Derek Franklin reaches out to the Mercer Island community as the administrative and professional services manager and project director at Mercer Island Youth and Family Services.
Middle school is a tough time of life. Tweens are experiencing growing pains both physically and emotionally, stuck in that in-between place of childhood and the launch into high school and beyond.
Pending sales in January on Mercer Island were up by a whopping 60 percent over last year, per the latest statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Thirty-two homes went under contract last month, compared to 20 in January 2010.
Cameron Brousseau, a 2003 graduate of Mercer Island High School, started playing trumpet when he was 10 years old. He continued to play trumpet until he was 14 and admits he was really, really bad at it. Then he discovered percussion in his sophomore year and that was it.
Pharmacist Rehab Salama had just returned to the United States from an extended visit to see her family in Alexandria, Egypt, when the revolution began. It was her first visit to her home country in seven years.
Remember when everyone used to take French or Spanish? Those languages are still available at Mercer Island High School, but classes in Chinese Mandarin are the new rage.
The Mercer Island Youth and Family Services “Giving From the Heart Breakfast” on Wednesday morning was a big success with approximately 500 people in attendance.
If you are a regular patron of the Mercer Island Library, which is part of the King County Library Services, you’ve probably noticed that it feels roomier. Gone is the hulking reference desk and the popular “Choice Reads” island that used to block traffic as you enter the library.
Students from kindergarten to seniors in high school had the opportunity to express themselves through art — and to be recognized through the annual PTA-sponsored “Reflections” Art contest for Washington state public school students.
Students at Lakeridge Elementary School are making international friends this week. As a part of the Northwest International Student Exchange, a dozen fourth and fifth-grade students from Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China, are in a week-long immersion program.
Support coordinator for NWISE, Lara Clark, said the smaller class size, paired with the globalization agenda at Lakeridge, are two of the reasons she contacted the school to participate in the program.
Anne Rosellini, a 1987 graduate of Mercer Island High School, is “one-third elated, one-third horrified and one-third nervous” about being nominated for two Academy Awards. Rosellini and her co-producer, Alix Madigan-Yorkin, are nominated in the Best Picture category for their film, “Winter’s Bone.” Rosellini and Debra Granik, who is the film’s director, are nominated for best adapted screenplay.
The nominee is a member of the well-known Rosellini family of Washington state.
All the schools in the Mercer Island School District have reached or exceeded capacity. With little or no hope of funding from the state of Washington or the federal government, the district is going to have to get creative on how to move forward and accommodate the growing number of students expected in the long-term.
Where are you from? Originally from Mitchellsburg, Kentucky. I’ve been in Washington since 1976. I live in Edmonds.
How did you end up working at Islander Middle School? My neighbor in Edmonds was the former head custodian at Islander. He retired — I began as a substitute in 1984 and became the lead custodian in 1991.
How did you come to be in this line of work?
