Kentridge High School Photography Students Awarded the Gold Key at the Scholastic Awards Competition

A group of Kentridge High School Photography students competed in the Scholastic Awards Competition held in late December. Serria Jordan, Sydney Horton and Brittnie Harker were awarded the Gold Key for their images and will now move on to the National Scholastic Awards

competition held at Cornish College on January 11. Congratulations to all!

Careers with Children and Life on Your Own Students at Kentlake High School Explore Career Opportunities

Kentlake High School students from Careers with Children and Life on Your Own classes visited Green River Community College on November 17, 2014. The students explored occupational therapy and education classes and toured campus sites including the library, student union building, technology center and Welcome Center. GRCC Outreach Director, Kiana Fuega included the students in an ice breaker activities with other staff members,

2014-15 Second Quarter Newsletter

Skills and Leadership for the Future

gave them an overview of admissions and financial aid and invited a panel of current GRCC students to speak to the high school students about campus life.

Police Science Students at Kent-Meridian High School Explore the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center

On November 20, 2014 the Police Science class from Kent-Meridian High School visited the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien. The day included a tour of the facility and several presentations about

the program. Students also observed live police simulations taking place throughout the campus, toured the breathalyzer lab where they participated in a demonstration test, explored

a patrol car, and enjoyed talking with new recruits.

Theater Technology Teacher at Kent-Meridian High School Earns National Board Certification

Congratulation to Theatre Technology teacher Jay Thornton on his National Board Certification. Much of Jay’s work focused on the acquisition, implementation and training regarding the use of LED instruments in theatre production. Congratulations Jay!

Kent Students Presented with Real-Life Financial Situations at the Junior Achievement Finance Park, Boeing Facility

Kentlake and Kentwood High Schools’ Life on Your Own students visited Junior Achievement Finance Park at the JA/Boeing facility in Auburn on December 2, 2014. The students participated in a budgeting exercise which assigned each a life profile and they had to determine how to manage their finances. They

monitored the stock market and their investment portfolio, dealt with unexpected occurrences and expenses and determined how they could pay all their bills and save money, if possible. They learned the difference between needs and wants and the importance of selecting a career that will compensate their chosen lifestyle (family, home, cars, leisure, entertainment, travel, etc.).

Kentridge High School Sports Medicine Students Exercising with Senior Citizens to the Tunes of the 1950’s

Kentridge High School Sports Medicine students along with their teacher Denise Wiskow enjoy a fun time teaching an exercise class at Stafford Suites Retirement Home.

The classes involves light exercise which includes stretching, strengthening with an exercise ball, dumbbells, therapeutic bands, and a yoga cool down. The students are supervised and trained to teach the senior citizens various exercises to fun 1950’s music.

Kentwood High School “Battle Eggs” Filled with Suspense and Anticipation

Each semester Kentwood High School Creative Cooking classes wrap up their curriculum in a battle most anticipated! Whose cuisine will reign supreme?! As their final project, students are given a mystery ingredient, and a budget amount to prepare one main dish, side dish and an elegant drink– all from scratch!

This semester was Battle Eggs! Students had to analyze and compare recipes, create and compile a unique theme to execute, and also decide and focus on time management prior to preparing their delicious food items that they had to present to the judges.

Our judges come to us with a variety of background knowledge in the restaurant industry. As the battle came to an end, the drama was only beginning! Once the judges tallied their votes had, the classroom was filled with anxious students in a

drumroll of anticipation!

In a respectful manner, the class congratulated our winners and applauded the hard work and dedication shown by all.

Kent High Schools Well Represented at the Annual Pierce County Career Day

The Washington State Fairgrounds were bustling on Thursday, November 13, as the annual Pierce County Career Day unfolded.

Careers in construction, manufacturing, transportation and utilities were highlighted and hundreds of students from surrounding schools were in attendance. The Kent School District

CTE programs were well represented by students from all four comprehensive high schools. This amazing event is hosted by many sponsors, including Pierce County Construction Partnership/Workforce

Central, Tacoma Public Utilities, Port of Tacoma, Sound Transit, and Bates and Renton Technical Colleges.

Students from our CTE programs were actively involved in the many hands on activities offered (masonry, plastering, welding, roofing, and many more). There was also a “Girl’s Only” area that introduced female students to non-traditional opportunities. The girls had an opportunity to assemble a metal tool box to take home.

Kentridge High School Engineering Design Students Design, Program, and Build Small Robots

Kentridge High School Engineering Design students recently finished a month-long project designing and building their own small robots in teams of two. Students had to design and build their own chassis, drivetrain, and circuitry. For fabrication, students 3D-printed their own plastic parts, machined their own metal parts, cut their own wood parts, and soldered their own electronic parts.

As the brains of the robot, the students programmed Arduino microcontrollers, using the C++ programming language, an industry standard. The Arduinos are like a mini-computer that can take in information from the sensors, and send instructions to the motors, based off of the programs the students wrote. The end product was a robot that could navigate around the room autonomously without bumping into anything, using an ultrasonic sensor as a sort of radar system.

The students were given only minimal direct instruction, and instead had to conduct their own research, and plan out their own project using S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Focused, Time-Based). It was an ambitious project. Every single student ran into problems, overcame them, and ultimately proved highly capable and successful.

Video Production Students at Kent-Meridian High School Are the Official Videographers for the Symphony Guild

For the second year in a row, the Kent-Meridian video production program were the official videographers for the Symphony Guild concert to benefit

Seattle Children’s Hospital.

The students spent an evening practicing with the Seattle Symphony, then filmed the event from eight different locations in Benaroya Hall, including on stage

with the musicians. The students then took the footage and edited the concert for use by the Symphony Guild.

The proceeds from the concert benefit the uncompensated care fund, which provides funds for families that would otherwise be unable to afford medical care at the hospital.

Creative Cooking Students at Kent Phoenix Academy Hold Cupcake Wars Competition

On December 10, Kent Phoenix Academy Creative and Multicultural Cooking students held a Cupcake Wars Competition. Each student baked from scratch, and professionally designed cupcakes that were judged by mentors and staff at KPA. The winners in second period were: Miguel Isiordia took first place, Andrea Regalado seized

second place, and Safia Mberwa took third place. The champs in fourth period were: Princess Mauia, first place, second place was snagged by Janelle Germer, and Karina Zdobylyak came in third place.

A special shout-out to Rylie Cakes down on East Valley Highway in Kent, for volunteering their time to teach both classes the beautiful art of designing cupcakes!

DECA Students from all Four Kent High Schools Place Well at the Regional Conference

January 13, DECA members from all four high schools competed at the DECA area regional conference with 19 other local schools, at Emerald Downs in Auburn. Students competed in 19 different events judged by the business community,

including individual, team decision making, and project-based events. Qualifying awards were for first-third place winner’s qualifying them for the state competition March 5-7 in Bellevue. Additionally, many students received semi-finalist certificates placing in the top 10 of their event.

Here are the results of the day: Kentridge High School : 63 participated with 48 qualifying to advance to state competition. Kent-Meridian High School: 13 students participated with 9 students qualifying to advance to

state competition. Kentwood High School: 51 students participated with 31 qualifying to advance to the state

competition. Kentlake High School: 23 students participated with 13 students qualifying to advance to the

state competition

Kentwood High School American Sign Language Students Bring Joy and Toys to Deaf Students at Birney Elementary School in Tacoma

At the beginning of the 2014 holiday season, Kentwood American Sign Language students reflected on the term “disability.” For most, a “disability” was a physical handicap that prevented individuals from effortlessly pursuing activities that the average student could do without much thought: running, snowboarding, playing basketball. Or it meant that there were cognitive delays. But they argued that to be “deaf” seemed different somehow; a deaf individual’s “disability” separated them only because of an inability to access the common auditory language of English. Also recognized was that some of the most everyday events that students participate in, such as plugging into IPODs, viewing a movie, or expressing hopes to Santa Claus, excluded the Deaf due to the language barrier.

Fortunately, SERTOMA, a non-profit organization that supports deaf children and their families, made sure that the approximately 90 deaf children attending three Tacoma elementary school deaf education programs would not have to forego the Santa tradition this year. A classroom presentation by SERTOMA

to KW’s second year ASL students convinced students to choose to support SERTOMA in their endeavor. Over the course of 6 weeks, eighteen students were responsible for collecting enough boxes of toys for Santa’s toy bag, and food for holiday baskets, to fill 2 pickup trucks to the brim!

On December 9, Kentwood students signed the song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” announcing Santa’s arrival via fire truck to Tacoma’s Birney Elementary School (which includes deaf students from KSD). KW’s ASL students joined Santa as his “elves,” handing out candy canes, interacting with the deaf children, and helping them to select a gift from the KW donated toys. KW students noted the variety of communication modes that were utilized by the students and staff: ASL, speech, speechreading, and miming. It was

truly a hands-on, natural environment that the high school students could draw from and apply their classroom learning to.

“Operation Cocoa” A Huge Success

The Kentwood Marketing program held its 7th annual sales unit competition, “Operation Cocoa” on Wednesday, January 13 in the school commons.

First year marketing students were separated into six teams and designed plans to sell the most $1.00 12 ounce

cups of cocoa before school and during lunches. Teams had to develop their product and production process, branding, built an Ad Promotion & sales plan as well as design and construct a sales booth.

Over 900 cups were sold in less than two hours, with the team “Vanilla Ice” coming out as the winner, selling $260 of product. Proceeds from the event benefit the Kentwood DECA program.

Quote of the Quarter

“The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.” ~Dennis Gabor