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A hands-on adventure at Labs’ Open House page 9
Editorial
What would life be like without art? Without your help, elementary school kids just might find out page 7
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Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, May 16, 2012 Vol. 105 Issue 20
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Telephone terror hits close to home Caller identifies unwitting victims by name By Cali Bagby
Islands’ Sounder Reporter
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Friday Harbor High School instructor Greg Sawyer discusses life in the rural south of the 1960s with his U.S. History Advanced Placement Class.
FHHS rated 9th in state AP classes help kids get ahead, earns top ranking for FHHS By Steve Wehrly
Hard classes and even tougher tests pay off for Friday Harbor High School students who take the challenge of enrolling in advance placement classes. The payoff? For students, college admission and college credit. For teachers, school and the community, national recognition as the ninth best school in Washington state (out of 626), and 317th in the nation (out of 22,000). U.S. News and World Report issued its “best high schools” report this week. The International School in Bellevue ranked number one in Washington and number
nine nationally. Orcas High School also placed well, 15th statewide and 571st nationally. Principal Fred Woods credits the high school’s eight AP-certified teachers and parents who encourage their children to challenge themselves with AP courses. But many deserve praise, he said. “This recognition also reflects the work of all the teachers in grade school, middle school and high school who work hard to develop the students to the point they can succeed in AP coursework,” Woods said. Rick Thompson, superintendent of San Juan Island School District, is more than pleased by the rankings. “Fantastic, exciting,” he said. “A tribute to the leadership and commitment of the staff, and well-deserved recognition for all the students. Guidance counselor Gordy Waite seconded Woods.
“Two-thirds of the student body take one or more AP classes before they graduate,” he said. “If they didn’t work so hard on these very difficult courses, if they didn’t pass the tests, none of this would happen.” One result of this dedication: most Friday Harbor High graduates go on to college, and more than 90 percent continue their education after graduation. Waite said AP classes “are important if not required for college-bound students.” Any student can choose to take an AP class, but Waite points out that either a counselor or the teacher must approve—and one or the other will tell a student how much work the class is and how difficult the test is. “Very few kids don’t complete their chosen AP classes,” he said. See FHHS, Page 4
The phone ringing at midnight often conjures up worstcase scenarios, like death or a family emergency. Lately, on San Juan and Orcas Island residents have had a sinister experience waiting on the other line when the lights go out. Since the end of April, the San Juan County Sheriff ’s Office has taken 20 calls reporting sexually explicit telephone calls in the middle of the night by a man from a restricted or private number, who speaks to his female victims by their name. “That is really scary,” said Anita Castle, director of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of the San Juan Islands. “You feel like someone is watching you and it instills fear.” Frequent phone calls can be one of many methods stalkers use to harass their victim, and according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one out of four victims report being stalked through the use of technology, including email or instant messaging. Castle said video cameras and GPS systems are also used sometimes to track a victim. But San Juan County Sheriff Rob Nou said the recent rash of obscene phone calls is not characteristic of stalking because the same woman has not been contacted repeatedly. He declined to comment further on the specifics of the case because it is an open investigation. In general, reports of stalk-
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
ings on the islands aren’t common, said Nou, and are usually tied to a domestic issue such as a breakup, when “one party can’t let it go.” According to Bureau of Justice Statistics three in four stalking victims are stalked by someone they know, and 30 percent are stalked by a current or former intimate partner. But stalkings on the islands could be more frequent than that those reported to the police; 59 percent of stalking victims do not report the harassment, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics. One of the reasons stalkings go unreported may be a misunderstanding by the public. “Many don’t think of stalking See CALLS, Page 4
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