Good News September 13, 2016

Integrity Life Church helps collect and distribute school supplies

We would like to thank our community partner, Integrity Life Church, for its generosity in helping collect school supplies. Integrity Life Church passed out a total of 400 backpacks and fed over 500 people at this year’s free backpack giveaway event.

This is the fifth year the church has undergone this effort to help our scholars get ready for school.

Today we’d like to recognize the following individuals for their support. Please come to the front as I read your names:

• Pastor Joseph Bowman
• Taylonya Gabriel 

If there are other Integrity Life Church members in attendance, we welcome you to come forward too!

Providing essential school supplies to our families in greatest need results in our scholars being prepared to learn when they arrive to school every day.

Thank you Integrity Life Church for all you do to help prepare our scholars for success at school!

Community partners donate school supplies

We would like to thank other community partners for their generosity in helping collect over 4,600 pounds of donated school supplies including backpacks. That’s 1,000 more pounds than last year and the largest donation amount that’s happened for the Fill the Canoe school supply effort in Federal Way!

Providing these essential school supplies to our families in greatest need results in our scholars being prepared to learn when they arrive to school every day.

Today we’d like to recognize the following partners for their support. Please come to the front as I read your names:

• Bridget O’Connor, Red Canoe Credit Union
• Tracy Oster, Communities in Schools of Federal Way
• Jeff Bellinghausen, South King Fire & Rescue 
• Cheryl Hurst
• Jon McIntosh, Grace Church
• Pastor Dan Larson, Family Life Community Church

If there are other school supply community partners in attendance, we welcome you to come forward now too!

A big thank you to Federal Way Public School staffer David Wilson for helping with this effort for the last 17 years.  David donates his own time to the sorting and distribution of the project, and also has donated many supplies over the years.

Thanks to these partners, and the numerous organizations and individuals who donated their time, money, and/or supplies to make this year’s school supply drive a big success!

Mirror Lake Back to School Bash

The Mirror Lake Elementary Back to School Bash led by the neighborhood church, St. Luke’s, was a big success! St. Luke’s provided backpacks, food, school supplies, haircuts, t-shirts, and lunch for every Mirror Lake student.

Today we’d like to recognize the following individuals from St. Luke’s for their support. Please come to the front as I read your names:

• Sylvia Courtney
• Valarie Danforth
• Lois and Bill Thompson
• Mary Ann and Ky Hopewell
• Gary and Terry Westerkamp

An estimated 200 families attended the event and it couldn’t have been done without the work of about 15 Mirror Lakes staff including Principal Jollene Vining.

This is a great example of what can happen when schools and community groups work together to make good things happen for kids.

Thomas Jefferson High School graduate

Gavin Bishop started at Thomas Jefferson High School as a ninth grader. With faith from his mother, and support from many of his teachers, Gavin pushed on. In his senior year he realized that he needed something more to reach his goal of graduation. With the support of family and the Thomas Jefferson School Resource Officer Tilford, Gavin applied to the Washington Youth Academy. With his drive to succeed, he was immediately successful. He kept his focus tight and graduated with all possible credits. Coming back to Thomas Jefferson to earn one last credit needed to graduate, he pushed himself to succeed. Gavin grew into an advocate for himself and made his education happen. Due to his positive experience at the Washington Youth Academy, Gavin is considering both the military and attending college in his future. Congratulations, Gavin!

Federal Way Open Doors graduates

Miranda Pond attended Sequoyah, Todd Beamer, and Federal Way Open Doors, formerly Acceleration Academy.  She came to Federal Way Open Doors, with 6 credits to go and earned her first .5 credit in July.  Upon arrival, Miranda turned on the motivation and there was no stopping her.  She completed a class per month or more while working and commuting a long distance, setting a goal to graduate and attend Eastern Washington University.  Miranda was true to her goal and leaves September 15th for Eastern.  She says that a secret to her success has been motivating herself and following through which has prepared her for a 4-year university. Miranda would like to thank her team Coach Sorsby, Coach Torres and Laurine Decker in helping her achieve her goals. 

William Broadus was one of the first enrollments at Federal Way Open Doors, formerly Federal Way Acceleration Academy.  William needed to work full time and stopped coming to school.  William returned and met with his counselor, Sheralyn Weimer who referred him to Jobcorps when he mentioned needing a residential program.  Sheralyn arranged an appointment for William to meet with Jobcorps and he completed all the requirements.  William arrived at Open Doors today Sept. 8, 2016 with his high school diploma along with earning two certifications in culinary arts and forestry. His next journey will be attending UW Seattle with the support of Open Doors Partner Seattle Education Access.  We requested William be recognized tonight because he is a Federal Way Scholar taking an alternative pathway to achieving his long term goals. Congratulations, William!

Michael Gregg has been a scholar in Federal Way Public Schools since his first days as a kindergartener at Woodmont.  He went on to Valhalla, Mirror Lake, Sequoyah, Todd Beamer High and Federal Way Acceleration Academy.  Michael is a very determined young man.  School wasn’t always easy for him.  He worked hard to make sure that he learned the skills and concepts necessary to succeed and earn his diploma.  This summer Michael earned his diploma from Federal Way Open Doors, formerly Federal Way Acceleration Academy.  He will be starting the next leg of his academic journey in a few short weeks as a student at Highline College. Congratulations, Michael!