MISD board to meet with legislators
The Mercer Island School District Board of Directors will host a meeting with local legislators to discuss upcoming issues facing the state and school district.
The meeting, which will take place at 4 p.m. on Dec. 17 in the board room at the district’s main office, will feature Senator Fred Jarrett and Representatives Judy Clibborn and Marcie Maxwell. The gathering will take place prior to the district’s regularly scheduled School Board meeting.
Scheduled for 5:35 p.m., following the meeting with state legislators, new School Board member Dave Myerson will be sworn into office.
The district will then host a work and deliberation session to discuss board goals and assessment indicators for the district. The board members also plan to recognize the high school girls swim team, boys water polo team and the girls soccer team for their top finishes at the 2009 fall state tournaments.
For a full copy of the board’s agenda, visit www.misd.k12.wa.us/board/agenda.
High school debate team competes at Auburn Invitational
The Mercer Island High School debate team had a strong showing at the Auburn Valley Invitational during the first weekend in December, ending the event with a 38-8 record across the various debate divisions.
After the first round, six of MIHS’s eight teams advanced to the next round. Steven Adler won the tournament in the Open Lincoln-Douglas debate category, winning six rounds in the preliminary events before taking four elimination rounds. He earned a bid to the Tournament of Champions and a second state bid.
Lizzie Tao had a 5-1 record in the preliminaries and finished fifth overall for a bid into the state tournament. Nick Blanchette was 5-0 in the novice Lincoln-Douglas category preliminaries and took third in the category at the finals. Matt Wang won the first speaker award in the novice Lincoln-Douglas category.
The team of Stephanie Permut and Sean Ghods in the Open Policy category won the event after going undefeated in the preliminaries and winning three straight rounds in the quarterfinals. The second MIHS team of Steven Rowe and Patrick Fong was 5-1 in the preliminaries and finished fifth overall.
Gabe Tse and Zoe Pearl, who competed as a team in the open public forum category, won the tournament after going 5-1 in the preliminaries.
Twelve MISD teachers earn National Board certification
Twelve teachers in the Mercer Island School District recently earned their National Board Certification, a program which analyzes individual teachers against the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Fewer than four percent of teachers in the nation have earned this certification. Currently, there are 32 teachers in the district who have been certified, equaling 13.2 percent of the overall teaching staff.
The teachers who have earned the honor are split evenly between Mercer Island High School and Islander Middle School. From MIHS, Jamie Cooke, Clay Laughary, Creighton Laughary, Karen Sherwood, Kate Yoder and Eric Ayrault were awarded their certification, while Maria Fontana, Lynn Frickey, Bruce Harrington, Melissa Ralph, Karen Schaps and Jessica Steinle from Islander Middle School earned their certification.
Michael Aguilera, a teacher at Lakeridge Elementary, completed the Take One Program, an opening step to the National Board Certification process in which the teacher submits one classroom-based video recording portfolio entry. Teachers completing the National Board process must submit a total of four portfolio entries demonstrating student and classroom work.
Teachers who participate in the process, which can take up to three years to complete in full, receive assistance from the Mercer Island Schools Foundation, through tuition reimbursement for classes on the program.
Childhaven/MIHS gift drive needs support
Mercer Island High School’s annual gift drive for Childhaven, put on by the student club Students Against Violence, is running a little low this year, according to the group’s advisor, Marlene Liranzo.
The drive has been a part of the school’s December activities for at least the last eight years, Liranzo said, and usually district staff and students are extremely generous with gifts for the children, but for whatever reason, she said, this year has been slower than most.
“It’s always been very successful, but this year we’re running a little low on gifts,” said Liranzo. “Last year, we had over 500 gifts that staff and the kids gave.”
Childhaven is an organization for children from infants through 5 years old who may be neglected or abused by their families. The group strives to provide therapy, social interaction and support so that those children can grow to be happy and healthy, while also providing education and support to caregivers and parents, according to their Web site.
“These little kids are at the mercy of the adults in their lives,” said Liranzo. She added that she and co-organizer Rebecca Milliman, of the Harborview Children’s Response Center, are a little panicky that they won’t have many gifts to give.
“Anything’s appreciated,” said Liranzo. “They can be wrapped, unwrapped, we’re not fussy. We just want to be able to give something.”
Students, staff and community members are encouraged to take a tag off the large MI logo in the high school’s main lobby. Each tag is listed with a child’s age and gender, and Liranzo said gifts can be anything from shoes and clothes to books and small toys. The gifts will be collected on Dec. 16, prior to MIHS’s winter break.
For more information, contact the high school at (206) 236-3345.
