Mt. Spokane High Screening Applicants For Principal

A Mt. Spokane High School selection committee comprised of faculty, parents and one student met for the first time last week to find a replacement for principal Mike Dunn.

Dunn, the school’s first principal in the school’s first year of existence, will be leaving that job at the end of June. Dunn accepted a position as a central office administrator in Spokane School District 81 during spring break.

The Mt. Spokane search committee will begin screening applications during the week of May 17 and interviews will be held the week before the Memorial Day weekend, Dunn said.

The search committee hopes to have a new principal in place by June, he said.

Educators receive honors

Spokane County educators and school volunteers will be honored for their contributions to public education at an awards luncheon next week sponsored by the Northeast Washington Association of School Administrators.

The luncheon will be held in Spokane at the Educational Service District 101 Bryant Center, 910 N. Ash, at noon on May 14.

Honorees are selected from a seven-county region - Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Orielle, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman - encompassing 59 public school districts.

Here is a list of local educators who will be honored:

Janelle Campasino, sixth grade teacher at Riverside Middle School, will be recognized for her selection as 1997 Teacher of the Year in the seven-county ESD 101 region and her candidacy as 1998 Washington Teacher of the Year.

Hal Braman, ESD 101 administrator of school financial services, will receive a retirement award for 31 years of service in the state. Braman has been with the ESD for 23 years.

Citizens for Spokane Schools (led by Scott Jones, Bill Hyslop and Tyrus Tenold), are nominated for a Community Recognition Award by Spokane School District Superintendent Gary Livingston.

The tri-chairs of the 1998 Spokane School District levy and bond campaign coordinated one of the most successful elections in district history - 82 percent approval for the levy, 78 percent for the bond.

Rich Hadley, CEO of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, is nominated for service to the Washington Association of School Administrators by Livingston for his efforts to increase local efforts to build links between businesses and education throughout Spokane County.

Brian Talbott, superintendent of ESD 101, is nominated for the Golden Gavel Award by Chewelah School District Superintendent Marcia Costello. Talbott is retiring after 33 years of service in the state.

Deer Park cleans up

Nine Deer Park High School students won top honors in the Future Homemakers of America/Home Economics Related Occupations state competition in Wenatchee last week.

Two students, Holly Mueller and Jessica Valenzuela, qualified for national competition in New Orleans this summer.

Other winners were Crystal Scharnhorst and Jennifer Walling who won Gold Awards in the “Focus on Children” event; Kelly Gibson and Summer Satterlee, who won gold in the “Chapter Showcase” event; Lonnie Miller and Jenni Thorne, who won gold in the “Communications” event; and Crystal Wilkes, who won gold in the “Skills for Life” event.

Mount St. Michael’s wins grant

Mount Saint Michael’s Academy was awarded a $25,000 grant from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich.

The academy was recognized for the Henry Salvatori Prize for excellence in teaching.

The award is given by the college to honor schools promoting academic excellence and character formation. The money will go to enhancing academic programs at the school.

Books available

Mead Middle School’s Honor Society will host its third annual free book fair on May 12 in the cafeteria from 3 to 7 p.m.

There will be more than 500 books available for readers of all ages.

For more information call Nancy Monroe at 465-7400.

RALPH SHARP TO RETIRE After 31 years in education, Mead Middle School Principal Ralph Sharp will retire in June. Eighteen years of his career have been spent at Mead Middle School, formerly Mead Junior High School. Sharp has been with the Mead School District for 22 years. He was an assistant principal at Mead High School for three years and spent one year in the district office. Sharp said the highlight of his career was the 1982-83 school year when Mead Junior High was recognized as an “Outstanding School” in the country. He represented Mead Jr. High in Washington, D.C., to accept the honor from former President Ronald Reagan.