The following Bellingham School District students and teacher recently received state honors:
Students Recognized in Washington State PTA Reflections Contest
Carl Cozier Elementary School second grader Elijah Forslof, Whatcom Middle School sixth grader Izzi Roberts and eighth grader Austin Carney have been awarded for the artwork they each entered in the 2008 Washington State PTA Reflections contest. The PTA Reflections contest is an arts recognition and achievement program that allows students from preschool through 12th grade to submit works of art from six areas including dance/choreography, film/video, literature, musical composition, photography and visual arts. Forslof won "Outstanding Interpretation" in the Photography Primary Division for his photo entitled "Feeding the Homeless." Roberts won the ‘Award of Excellence' in the Photography Middle/Junior Division for her photo called "Helping Wild Animals." Carney won "Outstanding Interpretation" in the Musical Composition Middle/Junior Division for his song called "I lend a helping hand." Their entries now move on to compete at the national level.
Students Awarded with WAVE Scholarships
Squalicum High School senior Ryan Ewing, Bellingham High School senior Tyler Tse and Sehome High School senior Douglas Hembree have earned the 2008 Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE) scholarship. Each student received recognition for a different area of study. Ewing was recognized for Web site design, Tse for design engineering and Hembree for computer programming. The program rewards students each year who excel in career and technical education by paying undergraduate educational tuition for two years at any accredited public or private college or university.
Highly Capable Learners' Program Students, Teacher Awarded in State Science Contest
Students from Alderwood, Birchwood, Carl Cozier, Geneva, Lowell and Happy Valley Elementary School in the Highly Capable Learners' (HCL) Program won top honors at the 2008 Washington State Science and Engineering Contest in Bremerton. Sixteen students each placed in the top three award levels, and a few students were also awarded with specific business or educational recognition:
- Alderwood: Lucy Sun, Kevin Sun
- Birchwood: Megan Hardy , Josee Kender, Kira Smith
- Carl Cozier: Mohammed Umar Nadeem
- Geneva: Miranda and Gus Danielson
- Lowell: Kate Cunningham, Liam Watts, Ken Brown, Lizzie Crandall, Jeff Nestor, Tadeusz Pforte, Lizzie Friesen
- Happy Valley: Brent Schroeter
As a team, the group of students was awarded "School of the Year" and "Excellence in Scientific and Engineering Achievement for grades 4 through 6." The contest judged students on the visual representation of their experiment and their ability to verbally communicate their understanding of the experiment and the results. Students were given six months to work on a science fair project that required them to formulate a hypothesis, perform multiple tests of the experimental design and keep a journal to record the results of their tests. Each student then created a three-dimensional project board to illustrate their findings. On March 3, students practiced presenting and explaining their results to a parent audience in Bellingham.
Jan Resick, a teacher for the HCL program, said that participating in the contest gives students a chance to use their skills from all areas of the curriculum.
"This is something I'd really like to encourage all teachers to do," Resick said. "It gives students a chance to research, write, design and give an oral presentation all on a project of their choosing, so there's more enthusiasm involved."
Resick received the award for "Mary Haviland Science Teacher of the Year." The award is presented each year at the event to the outstanding science teacher from one of the participating schools. Resick said she felt thrilled to receive the award.
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