POSITIVELY PASCO. Your Online Connection to Pasco Schools. May 8, Villegas ($2,000), Leslie Puente ($5,000), and Brenda Valdez ($2,000).

Transcription

1 POSITIVELY PASCO Your Online Connection to Pasco Schools May 8, 2018 Putting students first to make learning last a lifetime. Celebrating academics, diversity, and innovation. Pasco Students Receive Scholarships at HAAP Ceremony A total of $44,500 in scholarship money will be split among 16 Pasco seniors, thanks to the Hispanic Academic Achievers Program (HAAP). Villegas ($2,000), Leslie Puente ($5,000), and Brenda Valdez ($2,000). A total of five seniors from Chiawana High School earned scholarships, including Elsa Chavez Salas ($1,500), Christopher Gutierrez ($2,500), Caleb Hernandez ($1,500), Gabriel Santana Morales ($1,000), and America Sevilla Lopez ($5,000). The annual HAAP scholarship awards ceremony was held April 27 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. Nine seniors from Pasco High School earned scholarships, including Nohely Chavez ($5,000), Daniel Flores ($5,000), Sonora Garcia ($5,000), Andrea Guzman ($3,000), Jacqueline Montes ($2,000), Vanesa Quiroz Sanchez ($2,000), Yureli Ruiz Delta High School seniors Thomas Serrano ($1,000) and Izabel Stohel ($1,000) also earned scholarships. Congratulations to all of these seniors on their outstanding achievements. This year s HAAP Scholarship winners were honored at the annual HAAP Awards Ceremony on April 27 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. National Board Certified Teachers Honored - Pg. 2 IN THIS ISSUE... Downtown Pasco s Cinco de Mayo Festival - Pg. 5 PSD to Welcome Three New Principals - Pg. 4 Upcoming Events/Board Meeting Notes - Pg. 10 1

2 Positively Pasco New National Board Certified Teachers Honored May 7-11 is Teacher Appreciation Week and May 8 is National Teacher Day. Activities and celebrations will be going on throughout the District to honor Pasco teachers. Twelve Pasco teachers earned their National Board Certification this school year. This advanced teaching credential is achieved upon successful completion of a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize effective and accomplished teachers who meet high standards based on what teachers should know and be able to do. As part of the certification process, candidates complete 10 assessments that are reviewed by trained teachers in their certificate areas. The assessments include four portfolio entries that feature teaching practice and six constructed response exercises that assess content knowledge. Pasco currently has 110 National Board Certified Teachers. Our newest National Board Certified Teachers are: Mara Alldredge - Stevens Middle School, Lori Baalman - Whittier Elementary, Karri Britain - McLoughlin Middle School, Rodney DeHaan - Pasco High School, Peter Diaz - Stevens Middle School, Craig Dickinson - McLoughlin Middle School, Kristen Donahue Stevens Middle School, Jessica Kline - Twain Elementary, Allen Madsen - Ochoa Middle School, Nereyda Martinez - Booth Building, Sara Smith - Chiawana High School, and Yvette Tovar-Herrera - Pasco High School. Congratulations to these teachers who have gone to extra mile to gain national certification, and a big thank you to all Pasco teachers. Please take the opportunity this week to thank a teacher who has made a difference in the life of a child. Pasco s newest National Board Certified teachers (from left to right) Yvette Tovar-Herrera, Sara Smith, Nereyda Martinez, Allen Madsen, Jessica Kline, Craig Dickinson, Lori Baalman and Karri Britain were honored at the Board of Directors meeting on April 24. 2

3 Positively Pasco 3

4 Positively Pasco PSD to Welcome Three New Principals for School Year Three Pasco schools will have new principals beginning July 1. Jake Stueckle will be the new principal at Pasco High School, replacing Raul Sital who is moving into a new role as the Executive Director of Student Achievement with Pasco School District. Stueckle is currently an Assistant Principal at Pasco High, a position he has held for the last two years. He has spent the last 14 years working at PHS, serving as the Dean of Students for three years after starting his career as a special education teacher. Jake Stueckle Vikki Fogelson Vikki Fogelson will be the new principal at McLoughlin Middle School, replacing Dominique Dennis who has taken a new position with the Federal Way School District. Fogelson has 19 years of experience in education, serving most recently as an Assistant Principal in the Spokane School District. She has also served as a middle school special education and general education reading, language arts, math, and history teacher for schools in Kennewick, Spokane, Saluting Students and the Saddleback Valley Unified school district in California. Joe Jisa will be the new principal at Livingston Elementary, replacing Scott Raab who announced earlier this year that he will be leaving Livingston. Jisa has been the Principal at Jason Lee Elementary in Richland since Before that, Jisa served as the Principal at Christ the King School in Richland for three years. He also served as the Dean of Students at Jason Lee Elementary from Joe Jisa Chess Elementary students (from left to right) Javier Diaz Correa, Carlos Gonzalez, Brenda Madrigal, Brenda Mendoza and Leslie Sahagun Lara led the flag salute at the Board of Directors meeting on April 24. The students are 6th grade HEROs at the school. HERO stands for: Helps solve problems, Engages safely, Respects All, and Owns their actions. 4

5 Positively Pasco Downtown Pasco s Cinco de Mayo Festival Downtown Pasco s Cinco de Mayo Festival was definitely filled with lots of Pasco School District flavor this year. Several PSD groups performed on the festival s main stage, including the McClintock STEM Elementary marimba group, the Pasco High Folkloric dance group, Chiawana High School s Mariachi Halcon del Rio, and Pasco High School s Mariachi Reyes de Pasco. The students did a great job showcasing their talents and representing their schools. #PROUDofPASCO 5

6 Positively Pasco 6

7 Positively Pasco Pasco High Students Learn More about Manhattan Project History More than 500 Pasco High students learned more about the Manhattan Project and the United States nuclear history on May 2 when a pair of speakers from Washington, D.C. visited the school to share their program titled, The Manhattan Project: Engaging the Next Generation on Nuclear Issues. Erin Connolly with the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation and Kathryn Hewitt from The Brookings Institution presented their program to PHS social studies classes throughout the day in the school library. Connolly and Hewitt are co-developing a curriculum to engage and dialogue with high school and college students about contemporary nuclear issues. Along with their visit to Pasco High, Connolly and Hewitt shared their presentation locally with students at Delta High School, Richland High School, Hanford High School, and Gonzaga University. In her work at The Brookings Institution, Hewitt focuses on arms control, nonproliferation and regional security issues, and U.S. nuclear weapons policies and strategies. Connolly focuses on nuclear security and U.S. nonproliferation policy-related projects, with a special focus on youth engagement in her work with the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. Kathryn Hewitt (left) and Erin Connolly (right) shared their presentation on the history of the Manhattan Project with more than 500 Pasco High School students on May 2. Board of Directors Receive Gifts from Yamate Exchange Group Administrators with the Yamate Gakuin Japanese exchange student program delivered small gifts to the Pasco School District Board of Directors during their meeting on April 24. More than 120 students from Yokohama, Japan attended both Chiawana and Pasco High School for two weeks, starting on April 13. The students stayed with host families and attended several school events including an International Cultural Night at Pasco High School. 7

8 Positively Pasco Golfers Hit the Course to Support Virgie Robinson Scholarship Fund A big "thank you" to the Pasco community for coming out to support the 6th annual Virgie Robinson Scholarship Spring Classic golf tournament on April 21. Dozens of golfers hit the course at Sun Willows and collectively they raised more than $10,000 for the Virgie Robinson Scholarship Fund. #WeArePasco McLoughlin s Maria Bice Earns National Recognition Congratulations to McLoughlin Middle School Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) adviser Maria Bice! She has been selected by the national FCCLA group as an Adviser Mentor and will be recognized at the 2018 National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, GA on July 1. Great Job Maria! #PROUDofPASCO 8

9 Positively Pasco 9

10 Upcoming Events: May 7-11: Teacher Appreciation Week May 8: National Teacher Day May 8: Board of Directors Meeting: 6:30 p.m. May 9: National School Nurse Day May 13: Mother s Day May 25: NO SCHOOL May 28: Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL Board Notes Study Session Sarah Thornton updated the board on the District s Capital Facilities Plan. Special Recognition Shane Edinger presented a special recognition to the District s teachers who earned their National Board Certification this year. Reports/Discussions Kristen Blair updated the board on the District s status under the Community Eligibility Provision program. She also shared information on a school lunch price increase to comply with state and federal standards. Mark Garrett provided an update to the board on the District s 1-to-1 laptop initiative, including plans for the school year and beyond. Extended Study/Discussion Michelle Whitney and Amy Phillips provided some follow-up information to the board about the State of the School review process that was originally discussed at the April 10 board meeting. Steve Christensen led a discussion on the school board s legislative priorities for next year s legislative session. Consent Agenda was approved with: Personnel; Warrant Approval; Approval of Overnight Student Travel for: Delta High School History Day team to state competition in Auburn, WA; Chiawana High School Family, Career and Community Leaders Association (FCCLA) students to state officer executive meeting in Olympia, WA; Chiawana High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) to state convention and career leadership events in Pullman, WA; Chiawana High School Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) students to WSU Imagine Tomorrow competition in Pullman, WA; Approval of Out of State Student travel for McLoughlin Middle School Treble Choir to compete in Best of the Northwest Choir Festival in Portland, OR; Approval of Out of State Overnight Student Travel for: Pasco High School dance team to Hip Hop USA/ World Competition in Phoenix, AZ; Pasco High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) to state convention and career leadership events in Pullman, WA and University of Idaho tour in Moscow, ID; Chiawana High School Mariachi Halcon del Rio to workshop, visitation and performance events in Spokane and Cheney, WA and Athol, ID. Board meetings are broadcast on PSC-TV (Pasco City Television) Channel 191 on Charter Cable in Pasco. You can view the schedule at: The City of Pasco is also streaming the meetings at: The meetings are also posted on the District YouTube channel: Pasco Schools. Board meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. (the only exceptions being December and July). Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. Study sessions are held in advance of regularly scheduled board meetings at 4:30 p.m. Board agendas are posted on Friday prior to the meeting. Agendas and minutes can be viewed at domain/24. NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION: Pasco School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and designated youth groups. Questions regarding compliance, complaints, and/or reporting procedures may be directed to the school district s Title IX/RCW 28A.640/28A.642 compliance officer Sarah Thornton, 1215 W. Lewis St., Pasco, WA 99301, , or Section 504/ADA coordinator Kristi Docken, 1215 W. Lewis St., Pasco, WA 99301, Nondiscrimination policies are available at the links listed above and 10