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Longtime La Conner Schools counselor Lori Buher has retired, but she is still offering timely advice. Buher suggested that the district resume its requirement that La Conner High students complete public service hours in order to graduate at the school board’s Aug. 14 study session. The board was listening. “We recognize that volunteering connects students to the community,” Board President Susie Deyo said then, noting that the board has retained its policy promoting student public service. The graduation requirement was set aside during the C...
New La Conner High School head volleyball coach Pam Keller is succeeding a legend and her young team is following in the footsteps of the four-time defending state 2B net champions. But optimism was clearly in the air – and on the freshly painted floor at Landy James Gym – when the Lady Braves opened pre-season workouts last week. "This crew is working pretty dang hard," Keller, who assisted retired state Hall of Fame coach Suzanne Marble for more than two decades, told the Weekly News pri...
Sweet Sixteen. A milestone birthday, for sure. But it has added significance for the La Conner High School football program. Sweet sixteen is the number of players on the Braves’ preseason roster this year. That’s about twice as many who turned out at this time last August. Ultimately, head coach Charlie Edwards and his staff were able to cobble together a young group with enough depth – though, barely – to complete its 2022 11-man grid schedule, forging a respectable 2-6 mark given the circumstances. Edwards, who began his third season...
Maddie Huscher has swapped out her rock-climbing boots for soccer coaching cleats this fall. Huscher, the reigning Northwest Region Teacher of the Year and who has sponsored the middle school climbing club, will spend the next few weeks on flat ground as La Conner High School’s new girls’ soccer coach. Huscher greeted a young but enthusiastic roster to pre-season workouts this week. In a way, though, Huscher will be employing climbing techniques with the Lady Braves. She will be looking to help guide the youthful Lady Braves up NW1B/2B sta...
A year ago, the best offense for the La Conner High School boys’ soccer team was a good defense. That script will flip in 2023, however, as a deep roster with plenty of playmakers will be more aggressive on the offensive side of the pitch. Blessed with a solid core of returnees from a club that dropped tight 2-0 and 3-0 matches with Mount Vernon Christian and highlighted the 2022 campaign with a 1-0 shutout win over NW2B/1B rival Coupeville, head coach Galen McKnight envisions a more robust attack this fall. “We have a big incoming junior class...
When given a real-world assignment last school year, La Conner High School students nailed it. Both literally and figuratively. The school’s construction class, taught by Daniel Castillo, built a tiny house as part of career and technology curriculum and the finished product was recently delivered to the tiny home village on Pease Road in Burlington. Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton and representatives of the Low Income Housing Institute, which paid for the materials used on the project, were present when the student-built house arrived. “My onl...
The grass, they say, is always greener on the other side. In the case of C.J. Woods, that is even true of the Arizona desert. Woods, the youthful and personable La Conner High School boys’ head basketball coach and athletics director, has stepped down to assume a similar dual position at Chinle High School, which boasts top-flight sports facilities. The Apache County, Arizona school is the subject of an acclaimed Netflix documentary. “It’s a really bittersweet feeling,” Woods, 28, who last winter led the underdog Braves to a Northwest 2B Bi-D...
Summer school is all about enhancing student performance. And at La Conner Schools, student performance comes in multiple ways, shapes and forms and is not limited to pencil and paper drills. Elementary school pupils provided a perfect example Thursday afternoon, presenting a rendition of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" before a standing room-only audience of proud family members and friends. Superintendent Will Nelson and Braves Club Director Marlene Brenton attended. They crafted the...
Juniors Minsuh Daniel Kim and William Andrew Welch and sophomores Jackson Robert Marshall Hart and Patrick Steven Keough have been named to the dean’s list at the University of Washington for winter 2023 quarter. Each completed at least 12 graded credits and has a grade point average of at least 3.50 out of 4.0. Source: University of Washington...
La Conner School Board President Susie Deyo called the panel’s annual six-hour retreat last Wednesday an opportunity for reflection. It was also a time to look ahead. And while the view going forward can be murky at best, board members and school officials – like their peers in districts across the state – anticipate seeing an upcoming academic year fraught with tough fiscal challenges. Finance Director David Cram, just four months into his second tour with the district, outlined a proposed budget designed to salvage a $110,000 fund balance in...
Lori Buher retired in June after 27 years with La Conner Schools and even longer as a La Conner School parent. Her long career can be divided into three chapters. In Chapter 1, she joined the La Conner Co-op Preschool when Eric and Anne enrolled in 1987, serving until 1992. By 1989, she was also on the board of the La Conner Elementary PTA. Soon she was helping lead the school’s Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. “It was a lot of fun, and I had great support from other parents, but I was def...
Retired La Conner High School championship volleyball coach Suzanne Marble has netted some impressive awards including induction into the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Hall of Fame and national coach of the year recognition. One more honor awaits this summer. Marble will be feted at the annual Skagit County Pioneer Association Picnic in La Conner Aug. 3 as the organization’s 2023 Pioneer Spirit Award winner. The Pioneer Picnic, held annually on the first Thursday in August, has been a La Conner summer tradition for more t...
While budget woes have gotten much attention at La Conner Schools lately, those concerns were balanced by a long list of district celebrations cited at the school board’s summer retreat last Wednesday. Second-year superintendent Will Nelson cited key achievements realized during 2022-2023. He noted that the district piloted a secondary level mastery-based learning program, saw middle school science instructor Maddie Huscher named regional teacher of the year, began implementing the research-based Universal Design for Learning framework that a...
La Conner School board members did something Monday night that they haven't done in a very long time: They approved hiring a new counselor for the middle and high school campus. Eric Crinklaw, most recently with Bonney Lake High School in the Sumner School District, will succeed Lori Buher, who is retiring after 27 years. The decision took place during a 75-minute hybrid session ahead of its annual retreat scheduled from 2-8 p.m. today. "It's an honor to be here," said Crinklaw, who has ties to the Concrete and Friday Harbor school districts....
A major sports website has confirmed what La Conner fans have known for months. That being Ellie Marble, who just graduated from La Conner High School and will attend Central Washington University on a volleyball scholarship in the fall, was the best girls' 2B senior athlete in the state this past year. Marble, who played in a combined six volleyball and basketball state tournaments – it likely would have been eight had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic – has been named the SBLive WaFd Ban...
After 20 years, Juli Olson is finally graduating from middle school. The La Conner middle and high school administrative assistant retires at the end of June after working under six principals and through a school remodel and a pandemic. Besides keeping attendance and other critical records, she has helped plan the 8th grade promotion and filled in as school nurse, lunch lady and field trip chaperone. Driving the school bus is the only job she hasn’t tackled. Not all of her records have been official. During the years when middle school c...
The Kiwanis Club of La Conner May High School Student of the Month is Hadley Shears. She graduated in June and is the daughter of Cory and Jen Shears. Hadley has been active in school cheer, varsity volunteerism and Knowledge Bowl. Outside of school she likes to be outdoors, ski, hike and be out on the family boat. She is passionate about music, movies and art. Hadley was valedictorian of her graduating class. She will be attending Western Washington University this fall. She has not determined...
La Conner Schools administrator Andy Wheeler has quietly tended to his heavy workload here for the past nine years. But now, as he transitions to retirement, Wheeler will finally be able to toot his own horn. Never one to boast, the soft-spoken Wheeler – an enthusiastic trombonist – is headed next month to the Humboldt State College Brass Chamber Music Workshop in northern California. It's a fitting sendoff for Wheeler, who has been something of a one-man band during his tenure here, han...
The first day of summer vacation was a time of reflection for La Conner School board members, who while grappling with difficult budget issues going forward, found time at their June 12 study session to honor the achievements of student leaders and athletes and middle school science teacher Maddie Huscher. Huscher was recognized as a Regional Teacher of the Year, one of nine finalists for top state teacher accolades. “It’s a really big deal,” La Conner Superintendent of Schools Will Nelson said of Huscher’s selection. “She’s getting a l...
Change has defined the La Conner Schools Transportation Department the past year. But one thing hasn’t changed. The department continues to earn high grades from the Washington State Patrol and Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. State schools chief Chris Reykdal’s June 15 letter states the district “has again completed the inspection of school buses with exceptional results. For the past two years the results in your district have been outstanding.” La Conner Schools Director of Operations and Planning Bobby Vaughn, over...
A class that weathered a slew of obstacles, in particular the COVID-19 pandemic, was blessed with warm, sunny conditions and a clear view of snow-capped Mount Baker for La Conner High School's 129th annual commencement exercises Thursday evening at Whittaker Field. That scenario of emerging from clouds of uncertainty into the bright sunshine of hope and optimism was emphasized in remarks by Class of 2023 Valedictorian Hadley Shears, among a handful of graduating seniors speaking at the...
A good idea never goes out of style. Thirty-four years after its inception, the concept of an inclusive scholarship program supporting La Conner High School graduates still remains a perfect fit for a community that values education. The La Conner Community Scholarship Foundation, which evolved from a 1989 Dollars for Scholars campaign launched by then-school administrators Ken Winkes and Norm Hoffman, the local Parent-Teacher-Student Association and civic leaders, including Gail Thulen, Maureen Harlan, John Hastings, Maude Misner and Melphine...
Gwyneth Nelson graduated with highest honors, from Montana State University May 12. The greater La Conner resident earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.7. Source: Montana State University...
A La Conner High School senior class that was separated and isolated for parts of two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic will join together for the school's 129th annual commencement exercises tomorrow (Thursday) at 5 p.m. at Whittaker Field. The class, which adapted to remote learning during the early portion of its high school sojourn, features 10 National Honor Society members, including valedictorian Hadley Shears and salutatorian Josie Harper. "We continue to be proud of these students for...
The La Conner Middle School Rock Climbing Club sponsor is also rock solid in the classroom. Madison Huscher, whose carefully crafted science lesson plans take students beyond the traditional boundaries of textbooks and lectures, has been named the Northwest Educational Service District 189 regional teacher of the year. The award recognizes Huscher's outstanding commitment to teaching and her many contributions to the educational community. As a regional winner, Huscher will compete against...