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Maureen Wilson
Blakely teacher is ‘Educator of the Year’ The Bainbridge Island Kiwanis Club has selected Maureen Wilson, a fourth-grade teacher at Captain Johnston Blakely Elementary School, as its 2014 “Educator of the Year.” This annual award program honors an educator who has made extraordinary efforts toward improving the education of Bainbridge Island children. Besides recognition, the award includes a $500 check to the honoree, and an additional $500 to the winner’s school. Wilson is the sixth recipient of this annual award. Kiwanis Club president Doug Burns will present the award to Wilson at the club’s breakfast meeting on Wednesday, June 18. Community members are invited to attend the 7 a.m. event, which will be held at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church located at 1187 Wyatt Way. “Blakely Principal Reese Ande, numerous parents, former students and several teachers nominated Wilson for this honor,” Burns said. “The many specific comments made about her superior teaching ability, outstanding classroom management and committed relationship with her students make her a truly worthy recipient of this year’s award.” It is also significant that 18 parents wrote individual nominating letters. One parent said, “Ms. Wilson does not accept mediocrity. She has high expectations for all her students. She gives her students enough credit to be honest with them, and provides them specific suggestions on what they can do better. Not all teachers do this.” Another parent said: “Maureen Wilson is a once-ina-lifetime teacher who is an inspiration to the children as well as to her co-workers. She has been teaching for almost 40 years, but her enthusiasm and motivation to move herself and her students forward has only gained momentum over the years.” “Ms. Wilson’s ability to creatively adapt curriculum into a lesson that engages and inspires children is rare and special,” Blakely Principal Reese Ande said in his nomination letter. “There is no ceiling for her students, no limits on what they
Friday, June 13, 2014 • Bainbridge Island Review
Team thanks supporters for new boats can accomplish, and no idea too big to explore.” Wilson’s fellow teachers also heaped praise on this year’s top educator. “She constantly strives to bring into her classroom the best for her students,” a teaching colleague of Wilson said. “This may be new technology, projects, mentors, games, books or whatever is needed to keep her students interested and engaged in learning. She also was the teacher of both of my sons who are now in high school. For both of them Maureen Wilson was hands down their favorite elementary teacher.” Wilson was raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado and received her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado. She received her master’s degree at the University of Oregon and has taught for 38 years, 23 of those at Blakely Elementary. The Educator of the Year selection committee once again had several outstanding people to choose from this year, and Burns encourages community members to nominate a worthy teacher in the future.
Alexander Grega
Bainbridge sailor serves aboard USS Cole Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alexander V. Grega, a 2009 Bainbridge Island High School graduate from Bainbridge Island, is serving on one of the world’s most advanced warships, the Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Cole. Grega is a fire controlman aboard the Norfolk-based ship. Grega said he is proud of the work he is doing as part of the Cole’s 270 plus-member crew, protecting America on the world’s oceans. “When it comes down to it though, the best part of my job would actually be being able to launch a missile. When it happens it is like we actually finally did something with all the years of training and practice,” Grega said. “No matter how short it takes, it may be a 10-minute campaign task where we launch five missiles and that’s all I do in my career, it is exactly what we train for,” he added. “Our task is the most gratifying when we do it because the chances
Photo courtesy of Christine Brown
The Bainbridge High School sailing team gathered at the Waterfront Community Center to thank individuals and organizations for a successful campaign to purchase eight new Flying Junior sailboats. President of Friends of Bainbridge Island High School Sailing Craig Juckniess opened the festivities, which included presentations by Jay Kinney, chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District, John DeMeyer, team advisor and Park District Recreation Services Director, Head Coach Susan Kaseler, and team Co-Captain Connor Juckniess. Following the speeches and cake, festivities moved out to the driveway, where Captain Bob Schoonmaker led the crowd in a traditional boat-naming ceremony. Major contributors to the campaign Ethan Stahl, the Greason/Mulhern Family, the Challinor Family, the Bainbridge High School Sailing Team, and Louis Burzycki were honored with naming rights and selected a representative to christen the boats with sparkling water.
of us doing it are few and far between.” The men and women that make up the ship’s company keep all parts of the destroyer running smoothly — this includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to handling weaponry and maintaining the gas turbine systems. “I guess the most challenging thing would be maintaining your systems, maintaining your equipment, maintaining yourself, your space, and maintaining your level of knowledge for your job,” Grega said. “With our job we have multiple fleets we can be in, multiple different doctrines we have to read, study, and make sure we know all the specifics.” The Cole is an Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer and one of 62 destroyers in the Navy. On Oct. 12, 2000 al-Qaida attacked the Cole in a suicide mission while the Cole was refueling in Aden, Yemen. The ship has many reminders onboard of that attack including a hallway that has 17 permanent stars embedded in the floor. The attack ripped a 40-by-60 foot hole in the port side of the ship near the crew’s dining and mess facility. Seventeen sailors lost their lives and another 37 sailors were injured during the attack. The attack is not something sailors dwell on, however. “In all honesty the only time I think about the history of the ship is when we explain it to people,” Grega said. “Day to day
we are the history right now, I mean there are specific events like the Cole bombing and all the other campaign tasking that we have done that makes up the entire history of the ship, but I can’t speak for what that was like. This is where I work this is my job this is my family and this is my home.” The Cole is named in honor of Marine Sgt. Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner who was killed in action during World War II. The ship is scheduled to deploy later this year.
Schneider awarded degree from Pomona Kyle Alexander Schneider of Bainbridge Island has graduated from Pomona College with a bachelor of arts degree in Politics and a minor in Economics. The College’s 121st Commencement Exercises were held on May 18, 2014. Schneider was vice president of the Pomona Student Union and graduated cum laude. He is a graduate of Bainbridge High School, and the son of Mark and Susanne Schneider of Bainbridge Island.
Peck earns place on dean’s list at Baylor Stephanie Elizabeth Peck has earned academic accolades at Baylor University. The Bainbridge Island native was one of nearly 3,300 Baylor University students who were named to the dean’s academic honor list for the 2014 spring
semester. To be named to the dean’s list, a student must be an undergraduate with a minimum grade point average of 3.7, while enrolled in a minimum of 12 semester hours. Peck is a student in the university’s Hankamer School of Business. Located in Waco, Texas, Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked liberal arts institution that is classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Glanzrock receives academic honors Isaac L. Glanzrock of Bainbridge Island has been recognized by Northeastern University for academic achievement. Glanzrock, a Northeastern University student majoring in business administration, was recently named to the university’s dean’s list for the spring semester, which ended in May 2014. To achieve the dean’s list distinction, students must carry a full program of at least four courses, have a quality point average of 3.5 or greater out of a possible 4.0 and carry no single grade lower than a C- during the course of their college career. Each student receives a letter of commendation and congratulation from their college dean.