May 2010

Dr. Marsha Denton has had a distinguished career in the education community, in positions that have included public school teacher, district administrator, adjunct university professor and national educational consultant. 

She can now add high school principal to her list of accomplishments. Denton was approved to lead Thomas Jefferson High School next year at the May 18, 2010, work study by the Federal Way Public Schools Board of Directors.

Dr. Denton is a native of Nashville, Tennessee, who moved to the Seattle area in 2001. Her doctorate work is in curriculum and instruction, and her consulting work focused on helping teachers to use data to improve their instructional practices with students.  This summer she will again be teaching a Differentiated Instruction course at Seattle Pacific University.  

Differentiated Instruction – the ability to use different teaching methods to meet the individual learning styles of students – is a key piece of Federal Way schools’ approach to teaching.

An unexpected win and an unexpected loss occurred at Federal Way Memorial Field Tuesday.

Federal Way rose up to knock off Snohomish, 3-2, in the first game of a state soccer tournament opening double-header and perennially tough Thomas Jefferson then played Marysville-Pilchuck in the second game and lost it, 4-3. The Raiders' match was settled by the Tomahawks winning a five-round penalty kick shootout, 3-1.

Federal Way advances to play crosstown rival Todd Beamer -- a 3-2 winner in a road opener against Evergreen of Vancouver -- in a 1:30 p.m. match Saturday at Federal Way Memorial. TJ bowed out of the tournament with the loss.

TJ head coach Dave Hanson was still impressed by the way his team played.

"That was a good game," he emphasized.

Federal Way kept trading goals with Snohomish, too, to keep its onlookers alert.

The Eagles struck first with 24:07 remaining in the first half, with Brad Lewis sliding in on a follow-up shot.

She's a former science teacher, a biotech sales rep, a roller derby skater and the new owner of "knows perfume" at 4536 California Ave. S.W.

Christen Cottam is an avid fan of perfumes and fragrances. Her personal perfume collection exceeds 200 bottles. It's so large that she now keeps it at the store. "It's here because I share with my friends. I couldn't go through it in a lifetime, so if a friend smells something and likes it, they can wear it," she said.

Cottam takes great delight in helping people find what she calls their "holy grail" perfume, which she says people find when they smell something "and their face just lights up."

Her first career was as a 7th grade biology teacher and her background in that science worked out well for her stint as a sales rep for biotech firms as well as deepening her understanding of the mysteries of fragrance.

May 26
AAA Driver Improvement Program--Wesley Terrace Auditorium, 816 South 216th St, Des Moines. 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. $16 per person Refresher course on defensive driving skills. Successful course completion qualifies drivers 55 years of age and over for automobile insurance premium discounts. However, all ages are welcome to attend. Pre-registration is required. For enrollment information, call 206-243-3564.

Burien Council Chambers--2:30 to 4:30 PM, members of the Highline Forum will meet at the City of Burien's Council Chambers at 400 SW 152nd Street. The public is invited to observe. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the May 26 agenda, contact Marco Milanese at the Port of Seattle - milanese.m@portseattle.org or (206) 787-7734.

Business After Hours--Discover Burien and Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, 5-7 p.m. Wells Fargo Bank. 800 S.W. 152nd St. Free admission, RSVP to the Chamber www.swkcc.org/calOfEvents/default.asp? id=26470&page=displayEvent

Healthy Aging Fair--Healthy screening and information. Central Building, 810 3rd Ave, Seattle. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. For info 206-684-0500 or seniors@seattle.gov

May 27

Photographer Kurt Howard captured these images of the Seamount League Track Meet in Renton on May 14. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO PLAY SLIDESHOW.

Is our Education System Bankrupt? Is it like General Motors and “Too big to fail?”

Sadly this would seem to be the case. Locally I recently checked our achievement levels on our state’s WASL for math and found that while we had 320 kids in the 8th grade that “Exceeded expectations” two years later, when they were 10th graders, this number had diminished to only 17!

I thought that this might be that the difficulty of the 10th grade exam was much harder so I checked a nearby high school for confirmation. This high school had, as 8th graders, 160 students who exceeded expectation and two years later still had 120 students that exceeded expectations.

Why is it that we have many kids that do pretty well, even by international standards, in elementary school, and yet we see declines such as this in our secondary schools? Isn’t this like buying a car that has excellent parts, but they don’t fit together and work well?

In the case of cars many of us have voted with our wallets and bought foreign cars. In the case of education we still have our “Vendor” telling us that we are getting value for our tax dollars.

Saturday, May 16
Boys soccer
West Central District

Three out of four teams from the Highline, Des Moines and SeaTac area won berths into the West Central District tournament out of the Seamount League tournament.

Mount Rainier advanced after dunking White River, 4-2, and Kennedy Catholic blanked Union, 2-0. Highline was a 3-2 winner over Columbia River but Foster fell to Camas, 8-1.

Highline and Mount Rainier were to play each other at 7:30 p.m. as state opened Tuesday, May 18 as Kennedy traveled to Lakeside.

The Highline-Mount Rainier winner will play the Kennedy-Lakeside winner Saturday, May 22.

Baseball
State playoffs

Mount Rainier and Highline are both involved in state soccer action this week.

Highline plays Columbia River in 10 a.m. action at Wheeler Field in Centralia Saturday as Mount Rainier travels to Dream Field in Mount Vernon for a 10 a.m. game.

Winners in both play at 4 p.m. for a state final berth in action at Safeco Field.

Saturday, March 15
Baseball
Federal Way 11, Gig Harbor 1

Federal Way earned a quick trip to state with its trouncing of the Tides Saturday, May 15. The Eagles advance to play Kamiak in a 1 p.m. regional game at Kent Memorial Park Saturday, May 22, with the winner playing at 4 p.m. for a "final four" berth at Safeco Field.
Federal Way scored seven runs in the first inning to get a quick jump on Gig Harbor. T.J. Horsfall hit a three-run home run in the rally and Elliott Morris was the winning pitcher.

The action was stopped in the fifth inning by a 10-run rule.

Boys soccer
Federal Way 1, Gig Harbor 0

The Eagles advanced into state action with their West Central District win over the Tides Saturday, May 15. The action was not decided until overtime, when Kelyn Rowe struck on a Brad Lewis assist. Eddie Gomez earned the shutout on goal.

Federal Way was set to play Snohomish in a 5:30 p.m. state opener at Federal Way Memorial Tuesday, May 18.

TJ 4, Wilson 1

Eleven area girls tennis players qualified for West Central District tennis berths from the South Puget Sound League 4A tournament that was completed on May 11 at Kent Meridian High School. The top 10 finishers moved on to district, which will be held on May 19, 21, 22 at Sprinker Recreation Center in Spanaway.

Decatur scored 22 points to secure the team title while Thomas Jefferson finished in a tie for second with Auburn at 20 points in the 18-team field of SPSL North, Central and South teams. Federal Way finished ninth with 10 points and Todd Beamer placed 12th at five points.

Area players took five of the top 10 singles spots.

Defending state champion Meghan Cassens of Decatur powered past Sandy Dennett of Auburn, 6-0, 6-2, in the championship.

Stroking in the third-sixth seed match, Sarah Lin of Decatur triumphed against Breanna Ziccarelli of Jefferson, 6-0, 6-1. The Raiders' Averi Kitsch defeated Haley Ward of Federal Way, 6-2, 6-0, in the fifth-eighth seed match in another Federal Way School District match up.

A good doubles congregation is heading to district, as well.

Two turned into a troublesome number for Todd Beamer on Thursday, May 13, at the South Puget Sound League 4A fastpitch softball tournament.

With their offense held in check most of the day, the Titans suffered two consecutive losses by identical scores of 6-2 at the Service Club ballfields.

"Our bats got cold at the wrong time," said Titans head coach Dave Abrahamson. "The team has been slumping, but we'll be all right tomorrow."

Morning brought forth the challenge of the Kentridge Chargers. The visiting Titans jumped ahead in the first inning with a run, but the Chargers responded with two home half runs to take the lead.

TB tied the score at 2-2 in the third, but Kentridge posted two runs in the fourth inning with an additional pair in the fifth and finished with 10 hits.

Sarah Petosa batted 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Emma Blauser was 1-for-2 with one RBI.

The right-handed Blauser, with the help of her defense, pitched four consecutive shutout innings following the rugged first.