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Any other year the two-time defending state champion La Conner High volleyball team would be approaching mid-season form about now. But the COVID-19 pandemic has dictated the school sports calendar since mid-March. As a result, La Conner teams these days are content taking part through November in a modified practice format sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), which governs school athletics and extra-curricular programs in the state. La Conner High’s v...
Two consulting firms wanting to help lead the search for a new La Conner Schools superintendent made their pitches to school board members during near hour-long Zoom presentations Monday night. Neither missed the mark. As a result, the board postponed at least until its Oct. 12 study session choosing which will lead the perhaps six months process. “I thought both firms did a good job presenting,” board president Susie Gardner Deyo said of the Northwest Leadership Associates spokesmen Mark Venn and Dr. Wayne Robertson and McPherson & Jac...
Outdoor education took on a whole new meaning when La Conner students and parents went back to school for Braves Days campus orientation last Thursday and Friday. The two-day event, held outside beneath canopies and shade trees, reflected adjustments being made by school officials this semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Families registered on-line for 30-minute outside appointments with teachers prior to the launch of distance learning instruction Sept. 14. While the coronavirus has...
McKenzie Clark and Naomi Williams have been selected by Soroptimist International of La Conner (SILC) for the 2020 Dixie Otis Memorial Award: $2,000 grants to full time La Conner teachers who are concurrently pursuing their master’s degrees. The award was created with memorial donations honoring the life of Dixie Otis, who died in December 2018. Clark was hired as the band and choir director in 2016. He is working for a Master of Music in Music Education at Central Washington University. As a teacher who is also a student, he hopes to model l...
Back to school in La Conner this year means back to the computer screen for students and teachers alike. La Conner Schools teachers and staff began training remotely last week with the new distance learning platforms that will be used to instruct students at least through fall semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On-line classes in La Conner are scheduled to start Sept. 14. For La Conner teachers and para-educators, the usual end of summer on-campus camaraderie with colleagues renewing friendships and sharing vacation updates prior to...
Teachers always stress the importance of lifelong learning, and this summer La Conner faculty members modeled that key tenet as they began preparing for the transition from traditional in-person instruction to presenting lessons on-line due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those teachers took on a heavy load of technology homework over the summer, La Conner Elementary School Principal Heather Fakkema told the Weekly News last week. “They spent a great deal of their own time this summer,” Fakkema said, “learning about best practices for remot...
EVERETT, WA — The 2020 Congressional App Challenge is underway, Rep. Rick Larsen (D, Everett) announced last week. The annual competition, which runs through Oct. 19, is open to high school and middle school students who live in or attend school in Washington’s Second Congressional District. Students may compete as individuals or in teams of up to four. Students can only enter the competition once. Students can create computer programs (or apps) written in any programming language and for any platform including desktop/PC, web and m...
Back to School is always a time of new beginnings. No more so than this year as La Conner campuses prepare for distance learning models at least through the fall term. La Conner teachers and staff begin in-service training today (Wednesday) with much focus placed on mastering the on-line instructional platforms students and families will access starting Sept. 14 when structured remote learning classes are launched. School principals last week shared with staff their respective daily schedules for the fall semester, a blend of live small and...
If true that a busy person wears many different hats, don’t expect to see J.J. Wilbur without a head covering anytime soon. Wilbur, a commercial fisherman who serves on both the Swinomish Tribal Senate and Fire District 13 Board of Commissioners, joined another local public service panel Monday night when he was chosen to fill the vacant Shelter Bay director district seat on the La Conner School Board. Wilbur was selected by board members to succeed Brad Smith, who resigned mid-term in June, at the time Whitney Meissner resigned as district s...
The sun has set on La Conner High summer conditioning sessions. La Conner coaches have pulled the plug on the optional off-season workouts as a public health and safety response to recent spikes in confirmed local COVID-19 cases. “We had a few unrelated cases in the Swinomish community, so we decided to postpone it,” new head football coach Jeff Scoma said of the outdoor training. Scoma told the Weekly News that more than 20 players were regularly taking part in his workouts, which focused on running, agility drills and tire-flipping. “We...
The University of Washington has announced these students from the La Conner area have been named to the Dean’s List for the winter 2020 quarter: Nolan Burgmeier Duckworth, a senior, and juniors Tsedenya Hasenbalg, Kendall Anne Johnson and Jayna Rose Whited. To qualify for the Dean’s List, a student must have completed at least 12 graded credits and have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (out of 4). Hunter Tautvydas, a junior at Ripon College, is on the spring 2020 Dean’s List. Students must achieve a 3.4 grade point average or highe...
La Conner Schools is bracing to enter a virtual new world this fall. A local blue-ribbon Back-to-School committee has recommended starting with an on-line model with the option of small groups meeting in campus buildings. This is in response to health and safety concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel has received input from parents, students, school staff and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community representatives since its mid-July start. The committee suggests a slight delay in opening to provide teachers and families opportunities to...
La Conner High head volleyball coach Suzanne Marble and her players will have to wait to pursue a rare state title three-peat. The two-time defending champions will not defend their state 2B net crown until next spring under a modified high school sports schedule unveiled recently by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WIAA executive board has adopted a sports calendar divided into four seasons with moderate and higher-risk activities –volleyball, football, and soccer...
While it is still unclear what form school will take here in the fall, one thing is certain. La Conner Schools will operate under a slimmer, balanced budget of nearly $12.7 million, crafted in response to COVID-impacted revenues and expenditures. That is down from last year’s $12.9 million. The La Conner School Board unanimously adopted its 2020-2021 financial game plan at its monthly meeting, following a 30-minute video-conferenced public hearing Monday night. Washington state school districts must prepare their budgets in July for their n...
Former La Conner Schools Superintendent Dr. Whitney Meissner received a warm send-off, symbolized by receipt of a Pendleton blanket, during a farewell ceremony at the Swinomish Pavilions Thursday afternoon. Meissner has begun a new assignment as an administrator with the Lake Washington School District after three years in La Conner. Swinomish officials, staff and students gathered beneath one of the tribal community’s semi-open “cedar hats,” where they wore masks and practiced social dista...
Rich Stewart hasn’t had the luxury of easing into his new job as interim Superintendent of La Conner Schools. Just two weeks into his role as the school district’s lead administrator, Stewart on Monday night led a video-conferenced budget study session amid the uncertain financial climate posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. School districts must submit their budgets for the ensuing fiscal year to the state in July. The La Conner School Board will adopt its 2020-21 budget at its July 27 meeting. District officials anticipate decreased revenue and...
Rich Stewart is no stranger to La Conner, having visited here several times during a long career in public schools marked by stops all over Washington state. He was hired last week to serve as interim superintendent of La Conner Schools, filling a role that has defined much of his more than four decades in public education. “Being an interim superintendent has been a good thing for me,” Stewart, who enjoys a statewide reputation, told the Weekly News on Thursday. “I hope I can help with La Conne...
The first whistle hasn’t blown and already there’s a delay of game call for fall sports at La Conner High and around Washington state. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Board of Directors has moved to push back the start of the fall sports season two weeks. The WIAA action, taken last week, was in response to the coronavirus threat and makes Sept. 18 the start of fall sports games and matches. The adjusted schedule shifts the start of football workouts to Sept. 5. Other fall sports, such as volleyball and soccer, are...
Kathy Herrera has already worn several hats during her time at La Conner Schools, and will don another one – along with a mask – for the 2020-21 academic year. Herrera, who served as La Conner Middle and High School athletic director and assistant principal during her first two years here, has a new job title. She has been tabbed to succeed Todd Torgeson as the school district’s junior and senior high principal while retaining her duties as athletic director. Torgeson resigned t...
Comings and goings continue with the La Conner School Board. The school district’s governing panel lost its most senior member, Brad Smith. He submitted his resignation June 19. Smith represented District 3, the Shelter Bay area, for 14 years and was the board’s liaison with the state legislature. La Conner High seniors Avery Sloniker and MacQuaid Hiller were welcomed aboard as new student representatives for the 2020-21 academic year during the same June 22 video-conferenced meeting. Sloniker and Hiller will succeed recently graduated sen...
The La Conner School District seeks candidates to fill the District 3 board seat held by Brad Smith until his June resignation. Residents must live in District 3, which includes Shelter Bay. The term runs through 2021. Applications need a statement with reasons for seeking appointment, a statement of philosophy regarding public education, completion of a questionnaire and supporting documents. The position is open until filled. The first screening of applicants is July 14. People applying must be U.S. citizens, legal residents of Washington...
Richard Stewart has been down this road before, only this time it has led him to La Conner. Stewart, a veteran Washington state public school administrator, agreed to a contract Tuesday with the La Conner School District Directors to become interim superintendent. The Board interviewed Stewart last week. It voted Monday to hire the Ferndale resident during its video-conferenced summer retreat. He will be appointed and administered the oath of office at a 4 p.m. Board meeting Wednesday. Stewart...
Jeff Scoma plans to Wing it as La Conner High’s new head football coach, and that should be a good thing. Winging it, after all, doesn’t mean leaving anything to chance. Quite the opposite, as far as Scoma is concerned. A seven-year veteran of the powerhouse Bellevue system, Scoma told the Weekly News on Thursday he will bring classic time-tested Wing-T offensive concepts with him to Whittaker Field. “I learned the Wing-T and most of what I know from the many great coaches in Bellevue,” Scoma s...
Arjuna Adams - Rupert Anderson Memorial STEM scholarship, Swinomish Tribal Scholarship, La Conner Community Scholarship Foundation Award. Riley Banaszak - La Conner Soroptimists Violet Richardson Community Service Award, Vince Sellen Community Service Recognition, George and Lillian McMillan Scholarship: 4-year scholarship for tuition, room and board and books Joanie Benson - Kenyon and Sissy Knopf Memorial Scholarship, a four year continuing award, Foundation Award, WWU Merit Scholarship....
When school reopens here in the fall it promises to be a learning experience for all involved. Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal announced last Thursday that he anticipates school districts reopening buildings and providing in-person instruction in the fall, should public health standards permit. Reykdal outlined goals for the upcoming school year while releasing a detailed report compiled by teachers, parents, students, and civic leaders that outlines what school could look like come September. Little, however...