Civics Students Volunteer In Community

To earn credit in John Hagney’s civics class this semester, Jenny Johnson, a senior, had to become something of a pool shark.

Johnson refined her pool-playing skills while volunteering at the East Central Community Center’s teen nights, held Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

She spends those evenings listening, playing pool and “just getting to know the kids,” she said.

“These are not kids I would normally hang out with,” Johnson said. “But I discovered we still have lots in common.”

Volunteering is a requirement in Hagney’s Practicum in Community Involvement class at Lewis and Clark High School.

What is not required, but which Hagney describes as the real goal of his class, is “a change of heart.”

Hagney said he encounters many students in his three community involvement classes who come to class with low expectations of being able to “make a difference in the world.”

By giving students a taste of volunteering, he hopes to prove to students that one person can make a significant difference.

In the three years Hagney has taught the senior-level class he has built a strong rapport with many of the area’s local non-profit agencies.

Students from his class are welcome volunteers at Deaconess Medical Center, the Spokane Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, the Spokane AIDS Network, Head Start and the Women’s Drop-In Center.

Paulie Payne, a senior, opted to tutor children at the Transition School, a K-8 school for homeless children.

Her experience with the children has dispelled many of the stereotypes she’s heard about homeless families, she said.

“I was told I might have a problem with the kids,” she said. “But they’re just like any other kids. And it’s not like the homeless are all out of mental hospitals.”

Smashing stereotypes is another one of Hagney’s teaching goals, who describes himself as a longtime “amateur” community activist.

“I’ve always tried to include the community as a resource, as an integral part of teaching,” he said.

Mullan duo’s efforts brighten homes

Arielle Ring, 11, and Valorie Darling, 11, couldn’t have picked a better time to start selling their homemade candles than during the ice storm.

The two sixth-graders at Mullan Road Elementary School sold more than $1,800 worth of beeswax candles in the past two weeks.

All proceeds from the candle sales, after costs, have been donated to Annie Ryan-Meyer’s aid mission to Romanian orphans and the Northwest Medical Team.

“Ten dollars will buy a child an eye exam, glasses if needed,” Arielle explained.

The girls increased their initial sales goal from $1,000 to $3,000, Arielle said.

The red, green, blue and white candles are packaged in pairs and cost $5.

The candles are being sold through their non-profit business, Helping Hands, formed after the girls read about the plight of Romanian orphans in The Spokesman-Review.

The two girls decided to start the business as a way to help needy children. They used their baby-sitting money to buy supplies.

But as demand has grown, so has their labor force.

“We have about 15 new people working with us,” Arielle said.

The children spend about six hours a week making candles.

When Arielle and Valorie donated the proceeds from their candlemaking business to the Northwest Medical Team, they received an unexpected invitation.

“They call us angels, and they want us to get our passports renewed so we can come and help in Romania because they think we’re so helpful,” Arielle said.

Makeup days remain unknown

If you think the ice storm was bad, wait until winter weather arrives.

That thought is delaying the decision about how snow-closure days will be made up in Spokane School District 81 and the Medical Lake School District, officials said Tuesday.

Under state law, school district must provide 180 days of instruction.

Cheney School District officials wrote two snow days into the schedule, but those days have already been used up.

“If anything goes beyond that, I don’t know,” said Diane Hoelscher, spokeswoman for the Cheney district.

Cheney’s school year is scheduled to end June 13, but winter isn’t over yet, she said.

Medical Lake School District officials discussed makeup days at this week’s school board meeting, but members decided it was too early to make a decision, said Judy Zappone of the Medical Lake District.

“More than likely they’ll add it to the end of the year because we must make up those days,” she said. “This is only the first of December; there could be more snow days.”

Spokane School District 81 officials also have not yet decided when the district’s three storm-closure days will be made up.

“It’s not a question of will we make up those days; it’s when,” said Mark Anderson, assistant superintendent of human resources.

“Winter isn’t even here yet. Our caution in moving too quickly is there may be more (missed) days.”

Anderson said the options include holding school on Jan. 29 (designated a semester break day), shortening the winter or spring breaks, or extending the school year.

Sacajawea Middle School was forced to cancel another school day after the power went out Nov. 27, but the school does not have to make that day up.

, DataTimes