*World Affairs Council Essay Contest
*"We Can Change the World Challenge"
*Ensemble Championships
* National History Championships in Maryland
*Robotics World Championships
*State Crime Scene Investigation Championships
*Wilder Reading
Kamiakin, Wilder, Juanita High, Lake Washington High, Redmond High, Redmond JH, International
Click the blue link to "Read More" about all these activities >>
Kamiakin students place in World Affairs Council’s Essay Contest
Kamiakin Junior High school ninth grade students Blake Peterson and Elena Plenefisch received the distinction of placing second and third respectively in the 13th annual World Affairs Council World Citizen Essay Contest for Washington state students in grades 9-12. The contest has the goal of promoting discussion among students, teachers, families, and community members about the ways that individuals can effect positive change in the global community.
Students were encouraged to ponder the following question: Looking back over the last 60 years, please identify a Puget Sound-based innovation that has left its mark around the world. Explain why and how this innovation had an impact beyond the United States. (This impact can be related to the arts, sports, music, popular culture, technology, civic action, global health, education, manufacturing, etc.)
Essays were judged based on the strength and merit of their argument, organizational structure, and attention to detail (grammar, spelling, conventions). Students were encouraged to be creative in selecting their topics. Students and schools from across the state participated in the contest. Blake’s second place essay focused on the explosive growth of Starbucks and was entitled "Innovations in a Cup of Coffee," and Elena’s essay was about the invention of the portable ultrasound machine and entitled, "Healthcare to Go."
Kamiakin students receive honors on national exam
For the fifth year in a row, Spanish students at Levels 1 and 2 from Kamiakin Junior High garnered national honors in the National Spanish Exam (16 this year – up from 13 last year). Out of 61 participants at Kamiakin (up from 50 last year), 16 students came away with national honors (up from 13 last year). One student earned a gold medal, four earned bronze medals, and 11 received honorable mentions. 32,926 exams were administered nationwide at Level 1 and 32,395 exams at Level 2.
Gold - Elena Plenefisch (her second in two years)
Bronze - Sonia Ionescu, Mallika Iyer, Marcus Riley, and Gautham Velchuru
Honorable Mention – Deivid Catalan, Matt Saathoff, Jeff Roetcisoender, Brady Retzlaff, Nate Thrasher, Jason Mclean, Terry Jung, Holly Cowherd, Melanie Hynden, Leslie Fisher, and Amahalea Thongoulay
Mann Elementary Green Team named finalists in Siemens “We Can Change the World Challenge”
Horace Mann Elementary School’s Green Team, advised by fifth grade teacher Marie Hartford, has recently been named finalists in 3-5 grade category of the national Siemens “We Can Change the World Challenge.” The challenge is the nation’s premiere sustainability competition and is designed to give students the opportunity, tools and inspiration to create sustainable, reproducible environmental improvements in their school. The Green Team at Horace Mann has garnered a lot of positive publicity for its work to create a “no idle” zone in the school’s parking lot and encourage more students to walk to school using “Walking School Buses.” Mann was named one of the top 20 finalists in the country for this challenge and is the only finalist in Washington state. Challenge winners will be announced on May 18, 2011. For more information, visit the Siemens “We Can Change the World Challenge” website.
Students Receive State Superior Ratings at Ensemble Championships
The students listed below all received State Superior ratings at the Washington State Solo and Ensemble Contest held at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash., on April 29-May 1, 2011. A State Superior rating is “a performance at the highest level of artistry and technical proficiency that can be expected of a high school student”. In order to compete at the State level, students had to win in their instrument or vocal category at one of 22 Regional contests across the state.
Lake Washington High School:
· Third place (Bronze medal): Hana Holmes, senior, Mezzo Soprano vocal
· State Superior rating: Brittany Plumb, senior, Mezzo Soprano vocal
· State Superior rating: Kimani Iba, senior, Tenor vocal
· State Superior rating: Men of Lyrica, Mens Vocal – Large
· State Superior rating: Lyrica Chamber Singers, Mixed Vocal – Large
Redmond High School:
· Second place: Sierra Allen, junior, Clarinet solo
· Second place: Karl Ronneburg, sophomore, Timpani solo
· Superior rating: Alexander Ronneburg, sophomore, Bassoon solo
· Superior rating: 4 K Duet, Strings – Small
· Superior rating: Koyo Kim, senior, Violin solo
· Superior rating: Andrew Pang, senior, Viola solo
· Superior rating: Jennie Kim, sophomore, Viola solo
· Superior rating: Albert Daschle, sophomore, String Bass solo
· Superior rating: Lauren Park, junior, Soprano vocal
Juanita High School:
· Superior rating: Rachel Richardson, senior, Trombone Solo
Students move on to National History Day Competition in Maryland
Students from four LWSD schools spent their weekend competing in the Washington State History Day Championship Competition at Bellevue College. The students who took first and second place in each category will move on to the national competition held at the University of Maryland, College Park, June 12-16, 2011.
Redmond Junior High was also awarded the History Day School of the Year award. This award is given to the school (one for junior division, one for senior division) that has the highest number of entries in the top six placements.
Here are the names of the students who will move on to the national contest from the Lake Washington schools that participated:
International Community School:
· Senior Group Performance: ninth graders Rachel Roberts and Aishwarya Nirmal, first place
· Junior Group Website: eighth graders Adarsh Mital and Jason Lee, first place
· Senior Group Website: juniors Jessica Jin and Anastasiya Kirichuk, second place
· Junior Group Performance: eighth graders Leina McDermott and Sydney Gratama, second place
· Junior Individual Exhibit: eighth grader Mia Richards, second place
Redmond High School:
· Senior Group Documentary: Tian Kisch (senior), Raluca Ifrim (senior), Anand Raghuraman (senior), Tara Balakrishnan (junior), and Maya Balakrishnan (junior), first place
Tara and Maya will represent the group at the National contest in Maryland, as the other three will graduate on June 15.
Redmond Junior High:
· Senior Individual Documentary: ninth grader Samhita Karnati, first place
· Junior Paper: eighth grader Jonathan Qu, second place
· Junior Group Documentary: eighth graders Lynsey Liu and Hana Keller, second place
· Junior Group Exhibit: eighth graders Kana Moriyama and teammate, second place
Redmond Students Represent Washington at Robotics World Championships
A group of 33 local high school and junior high school students traveled to Walt Disney World in Florida for the fourth annual VEX Robotics World Championship. Teams from Redmond joined 5,000 other students from 14 countries participating in VEX Robotics competitions for high school, middle school, and college students. Redmond teams made it into the quarterfinals of the VEX Robotics high school competition, and brought home trophies for two judged awards.
Team 575 or “Haiku” comprised of Redmond High School students Raluca Ifrim, Adam Young, Tara Balakrishnan, Edward Zhang, Maya Balakrishnan and Ben Morrison won the first place trophy for the “Design a Game Computer Animation Challenge” for their game called “Ring Rolled.”
Team 10D or “Imension” won the Technology Division Build Award, given for excellence in robot design and construction. This team is made up of Redmond High students Michael Koeppen, Jacob Chapman, Duy Duong, Paul Cretu, and Timothy Yong.
The Redmond students are part of the Exothermic Robotics Club which meets at Redmond High School. The 50-student club is divided into teams of 4-7 members, each of which builds its own robot and competes in both local and world events. All eight of the club’s robots qualified for the World Championship by winning a local event and seven groups attended, which made them one of the largest single-club contingents at Worlds.
Students and staff of Wilder Elementary read over one million pages in a month
A “Million in a Month” challenge took place during April at Wilder Elementary. The goal was for students and staff to collectively read one million pages. The challenge was taken seriously and the reading began. The first week was successful with over 186,000 pages read. The momentum began to increase with more pages being read and recorded each successive week, adding to a grand total of over 1.3 million pages. Stars were placed on the wall, one star for each 1,000 pages read. It was amazing to observe students excited to read at every opportunity, as well as to hear the many conversations throughout the school about the number of pages being read.
Redmond High students win big at State Crime Scene Investigation Competition
Two teams of forensics students from Redmond High School competed in the State Crime Scene Investigation Competition in Yakima on April 22. The team of Katherine Smiley (junior), Bailey Whittaker (junior) and Hannah Raudebaugh (junior) placed second and the team of Breanna Dees (junior), Cole Gerena (senior) and Adam Berns (senior) placed third.
LWSD Press Release
Republished owing to technical difficuties with Blogger.
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