Examiner The Whidbey
First-place winner, 2014 WNPA General Excellence
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www.whidbeyexaminer.com
Thursday, June 11, 2015
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Departing coach’s impact lives on
VOL. 20, NO. 44
New planner aiming for better service By Megan Hansen Co-Editor
Every town planner has a specific area he or she is passionate about. For new Coupeville Town Planner Tammy Baraconi, her passion lies with historic preservation. So when an opening was advertised in the town Baraconi often visited on vacation, she jumped on it. “This is a second career for me,” Baraconi said. “I used to work in banking.” Baraconi said she left the banking industry after it moved in a direction she wasn’t comfortable with. She went back to school and got a new degree in planning. She spent eight years at the City of Centralia, working her way up. “I got to the point where I had gone as far as I could with that job,” she said. “I’ve always loved Coupeville. I’m excited to be
See Planner, page 2
Meter error nets schools $103K bill By Ron Newberry Staff Reporter
It’s not everyday that you receive an electric bill for more than $100,000. Fortunately for Denise Mehal, business manager for the Coupeville School District, the bill didn’t come as a complete surprise. The school year might be ending this week in Coupeville, but it will still be a few months until the school district gets caught up paying about $103,000 it owes Puget Sound Energy for roughly eight months of electricity usage. Puget Sound Energy and the Coupeville School District have agreed to a threemonth installment plan to pay off the debt that PSE admits was caused by “human error” on its part when a usage meter to the high school and middle school was inadvertently removed from the company’s billing system, said Akiko Oda, PSE’s media engagement program manager. That mistake occurred in August. Yet it wasn’t until seven months later — in
See Bill, page 16
Ron Newberry photo
Wynter Thorne, left, and Kacie Kiel congratulate each other Friday night during the commencement ceremony for Coupeville High School’s Class of 2015 graduates in the high school gymnasium. Thorne was the last of the 60 graduates to leave the gym following the ceremony.
Coupeville bids seniors adieu
By Ron Newberry Staff Reporter
Wynter Thorne didn’t want the evening to end. Clutching a bouquet of roses, Thorne was the last of 60 Coupeville High School graduates to leave the gymnasium last Friday night as she savored every last moment. “It doesn’t sink in until you’re walking out the door with everything in your hand and you’re saying goodbye to your friends,” Thorne said, her voice trembling. “That’s when it hit.” Thorne and others who are part of Coupeville’s 115th graduating class called the experience of leaving high school for the final time “surreal” with the sense that life would never be quite the same again. “It’s hard leaving this community behind, but I guess you never really leave it behind because you carry it with you,” said McKayla Bailey, who’s headed to Central Washington University. Bailey, whose family on Central Whidbey runs several generations deep, was involved in one tearful embrace after another after senior class president Amanda Hoesman-Foley took the microphone and announced to her classmates that they were now graduates. Not everyone threw their caps into the air in celebration. The focus was more on congratulating each other and sharing laughs,
tears and plenty of hugs. A large number of Coupeville’s small class has never attended another school district. “It’s going to be weird not having all these guys around,” said Aaron Trumbull, who’s bound for Olympic College in Bremerton, where he’ll continue his baseball career. “We’ve got probably 40 kids that I’ve grown up with since kindergarten. It’s going to be weird not being able to see those guys every day. I think that’s what I’m going to miss the most.” Outgoing principal Larry Walsh congratulated the graduating class and introduced Hoesman-Foley, the first of four valedictorians with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages to address the crowded gym. The other valedictorians were Erin Rosenkranz, Michael Kelly and Kylie Burdge, who also delivered a song with Trumbull and Isaac Vargas strumming guitars. Marisa Etzell gave the salutatorian address. Ron Bagby and Patsi Waller spoke on
behalf of the faculty. Waller shared how living with purpose, having a grateful heart and laughter are key traits to getting the most out of life. “Our purpose is to live a life of integrity and of authenticity,” Waller said. “This can be done regardless of your occupation or standing. My classroom motto this year is on a little plaque I found that says, ‘Believe there is good in the world.’ The words, ‘be the good’ are highlighted. Isn’t that it? Be the good.” School board president Chris Chan and vice president Glenda Merwine awarded diplomas to students. An exception was made when Superintendent Jim Shank was allowed to hand a diploma to his son Matthew. “I’m privileged to have the opportunity to get my diploma from my dad,” said Matthew, who has been accepted to the University of Utah, where he will study pre-medicine.
See Graduation, page 2