ESC Kids' Art Contest winner Anne Wilhite with Burien City Councilmember Joan McGilton.

The Environmental Science Center (ESC) on Thursday (Feb. 9) announced the winners of the Earth Day Kids’ Art Contest:

Congratulations go out to Anne Wilhite of Mr. Matthews’ 4th grade class at Marvista Elementary for winning the Grand Prize:

Payton May of Mrs. Barker’s class, also Marvista Elementary, was selected as a Finalist:

Ngan Nguyen of Ms. Miller’s 6th grade class at Cedarhurst Elementary also won as a Finalist:

A total of 103 pieces of artwork were submitted from eight schools and programs in the areas served by ESC. Students were asked to submit work that inspired others to take care of the earth. The work was judged by three jury members, two from the Burien Arts Commission. Judging criteria included artistic merit, creativity, and originality. Ms. Wilhite’s art expressed what the world could look like if we all do our part to protect the environment. Ms. May’s more literal artwork reminds the viewers to THINK of important actions, such as commuting and composting, that will provide a greener place for us all. Ms. Nguyen’s art inspires people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to take part in protecting the world.

To give special recognition to the Grand Prize winner, the former Mayor of Burien, Joan McGilton presented the award to Anne in front of her class. After the ceremony, students eagerly waited to have a chance to talk with the former Mayor and to shake her hand. ESC sincerely thanks McGilton for her continued support of ESC and our local schools. ESC along with its supporters is proud to continue inspiring each of these three young artists with an artist’s tote containing:

• Artist & Craftsman Donation- heart-shaped craft box, craft tissue paper, craft glue, and set of paintbrushes
• Utrecht Art Supplies Donation- artist’s sketchbook, set of pencils, and eraser
• Beading kit
• Sculpting sticks

Anne Wilhite’s will be featured on the invitations to ESC’s Annual Earth Day Dinner & Auction as well as on ESC’s website. Additionally, the Grand Prize included a one-year membership for a family of five to the Seattle Aquarium. One Finalist received a Family Fun Pack to the Woodland Park Zoo and the other received admission for four to the Seattle Bug Safari and admission for two to the Pacific Science Center and IMAX theater. All participants were recognized for their submissions with a certificate of participation. Thank you to all the students and teachers who submitted these wonderful works of art. We look forward to seeing more next year!

For more information about the Environmental Science Center visit www.envsciencecenter.org.

by Jack Mayne

The majority of the 36 schools in the Highline School District were rated as good, very good or exemplary, for the 2010-2011 school year by the State Board of Education.

The remaining 15 were rated as fair or struggling.

A 2009 state law required the state board to create an Accountability Index of more than 2,000 public schools, to determine whether schools are fulfilling their duty to provide a quality education for every child. Test scores are just one part of the data collected by the state, said Catherine Carbone Rogers, Highline School’s director of communications and community relations.

In the analysis of the relatively new data, the Washington Policy Center in Seattle said 42 percent of the state’s 871 K-12 schools were ranked as “fair” or “struggling,” while 23.5 percent were “very good” or “exemplary”.

Highline’s numbers
Numbers show that of the Highline district’s 36 schools and state education board rated three schools in the “exemplary” category and another three in the “very good” category. (See the complete list below.)

There are 15 schools in the middle “good” category, 13 schools in the “fair” category and only one school – Odyssey High School on the former Tyee campus in SeaTac – in the state’s lowest rating, “struggling.”

About five years ago, two high schools were split up into smaller facilities located on the former Tyee and Evergreen campuses, “so that students can interact more in a smaller group where teachers and students know each other better and that teachers know each other better and can coalesce.” Odyssey is one of the resultant schools.

School officials “know that if a student is struggling in a certain area a teacher in one class can collaborate with a teacher in another class to bring that student up to grade level.”

But the low rating prompted changes in the Odyssey’s operation, Rogers said.

“The idea is that if a school is struggling, you don’t want to keep doing the same thing you have been doing,” she said.

Odyssey was once a school for nearby residents.

“It is now a district-wide choice school . . . and it uses a different model. Instead to talking about credit hours, they measure students in terms of competency and they are doing more with technology. They are piloting what they call ‘blended learning’ where there is more use of technology as a teaching tool to provide learning opportunities for kids.”

Odyssey High School is the only one rated "struggling."

Highest rated schools
Three Highline schools were rated “exemplary” by the state. Two are Aviation High School and Southern Heights Elementary School. The third is on the same Tyee campus with “struggling” Odyssey – it is Global Connections.

“They focus on a personalized education with a small school model,” Rogers said. “They are very much about college preparation (and) they have made big improvements in their student achievement and that is what earned them that ‘exemplary’ rating.”

She said almost all Highline schools are formed around service areas and the Highline School Board has a policy of neighborhood schools. A few, like Odyssey and Aviation High, are open to any student in the district (Aviation is also open to some from outside the district).

“If you live in the SeaTac or the Tyee Service Area, you would have a choice of attending Global Connections, the Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment, Odyssey, Aviation or other alternatives,” she said.

She said the district is continually working to improve its educational mandate, but noted there are no simple fixes.

“We celebrate our improvements, but we realize we have a long way to go and we keep working at it,” Roger said.

Highline Schools and State School Board Accountability Index Scores:

The 2012 Empty Bowls fundraiser was a huge success, with 1,150 attendees contributing $18,400 – a record!

Of course, major shout-outs go out to all the volunteers, as well as all the local restaurants that donated soup.

Gina Kallman, Cultural Arts Supervisor for the City of Burien, reports that a winner of the “Best Soup” award was announced recently:

We are happy to announce the winners of the “best soups” from the 7th annual Burien Empty Bowls event. Over 100 gallons of wonderful soup were served at the fundraiser for the Highline and White Center Food Banks, and we so appreciate the generosity of our local businesses! Dana and John Lasswell, our amazing volunteer kitchen managers, tasted all the soups and used a ratings system borrowed from a New York food critic. They gave us this report:

The results are in!!! This year’s Empty Bowls best soup winner is Elliott Bay Brewing Company for their Habanera Beef Chili! They received 92 points out of a possible 100! Big chunks of perfectly cooked beef, full flavored spice, and a hint of beer! Superb!

White Center’s new restaurant “Company” deserves an honorable mention for coming in 2nd place with their very first contribution to Empty Bowls. Their potato leek with bacon soup came in strong with a rating of 89.5 points and nearly perfect marks for flavor!

With a strong 3rd place finish was the Tin Room Bar and Grill’s creamy tomato soup with 88 points. Their high marks for “aroma” were appreciated by everyone volunteering in the kitchen!

The Empty Bowls trophy will reside at Elliott Bay Brewing Company for the next year. Pictured is Chef Clayton McVey, Sous Chef and soup creator David Bunnell, Highline Food Bank Director Mike Werle, and White Center Food Bank Director Rick Jump.

Washington’s only Reptile Man will slither into Des Moines on Saturday, Feb. 18, for a show at the Des Moines Activity Center.

The Reptile Man, aka Scott Petersen, has performed for more than 800 schools in the Northwest. Corporations such as Microsoft, Boeing, and Eddie Bauer have found this program to be exciting for all ages. He has been seen on Bill Nye The Science Guy, Evening Magazine, Northwest Afternoon, Town Meeting, Q13 Kids Club, and Watch This.

Scott is fully insured and has teaching credentials. He has a teachers State Patrol Certification on file with the State Superintendent of Public Education. This program will create an interest in the natural sciences and teach students about the importance of all animals in the balance of nature.

The program starts at 10:30 a.m. The Des Moines Activity Center is at 2045 S. 216th St., Des Moines.

Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door, or $10 and $15 for families.

Advance tickets are available through the Des Moines Parks & Recreation Department at 206-870-6527.

For more information on The Reptile Man, visit www.reptileman.com/home.html.

Upcoming shows include:

• Harmonica Pocket Get Loose with Seuss, March 17, also at 10:30 a.m.

For more information on the Des Moines Arts Commission, visit www.desmoinesartscommission.com.

Here are some videos of the Reptile Man in action:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jennifer Walstrand

From our sister site The Waterland Blog comes this report by Ralph Nichols about how Daniel Alexander Threadgill will face a minimum of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced for the brutal murder of Jennifer Walstrand in her Des Moines apartment Aug. 31, 2010.

Threadgill, 24, was convicted by a King County Superior Court jury Feb. 7 of first-degree murder for the stabbing death of Walstrand, who was 28.

Prosecutors told jurors that Walstrand, who had an extensive record of prostitution working as a “high-end” call girl, was stabbed at least 63 times even as she pleaded for her life.

They said she also suffered severe blunt-force trauma when Threadgill then stomped on her head because she was still breathing, inflicting additional brutal injuries.

Read the full story here.

“Let your imagination ROLL WILD!” reads an email. “Our first round this past summer was very successful, and there is some amazing art hung up at the rink. There’s plenty of room on the walls, and hundreds of skates just waiting for you and your ideas to be a permanent part of the Southgate Roller Rink in White Center.”

Sculpture Criteria and Instructions:

• Max out your design at 4′ wide x 2′ tall
• Utilize up to (5) pairs or (10) skates
• Make it wall mountable

Like the Native Americans with the Buffalo hunt, include as much of the roller skate as possible (ie; the boot, truck and wheels). A surplus of clay wheels are also available for use.

• Sculptures must be completed by May 9th
• Participation fee is $20 which covers skates, hanging and promotion of the May 3rd Saturday Art Walk.

The roller rink will play host to a fundraiser benefiting WCA on May 16th which will serve as an early unveiling of the art work before the Art Walk on May 19th.

Please email whitecenterartwalk@gmail.com by March 1st if you would like to participate and details about skate pick up.

REMINDER: Our big Launch Party that will officially kick off our latest locally-grown indie media venture – SoKing Internet Radio – will be one week from tonight, on Wednesday, Feb. 15th from 5:30 – 7 p.m. at the Tin Theater.

The radio station will “go live” on the air in the theater at 6 p.m. sharp, so please arrive before then for the best seats – we’ll all gather around a computer, say a few words, perhaps do some weird chanting, then click a button and the station will magically come alive.

And we’re proud to announce that we’ll be featuring a local musician that you’ll hear on the station as our first “live” show – details to come so stay tuned!

All Readers and Advertisers are invited to this free event, which should be fun as well as historic, seeing that (far as we know), we’ll be the first local blog in the entire northwest (perhaps the US) to have its own radio station.

If you’re a local band/musician and want to be featured on our new station, please email music@sokinginternetradio.com. Attach any MP3s, or include a link to any online (we’ll also accept CDs – see our station’s Contact page for our snailmail address), with metadata on your songs, bio info, artwork and anything else you think we can use to help promote you.

And as we get closer to launching we’ll post clear instructions on how you can listen to this new station, which will feature local music, news, events and more!

Click image to see larger version.

The Southcenter Rotary will be holding its 3rd annual Mardi Gras Auction this Saturday night, Feb. 11th at the Southcenter Doubletree Hotel.

Tickets are $60 per person.

“Give back to the community,” reads a poster. “Donate an item for the auction!”

To donate, or for more info, email scrotaryclub@gmail.com.

A big milestone was reached injecting the grout into the tendons of the bridge spans of the new Sylvester Road Bridge construction.

Next, the “end diaphrams” will be framed and poured, then curbs, railing and approaches.

We’re getting there!

Completion date estimates are coming into view, maybe the end of February to the beginning of March.

The attention to detail is impressive and problem solving has been incredible – these guys are really good.

Here are some pics – click images to see larger versions:

(Upper Left) Casey Wagner (KC) foreground and Sam Bellah of King County monitor the grout mixing process by employees from ReBar International (RBI) Tony Raybell, Brandon Chevalier and Brian Benton. 440 fifty pound bags of Sika Grout (“powdered rock”) are used to make a “special sauce” that fills the 16 bridge span tendons sealing the suspension cables adding tremendous strength to the bridge spans.

(Upper right) Sam Bellah, Field Engineer for King County makes notes and records the details.

(Lower left) Brian Benton of (RBI) tests the flow of the mixture before the hose is attached to the tendons input valves. 100 pounds of pressure pushes the mixture through and (lower right) closes the valve at the far end when the mixture comes through.

(Upper left) Tony Raybell adds just the right amount of water to the mixing vat as Brandon Chevalier brings the 50 pound bags to the mixer.

(Upper right) Tony Raybell (RBI) loads the mixer.

(Lower Left & right) Casey Wagner, Quality Control Engineer for King County takes frequent samples of the mixture testing temperature and makes several grout cubes for testing. Two days later the cubes are break compression tested for strength. Typically 5,000 pounds is reached in 2 days and 26,000 pounds in 7 days.

Here are some other photos sent to us Feb. 4, courtesy Ron Laiminger, who adds “They have a cable all tensioned and are getting ready to pour the sidewalk and guard rails” (click images to see larger versions):

Burien native John Requa, right, with his filmmaking partner Glenn Ficarra.

by Scott Schaefer

A few years back, you might have seen a young man running around Burien’s Gregory Heights neighborhood with a Super-8 or VHS movie camera, telling his friends what to do, when to do it and where.

And perhaps even one time you called the cops on him because his actors were carrying pellet guns!

That young man is named John Requa, and now he’s all grown up but doing the same thing, only in a different city – Hollywood, CA – and making a darn good living doing it, including directing a film that will be playing at the Tin Theater (BTB Advertiser) next week (Fri. Feb. 10 – Thurs., Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m.) called ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love,‘ a romantic comedy starring Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and others:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Requa, who was born at Group Health Hospital, grew up in the Gregory Heights neighborhood of Burien. Influenced by the many movies he watched with his father while growing up, John’s childhood ambition was to be a film director. As a kid, John made many movies with his neighborhood friends in Gregory Heights, which also happens to be the name of the school in “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” He attended Gregory Heights School from kindergarten to first grade, then attended St. Francis and Highline High School, where he performed skits for his school assemblies, even acting in his senior play. John then went to Pratt Institute in New York, where he studied film and ended up meeting his writing/directing partner Glenn Ficarra. John and Glenn have been working together ever since, both as screenwriters and directors. They have written screenplays for several films including “Bad Santa,” and their directing debut, “I Love You Phillip Morris”. And most recently directed “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” John and Glenn recently started their own production company and are currently working on several different projects.

Here’s an interview with John and Glenn:

Click here to view the embedded video.

John still flies to Burien from LA on a regular basis with his wife and 3-year old son. He has a brother, sister, parents and good friends in Seattle and a sister in Yakima. And yes, he still roots for the Seahawks.

We managed to track John down and conducted a quick Q & A that shares some insight into how the Burien area played into his growing movie-making career:

Q: What were some of your favorite shooting locations in the area?
A: Seahurst Park was my favorite.

Q: Did you ever complete a full film as a kid?
A: Yes, I made four 20-minute films in and around Gregory Heights, Burien and Normandy Park.

Q: What advice you you have for aspiring filmmakers?
A: Best way to learn to make movies is to make movies. Don’t worry about quality. Just make them and learn. It’s easier to do them now than it ever was.

Q: What was it about growing up here that inspired you to make movies?
A: Burien’s proximity to Downtown which had a plethora of arthouse theaters and allowed me to see all of classic American and foreign films in the theater with an audience.

Q: Any other Burien/area-related anecdotes?
A: One time we were shooting a scene with pellet guns. Someone in the neighborhood thought they were real guns and called the police, and the police ended up pulling their guns on us!

‘Crazy. Stupid. Love.’ plays at BTB Advertiser The Tin Theater from Friday, Feb. 10 to Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Don’t forget to print your own Coupon for FREE popcorn here. More info at http://tintheater.com.