Saturday, June 28, 2014

Questions about PSE's plans for the Eastside?

You’re invited to a community question and answer session for Energize Eastside, a project to build new, higher-capacity electric transmission lines to serve homes and businesses on the Eastside. A panel of experts will be on hand to listen and respond to your comments and questions.
 
Energize Eastside Q&A Session
Monday, July 7, 2014
6-9 p.m.
 
Redmond Marriott Town Center
Salons 1 and 2
 
Can’t make the Q&A session? Learn more about the project online at pse.com/energizeeastside.

LWSD adjusts middle and high school activity fees

Athletic fees reduced; ASB fees increase
 
Redmond, Wash. – At its June 23 meeting, the Lake Washington School District Board of Directors made adjustments in student fees for middle and high school students for 2014-15. Specifically, the cost for Associated Student Body (ASB) membership cards will increase while athletic participation fees will decrease.   Read More >>

Thursday, June 26, 2014

LWSD budget is proposed

Adding instructional coaches, school nurses, counselors
 
Redmond, Wash. – At its June 23 meeting, the Lake Washington School District Board of Directors received a draft budget for the 2014-15 school year that included an increase of 6.7% in revenues, rising from $256.3 million to $273.4 million in the general fund. That increase involved additional state revenue to fund basic education. It also included increased revenue related to added enrollment and other factors.  Read More >>

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tesla STEM High School takes home $30,000 in prize money in "Imagination Tomorrow" competition

Tesla STEM Students win big at Imagine Tomorrow renewable energy competition

Students from Eastlake High School, International Community School and Tesla STEM High School were among the 186 teams that competed in the Washington State University Imagine Tomorrow competition. It was held in Pullman, Wash., May 29-31. Tesla STEM High School was the big winner in this competition. They took home more than $30,000 in prize money and won six out of the 16 prizes awarded to students.
 
Imagine Tomorrow asks ninth through 12th graders to address the topic of renewable energy. Students can answer any of four challenges: biofuels, technology, behavior, or design. They must be from schools in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Students develop their answers and deliver presentations in teams of two to five students.
 
Biofuels Challenge:
·         Tesla STEM High School – first place: “Cellulosic Ethanol: A New Look at the Transition to Renewable Energy” - $1,000 for each student and $5,000 for their school. These five students will go to Washington, D.C., to meet Dr. Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy, and Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray.
·         Eastlake High School – fourth place: “Yeast DNA Splicing” - $250 for each student and $1,000 for their school
 
Technology Challenge:
·         Tesla STEM High School – first place: “Reimagining the Electric Car” - $1,000 for each student and $5,000 for their school
·         Tesla STEM High School – second place: “Step On Carbon” - $750 for each student and $3,000 for their school
·         Tesla STEM High School – third place: “Solar Light Tower” - $500 for each student and $1,500 for their school
 
Design Challenge:
·         Tesla STEM High School – fourth place: “EDGES” - $250 for each student and $1,000 for their school
 
Best Project, Newly Participating School:
·         International Community School – “One Volt Closer to the Future: The Power of Project-Based Analysis”

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

166th Ave NE Rechannelization and School Zone Improvements Move Forward



Council awarded a bid for the 166th Avenue NE Rechannelization and School Zone and Traffic
Safety Improvements, City Project to Road Construction Northwest, Inc., of Renton, Washington, for the amount bid of $1,075,156.65.  The construction on 166th Ave NE between NE 85th Street and NE 100th Street will include:

· Restriping lanes

· Installing traffic calming medians

· Establishing safe pedestrian crossings at two locations:

o NE 95th Street - installing an overhead flashing beacon, a street luminaire,
and flashing signs
o South of NE 91st Street – installing a crosswalk with a median and
flashing signs
· Signal modifications for protected left onto NE 85th Street

· Constructing curb ramps to current ADA standards  Read More >>

Saturday, June 14, 2014

City of Redmond's Cleveland Streetscape project begins phase 2 of construction

Redmond, WA -  The City of Redmond’s Cleveland Streetscape project begins phase 2 of construction on Monday, June 16 through Sep. 1, 2014. One traffic lane will be open evenings from 3:30 pm – 7 am, and all weekend, between 161st Ave NE to 164th Ave NE. Daytime road closures began in phase 1 of construction and will continue from 7 am – 3:30 pm weekdays. Visit www.redmond.gov and sign up to receive traffic alerts.  Read More >>

City of Redmond is seeking a partner to provide preschool programming at Farrel-McWhirter Park

Redmond, WA -  City of Redmond Parks and Recreation Department is seeking a partnering organization to provide preschool programming at Farrel-McWhirter Park for the 2014-2015 school years. The City issued a formal Request for Proposals on June 9 for the preschool program to serve children ages 3-5. The contracted partner organization will provide a comprehensive preschool program with a focus on preparing children for kindergarten, learning through play and developing social skills. The historic park provides a unique opportunity for preschoolers to learn and play in the farm, nature and forest setting. The Parks and Recreation Department has offered preschool at Farrel-McWhirter Park for more than 20 years. Read More>>

28 year old Maile Attacked by 3 Known Suspects

Case #14-010937
                                                           
Redmond, WA – At 3:07 pm today, several employees of an office building in the 8400 block of 154th Ave NE located a 28 year old male suffering from multiple stab wounds.  The male had walked to the office building from an adjacent trail.  The employees administered first aid and called 911.  The injuries appeared to be life threatening.  The victim was treated by Redmond Fire Department personnel and immediately transported to Harborview Medical Center.  The victim is now in stable condition.  Read More >>

Thursday, June 12, 2014

City of Redmond is shutting down beloved Farrel McWhirter Preschool

After 36 years of a successful enriching program the city of Redmond is trying to shut down our beloved Farrel McWhirter Preschool and outsource the space to a third party vendor. Please help us rally our community to prevent this from happening. Become a member of our group, and show your support!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/savefarrelmcwhirterpreschool/

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

NAMI-Eastside Forum: Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, and How To Get Treatment



Guests:  Abby Kulkin, CDP, Outpatient Substance Abuse Therapist, and

Deanna Seather-Brady, MSW, CDP

DATE:  Tuesday, June 17, 2014,  7 pm – 9 pm

LOCATION:  Evergreen Health Medical Center, Suite Tan 100

12303 NE 130th Lane, Kirkland, WA  98034

 

Abby Kulkin completed her training at Edmonds Community College and currently works at Ryther in Seattle.  Deanna Seather-Brady is the current Director of Co-Occuring Treatment Services at Ryther.  She is also in private practice as an adolescent and adult addiction therapist focusing on grief, complex trauma and addiction.  She received her MSW at the Smith College for Social Work.

 

Abby and Deanna will cover what signs and symptoms to look for and how to get someone into treatment.  They will share information on current research and statistics about what drugs are impacting our youth the most right now, and how the legalization of marijuana has impacted their clients.

 

Please join us at this FREE educational event.  Open to the Public.

New Services for Kindergarten and First Grade Highly Capable Students


Lake Washington extends services offered to first two grades
 
Redmond, Wash. – During the 2014-15 school year, kindergarten and first grade students identified as highly capable will be eligible for services, due to changes in Washington State Law. During the first half of the year, highly capable kindergarten and 1st grade students will be identified.  Those students who meet the criteria will receive services during the second semester of the 2014-15 school year.  Read More >>

International Student's Art Earns Silver Medal at Carnegie Hall


 Accolades for Li’s Sculpture “Carp”

 

Redmond, WA – Last weekend Shi (Roxanne) Li, a junior at The Bear Creek School, and her art teacher Trinity Osborn were both honored at Carnegie Hall. Li’s sculpture “Carp” earned national recognition from the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, receiving a Silver Medal and the invitation to New York City for the awards ceremony. Mrs. Osborn was honored at the awards ceremony for her outstanding achievement as an art educator whose dedication, commitment, and guidance are represented by student work selected for national honors. Over 255,000 original works of art and writing were submitted to the 2014 Awards and just 1,800 were honored as National Medalists.  Read More >>

 

Last spring Shi (Roxanne) Li, then a sophomore at The Bear Creek School, enrolled in Mrs. Osborn’s Sculpture and Mixed Media class and created an amazing sculpture, “Carp.” Although “Carp” appears to be made of bronze, it is actually constructed from plaster, wire, newspaper, and acrylic paint. In the fall, Roxanne entered her sculpture in two major art contests and has been well decorated for her effort.

 

Roxanne entered “Carp” in the 2014 West Art Region-at-Large Scholastic Art & Writing Awards contest. In the regional contest representing students from Montana, Utah, Idaho, and parts of Washington and Oregon, approximately 5% of all submissions, including Roxanne's piece, are recognized with Gold Key awards. Gold Key recipients are eligible for national medalist consideration. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have an impressive legacy dating back to 1923 and a noteworthy roster of past winners including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford, and Joyce Carol Oates.

 

 “Carp” was also entered in the Puget Sound Educational Service District Regional High School Art Show where Roxanne won three awards. She was a Regional Winner, which advanced her piece to the State Superintendent's High School Art Show in Olympia. She also earned the Board of Director's Honorable Mention Award and the Overall Best in Show Award (3D) for receiving the highest accumulation of points from the judges in the 3D category.

 

The Puget Sound Educational Service District represents 16 school district including 19 private schools, 42 public schools in King County, and 35 public schools in Pierce County. Roxanne's piece was on exhibit at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction headquarters in Olympia earlier this spring.

 

Roxanne is an international student from Guangzhou, China and currently a junior at The Bear Creek School. She has been a student at Bear Creek since grade 9, and lives with a local host family.  Her older sister Josie Xian (Josie) Li graduated from Bear Creek in 2013. 

 

About The Bear Creek School

Founded in 1988, in Redmond, Washington, The Bear Creek School is an independent classical Christian school that believes only when faith, mind, and heart are fed together can someone experience the fullness of education, which produces leaders who think well and are compelled to engage the world.

 

The school serves students from the greater Eastside and is housed on four campuses.  Redmond Campus on Union Hill serves kindergarten to grade 12 students and Valley Campus, also in Redmond, serves preschool to grade 5 students. Bear Creek has two Early Childhood campuses in Woodinville and Sammamish serving preschool and prekindergarten students. The Bear Creek School is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities, and the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools.

 

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

RHS PTSA awards and scholarship recipients

Just a quick reminder to join us tomorrow, June 11th for the PTSA General Membership meeting in the RHS Library as we honor all of our PTSA award and scholarship recipients. The meeting  begins at 6:30pm
 
RHS PTSA Award Recipients for 2013-2014
Golden Mustang - Grace Lawrence
Outstanding Advocate - Ruth Schemmel
Outstanding Educator - Holly Appelgate and David Peabody
Golden Acorn - Sheila Zambrowsky
Honorary Life Membership - Matt Loschen
 
RHS PTSA Scholarship Recipients for 2013-2014
Kelley Koeppen
Yen Nguyen
Athena Gordon
Tyler Yen
Kristian Koeppen
Elaine Wang
 
Please plan to attend this celebration and honor all of our award and scholarship recipients. They deserve a round of applause - or two!
 
Sincerely,
RHS PTSA Awards Committee

Saturday, June 7, 2014

9 Year Old Washington Resident, Tobin Sudo, Sets a New World Record!



It all started one quiet Saturday morning on January 2014, where Tobin and his sister Mie started folding paper boats for fun.  When their father saw that they had folded an impressive pile of 400+ boats, he looked up the Guinness World Record for origami boats and found that, at the time, it was a little over 4,000 boats.  He said under his breath, "Oh, that looks doable."  Tobin overheard this and that's how it all started.

 

The world record attempt was made on 5/30/2014 in Horace Mann Elementary school as part of the annual Art Night Festival, coordinated by Annie Savage (Art Night Chair).  Tobin and his family only had about 3 hours to set up 20,000+ origami boats in the school library, before the Guinness approved counters, Jane Wither (Redmond Arts and Culture Commission) and Jordan Swain (Redmond High School Art Teacher) showed up.  The task seemed impossible, but the school community pitched in to help.  In fact, with the teachers' and students' help, setup completed early so some of them even started to fold additional origami boats to add to the count!

 

Prior to the attempt, the world record for "Largest Display of Origami Boats" was 16,343.  The confirmed origami boat count on 5/30/2014 by Tobin Sudo was 23,689!

 

Tobin and his family would like to give special thanks to Annie Savage, Principal Megan Spaulding, Jane Wither, Jordan Swain, Horace Mann’s PTSA and the school community for making this once in a life time event possible.

Redmond Bike Park Construction in Full Swing

The Redmond Bike Park construction is in full swing today after their volunteer meeting last night.  The volunteers and city crew will be out again tomorrow, June 14, and June 28-29.  The volunteers are in the woods today cutting branches and loading them into a truck while a tractor moves earth.  Later they will help to build the dirt jumps.



You can review the details of each of the volunteer positions at the Volunteer Information page.  You can also find general project info at the project website.  Work Parties are scheduled to start now!
 
If you know of others that may be interested in being part of this project, please feel free to forward this notice on to them. 
 
For more information:

Friday, June 6, 2014

Executive Constantine's reaction to shootings at Seattle Pacific University


King County Executive Dow Constantine commented on the tragic shootings at Seattle Pacific University:

"It's devastating to see the national epidemic of shooting rampages return to King County. It is time for all good people – responsible gun owners included – to rise up and end this madness."

Monday, June 2, 2014

Kids Learn "Driver's Ed for the Internet" at Area Schools

New program gives quick tips and how-to’s to teach kids web safety
 
REDMOND, Wash., and SEATTLE--The National Online Safety Roadshow educates parents and middle school students on how to be a conscious, safe internet user. The 45-minute assembly will actively engage middle school students on important lessons for staying safe online—including understanding how quickly viral content spreads and avoiding phishing scams. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene will participate in the event at Evergreen Middle School and give remarks. The roadshow will be stopping at Evergreen Middle School in Redmond and TOPS K-8 School in Seattle June 2-3.
 
 What:                  The Online Safety Roadshow
 
Who:                     Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA, 1st District)
                                Principal Sean Cassidy
                                Evergreen Middle School students and teachers
 
                                Jamie Hill, Google spokesperson
                                Principal Christopher Scott
                                TOPS School 5th-8th graders and teachers              
 
When:                  Monday, June 2, 1:30 p.m. in Redmond
 
                                Tuesday, June 3, 1:30 p.m. in Seattle
                              
Where:                Evergeen Middle School
                                6900 208th Ave NE, Redmond
 
TOPS K-8 School
2500 Franklin Ave. E., Seattle
 
About The Online Safety Roadshow:
The Google-led program is designed to educate parents and students what you can do to stay safe and secure on the web.
 
The program was created in tandem with principals and child safety groups, National Association of Secondary School Principals and iKeepSafe, to develop a digital literacy assembly. The goal of the 45 minute program is to teach students how to be smart about the content they share online, focusing on important skills -- how to create a safe, memorable password and more. To find more information about being safe online, please visit the Google Safety Center.
 

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Looking for Host Families in Redmond and Bellevue


Host an Exchange Student and your family will embark on an unforgettable cultural adventure! Nonprofit organization World Heritage is looking for local Redmond and Bellevue families now for the 2014-2015 school year to host a high school student for a semester.  Read More >>

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Walk, Talk, and Explore Redmond's Old Town Historic Core


Redmond- Join a walking exploration of Redmond's Old Town Historic Core on Friday, June 6, 2014 from 5:00-7:30PM and connect with City and community leaders.  Read More >>

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Marymoor Park Big Backyard 5K Run/Walk - June 1

Still time to take part in 5th-annual King County Parks’ Big Backyard 5K, June 1 at Marymoor Park

Presented by Group Health, this fun family event benefits King County Parks

It’s almost time to join with friends, family and fellow outdoors enthusiasts in a fun event that supports KingBBY5K_dogs County Parks – the Big Backyard 5K presented by Group Health, Sunday, June 1 at Marymoor Park.

The Big Backyard 5K starts at 9 a.m. and takes participants through beautiful Marymoor Park at the northern end of Lake Sammamish. The course follows the Marymoor Connector Trail and a portion of the East Lake Sammamish Trail. Strollers and leashed dogs are welcome.

A free kids’ dash sponsored by Whole Foods and featuring King County’s environmental mascot, Bert the Salmon, follows the fun run at 10 a.m., and then it’s time for the awards ceremony at 10:15 a.m.

Register online at www.bby5k.com prior to race day for $40 and you’ll get an event t-shirt, plus food, drinks, timing chip and more on race day. Day-of-race registration is $40, and includes all of the swag mentioned earlier, except the t-shirt, which is only available while supplies last.

Funds raised by the 5K help leverage King County taxpayers’ investment in parks, trails and open space by keeping these features open and safe for all to enjoy.

Looking for more incentive to sign up? How about cash? Break the course record (16:18 for men, 20:15 for women), and you’ll win $100.

The Big Backyard 5K promotes fitness and community involvement, and has raised more than $125,000 for King County Parks.