The Highline school board announced Thursday (July 16th) that it has voted to adopt a “Pay for Play” system, which will charge students a fee for participation in middle school and high school athletics.

While some school board members expressed concern that the fees will discourage students from participating in sports, Superintendent John Welch told the board staff that he is working with the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence to establish a scholarship program.

“We will work hard to see that no student is turned away from playing a sport,” said Welch.

Welch said the fees are necessary to support the rising costs of athletic programs.

“In order to continue to offer both middle and high school sports, we must implement a pay-for-play fee structure,” said Welch. “If we don’t charge a fee, we will have to cut some sports.”

Welch noted that Highline’s athletic offerings now include middle school soccer in response to high demand and strong community support for adding that program.

The fee structure will be in place for the 2009-10 school year.

For high school sports, the fees will be:

• $50 per sport ($25 per sport for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch)
• Fees will be charged for up to two sports per student per year; there is no charge for a third season.
• Maximum $175 per family per year ($85 for families qualifying for free or reduced lunch)

Fees for middle school sports will be:

• $30 per sport ($15 for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch)

Fees will be chared for up to two sports per student per year; there is no charge for a third season. Maximum costs will be $105 per family per year ($50 for families qualifying for free or reduced lunch).

We here at The B-Town Blog would love to know what you think of this idea – please vote in our Poll and/or leave a Comment below…

If the recent snowstorms got your blood pumping and adrenaline flowing, and the reason wasn’t because of the plethora of terrible B-Town drivers, then we’ve got something for you – you can now take a touring-style bus each Wednesday during January and February to go skiing at Crystal Mountain with the Burien Backslider Ski Club!

Here’s a history of the Backsliders, courtesy Burien resident Guy Harper:

The Burien Backslider Ski Club, originally organized by Edna Graham, started as the Burien Ski Bus.  Edna met with the Highline Recreational Council in 1959 and explained that many other districts sponsored a ski bus; however there was none from the Highline area.  The council thought it was a good idea and gave their approval to Edna to make all the arrangements. She, in conjunction with retailers “Osborn and Ulland,” who had a sports store in Burien at the time, managed to start the original Burien Backslider group and made Snoqualmie Summit their initial destination of choice.

Lou Whittaker was one of the first ski instructors of this young and colorful group of women. It was not unusual on the way home from the ski area to stop at North Bend to take on a case of beer or two as wine was just not the “in” thing to do at that time. The roster for one of these early trips included many of the current old-timers still living in Burien.

Later, when Crystal Mountain was scheduled to open in the early 1960’s, many of these skiers wanted to change the ski destination from Snoqualmie to Crystal. To settle the dilemma, a meeting was held at the Normandy Park Cove. The meeting was organized by Edna Graham with support from Ada Mottet and Imogene Briacks. A vote showed there were enough skiers who favored Crystal Mountain and that the extra bus expense could be justified – and so Crystal became the new ski destination.

Someone at that Cove meeting said, “What will we call ourselves?”  Arlene Brown quickly spoke up and said, “What about the Backsliders?”  Everyone laughed but that name stuck immediately and continues today.

Adrian Kelly, far left, of Mick Kelly's Irish Pub, adds a touch of Irish to each trip. And perhaps a pint of Guinness afterwards.

Lucy Osbun, one of the early members, said that for the first ten years or so, the club was just for women and that eventually they had enough women to fill two buses with other folks on the waiting list.  At one time, it actually took three buses to carry this women’s-only group to the ski slopes. It was a very lively bunch with many becoming very interested in hiking and camping around the Pacific Northwest.

In the beginning there were no elected officers. The operation was run by the organizers and the prime movers of the club. Sometime later, the idea of  elected officers took hold but even then there were no paid season lift passes for the officers. The job, however, demanded some sort of remuneration and free passes became the accepted routine that continues to this day.

The first staging area in Burien where the skiers could meet the bus was the parking lot at the old A&P store near Five Corners. Then it was moved to Moshier Field, and after that the Burien Elks parking lot; currently the Fred Meyer store location on First Avenue South serves as the pickup spot.

There were bridge players on the early buses who wanted to combine bridge with the bus ride home.  Venida Osols, who was an officer at that time, always made a special effort to obtain a bus with a convertible seat that could be turned into a card table.  This arrangement played host to many stirring and sometime hilarious games.

Inez Burkhard was known at the “Champagne Lady,” as it happened to be her birthday during the ski season each year. She would bring a case of Champagne on board the bus each year to celebrate the occasion.   That must have been quite a ride home!  Pre-season ski club lunches were organized in 1975 and continue to this day.

In those early days, the road to Crystal was unimproved which resulted in cars without chains becoming stuck in the dips and the entire ski population would come to a halt for a time. Guard rails that were next to vertical drop-offs were marginal to say the least. The drive to and from Crystal was sometimes very tense due to the glare ice and no available sand for the highways back then. Those were exciting times!  No wonder beer and wine became so popular on the way back down to the flat lands. To this day, many of the bus riders also bring “finger food” to pass around the bus and nibble on the way down and at times, a Backslider bus will break into songs of earlier years.

This coming year promises to be a good one at Crystal. The roads are safe and wonderful. There are new lifts and improvements almost every year. Willie Grindstaff continues to be one of the outstanding ski instructors at Crystal and the BBS are privileged to have his services. It’s a great time to meet new friends and enjoy the wonders of the Pacific Northwest.

If you’re jonsein’ for some real snow fun, you should check out the Burien Backslider Ski Club; for more information, call or email Yvonne Shimek at 425-745-2335 ymshimek@hotmail.com.

by Josh Hart

Last weekend, Des Moines’ Mt. Rainier High School Drill Team competed in and won the Liberty High School Drill and Dance Competition.

They competed against drill teams from Issaquah High, Hazen High, Redmond and Interlake High School. Decatur High School Drill Team was supposed to show, but didn’t for unknown reasons.

For Mt.Rainier Drill, this was their first competition of the season, and they ended up placing first and taking home the trophy. The team had been through the same experience last year – winning their first competition that is. They placed in almost all competitions last year, only missing the stand on three occasions.

They may have won the competition, but it was not all fun and games. The girls had to work hard to get to that place. I talked to a member of the Mt.Rainier team, Danielle Knake (who is also a fellow student at Big Picture High School), about the ups and downs when they are at the competition.

Q: What part of the competition was the most fun?
A: I always love watching the hip-hop teams, because they have some really cool outfits. I also enjoy the bus rides that we take to and from the competition. All of us just joke around and have fun.

Q: What was the most difficult part of the competition?
A: For me it’s always waiting for them to announce the winners, because you never know how the judges scored you. I always get worried that we won’t place.

It seems like the Mt.Rainier Drill Team is off to a good start this season, but please check back for more updates as the season progresses.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Josh Hart is the B-Town Blog's first Intern! He's also a 15-year old student at Highline's “Big Picture High School” in SeaTac. He recently wrote about what he'd do if he were Mayor, his take on the economy, about JFK beating Highline 61-0 in football, an opinion piece on the VP debate, a story on Mt. Rainier High's Drill Team playing at the Seahawks' Halftime, another on a Fight at the Tyee vs Rention Football Game and much more...]

Photos and Story by Janet Grella

You may have noticed that many Burien businesses are lending their storefront windows to students of Highline High School to promote this years’ Homecoming game, parade and dance.

The B-Town Blog caught up with HHS students Kady and Aljiggs late this afternoon as they painted some windows in Olde Burien:

This years’ Homecoming parade will start at 11am on the corner of 4th and SW 153rd (near Vince’s Italian Restaurant) and head to 6th Ave SW (near Sal’s Deli), and then march west on SW 152nd, ending up around 12 Noon in the heart of Olde Burien.

Senior cheerleaders Kady and Aljiggs told BTB that there will be a cheer and drill demonstration in Olde Burien. Expect the Highline High School Marching Band, the cheer and drill squads and a few special surprises.

The Mark Restaurant will be having a breakfast buffet starting at 9am Saturday and going to 2pm; cost is $12 for adults and $10 for seniors & kids.

The Pirates will meet Foster High School at Highline Stadium for the annual homecoming football game on Thursday, Oct. 23rd at 7pm.

‘A Knight with the Stars” annual homecoming dance is this Saturday, Oct. 25th at 8pm.

by Josh Hart

On Friday, Oct. 17th, during a high school football game between Renton High School’s Indians and the Tyee Totems, a brawl broke out at Neudorf Memorial Field in Tukwila.

Renton came into the game at 3-3 while Tyee came in winless.

After the game they both walked out with a postponed game.

Five minutes before the end of the first half Renton was leading 19-0, and it looked like Tyee was going to get another one in their loss column and Renton would get the win.

But when a hard tackle turned into a shoving match, all play was halted. The shoving escalated and turned into a fist fight. After everything was broken up the officials decided to postpone the game and both teams had to forfeit.

No player can discuss the brawl or answer any questions about it to the public. So after the brawl that was started by a couple of player’s emotions, both team’s seasons are in doubt. Many think that both teams will miss just one game, but there are rumors that the teams could be suspended for the rest of the season. Before the game Renton had playoff hopes, and now they have little or no hope of making the playoffs.

This is obviously very damaging to both teams, and we will just have to wait and see how this turns out.

The Seattle Times did a story on this incident, and below are two videos we found on Youtube that appear to have been shot just after the fight ended:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Josh Hart is a 15-year old student who attends Highline's “Big Picture High School” in SeaTac. He recently wrote on the economy, about JFK beating Highline 61-0 in football, an opinion piece on the VP debate and a story on Mt. Rainier High's Drill Team playing at the Seahawks' Halftime. You can look forward to reading more of his work on the B-Town Blog, as he will soon be our first Intern!]

According to The Seattle Times (we were unable to attend the game due to familial obligations), the Kennedy (football) Lancers pulled off a great comeback to beat Renton’s Lindbergh High Eagles last night, 49-21.

This was Kennedy’s 22nd consecutive win over Lindbergh, and it puts the Lancers (6-1 overall, 6-0 league) as favorites to win the Seamount championship.

Lindbergh (5-2, 5-1) led 21-20 in the second quarter, but soon lost control as the Lancers’ Tre Watson and  Nolan Washington combined for 378 yards rushing.

Way to go JFK!

The John F. Kennedy High School Lancers take on Renton’s Lindbergh Eagles tonight at 7pm at Highline Stadium.

Kennedy is playing well this year, and has beat Lindbergh 21 consecutive times.

Lindbergh (5-1 overall, 5-0 league) is looking to end that streak tonight as they take on Burien’s sixth-ranked Lancers (5-1, 5-0) in a game that likely will decide the Seamount League championship.

The games haven’t been close since 1997, when Kennedy squeaked by with a 28-27 win. The Lancers won 49-14 last year.

Kennedy has a very strong running game, thanks mostly to Tre Watson, who averages 16.1 yards per carry and 171.5 per game. He has 21 TDs, 16 rushing.