Schools offer free summer meals

Spokane Valley’s school districts will offer free meals for children this summer through a federally funded nutrition program, including at some off-campus sites through a local partnership.

Summer nutrition programs for children are funded through a reimbursement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To ensure that children in low-income areas continue to receive healthy meals during school vacations, children may eat on all days or any day with no registration or fee required.

The East Valley School District will serve breakfast and/or lunch at three schools, while meals prepared by EVSD also will be offered at additional sites in partnership with Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation and the Valley YMCA. The food will be served Mondays through Thursdays from June 18 to Aug. 16. No meals will be served on July 4 or 5. Last summer, more than 16,000 free meals were provided through this program.

The meal sites include: Trent Elementary, 3303 N. Pines Rd., breakfast 8:15 to 9 a.m. and lunch 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; East Valley High School, 15711 E. Wellesley, breakfast 7:45 to 8:30 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; Otis Orchards Elementary, 22000 E. Wellesley, no breakfast, lunch 11:30 a.m. to noon; Valley YMCA, 2421 N. Discovery Place, breakfast 8:30 to 9 a.m. and lunch 11:30 a.m. to noon; Edgecliff Park, 800 S. Park Rd., no breakfast, lunch 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Browns Park, 3019 S. Pines, no breakfast, lunch 1 to 1:30 p.m.; Sullivan Park, 1901 N. Sullivan, breakfast 9 to 9:30 a.m., no lunch; Terrace View Park, 13500 E. 24th, breakfast 9 to 9:30 a.m., lunch noon to 12:30 p.m.; Brookstone Apartments, 504 N. McDonald, breakfast 8:30 to 9 a.m., lunch 11:30 a.m. to noon.

Judi Christianson, EVSD spokesperson, said the district has developed partnerships with the YMCA and Valley Parks and Recreation over the years, which led to the providing of cold-packed meals for children in need at the additional sites.

“There is no cost to the district,” Christianson said. “All the sites come and pick up the cold lunches or breakfasts from us.”

For more information on the EVSD meals, call 241-5018.

The Central Valley School District’s free summer meals will begin on June 26 at Broadway Elementary School, 11016 E. Broadway, at no cost to anyone 18 years and younger. No registration is required and children do not need to be CVSD students.

CVSD will offer the meals Mondays through Thursdays June 25 – July 26, with no service July 4-5, including breakfast 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. and lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m. More than 3,700 meals were served during summer 2006. Visit www.cvsd.org for menus, schedules and more information.

West Valley’s district offers a free summer nutrition program Monday through Thursdays for children at these locations: Centennial Middle School, 925 N. Ella Road, from June 25 to July 26 (no service July 2-5) with breakfast 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and lunch 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and at Seth Woodard Elementary School, 7401 E. Mission Ave., from Aug. 9 to Aug, 23, with breakfast 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and lunch 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

CV students recognized

Several Central Valley School District children have received recognition through the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY).

Two Horizon Middle School students excelled on the SAT Reasoning Test. Eighth-grader Trevin Hiebert scored a perfect 800 on the mathematics portion, and seventh-grader Phillip Yan achieved a score of 710. Hiebert and Yan were two of 61 seventh- and eighth-grade students from CV invited by the Johns Hopkins center to take the SAT.

Thirteen CV students achieved awards of distinction by meeting or exceeding the average SAT scores of college-bound seniors (508 verbal, 520 math). Twelve students demonstrating exceptional ability in one or both areas were invited to attend a regional awards ceremony. Several students also achieved statewide honors for excellent scores (at least 550 for seventh graders, 600 for eighth graders) in either verbal or mathematics.

The CTY Talent Search identifies, assesses and recognizes students with exceptional mathematical and/or verbal reasoning abilities who qualify by scoring at or above the 95th percentile on a nationally normed, standardized aptitude or achievement test.

The following students received recognition, with the letter D following names denoting distinction and S indicating state honors.

Bowdish Middle School: Erin Benson – D; Andrew Croneberger; Henry Holm; Jake Hombel; Megan Johnson; Conner Sabin; Dillon Waybright – D.

Evergreen: Adam Blyckert; Jessica Boynton; Aneliese Doran; Karissa Elliott; Hailee Holley; Danielle Kishel – D; Stephen Lucas – D; Nolan Murphy; Taryn Seacrist; Charlotte Schmitz; Dallin Squires – S, D; Mathew Summers – D; Jordan Tabish; Addison Tucker; Taylor Wasson; Ruth Winkler – S, D.

Greenacres: Kurtis Beck; Alexandra Bliss; Jesse Bowman; Drew Brown – S, D; Brett Busch – D; Christina Davis; Paige Ellingson – D; Connor Dreher; Kyler Gessler; Nathaniel Koch; Jessica Long; Rodrick Morgan; Ryan Nelson; Karly Rasmussen; Andrew Schutts – S, D; Holly Shaarbaf; Adam Shaw – S, D; Andrew Wiggin – D; Allison Yost; Emma Zellmer – D.

Horizon: Matthew Fry – D; Trevin Hiebert – S, D; Ryan Linehan – D; Lauren Nemitz – S, D; Adrian Orndorff; Taylor Thom; Phillip Yan – S, D.

North Pines: Brandon Stover; Sara Hartman.

Summit: Lauren Allen – D; Christopher Choate – S, D; Elizabeth Ellis; James Ganas – S, D; Mariah Hanley; Robert Oeflein – S, D; Mackenzie Sloan; Emily Sorg.

Spokane Valley Learning Academy: David Ross – S, D.

Yearbook staff wins award

Valley Christian School’s yearbook staff recently received a “Gallery of Excellence” award for the 2007 annual edition, awarded by Walsworth Publishers. This award recognized work on the yearbook as an outstanding example of school-year coverage through intriguing stories, photography and innovative design.

Yearbooks winning this recognition are used as examples of the best practice and idea generators nationwide. Valley Christian’s yearbook staff includes: Erica Hattamer, Rhylee Smith, Brandon Bogart, Gavin Trom, Brittany Croft, Jenny Seeman, Sarah Manus, Igor Vagin, Jenelle Olson, and yearbook adviser, Tracy Trom.

Kris Bush wins scholarship

Interface Computer School, providing computer and business training, announced that Kris J. Bush, a 2007 Central Valley High School graduate, won a $1,000 “Careers That Work” scholarship from the Northwest Career Colleges Federation.

Bush will specialize in network administration and technical support.

Students win scholarships

The Central Valley Education Association awards scholarships to graduating seniors who plan to enter the teaching field. This year’s recipients of $1,500 scholarships each are: Ashley Nicole Anderson from University High School, Staisha Drager from Central Valley High School, and Keri Wendt from Central Valley High School.