Groundbreaking Tuesday at Lidgerwood, Ridgeview

The public is invited to groundbreaking ceremonies taking place Tuesday for two Spokane Public School buildings.

At 10:30 a.m. Lidgerwood Elementary, at Rowan and Lidgerwood, will celebrate the groundbreaking of its new $7 million project. The old school will be demolished and completely rebuilt by fall 2006.

Spokane’s Madsen, Mitchell, Evenson and Conrad Architects will be on hand as well as Bouten Construction, which will be building the new school.

The festivities will continue at 1:30 p.m. at Ridgeview Elementary, 1515 W. Joseph Ave. The 52-year old structure will be demolished and replaced with a $6.2 million project. T.W. Clark Construction is the contractor for the project, and ALSC Architects of Spokane designed the new school.

The ceremony will include a short presentation involving the public, the district, and school staff and students.

These are two of the three elementary schools that will be demolished and rebuilt this year as part of the 2003 bond passed by Spokane voters.

Camp out for Humane Society

All the cooks from Rogers High School cafeteria are camping out overnight in front of the school, 1622 E. Wellesley Ave., to promote donations of dog and cat food and cat litter for the Humane Society. They will be accepting donations from 6 p.m. Friday through 4 p.m. Saturday.

Distinguished educators named

Arlene Merriman and Jill Nowak were recently chosen as Distinguished Educators for the fourth quarter and recognized by Spokane Public School district, Spokane Teachers Credit Union, and Comcast.

Merriman, who teaches a second- and third-grade combination class at Adams Elementary School, was described by her nominator as a “master teacher par excellence.”

Nowak teaches special education classes at Lewis and Clark High School. A Special Olympics coach for more than 30 years, Nowak is “a pioneer in Spokane Public Schools’ special ed field,” her nominator wrote.

WAVE award recipients

Four Spokane Public Schools students recently won a Washington Award for Vocational Excellence scholarship, which provides two years of free tuition at a university, community or technical college, or licensed private vocational school, located in Washington. The students are Megan Carpenter, who attends Ferris High School and wants to open her own physical therapy office, specializing in rehabilitating young children; Aleksandr Makarov, a senior at Rogers High School who wants to be a computer engineer; Lela Shastany, a student at North Central High School who wants to be an engineer; and Christine Mertins, a Shadle Park High School student who would like to major in collision repair.

More than 400 applicants apply annually. They are nominated by their instructors and are selected by a committee representing business, labor, education, government and interested citizens.

Administered by the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, WAVE honors students in each of the state’s 49 legislative districts for outstanding occupational achievement, leadership and community service in career and technical education.

Salk students win at MESA meet

Salk Middle School eighth-graders Kalah Pratt, Jessi Miller, Lydia Venzke and Maria Hunt participated in the MESA State Science competition (mousetrap car investigation) on May 24 in Seattle. The group qualified by taking second at the District Science Competition two months ago.

They won first place overall as well as first place for their investigative paper, first place for their visual presentation/poster and first place for the speed of their mousetrap car, which is a car powered by a mousetrap, and second place for distance.

This qualifies them for an all-expenses paid trip to the National MESA Science Competition hosted by CSU Fullerton and UC Irvine in California, where they will have the opportunity to visit Disneyland.

Mead to hold community forum

The Mead School District will offer a public forum regarding the 11-point grading scale. The forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 15 in the school district’s office, 12828 N. Newport Highway.

Superintendent Steve Enoch and other staff members will be presenting information regarding a possible modification of the grading scale for the secondary schools (middle through high school).

There will be an opportunity for public input at the board of directors meeting at 6 p.m. Monday and at the June 20 meeting, also at 6 p.m. The board will take action on the matter at the June 20 meeting.