15,280 loaves of bread, school officials calculate. She's served all sorts of kids and experienced just about everything a school food services worker could experience, but she'd never been honored as a champion. That changed Oct. 2.
News >  Idaho

Mullan Trail Elementary celebrates 50 years

Mullan Trail Elementary School has been a part of the Post Falls community for 50 years, though it hasn't always served the primary grades. It's been a high school and junior high, and with the current presence of the preschool, the only grade the school building hasn't served is kindergarten. On Tuesday, people from Mullan Trail's past and present will gather to celebrate the school's 50th anniversary. People from each era of the school – elementary, junior high and high school – will share memories.
News >  Idaho

NIC enrollment rises 5.4 percent this year

North Idaho College posted an enrollment increase this fall of 5.4 percent, 239 students more than last year. That brings the total number of people taking courses at NIC this fall to 4,631 – the most ever. But not all are full time. More students are taking classes part time this fall, with part-time enrollment accounting for 46 percent of NIC's enrollment, instead of last year's 42 percent.