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:

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

Payton May of Mrs. Barker’s class, also Marvista Elementary, was selected 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.

Click image to see larger version.

Our friends at Cove to Clover (we’re a Sponsor) would like our Readers to know about the first-ever Cove to Clover Art Contest, open to students from elementary through high school.

The winning design will be used in creating the 2013 logo, and the winner will be announced on race day at 3 p.m. (Sunday, March 11th).

The deadline to enter is March 3rd.

Here are the guidelines:

• 11×17 format
• Must use the title “Cove to Clover 2013″ and an image of snake
• Please include name, age, school, phone and email

For all you Photoshop whizes out there, digital submissions can be sent to artcontest@covetoclover.com (send .jpg file, min. resolution of 3300×5100). To send via snailmail,, submit your entries to:

Cove to Clover
Attn: Art Contest
17837 1st Ave South, #568
Normandy Park, WA 98148

For more information about the art contest, email artcontest@covetoclover.com.

For more info on Cove to Clover, or to register for the run, click here.

Michael Stein-Ross, Burien Councilmembers Lucy Krakowiak and Bob Edgar, and his 6th grade class.

by Michael Stein-Ross

Following the November elections, a number of my sixth grade students at St. Francis of Assisi School wrote to two Burien City Councilmembers – Bob Edgar and Lucy Krakowiak – congratulating them on their wins in the election.

They also related their concerns about how Burien deals with the homeless and poor in the City of Burien.

So this last Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, Mr. Edgar and Ms. Krakowiak visited with Mr. Stein-Ross’s sixth grade students to discuss these topics. Students wanted to know why Burien does not have more homeless shelters, why some of Burien’s vacant storefronts were not being used to shelter people when the weather got really bad and why there were not more community garden spaces to grow food for the poor. Another issue for the students was the availability of medical service to the homeless and poor in Burien.

The class session with the Councilmembers involved a discussion on awareness of who was really homeless, what were some of the reasons for why people become homeless and how each individual student could help the homeless. The St. Francis of Assisi students currently collect food for our local food banks, run a clothing drive and do community service at a number of our local charity sites. Any items that readers of this article want to donate to support these homeless community drives or causes can be dropped off at the school.

Some other community service projects that my students have been involved in include: building a rain garden at the school and stenciling the storm water drains around the school. You may have seen the white marking around drains in Burien’s streets. These markings are to remind people not to put things like soaps, fertilizers, chemicals and oils down them.

The students of St. Francis of Assisi plan to continue to work for the homeless in Burien.

Isn’t that what the concept of citizenship is really about?

Gold Medalists, local high-school instrumentalists who have achieved outstanding levels of proficiency (including several from the Burien area), will perform with the Orchestra; these include:

• Martin Obrero, clarinet, Global Connections High School
• Eden Ghirmai, flute, Mt. Rainier High School
• Stephanie Anderson, trumpet, Highline High School
• Kirk Cieszkiewicz, French Horn, Highline High School.

These four students will play with the Orchestra on the first piece of the program, Weber’s Overture to Der Freischütz.

Here’s some more info:

• Eric Garcia, conductor Seattle Symphony
• Weber: Overture to Der Freischütz
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Free Community Concerts are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. This support allows the Seattle Symphony to collaborate with the City of Seattle and  local schools to provide cultural and educational opportunities for the entire community.

The Highline Performing Arts Center is located at 401 South 152nd Street, next to Highline High School.

“The Symposium was developed by the Foundation Board as a way to bring issues facing our school community forward for thoughtful consideration,” said Chuck Tuman, Foundation Board President. “We’re excited to present this new program and encourage input and feedback from our community on future topics.”

The first installment of the Foundation Symposium Series will be the presentation of the documentary “Race to Nowhere,” which will be held at the Mount Rainier High School Theater on Thursday, Nov. 17, beginning at 7 p.m.

“Race to Nowhere,” produced by Reel Link Films and written by Vicki Abeles, offers a close-up look at the pressures on today’s students to achieve. This thought-provoking film tells personal stories of over-scheduled and over-stressed students, parents, and educators, as they try to navigate their way to getting into college. The close of the film provides helpful action items for various interest groups including students, parents, educators, administrators, and policy makers.

Here’s a trailer of the film:

Click here to view the embedded video.

A brief Question and Answer session will follow the film, moderated by parent educator Jan Faull, M.Ed.

The Highline Schools Foundation offers this and all Symposium Series topics as a resource for our community and does not endorse or support any specific position.

Tickets can be purchased for $10 in advance at www.rtnhighlineschools.eventbrite.com or for $15 at the door on a space-available basis.

The second installment of the Highline Schools Foundation Symposium will be presented spring 2012, date and topic to be announced.

Here’s more on the Foundation from their website:

The Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence was established in 1999 with the purpose of providing community resources to help Highline Public Schools succeed. We believe that by helping to enrich the classroom and school experience, we can engage students to reach a higher level of learning, and the entire community will benefit. The Foundation is governed by a dedicated group of volunteer Trustees and is the only 501(c)(3) organization supporting all Highline Public Schools.

Highline Public Schools is asking residents ‘What do you want in our next superintendent?‘ through a series of Focus Group meetings to be held between Sept. 26th and 28th in various locations in the area.

“You can have a say on the qualities and characteristics you want Highline’s next superintendent to possess,” reads the district’s website. “The district is holding a series of focus group sessions September 26 – 28. You are invited to participate. You will also have an opportunity to take an online survey later this month on the district website.”

Business and civic leaders, teachers, staff, principals will have their own sessions, and community members are invited to meetings on Sept. 26th (TBA) and 27th (White Center Heights Elementary).

Here’s the schedule:

Two major events for the Highline Music4Life program are being held in the area this month:

1. The Poverty Bay “Blues & Brews” Festival will be this Saturday, Sept. 10th at the Des Moines Beach Park beginning at Noon and will feature several prominent “Blues” groups, including Left Hand Smoke, Rod Cook & Toast, Little Bill & the Blues Notes and the Fabulous Roofshakers.
2. The Highline Music4Life “Instrument Collection Day” will be the following Saturday, Sept. 17th, at the Des Moines Marina. This will be the first of what are intended to be annual events to ask adults who have unused musical instruments in their garages or attics to donate them to the Highline Music4Life program.

Both events are community-wide activities that are inspired by Des Moines Rotary with the active support of the Burien-White Center and SeaTac Rotary clubs.

“This will be our second annual ’Blues & Brews’ event,” says organizing chair Steve Swank of Des Moines Rotary, “and we expect it to break last year’s record attendance. There are several local breweries that will be represented and the ‘Blues’ music should be terrific.” Free parking is available and tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. Details are available online at http://www.dmrotary.org/events.php .

“Used musical instruments are needed by all Highline students,” says Stefan Nelson, the district’s new Cultural Arts Specialist. “Our program starts with fifth and sixth graders, but is designed to help as many low-income students in the upper grades as possible. We can restore nearly any musical instrument. All that’s needed is for someone who has a used musical instrument and understands the unique role it can have in a child’s education to decide to put it back into play.”

Used musical instruments will be collected at the Sept. 17th special event at the Des Moines Marina beginning at 10:00 a.m. They may also be dropped off during normal business hours year-round at any Kennelly Keys Music store, the KeyBank branch at 22033 Marine View Drive South in Des Moines, the Windermere office at 401 SW 152nd St. in Burien or with any of the Rotary clubs involved.

Highline Music4Life is an ongoing community-wide activity to acquire musical instruments, supplies and repairs for low-income elementary (fourth and fifth grade) students in Highline Public Schools. It is a collaboration by Highline Public Schools, the Rotary Club of Des Moines, the Highline Schools Foundation and many individuals and businesses that are partnering to expand music education for all children in the Highline School District.

For more information, visit http://highlinemusic4life.org.

A district-wide “Life After High School” Fair will be held at White Center’s Evergreen campus from 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5th.

“All district high school and middle school students and their parents are invited to learn about options for Life After High School,” reads the Highline School District website. “Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about colleges and career options, financial aid, scholarships, and more.”

There will also be a Middle School Rally at 6:00 p.m.

The Evergreen campus is located at 830 SW 116th Street in White Center.

Call or email Barb Wilson at 206.433.2430 or barbara.wilson@highlineschools.org for more information.

The crew of the International Space Station will talk live and direct with high school students assembled at The Museum of Flight during a video downlink from space at 10:35 a.m. this coming Monday, Aug. 29.

During the 20-minute broadcast, members of the International Space Station Expedition 28 crew will answer questions from students representing Highline School District’s Aviation High School, the Washington Wing Civil Air Patrol and students enrolled in the Museum’s Apprentice and Washington Aerospace Scholars Programs.

Admission-paying members of the earthbound public are welcome to attend (admission prices below).

Expedition 28 to the International Space Station is composed of two American NASA astronauts, three Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese JAXA astronaut. The crew is commanded by cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko.

Monday’s downlink is coordinated by NASA’s Teaching From Space program and The Museum of Flight Education Department.

Teaching From Space offers students resources from NASA missions and research, access to NASA experts, and the use of NASA equipment.

The non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest independent air and space museums in the world.

The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field half way between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport.

The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission is $16 for adults, $14 for seniors 65 and older, $13 for active military, $9 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5.

For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org.

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.