Ponderosa Student Wins Art Contest

Fourth-grader Kendall Koehler at Ponderosa Elementary School is a national winner in the American School Food Service Association’s 11th annual art contest.

Her winning poster shows a globe encircled by a ring of children holding hands. The contest’s theme is “Healthy Children, A New Beginning.”

Kendall, who is in Kyle Olson’s class at Ponderosa, won first place at the state level and a $25 savings bond. Her national award included a $75 savings bond.

West Valley DECA winners

West Valley High School junior Tia Gregorak has been elected state DECA parliamentarian.

That’s quite an honor, considering only two Eastern Washington students have earned statewide DECA office in the last 20 years, said Pat Knowles, DECA instructor at West Valley.

Gregorak will go to nationals, where she’ll undergo training for her office, which she will serve next year.

Three other West Valley students have earned their way to DECA nationals: Alisha Olmstead, general marketing written event; Amber Mitchell, hospitality and tourism written event; and Erica Frampton, retail marketing management level.

More than 7,000 students from all over the United States and Canada will compete, Knowles said. Nationals will be in Anaheim, Calif.

Roughly 70 percent of West Valley’s DECA students head to four-year colleges, although not all end up in business careers, Knowles said.

“Right now they’re telling me they want to be engineers, lawyers and veterinarians. But most of them, by the end of their second year in college, will be majoring in business or accounting,” Knowles said. “Lots of my kids are more people oriented.”

National Merit winner

University High School senior Dan Werr has been named a National Merit Scholar., About 7,500 students nationwide are named scholars, after scoring at the top of the PSAT test.

‘The Write Stuff’

Never mind a science fair. Every year, St. Paschal’s Catholic School does a curriculum fair, which includes science and social studies.

Grand prize winners this year included Clancy Bundy, fourth-grader, who experimented with making his own paper.

In a report, titled “The Write Stuff,” Buncy told about making paper out of all sorts of stuff. He included samples, labeled “Leaves, shells and junk mail,” “The thinnest I’ve made so far,” and “newspaper pulp, blades of grass, dryer lint and bug parts.”

Bundy won the social studies grand prize for first- through fourth-graders.

Other grand prize winners were Nicole Bettinger, an eighth-grader who did a report on the state of Washington; third-grader Lisa Stoll, with a report on honeybees and wasps, tied with fourth-grader Sean Kane, who did a report on fish and wildlife; and eighth-grader Matthew Mackay, with a report on how airplanes fly.

Freeman math stars

Seniors Aaron Hill and Ryan Nottingham, juniors Nikki Zuber and Shaun Padden, sophomores John Russell and Erika Nottingham and freshmen Erin Parker and Josh Filzen from Freeman High School recently won the team project in the Washington State Regional Math Competition at Eastern Washington University.

The team also placed second and third in team problems. In individual problems, Padden and Russell took second, and Hill and Parker third. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a Valley school or about the achievements of Valley students, teachers or school staff, please let us know at the Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Call: 927-2166. Fax: 927-2175.