According to the voting website:

“Discover Burien recognizes exemplary individuals and organizations in the community through leadership, public service and achievement in the areas of business, non-profit, student achievement, and volunteer service and outstanding service from a member of the clean sweep program.”

Nominating doesn’t take long, so please click the following link to nominate someone you know:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=nHyVQomSQj_2fk9qCpdwDusQ_3d_3d

This event will include food from B-Town restaurants as well as local entertainment.

Tickets are $35 each in advance or $50 at the door. A table of 8 is $240.

Tickets are available at the Discover Burien Office as well as Burien City Hall.

The Burien Community Center is located at 14700 6th Ave SW.

Organizers are currently seeking donations for the auction, which should have an attendance of 125 to 150 people.

Here are downloadable PDF forms:

• Donate for the Auction
• Annual Dinner Sponsorship
• Sponsorship Opportunities

If you have something you’d like to donate, or to learn more about the event, please contact Gina Bourdage at (206) 433-2882.

“To nominate a person(s), describe how the nominee contributes to the community and how these contributions are unique,” reads a note on the city’s website.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, and can be done online here, or via mail:

Burien City Hall
400 S.W. 152nd St., Ste. 300
Burien WA 98166

Please note that this will be the first year that the city is not giving out awards in conjunction with Discover Burien (we’re members), which will hold its own awards ceremony in March, 2012.

For information call Adriene Buckley at (206) 241-4647.

Any business or non-profit that is a member in good standing of the Southwest King County Chamber is eligible.

You can self-nominate or nominate other Chamber members, and the deadline to enter is Dec. 20th.

For more information, contact the Chamber office at (206) 575-1633.

Here’s more info from a flier (download PDF here);

WHY APPLY?
To recognize the efforts, commitments and achievements of businesses and organizations that help make the Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila and Des Moines communities a viable place to work and reside.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
Any business or non-profit that is a member in good standing of the Southwest King County Chamber is eligible. You can self-nominate or nominate other Chamber members.

DEADLINE FOR RETURNING APPLICATION:
December 20, 2011. You can drop off the form or mail to the Chamber office, 14220 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 134, Tukwila, WA 98168, fax to (206) 575-2007 or email to staff@swkcc.org.

WHAT ARE THE AWARD CATEGORIES?

• LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
  A business with more than ten employees and has achieved excellence through innovative business practices, products, and/or employee programs and community commitment.
• SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
  A business with 10 or less employees that demonstrates the same qualities listed above.
• AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR
  Award presented to the outstanding Ambassador of the Year. Must have served on the Ambassador Committee for at least one year.
• OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE
  An individual or organization that has enhanced the community through an outstanding demonstration of community service and volunteerism.
• BUSINESS ADVOCATE
  An individual or organization that has demonstrated outstanding commitment to advocacy on behalf of business rights.
• OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP
  An individual or organization that has demonstrated leadership through turning an idea into a reality. The accomplishment benefits the community at large.

The award will be presented at the February 27, 2012 City Council meeting.

This will be the first year in a while that the city will be giving out its own award(s). Previously, the city teamed up with Discover Burien (we’re members), and would give out at least four awards (Business, Community, Education and Environment) at the annual dinner banquet in March.

However, for 2012, the city has decided to give out its own award, which will apparently only go to one “Outstanding Citizen.”

“To nominate a person(s), describe how the nominee contributes to the community and how these contributions are unique,” reads the city’s website. “Submit your nominations by February 3, 2012, to Burien City Hall, 400 S.W. 152nd St., Ste. 300. For information call Adriene Buckley at (206) 241-4647.”

Award Recipients (l to r): Janet Peterson, Secretary/Receptionist and Rachel Gilbert, Recreation Specialist Burien Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department.

Two staff members from the City of Burien Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services (PaRCS) Department were recently honored with awards – Rachel Gilbert won an ‘Outstanding Professional Award’ and Janet Peterson won a ‘Customer Service Award.’

Members of the Washington Recreation & Parks Association (WRPA) announced the winners at a conference held in Seattle Oct. 19. Two of the three statewide awards went to these two Burien staff members. Several colleagues from Burien PaRCS were on hand to show their support for their co-workers, as the award announcement and presentation came as a complete surprise to the recipients.

“I am so happy for these two individuals,” said Michael LaFreniere, Parks Director. “They’re very deserving of this award and great examples of the kind of public service they and other members of the team here try to provide every day. They are truly great to work with; we and the public are very fortunate to have them at Burien Parks.”

Rachel Gilbert received the 2011 Outstanding Professional Award. The nomination, submitted by colleagues Debbie Zemke and Casey Stanley, highlights Rachel’s professional passion and commitment towards providing the best service possible.

As the Award Committee noted, Rachel:

“… goes ‘above and beyond’ often dealing with high-need customers and staff while continually responding in a calm and logical manner. She has established high standards, clear expectations, and accountability and is committed to providing training and feedback for her staff to be successful.”

Rachel has been an active member of the Facility Services Section of WRPA for five years. She served on last year’s planning team, was a presenter for the Customer Service session, and is co-chair of this year’s WRPA Facility Services Workshop.

Janet Peterson was selected by the Awards Committee to receive the 2011 Customer Service Award. The nomination, submitted by Vivian Casteneda, highlighted Janet’s interest in and passion for health and wellness with customers at the Burien Community Center.

The Committee said Janet was deserving of the Award because of the way she helps customers:

“…feel special and how she genuinely helps match them with the perfect class, and how she wants to hear how they liked the class. Janet’s enthusiasm ‘sells’ Burien Parks & Recreation programs and special events in an exemplary way.”

Janet recently implemented a new marketing program called ‘This Works For Me!’ that allows customers to share their successes with one another.

Emily Nguyen reads from her winning entry at Wednesday night's event. Watching on the left is Highline School Distrct Secondary ELL Facilitator Stephanie Forman.

The Highline School District held an Awards Celebration and Reading for winners of its 2010 – 2011 Writing Contest for Secondary English Language Learners at the Burien Library Wednesday night (April 20th), with many students reading their entries.

BTB Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer served as one of the judges for this contest, which featured student’s stories about struggles adapting to a new culture. Some stories were amazing, others heartfelt, but all were impressive for

The entire contest and event was facilitated by Secondary ELL Facilitator Stephanie Forman.

Credit also goes out to HSD’s Bernard Koontz, Language and Cultural Arts Coordinator, as well as Teri Hein and Alicia Craven of 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing center.

Here’s a list of the student winners:

• Chalachew Shiferaw, Global Connections
• Jean Ben-Oni Eliezer, Global Connections
• Alexis Tapia, AAA
• Sanyasen Serbulo, Cascade
• Efrem Woldemariam, Sylvester
• Emily Nguyen, Sylvester
• Diego Munoz, Sylvester
• Kham Sian Kip, Sylvester
• Sergio Anaya, Sylvester
• Jose De Jesus Roque Torres, Sylvester
• Som Maya Subba, Sylvester
• Kumar Teve, Sylvester
• Maedeh Pirjamali Nesiani, Sylvester

Below are some of the winning entries, written by students – when reading these, keep in mind these kids are Secondary English Language Learners:

How Both Of My Cultures Effect Me
by Maedeh Pirjamali Neisiani

As an Iranian American I am proud of having two cultures, I know how to talk in English, Farsi, and Turkish, and also how to write in English and Farsi as well. Isn’t that amazing? My two cultures make me who I am.

Language is a very important thing to me that makes me who I am. We have classes for people that want to learn how to write and read in Farsi, but sometimes the pronunciations can be difficult. “Salam man sizdah sall daram” means “hello, I am thirteen years old.” Farsi writing starts from right to left. I encourage people to learn Farsi.

My favorite holiday that we celebrate is New Years, it’s my favorite because we give gifts to each other and we make various kinds of foods. We decorate our tables with seven things that start with the letter “S” in Farsi, so we call it Haft Sin. These are the names: sekeh, somangh, serkeh, sir, sib, and sebzeh. We can’t get all of the items in the U.S., but because our new year is very important to us we call family in Iran and we tell them to send the items to us. Our new year is coming up at March 21st I am so excited.

Some people treat me differently just because of my accent and that makes me sad. For example last year I was talking in English but people didn’t understand a word I said, and they said that they felt bad for me. After a while I thought and said “well I feel bad for you because I know how to talk in three different languages, but you can only speak English.”

Even though I face some difficulties because of my two cultures, I still know that I will have a bright future and I am here to learn and to do my best. I am Persian and I am proud of it.

Som Maya Subba, of Sylvester Middle School, reads her entry Wednesday night.

Reading and Writing
by Som Maya Subba

In Nepal I never like to read and write, but here is America I do.  There were many reasons why it was difficult for me to read and write in Nepal.  When I came to America I learned many things, but the most important thing was read and write.  This is what I going to write about it.

In my country, the teachers are very tricky it was very difficult for me to write and learn how to read.  Because the teacher would hurt silent students.  They would kick, pull your hair, and slap you.  So wjem teachers hurt students we would get angry and not want to read and write.  Sometimes teachers do not help you because teachers are mean.

At night, when we tried to read and write or do homework, we had no oil for lamps and it was very hard to read, write, or do homework.  Teachers hurt students sometimes we were late for school.  We didn’t have bus so we had to walk to school.  School was so far sometimes we were late for school.
In Nepal when we tried to read and write but other students talked loudly in Nepali and it makes it difficult to work and difficult to think so we were not able to pass the final exam and we had to study in the same class next year.

In America it is very easy to read and write because teachers are kind and we can read and write at night we don’t have oil problems because we have electricity light at my home so we can read at night.  I can do think that I could not do at my country.  When I came to America I learn to like reading and writing.  My parents told me to read, I am learning, I am learning about American.

Growing Up As a Kid in Samoa
by Kumar Teve

As a kid growing up in Samoa, my favorite thing to do was cook.  I learned how to cook many foods and learned how to prepare food.  I like to cook because it helped my family.  I learned how to cook by watching my family cook.  There are many different kind of food I like to cook.  Cooking in Samoa vs. USA is way different.

One of the reasons I like to cook because I could help my mother to cook while she’s at work.  Another reason I liked to cook was to help my mom to stop cooking because she work the whole time and come home and she was tired.  Because she works from 12 am in the morning through 12pm at the afternoon.
First I want to tell what is my favorite think to cook is banana and taro chips because it one of the easiest thing to cook.  The other think I like to cook is young coconut soup because coconut is one of my favorite fruit t eat.  Another thing I like to cook is fish with coconut because is my favorite seafood to eat.

Second of all in Samoa we don’t use oven.  But the way we baked our food we burn the rocks to put the food on it.  But when we baked our food it takes only five to ten minute to bake.  But the way we cooked our food in a pot we use different kind of stuff, we used two banana branch and two hard metals to put the pot on.  And we need coconut leaves and the coconut cup.

Finally I want to talk about how I learned to cook.  I learned how to cook by watching my mom cook.  The other way I learned to cook is I taught myself how to cook.  The other way I know how to cook is I go to cooking class at school when schools end.

So now you know about me that cooking is my favorite thing to do.  And how I learned how to cook and now tell me something that you do in your country.  I cooked in Samoa and here in the United States.  But my dreams are that I want to be a chef when I get older.

“La De La Mochila Azul”
by Jose De Jesus Roque Torres

“La De La Mochila Azul,” is a song that I would hear often on the radio when I lived in Mexico and it is an important reminder of where I’m from.  I have been living in the United States since 2001.  Now it is 2011.  I have lived here for 10 years.  One thing that my parents had to do to come to America was cross the bother.  When crossing the border, they came into land of different language, music, and celebrations.  As a Mexican American, both my Mexican experiences and my American experiences share who I am today.

Language is an important part of my culture.  I used to speak Spanish but now I speak Spanish and English.  Spanish is important to me because it is my native language.  English is important to me because it helps me communicate with other people.

Music is another part of my culture.  Even though I am in America, now I can still listen to Mexican music like corridos, duranguse, rancheras, and bandas.  Music is important to me because it belongs in my past but I still listen to it now.

A final part of my daily culture is my celebrations.  I celebrate Mexican holidays with my family.  We get together to eat our cultural food like tamales and nopalitos.  My favorite Mexican holiday is the day of the Virgin De Guadalupe.  We celebrate her day on December 12th.  We go to parties and go to two churches and sing songs about the Virgin De Guadalupe.  This is important because it makes me feel happy and connects me to the Virgin De Guadalupe, my first mom.  Daily culture is important to me because it is what I have been missing about Mexico.

My identity as a Mexican-American has been formed by my experiences with language, music, and celebrations.  These three parts of my life connect me to my past in Mexico and they are an important part of my present in Washington.  In the future, I will return to Mexico to speak my language, hear my music, and celebrate my holidays in my native land.

I Am From Peru
by Diego Munoz

As a Peruvian, both my Peruvian experiences and my American experience shape who I am today.  My name is Diego Munoz, I am from Peru and speak Spanish.  I came to United States on December 3rd, 2009.  I have been in the United States for one year.  My grandfather and grandmother came to the United States five years ago.  I live with my family here: my cousins, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, and my mom.

Both my Peruvian and American friends are important to me because in Peru, my friends and I watched soccer games or sometimes we played outside.  Both in Peru and in the U.S.A. my friends and I we always played video games.  My Favorite game is Soccer.  In the United States, my friends teach my how to celebrate American culture and they help me with my homework.

My family always teaches me important things.  They send me to school to learn more English.  My family is learning English too and we help each other by reading books or the newspaper together.  I always talk with my family who is still in Peru.  They also teach me good stuff in doing my homework, and being early in school everyday.  Also we go every Sunday to church.  The church is called “LLamada Final” In the church everybody speaks Spanish when I am with my family at the church, I feel relaxed.  The songs remind me of Peru, and I feel good.

My food is important to me because it reminds me of my country, In the United States, I eat rice with chicken, but it has a different flavor than my country, in kinds of food people eat in Peru and the U.S.A. are different too.  Some foods, like corn, apples, oranges, and bananas though taste the same.  For example in Peru at my lunch, I are juice with milk or sometimes Peruvian food like “Ceviche” or “Anticuchos”.

As a Peruvian, both my Peruvian experiences and American experiences shape who I am today.  My friends are important to me because we are always together.  My family is important to me because they teach me good things.  My food is important to me because it reminds me of my country.

We’d like to send out a huge congrats to these students, who not only overcame their fear of trying to write in a new language, but overcame the fear of public speaking in front of a crowd – there were at least 50 people there.

The Highline Schools Foundation recently released its list of nominees for the 2011 Gold Star Awards, with 27 names from 23 different schools in the district.

Gold Star Awards honor outstanding teachers, staff, administrators, alumni and volunteers in the Highline Public Schools, and all members of the school community were invited to nominate their peers. The entry deadline was March 20th.

Winners will be honored at the Foundation’s Gold Star Awards Benefit Breakfast and Luncheon on May 13th at the Double Tree Guest Suites Hotel and will feature programs of HSFFE over the past eleven years and the impact it’s had on the district. The emcee this year is none other than Highline High Schools famous alumnus Peter Fewing.

For tickets, contact the Foundation Office at (206) 248-5196 or email info@highlineschoolsfoundation.org.

The proceeds from this event support all of the Foundation’s programs which enrich the education experience for students.

The Gold Star Teacher of the Year will also be eligible to represent the District in the regional Teacher of the Year contest.

Congratulations to the 2011 Gold Star Awards Nominees:

• Toni Barth, Beverly Park Elementary
• Mike Borfitz, Aviation High School
• Veronique Chevallier-Gruschow, Highline High School
• Mary Drew, Cedarhurst Elementary
• Dan Dundon, Big Picture High School
• Laura Elliott, Mount Rainier High School
• Mark Finstrom, ERAC
• Dan Fosberg, Mount Rainier High School
• Ashley Fosberg, Marvista Elementary School
• Carey Gannaw, TEC High School
• Cynthia Gilbert, Health Sciences and Human Services High School
• Elaine Irons-Hunt, Sylvester Middle School
• Susanne Jerde, Priority School
• Jake Kearns, Facilities
• Dolly Knuth, Choice Academy
• Tom Manola, PSSC
• Beverly Mowrer, New Start High School
• Carrie Robeson, Gregory Heights Elementary
• Evin Shinn, Chinook Middle School
• Cherrie Smith, ERAC
• Jeanne Straton, Bow Lake Elementary School
• Janette Swecker, North Hill
• Victoria Terry, Chinook Middle School
• Dawna Turk, McMicken Heights Elementary
• Don Waring, ERAC
• Jill Waseman, Global Connections High School
• Brenda Rauschenberg, Beverly Park Elementary

Burien nonprofit New Futures, which serves local low-income children, youth and families, will celebrate the academic achievements of four students at a May 4th benefit breakfast honoring the 2011 New Futures Scholars.

The Sixth Annual Get Inspired! Breakfast will be held from 7:30am – 8:30am at the Washington State Convention Center and emceed by KIRO’s Angela Russell, features four Highline School District students who will each receive a $1,500 scholarship for higher education.

Last year’s winners were Cecilia Mora, Genesis Guardado, Yadira Trujillo Lopez, and Bikram Subba.

“It’s a fabulous opportunity we offer to these students, to recognize their work and inspire their higher education endeavors,” said New Futures Executive Director Mario Paredes. “Not only do we hold the opportunity to inspire these four scholars, but also their families and friends, and the other youth throughout New Futures programs who aspire to reach for higher accomplishments.”

One of last year’s New Futures Get Inspired! scholars, Bikram Subba, was also awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the 2010 Sun Life Financial’s Rising Star Awards. His photo was recently featured in The B-Town Blog, alongside Venus Williams. Bikram is currently pursuing a career in medical administration at Highline Community College and dreams of improving the health care system.

“I want to make the system better so that people do not have to struggle like they do now,” Bikram said.

Anyone interested in learning more about New Futures’ work is invited to attend the breakfast event, and guests will be asked to make a contribution. For more information, visit www.newfutures.org or contact Katie Boehm at katieb@newfutures.org or at (206) 248-9647.

New Futures works with South King County’s most vulnerable and difficult-to-reach children, youth, and families, operating vibrant community learning centers in four low-income apartment complexes in South King County (3 in Burien and 1 in SeaTac). New Futures’ mission is to partner with families in their communities and with educators to ensure that children succeed in school and life, serving more than 1,800 individuals each year.

From their website:

New Futures’ on-site, strengths-based programs integrate work on four levels: (1) we support children and youth ages 3 to 18 to improve their academic skills, access enrichment opportunities, and plan for their post-secondary academic futures; (2) we partner with parents to help them meet their families’ basic needs, become involved in their children’s schools, and develop their leadership skills; (3) we build community to ease feelings of isolation, strengthen families’ support networks, and improve safety and quality of life in each neighborhood, and (4) we work closely with schools to provide teachers and school leaders with training to strengthen their cultural proficiency and to close the achievement gap.

Our integrated, culturally relevant programs build skills, foster connectedness, and promote strengths. We serve one of Washington State’s most diverse counties: two-thirds of South King County’s recent population increase is due to the arrival of foreign-born residents. These residents, our participants, hail from nearly thirty countries around the world, representing multiple cultures and speaking nearly 70 languages. Of the individuals served by New Futures, 90% are recent immigrants or refugees, nearly half speak little or no English, and 98% earn less than 30% of King County’s median household income ($25,300 for a family of four). Participants in New Futures programs are racially diverse: 67% identify as Latino; 9% as African or African American; 15% as multi-ethnic; and 5% as Asian and 3% as white.

The New Futures Scholars selection committee includes:

• Amy Taylor, New Futures donor
• Carla Jackson, Deputy Superintendant, Highline School District
• Julie Burr Spani, Specialist (Internships and Mentoring), Highline School District; New Futures Board Member
• Mike Martin, City Manager, City of Burien
• Jenn Ramirez Robson, Management Analyst, City of Burien; New Futures Board Member
• Jerry Robison, Councilmember, City of Burien
• Angela Russell, news Anchor, KIRO; and New Futures 2011 Breakfast Benefit Emcee
• Deborah Horne, Reporter, KIRO, and Creator of KIRO InColor
• Dana Boales, Programs Director, New Futures
• Heather Giron Fritts, Development Director, New Futures

Here are last year’s New Futures Scholarship Winners:

2010 New Futures Scholarship winners Cecilia Mora, Genesis Guardado, Yadira Trujillo Lopez, and Bikram Subba.

Last week, three Highline schools received 2010 Washington Achievement Awards, which are annually awarded to the state’s top-performing schools in a number of categories.

The award is based on the Washington Achievement Index, which measures a school’s progress over time.

The three winning schools are:

• Health Sciences and Human Services High School (HS3), located on the Evergreen High School campus, is being recognized for improvement in its extended graduation rate, the graduation rate for all students– including those who take more than four years to finish high school. HS3 is a small school on the Evergreen campus for students interested in exploring health and social service fields.
• Aviation High School, located in Des Moines, is being honored in two areas: Science; and Overall Excellence for achieving in the top five percent of Washington schools. At Aviation High School, all subjects are taught in the context of aerospace and aviation, and students are mentored by industry professionals.
• Highline’s Career Link, which is a partnership with South Seattle Community College, is receiving the award for improvement in language arts (reading and writing achievement combined). Career Link allows students to complete their high school diploma on the college campus.

The awards come from Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.