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Timing in life is everything. Before the COVID-10 pandemic led schools, colleges, and universities to shift courses to on-line instruction, a trio of La Conner High students were able to use the State Capitol as their government classroom. MacQuaid Hiller and siblings James and Mia Carlton served as legislative pages in Olympia, filling wide-ranging roles vital to making the lawmaking process more efficient. Hiller and the Carltons each spent a week last winter helping distribute legislative amendments and related material throughout the...
At its mid-month study session the La Conner School Board chose Northwest Leadership Associates as the consulting firm to lead the search for a new district superintendent. The in-state firm received the nod over McPherson & Jacobson, a leading national consulting company. “This is our number one job, to select a new superintendent,” board president Susie Gardner Deyo stressed during the panel’s video-conferenced study session on Oct. 12. Deyo was joined by board members Lynette Cram, John Agen, and Amanda Bourgeois. J.J. Wilbur missed the s...
Numbers related to the COVID-19 pandemic have rarely been kind. But La Conner Schools last week realized a rare exception to that trend when the district reported to the state an enrollment of a fraction more than 597 full time equivalent (FTE) students, 12 more than was budgeted prior to the start of fall semester. State funding support is based on FTE data, so the school district will receive more state monies than anticipated. An FTE student is one who spends six hours per day with the school district, La Conner Schools Superintendent Rich...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
La Conner Schools officials said a week ago Monday they are preparing for possible major funding shortfalls due to projected decreased revenue from district funding sources adversely impacted by the statewide coronavirus shutdown this spring. The excitement over La Conner entering Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 Safe Start plan was quelled by grim forecasts of what the next phase of local school funding might look like. The district is bracing for potential moderate to significant budget hits, Superintendent Dr. Whitney Meissner and school b...
The 126th annual La Conner High graduation ceremonies were truly the first of their kind. With the COVID-19 pandemic having nixed traditional indoor commencement exercises marked by large crowds, celebratory music, tossed mortar boards and release of balloons and confetti, the school’s Class of 2020 still wasn’t denied fanfare. La Conner High seniors were honored Thursday evening with a drive-thru graduation event outside Landy James Gym followed by a car parade through town led by fir...
Modify and adjust. It’s a common mantra in education and one the La Conner School District has tapped often while developing its graduation format amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The newest – and final – high school graduation plan allows the most people to hop along for what has been a wild ride navigating the uncertainties of the virus crisis. After first opting for virtual commencement exercises, school officials and senior class members have decided to instead hold a drive-thru graduation ceremony tomorrow (June 11) at 5 p.m. in the...
Through the years Janie Beasley has been lauded locally for having shown an enduring spirit while working on the Swinomish Reservation, in Skagit County and at La Conner Schools. Now that enduring spirit is being recognized by the Seattle-based Native Action Network. Beasley, a former longtime La Conner School Board member, is among four recipients of the organization’s 2020 Enduring Spirit Award. Becky Bendixen (Unangax), Renee Swan-Waite (Lummi), and Sondra Segundo (Haida/Katzie) have also been selected for the honor. “The Enduring Spi...