Ponderosa students learning to care
Fourth-, fifth-graders assembling packages for Vanessa Behan
Fourth- and fifth-graders at Ponderosa Elementary School in the Central Valley School District are busy creating “caring and learning” packages for the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.
The students are hand-tying fleece blankets to go into the packages. There will also be books from Barnes & Noble, and small stuffed animals from Albertsons.
The project is funded through a $1,000 Community Outreach Project grant from the Washington Education Association/Central Valley Education Association.
Teacher Librarian Debbie Knowlton secured the grant money for the school and chose Vanessa Behan so the students could reach out to kids of various ages with caring – the blankets and stuffed animals – and learning – the books.
The packages will include a handwritten note from the student teams that assembled the packages.
Knowlton expects the packages to be completed in a few more weeks and will deliver them to the nursery.
Department of Ecology grants
The Department of Ecology will pay for upgrades to cut toxic emissions from school buses throughout the Spokane Valley.
Thirty-three Central Valley buses will be retrofitted, as will 21 West Valley and 13 East Valley buses.
The DOE will distribute $829,000 to 11 school districts with the project that was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The upgrades should save more than 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year and reduce harmful pollutants in the air.
Career and Technical Education scholarship winners
Spokane Teachers Credit Union honored 15 Spokane area students recently with a special ceremony presenting the annual Focus Awards. The credit union bestows these awards on high school seniors who excel in career and technical education. Earning awards from the Valley:
Kelsy Shatto of Central Valley High School, who plans to attend either Western Washington University or Seattle Pacific University to become an elementary school teacher, received a $2,000 scholarship. Receiving a $100 savings bond were Rachel Ford of CV for elementary education and Taylor Simpson of CV for wildlife photography; and Hilary Weisbeck of CV for psychology.
CV presents ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’
The theater department of Central Valley High School, 821 S. Sullivan Road, will present William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Wednesday through next Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The cast will include Lauren Hollenbaugh as Hermia, Brandon Carter as Lysander, Kaleigh Fox as Helena, Jacob Madison as Demetrius, Dexter Calkins as Oberon, Tegan Monaghan as Titania, Christian Koch as Puck and Daniel Graham as Bottom the weaver.
Tickets are $8 and are available at the door at 6:30 p.m. the night of performances.
For more information, call the school at (509) 228-5218.
Kudos
The Continuous Curriculum School of the East Valley School District has been recognized by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for its Overall Excellence in the category of comprehensive school.
Four representatives received the award on behalf of the school: teacher Jill Shillam, student Maddie Wolff, parent Jenny Witt, and Chiere Martyn, the school principal.
The school is currently enrolling new students for the 2010-’11 school year. For more information, call (509) 927-3210.