Good News June 13, 2017

Scholar Representatives at Board Meetings

In Federal Way Public Schools, incorporating student voice is central to informing the work of serving each of our 23,000 student-scholars. Students from the Student Advisory to the Superintendent team presented a recommendation and outlined the application and selection process for scholar representatives at board meetings. An interview team including board members and students from the Scholar Advisory to the Superintendent team selected the two finalists.

The purpose of scholar representatives’ participation at board meetings on the board will be to provide valuable input on school district operations — an area the superintendent as CEO is held responsible for.

This effort is in support of district Strategic Plan Goal 2: thriving, confident, responsible individuals.

Congratulations to the scholars selected to serve as Scholar Representation on the Board for fall 2017:

• Cedric Dennard II 
• Mikayla Reedy

Thank you to the four scholars who participated in the interview team:

• Angela Hong
• Sydney Nash
• Harley Newman
• Phillip Philbrick

Thank you for your leadership!

Federal Way School Board "Student Voice" Scholarship Award Recipients 

The Federal Way Public Schools Board of Directors Student Voice Scholarship Award celebrates the accomplishments of two class of 2017 scholars who have used their “voices” to make a difference in their school and community. This supports thriving, confident, responsible individuals, Goal 2 of the district strategic plan. This is the inaugural year for the scholarship award. Each scholar will receive $500.

The following two scholars have been selected as 2017 winners:

• Kaleigha Lang
• Mehria Ibrahimi 

Students from the Student Advisory to the Superintendent team came up with the selection process and criterion and presented their recommendation to the board. The board reviewed and selected scholarship recipients.

Congratulations, we can’t wait to see where your dreams take you!

School Staff Administer Life-saving Aid to Security Officer

We would like to recognize the quick action of our school district employees who helped save the life of one of our district security officers.

On June 6, Federal Way School District Security Officer Craig Plummer was on-site at Valhalla Elementary when he felt unwell and collapsed.

School staff took immediate action. They contacted 911. Lead Security Officer Parris Mamon and Principal Kristen Schroeder stepped right in to administer an automated external defibrillator also known as an AED and saved Craig’s life. Craig, Parris, and Kristen please come forward to be recognized.

Craig told us, “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be alive.” 

We would also like to thank the emergency responders from South King Fire and Rescue.

Parris, Kristen and South King Fire and Rescue: This incident represents how good preparation, training and quick action can literally save a life. As heroes of the day, you went above and beyond the call to keep our friend and team member safe. We are so proud and grateful for your leadership!

Adelaide Elementary Kindergarten Class Achieves Perfect Attendance

In support of Strategic Plan Goal 2, Whole Child: Thriving, Confident, Responsible Individuals, Adelaide Elementary set out to increase attendance.

Mrs. Tomi Pepper’s kindergarten class was the first to reach eight weeks of perfect attendance, and it is now at 11 weeks!

Congratulations, scholars and keep up the great work!

Thomas Jefferson High School girls' tennis team named WIAA Academic State Champions

Congratulations to the Thomas Jefferson High School girls' tennis team who was named the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association academic state champions with a team GPA average of 3.939!

The following team members were recognized:

• Kelly Dillard
• Erica Dillard
• Maya Frame
• Jamie Grall
• Michelle Kim
• Amber LeBlanc
• Makaylie Moore
• Elaine Nguyen
• Violetta Pakhnuk
• Alexandra Peterson
• Mia Rosa
• Gjianni White
• Grace Soo Hun Lim

The Scholastic Awards program recognizes the team with the highest grade point average among all Washington high schools in their enrollment classification. 

This effort is in direct support of Goal 3 of our Strategic Plan, active learners: engaged, empowered, critical thinkers and Goal 4, content area competentce: mastery of all subjects. 

Congratulations!

Students Excel at the Future Business Leaders of America State Competition

Federal Way High School junior and Future Business Leaders of America Chapter President Simon Struthers earned first place in the word processing category. Freshman and Future Business Leaders of America Vice President Gabriel Smith earned third in the cyber security category.

This was the capstone experience for students with career interests in business, drawing nearly 2,400 students, advisers, and industry professionals together for 60 hours of leadership, education and competition.

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

Elementary Track and Field Program

Did you know the elementary track and field program consists of approximately 2,000 K–5 scholars from 24 schools led by 50 coaches? This well-loved program recently held its championship meet. These scholar athletes are engaged, empowered, active learners which is part of the district Strategic Plan Goal 3. 

The following scholars were the top performing girls and boys out of all 333 participants during the 2016-17 school year: 

• Gyuhyeon Lee  earned the most points out of all boy participants.
• Jacob Hurskin earned the second highest points
• Domani Arizpe and Vitaliy Tishchenko tied for earning the third highest points.
• Jayda Lewis earned the most points out of all the girl participants.
• Emily De LaCruz earned the second highest points
• Cassandra Atkins and Soukhanya Waters tied for earning the third highest points.

Coaches and administrators are welcome to come forward now for the photo.

We are so proud of our scholar-athletes!

Special Olympics Scholar-Athletes Excel at Regional Track and Field Meet and Soccer Tournament

Our scholar-athletes who recently participated in the Special Olympics Regional Track and Field Meet and Soccer Tournament really brought home the gold, silver and bronze! They placed so well that many went on to compete and win at the Special Olympics State Tournament too!

These scholar-athletes are engaged, empowered, active learners, that is part of the district Strategic Plan Goal 3.

We are so proud of you for these achievements!

Illahee Math Team Members in the Top 50 of All Math Olympiads Internationally

The Illahee Math Team’s dedication is astounding. They get up early every Saturday morning to come solve rigorous math problems for two hours.

Illahee’s math team competed in the Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle School competitions. Over 120,000 students participated on over 5,000 member teams across all 50 states, 13 American territories, and 23 foreign countries.

Team members scored in the top 50 of all the Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle School participants internationally:

• Jonah Mizrahi
• Michael Sinn
• Frank Ton
• Luis Pablo Carrera-Lara
• Andy Kim
• Ryan Kim
• Daniel Chung
• Paola Duarte Garcia
• Scott MacLaren
• Evelyn Stovin
• Grace Chong
• Carter Mitchell
• Jameson Karmell
• William Hong

This effort is in direct support of district Strategic Plan Goal 4, Content Area Competence: Mastery of All Subjects.

In addition, we would like to recognize Austin Kim, a current student at Thomas Jefferson High School. Austin volunteers his time every week to help students. Austin is also on TJ's Math Team, yet still finds time and energy to come to every practice.

11th Annual Math Bonanza at Thomas Jefferson High School

We would like to recognize our scholars who placed at the 11th Annual Math Bonanza at Thomas Jefferson High School:

• Nathan Andualem, third place, Individual, fourth grade
• Huy Mai, third place, Individual and third place, Mental Math, seventh grade
• Jacob Norris, first place, Individual, eighth grade
• Amy Ojeaburu , third place, Individual, eighth grade
• Connor McQuistin, third place, Mental Math, sixth grade
• SeChae Park , first place, Mental Math, eighth grade
• Jungmin Ahn, second place, Mental Math, eighth grade
• Zoie Aquino, third place, Mental Math, eighth grade

We’d also like to recognize the Federal Way 8th Grade Teams who swept first, second and third place in the team division! Some of those team members are already standing here, but if there are other members here please come forward.

This effort is in direct support of the district Strategic Plan Goal 4, Content Area Competence: Mastery of All Subjects.

Congratulations, math scholars on your achievements in the competition! We are proud of you.

Todd Beamer High School Boys Soccer Team Wins State Championship

We are so proud of the Todd Beamer High School boys’ soccer team for winning the state championship! The win was the first state title for Beamer in any sport since the school opened its doors in 2003.

• Brandon Locke
• Richard Bezus
• Jordan Carmel
• Eric Peña
• Tyrese Collins
• Shawn Narayan
• Jacob Allen
• Jonathon Fischer
• Zak Gregg
• Austin Stafford
• Faraz Hamidani
• Jonah Fuller
• Adam Shown
• Diego Sanchez
• Dylan Alley
• Gregorio Romero
• Mark Filimonov 
• Malik Henry
• Luke Gregg

This effort is in direct support of Goal 3 of our Strategic Plan, active learners: engaged, empowered, critical thinkers and Goal 4, content area competence: mastery of all subjects. Congratulations!

 Federal Way Lions Club Supports FWPS Scholars

The Federal Way Lions Club presented eleven scholarships to seniors totaling $10,000 to help fund college expenses including books, class fees. Since its inception 60 years ago, the Lions has awarded over $96,900 in scholarships to Federal Way students.

In addition, 22 middle school eighth graders were honored with “Student Scholar of the Year” awards. These scholars represented outstanding leadership, academics and service to their school and our community. 

Thank you, Lions President Jim Stiles and the members from the Lions Club.

We appreciate the Lion’s commitment to our scholars! Efforts like these support our Strategic Plan Goal 5: Persistence to Graduation.

FWPS Scholar-Athletes Place in State Track and Field Competition 

Congratulations, to the two scholar-athletes who placed in the state track and field competition:

• Kemuel Santana, from Decatur High School

                1^st Place: 200 Meter Dash 4A

                3^rd Place: 400 Meter Dash 4A    

• Kailynn Hyde, from Federal Way High School

               1^st Place: Girls Discus Throw Ambulatory

               2^nd Place: Girls Shot Put Ambulatory

These scholar-athletes are engaged, empowered, active learners that is part of the district Strategic Plan Goal 3. We are so proud of you!

Federal Way Open Doors Graduation

Tonight I would like to recognize two graduates from Federal Way Open Doors. Persistence to Graduation is Goal 5 of our Strategic Plan, and these graduates demonstrated this in spades. 

Wilson Harper is a student that had to overcome multiple barriers in order to obtain his GED. In September Federal Way Open Doors started offering the GED. The GED program was something that worked well for Wilson. He passed his Reasoning through Language Arts test first, followed by Social Studies, and Science. All that was left for Wilson was Math. This is the hardest of the GED test. Wilson put himself on a timeline, studied diligently for the test, and passed it after only two weeks. Wilson has encouraged other students along the way. The staff at Open Doors knows that Wilson will be successful at his next step. Congratulations!

Dylan Monroy started his educational career as a scholar at Lake Dolloff, Wildwood and then onto Sacajawea. He wanted to get through school, but was discouraged and many times just wanted to give up and go to work. Dylan started at Decatur High School and then realized that Gateway to College would be a great option for him. When Gateway to College did not fit his changing work needs Dylan transferred back into Open Doors. Not very far into Dylan being at Open Doors, he felt he had to quit school to work and support himself. While he was earning money, he realized that if he came back to Open Doors to earn his diploma he would have even more earning power in today’s economy. Dylan is very proud today that he had completed one of his first of many goals to be able to provide more for his growing family. Congratulations, Dylan!