Examiner The Whidbey
First-place winner, 2014 WNPA General Excellence
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Beloved Coupeville artist’s work heading to Seattle Page 3
www.whidbeyexaminer.com
Thursday, February 5, 2015
VOL. 20, NO. 26
lucky No.13
Coupeville moving to full-time kindergarten
By Jim Waller Staff Reporter
Coupeville Schools plan to offer full-time kindergarten next school year. Superintendent Jim Shank said the district had been looking at how it could fund full-day kindergarten on its own without waiting on the state. Currently, state legislators are funding some full-day programs, but priority funding goes to schools that have a high percentage of free and reduced lunch students. “At the rate they’re going, who knows when we’d be able to get that done,” Shank said. So starting next year, the district will use
Lady Wolves earn league championship
Thirteen is an unlucky number for some. For the Coupeville High School girls basketball team, it is a turning point. For the first time in 13 years, the Wolves won a league championship. Coupeville clinched the title with a 51-32 win over visiting Klahowya Friday. After years of struggling against larger schools in the Cascade Conference, Coupeville switched to the Olympic League this school year to face schools of similar size. The results for the basketball team were immediate as the Wolves dominated play in their new four-team league. Heading into this week, the Wolves were 6-0 in conference play, winning by an average of 23 points. “What an exciting and great accomplishment for the team,” coach David King said after his team clinched the title. “I’m very proud of the effort all season long, players putting team first over individual stats,” King added. “This is a team that is determined to play hard for 32 minutes and never give in or up.” One of the team’s preseason goals was to win the conference championship, King said, but there is more to accomplish. “That is just the first step on where we want to get to as a team,” King said. “(We want) to play well the remainder of the season and carry that over to district play and all the way to state.” Two games remain on the league schedule, then the Wolves head to the district tournament as the Olympic League’s top seed. At district, the Wolves, who sport a 12-5 season record, will meet the winner of the game between the third-place Olympic League team (currently Port Townsend) and the second-place Nisqually League team (currently Seattle Christian, which is 13-4). The game will be played at Sumner High School at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16. Win or lose, Coupeville will play again Wednesday,
By Megan Hansen Co-Editor
See Kindergarten, page 12
Sailor trying to return historic boat to cove By Janis Reid Staff Reporter
John Fisken photo
Makana Stone scores two of her game-high 23 points in the Wolves’ win over Klahowya Friday. With the win, Coupeville clinched its first league championship since 2002. Feb. 18, in Sumner. The top two teams from district qualify for the state tournament. The final time fans will get a chance to watch the Wolves at home is at 5:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, when Coupeville hosts Chimacum in the next to last Olympic League game.
It was love at first sight for Mark Saia. And stepping onto the historic 90-year-old boat Suva, built in 1925 for the Pratt family of Whidbey Island, felt like coming come to him. “Now it’s a quest,” said Saia, whose family owns the Coupeville Inn. “I would love to bring her home.” Currently docked in Port Townsend, the boat will make an appearance at Coupeville’s Mussel Fest in March in efforts to raise money to purchase and renovate the schooner. The boat’s current owner, Lloyd Baldwin of Coupeville, is completely “on board” with the project and looks forward to seeing the boat restored and shared with generations to come.
See Return, page 2