I’m going to take my time analyzing the data and talking to people before drawing any hard conclusions, but I wanted to make the data available. Below are some graphs and comparisons.

If you want to see how you’re student’s school did, check out the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s thorough Web site.

Middle and elementary school students took what’s now called the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP) while 10th-graders took the High School Proficiency Exams (HSPE). They’re both essentially shorter versions of the WASL.

I will point out as of now, all incoming 10th-grade students for the class of 2013 must pass all four sections of the HSPE to earn a diploma. State Superintendent Randy Dorn asked for that to change, but it hasn’t happened yet.

While I don’t want to reach any hard conclusions right now, I will point out that Renton appears to have followed state trends overall. However, many of its scores fall below the state average.

Overall, middle school students improved their scores with the new tests while high school students and fifth-graders (the last year students are in Renton elementary schools) saw declines.

Though still below state average, Renton eighth-graders made significant progress in closing the gap with the state average this year.

I’ll have information about government sanctions and how they could affect the schools when I get back from vacation.

—-

This data represents percentages of students who passed the exams.

HIGH SCHOOL DATA (2008-2009; 2009-2010)

WA STATE 10th-GRADERS
Reading 81.2, 78.8 (-2.4)
Writing 86.7, 85.9 (-0.8)
Math 45.4, 41.6 (-3.8)
Science 38.8, 44.7 (-5.9)

RENTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Reading 81.1, 73.7 (-7.4)
Writing 85.3, 77.7 (-7.6)
Math 40.4, 34.0 (-6.4)
Science 41.1, 38.9 (-2.2)

RENTON HIGH SCHOOL
Reading 74.6, 69.1 (-5.5)
Writing 76.9, 70.1 (-6.8)
Math 28.0, 22.1 (-5.9)
Science 25.1, 28.1 (+3.0)

HAZEN HIGH SCHOOL
Reading 87.0, 80.1 (-6.9)
Writing 87.1, 83.0 (-4.1)
Math 50.1, 50.5 (+0.4)
Science 47.5, 48.7 (+1.2)

LINDBERGH HIGH SCHOOL
Reading 82.1, 76.3 (-5.8)
Writing 91.8, 84.3 (-7.5)
Math 45.0, 36.8 (-8.2)
Science 59.0, 46.3 (-12.7)

—

WA STATE EIGHTH-GRADERS (2008-2009; 2009-2010)
Reading 67.5, 69.2 (+1.7)
Math 50.8, 51.5 (+0.7)

RENTON SCHOOL DISTRICT EIGHTH-GRADERS
Reading 59.7, 66.6  (+6.9)
Math 38.9, 47.4 (+8.5)

—

WA STATE FIFTH-GRADERS (2008-2009; 2009-2010)
Reading 74.0, 69.5 (-4.5)
Math 61.9, 53.6 (-8.3)

RENTON SCHOOL DISTRICT FIFTH-GRADERS
Reading 69.6, 65.3 (-4.3)
Math 50.1, 43.8 (-6.3)

—

The below charts represent percentage of pass rates for the Renton School District for the past three years.

Hazen High School business teacher Mark Sabo was recognized Aug. 27, and Friday, Sept. 3, Highlands Elementary School kindergarten teacher Lynne Morgan will also be recognized as one of the “Heroes in the Classroom.”

The program, which is also in place in Atlanta and Chicago, includes a presentation during a school assembly, a team jersey for award winners, two tickets to a Seahawks game, and on-field passes to see the game up close and personal. Seahawks players won’t be at this event, but staff will.

In addition to those two visits, Players do plan to visit Maplewood Heights, Campbell Hill and Tiffany Park elementary schools as a part of the Play 60 program, in which athletes encourage kids to exercise 60 minutes daily. They also talk about doing well in school and bullying.

Maplewood is the only school with a set date, 10 a.m., Sept. 14. I plan to go to one of them to write a more in depth story about the Seahawks program.

It’s printed and taped to my cubicle wall, and I recommend parents do the same.

FINAL Calendar 2010 2011

For Renton, Hazen and Lindbergh high schools, the event is June 15 at the ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St., Kent.

Renton High School’s graduation is at noon with student speakers Tamthy Le and Lindsay Dacuan. About 214 students are expected to graduate. Damien Pattenaude is the principal with Renton School Board Director Todd Franceschina accepting the class.

Lindbergh High School’s graduation starts at 4 p.m. with student speakers Paula Luu and Teresa Nguyen. About 260 students are expected to graduat. The principal is Tres Genger with board Director David Merill accepting the class.

Hazen High School’s graduation starts at 7:30 p.m. with student speakers Brian Palma and Grace Bradford. About 265 students are expected to graduate. John Knisely is the principal with board Director Al Talley accepting the class.

Black River High School’s graduation will take place at the school, 7800 S. 132nd St., Seattle. The ceremony starts at 2 p.m. June 16. About 30 students are expected to graduate.

The Sartori Education Center graduation ceremony is at Renton Technical College at 3000 N.E. Fourth St., Renton. About 22 students are expected to graduate. It begins at 4 p.m., June 17. Student speakers include Antonio Cebey, Zakk Marx and Shane Omtvedt, and board president Lynn Desmarais will be accepting the class.

If you’re concerned about cuts to special education or how kids with emotional/behavioral issues will be helped now that Black River High School is closing, this would be a good information session.

At the same study session, MacGregor also plans to present on the Teaching and Learning vision and Summit, which could take up most of the time. He will then go on to introduce his vision at the regular board meeting at 7 p.m. The study session is at 5:30 p.m., May 26 at the Kohlwes Education Center.

It’s only an hour long study session, and MacGregor posted several documents he plans to present. Don’t expect much time for discussion, but there seems to be a good history lesson in them.

There will not be an opportunity to comment at this meeting. It’s for the benefit of the Renton School Board, and happens to be open to the public. However, the following board meeting at 7 p.m. will provide an opportunity to speak to pretty much the same people.

If you’re short on time, keep in mind that Hazen High School Outstanding Students will be receiving their awards at the board meeting, which could take some time.

From what I’ve heard about Black River, it helped a lot of struggling students, though most of them aren’t in EBD classes.

(Carol Grimes, the horticulture teacher, even accused the district of sending a middle school student there, because they didn’t know what to do with her. The alternative middle school was closed a few years ago in a round of budget cuts.)

However, the district has said that Black River was never meant to be a last resort school, and seemed to be opposed to the idea of having one.

I think this meeting has the potential of explaining really how the district plans to help EBD students in the coming years.

On a side note, Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel is strongly interested in having better data to understand not only the students but her teachers. There is a good chance that some of those research methods could be discussed as a part of MacGregor’s main presentation.

EBD Program Review

The Renton School District is having a community ceremony at Black River High School June 5.

The school is being closed this summer to make way for the new Secondary Learning Center (SLC).

From the press release, the goal is to give community members and former students one last visit before they tear down the facility. The event will include architectural renderings of the new SLC alongside artwork from Black River kids.

For those interested, it would be a great opportunity to mingle with administrators and learn more about the SLC. The event from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at 7800 South 132nd Street, Seattle.

The current site of Black River was once the location of Earlington Elementary School, an open-concept school, with one main building surrounded by smaller buildings. Earlington was constructed in 1972, and operated as an elementary school until 1980 when it was reopened as Renton Alternative High School. The school was renamed Black River High School in 1995.

This girl, who I have yet to get the name of, was one of several making faces when one camp counselor made them hold their slimy squid before ripping its brains out in, what was for most, their first ever dissection.

Squid dissection class at Camp Seymour.

A month ago I wrote about the horticulture program getting a timely axe with Black River High School. I want to juxtapose that story with a new one I wrote about an exciting new environmental science class at Hazen High School. (Though the horticulture program wasn’t at Hazen, it has several Hazen students.)

One program is closing, while another one is opening. It’s all under the same vision, increasing rigor. When you read them together, it shows more clearly what the district is changing in the science program.

An unanswered question I had after the horticulture program closed is what the district plans to replace it with. By several standards it was a successful class.

Teresa Coda, the Hazen science chair, mentioned that teachers looked at several courses including astronomy. (Hazen chose environmental science because the new solar panels fit well into the class.) The class, which both sparks the interest of students and maybe even federal grants, is a probably good picture of what’s going to be coming.

The event included fourth- and fifth-graders, who read more than 15 books each and created a culminating project based on those readings.

Students from three schools participated this year, Benson Hill, Cascade and Kennydale elementary schools.

Elisei Enache was awarded first prize for his sculpture “Johnny Apple Fish,” and Nathan Inks
was awarded 2nd prize for his sculpture “Emerald City.”

The event is open to all Washington high schools.  Their work will be on display in the museum until May 23.

Hazen High School's Divina Voce Choir

Hazen’s Divina Voce Choir, an all-girls ensemble, performed for top educators from around the state who were receiving Washington State Achievement Awards Wednesday.

I’ll have more on the awards later, though Hazen won two and Lindbergh one, but these lovely ladies closed the ceremony with a hymn.

The room, which bustled with noise throughout the ceremony went stone silent when these girls began to sing.

Divina Voce, from my poor understanding of Latin, means divine voice. I don’t know much of its history, but it seems to be a common name for top women’s choirs.

The name certainly fits these girl’s talent.

The choir has a reputation for success, and were invited to Western Washington University’s Invitational Choir Festival earlier this school year.

I thought I’d snap a few pictures of these lovely women. If anyone has their names, I’d love to add a caption.

Hazen High School's Divina Voce Choir.

State Superintendent Randy Dorn will join State Board of Education Member Connie Fletcher at Hazen High School, 9 a.m., May 5.

Regional celebrations will be held simultaneously around the state for schools unable to attend the ceremony in Renton.

There are 295 school districts in Washington with about 1 million students.

I decided to share it, because I know some readers want everything I have on the issue.

There wasn’t any information in the release that was new to me. But the release does a better job explaining why the school is closing and the district’s perspective on the issue.

It also has pretty pictures of the new Secondary Learning Center. I’ll write about the center as soon as I can get the right people to talk to me about it.

Black River Sec Learnin Center-4!15!10

The April 28 meeting is from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Kohlwes Education Center, 300 S.W. 7th St., Renton. The meeting is open to the public.

I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls and e-mails from people who are concerned that their programs are going to be cut. If you’re one of those people, I recommend going to this meeting.

I expect it will give a picture of the what is going to be presented at the community meetings at 7 p.m., May 10 at Lindbergh High School, May 13 at Hazen and May 17 at Renton.

The regular board meeting will follow the session with the announcement of Outstanding Lindbergh Senior awards.

While the district had hoped to open the school this year to account for a growing student population, teacher layoffs this year are expected to increase the number of available classrooms.

The legislature came back with more money than the district expected, only cutting $2.5 million instead of a proposed $4.3 million. The district is still anticipating increased costs, meaning the budget gap will be about $4.3 million instead of a projected $6.1 million.

The district plans to put away about another half a million dollars to prepare for the grand re-opening of Honey Dew in the 2011-2012 school year. It’s something its been doing for a few years now.

The district won’t be redrawing elementary school lines until Honey Dew opens for all grades.

Honey Dew was last used as a neighborhood school about 20 years ago. The district used it as a temporary meeting space for most of its 13 elementary schools, while they were being rebuilt or remodeled.

Its remodel was complete in 2010. It can serve about 440 students in a K-5 setting. The boundary review committee made its recommendation for redrawing the lines of elementary schools.

The maps are attached to the Scribd document alone.

Honey Dew Boundary Pres-3!30!10

The legal ramifications of having a formal closure are burdensome at best. RCW 28A.335.020 would require a 90 day period of hearings followed by a Board of Directors vote.

To better understand the issue, I’ve put in a request through a third party to the attorney general’s office. I’d like to know what constitutes a legal closure.

Functionally, the families, teachers and staff are experiencing what feels like a school closure. The school will have a new name (now called the Secondary Learning Center), combine itself with Sartori, and start entirely new programs.

Black River won’t be hosted in other facilities during construction, which happened with the district’s 13 elementary schools. What teachers aren’t reassigned will be laid off. Rumor is the principal will be laid off.

From the district’s perspective, they’re simply suspending the program and restarting it with a new facility. It didn’t plan to close the school during the building process, but safety and construction issues made the first plan impossible.

It seems a matter of semantics.

RCW 28A.335.020
School closures — Policy of citizen involvement required — Summary of effects — Hearings — Notice.

Before any school closure, a school district board of directors shall adopt a policy regarding school closures which provides for citizen involvement before the school district board of directors considers the closure of any school for instructional purposes. The policy adopted shall include provisions for the development of a written summary containing an analysis as to the effects of the proposed school closure. The policy shall also include a requirement that during the ninety days before a school district’s final decision upon any school closure, the school board of directors shall conduct hearings to receive testimony from the public on any issues related to the closure of any school for instructional purposes. The policy shall require separate hearings for each school which is proposed to be closed.
The policy adopted shall provide for reasonable notice to the residents affected by the proposed school closure. At a minimum, the notice of any hearing pertaining to a proposed school closure shall contain the date, time, place, and purpose of the hearing. Notice of each hearing shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the school, subject to closure, is located. The last notice of hearing shall be published not later than seven days immediately before the final hearing.

Legislators finally agreed on a budget for next year, handing final numbers to school districts about a month late.

Up until now the district has been preparing for the worst, the governor’s initial budget which would have meant a $4.3 million.

To make time to review the better-than-expected numbers, the district is pushing back its three public budget meetings from next week to mid-May.

This will mean the district will have a clearer idea of what they plan to cut at the meetings. But parents will then have less time to respond, before the board approves the budget in August.

The cuts include the loss of all remaining I-728 funds with $1.3 million, and loss of about $940,000 for the K-4 student ratio money, meaning about 7 teacher positions.

The district will also lose money for a teacher training day, but it won’t have to increase contributions to state-mandated retirement funds, about $500,000 in savings.

The final budget gap is still unknown, as the district hasn’t made a complete decision on Honeydew Elementary School yet.

The meetings have been moved from April 20-22 to 7 p.m. May 10 at Lindbergh High School, May 13 at Hazen and May 17 at Renton.

The press release has more details about the cuts. Watch for my story on RentonReporter.com. I should have some comments from school administrators.

Press Release 2010 2011 Budget Communication 4-14-2010

She’s expected to receive a bonus to match the high rating at the end of the school year. I’ve put in a request to find out how much.

In a letter read by board president Lynn Desmarais, the board outlined several reasons for the high rating.

Among the praises is the work that came out of the Summit Initiative. Heuschel has a strong focus on gathering better information to help teachers improve their instruction time.

She’s given praise for connecting with other government and private organizations, which have lead to helping teachers get further certification and training.

The board then lists various praises for her communication skills, leadership and overall intelligence. I posted the letter in a Scribd tool below.

I’d like to get input on what readers think about this relatively new superintendent.

If you don’t want to sign up to comment (a painless process) shoot me an e-mail at cgracey@rentonreporter.com.

2010 Board Superintendent Eval Summary Ltr 2009-10

However, in a press release about the meeting, the district changed to a more hopeful tone.

“Although there’s more work to do,” said superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel, in the release, “I’m hopeful that by cutting operating costs, increasing fees and continued work with our community, we can raise the needed funding to be able to keep the pool open.”

The purpose of the second meeting was to work toward solutions for the pool. While the ideas brought to the table were about the same as before — increase rates, community fundraisers and cutting costs — the district appears more hopeful in community help.

“The pool at Lindbergh High is truly a community asset,” said Lynn Desmarais, Renton School Board president, “I’m excited about the opportunity to find a community-based solution for keeping it open.”

Right now administrators are working on short-term solutions to find the additional $175,000 it will cost to keep the pool open. There are only a few more months until budget plans are slowly solidified and then accepted in a Board of Directors vote August 25.

However, administrators are also seeking long-term solutions, according to the release.

The district plans to continue to discuss the solutions through April’s second budget meetings. A budget proposal will be made available to the public before the meetings.

The sessions are planned for 7 p.m. April 20, at Hazen High School; 7 p.m., April 21, at Renton High School; and 7 p.m. April 22, at Lindbergh High School.

Community Ideas to Save LHS Pool-3!17!10

In addition to how many layoffs the district can expect, the legislature’s budget will also decide whether to re-open Honey Dew Elementary, redrawing the lines for elementary schools north of the district.

Originally scheduled to finish March 11, the Democrat-run legislature is having problems agreeing on how to bridge the $2.8 billion budget gap. It should be another 7-10, although nobody knows.

The district favors the house’s proposal over the senate’s, as it offers more money for K-4 staffing ratio funding, which the governor axed.

Left: seventh-grader David Grieve. Right: Wife Shami and David Grieve now live in Marion Indiana.

A Midwest pastor sent the Renton School District a letter of confession and a $100 check of contrition for stealing food from a student store when he was a seventh-grader at Nelsen Middle School.

In 1988, David Grieve was navigating life as a bespectacled preteen and trying to fit in with the cool kids.
That year Grieve got his big chance: he was assigned to the student store, selling food and school supplies to students during the school day.
The big-selling items at the store were beef jerky and pepperoni sticks. His adviser instructed him and others that if any food items fell on the floor, they were to be tossed out.
The boys soon began to crave the pepperoni sticks and eventually succumbed to the allure of meaty goods. They began eating the food, claiming that the jerky and pepperoni would mysteriously and without help unwrap and fall to the ground. The boys also started to pocket some of the money from sales.
Now, fast-forward more than 20 years. Grieve has moved to the Midwest and become a pastor at New Life
Community Church in Marion, Indiana.
Recently, while talking to fellow church members about having a clear conscience with God, Grieve remembered his time in the student store at Nelsen Middle School and all of the food he and the cool kids consumed, along with the change they pocketed.
Guided by faith, he wrote a letter of contrition to the staff at Nelsen, confessing his transgressions. To make amends, he also included a check for $100 to replace the lost income.
Grieve told the district he now feels better after confessing his antics. Even more though, he says, it was the right thing to do. He learned to practice what he preaches.

031210 CrazyComputerFlowChart

Permission to Bid DMS Site Improvements

About 35 Renton teachers could lose their jobs next year, about 2-3 from each elementary school.

Although children may be able to fill another elementary school, staff cannot, said spokesperson Randy Matheson.

It could mean the $1 million the district is expected to pay to reopen the school may be saved to keep more teachers on staff.

Last year the district looked at opening the elementary school, but held off to spare further budget cuts.

In February the Enrollment Review Committee recommended that the school district open Honeydew, but the final decision is up to the Board of Directors.

Below is the power point. The boundary review committee would decide the final lines on how the neighborhoods would be divided.

However, take a look out how each school is over capacity on page 11. On paper it looks pretty tight.

PP ERC 2-10-10 R

Georgia Lawrence

Kennydale Elementary School fifth-grader Georgia Lawrence has been selected to sing in this year’s All State Honor Chorus at the Washington Music Educator’s Conference taking place this weekend.

Only 150 fifth- and sixth-graders are chosen from the about 500 applications for the honor.

My hope is that Rich Moore will be there to give an update on the budget situation. The House and Senate proposed their budgets this week.

This meeting is one of three budget discussions being held at district high schools. I picked this one, because of how upset parents are about talk of the Lindbergh pool closing next year.

There will also be a meeting at Renton High School March 1 at 7 p.m. Below is the Lindbergh map.

View Larger Map

A Hazen High School student was named a finalist in the 2010 National Merit Scholarsip program.
Senior Julie Vaisarova is one of about 15,000 academically talented high school students nationwide, hoping for one of the about 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards .
Vaisarova maintained an outstanding academic record throughout high school. She performed well on her SATs and was endorsed by the school principal.
She’s involved in leadership roles at Hazen High and her community.
She’ll learn in the spring if she is among those who win scholarships.

Lindbergh junior Anna Tatelman was chosen to participate in a Stanford University scholars program in the intensive study of Japan,

She’ll spend five months learning Japanese history, literature, religion from ambassadors and experts throughout the United States.

The Reischauer Scholars Program only selects about 25 students nationwide, and offers participants five credits.

Five district high school juniors have been accepted to participate in this year’s Washington Aerospace Scholars program.

Hazen students Dat Nguyen and Seann Smallwood and Lindbergh students Patricia Garcia, Christian Phillips and Stephanie Wagner will join the program, which uses a NASA-designed curriculum.

Students will complete ten lessons, submitting quizzes, math solutions, essays and graphics each week. Scholars will also independently select a topic of interest for a final project.

Procedure 3520p Track Changes 2-24-10

The meeting schedule:
7 p.m., Feb. 23, Hazen High School, 1101 Hoquiam Ave. N.E., Renton
7 p.m., Feb. 25, Lindbergh High School, 16426 128th Ave. S.E., Renton
7 p.m., March 1, Renton High School Commons, 400 S. 2nd St., Renton

Below is the budget cut presentation Moore offered about a month ago. My story on the budget cuts is also good background.

10-11 budget development 1-11-2010 (2)

Photo submitted

Benson Hill Elementary School was used to film a TV ad that will run during the Winter Olympics.

It’s a part of the Renton Community Marketing Campaign’s ongoing effort to promote Renton as a destination to live and work, according a press release.

Benson Hill third-graders in Alesha McDonald’s class  joined actor John Keister from Almost Live. It’s a 15-second spot, which will air Feb. 12-28 during KING 5 TV’s coverage of the Olympic Games.

Other Marketing Campaign members, including Valley Medical Center, Renton Technical College and others, will also have a spot that runs during the Olympics.

Kennydale Elementary School

I blogged about Kennydale Elementary’s Martin Luther King Jr. mural the other day, and went to go see it last night.

I must say, I’m really impressed with what these elementary kids did.

This mural is made of several small pieces of paper carefully cut out and glued. I’m going to talk to the art docent who helped Ms. Luder’s kids put it together for a short story in the paper.

Around the mural are short “I have a dream” speaches by the kids. A few talked about not smoking cigarrettes, polution and illness.

Federal Way’s World Vision is expected to donate 15,000 notebooks to the Renton School District.

World Vision selected Renton  because of their relationship with Tiffany Park Elementary School teacher Lauri DeWhitt.

World Vision is a relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

Renton High School senior Tia Barnes learns of her immediate acceptance into Washington State University during an interview in the high school principal's office with Wendy Peterson, director of the Office of Admissions at WSU. Peterson interviewed Renton High students on campus for admission into the university.

Renton High School’s new principal Damien Pattenaude did it again.

A WSU alumnus, he lured the Washington State University director of admissions, Wendy Peterson, to campus to interview seniors for admission into the college Jan. 25.

Thirteen students received acceptance letters on the spot, while others were given advice on how to strengthen their applications.

A handful of those accepted also received an Acheivement Scholarship, which ranges from about $2,000-$4,000 each year.

Renton High’s counseling staff prepared packets of information on each student, which included everything applicants normally submit.

The hope is to “to offer these students a personal message that says ‘We want you at WSU,” Peterson said in a press release. “We think the students at Renton High have the capacity to excel at Washington State University.”

This isn’t the first time Pattenaude connected his high school with WSU. In November, Pattenaude brought WSU staff
to Renton High to teach classes as part of the university’s Imagine U @ WSU program.

It’s unusual for both school districts to catch students selling pot on campus.

Putting together the Renton police blotter each week, I can say youth committing serious crime in Renton is far from unusual. However, crime isn’t often this heavily connected with the teens’ schools.

In both cases, law enforcement commended the school administrators for their investigations.

Still, it’s been a bad couple of weeks for Renton area youth.

Barbara Madsen

Here is the press release:
Hazen High School alum Barbara Madsen has been elected as the state’s newest Chief Justice to Washington’s Supreme Court. Justice Madsen, who graduated from Hazen in 1970, was first elected in to the Supreme Court in 1992, and re-elected for a third term in 2004. She has served as a public defender in King and Snohomish Counties, and a Seattle City attorney. The chief justice presides over the court’s public hearings, serves as the administrative head of the state’s judicial branch, and is the court’s main spokesperson.

Procedure 6115P R 12-15-09_track Changes

The governor is cutting about $4 million from the school district’s budget this year, according to the report.

However, it appears that the administration will need to cut about $6 million from its budget.

Come find out what could be on the chopping block today at 7 p.m. in the Kohlwes Education Center board room.

Below is the report, which Rich Moore, the assistant superintendent of business, is expected to present.

10-11 budget development 1-11-2010 (2)

Jeremy Undis winning poster for the 2010 Career and Life Skills contest

Today I joined a team of community members and middle schoolers to select the winner of the Career and Life Skills poster contest. The prize: $500 schollarship and a billboard near City Hall.

The winner was Jeremy Undis, a 16-year-old Hazen High School student. Although it bolsters the stereotype that Hazen wins everything, the poster was well done.

There were about 60 entries this year, which I hear is a great turnout. About 20 people voted at the Ikea Performing Arts Center.

The competition was hosted by the Renton School District with the scholarship provided by Renton Kiwanis.

Below are some pictures that didn’t make it into the newspaper story.

Middle school students Roberto Bergersen, right, and Freddie Sly, left vote on their favorite poster.

Mayor Denis Law

The school district's Roxie Root studies posters, but doesn't participate in the voting.

Susan Johnson, left, Renton High School

Renton High School’s audio and visual communications teacher Susan Johnson has been named Teacher of the Year by the Washington Association for Skilled and Technical Services (WASTS).

Johnson was chosen because of her passion and commitment to students.

If you attended the Film Frenzy awards ceremony, Johnson was also publicly acknowledged for her help with the students who submitted films.

For more than a decade, Johnson has provided leadership to students and staff at Renton High, as well as being a major contributor to the recognition of arts throughout the community.

She’s also known for her leadership and support for a number of statewide curriculum and framework committees.

Johnson’s work at Renton High includes support for the publication of a student yearbook, daily news broadcasts and numerous school-based publications.

She is known throughout the community as the district’s visual communications professional. She’s been instrumental in the development of a number of community events and organizations.

WASTS is a group of career and technical education professionals that provide leadership and services to members statewide while advocating state and national public policy that benefits career and technical education.

Congratulations Johnson.

Where: Lindbergh High School, 16426 128th Ave. S.E., Renton
When: 6-8 p.m., Dec. 17
Cost: $5, $7 for VIP seating

Below is Pham’s press release.

Press Release

Anderson, a senior, was also selected as first team by the Seattle Times, will learn if he’s the winner of the award on Dec. 13. The award includes a $2,000 scholarship.

Lindbergh head football coach Pat O’Grady nominated Anderson for the award based on his stellar athletic ability and
leadership.

Gene Kolczynski’s business education class at Lindbergh High School was busy wrapping the about 100 gifts they collected for a second annual toy drive Dec. 10.
The DECA club took an afternoon to wrap the presents, which will soon be distributed to 25 elementary kids at four schools.
I’ll have the full story on RentonReporter.com in the next few days.