Category Archives: Education

Education

Denise Louie Education Center receives literacy grant

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Photo courtesy of Denise Louie Education Center.
Denise Louie Education Center (DLEC) recently received a $2,000 grant from the Target Foundation to help instill a love of reading in the children the organization serves at sites on Beacon Hill, in the International District, and in Rainier Beach/Lake Washington.

The funds from the grant will allow DLEC to purchase books for their Raising a Reader Program, a national program that gets families engaged in daily reading through parent training and rotating book bags that children check out each week.

The Raising a Reader program encourages daily “book cuddling,” described by DLEC as follows: “Parents follow the child’s lead and either read or invent a story using the pictures from the book. That way, a book can be shared regardless of the parent’s language or literacy level. Parents learn how to use prediction, open-ended, and leading questions to engage their children. By the end of the program, families sign up for a library card so they can continue with daily reading which will help their children become proficient readers and successful students.”

The Beacon Hill branch of DLEC is located at 3327 Beacon Ave. S. in North Beacon Hill. For more information about the organization, visit the website.

Arts, Education, Recreation

Pottery classes start soon at JCC

These cute pottery critters were made by students in a previous class at Jefferson Community Center. Photo courtesy of Molly Hueffed.
Jefferson Community Center is offering pottery classes this summer in the skills of wheel throwing and handbuilding. The classes will include basic understanding and techniques of centering and throwing, as well as advanced 1-on-1 instruction.

Classes begin as early as next week, and enrollment is open now. Call 206-684-7481 for more information and to register, or register online by going to this website, clicking “Arts: Visual/Crafts,” and then “Pottery – Adult/Teen.” Classes are listed there for all community centers.

Education

Open computer lab time next Thursday at Mercer MS

The YMCA of Greater Seattle will offer open computer lab time at Asa Mercer Middle School on the first Thursday of the next two months (May 5 and June 2) from 5:30-7 p.m. YMCA technology instructors will be there to answer technology and internet questions and help with online tasks. All community members are welcome to attend. Mercer Middle School is located at 1600 Columbian Way S.

Education, Local Events

Learn about e-books at Beacon Hill Library events

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The Beacon Hill Library is hosting two events in the next few weeks where you can find out more about digital audiobooks or e-books.

The first event, from 1:30-3 p.m. on May 2, is a class to demonstrate how to search for, check out, and download audiobooks from the library using the OverDrive digital book service. Registration is required for this class; please contact the library at 206-684-4711 to register and find out more information.

On May 21, the library is also hosting a drop-in Digital Book Roadshow that will give an overview of e-books, demonstrate how to transfer digital books to portable devices, and let you test drive various e-book readers. The presentation on e-books and readers starts at 3 p.m., followed by an informal Q&A session and test drive until 4 p.m.

Both the May 2 class and the May 21 roadshow are free and open to all. The Beacon Hill Library is located at 2821 Beacon Avenue South.

An assortment of e-readers. Photo by edvvc via Creative Commons.
Education

Parent leadership workshops coming to SE Seattle schools

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The Southeast Parent Leadership Project is a series of workshops intended to train parents from Southeast Seattle elementary and middle schools to be “informed school partners and advocates.” Through the project, South End parents will be able to connect them with other parents across schools and culture groups, and learn to use leadership skills and tools to support community schools. Topics of the workshops include: learning styles, parents as partners, giving voice to education experiences, understanding standards and school data, asking the right questions, action, and comprehensive school improvement planning.

 Parents who participate in this training will be encouraged to support ongoing school improvement in the Aki Kurose/Asa Mercer Middle School feeder pattern assignment schools. The project is organized by Community & Parents for Public Schools (CPPS), and funded by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Matching Fund Program, and the Hands-On Network.

The two-day workshops will take place on the following dates:

  • May 6-7, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.: Aki Kurose Middle School, for Aki Kurose assignment pattern schools (Aki Kurose, Graham Hill, Wing Luke, Martin Luther King Jr., Dunlap, Emerson, Rainier View, South Shore)
  • May 21-22, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.: Asa Mercer Middle School, for Mercer assignment pattern schools (Mercer, Beacon Hill International, Maple, Kimball, Hawthorne, Dearborn Park, Van Asselt, Orca)

 
For more information or to sign up, contact Amber Banks, CPPS Project Director, at amberbanks@mac.com, or Stephanie Jones, CPPS Executive Director, at stephaniej@cppsofseattle.org.

Education, Volunteering and Giving

BHIS needs Chinook Book coupons

Beacon Hill International School has a request for help from local parents and neighbors:

Dear Neighbors who have Chinook Books,

The last page of this year’s Chinook Book has 4 Metro bus coupons. If you don’t plan to use yours, please consider mailing them to:

Nancy Fujimoto
Beacon Hill Int’l School
2025 14th Ave S
Seattle, WA 98144

Our Volunteer Coordinator, Nancy, will give them to low income families who bring their kids to school early to do tutoring. For some families, even the cost of bus fare is a hardship and we want to support their educational efforts as much as possible. Thank you in advance for your consideration!

Allison Delong
BHIS PTA President 2010/2011

Education, Local Events

Add to your library at Cleveland book fair

Photo by Emily Carlin via Creative Commons.
This week you can add to your book collection at the Cleveland High School library, where they are having a book fair in conjunction with Secret Garden Bookstore on April 13-15. For every three books sold, Secret Garden will donate one book to the CHS library.

The sale is open to the community at any time during the open hours of 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily (the fair is open until 5 p.m. on Friday). Cash, check, and credit cards are accepted.

Cleveland High School is located at 5511 15th Ave. S.

Education

Mercer MS wins Washington Achievement Award

Walkway at Mercer Middle School. Photo by Wendi.
Beacon Hill’s Asa Mercer Middle School is one of thirteen Seattle Public Schools to be honored for winning a Washington Achievement Award. Mercer’s award is in the category of Overall Excellence; the school was also recognized last year.

Schools are selected for the award based on their statewide assessment data for the three previous years, and awards are given for overall excellence as well as for special recognition in language arts, math, science, graduation rate, improvement, and closing achievement gaps.

The award ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27, at Lincoln High School, 701 S. 37th St, Tacoma.

Other Seattle schools honored include AS#1, Catharine Blaine K-8, Bryant Elementary, Concord International School, Frantz Coe Elementary, John Hay Elementary, Home School Resource Center, Loyal Heights Elementary, McGilvra Elementary, Mercer Middle School, Montlake Elementary, NOVA, and Schmitz Park Elementary.

(Ed. — Article corrected from earlier version which had the wrong number of schools listed.)

Education

Van Asselt’s “Extreme Readers” competing for city championship

The “Extreme Readers” reading team from Van Asselt Elementary School is among 10 teams of fourth- and fifth-graders who are competing in the city final of the 2011 Global Reading Challenge on March 29. The winning team from this event will face teams from Fraser Valley, BC and Coquitlam, BC in a video conference final at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 15.

More than 2,500 fourth- and fifth- graders from more than 40 Seattle Public Schools studied 10 books to prepare for the Challenge. Along with Van Asselt, schools represented in the city finals include Adams, B.F. Day, Bryant, Concord International, John Muir, Roxhill, Sanislo, Thurgood Marshall, and View Ridge.

The city final event is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 29 at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Avenue, in the Microsoft Auditorium on Level 1. It is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m. Parking is available in the Central Library garage for $5 after 5 p.m.