Parent Helps Rogers Library Turn To A New Chapter

Like other parents, Ruth Dearing didn’t like to see her son Jim knock elbows with other students when he tried to get a book out of the cramped Rogers High School library.

So, rather than just recycle the same complaints about public schools, she became a squeaky wheel that demanded lubrication.

As head of the school’s parent advisory committee, she researched state construction laws and organized a faculty survey. Through Principal Wallace Williams, she obtained meetings with district administrators.

“Ruth Dearing definitely is an integral part in having this realized,” said Williams. “Everything just lined up with Ruth Dearing’s support.”

She was doing her work at just the right time, because the school district had decided to remodel some older school libraries. Williams said the school had lobbied district administrators to renovate the old, 2,100-square-foot library for at least nine years.

Other parents, including school board member Terrie Beaudreau, also were pushing for renovation.

So when the district decided to include Rogers among the library renovations, Dearing’s reputation for tenacity and hard work moved up a couple of notches above, say, Seattle Mariners slugger Edgar Martinez.

“I doubt there is a parent on the planet who has done more for a school than Ruth Dearing,” said Rogers teacher Edie Coleman.

“People were skeptical that it could happen,” said Dearing. “I actually took it on as a challenge.”

The $200,000 remodel more than doubles the library’s size and makes much-needed room for a computer lab.

The old library had four computers and could barely hold 30 students. Now, an entire class can work on IBM Gateway 2000 and Macintosh 630 computers.

“It’s a stimulation thing for students,” said Williams. “The library is to a school what an excellent athletic facility is to an athletic team.

“We are in an information age, and students are realizing it.”

Scholarly talent

Gonzaga Prep senior Tiffany Meyers - a near-perfect student in advanced-placement classes who scored 1,450 on her SATs, including a perfect 800 on the verbal part - dabbles in a few extracurricular activities, such as drama, writing, blowing things up.

She is a member of Odyssey of the Mind, a club of precocious students who enjoy bending their brains around creative problems.

Monday, the group was trying to pull a miniature, 10-pound car over a homemade bridge by detonating an explosive mixture of gases.

The experiment went a little haywire, and the explosion, larger than expected, caused the students’ ears to ring.

Meyers giggled about the near accident.

“If it hadn’t been in front of the school, it could have been much worse,” said Meyers.

Meyers was one of eight North Side students named last week as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, an honor given to 5 percent of the nation’s seniors.

Other students named: from Gonzaga Prep, Melissa Migliuri and Bridget Venne; from Mead, Murir Tanas and Sarah Westergreen; from Riverside, Nicholas Brandt and Ian Bangs; and from Deer Park, Frank Schwieterman.

Bulimia talk hits home

Motivational speeches given last Thursday by writer and former bulimia sufferer Cynthia Rowland McClure had particular relevance to a handful of North Central High School students.

After speaking about the effects of alcohol, drugs and eating disorders, McClure, a former TV news reporter who dropped out of the profession to battle bulimia, said eight North Central girls talked to her about their struggles with the disease.

One girl, McClure said, called her father, who lived out of town, one day when the girl was feeling depressed about her eating habits. As the student told McClure the story, she was sobbing, McClure said.

“He told her, ‘Not now, I’m watching the Simpsons,”’ said McClure, who spoke at District 81 schools last week.

“It was just crushing for her.”

Salk panel seat open

Want a vote in how Salk Middle School is run?

The school is looking for a community member interested in joining Salk’s site-based council.

The opening is for a member of the local business community, but anyone in or near Salk’s attendance boundary can apply.

If interested, submit a letter to Mike Chorvat, Salk Middle School, 6411 N. Alberta, Spokane, WA 99208.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: Education Notebook is a regular feature of the North Side Voice. If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a North Side school or about the achievements of North Side students, teachers or school staff, please let us know. Write: Jonathan Martin, Education Notebook, North Side Voice, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call: 459-5484. Fax: 459-5482.