SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
Drawing the big picture - Rosemont Ridge student's artwork earns him a billboard near downtown Portland
Philip Chan describes his winning drawing about Oregon history, which will be placed on a billboard later this year. Holding the banner are his friends Harry Winsper (right) and Pooja Jain.
Philip Chan has big love for both drawing and history — so big, one could say it could fill a billboard. That is a good thing, as Philip was named the winner of the Oregon History Rocks Billboard Art Competition.
Philip, who was a sixth-grader at Rosemont Ridge Middle School this year, was shocked when his name was revealed for the statewide contest during an all-school assembly June 11. Philip’s winning design depicts Lewis and Clark and Lewis’ dog, Seaman, as well as Sacajawea, a beaver, the state flower and the state bird, a trio of covered wagons and the state flag, or, as Philip would say, “everything that makes Oregon special.” “I like art and I just like entering contests, and history is something I like,” Philip said about why he chose to enter.
Chan’s billboard will be at the corner of Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard and Second Street in Portland and will be 14 feet high and 48 feet wide. It will be on display for two weeks, starting the week before Labor Day.
WHEELS ARE TURNING FOR LOWRIE PTA - Students take part in a fundraiser at the school
Pablo Peralta, left, and Christian Bartolo, both fifth-graders, are about to start riding.
Bicycles. Skates. Scooters. Skateboards. Wheels were spinning everywhere, as students took part in the school’s first Wheel-a-thon, a new fundraiser for the new school’s PTA. Key support came from the city of Wilsonville, which not only decided to waive the normal street-closure fee of about $250 but also gave Lowrie’s PTA a $1,000 grant with money taken from the city’s discretionary fund. Wilsonville’s citywide transportation company, SMART, donated 75 helmets to the event, so students could use one during Wheel-a-thon and even take it home afterward if they needed a helmet. Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue were at the school, ready to provide assistance to students who took tumbles that required minor first aid.
The event raised about $3,600 for the school PTA’s general fund. During the event, students wearing red Wheel-a-thon T-shirts whizzed nonstop around the school and its track on wheeled vehicles of every sort. Principal Patrick Meigs spent most of the event on his bike, seeing students’ enthusiasm up close.“What I loved about the Wheel-a-thon,” Meigs said, “was seeing the waves of red shirts riding past with the school in the background. It was incredible to see the dream of our new school community come alive in such an awe-inspiring way. Having parents, staff and children all out sharing this incredible common experience was another great example of the powerful ... sense of community we have worked hard to create at Lowrie this year.”
CONGRATULATIONS 2013 Graduates!
Arts & Technology High School
WEST LINN HIGH SCHOOL 
Wilsonville High School's Soul'd Out Wins Golden Mic Award at The Rose City Sing-Off Congratulations to Wilsonville High School's Soul'd Out who won the Golden Mic Award at the Rose City Sing-Off last night. Soul'd Out will be performing on television tomorrow during the coverage of the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade.
The competition reflects the mission of the Rose Festival to highlight art and education in its programming. The Rose City Sing-Off is the only acappella competition in the Portland Metro Area that gives high school-age singers a unique opportunity to perform and compete on a big stage. Partnering with the Portland Rose Festival, this competition is hosted in Portland, Oregon, but draws from the entire Northwest region.
West Linn team brings home bronze
A trio of students from West Linn High School won a bronze medal and a $150 prize in the engineering category at the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project (ISWEEEP) competition, held in Houston from May 8 to 13.
Clara Altimus, Arianna Hall and Zoe Maxwell were honored for their science project, “Application of a Rain-Powered Water Wheel for Supplementing Residential Energy Generation.”
“We generated energy from rainfall utilizing our hand-built and originally designed water wheel,” Hall said. “The system sits under a downspout, so when it begins raining the rain collects in the gutter as potential energy, then travels down the downspout as kinetic energy and finally turns our water wheel to make mechanical energy (that is) stored in a battery.”
The project qualified for ISWEEEP after the regional Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) science fair at the high school. Though not as well known as the ISEF competition, ISWEEEP is gaining notice. “ISWEEEP is becoming a very highly regarded international fair,” said Amy Schauer, CREST program coordinator. She served as a mentor, with West Linn physics teacher Shawn McDevitt, to Hall, Altimus and Maxwell.
The girls plan to pursue their passion for learning separately next year. Altimus will be attending Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she plans to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in occupational therapy in a four-and-a-half-year program.
Hall plans to attend Oregon State University, where she will study education and integrated sciences. Maxwell will head to the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., where she plans to major in biology with a neuroscience concentration.
217 Quarterfinalists Chosen For First Ever Music Educator Award: CONGRATULATIONS TO MUSIC TEACHER JAMES COMPTON!
We congratulate
James Compton on this prestigious award nomination and for his dedication to great music education for our children. A total of 217 music teachers from 195 cities across 45 states have been announced as quarterfinalists for the music educator award presented by the Recording Academy and the Grammy foundation. In total, more than 30,000 nominations were submitted from all 50 states.
The music educator award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten – college, public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The semifinalists will be announced in August.
LIST OF QUARTERFINALISTS
WOOD STUDENTS FIND SUCCESS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Inza Wood team takes second in Constitution contest
Team of eighth graders from Inza Wood A well-chaperoned group of 29 eighth-graders from Inza Wood Middle School recently ventured far from their Wilsonville homes on an unusual quest: to display their knowledge of the United States Constitution in a Washington, D.C., competition, We the People National Invitational on the campus of George Mason University.
Linda Koller, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Wood, led the team on its journey. The Wood students’ “effort, knowledge and teamwork” received praise from the judges. Those three elements contributed to Wood’s strong showing: The team took second place in the national competition, which is sponsored by the Center for Civic Education. “These students did a great job,” Koller said, “and earned their accolades through their hard work and perseverance.”
“It was just beyond what I could have imagined,” Lauren Burns said. “I was so proud of these kids. I was amazed at their ability to process and synthesize and have critical thinking around the Constitution and articulate it to the judges — on the spot.”
Lions win girls lacrosse championship
West Linn knocked off rival and two-time defending state champion Lake Oswego 19-13 on Thursday to capture its first girls lacrosse state title since 2003. The Lions entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state with just one loss this year, which happened to come against the Lakers. Congratulations Lady Lions!!!!!
CREST welcomes new member to farm team
A new farm educator has joined the CREST team,. Holly Markham will be working at the CREST farm through the end of September in a grant-funded contract position. Markham will run field trips, work with summer interns and manage the farm’s community supported agriculture (CSA) program.
CREST is an environmental education center operated by the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, located at 11265 SW Wilsonville Road in Wilsonville.
“I think it’s going to be really exciting,” Markham said of working with students on the 10-acre farm. “Farming can be a very empowering activity. It has a lot of transformative power, especially for youths that are finding their own strengths.”
Internships available
Holly Markham works inside the CREST farm greenhouse with Lindsay Landford from Wilsonville High School.
The CREST farm currently is seeking summer interns through the Farm to School program. Available to students who will enter eighth and ninth grades in the fall, the program offers opportunities to learn business, agriculture and team skills.
Internships are offered in three sessions: June 24 through July 11, July 15 through Aug. 1 and Aug. 12 through 29.
Visit the CREST website at http://crest.wlwv.k12.or.us to learn more or to download an application.
A DAY TO CELEBRATE CHILDREN
TRACK AND FIELD: MULTIPLE-EVENT WINNERS LIFT WILSONVILLE'S BOYS TO THIRD-CONSECUTIVE DISTRICT TITLE
Members of the Wilsonville boys track and field team pose with the Northwest Oregon Conference trophy May 17 at Putnam High School in Milwaukie after winning the program's third-straight team title. Ryan Walsh, Ty James and Johnny Ragin each won multiple district championships. Redemption seemed elusive as Ryan Walsh turned the corner in the boys 200-meter dash. “Coming around the curve, I saw like four people ahead of me,” he said. “Usually, it’s just one or two. I had to put everything I had out there.” In an incredible straightaway sprint that exemplified the Wilsonville boys track and field team posted eight first-place finishes en route to hoisting the team trophy for the third year in a row.
Ty James enjoyed that his individual accomplishments came amid success for his whole team. “That’s what makes track real special,” he said before posing for pictures with the trophy. It’s a bunch of guys in different areas, different sports, all coming together and winning a district title. It’s a pretty neat thing.”
Catlin Gabel partners with Wilsonville High in poetry-art venture
Sixteen students -- four writers and four artists at each school -- partnered over six months on a project called Word and Hand. Writers at one school were paired with artists at the other in a kind of creative pen-pal experiment. It was the first time high schoolers had taken part in Word and Hand, the creation of Portland artist Steve Tilden and Portland State University English professor Michele Glazer.
The students know nothing about their partners, only what they glean from the art or poetry. The project was funded through a grant from the William T. Colville Memorial Art Foundation, where Tilden is a board member. 
Tilden approached art teachers Christopher Shotola-Hardt at Wilsonville and Dale Rawls at Catlin Gabel with the idea. "It stretches kids in a new way," Shotola-Hardt said. Both teachers had been part of a Word and Hand project several years ago. The students applied with two pieces of their work and an essay about what they hoped to gain from the project. Members of the Colville Foundation board selected the students.
All of the works, written and visual, and the journals will be included a professionally designed and printed catalogue. The young creative people will meet each other for the first time on Sunday, May 19, at a special one-day-only exhibition and poetry reading at Blackfish Gallery in Portland’s Pearl District. The reception will run from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. FULL STORY
| Wilsonville High School senior and artist Doone Williams |
WL girls win district golf tournament - Sarah Archuleta wins medalist honors as the West Linn girls place four individuals in the top five at districts
Sarah Archuleta hits a putt during her second-round 71 which propelled her to victory at Stone Creek.
If the West Linn girls golf team can string together two days similar to the ones it had at districts this Monday and Tuesday, it could find itself on top of the podium once again next week. The Lions were in peak form in ideal playing conditions at Stone Creek in Oregon City this week. While winning the district tournament was virtually a formality, West Linn was workmanlike in its effort, winning by more than 100 strokes and posting some of its best scores of the year.
Sarah Archuleta would lead the way for the Lions, posting rounds of 73 and 71 to finish even par for the tournament, taking home the district title.
West Linn also had four of the top five individual scorers at the district tournament. West Linn will now gear up for state at Quail Valley, where the Lions won state in 2010. "I think this team still has so much potential that we haven't hit yet and Quail Valley sets up well for us. It's wide open and similar to a lot of courses we've played," Archuleta said.
GIRLS TENNIS: WILSONVILLE'S HALEY MOSS WINS FIRST DISTRICT TITLE
District Champion Haley Moss won her first NWOC singles title May 8 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory The top-seeded standout Haley Moss sailed through the first four matches of the girls singles bracket May 6-8 at Tualatin Hills Tennis Center, and captured her first Northwest Oregon Conference title with a commanding 6-2, 6-0 win over Sandy junior Hailey Fischer in the championship match. It was a redemptive victory for Moss, who lost to Liberty’s Ayaka Terakawa in the league finals last year. “It’s really exciting to see all my hard work starting to pay off,” Moss said afterward, a bouquet of flowers resting in her arms. “It’s a really exciting time.” And her season isn’t over yet. Moss will compete in the Class 5A singles tournament, which is scheduled for May 16-18 at Tualatin Hills Tennis Center. She placed fourth as a freshman last year.
This season, Moss could finish even higher. She was undefeated against conference opponents, and she lost just seven games combined during her dominant five-match stretch at the district tournament. “My goal is to always improve,” Moss said. “And I feel like I’m definitely making that happen.” It wrapped up a sensational tournament for the sophomore.
WILSONVILLE, WEST LINN HIGH SCHOOLS COME UP STRONG IN WAPO "CHALLENGE
The Washington Post has ranked Wilsonville High fourth and West Linn High fifth among Oregon high schools in a measurement comparing the number of students who are taking college-level examinations. The Post conducts its High School Challenge annually. Schools are ranked by dividing the number of college-level tests a school offers by the number of graduates in a given year. This results in an overall index score used for rankings. Also noted, the newspaper stated, are the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and the percentage of graduates in a given year that not only took but also passed at least one college-level exam during their high school careers. With a few exceptions, public schools that achieved a ratio of at least 1.000, meaning they had as many tests in 2012 as they had graduates, were put on the national list. “I think 1.000 is a modest standard,” the Washington Post’s Jay Mathews wrote on the Challenge website. “A school can reach that level if only half of its students take one AP (Advanced Placement), IB (International Baccalaureate) or AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education) test in their junior year and one in their senior year.” Schools are ranked in order of ratio, with the highest (23.571) achieved by the American Indian Public Charter in Oakland, Calif.
Wilsonville High earned an index score of 2.039, meaning there were twice as many college-level exams, primarily through the Advanced Placement program offered by the College Board, as there were graduates. West Linn was right behind with an index score of 1.926. Lincoln High School of Portland was third among Oregon Schools with an index of 2.115, while Lakeridge (1.406) of Lake Oswego was sixth and Southridge (1.296) of Beaverton was seventh. Challenge administrators even take into account the manner in which different schools offer college-level courses and exams to their students. This year, that meant such schools had to have an average SAT score below 2000 or an average ACT score below 29.3 to be included on the list.
Each year the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM) recognizes an outstanding contributor to the mathematics community of Oregon. This year the Area Recognition Award for Clackamas County recipient is Kemble Schnell. She works in the Inza Wood Middle School, West Linn-Wilsonville School District, Wilsonville, Oregon, as a 7th grade Algebra teacher.
Math is advanced among school children by teachers and others who work on the progress in math education and work to increase the quality of mathematics education. Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics members are math teachers and classroom teachers that are interested in keeping quality mathematics in Oregon schools, Kemble Schnell is one of those people. She has bolstered the mathematics community through involvement in many activities that have contributed greatly to the quality of math instruction and to students' progress in mathematics. She teaches 7th grade algebra with an emphasis on developing students' capacity to talk about math so that they justify their work, make conjectures, and generalize ideas. In addition to mentoring fellow middle school teachers, she has been the middle level "studio" math teacher who opens her classroom to teachers and administrators for a series of workshops and investigations into improving practice. She improves student test scores through designing a daily Math Lab to provide alternative strategies and approaches, communicating with high school teachers, and creating a system for teaching students to keep a math journal that is truly useful to them as a resource. She was invited to teach "Algebra for All" to teachers as a Lewis & Clark College summer class last summer and has been asked to return this summer.
Molly Smith, Vice President of Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics, says, “It is an honor to highlight accomplishments, leadership, and excellent work of people who promote mathematics across our state. The state of Oregon is fortunate to have forward thinking people in the mathematics community!” If you wish to learn more about OCTM, please check out the website at http://www.octm.org.
Happy School Nurse Day 2013 - May 8th Advocacy, Access, Achievement: Leading the Way
We salute school nurses for positively impacting the health and well-being of students nationally and
globally through the many roles you fulfill. Indeed, school nurses care for students and communities,
serving a critical role in ensuring students’ academic success. For all you do.....THANK YOU!!!
We can all recall a teacher who helped us make a breakthrough when we were students. As parents, we see that professionalism continue with dedicated educators who take the extra effort to help our children succeed. Teachers should know their work is noticed. Take a moment this week to thank a teacher during Teacher Appreciation Week, this May 6–10.
A gold medal for West Linn High School - West Linn ranks No. 3 in U.S. News Best High Schools report
Eighty-eight Oregon schools ranked among the nation’s best in a recent report by U.S. News & World Report, with West Linn High School rated third in the state. West Linn was ranked No. 408 nationally, earning a Gold Medal designation. West Linn High School Principal Lou Bailey said that credit for the recognition was due to several factors, singling out “our community’s expectations for a very high-level academic program, our parental support and involvement, our highly committed students ... and to our dedicated, hardworking and extremely professional staff.”
For each school U.S. News evaluates, a College Readiness Index score is assigned based in part on students’ participation and performance in Advanced Placement coursework. WLHS had a participation rate of 66 percent and earned 49.3 on the College Readiness Index.
Wilsonville High School was not ranked in the report, but it rated 42.4 on the College Readiness Index with 52 percent of the student body taking AP courses. Deputy Superintendent Jane Stickney said the school district was pleased with the U.S. News report as well as similar recognition from the Washington Post for both West Linn and Wilsonville high schools. “These awards are each one prestigious,” Stickney said. “It is notable that collectively they paint a recognized picture of excellence in West Linn-Wilsonville schools.” These recognitions, Stickney said, “indicate that students are doing well from kindergarten through graduation. We are proud of our students’ brilliant efforts and willingness to take on intellectual challenges along with the challenges on the courts, in the art studio and in the concert halls.”
Wilsonville High senior Sammy Griffin will have her work displayed in Portland’s Blue Sky Gallery this month
Photographer, painter, graphic artist and
Wilsonville High senior Sammy Griffin is preparing her artwork to hang on the "No Strings Attached" wall at
Blue Sky Gallery in Portland. Blue Sky, also known as the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, is at 122 N.W. Eighth Ave. Griffin's artwork will be on display May 7-14. "Blue Sky is my favorite gallery," Griffin said. "I'm so excited to have my stuff up there."
Griffin, who lives in Tualatin, has always loved art, a passion she comes by naturally, as both her grandmother and great grandmother were artists. As a child she was inspired by her aunt, Heather Griffin, who graduated from
Pacific Northwest College of Art. By middle school, Sammy Griffin realized she wanted to become an artist, and at 15 she had an internship at Oregon Photo Supply.
The Tualatin Library Foundation board's president, Wayne Welch, recently asked her to design the poster used for the Library Foundation's fundraiser "Vine 2 Wine." Welch described her design work as crazy good. The teen has also done logo design for a friend who is launching a business.
She loves photography and in the last year has been refining her skills as a portrait artist. She enjoys simple black and white photography and has been told by her teacher, Wilsonville High School's Judy Morris-Green, that she has a good eye for composition. Griffin enjoys drawing and painting and especially loves watercolor. She is interested in fashion and has designed some of her own clothing. Her future plans include Pacific Northwest College of Art with a concentration on photography and graphic design.
CONGRATULATIONS to Our Chess Tournament Trophy Winners!
On Saturday, April 27, 2013, Stafford Primary School played host to the twenty-third annual Primary School District Chess Tournament. The tournament was well attended, boasting a final roster of 34 participants with many of our district primary schools represented. Under the direction of Bob Luck, students participated in 5 rounds of play which lasted approximately 4 hours. We salute all 34 of our dedicated chess players. Special congratulations go to the following trophy winners:
Eric Xia - Trillium Creek, Grade 4 (Overall Champion)
Anish Goswami - Boeckman Creek, Grade 2 (1st place, K-2 Division)
Jensen Corella - Cedaroak Park, Grade 2 (2nd place, K-2 Division)
Jeffrey Fang - Trillium Creek, Grade 3 (1st place, 3rd Grade Division)
Cian Lister - Boones Ferry, Grade 3 (2nd place, 3rd Grade Division)
Ethan McCarty - Three Rivers, Grade 4 (1st place, 4th Grade Division)
Jakob Conner - Bolton, Grade 4 (2nd place, 4th Grade Division)
Benjamin Ankeney - Willamette, Grade 5 (1st place, 5th Grade Division)
Ryan Olds - Sunset, Grade 5 (2nd place, 5th Grade Division)
U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader pays surprise visit to Rosemont Ridge Middle School
U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader shakes hands with Rosemont Ridge Middle School student Alex Wilson.
The sounds of a band class at Rosemont Ridge Middle School were interrupted Monday when U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader of Oregon’s 5th District paid a surprise visit to personally answer a letter he received from one of the students. Schrader arrived in the classroom at about 9:30 in the morning, just as the band was finishing a number. “Sorry to interrupt,” Schrader said. “You sound way better than I ever could.” He went on to shake Alex’s hand and tell the rest of the class why he was there. Alex, as Schrader explained, had written to him to express concern about North Korea’s nuclear missiles and asked what would happen if they launched those weapons.
Concerned about the threat of North Korean nuclear missiles and in the midst of a quest to earn a Boy Scout merit badge, sixth-grader Alex Wilson wrote the letter to Schrader about three weeks ago. Schrader gave the students a primer on North Korea’s government and how it differs drastically from the way the United States operates. Schrader was particularly pleased that a sixth-grader would write in about such a complex foreign policy issue.
WHS competes in Oregon Battle of the Books
Wilsonville High School advanced to bracket play last weekend in the state championships for Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB). The school competed in a pool of 12 high school state finalists, drawn from a field of 41 participating high schools across the state. Wilsonville team members include Catie Willard, Madison Renfro, Madison Rogers and Melissa (Nhi) Lam, coached by Teri Willard. Held at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, the sixth annual state tournament featured top teams from eight regions with 481 participating schools. Each state competitor had already won at their school level and regional competition.
More great science fair news - our 6-8th grade students who competed in the Northwest Science Expo did a fantastic job presenting their work to the judges, The brightest young science, math and engineering minds in the state presented their projects through 2.5 hours of judging. Thanks for all your support of all the science fair kids and many thanks go out to our program coordinator Amy Schauer at the Center for Research in Environmental Sciences and Technologies (CREST)! These students were recognized in the awards:
· Broadcom MASTERS nomination (chance to compete at the national level)
o Kyla Wiegand, Wood Middle School
· Behavioral and Social Science – Honorable Mention
o John Kim, Brandon Kyung, Wood Middle School
· Energy and Transportation – Third Place
o Kyla Wiegand, Wood Middle School
· Engineering – Honorable Mention
o Nathan Tidball, Wood Middle School
· Animal Science and Microbiology – Honorable Mention
o Zane Stallcup, Rosemont Ridge Middle School
· Water Prize Award of Excellence (sponsored by the Water Environment Federation)
o Riley Knowles, Samantha Reed, Athey Creek Middle School
· Water Prize Award of Excellence (sponsored by the Water Environment Federation)
o Morgan Mankin, Dana Lambert, Riley Coffey, Athey Creek Middle School
· Water Prize Award of Excellence (sponsored by the Water Environment Federation)
o Kendra Ogden, Beth Hoots, Vehba Deshiikan, Athey Creek Middle School
· Water Prize Award of Excellence (sponsored by the Water Environment Federation)
o Lillie Elkins, Evy Black, Athey Creek Middle School
Oregon Battle of the Books - Stafford Primary School team advanced to top 16 before falling to Veneta Elementary - in the state championships
Stafford Primary School team members include Justin LeBlanc, Cyrus Gray, Michael Talbert and Isaiah Woram, coached by Catherine Gray.
The school competed in a pool of 19 elementary school state finalists, drawn from a field of 277 elementary schools across the state.
Stafford advanced through the first two rounds of pool play and entered bracket play as the No. 7 seed, but fell to an eventual final four team from Veneta Elementary in Veneta.
Held at Chemeketa Community College in Salem on April 13, the sixth annual state tournament featured top teams from eight regions with a total of 481 participating schools. Each state competitor had already won at its school level and regional competition.
According to OBOB, the mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students.
West Linn-Wilsonville School District's Middle School Musical
Congratulations Cast, Crew and Production Staff of "Joseph" on a fantastic run!
We'll see you next year for a brand new Middle School Musical!
A time to shineStudents of all ages flaunt their discoveries at CREST-Jane Goodall Science Symposium
Students from primary, middle and high schools across the district were there — trifold posters in hand — both to share their own work and examine that of others.
Dr. Jim Hutchison from the University of Oregon delivered a keynote address on green nanotechnology, and the night was capped with an awards ceremony for the 175 high school-aged participants in International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Middle school projects ranged from the whimsical (“Bubble Gum Science”) to hyper-specific (“Do Smaller Fruits Have More Seeds?”). The high school section, located in the school’s gymnasium, was so expansive that it required an array of subcategories including “Physics, Chemistry and Math,” “Computer Science” and “Medicine/Health.”
Wilsonville High School student Karen Harper decided on a project that explores the feasibility of manufacturing synthetic hydrocarbon compounds. Fair winners announcedAt the end of the night on Friday, three ISEF projects and their authors were chosen as "Best of Fair" winners and earned a spot in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair on May 12.The three winning projects were "Analysis of the Erdos Distance Problem in Modular Elliptic Space" by Markus Woltjer and Richard Sala, of Wilsonville High School; "I'm Lichen it To Does the Lichen Metabolite (+)-Usnic Acid Inhibit the Plant Pathogen Rhodococcus Fascians?" by Camille Collier, of West Linn High School; and "Optimized Teacher Websites" by Milo Webster, of WLHS.Two other students earned trips to Intel ISEF as observers, where they will not be judged but can attend and experience the fair. Those students were West Linn High School's Kayla Gadd ("Bullying: The Motivators and Outcomes for Victims-Perpetrators") and Talia Lichtenberg ("Location ... Location ... Alzheimer's?).
MIDDLE SCHOOL GROUP STRIVES TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY
The Jr. Scoop Club hosts a clothing sale that nets over $2,200 for charitable causes
Jr. Scoop Members (L-R) Emily Aube, Emily Ngyun, club president Brandon Kyung, John Kim and Sierra Bishop were just five of the 30-plus Wood Middle School students who recently held a clothing drive on behalf of a school parent and volunteer.
When Wood Middle School parent and volunteer
Bonnie Sawyer found out she had cancer, at least one sizable group of people immediately stepped in to help. That effort was led by one of the school’s newest student groups,
Jr. Scoop, which is affiliated with the Wilsonville Kiwanis Club. On March 8 and 9, that work reached the public as Jr. Scoop held its inaugural service event, a clothing drive and sale on Sawyer's behalf. Starting on Friday night, club members sorted clothing, decorated the middle school and prepared to welcome the community. The following day, curious shoppers made their way inside to partake of the bargains on hand. The resulting success netted $2,267 for the club. In addition to Sawyer, money from the clothing sale went to replace eighth grader Christian Catalan’s broken iPod. Christian’s brother Estevan is battling a brain tumor, and has been the focal point of several fundraising and support efforts on the part of the Wood and Boones Ferry Primary School communities. Local Kiwanians now are duly impressed. “Our Wood Middle School Builders Club is just getting started this year sponsored by Wilsonville Kiwanis,” said
Donna Bane, a Wilsonville Kiwanis member and noted community volunteer. “It’s a group of great Wilsonville kids who are working hard to do good things while learning something new from a superb teacher, Wood wellness teacher
Jordan Scoggins.”
Stafford Primary School Students Flaunt Their Discoveries and Creations at Science Fair
Stafford fifth-grader Jacob Huttula, right, discusses his water wheel with, from left, C.J. Anthonucci, Ian Hansen and Liam Hill.
More than 100 students took part in Stafford Primary School’s annual science fair, alternately showing off their own work and rushing to view and discuss the creations of their peers. Where some opted for the more traditional experiments and tri-fold posters, others took the event as an opportunity to nurse interests like engineering and energy.
by: TIDINGS PHOTO: VERN UYETAKE - William Alexy, on right, fourth grade, explains his model of the Portland Steel Bridge with Jacob McClelland.
That's really what the goal of our science fair is, is to try to be open to all kinds of science," Stafford instructional coordinator Patrick Minor said, "We don't want to pigeonhole what science is."
Wilsonville Boys Basketball, 4th Place at Class 5A State Championships
Dylan Livesay (left) drained a 3-pointer on the final possession of the game to give the Wilsonville boys basketball team a thrilling 50-47 win over West Albany in the Class 5A fourth-place game March 9 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. The Wildcats have won five state trophies in as many years.EUGENE — With about eight seconds left, Livesay handed the ball off to senior forward Ryan Walsh. Two West Albany defenders converged on Walsh, so he tossed it back to Livesay who caught the ball and released it from three feet behind the 3-point line.
After the ball hung in the air for what felt like hours, it finally banked off the back of the iron and through the nylon as time expired to give Wilsonville a 50-47 victory.
Livesay’s buzzer-beater earned the Wildcats a fourth-place trophy and a satisfying finish to their season March 9 at Matthew Knight Arena. They have won five state trophies in as many seasons. “I was a great way to end my career,” Livesay said. “I am definitely going to remember this game.”
While it wasn’t a state championship win, the Wildcats were more than happy with fourth place. The Wilsonville players cheerfully raised four fingers as their families took photos to capture the moment. The Wildcats’ excitement was well-founded. They entered the state tournament ranked 11th and they were a No. 6 seed in Eugene. Few expected the Wildcats to do what they did this season. But the players in Wilsonville locker room always believed they could make a deep postseason run.
“They didn’t look for validation from others. They just went out and competed,” Roche said. “We were picked to finish sixth in our league, so for us to finish fourth in the state, I give those kids all the credit in the world.” Junior guard Zach Malvar led the team with 11 points against the Bulldogs. Wilsonville’s four seniors, Tanner Shipley, Andrew Phillis, Walsh and Livesay, each added at least seven points in the win.
"Our mantra when the playoffs started was: "Poise, belief, and toughness," Lions coach Eric Viuhkola said. "We exhibited that more often than not in the state tournament." "We knew we had the talent, we just knew that we had to come together and believe in each other."
Payton Pritchard, "We worked REALLY hard."
The West Linn middle school dance team placed first in the large division at the Oregon City Jets Middle School Dance Competition on Feb. 23. The team is made up of 32 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade dancers from Athey Creek and Rosemont Ridge middle schools. The team danced for three minutes to a song mix called “Battle for the Tower.” Coaches Sydnie Bray and Karlie Gilliam worked with the team for four months to get ready for competition season.
For the first time, West Linn had two dancers place in the top five in Drill Down: Rosemont sixth-grader Bella Deeb in the novice division and Rosemont eighth-grader Nell Egan in the advanced division. This is the third year that the schools have joined together, and dancers of all skill levels participate.
If you have a love of dance or want to learn, watch for sign-ups at each school in September or contact team adviser Christy Bray atbrayc@wlwv.k12.or.us.
Click here to watch the performance
Trillium Creek Primary School earns design award, Lowrie Primary also honored by extension
West Linn-Wilsonville School Board members took a break from more serious budget and legislative discussions on Monday’s meeting to celebrate the announcement of a National School Board Association grand prize in architectural design awarded to Trillium Creek Primary School, and by extension, Lowrie Primary School.
The schools boast identical designs, but only one could be entered for the exhibition. Because Trillium Creek was completed first, it was chosen for entry — but it was made clear on Monday that the honor was shared by both schools.
Ruiz,assoc principal architect, Dull Olson Weekes-IBI Group Architects, stands next to the rainwater collection tank at Trillium Creek Primary.
The buildings, which opened last September, boast an array of environmentally conscious features — including a wind turbine and a rooftop garden — but what most impressed the NSBA jury was their ability to engage students.
“Truly a design that would engage and excite children, this building creates cohesive classroom neighborhoods organized around an open media center in the heart of the school,” the jury wrote in its statement. “The richness of the plan is further enhanced by the creativity shown in developing the interior and exterior of the building with child-inspired level transitions, spaces and accent colors.”
On hand to speak about the award Monday were Director of Operations Tim Woodley and the associate principal architect with Dull Olson Weekes-IBI Group Architects Inc., Karina Ruiz.
“These two schools together are both unique and certainly the result of a lot of hard work,” Woodley said. “We start with the student and work from there, and that’s how these came to be.”
Added Ruiz, “It really took a lot of vision on behalf of the community and the board leadership to trust in that student voice and look beyond what some will see as the frivolity of a slide in the library or a cubby where you can go from one level to another, and truly understand the education value and joy and whimsy and inquiry that those things bring to that school.”
The school’s design will be featured at the 2013 NSBA Exhibition of School Architecture in San Diego on April 13 and 14.
Speaking for peace, sustainability
Arun Gandhi watches on an iPad a video that, from left, Clara Adams, Rebekah Pinoli, Theresa Li and Cailee Ito created for him.
Athey Creek seventh-grader Miles Moscato reads a poem he wrote to Arun Gandhi.
To his right was a painting of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi and over his left shoulder was one of Martin Luther King Jr. In front of him, filling the Athey Creek Middle School gymnasium nearly to capacity, were his farmers.
“Peace farmers,” to be exact.
This was how Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and a world-famous peace advocate himself, described the estimated 1,100 students, faculty and outside visitors who gathered at Athey Creek on Monday for his lecture, “Lessons I learned From My Grandfather.” [FULL STORY]
WOOD STUDENTS RACK UP AWARDS AT MIDDLE SCHOOL ISEF
Luke Puppo, Kjel Pettenger-Willey take home four awards, including Best Team Project, at WLWV science fair
Photo By: Josh Kulla. Wood Middle School eighth graders Kjel Pettenger-Willey (right) and Luke Puppo react after being given the Best Team Project honor. Also pictured, Rosemont Ridge Middle School student Zach Stotz (far right). Studying the manner in which different materials absorb and reflect light is probably a topic outside the capability of the average adult.
But don’t even think of suggesting that to Wood Middle School eighth graders Kjel Pettenger-Willey and Luke Puppo.
The pair recently demonstrated that the sky is the limit when it comes to their academic futures by grabbing four awards, including Best Overall Team Project, at the West Linn-Wilsonville Middle School CREST-Jane Goodall Middle School Science Fair, held Feb. 22 at Wood Middle School in Wilsonville.
Pettenger-Willey and Puppo’s research on the absorptive and reflective properties of visible light also earned them a special award for Best Demonstration of Field Knowledge, first place in the Chemistry and Physics category and a Broadcom special award for excellence.
Arts and Technology High School provides a haven for students
as well as institute of learning
West Linn teen Lara Valachovic epitomizes the reasons why the West Linn-Wilsonville School District’s Arts and Technology High School originally was opened.
Created in 2005 as an alternative to the district’s two traditional high schools, ArtTech, as it has come to be known, is a haven for students unable to fit in academically or socially at either Wilsonville or West Linn high schools. With a much lower than normal student-teacher ratio and an emphasis on proficiency-based learning, the school has become not only a last resort for troubled students but a first resort for those interested in a different path. [Full Story] |  |
Wood Middle School seventh grader earns a chance to compete at the state level
Wood Middle School teacher-librarian Stuart Levy announces Max Schain as the 2013 winner of the school's Geography Bee.
It was telling when many of the adults present also were stumped by the questions offered at the 2013 National Geographic Bee at Wood Middle School.
The popular geography competition that has challenged school children for generations was played at the school level last Friday, as teacher librarian Stuart Levy helped oversee what is, by his recollection, the 15th annual Bee for students in grades six through eight.
And it’s not easy. After all, how many of you could quickly answer off the top of your head exactly which state first freed its slave population following the Civil War?
“I told you it was going to be harder than the classroom one,” Levy told students during the opening rounds Friday. “There aren’t any maps here, it’s all in your head.”
Students from all three grades at Wood, one from each sixth, seventh and eighth grade social studies class, took part in the Bee. The school-wide event was even covered by the school newspaper.
Local professionals are bringing words to life during the annual Read to Us Week at Willamette Primary School this week. The program showcases community members of various professions, backgrounds and experiences.
Professionals are invited to give presentations on their careers or disciplines and then read books tailored to their profession in a classroom. The goal is to expose children to various industries and career paths while creating engaged readers.
“The goal is to inspire kids to read and to find people in the community who read in their daily life and in their profession,” said Jennifer Tabor, co-chair of Read to Us Week. This year’s readers include: accountant, astronomer, athlete, helicopter pilot, organic farmer, thespian, skydiver, speech therapist, mortgage broker and more.
Have you hugged your School Counselor today?
Today is the first day of National School Counselor Appreciation Week. Here in WLWV, we have an amazing group of professionals who value collaborating with teachers, love the diversity of the work they do, enjoy the depth and variety of conversations that they get to have with students, with families, and with staff. School Counselors are about college and career readiness, they are about removing instructional barriers for children, they are about creating cultures of character. School counselors are listeners as well as leaders, they are communicators as well as connectors, they build partnerships and they build communities. Take a moment this week and thank your school counselor for all that he/she does to help all students in the West Linn-Wilsonville Community!
Paxton Crystal, front, is one of just three senior members of this year's version of Soul'd Out.
It’s possibly the youngest group of vocalists ever to comprise Wilsonville High School’s award-winning a cappella vocal group Soul’d Out.
But group director and Wilsonville choir instructor Sue Schreiner is confident the 2012 version stands as good of a chance as any of the nine competing groups at next month’s International Championships of High School A cappella regional competition in West Linn.
“I think we’re sounding really good this year,” said Schreiner, who admits to still being a bit underwhelmed with last year’s competition at Rolling Hills Church in Tualatin.
There, the Wilsonville contingent missed out on a trip to the international finals in New York City, finishing behind the winning group, Mezzo Devotion of Newberg High School and the Oakland School of the Arts’ Vocal Rush.
[Full Story]
2012-2013 School Board Goals
The Board is responsible for establishing educational goals which will guide both the Board and staff in working together toward the continuing improvement of the educational program. The School Board invites the community voice in guidance of the work on these four goals. Strategically, the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board intends to communicate interactively in seeking common ground to continually define the district's values and strengths. As a Board we have established district goals to:
1) Grow student achievement through the use of high leverage instructional strategies that raise rigor for all students while simultaneously closing achievement gaps.
2) Align systems of accountability, assessment, and evaluation to support the West Linn-Wilsonville vision of excellence.
3) Manage facilities and long range planning to optimize the student learning environment and the stewardship of assets.
4) Cultivate new and grow existing community partnerships in support of the district vision and values of excellence in education.
5) Recognize, discover, communicate, and celebrate the progress and accomplishments of our staff toward achieving the district vision of excellence in education.
Students at Cedaroak Park Primary School recently recreated the post-Impressionist painting “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh. The colorful swirls of light and sparkling stars adorned the hallways.
West Linn High School senior Pascale Patterson earned a perfect score on her spring 2012 Advanced Placement exam. This year Patterson was also named a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Advanced Placement exams are based on a composite score of 1 to 5, where a 5 is equivalent to a grade of A in the corresponding college course. Patterson not only received the top score of 5 — ranking among 15.5 percent of students to fall within this top score category in 2012 — in doing so, she was one of only six students in the world to earn every point possible on the calculus AB exam. A total of 266,994 students took the Advanced Placement calculus AB exam in 2012. Patterson answered every multiple-choice question correctly and earned full points on each of the essays in the free-response section of the exam, earning 108 out of 108 total points. [Full Story] 
We are pleased to announce that for the second consecutive year the West Linn-Wilsonville School District is one of the outstanding
school districts in the nation honored by the College Board with a place on the 3rd Annual AP® Honor Roll List. Districts on the AP Honor
Roll are recognized for their efforts in opening AP classroom doors to a significantly broader group of students, while maintaining or
improving the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher. This honor is a credit to the breadth and depth of support, persistence,
Model UN Club Learns About Global Issues
In September, President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations at the general assembly in New York. In his address he affirmed what he said “are not simply American values or Western values — they are universal values.”
Throughout October, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan debated about foreign affairs, unrest in the Middle East, the attack on the American embassy in Libya and the...[Full Story]
Pig Kisses, Fitness Trail Under WayThe folks at Cedaroak Park Primary School are getting physical. The school raised more than $12,200 in its annual “Good For the Sole,
Great For the School” fun run/walk on Oct. 5. The money raised by the PTA-sponsored event goes to art literacy programs, assemblies and student gardens.
The entire school celebrated the fundraising efforts on Oct. 18 with a pancake breakfast and good ole’ fashioned pig kissing.
Because the school raised more than the targeted $5,000, Principal Peter McDougal kissed a pig during the morning assembly in front of the entire school. [Full Story]
Wilsonville High School Junior Teresa Condon finds herself through a summer internship with Oregon Health and Science University
Don’t make the mistake of underestimating Teresa Condon.
The Wilsonville High School junior is one of the highest achievers in a school full of outstanding students. Yet it’s easy for anyone watching her roll by in her wheelchair to mistake her physical disability for something else entirely.
“The biggest mistake people make is they think someone who’s disabled can’t understand them or cannot speak,” said Condon, shaking her head.
Even that act is difficult for Condon, who was diagnosed as a young child with the rare, inherited neuromuscular disease...
[Full Story]
WLHS Students host political forumMayoral candidates and District 37 House attend
Students gather with teacher Todd Jones to plan the plolitical forum.
A dozen students at West Linn High School organized and hosted a political forum Oct. 9 in the school’s auditorium. West Linn mayoral candidates John Kovash and Ron Le Blanc, and District 37 Oregon House candidates Julie Parrish and Carl Hosticka attended. House libertarian candidate Meredith Taggart was invited but did not attend.
[Full Story]
