REPORTER
Mercer Island
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
A new dragon to awaken
Friendly dragon
MIHS Homecoming parade and game The Mercer Island High School Homecoming parade and football game is set for this Friday evening, Sept. 20. The parade, featuring the MIHS marching band, cheerleaders and class floats, begins at 4:30 p.m. from the corner of 77th Avenue at S.E. 32nd Street in the Town Center. The Islanders take on the Lake Washington ‘Kangs’ at the Homecoming football game at 7 p.m. at Islander Stadium.
Original artist found to breathe new life into children’s icon at park By Rebecca Mar
rmar@mi-reporter.com
‘Up with People’ The 100-member international cast of the youth leadership organization, ‘Up with People,’ will perform on Sept. 29 at McCaw Hall in Seattle. The organization, founded in 1965, is a nonprofit dedicated to youth, education and international understanding. For information and tickets, go to www.upwithpeople.org.
Blood Drive at MI Presbyterian Church The Mercer Island Presbyterian Church at 3605 84th Ave. S.E. will hold its annual blood drive for the Puget Sound Blood Center between 1 and 7 p.m., next Wednesday, Sept. 25. Appointments are preferred but walk-ins are welcome. Call Bob Sims, MIPC Blood Drive coordinator, at 232-4770.
Friends of the Library book sale The Mercer Island Friends of the Library are holding their biggest book sale of the year, featuring thousands of great books as well as movies and CDs, from Thursday, Sept. 26, until Sunday, Sept. 29, during library hours at the Mercer Island Library.
A new but still playful dragon will take up residence at Deane’s Children’s Park in October. Mercer Island city employees searched for and found the original artist, who is creating the new reptile.
Home-school families are few but dedicated
Home-schooled children often attend some public school By Rebecca Mar
rmar@mi-reporter.com
School for the Baklinski sisters, Helena and Anna, starts at 9 or 9:30 a.m., usually with language arts. The subject is then alternated with math, science, history and other activities. But, they don’t leave home to do so. Their mother, Veronika Baklinski, home-schools two of her seven children full-time. The eldest, Cyprian, is 10; then there is Helena, 9; Anna, 8; Eva, 6; Thaddeus, 5; Basil, 3; and Alexander, 1. Cyprian started attending West Mercer Elementary this year. He
Benson
Wong
12 while she was growing up on Mercer Island. “I loved it. I really enjoyed being able to pursue my interests, being able to glean what my parents were passionate about,” Baklinski said. . According to the 2012-13 was ready to launch and be in “Home-Based Enrollment Report” a bigger space, Baklinski said. released by the Washington state Three of the younger children Office of the Superintendent of attend a Montessori school and Public Instruction, a total of 20 the kids attend a language school Mercer Island families were homeschooling their every other weekend, children. Thirty steeped in Hungarian Mercer Island stuculture and heritage. dents were home“We really embrace schooled last year, the method of teachand eight students ing where you’re attended public using every teaching schools here partmoment throughout time. the day,” Baklinski As of Monday, said. “Fostering the Veronika Baklinski 28 home-schooled relationship between students were regmyself and the child is really key to me ... to be present istered with the Mercer Island during the day and to be doing School District. Families had until that formation of their person, and Sept. 15 to file their declaration helping them to strive for excel- of intent with their local school district. The numbers are higher lence.” Baklinski was home-schooled Home-School | Page 10 from kindergarten through grade
“Fostering the relationship between myself and the child is key to me.”
for Mercer Island City Council Position 6
electbensonwong.com
A new dragon is coming to Deane’s Children’s Park. The same artist who created the first dragon in 1965 is working on a replacement. His name is Kenton Pies, and he now lives in Montana. He is 81. “It actually took a lot of online research and digging to find people originally involved in the project, as we could no longer read the name of the artist on the signature that is on the dragon,” said Amber Britton, the arts and events coordinator for the City of Mercer Island. The city did not own the park at the time of the dragon’s installation, and no records of the project
DRagon | Page 14
Read the full paper online Mercer IslandREPORTER www.mi-reporter.com
MI | THIS WEEK
Wednesday, Wednesday, September March 20, 18, 2013 | 75¢
Green Edition
www.mi-reporter.com
e er to Shap h t e g o T g in Work Follow Benson Future the Island’s on Paid for by Friends of Benson Wong, P.O. Box 325, Mercer Island, WA 98040