The Issaquah Press
SCHOOLS
Page B8
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Chain reaction of compassion
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First Columbine shooting victim’s message of kindness lives on By Tim Pfarr Issaquah Press reporter
Flutist wins award Issaquah Middle School student Elizabeth Moore won the merit-based Frances Walton Youth Music Scholarship from the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra. Moore received the $100 award March 6. Conductor Sandy Saathoff honored one musician from each division who best exemplified the qualities of the orchestra. The award is named for Frances Walton, a former music teacher in the Issaquah School District.
One day in a busy high school lunchroom, a new student sat down at an almost full table. Those at the table rudely cleared out as the new girl sat, prompting Rachel Scott — who sat at a different table — to approach and join the new student for lunch. That was one of the many ways Rachel reached out to others with compassion and kindness. She challenged others to do the same and surprise themselves with the results, which could include a chain reaction of compassion, she said. When she was 17, Rachel was killed in the April 1999 Columbine High School shootings near Littleton, Colo. She was the first to be shot that day, and although her death was untimely, her message
Summer computer camp registration open
Supporting your child’s social development
Current fourth- and fifthgraders can register for Summer Computer Camp. Students will learn how to use a camera, how to film correctly and how to transfer video to a computer. They will learn the fundamentals of video production and editing, and how to use still pictures and video to make a movie on a DVD. Summer Computer Camp runs weekdays from 9:30-11:30 a.m. July 11 to July 22 at Clark Elementary School, 500 Second Ave. S.E. Tuition for the two-week program is $225 and applications are available in school offices and on the school district website. Go to www.issaquah.wednet.edu, choose “academics,” select “programs” and then click on “summer school.”
Parents are invited to a free parenting lecture about “Friends and Frienemies: The Love/Hate Relationships that Form Our Youth” from 7-8:30 p.m. April 26 at Cougar Ridge Elementary School, 4630 167th Ave. S.E., Bellevue. Laura Doerflinger, mental health therapist and executive director of the Parent Education Group, will discuss how parents can encourage the best social experiences for their children.
Resisting raising children who feel entitled How should parents manage children who automatically think they should have every new electronic game? What are strategies to tame their desire for instant gratification and feelings of entitlement? How can parents teach responsibility and accountability? The community is invited to see noted author and parent educator Jan Faull talk about raising responsible children from 7-8:30 p.m. April 18 at Sunset Elementary School, 4229 W. Lake Sammamish Parkway S.E., Bellevue. The PTSA-sponsored event is free and no registration is required.
School district summer school registration opens Students can get a jump-start on their studies this summer at Elementary Summer School, an Issaquah School District program for first- through fifth-graders. Classes, which cost $375, are held weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon July 5-29 at Clark Elementary School, 500 Second Ave. S.E. Summer school teachers will use GLAD training — Guided Language Acquisition Design — a strategy of teaching that appeals to all students, especially English language learners. Summer school subjects include language arts, content-area reading and math. Classrooms are limited to 22 students, and students on free and reduced-price lunch may be eligible for partial scholarships if money is available. Download scholarship and registration forms at www.issaquah.wednet.edu. Go to “academics,” “programs” and then “summer school.”
of kindness lives on. This message graced the students at Liberty High School March 8, when Rachel’s father, Darrell Scott, visited the school for an Rachel Scott assembly. For an hour, Scott — who founded the nonprofit organization Rachel’s Challenge — told students, teachers and visitors about who his daughter was, what she believed in and how she impacted the lives of those around her. Scott also read excerpts from Rachel’s journals, showed photos of his family and screened videos containing interviews and footage from the day of the shootings. Rachel had been shot while eating lunch in the grass outside the school. She had a journal in her backpack at the time, and a bullet hole pierced her words. That and other stories brought tears to attendees’ eyes. “It was above my expectations,” said Chris Turner, a senior. “I didn’t think it was going to be as
BY TIM PFARR
Darrell Scott asks Liberty High School students at an assembly March 8 to raise a hand if they lost a loved one recently.
ON THE WEB Learn more about Rachel Scott and her message at www.rachelschallenge.org.
emotional as it was.” However, the assembly focused more on Rachel’s life than her death, and Scott asked Liberty students to partake in her challenge of compassion. As part of the challenge, he asked them to look for the best in others, dream big, write goals, keep a journal, choose positive influences and use kind words. “Your words can heal and your words can hurt,” Scott said. “Let
It’s not easy being ‘green’ Kermit the Frog knows that “it’s not easy being green.” Though his challenge to accept himself is a little different from that of the challenge to be environmentally “green,” he can definitely sympathize with those of us who are struggling with this color. Being “green” is not as easy as it sounds. Sure “reduce, reuse, recycle” is a great jingle, but it is not that simple. There are many nationwide rules regarding what can and cannot be recycled and composted, most of which are unknown to the majority of citizens. Such guidelines only further complicate the situation. Many people seem to have gotten stuck in the struggles of how to be green. In the lunchroom at Liberty, people constantly approach the trash can, the recycling bin and the compost bin with their waste and, not knowing what belongs where, end up throwing everything into the trash. Similarly, in classrooms, an easily accessible trash can can encourage students to throw away their recyclables instead of
Hall Monitor By Shayna Waldbaum Liberty High School finding the far off recycling bin. However, knowing the basics and making that extra effort to be “green” can really make a difference. The state Department of Ecology published an article that said that the 6.8 million tons of recycled material collected in 2008, “saved energy equivalent to about 1 billion gallons of gasoline … or about a third of all energy used by Washington businesses annually.” Collecting all of this material for recycling prevented it from just being sent to a landfill. Although landfills can work to produce usable energy, they are still garbage dumps that take up valuable land
Celebrating
Why Do Smart Kids Struggle?
that can be used for more beneficial purposes. The more land we use for our landfills, the less land we can use for places like neighborhoods and parks. In 2008, the department also stated that 45 percent of Washington residents were recycling. In order to continue to increase this percentage and decrease waste, we all need to step up to the challenge and embrace the responsibility of being “green” individuals, thus creating a “green” community and a “green” nation. Whether it means sorting out compostables and recyclables at lunch or making that extra trek across the classroom to get to the recycling bin, the little extra energy given with each action and choice can make a huge difference. In the end, Kermit decided that, “green can be cool and friendly-like, and green can be big like an ocean or important like a mountain … And I think it’s what I want to be.” So, take Kermit’s example: Be cool, be friendly-like, be big, be important and be “green.”
the Rocky Mountains this year. Camera crews from KING-5 news — with whom the organization had partnered — were on hand to tape the presentation, interview students after the assembly and gather footage for an upcoming television special about the nonprofit. Liberty Associated Student Body Activity Coordinator and Dean of Students Michelle Munson worked with representatives from Rachel’s Challenge for several months to bring one of its many speakers to the school. “I just wanted to strengthen the Liberty community,” she said. She hoped to have a speaker attend the school’s Martin Luther King Jr. assembly in January, but it fell through, she said. Weeks later, she received a call from Rachel’s Challenge representatives who told her Scott wanted to personally speak at the school and bring camera crews with him. “It was a chain reaction on some level,” Munson said. “I thought, ‘That just amped it up a notch.’ I knew it would be powerful.” She said she was moved by the presentation, and that a presentation from such an influential speaker is sure to help students understand that they can make a difference. Liberty ASB President Lauren Bay and Vice President Jordan Thompson said Scott’s presentation was incredibly moving. Thompson said he hopes to work with Rachel’s Challenge at some point in the future, and Bay said she expects the message of compassion to have lasting effects on the student body. “I think it’s going to keep going at Liberty,” she said. The school held meetings March 29 during lunch, during which students brought their lunches with them into the auditorium to discuss their feelings about and reactions to the March 8 assembly. Tim Pfarr: 392-6434, ext. 239, or newcas@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
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them be words of healing, not hurt.” For the final part of the challenge, he asked students to tell seven to 10 of their closest loved ones how much they mean to them. He said to do that sometime in the following three days. He asked students to raise their hands if they wanted to participate, and hundreds of arms shot into the air throughout the gym. Students treated Scott to a standing ovation after the assembly, and many took the opportunity to shake hands with or hug the man who lost his daughter almost 12 years ago. “They’re a great group of students,” Scott said. “I know I connected with them.” Liberty was the only school Scott will visit on the west side of
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