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BUSINESS | County executives speaks about making region more attractive to businesses [8]
VOL. 17, NO. 9
MIRROR
F E D E R A L WAY
DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
OPINION | Jarvis: $2 million question for city officials [6] Roegner: City should put money where mouth is [6] COMMUNITY | Father honored as Unsung Hero selected as Citizen of the Month [10] POLICE | Man in leprechaun hat pees in public, shocks customers [23]
Literacy | Reading tips for FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015 | 75¢ parents, book picks [11-21]
MR. FEDERAL WAY | Q&A: The buzz about editorial boards and politics [28]
Decatur students grow veggies for community gardens Gables, Camelot and Olympic View elementary schools; Lakota Middle School; and Truman and Thomas Jefn an unseasonably warm ferson high schools. February day at Decatur High These gardens are under the School, agricultural sciences umbrella of the Federal Way Comteacher Dan Tedor’s class roams the munity Gardens Foundation, a expansive greenhouse watering the nonprofit organization, founded flowers and also the different varieties in August 2008 by Mike and Carol of vegetables that will soon be transStanley. The couple was inspired to planted to the Federal Way Commuplant an organic garden at the Federal nity Gardens. Way Senior Center that would feed Tedor said students have started low-income seniors, particularly those more than 200 varieties of vegetables at the SHAG housing from tomatoes, to letand those served by tuce, to Swiss chard, the Meals-on-Wheels to Walla Walla sweet program. Mike onions. Stanley designed the “[The students] will garden in the spirit transplant the vegetable of gardens he and his starts to the gardens in wife saw on their trip early March and will to England. show community memToday, these garbers how to grow them,” dens provide produce Tedor explained. “Stufor countless needy dents will teach [senior families, the homeless citizens] how to plant and seniors. the vegetables and use “The mission of them in salads. Students the Federal Way will volunteer in the Taylor Howard, 17, waters the Community Gardens summer to harvest the plants on Monday in Decatur High Foundation is to vegetables and deliver School’s large greenhouse. grow, teach and give them to the food bank ANDREW FICKES, the Mirror to the community and senior center.” by building a city of Tedor said students beautiful, productive will receive community service credits gardens,” Tedor said. “This matches to go toward their high school gradua- up with the Decatur High School agrition requirements. culture sciences program because one The gardens that the vegetable starts of the goals is to produce educated will be delivered to earlier next month citizens out of our program. comprise Enterprise, Nautilus, Green [ more GARDEN, page 9 ] BY ANDREW FICKES
For the Mirror
O
Eagles soar to regionals
Ferron Flavors, a wing for Federal Way High School’s basketball team, jumps to score during the district championship game on Saturday at Puyallup High School. For the full story, as well as more sports coverage of other sports, see pages 4-5. DENNIS BOX, for the Mirror
Bus business gives ‘shout outs’ to special needs kids, draws national attention BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@fedwaymirror.com
One year ago, Erick Vandersnick learned just how important his quirky bus videos were to a 5-yearold boy across the country. Erick Vandersnick has
made YouTube videos for Northwest Bus Sales in Federal Way for two-and-a-half years. The videos are usually of lot or bus tours that show the various features and mechanics of the buses they sell and lease. In general, the videos help sales, Northwest Bus Sales owner Russ Vandersnick said. But the sales tactic became so much more
when he got an email from a mother. “There was a gal back East, just outside of Boston, and she’s got this autistic son named Xander and the kid’s just really into buses,” Erick Vandersnick said. “He’d look up buses on YouTube and every night when she came home she’d see Xander watching videos I had done.” Heather Magan said her
son Xander was simply drawn to how school buses work, their features and nearly everything about them. “He was watching the same four videos over and over,” Magan recalled. “I sent an email and told [Erick] my son really loved his videos.” Although Xander was diagnosed with autism — [ more BUS, page 3 ]
Xander Magan, 6, with a school bus. Contributed photo
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