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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Andrew Croneberger wins spelling bee


Croneberger
 (The Spokesman-Review)
Treva Lind Correspondent

A Bowdish Middle School student correctly spelled the word “conceited” to win the 35th annual Valley Spelling Bee.

Andrew Croneberger, a Bowdish eighth-grader, won the contest. The second-place finisher was Kyle Hansen, a Centennial Middle School sixth-grader, and in third place was Katrina Henning, a North Pines Middle School eighth-grader.

Held March 20 in the West Valley High School theater, the bee included school champions from 12 public and private schools. It was organized by volunteers from the West Valley School District and sponsored by Barnes & Noble, Centennial Middle School, Gethsemane Lutheran School and St. Mary’s Catholic School.

Other finalists were: Brandon Sommer, seventh-grader, Evergreen Middle School; Andrew Keeve, sixth-grader, Greenacres Middle School; Heyden Patterson, sixth-grader, Mountain View Middle School; McKenzie White, eighth-grader, Valley Christian; Erin Salskov, seventh-grader, St. Mary’s School; Shannon Fujimoto, eighth-grader, Spokane Valley Adventists; Philip Yan, eighth-grader, Horizon Middle School; Elisha Allred, sixth-grader, East Valley Middle School; and Amanda O’Neill, eighth-grader, Gethsemane Lutheran School.

All finalists received gifts from Barnes & Noble. The top three finalists received cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25, respectively. The winner also received a trophy.

Munch Madness gets messy at U-Hi

Food went flying at University High School before spring break, all for a good cause. U-Hi teacher Jessica Walters said an assembly measured the food eating and throwing skills among students in a final four match-up for Munch Madness, a food drive contest.

“The assembly was really messy,” Walters said. “The food drive was awesome.”

The assembly included a contest determining the top two classroom teams of students, including a relay with students alternating between eating “interesting food items” and shooting baskets. The top two teams then tried to get the most food thrown into garbage cans attached with duct tape to their teachers’ waists. The teachers wore garbage bags and protective eyewear.

Overall, the students brought in nearly 12,000 pounds of food or 11,956 points assigned to items – three points for big containers, two for regular cans and one for smaller items. Spokane Valley Food Bank volunteers had to make two trips in trucks to get it all. The food will now go to needy families in the community.

Inspired by the March Madness nickname for the lineup of NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship games, U-Hi’s Munch Madness organizers divided homeroom classes into elimination brackets to determine the final four.

“It was a great success,” Walters said. “The food bank said it was a record for University High School as far as what was brought in.”

The winning homeroom class – sophomores in teacher Rob Paukert’s room – won lunch at the Outback Steakhouse restaurant. Coming in second place for a meal at IHOP were the seniors in teacher Abby Hornstein’s class.

Juliet Law named a National Merit Scholarship winner

A West Valley High School student has earned recognition as a 2008 National Merit Scholarship winner.

Juliet Law received an Honorary Achievement Scholarship award signifying that a scholar’s educational plans or other awards preclude receipt of a monetary scholarship. Law plans a career in military service.

The National Achievement Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 to honor scholastically talented black American youths and to provide scholarships.

More than 140,000 students entered the 2008 National Achievement Scholarship Competition by requesting consideration when they took the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as high school juniors. In September 2007, approximately 1,600 of the highest scorers were named semifinalists on a regional representation basis.

To continue, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements such as having a record of consistently high academic performance, being endorsed and recommended by an official of their high school, earning SAT scores that confirm their PSAT/NMSQT performance, and submitting an essay about personal interests, attainments and goals.

Some 1,300 semifinalists advanced to the finalist level, and all National Achievement Scholarship winners were selected from this group of outstanding students. Achievement Scholar awardees are the finalist candidates judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for academic success in college.

CVSD bestows service awards

The Central Valley School District board recently honored two individuals, a community group and a team as 2008 Meritorious Service Award recipients.

The annual awards honor exemplary contributions by employees, teams, community members and organizations in support of student achievement in Central Valley schools. They were presented in four categories:

“Certificated Employee: Karen Floyd, Central Valley High School

“Classified Employee: Carolyn Nutsch, CVHS

“Community Member/Organization: Liberty Lake Kiwanis, Greenacres Middle School

“Team: Broadway Elementary Homework Club, Community of Christ Church and Broadway Elementary Staff.

More than 87 individuals and 10 groups were considered for this year’s awards, nominated by employees, parents and students. Each nominee was publicly recognized by board members at celebrations held in February and March.

EVSD names 2008 Scholars

The East Valley School District has announced its Class of 2008 Spokane Scholar recipients, who were nominated by the academic department heads and high school staff.

Those receiving recognition include: Morgan Dunning, for achievement in English studies; Jake Woodbrey, fine arts; Brian Reidy, math; Brian Stamer, science; Hilary Payne, social studies; and Katharine Tate, world language.

These students and the other high school Spokane Scholars will be recognized during an April 21 dinner at the Spokane Convention Center.