August 2012

Highline Public Schools press release:

Highline public schools made significant progress on state standardized tests in 2012, especially on math exams, where scores are up across the board.

Math: Scores are up in every grade tested at elementary school, middle school and high school levels. Results increased dramatically in several grades, including third grade (+8) and eighth grade (+13)

Science: Test results improved at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Scores jumped13 points at fifth grade.

Writing: Scores increased in every grade level in which writing is assessed. They went up by five points in fourth grade and tenth grade.

Several schools saw significant gains in all subject areas. At Des Moines Elementary, Principal Jenniffer Reinig says closely monitoring students’ progress, embracing the district’s new math curriculum, and teaching to state standards led to improvements.

Des Moines Elementary State Test Score Improvement
Reading Writing Math Science
+7 +19 +10 +22

UPDATE:

Donors, partners and supporters of Community Schools Collaboration (CSC) held a Block Party Fundraiser Sept. 7 to support students in South King County. Guests sponsored backpacks for a CSC students, bid in a silent auction, had a meal and drinks, and enjoy live music. CSC supports students in Highline and Tukwila school districts. The CSC Office is at 137 SW 154th St. in Burien.

Community Schools Collaboration provides over 3,000 students annually with academic support, access to health programs, family engagement and youth development opportunities.

Highline Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield participated, and told the Highline Times, "This is one of our greatest community partners. What they allow us to do for kids in our schools we could never do alone and we are grateful. In this day and age every nonprofit is struggling. The more people can do to support organizations like this, the better off our kids are, and their families."

Press release:

SUSTAINABLE BURIEN

Wildlife Habitat –Home & Community

September 9, 2012, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Des Moines Library, 21620 11th Avenue S, Des Moines*

Courtney Sullivan, Education Manager of the National Wildlife Federation for the Pacific Region, will be our featured speaker in September. She’ll be showing how at home or in our community we can learn to create a place where people, flora and fauna can all flourish!

Whether you have an apartment balcony or a 20-acre farm, you can create a garden that attracts beautiful wildlife and helps restore habitat.

By providing food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise their young you not only help wildlife, but you also qualify to become an official Certified Wildlife Habitat® with National Wildlife Federation.

If you love gardening and connecting with people in your community, the National Wildlife Federation can help you certify your community as a Community Wildlife Habitat® -- a community that provides habitat for wildlife throughout the community--in individual backyards, on school grounds and in public areas such as parks, community gardens, places of worship and businesses.

Press release:

Burien’s Arts-A-Glow lantern festival is just around the corner (September 8th) and we still need to collect more empty, clean plastic water bottles (they make great lanterns!)

Please bring your bottle donations to the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave SW, until Friday, Sept 7th. The community center is open Mon-Thurs 8:30am-8pm, Friday 8:30am-5pm.

See you at the Glow! www.burienwa.gov/GLOW

Press release:

Learn how to tune up your health from the experienced health-care professionals of Burien’s medical community at the free Community Wellness Fair on Saturday, Sept. 15, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., at Burien Town Square.

The annual event provides an opportunity to learn about the newest and best in health care. You can also improve your general well-being with free health screenings, demonstrations, presentations on wellness topics, fire safety, physical fitness information, and more.

Kids are sure to have some fun with face-painting, clowning and balloon art. Information on local education programs in the health-care field will also be available.

Burien’s Community Wellness Fair is sponsored by the Burien Wellness Cluster, a partnership between local health and wellness providers, educators and city government. The overall goal of the group is to boost Burien’s economy by building on Burien’s existing wealth of high-quality health-care providers.

Press release
UnitedHealthcare is donating 3,500 backpacks to community organizations in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods across Washington, including White Center on Aug. 31 at Greenbridge.

Friday, Aug. 31, 4-6:30 p.m.

Greenbridge Promise Back to School Event

Address Greenridge Plaza 8th Ave SW & 99th Ave SW

White Center, Wash.

The community organizations will give the backpacks to children enrolled in their programs to help them prepare in time for the new school year, which in many Washington neighborhoods begins in late August or early September. The donated backpacks will also help schools, bringing some economic relief to teachers who often spend money out of pocket to supply their classrooms.

*Note: children can sign up at the event and backpacks will be given out to those who register until they are gone.

Alexiss Guillory and her fiance Wayne Mason with their son Cortez are the proud owners of Vice-Grip (or just Vice), a bull terrier who came all way from Oklahoma from a breeder. "We found him on the internet and there are no dogs like this anywhere in Washington State," Guillory said. Vice is only four months old.

They feed him Blue Buffalo dog food and ham hock bones are his favorite treat. "They get his jaw muscles in shape."

Guillory described his personality by saying, "Vice thinks Cortez is his brother and he thinks I am his mommy so he only comes to me and at night he only lets me feed him."

Even though he's only 120 days old, they almost lost him recently. "He's very very greedy," she said," and he got into some pills." Mason said, "When I was back in Iraq I had trouble with my sciatica nerve and they prescribed pills for the pain. We moved to Seattle a couple of months ago and he got into one of the boxes and got those pills. He was wobbly and looked like he was having a seizure so we rushed him to the vet." The doctor there pumped his stomach but it was touch and go. "He was there for a couple of days."

A new vintage clothing and item store, Trove Vintage Boutique, will be opening up soon on Market St. in the old Starbucks location, snuggled in between the new Starbucks location and Romanza.

By the looks of their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TroveVintage), it looks like the owners are hard at work collecting items and renovating the space. One picture shows stacks and stacks of boxes next to colorful clothes with the caption, “100+ boxes of 50s and 60s clothing gone through!” Another shows an antique globe, and another with vintage clothes for men (“We’ve got boys stuff too!”).

In any case, the store is a change of pace from the myriad of restaurants and bars that have been popping up everywhere. Owners expect to open the store up sometime in October. Like their Facebook page to receive continual updates.

I like to think of myself as a connector. I’ve been known to consider myself somewhat of a concierge to Ballard, over eagerly trying to match people with the right restaurant, perfect mate, walking or writing partner, etc. etc. etc. However I think I’ve met my match in Craig Walker.

Craig lives in Canal Station, on the east side of Leary Way NW, just below Market Street. Along with partner Dave Svrcek he just opened Ballard Station Public House on Market Street, in the former location of the bar Ballard Avenue. A friend who had met him at a Canal Station Barbeque suggested I talk to him, intrigued by his desire to follow through on his father’s long held dream of opening an English-style pub.

"Hello, my name is Miss Direction. I'm a public servant in the city of Seattle. My goal is to transform the mundane."

Such is the introduction of Marcia Wiley for many people, a quirky Ballard character who makes colorful drinking glasses, teaches creativity classes, is in the process of writing a book and, at times, dons her alter ego, "Miss Direction," dressing herself in a compass-adorned superhero costume and driving around in a decorated car.

What does Miss Direction do? Well, she drives around with a girlfriend and finds women by themselves at bus stops, introduces herself with the above quote, and asks them to tell her their life stories. She has approached people as young as 16 to as old as 94, all for the purpose of discovering who people are. And no, she's not trying to be creepy, as the normal world's concept of interaction might suggest. Rather, she is just passionate about discovering and exploring the people and things which make her neighborhood, Ballard, interesting.