New Library Books for Harrah – Again, it took a village to secure $3,000 worth of library books for the new school. Ms. Suzy Diaz from Heritage University connected The Mt. Adams School District with the Yakima Valley Partners for Education for the $3,000 in Library books for Harrah. Mrs. Jarnecke is working with Scholastic to secure some culturally relevant and current books for the students to enjoy and to check out from our new library.
Do we want Watermelon on the east side of the New School property? Mr. Lon Inaba approached the District about leasing the land on the east 35 acres in exchange for student lessons in agriculture and participation in all aspects of growing melons. I think this would be a good exchange of services, but that will be up to the Board to decide at the next Board meeting.
The Playground Partnership – At this time we have the $10k donation from Pacific Power Foundation. I was informed that the United Way of Yakima has capital funds that they donate for larger projects that are aligned with their mission and purpose. I spoke with the Director this week and will be completing an application for $100K to help us with part of the cost of the new playground. I will keep you posted.
Basketball Team Report - Mrs. Tenney reports that the Basketball teams were successful in defeating the Riverview team from Finley, WA. Tonight, we will be hosting Columbia Burbank and on Saturday the teams will travel to Tri-Cities prep. Both the Boys and Girls now have a record of 2 wins and 1 loss. Wrestlers have their first match on Saturday at Granger as they are participating in the Iron Man Tournament. GO COUGARS!
White Swan Athletics goes live – Mr. Muller reports that we now have a camera that will live stream games and activities to You Tube. It is a dedicated camera and has excellent quality and will be an excellent addition to our service to the community.
White Swan students are working hard and the number of failing grades have decreased. This is very apparent with the number of athletes who are eligible to play. This week 89% of our athletes are passing all of their classes. Mr. Gerry Muller has been working with the league to assist students that have transferred to our school and do the paperwork for league eligibility. One of the students that transferred to White Swan is a senior playing basketball and has met with the counselor to design a pathway to graduation. What a team!
The White Swan Drug and Alcohol counselor has begun the prevention groups. She is working hard to meet with several students individually as well as provide group support helping our students stay safe.
Six days until Open House – Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the New Harrah Campus Open House. The event will kick off with the White Swan Cougar Concert Band under the direction of Maestro Chad Jones. There will be presentation of the colors starting at 9:00 AM, followed by a “virtual” ground breaking, Ribbon cutting, and then tours of the facility. I hope you will be able to join us. The members of the Board are all welcome to say a few words at the event if interested.