Instrument Acquisition

Scott Schneider, Music Teacher at Hazel Valley Elementary, was hoping to purchase two alto Xylophones (AX-GBF) for his music classroom when he submitted his Excel grant request to the Highline Schools Foundation last fall. Luckily for Scott, the Excel grant selection committee did select his as a grant to fund and he was able to purchase new instruments.

alto Xylophones (AX-GBF)

As my instruments, old when I first got them ten years ago, age, it is really great to have kind and caring people to help replace them. Because of this grant, I am now able to  maintain the quality of music instruction (vocal and instrumental) that the Hazel Valley community has come to expect from its music teacher.

The instruments you helped me purchase are perfectly tuned and specifically designed to last until the children of the children who are playing them now come to our school for excellent music instruction.

Sharing instruments in a class of thirty or more students was becoming a time-consuming ordeal when we worked on instrumental accompaniment parts or harmonization practice. However, with the acquisition of these new instruments, there are only two students per instrument and students receive better music instruction as I have more time per student to work with them on accompaniment or harmonization.

Hazel Valley Elementary school held their annual music concert at the Highline Performing Arts Center earlier this month. If Mr. Schneider sends us stories or photos from that event, we will post them here.

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Do you have an instrument taking up space and collecting dust in your closet? Interested in donating it to a Highline student? Music4Life™ is an initiative to expand music education for all children in Highline Public Schools. Their mission is to put musical instruments in good playing condition into the hands of children and youth wishing to use them now. You can find out more, including drop off locations, on the Music4Life™ website.

McKinney-Vento

At May’s board meeting we heard from Antonio Lewis, a McKinney-Vento Family Support worker in the Highline School District. The following is an excerpt from his presentation.

McKinney-Vento Definition:

Highline Schools supports children who are experiencing homelessness as defined by Title X and who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence as well as students who are in temporary foster care. This includes students living in shelters, transitional housing, temporary group homes, doubled-up with other families, moving from home to home, living unsheltered, living in a hotel or motel, or living in public or private places not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations due to loss of housing because of financial or catastrophic events. The district supports McKinney-Vento qualified students living with their families and students living on their own as unaccompanied youth (that is students living without the physical or financial support of their guardians or parents).

How the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence has supported the McKinney-Vento program:

Over the past few years, we have seen a steady increase in the amount of students and families that are homeless/in transition. As of 5/24/12 we have qualified 842 MV students (we qualified 759 for the entire 2010-11 school yr). To help with the rising need, the Highline Schools Foundation has provided our program with Shell gas cards, Safeway gift cards, metro bus tickets and funding to purchase hygiene products for our MV students and families.

Current Needs of the McKinney-Vento program:

We anticipate our numbers will continue to increase, so we will have a need for:

• Shell Gas Cards
• Safeway Gift Cards
• School Supplies (especially backpacks, color pencils and markers)
• School uniforms
• Clothing vouchers

Please visit the Highline School District webpage for more information about this program, including how to access McKinney-Vento Services in our district. If you would like information about donating gift cards or vouchers, please contact the Highline Schools Foundation: info@highlineschoolsfoundation.org.

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The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 is a United States federal law that provides federal money for homeless shelter programs. It was the first significant federal legislative response to homelessness, and was passed and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on July 22, 1987. The act has been reauthorized several times over the years.

Shoes to Keep’em Running

Claudia House, track coast at Cascade Middle School, knows first hand the great need of our students for quality shoes when they join a sport. This year she applied for (and received) a grant from the Foundation to purchase shoes because too many of their athletes practice everyday in worn out shoes, shoes that are too small/big and shoes that are not made for running track.

Claudia wrote in her applications: “at least 20-30 students on our track team who show up for practice every day in shoes that are made for walking, not running. Shin splints and sore muscles are a constant issue we are dealing with.”

Below is an article Claudia submitted to the district’s online newsletter and school newsletter:

Two boxes of brand new running shoes arrived at Cascade just in time for 18 track athletes to get them ready for their second track meet this season. A $600 Excel grant from the Highline Schools Foundation was behind this exciting event. After students had applied for shoes and knew they had been selected as a recipient, they could barely wait to try on those running shoes they needed.

Luckily, Cascade was able to partner with Brooks, a local company who generously provided high quality running shoes for a low price. After students tried out their new shoes during track practice, there were a lot of comments like “I really like them, I can run better now.” From all track athletes at Cascade, a huge thank you to the Foundation and Brooks!

And a huge THANK YOU to everyone in the community who makes these excel grants possible through donations to the Highline Schools Foundation all year round. It’s exciting to see what we can accomplish when we work together!

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If you are a teacher in the Highline Schools District and are interested in our Excel Grant program, you can find more information on our website. Grant requests are accepted each fall, and we announce the program on our website and Facebook page.

Field Trip to Puget Sound Skills Center

Melinda Nixon, a 6th grade teacher at Bow Lake Elementary, recently took her students on a field trip to Puget Sound Skills Center. The goal was to open the eyes of the students to all the possibilities that the future holds and provide them the opportunity to begin thinking about a career pathy and to physically see their options.

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Here’s some of their stories:

A 6th grade boy who has a hard time concentrating and staying motivated at school suddenly found interest. This boy is particularly hands-on. He loves to build motor cards, take electronics apart and be outdoors all the time. After visiting the auto-body class at PSSC, he learned he could work on cars and the computer system inside them. He was thrilled. He asked tons of questions, talked with his parents  about the program and even smiled a little!

Another 6th grade boy from Bow Lake is into gaming. Every moment that he is not at school, he spends on the computer or on a gaming system. Needless to say, he loves video games, computer games and technology in general. When he walked in to the digital arts classroom at PSSC, he fit right in. Developing and testing new games for phones, computer and systems is something he has been talking about since we left. I look forward to hearing about his future.

A shy bi-lingual student found her niche as son as we walked into the interpreting class at PSSC. We listened to the instructor explain how interpreters have an extremely challenging and important career. People that begin life speaking more than one language should feel proud of this accomplishment and could use it to build a career. The instructor hooked this student when she said you can make money by speaking your second language!

According to Melinda,  “Students walked away from the day feeling inspired and excited about their potential and are talking about the different possibilities that are open to them.” Good Job Melinda!

From the Puget Sound Skills Center: PSSC draws students from Federal Way, Tahoma, and Tukwila school districts, as well as Highline. It offers college preparatory and career education in 18 fields from instructors who all have real-world experience in the fields they are teaching. The equipment available in each program is state-of-the-art, and each program has an advisory board made up of industry leaders to ensure programs stay on the cutting edge. PSSC has a diverse array of programs, from criminal justice to engineering design to environmental and marine science to business management.

Music and Math Go Hand in Hand

Susan Bjelke is the K-6 Music Specialist at Bow Lake Elementary. She applied for an Excel Grant last fall and her opening line grabbed us all … “What? Math during Music, this is not Math class!” Susan continued:

Music and Math Go Hand in Hand

That is what I often hear after telling my students we will be doing “Music-Math.” I always remind them that music is math. We make math connections in all grades while we count, figure out note values, find patterns, write and solve equations, and work with fractions and percentages.

When we talk about fractions in music, I often draw and divide a pie on the white board. We then work to illustrate a measure (whole note = 2 half notes, one half note = 2 quarter notes …) and how it relates to the pie.

But in her final report – it seems the magnets helped a far larger audience than originally thought …

Because they are such visual learners, I began using the magnets with my DHH (deaf and heard of hearing) students. In  the past, the students had been creating their own rhythms using small whiteboards and markers or with paper and pencil. .

The addition of the large colorful magnets seems to increase student engagement while I am presenting a lesson at the whiteboard. It is difficult for most students to understand the concept of a measure – “the whole.” The magnets are helping the students make musical and mathematical connections.

It is exciting to see the students fully engaged, helping one another and challenging their classmates to clap their rhythmic creation. The magnets are a great visual learning tool for this class.

Do a quick search on Google and you will find articles about how math and music are connected with, and dependent on, each other. Here’s a link to an article on eduction.com about how an ongoing music education can help children across a wide range of criteria – including overall academic performance. http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Can_Music_Help_Learn/

The Highline Schools Foundation applauds Susan ( and teachers everywhere) who are finding ways (even if sneakily) to help our children improve in math. And we thank everyone who donates to the Foundation, making excel grants like this one possible!

Highline Schools Foundation Symposium Series – “Speaking in Tongues”

The Highline Schools Foundation presents …
The documentary film “Speaking in Tongues”
May 8, 2012 at 7:00 pm at Mount View Elementary School

Admission is free but registration is required

At a time when 31 states have passed “English Only” laws, four pioneering families put their children in public schools where, from the first day of kindergarten, their teachers speak mostly Chinese or Spanish.

Speaking in Tongues follows four diverse kids on a journey to become bilingual. This charming story will challenge you to rethink the skills that Americans need in the 21st century.

How could Highline Public Schools benefit from expanded dual language programming?

The community is invited to attend the Highline Schools Foundation’s presentation of the documentary film “Speaking in Tongues” as part of its bi-annual Symposium Series, Tuesday, May 8th beginning at 7:00 pm at Mount View Elementary School.

After the screening of the documentary “Speaking in Tongues” please join us for a post-film discussion facilitated by Highline School district staff and hosted by the Foundation.

A Reading Sanctuary

Sallyanne Hendren, 5th grade teacher at Bow Lake Elementary "cheesing it up for the camera"

Sallyanne Hendren submitted an Excel Grant last fall and her first line: “I would like to create a reading sanctuary where kids melt into cozy beanbag chairs and get lost in their beloved texts” wins the best opening line of the year award! Who couldn’t picture exactly what she wanted to accomplish after reading that?

Here’s some of what she had to say in her final report:

In order to impart my love of reading and help these students become lifelong readers, I needed to set them up to enjoy the act of reading. Why I read at home, on planes, on the beach, at a coffee shop or book store is for comfort, escape, curiosity and research, connectivity. It is one thing to lecture them about this and another to give them the experience.

When the first shipment of beanbag chairs arrived on a dolly, my students squealed with delight. Without squashing their enthusiasm, we had to spend a few days reviewing how not to dive across the room for an opportunity to use one!

They are now associating reading with joy, relaxation, warmth, cooperation and friendship. Success!

Super Readers from Sallyanne's 5th grade class at Bow Lake

As the months rolled along, I noticed my students were hungry for facts about themselves and the universe, loved fantasy and wanted to peek ever so slightly into the Teenage World.

Our classroom guidelines for becoming expert readers are as follows: Expert Readers are: excited to read; choose a variety of texts; are not distracted; make clear mental movies; read often.

Now our book clubs meet on the bean bag chairs, independent reading time is spent snuggled up in the chairs and students want to read. 

Congratulations Sallyanne - we are so happy that the beanbags were a such a huge hit with the kids. We all know that reading is a good habit to get into and we’re glad the Foundation was able to help you show your kids just how much fun reading can be!

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If you are a teacher in the Highline Schools District and are interested in our Excel Grant program, you can find more information on our website. Grant requests are accepted each fall, and we announce the program on our website and Facebook page.

So, You Think You Can Test?

Jennifer Fichamba works in the College and Career Center at the Evergreen Campus. She applied for an excel grant last Fall:

In the College and Career Center we are always looking for ways to help our students be more prepared for their post high school life. One of the things we would like to do is be able to assist students in paying for the compass test at our local community college South. This seems to a big barrier for many of our students. We are able to get them through the application process only to discover later that they never followed up with the compass test.

We just heard from Jennifer and the money they received through the Foundation’s excel grant program is working!

This week we held a Community College fair in our Library to assist our students in signing up for one of our local community colleges. Students were given the opportunity to meet with campus reps from South Seattle, Highline, Renton Tech and Seattle Central Community College’s.

In addition, we had students sign up to take the compass test. I believe that because of this grant we are able to bridge the gap that stops our students from continuing on.

Thank you Jennifer – for seeing a need and figuring out a way to help the students. We are so glad we could help!

Announcing the 2012 Gold Star Award Winners!

The 2012 Highline Schools Foundation Gold Star Award Winners are:

Pictured from left to right: Darcy Smith, Dr. Alan Spicciati, Barbara Rodgers, Astha Tada. Not pictured: David Sabey. Photo courtasy of Maureen Simon.

Outstanding Alumnus: David Sabey

Mr. Sabey attended Sunnydale Elementary, Sylvester Middle School and Highline High School where he graduated in 1965.

Mr. Sabey not only founded one of the leading development companies in the Puget Sound Region, The Sabey Corporation, he has also been a civic leader for more than 30 years. Dave has a passion for promoting education at both the K-12 and higher education levels, and has volunteered his time for a number of universities both in Washington State and across the nation.

Outstanding Volunteer: Astha Tada, Cascade Middle School

Ms. Tada provided leadership and compassion to her colleagues and to the children she taught during her career as a Highline School District librarian from approximately 1967 to 2003, serving at McMicken Heights Elementary, Valley View Elementary and Cascade Middle School.

Currently, Astha’s biggest volunteer challenge is as spokesperson and community advocate to save the White Center King County Library so Cascade Middle School and other students will have access to its resources.

Outstanding Classified or Professional Support Staff: Barbara Rodgers, Office Manager, Health Sciences & Human Services High School

Ms. Rodgers treats students with compassion and an incredible amount of empathy. She is known as a “mother” to all students, providing snacks and breakfast for students who are coming to school hungry. She is the provider of supplies for activities, and has been known to support students who need athletic shoes, or a cap and gown for graduation, with her own dollars. She is a beloved staff member and district employee.

Outstanding Administrator:  Dr. Alan Spicciati, Interim Superintendent

Dr. Alan Spicciati, Interim Superintendent of Highline Public Schools, is truly deserving of this award for his exemplary leadership for nearly two decades, including his outstanding work during our district’s current superintendent transition.

Throughout his term as interim, Dr. Spicciati has made a high priority of connecting with school personnel and community members. Last fall, he launched a”50 Sites in 50 Days” tour of the district, during which he visited schools, work sites and community events meeting people and conveying how he values their work.

Alan has made numerous contributions to Highline School District. As Chief Accountability Officer, he designed the Systemwide Measures of Success—which holds the district accountable for specific metrics that support student achievement.

He has worked in the district for nearly 18 years—starting as an elementary music teacher, then to high school assistant principal and elementary principal before beginning his work at the district office.

Outstanding Teacher: Darcy Smith, Sixth Grade Teacher, McMicken Heights Elementary School

Ms. Smith is truly exceptional in her practice. She provides a place where each and every student is welcomed, acknowledged and assured that they will learn not just academics, but how to talk, to debate, to advocate for themselves and each other. She is committed to every student’s success and whenever and however possible she brings the family in as partners in this work.

Darcy currently runs an after school program specifically designed for adolescent girls. The curriculum, Salvaging Sisterhood, is based on the ideas of building confidence, decision making skills, battling peer pressure, media images and messages, and developing girls’ leadership.  Although this program lacks funding, Darcy keeps it going, giving her own time and resources.

Last year, 47.4% of Darcy’s incoming sixth graders were reading at benchmark, by June, 81% of the class was at benchmark or higher. The Foundation is honored to recognize Darcy Smith for her unique and exceptional talents. 

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The Gold Star Award winners will be honored at the Foundation’s annual Gold Star Awards Breakfast on April 20, 2012 held at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Conference Center. For information on registration, please visit the event page.

Girls Just Want to Have… BOOKS!

Today’s story is from Michael Bento, the Gregory Heights Librarian. Mr. Bento received an Excel Grant this year from the Highline Schools Foundation for “Girls Just Want to Have… BOOKS!” … here’s what he has to say:

Girls Just Want to Have ... Books!

After noticing many of our Gregory Heights girl students asking about new fiction reading books, I decided to seek a grant through the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence. I was pleased to win grant support with a proposal titled, Girls Just Want to Have… BOOKS! 

With the help from this new grant, the progress in our school library is good news. The grant money helped us purchase over 60 books for our students to checkout, get excited about and tell their friends. Some books we purchased were full series collections, some were parts of a series, and some were stand-alone titles. These books tend to reflect girl interests in friends, relationships, and animals, but also some of the most popular are mysterious and spooky.

We are happy to report many of these books are in constant circulation and rarely stay on our library shelves. These books are being discovered by our younger girls as well, and will continue to be enjoyed by our future Gregory Heights students.

Thank you Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence for your support!

Michael Bento
Librarian, Gregory Heights Elementary
Highline School District 401

Do YOU have a great idea to help out the kids in our district, but just need a little “seed” money to get it started? The next Excel/MAD grant application process will open in the Fall. An online application will be availalbe on our website. Until then, you can find pictures from the 2011 Prize Patrol on our Facebook page and  more information about Excel Grants, including a list of the 2011 winners, on our website.