Reporter Central Kitsap
Warm coats
Kids get new coats thanks to firefighters
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2014 | Vol. 29, No. 17 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
‘Mad Scientists’ take over school gym BY SERAINE PAGE SPAGE@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
Leslie Kelly/staff photo
Jamie Ninemire, 15, participates in a MLK service day clearing ivy from an area near the Clear Creek Trail.
Day of Service draws big crowd BY LESLIE KELLY
LKELLY@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
It wasn’t exactly how Jamie Baker and Ahnalee Smestad thought they’d be spending their day off from school. But once they got there and got to work, they were glad they came. “I’m having fun,” said Baker, 15. “I like being out
and being able to help our community.” Smestad agreed. “This is a great idea,” she said. “It’s much better for us and the community than staying home and watching TV.” The two, both 9th-graders at Fairview Junior High, SEE MLK DAY, A9
There’s no better way to prepare for a science fair than to practice, practice, practice. On Jan. 16 during Family Night, the Silver Ridge Elementary gymnasium turned science lab for students allowed for early experimentation for the upcoming science fair. “I think it’s a good education piece because it’s leading up to the Washington State Science Fair,” said Dawn Thompson, family night chairperson. “It’s our goal to get the kids to participate at the school and at the district and state level. We’re hoping to produce the next Albert Einstein.” Students were invited to participate in at least four labs with the incentive of a cupcake after completion. For the overly curious, two additional labs were available. Parents and students crowded around every table to learn something from the ‘mad scientist’ teachers in white lab coats. Each had a parent assistant to help along the way. “Wanna play with some germs?” one parent volunteer asked. Immediately, every student at the table stuck out their hands for a squirt of lotion. After rolling their hands in glitter, which acted as “germs,” students were given various ways to rid of it, including baby wipes. Ultimately, students were sent off to scrub their hands
Seraine Page/ staff photo
Teachers Georgann Swanberg and Julie Dammarell react to a student’s excitement over static electricity. The pair acted as “mad scientists” and used balloons to teach students about static electricity during a science event at Silver Ridge Elementary School last week. with soap and water for 20 seconds. Lesson learned? Clean hands keep germs and sickness away. Jonah Jellison, 9, enjoyed inflating balloons with baking soda and vinegar. “I really enjoyed that,” he said. When asked why he thought science was important, Jellison remarked, “so we can do cool things like go to the moon.” Thinking about the experiments of the night, Jellison said discovering
new things was exciting for him. “Being able to discover new things and do experiments — even if they go wrong — you can still have fun with them most of the time,” he said. He wasn’t alone in his observation. Through trial and error, students discover new ways of doing experiments and doing them better, said fourth grade teacher Julie Dammarell.
“I love it,” she said. “They try and persevere to get it to work.” Dammarell worked with students on learning about static electricity by rubbing balloons against their heads, wool and other textured items. She even learned a thing or two from students, she said. “I think what else is really cool is we have whole families coming out and learnSEE MAD SCIENCE, A9
Fire district wants ‘No Man’s Land’ payments BY LESLIE KELLY LKELLY@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
They refer to it as “no man’s land.” And it includes about 100 properties that are within the boundaries of the Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue District, but to date have not been assessed fire
and emergency medical services taxes on their annual property tax bill. Following approval by its board of commissioners last week, the district is sending letters to owners of these properties asking them to voluntarily pay those taxes or risk being assessed the full costs of any services
they receive from CKFR. According to CKFR spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi, the properties in question are in the district’s boundaries but have never been legally incorporated into the district, or any other fire district. Because of that oversight, the property owners have not been
paying the fire and EMS taxes that other Central Kitsap property owners pay. Consideration of what to do about these properties has been a discussion for the board of commissioners since 2010, according to Sound Publishing archives. Now, the board has passed a policy that these property
owned need to pay the fees — $1.50 for every $1,000 of assessed property value for fire services and 50 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value for EMS services. By mid week, LiMarzi said about eight letters had been sent out and the district had heard back from three of those property
owners who elected to pay their fare share. No one has rejected the offer so far. At the last commissioner’s meeting, Chief Scott Weninger told the board that the district is researching the properties that are affected and will be mailSEE FIRE DISTRICT, A9