Reflection contest winners announced
The Reflections Program is a National PTA and Washington State PTA cultural arts competition. The purpose of this program is to provide an opportunity for students to use their creative talents by expressing themselves through their own original works.
Each year, Reflections challenges students to create art that supports a specific theme.
Themes are selected from thousands of ideas submitted by students to National PTA’s Reflections Theme Search.
The 2014-15 Reflections theme is: “The world would be a better place if…”
Students could submit an entry in any of six arts areas: visual arts, photography, literature, music composition, dance choreography and film production.
The MIHS PTA Council Reflections Awards and art show is between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Performing Arts Center at Mercer Island High School.
French American School begins 20th anniversary celebrations
The French American School of Puget Sound kicked off its 20th anniversary last week with a day-long retrospective Open House. Festivities included a 30-foot long wall timeline, a display of class photos, drama and musical performances, photos and videos from the past 20 years.
The school began in 1995 in the basement of a church in Bellevue with just 13 students. It moved to its current location next to the Stroum Jewish Community Center in 1999, into what was the old Mercer Island Fire Station. In 2004, the school conducted a capital campaign to design and build the first floor of the current school, and in 2008 a second story was added.
FASPS is now at almost full capacity with 423 students. The school recently purchased a 2.1 acre lot behind the SJCC, but no development plans have been announced yet.
The school plans to continue the celebration at their annual Gala on March 28th and again at a special Winter Ball for parents and students in December. For more, visit www.FASPS.org
Shroff wins Geography Bee at West Mercer
Sam Shroff, a fifth grader at West Mercer Elementary School, won the school’s competition of the National Geographic Bee on Jan. 22, 2015, and a chance at a $50,000 college scholarship. The school bee, at which 41 fourth and fifth grade students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 27th annual National Geographic Bee.
Thousands of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories are participating in the 2015 Bee. The school champions, including Shroff, will take a written test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to compete in their state Bee on March 27, 2015.
The National Geographic Society will provide an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., for state winners to participate in the Bee national championship rounds in May. The first- place national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, and a trip to the Galápagos Islands.
Everyone can test their geography knowledge with the GeoBee Challenge, an online geography quiz at www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee, which poses 10 new questions a day.
