Painted Hills scholarship recipients announced

The Painted Hills Golf Course management and its Men’s and Ladies’ clubs have selected 2006 scholarship winners. Each $1,500 scholarship is awarded in memory of past men’s or ladies’ club members.

Selection was based on school and community activities as well as an essay explaining why the scholarship would be important. A committee of club members screened and interviewed finalists.

This year’s winners are:

Freeman High School senior Rebekah Stranberg, the Sandy Evenson Memorial Scholarship. With a 3.8 grade-point average, she is a leader in both the Future Farmers of America and the Future Business Leaders of America chapters. Stranberg also is a National Honor Society member and Most Valuable Player on the school’s tennis team. She was involved with the South East Spokane County Fair and selected as a princess of the 2005 fair. She also has served as a volunteer emergency medical technician for Spokane County Fire District 8 and as an assistant hunter education instructor. Stranberg plans to attend the University of Montana and work toward becoming a doctor.

Central Valley High School’s Chase Schmidt, the Dale Watson Memorial Scholarship: Schmidt maintains a 3.89 g.p.a. and plans to attend Washington State University to major in biology. He is a National Honor Society member and a recipient of Greater Spokane League All-Academic honors. He has competed in football and track, lettering in both and cited by coaches and teammates as a team leader. His community involvement has included work for Tom’s Turkey Drive, St. Aloysius Thanksgiving Meal, Spokane Valley Food Bank, Spokane Blood Bank, and volunteering with a youth summer football camp and for the freshman football team.

Central Valley High School student Ashley Benjamin, the Carol McLean Memorial Scholarship. With a 3.95 g.p.a., Benjamin is a National Honor Society member and plays on the girls varsity golf team. Her community work includes the Valley Food Drive, church volunteering, and assisting in cleanup and restoration work on the Inchelium Indian reservation. She also was a volunteer worker at the Washington State High School Girls Golf championships. She will attend Washington State University with plans to become an emergency room physician.

The Bob Dykens Memorial Scholarship: Elisha Rose, a West Valley High School senior. Rose carries a 3.6 g.p.a. and plans to attend Whitworth College. Her goal is to become a pediatrician. She has participated in tennis and volleyball, French club and concert choir. Her volunteer work includes Union Gospel Mission, Millwood Book Reading project, Iraq Troop Christmas Care packages, Special Olympics, a blood drive and MS walk. Additionally, she works 25-30 hours per week at Sears to help pay for her college education.

The Dennis Chavez Memorial Scholarship: Roman Fomin, a 2004 graduate of Colville High School now attending Spokane Community College. His main study is in electronics and he seeks a degree in biomedical equipment technology. He works at Fred Meyer. He also is busy in church activities, playing guitar in the youth worship group and in visits to other community churches. Fomin has a 3.1 g.p.a.

Students win talent awards

The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth looks for exceptional mathematical and/or verbal reasoning abilities among students of seventh and eighth grades in order to provide opportunities for them to excel.

The talent search model invites students who have scored at or above the 97th percentile on nationally standardized achievement or aptitude tests to take the SAT 1 Reasoning Test, a more difficult test with a higher ceiling. The SAT 1 provides information that can help students recognize and develop their academic strengths.

A total of 26 Central Valley School District students achieved awards of distinction through this opportunity and were recognized in early May.

Among these, 13 Central Valley students who demonstrated exceptional ability in one or both areas also were invited to attend the regional awards ceremony which was held at Eastern Washington University in May. The students are:

Seventh-graders: James Ganas, Summit School; Matthew Harper, Bowdish; Trevin Hiebert, Horizon; Brady Hoyem, Horizon; Shannen Kuest, Evergreen; Kailey Phillips, Greenacres Middle School; Ashleigh Seely, Greenacres; and Ivvie Shellhorn, Greenacres.

Eighth-graders: Courtney Ramsey, Horizon; Keegan Shea, Greenacres Middle School; Helen Yuan, Summit School; and Amy Bestick, Bowdish.

New language class offered

Skyview Elementary and the Continuous Curriculum School in East Valley are offering a new extended day language class. Most participants are beginning learners of the English language.

The after-school program has eight participants, a majority who primarily speak the languages of former Soviet countries. The students are learning to visualize and express themselves when telling stories.

“It’s a new approach to learning better sentence structure and descriptive language, thinking verbs, transition words and adjectives,” said Teri Cox, a speech language pathologist.

“We’re hoping to open it up more to the general school population next year.”

Students are involved through visual cues, games and even making mobiles, Cox said.