Good News April 25, 2017

Eagles are Act Six Scholars

Two of our Federal Way High School seniors have been named as Act Six Scholars!

The Board would like to recognize Salma Ibrahim and Marco Estrada for their accomplishment. 

These two scholars were selected through a rigorous three-month competition among more than 1,000 applicants, 99 diverse students were selected from across the country as leaders with a commitment to serving their community and have been awarded a full-tuition, full-need scholarship. Salma will be taking her leadership skills to Pacific Lutheran University, joining Act Six’s cadre ten, and Marco will be headed to Northwest University as a member of cadre nine.

This is in recognition of Goal 5 of our Strategic Plan, Persistence to graduation.

Congratulations, Salma and Marco!

FWPS Scholars place in AVID Writing Contest

We are proud of our scholars who placed in the AVID Writing Contest! More than 1,700 scholars competed, writing argumentative essays and citing materials to support their position. These finalists wrote the top essays at each middle school and high school in the district, indicating mastery of writing and strong critical thinking skills as reflected in Goals 3 and 4 of our district Strategic Plan.

The Board would like to recognize the following scholars with placements that occurred in the middle school category: 

• Michael Sinn, first place, Illahee
• Alicia Roeun, runner up, Sacajawea
• Itzel Cervantes, honorable mention, Sequoyah
• Andy Kim, honorable mention, Illahee
• Eleanor Aasen, honorable mention, Illahee

The Board would also like to recognize the following scholars with placements that occurred in the high school category: 

• Lucas David, first place, Federal Way
• Ben Zuarez, runner up, Todd Beamer
• Ashley Palafox, honorable mention, Todd Beamer
• Karolina Nargan, honorable mention, Decatur
• Joshua Collier, honorable mention, Decatur
• Justin Tessier, honorable mention, Decatur

Congratulations, scholars! We are proud of you for being engaged, active, critical thinkers.

Scholar places at 60^th Annual WA State Science and Engineering Fair

Kieran McDowell a fifth grade Brigadoon Elementary student, has placed and received a special award at the 60th annual Washington State Science and Engineering Fair.

The Board would like to recognize Kieran for his accomplishments!

Kieran received a first prize trophy, and a second prize ribbon for his project which focused on: “What is the best second hole size in a coffee lid for liquid to pour smoothly?” He also received a special award, the “Origami Award for Finding Math and Science in Unexpected Places.”

Kieran was among more than 700 presenters from first through twelfth grades who participated in the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair.

This effort is in direct support of the district Strategic Plan Goal 3: Active Learners: Engaged, Empowered, Critical Thinkers.

Congratulations, Kieran!

FWPS Scholar is Most Transformational

Advancing Leadership is a youth leadership program designed for high school sophomores and juniors where students learn about leadership style, how to work with and inspire others, and discover lots of things they did not know about Federal Way. It can be a life changing experience!

Tonight we are proud to announce Truman’s Iziah Reedy for being named the “Most Transformational” by his Advancing Leadership Youth peers! Being part of Advancing Leadership Youth helps our scholars grow into thriving, confident, responsible individuals — Goal 2 of our district Strategic Plan.

Advancing Leadership Youth aims to transform passionate people into impactful leaders, making this award one of the most important an Advancing Leadership Youth scholar can receive.

Congratulations, Iziah, for your recognition as a student leader among your peers!

Open Doors Scholars Graduate

The Board would like to recognize two graduates from Federal Way Open Doors. Persistence to Graduation is Goal Five of our Strategic Plan, and these graduates demonstrated this in spades.

Iris Pulido-Ramos has been a student with Federal Way Public Schools since 2010. She came to Federal Way Acceleration Academy, now Federal Way Open Doors, in September 2015. We have watched Iris grow from a somewhat shy, quiet student to a vibrant young adult, with a great group of friends at Open Doors. As Iris worked through her state tests and credits, it became apparent that she had the tenacity to not only complete her high school diploma, but also challenge herself for what happens after high school. She has been involved in her family cleaning business, often working 40 hours a week to ensure the business remained on track, all while keeping her commitment to Federal Way Open Doors. Her next steps include continuing to work for the family business, as she obtains her state and national language interpreter certification, with the goal of speaking English, Spanish, Arabic and Farsi. We are proud to call Iris our graduate and we look forward to hearing about the amazing things she is doing in her life!

Angela Garcia-Salazar has been a scholar with Federal Way Public Schools since she started her educational career at Lake Grove in kindergarten. She went on to attend Valhalla Elementary, Kilo Middle School, Thomas Jefferson High School, Federal Way Senior High, Washington Youth Academy, and now graduating from Federal Way Open Doors. Angela has worked hard to complete her education and has never given up. She was one of the first female graduates from Washington Youth Academy in Bremerton. Since the time she was little, Angela has had a strong mind and spirit. Angela will continue to strive to be a life-long learner and a positive member to the Federal Way community.

Congratulations scholars, we are proud of you!