Ninnis named to Hall of Fame
Clover Park High School head basketball coach Mel Ninnis was recently selected for the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame.
Ninnis has worked in the district since 1984 and has served as Clover Park High school's head basketball coach since 1995 with a win/loss record of 339 and 175. His teams have made it to the playoffs each year but two. Under his leadership, Clover Park High School has 14 league and district boys' basketball championships, six state appearances and one state championship in 2011.
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Ninnis has coached at Clover Park High School for 21 years, leading the boys' basketball team to a state championship in 2011. |
"This honor is the result of years of consistently building kids up, holding them to high expectations, believing in their potential and pouring more sweat and tears into them than one man should possess," said Clover Park High School principal Tim Stults.
Ninnis and other Hall of Fame inductees with be celebrated at a banquet in July 2017.
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City of Lakewood news
Council Officially Recognizes Lakewood Community Foundation Fund
On Nov. 7, 2016, the Lakewood City Council unanimously approved a resolution officially recognizing the vital role and public purpose of the Lakewood Community Foundation Fund.
The Lakewood Community Foundation Fund - a donor-advised fund of The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation - was formed as a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization by the Lakewood Rotary Club and Clover Park Rotary Club to address critical needs in Lakewood and to serve Lakewood residents more directly.
The two Rotary clubs wanted to be more Lakewoodoriented in their charitable efforts, and all the money raised benefits Lakewood organizations and citizens.
The Foundation's goal is to establish a $1 million endowment in order to fund projects and scholarships to benefit children, families and charities in Lakewood. The $1 million endowment should generate $50,000 or more each year for grants to deserving students and charities that work to meet the needs of Lakewood's low-income population.
To date, the Foundation has made more than $94,000 in community grants, $25,000 in student scholarships, and facilitated more the $300,000 in specific community projects.
The Foundation Fund is governed by a nine-member board of volunteer directors: three from Lakewood Rotary Club, three from Clover Park Rotary Club and three community representatives.
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"What you do now matters," said Clover Park High School assistant principal Matthew Fiteny to a group of Lochburn Middle School students.
That's the message administrators and counselors from Clover Park and Lakes High School hope eighth grade students and their parents take from Middle School Counts seminars held at Hudtloff, Lochburn, Mann and Woodbrook Middle Schools this fall.
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Hudtloff Middle School counselor Jen Salstrom talks to Hudtloff eighth graders about applying for scholarships.
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Clover Park High School counselor Jennifer Dixon and Fiteny made appearances at the seminar at Lochburn Middle School last month. Both encouraged students to show up, get involved and reach out to counselors, teachers or administrators to work through issues that might get in the way of their success.
Daffodil princesses lead by example
Lakes Daffodil Princess Christine Lew and Clover Park Daffodil Princess Vilma Alvarado Garcia are both excellent students, and are dedicated to their volunteer work and extracurricular activities. |
Lakes and Clover Park High Schools have selected two outstanding students from a pool of exceptional candidates as their Daffodil Princesses. Lakes senior Christine Lew and Clover Park senior Vilma Alvarado Garcia will represent their schools and the Lakewood community as part of the 2017 Daffodil Festival. |
Lew has maintained a 3.98 GPA throughout the past three years while taking Advanced Placement (AP) language and calculus classes. She has served as her senior class president, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) president and National Honor Society vice president for two years. She was a member of the cross country team for one year, and the softball team for three years. Lew's favorite extracurricular activity is drama. She says her fondest memory and greatest achievement has been spending every waking moment for four months writing, managing, directing and producing a full-length adaptation of "The Princess Bride." Lew has accumulated more than 150 hours of community service. She is also fluent in American Sign Language. She wishes to pursue a career in foreign language studies or journalism.
Garcia has earned a GPA of 3.63. She is a recipient of a Palmer Scholarship and was the algebra II and biology student of the year. Garcia has participated in the Latino/Latina Educational Achievement Program conference for three years, meeting with state legislators to discuss the educational opportunities for students in the Hispanic community. She serves as the vice wing commander of Unit WA-931 and is also on the cross country team. Outside of school, Garcia volunteers as a mentor to students at Tyee Park and Park Lodge Elementary Schools. She is active in her church, serving as a first communion teacher and a member of the youth choir.
Lew and Garcia will compete for the title of Queen of the Daffodil Festival in spring 2017.
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Clover Park High School assistant principal Matthew Fiteny and counselor Jennifer Dixon meet with eighth graders at Lochburn Middle School. |
At Hudtloff Middle School, school counselors Sandra Hughes and Jen Salstrom, Lakes High School counselor Michael Warren and Lakes principal Kären Mauer-Smith spoke to students and parents on topics ranging from athletics to Advanced placement classes.
"Middle School Counts supports parents and students by providing information they need to make the transition to high school successful," stated Mauer-Smith.
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The district currently has three high school options: Clover Park High School, Harrison Preparatory Academy (grades 6-12) and Lakes High School. Students who wish to attend a school outside their neighborhood attendance boundary must apply for a waiver, a process counselors reviewed at the seminars.
Lake Louise Elementary finds superheroes at bus stops
Not all superheroes wear capes - in fact, some wear pajamas as they wait with their children at early morning school bus stops. Just ask Lake Louise Elementary staff. "Lake Louise Elementary's bus stop heroes are making a big difference in their children's day - and contributing to their overall success in school-by ensuring their child makes it onto the bus safely and on time," says Lake Louise family involvement coordinator Miriam Webb.
Webb and partners from the district's transportation and student services departments launched the Bus Parent Appreciation (BPA) program this fall, recognizing guardians waiting with their children by surprising them with chocolate bars. The chocolate bars have a custom label with superhero graphics that say, "Our volunteers are super!"
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Lake Louise parents make sure their students get on the school bus on time and safely.
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Everyone appreciates being recognized for the things they do, however big or small," said Webb. "We want to show these parents, grandparents and neighbors that we are grateful for their support in keeping their children and other students safe while waiting at the bus stop. The reaction from the adults has been very positive, and the students love it too. I have heard lots of students say to me, 'I saw you at my bus stop today!'"
BPA is one component of a larger districtwide focus on family engagement. Lake Louise and other schools in the district adopted the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) model from John Hopkins University in 2010 to develop and maintain programs that are intended to increase involvement.
"NNPS gives us great guidelines to organize and sustain family involvement. We ask each school, 'What is one issue we can work on together to increase family engagement?' then work with them to develop a plan within the framework set by the action team for partnerships committee. So far we've seen great success, and BPA is just one of these initiatives," said district family and community partnership coordinator Holly Bocchi.
The next step in Lake Louise's bus safety plan is to reward students for good bus behavior. Bus drivers keep track of students' conduct throughout the year, and students on the bus with the best overall score will get free tickets to a Rainiers game.
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Lakes High School students considering a future in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers have found ample opportunity to explore their options through local military partnerships, including a school visit from the US Army's robotics team and a new cyber security club affiliated with the US Air Force.
The US Army STEM - Interactive Robotics Demonstration Team visited Lakes, giving students the chance to watch live demonstrations, manipulate robots through controllers and talk with the robotics team about how the army develops and utilizes STEM in its many career paths.
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Lt. Col. Allen Patty observes Lakes High School sophomore Nikolai Guido and senior Dahyun Seo watching a tutorial to prepare them for CyberPatriot's upcoming competition. |
Another exciting opportunity for students is the JROTC CyberPatriot team. Started by Lakes' new JROTC advisor Lt. Col. Allen Patty, Ph.D this fall, the team currently has six members, all JROTC cadets.
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The US Army's Interactive Robotics Demonstration Team visited Lakes High School. Students operated robots and learned more about the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers available in the military. |
The Lakes team is a chapter of the national CyberPatriot program started by the Air Force in 2005. CyberPatriot teams at elementary, middle and high school levels learn cyber security tactics, then compete at regional, state and national levels in all-day workshops, tackling simulated cyber security threats. In 2015, 3,379 teams from across the country competed.
There are 20 CyberPatriot high school teams in Washington state.
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Patty thinks the club will provide a great experience for JROTC students exploring STEM career options. "Developing the ability to understand systems and solve problems quickly in a stressful environment is great experience for the type of challenges students will face later in high-tech careers," Patty stated.
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