It’s been a while since we posted Beacon Bits, so we’ve got some catching up to do. With no further ado, here goes!
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Beacon Hill International Elementary School will have a new principal in the fall of 2011. The current principal, Dr. Susie Murphy, is retiring and will be replaced by Kelly Aramaki, currently the principal at John Stanford International School (JSIS). While at JSIS last year, Aramaki won the $25,000 Milken Educator Award, given to promising young educators. (See this article by BHB news partners The Seattle Times for more information.) For the last two years, JSIS was named as a “School of Distinction” by the State Office of the Superintendent, an honor to mark schools that score in the top five percent on standardized math and reading tests.
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Bounce your way down to Jefferson Community Center on Friday, April 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for Bounce Fest! The event promises a family fun event with bounce toys, jumping games, double dutch and more. Admission is $2 per child. Jefferson Community Center is located at 3801 Beacon Avenue South.
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Speaking of festivals, plan ahead for El Centro de la Raza’s Sixth Annual Cinco de Mayo Celebration, to be held on Thursday, May 5 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at El Centro, 2524 16th Avenue South. The event will include traditional Mexican foods for sale, children’s activities, arts and crafts from local vendors, a health and services fair, and dance and musical performances. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed. For more information, call 206-957-4649 or email events@elcentrodelaraza.org.
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Don’t forget, the Beacon Hill Festival still needs volunteers!
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Beacon Hill artists are among those participating in Artists For Japan, an art sale to benefit relief efforts in Japan. The sale is on Saturday, March 26 from 12 noon to 8 p.m., and again on Sunday, March 27 from 12 noon until 5 p.m. All artwork has been donated, no commissions are being paid, and all event costs are donated. All funds raised will be donated directly to the International Red Cross.
The benefit sale is just down the hill at KOBO at HIGO, 604 South Jackson Street.
For more information including a list of participating artists, see the website. (Thanks to Beacon Hill artist Elizabeth Jameson for sending us the heads-up on this one, and for helping to organize the event.)
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Your opinions are wanted! Seattle Parks and Recreation is planning for the future by updating the Parks and Recreation Development Plan. Part of this process is identifying what should be prioritized, with the input of park users. To do this, the department is holding meetings, and hosting an online survey to get your opinions.
Mea culpa, we missed that there was a meeting right here on Beacon Hill on Wednesday. But there is another, in the North End, next Wednesday evening at Bitter Lake Community Center, 13035 Linden Avenue North. For more information about the meeting and an overview of the process, see the website.
Even if you can’t get to a meeting, fill out the survey here.
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Did you notice that the Seattle Public Library will now let you pay your fines and fees online?
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VintageSeattle.org recently did their own “past and present” photo post about the current Fire Station #13, our 1928 landmark station near Jefferson Park. It’s a nice parallel to the post we did last fall about the previous incarnation of Fire Station #13.
We also wanted to mention a nice post from the SDOT Blog last month, about the new northwest extension to the Chief Sealth Trail.
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El Centro de la Raza is offering Spanish classes again from April 12 until June 9. Classes are taught by professional native Spanish speakers in an
interactive community-based setting. Class fee is $300, and class sessions will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. For information, call 206-957-4605 or email execasst@elcentrodelaraza.org.
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Last, a nice and neighborly story from Jessica De Barros we’ve been meaning to post since last month:
Just wanted to share a good BH neighbor story—this morning I accidentally left my bank card in the BofA cash machine on Beacon Ave, and returned from a long day of skiing to a Facebook message from John at Kabayan Karinderya (the Filipino restaurant across from Valero) that he’d found my card. I was able to walk just a few blocks to get it from a good neighbor! Kudos to John and Kabayan Karinderya for being such great BH neighbors.
