Pasadena students walk to help feed area seniors
Elementary students walking at the Spokane Valley Mall this week made it possible for seniors to get regular meals.
About 80 Pasadena Park Elementary students raised $1,700 in donations for walking in the Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels Walk-a-Thon on Wednesday.
Considering that last year’s Valley walk-a-thon brought in $2,000 overall, the school group made a huge impact, said Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels Executive Director Pam Almeida. Every $1,000 raised pays for meals for one person for a year.
“We raised about $2,000 last year with the walk-a-thon,” she said, “so this is really amazing.”
Shelby Rothstrom, a first-grade Pasadena teacher, helped organize the student’s participation along with her daughter, Hannah, a senior at Lewis and Clark High School.
“It was just a one-week period that we collected money,” Rothstrom said. “We had a lot of response from our West Valley community wanting to support their community.”
The children – mainly in grades kindergarten through third – collected $10 or more in donations for the walk-a-thon. A few fourth-graders also participated.
Two students who collected $100 dollars or more were Austin Stevens, a second-grader with $100 in donations, and kindergarten student Kade Mohr, who raised $360.
Almeida talked to Pasadena students at an assembly before the fund-raising. Rothstrom said Almeida had student council members do a role-playing skit explaining how many seniors need help with meals.
“She did an excellent job explaining Meals on Wheels and having children think about what they would do if they had a grandparent who fell and broke a hip and couldn’t get to the store. She did great putting it in terms they could understand.”
Rothstrom added that the walk-a-thon participation is just one step that the school is organizing. A school news crew of older students plans to take a video camera along to film a Meals on Wheels delivery.
“That delivery will be broadcast on the Pasadena news network, so kids can actually see where their money went.
“Our hope is that we can write a grant so once a week we can send one or two students along delivering meals on a regular day. Each student would get one turn. We hope to have that in place by next year.”
She added that her daughter Hannah helped Pasadena as part of her senior project for service learning.
This is the first time that students have joined the Meals on Wheels Walk-a-thon, Almeida said, but two other Valley schools help the organization with meal deliveries.
St. Mary’s Catholic School delivers on three routes every Monday, with parents driving fifth- and sixth-grade students. At Progress Elementary, teacher Jeff Wallingford has students rotate doing deliveries through the Progress Reaches Out Team.
EVHS student observes Washington, D.C.
An East Valley High School student, Brittany Bergam, received a scholarship to attend the Honeywell Scholars at Presidential Classroom program Feb. 25 through March 4 in Washington, D.C.
Bergam joined a group of 130 high school juniors and seniors from 22 countries and 22 states to get a behind-the-scenes look at the inter-relationships of science, technology and public policy by interacting with members of Congress, presidential appointees, senior military officers, as well as top business leaders and journalists.
The Honeywell Scholars also were scheduled to observe the Congress in action and visit the Supreme Court, the Department of State and Arlington National Cemetery.
Honeywell, a global technology company, awarded Bergam the scholarship after a rigorous application and review process.
St. Paschal raffle tickets on sale
Only 2,000 tickets will be available for the 2006 St. Paschal School car raffle.
It’s become an annual fund-raiser for the Catholic K-8 school at 2521 N. Park Road. This year the prize is a 1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK super-charged roadster or $15,000 in cash. Proceeds from the raffle are used for the school operating budget.
The $20 raffle tickets can be purchased at the school or online at www.stpaschal.net. The drawing will be held June 9. For information, call 924-5090.
DAR honors students
The May Hutton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution recently presented awards to several area students.
Students from five Spokane Valley high schools received DAR Good Citizen awards: Tyler Demars of Central Valley High School, Brittany Bergam of East Valley High School, Laine Anderson of University High School, Kara Kazemba of West Valley High School and Laura Schlect of Valley Christian School. Each received a pin and certificate. The award is a scholarship program for high school seniors, and Kazemba’s entry was chosen to compete at the state level. Kazemba also received a gift certificate.
Other awards given were for essay contests sponsored by DAR. Stephanie Endicott, a Skyview Elementary School fifth-grader, and Alexander White, a sixth-grade student with the Spokane Valley Learning Academy, received awards for their American History Essay entries on, “Benjamin Franklin – More Than a Revolutionary.” Both students received certificates and medals, and their essays were sent on to the state competition.
Several area students entered the Christopher Columbus Essay contest with the theme, “The Santa Maria to the New World and the Apollo Mission to the Moon: Christopher Columbus and the Astronauts.” Certificates were awarded to Amanda Baker, Nick Crooks, Amy Fox, Olga Fox, Darya Nikolenko, Aaron Poston, Laura Schlect and Whitney Wolf of Valley Christian School and Elizabeth Scheck of Central Valley High School. The winning essay by Crooks was forwarded to the state-level competition.
A Junior American Citizen contest award was presented to Desirae Kivett, a sixth-grade student in the West Valley School District, for her stamp design. The Junior American Citizens topic this year was “Benjamin Franklin: The Many Talents of an American Patriot.”
Music students recognized
West Valley High School announced music students recognized at the recent Annual Eastern Washington Music Educator’s Association Regional Solo and Ensemble Competition in Spokane. They are:
Zac Slovarp – first place euphonium division (qualifies for State Competition – second year in a row).
Amanda McLaughlin – first place flute division (qualifies for state).
Krystal McCarthy – second place snare drum division (first alternate to state).
Brass Ensemble – second place (first alternate to state) – this group includes three students who made All-State Band.
Percussion Ensemble – second place (first alternate to state.
Eli Brown – third place trumpet division (second alternate to state).
Doug McManaway – third place piano division (second alternate to state).
Josh Johnston – third place tuba division (second alternate to state).
In addition, these individuals/groups received the following ratings:
Superior
Flute quartet
Clarinet septet (performed at Board Appreciation Night)
Aspen Wolff – Clarinet solo
(All of the above state qualifiers)
Excellent
Trumpet trio
Clint Slovarp – French horn solo
Gavin Mitchell – Trumpet solo
Rachel Cox – Bassoon
Danielle Warner – Clarinet solo
Ashley Belcher – Marimba solo
Good
Jennifer Claeson – Flute solo
Kimber Alsperger – Flute solo
Chris Babinski – Piano solo
Rhea Woolley – Oboe solo
South Pines teacher honored
At a Feb. 7 all-school assembly, South Pines Elementary second-grade teacher Ann Kalstad got a surprise announcement that she was Eastern Washington University’s Teacher of the Month for February.
The news came from KHQ-6 television anchors Stephanie Vigil and Dan Kleckner, who captured the reaction on camera as 400 students cheered.
Kalstad was nominated by Elizabeth Ireland, a current student. Elizabeth wrote a book about how her teacher had helped her learn how to spell words.
“You never know what is going to impact a child’s mind,” said Kalstad. “I just love working with the kids, and I also believe I learn from them. I really try to look at each child each day and start new. I find something good in every child. They are pretty amazing.”