PTSA Forum: Relationships, Social Concerns and Sexuality Issues

from the desk of Julie Shalaby, LW-PTSA Chair of Special Needs Group...

Relationships, Social Concerns and Sexuality Issues

Lake Washington School District
PTSA Special Needs Group Meeting
Tuesday, March 27th 7 – 9 pm
You are welcome to arrive at 6:30 PM to network

LWSD Resource Building
16250 NE 74th St, Redmond 98052 (Redmond Town Center)
 
 Relationships, Social Concerns and Sexuality Issues
 
Going through puberty and adolescence can be a confusing time for kids and parents both. This will be an opportunity for you to talk about your concerns about the social/sexual development of your family member. Robbie Rigby will lead a discussion on social skills, relationship development, sexuality, and personal safety as it relates to teens and young adults with special needs. Join us to talk about these topics-it’s sure to be lively!  Read More >>

A series on Redmond's emerging medical services - why are they here? how do we decide?

"Thanks for sharing this blog. Since there are tons of emergency care centers nowadays and it is hard what and where to choose I still do believe in some reviews since it is hard to select which one is telling the truth."
     -- Trixie, July 8, 2011 a Reader's comment under the post:  "Urgent Care vs. Emergency Care"

As of today, I'm starting an 8-part series on Redmond's booming new medical services to try to answer some of Trixie's concerns and provide facts and data to help you decide where to go for services.  Once every 2-4 weeks I'll post a story.  Hopefully, YOU will contribute a comment or personal experience to help our Readers or "bandage your wounds."  Read More >>

OPINION: Redmond's "Neighborhood Budgeting Forum"

Paige Norman

My experience and opinion of the City's  "Budgeting by Priorities"   Neighborhood Forum for Education Hill residents.

Irritated with the way our City government is run? Do you like the services and benefits our city has to offer? Let our City know.

On March 2, I attended one of the city’s “Budget By Priorities” neighborhood meetings held at Redmond City Hall, in the Bytes Café. Here’s how it works and what I think about it:  

Read More >>

UPDATED OPINION: Overlake Hospital and Clinics Sponsor Community Health Fair

UPDATED OPINION:  Periodically, I cover health events put on by local hospitals and clinics.  Overlake Urgent Care in Redmond and Overlake Medical Clinics (overlakehospital.org) may occasionally ask their physicians to lecture.  Below, is information on their Saturday, March 10th health fair held at nearby Westminster Chapel (directions here).  Evergreen Hospital of Kirkland seminars have already been posted because they are the Eastside's only community tax-supported hospital.  You'll continue to see Evergreen Healthcare District 2 fairs and classes updates.

Here's the scoop on the Overlake Senior Fair:  Read More >>

UPDATED: Hit and Run Accident Sends Redmond Man to Evergreen Hospital

Injury Hit and Run Accident Sends Redmond Man to Evergreeen Community Hospital and Medical Center.

Redmond, WA – Redmond Police Traffic Investigators are investigating a hit and run traffic collision at NE 85th St. and 164th Ave NE sending a 22 year-old Redmond man to Evergreen Hospital.

At 5:54 AM this morning a passerby called 911 reporting a man down, lying in the roadway at the location. Redmond Police and Medics responded and found the man in the roadway who appears to have been struck by a vehicle.  Read More >>

March 2012: State education bill passes - addresses poor teacher and principal performance

March 2012:  Late last night, the House passed SB 5895 is an overwhelming 82-16 vote! It was a jubilant moment for the lawmakers and advocates who have pushed so hard over the last three years for a more meaningful way of evaluating the teachers and principals of our state. Gov. Christine Gregoire is expected to sign the bill soon.

Senator Tom says no legislation is ever perfect.  Lawmakers and advocacy groups will have to carefully watch implementation of the system by local school districts.  But under the bill, for the first time:

New teachers who are rated unsatisfactory will be prevented from getting tenure. Even more ground-breaking is that tenured teachers who are rated unsatisfactory two years in a row will be fired.

Washington will now join a growing number of states which include how much kids are actually learning in the classroom in teacher and principal evaluations. Districts will develop assignment and layoff policies that consider those evaluation results. Read More >>

LWSD's new Director Siri Bliesner champions Dr. Traci Pierce as Superintendent

Director Sir Bliesner

This Monday evening, Deputy Superintendent Traci Pierce was hired by the School Board of Directors as LW School District's next Superintendent.  Dr. Pierce was promoted from one of the Administration's three Chief Officers to a Deputy Superintendent last year.  Traci's operative words in her short speech to the Board were: "to serve," and "committed."  General consensus by the Board, in part, is that Traci will be learning the Superintendent's position "on the job", she is intelligent, and a quick study.  (In her speech to the Redmond officials and residents, Traci emphasised her 16 years of District experience.)  

All Board members spoke highly of Dr. Pierce, but Director Siri Bliesner had the most to say. Ms. Bliesner is a Redmond resident and replaces Ravi Shahadi as the District's newest Board member. 

Before the vote, Director Siri Bliesner started off her positive assessment for Dr.Traci Pierce saying:

"Traci has a strong passion for Public Education and has been developing the necessary skills, attitudes and desire to develop potential in the LWSD to reach the vision of "every child future ready."  I am pleased with her leadership style as one of inclusion and collaboration. This is a vital skill, especially with that of competing interests that exist."

Dr. Pierce recognizes the importance of public, transparent processes that engage the community in a meaningful way -- early on, where input can have impact.   Read More >>

Emergency Response Team looking for volunteer "victims"

C.E.R.T. victim being prepared to be lifted

from the desk of Elizabeth Hansford, with encouragement from Councilmember Hank Myers..

The CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) class in Redmond is looking for volunteers to act as victims in either of our TWO final drills we have coming up on March 3rd (2-8pm) and 4th. (2-8 pm) Details on both opportunities are below. Volunteer hours are available making this a great opportunity for high school students, scouts, etc. You don’t have to be in school to volunteer though - we need victims of ALL ages.  Read More >>

LW Institute of Technology receives Four-Year Baccalaureate Accreditation

Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT) Receives Four-Year Baccalaureate Level Accreditation

Includes Bachelor of Technology in Applied Design (BTAD) This program is geared toward people who work with technology (graphic designers, game artists, video production folks, architecture, mechanical/industrial design).

Kirkland, Wash.: Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT) received accreditation at the baccalaureate level this month from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the region’s authority on higher education accreditation. The new designation includes the college’s Bachelor of Technology in Applied Design (BTAD) degree and came in conjunction with the accreditation of LWIT’s associate degree level programs.  Read More >>

LWSD Board selects Dr. Traci Pierce as new superintendent

Dr. Traci Pierce

I've inserted the italicized paragraphs to Kathryrn Reith's press release for additional insight.  B.Y.

Dr. Traci Pierce, experienced educational leader to continue current initiatives

Redmond, Wash. – At its February 27 meeting, the Board of Directors of the Lake Washington School District unanimously voted to hire Dr. Traci Pierce, the district’s deputy superintendent, instructional services, as the district’s new superintendent. Pending the negotiation of a contract, she will replace the departing Dr. Chip Kimball, who becomes superintendent of the Singapore American School on July 1.

President Jackie Pendergrass reviewed the selection process as follows:  In September, Kimball announced he was leaving the District.  November 7th, the Board conducted a survey of parents, staff, and the community.  December 5th, the Board (with Ravi) after interviews unanimously announced Traci Pierce as their "preferred candidate."  "Meet and Great" meetings were held at Sammamish, Redmond, Kirkland and the District headquarters for staff.  (20-30 people showed up at each meeting).  Twenty-six people submitted comments. BY 

Board member Dr. Chris Carlson said he "believes in brevity" on this, saying he heard little "negative stuff."  BY  Read More >>

OPINION: "Avondale Villas" development calmed by speed feedback safety sign.

Orange tape marks the width and entrance to Avondale Crest's (Villa) road from NE 104th, photo (2007). 

This car didn't slow down and is already out of sight.

Avondale Villas development pays $12,000 towards cost of radar speed feedback sign on 104th - for traffic calming.

OPINION:  Have you noticed the new “radar feedback sign” on the NE 104th Street hill, just above the 184th Ave. NE intersection? It’s hard to believe the speed limit is 25 mph on this highly traveled arteriole.. Most cars, some of them students, zoom down the curved hill at 40 mph.

Since the radar sign was installed most cars are slowing down before they get to 184th, but not all. (Many thanks to the 6,000 citizens petitioning to eliminate red-light cameras.)

According to a Public Works planner, “the $30,000+ radar sign” wasn't just installed for traffic calming for the 184th intersection. The city required the sign as a condition for the project's approval.  This controversial 9-lot residential development was called “Avondale Crest.” (re-named Avondale Villas.) City Council approved the plat (6-1, Allen) after an appeal was defeated 4-3. 

Two project defects delayed permitting and is holding up the sale of Avondale Crest (Villas): Read More >>

Redmond High PTSA Co-Presidents give KUDOS for school's community volunteerism

We all need help sometimes...

By Jan LaFond and Shelley Flores, Co-Presidents, RHS PTSA

We like to think of Redmond High as not only a great school for learning, but also an important member of a larger caring community. Our students, staff and volunteers actively support community organizations that help others and contribute to the greater good.  Read More >>

Riders took Metro buses to near record numbers in 2011 as economy strengthens

Rapid Ride B

Transit ridership in King County roars back as economy strengthens

Riders took Metro buses in near record numbers in 2011

A growing economy combined with improved transportation services to better meet the needs of riders led to a nearly 3 percent boost in Metro Transit ridership in 2011. In all, about 370,000 people hopped aboard a Metro bus each weekday for a total of nearly 113 million rides.

“A near-record number of people are experiencing first-hand the benefits of taking the bus, and I look forward to even more commuters getting on board with transit as the economy comes back,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine.

2011 was a big year for Metro. Ridership climbed to levels not seen since 2008, when employment was at its peak. Transit ridership even outstripped job growth by more than one percentage point, which suggests that more people are using transit to get to more places.

“With gas prices on the rise and more RapidRide lines coming later this year, we expect to see transit demand strengthen even further in the weeks and months to come,” Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond said.  Read More >>

"The Claw" By John Reinke

"The Claw" 

How do you explain this? 

(View Comments)

Social Skills and Anti-bullying Techniques

from the desk of Julie Shalaby, Chair LW-PTSA Special Needs Group...

"Social Skills and Anti-bullying Techniques"

Presented by Ben Wahl, MSW

LWSD Resource Building

Tuesday, February 28th, 7 - 9 p.m.

This Presentation will explore the ways in which social skills instruction can help special needs students from elementary school to young adult. Special consideration will be given to topics such as anti-bullying techniques,teaching flexibility and emotion regulation, building perspective-taking and preparing students for the young adult transition.

Ben Wahl has spent thousands of hours facilitating groups and working individually with students on these issues. The presentation will cover some of the unique lessons that Ben has learned from his group members. Students tell us what they need as they progress socially, they are just not always great at expressing it.  Read More >>

Evergreen's Superintendent and CEO Bob Malte invited to WA State Hospital Association Board

Bob Malte

WA State Hospital Association invites Evergreen Healthcare CEO Bob Malte to its board of directors, effective January 1, 2012.

SEATTLE - December 27, 2011– The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) today announced that it recently welcomed Evergreen Healthcare Superintendent and CEO Bob Malte as an incoming member of the WSHA board of directors.

The WSHA represents 97 community hospitals in Washington State, including Evergreen, Overlake, Swedish, V. Mason, University Medical Center, rural hospitals and many others.

During his one-year term, Malte will contribute his leadership and executive healthcare administration experience to advancing WSHA’s mission to improve the health of Washington state residents by ensuring the delivery, quality, accessibility, affordability and continuity of health care.  Malte’s term in the position of AHA alternate delegate is effective January 1, 2012. 

"Bob's experience, leadership style, and focus on quality, patient safety and service to patients and the community makes him an invaluable addition to our board," said Scott Bond, WSHA CEO. "I look forward to working with him to improve healthcare in Washington state over the coming year."  Read More >>

Ecology and other agencies respond to oil spill on SR 520

Thin coating - a sheen - of oil on water

Oil spill on SR 520 flows into storm drains that empty into Creek.

Oil is toxic to the environment and the damage starts as soon as the oil hits water. A single quart of oil has the potential to foul more than 100,000 gallons of water.

Washington Department of Ecology news
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Feb. 22, 2012
12-062
   
 Ecology and other agencies responding to oil spill on SR 520
     
      BELLEVUE - The state Department of Ecology is on the scene of a traffic accident on westbound SR 520 west of I-405 in Bellevue to respond to fuel spills from one or more of the vehicles involved.  Ecology is cooperating with other agencies responding at the scene.  Read More >>

Tree Sock Art at Anderson Park

Tree Sock Art in Anderson Park

This Tree Sock Art in Anderson Park adds color and excitement on a dreary day.  The question is, how far will the Arts Commission go?    They started off by yarning small trees behind City Hall and from there it's taken off.  The City of Sammamish stitched sock art around topped, dead trees in the corner of a busy intersection. I'm not sure why they'd want to add attention to topped trees.  This art looks pretty good in live park trees.

What do you think?

By Bob Yoder
IPhone

Hiding in Plain Sight: The Snoqualamie River Channel

Here is an interesting article that is not related to schools, but I wanted to write it while the horse show tents are up at Marymoor Park.  It turns out that the photos don't capture what the eye sees, but once you know what you're looking for, you wonder why you didn't see it sooner. - Susan Wilkins

SNOQUALMIE CHANNEL CUT INTO HILLSIDE ABOVE MARYMOOR PARK
(note the arrow in the sky marking the channel )

 HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE SNOQUALMIE RIVER CHANNEL 

The tents for the Cavalia Horse Show at Marymoor Park give us a good reference point for finding the ancient Snoqualmie River Channel. During the last Ice Age when the continental glacier from the north blocked the Snoqualmie Valley and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, water melting off the glaciers and out of the Cascade Mountains flowed over the large hill between the Snoqualmie Valley and Bear Creek Valley east of Redmond. We can see the channel if we look at the horizon to the right of the Cavalia Tents where the hillside appears to have a large bite taken out if it. This is what’s left of the ancient Snoqualmie River Channel.

At the time that the channel was in use, about 15,000 years ago, the downtown Redmond, Bear Creek and Sammamish Valley basins were filled by a great lake called Glacial Lake Russell. Lake Russell filled Puget Sound from the Olympics to the Cascades and all the way south to Olympia near the State Capitol Building. The surface elevation of Lake Russell was at 160 feet above sea level. The bottom of the Snoqualmie Channel that we see cut into the hillside hangs in the air at 160 feet above sea level because that is where the Snoqualmie River flowed into Lake Russell.

J. Harlen Bretz, the famous geologist who discovered the Missoula Floods in eastern Washington, visited Redmond in the early 1900s and recognized that the Snoqualmie River had once flowed across the hillside from the east and into the Sammamish Valley. He wrote about the Glacial Snoqualmie River in his 1913 classic, Glaciation of the Puget Sound Region.

Next time you drive down SR520 into Redmond, look for the Snoqualmie River. It’s up there, hiding in plain sight.

By Susan Wilkins
Redmond resident & frequent contributor
Photo by Wilkins

City road constuction contractors overlook stormwater treatment

This is the first report in a series on road construction, road conditions in the city...

The City of Redmond requires developers and their contractors to install fabric filters in and around project storm drains, to keep silt and pollutants from entering into stormwater lines. Stormwater treatment is important because it all eventually drains into our creeks and rivers and ultimately into Puget Sound.  City  inspectors or the contractor may repair this in the near future.  It's ironic the construction project involves building a stormwater trunk-line under the road.

Unprotected 166th AVE NE storm drain in Redmond covered
 with asphalt spilling from a temporary curb. 2/18/12 

Correct Method:  Storm drain is protected with filter cloth
 and the stormwater is treated.
  (Milwaukee, WI)

Asphalt is a thick brownish or black substance derived from the same crude oil which produces kerosene, gasoline and vinyl. It is literally scraped from the bottom of the barrel after all other petroleum-based products have been refined or processed.  Petroleum products are pollutants.

The city announces in their RCTV-21, website, twitter and AM 1650 storm reports to do your part to keep our storm drains clear of leaves and debris.  For city action on road or drain problems please write council@redmond.gov for help.    

Reported and photographed by Bob Yoder
Photo of fabric grate from Internet (Wisconsin)

LETTER: Education Hill Shooting - What can we do?

The city is hosting a neighborhood meeting on Thursday evening, March 1, 6:30 p.m., Redmond City Hall.  Your questions and needs for public safety funding will be addressed.  425-556-2415

Paige with grandchildren

LETTER:  I live in what used to be a quiet family neighborhood. Kids played in the street, parents walked their kids to school, walked their dogs, chatted on street corners and waved hello as they passed. We knew the cars that belonged and the cars that didn’t. We watched out for neighbors and strangers and each other.

All those things still happen on a daily basis around here: kids and parents slide down a hill during snow storms, neighbors take each other dinner or call to check in, strange cars are noted, unknown faces are searched and memorized. But there’s an edge to all of it now. Our innocence has been lost, thrown away, departed.

Our quiet family street with children and pets and an occasional coyote or raccoon has transformed into an ongoing episode of COPS: Redmond. Car prowls and thefts; speeding cars with loud engines and louder music at all hours of the day and night, Police and aid cars at least once a month, and now, a gunshot and a fatality in our once peaceful neighborhood. Lives and peace and trust and families shattered.

A non-resident owner, underage inhabitants and visitors and questionable activities have taken place months, even years now. Neighbors have called regarding thefts, car break-ins and suspicious activities. What can we do?  Read More >>