Many choices offer students free homework help
January 5, 2009
Pine Lake Middle School seventh-graders (in foreground, from left) Kevin Gorham, Trenton Mathy and Jarrett Oseran, and two other students, work on computers in March to finish homework assignments at the school library, during the after-school homework club. Photo by Chantelle Lusebrink.
If you were left scratching your head when your student came to ask you for homework help, you’re not alone.
Free help isn’t far; just turn to your local library and school for free services.
The Issaquah Library has a range of services for students at its Study Zone.
Students “can get free help with any of our tutors, in group or individual sessions. It is really informal. They bring their homework or the project they are working on, and can bring a snack and a drink,” said Jessica Gomes, the teen services lead librarian. “It’s a really great service.” Read more
Cheaters really hurt those who play fair
January 5, 2009
Hall Monitor Carla Mokin Liberty High School
Whether you’ve “accidentally” caught a glance of someone else’s poker hand, or you peered over the shoulder of the kid sitting in front of you during a calculus test, you’ve likely cheated.
These are not the most serious cases. But the kind of cheating that I see daily is damaging to those individuals who do it; this apathetic attitude toward cheating is eating away at the collective conscience of my peers.
When the person sitting next to me in chemistry has the answers to the final exam programmed into his $120 graphing calculator, it adversely affects me in more than one way. It’s unfair, because despite the fact that I actually studied, this knucklehead is going to get a better grade. And by choosing to cheat, he has become another step in my own desensitization toward cheating.
The more often students are exposed to cheaters, the more trivial it starts to seem. Almost every day, a girl in my Advanced Placement psychology class feverishly copies large portions of her homework from someone else — the same assignment I spent more than an hour on the night before. This girl is really smart, at the top of her class. Why does she cheat? After being surrounded by cheaters for the last decade or so of her life, she probably doesn’t see the harm in it anymore. Read more
School Notes
December 29, 2008
School notes will be replaced with a new feature, Gold Stars, in our Jan. 7 edition. The section is an opportunity for teachers, principals, custodians, bus drivers, family and friends to highlight accomplishments, big or small, by young people in the Issaquah School District. Please send a few sentences describing the good deed and name, age, grade and school to clusebrink@isspress.com.
Issaquah Valley Elementary School
Variety show practice is from 12:45-3:30 p.m. Jan. 7 in the multipurpose room. Call 837-7200. Read more
Thirteen teachers earn national certification
December 29, 2008
Students in Kathryn Steedman’s classes at Challenger Elementary School learn about the diversity of music education, including types of instruments, and about the cultures that create music. By Kathryn Steedman
If you thought cramming for your SATs and advanced chemistry courses were tough, try spending more than 400 hours preparing lesson plans and instruction videos before placing them neatly before a panel of national experts.
Thirteen Issaquah School District teachers took that challenge and passed with flying colors.
The 13 teachers recently received the nation’s highest certificate in teaching achievements — their National Board Certifications. They are among more than 900 in the state earning the certificates this year.
“As a certified teacher, I have the confidence of knowing that my practice stands up to intense scrutiny against other teachers nationwide,” Leah Van More, a teacher at Pacific Cascade, wrote in an e-mail. “National Board gave me the opportunity to collaborate with teachers from around the region as we sought to deepen our respective practices.” Read more
Issaquah’s Tribe among the state’s finest
December 29, 2008
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Hall Monitor Kevin Lindsay Issaquah High School
Twenty-eight years ago, a football team from Issaquah High School loaded up a school bus bound for the Kingdome to play for the state title. They called themselves the Indians.
On Dec. 5, the same event took place, only in lieu of the now-deceased Kingdome, we went to the Tacoma Dome. We called ourselves the Tribe. We went to finish what we started. The near year of commitment for this season paid off.
The hallways were covered with good luck posters, player spotlights and even dress codes for the event. Every other overheard conversation was about football. School spirit had never been as high as it was that week.
The week of football practice was somewhat relaxing. No more curious classmates constantly asking, “Can we beat them?” Preparation and perfection were the top priorities. The coaches assured us, if we played to our ability, we would no doubt come out on top. We would scream “dominate” when we finished practice and think of the countdown: three days, then two and then one. Read more
Students develop the skills to make a feast
December 22, 2008
Joyce Mininger’s Issaquah Middle School classroom. Families dish up their pre-Thanksgiving feast (left) in the Cooking Creates Community project in the Skills Enhancement Program class. Photo by Greg Farrar.
The smells coming from the portable classroom at Issaquah Middle School were more like those coming from the kitchen at a top restaurant.
Seven students turned their classroom into a restaurant for a pre-Thanksgiving feast for their family and friends Nov. 26.
“He’s been really excited,” said Mindi Bacon, the mother of Khayman Bacon, a 13-year-old in the class. “The fact they are doing this at school for their parents is great, but it’s also an opportunity for parents to meet other parents and to meet the other students.”
The feast was the culmination of a class project started in September, called Cooking Creates Community.
“The program gives the boys a couple of things,” said teacher Joyce Mininger. “One, it builds community and gives them a sense of accomplishment. Two, it gives them lifelong entertaining skills that can also translate into job skills. And three, it is an opportunity for community members to come together and participate at the school and in our program.” Read more
Change in America and in the school district
December 22, 2008
Hall MonitorSam Pinsky Liberty High School
On Nov. 4, this country witnessed the election of the first black president in our nation, more than 40 years after the Civil Rights movement. As Barack Obama took the stage in Chicago’s Hyde Park, he said, “Change has come to America.” So, if America is ready for change, how about the Issaquah School District?
Soldiers receive letters from the heart
December 15, 2008
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Tania Saxena, parent volunteer, helps Discovery Elementary School students Angie Culver, Evan Ritchie and Isabella Paxton (from left) write letters to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. By Chantelle Lusebrink
Discovery Elementary School students are doubling up on their letter writing this year — but they’re not sending both to Santa Claus.
Students in every grade are writing letters to U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan this month. Read more
Student tech heads stay plugged in at school
December 15, 2008
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Hall Monitor Stacy Buell Skyline High School
Teenagers are attached to the Internet, and are not disconnecting anytime soon. The average teen spends between five and eight hours per day on the computer, chatting with friends, surfing Wikipedia, doing homework and being bombarded with information. But the Internet has taken away valuable face-to-face time with people.
Before the Internet, people used to use this thing called a library. From research on Google I have found the library was where students went to do research projects, read books and chat with friends — to connect in person. Read more
District changes elementary report cards
December 15, 2008
Elementary report cards may look a bit different then they have in the past.
For the past three years, school district officials have been asking parents and teachers what, if anything, they should change.
If you’re new to having a child in school or recently moved from another district, the biggest change you’ll notice is the number-grading system Issaquah uses for elementary students, not the letter-grading system you may have known. Read more
