sammmishreview03_21_12 by The Issaquah Press

March 21, 2012

COMMUNITY

SAMMAMISH REVIEW

SAMMIs recognize inspirational people By Lillian Tucker

The Sammamish community came together on the evening of March 16 to celebrate the “magnificent moments of inspiration” that local neighbors, parents and students have brought to the area. These moments were the focal point of 11 awards that were handed down to individuals that had been nominated and judged by their community. Capturing the spirit of the evening the 2012 SAMMI Awards Ceremony and the Youth Advocate Award were both dedicated to the late Officer Stan Chapin, who won the Youth Advocate Award in 2003. “May each of us emulate the humility, grace and compassion he so readily displayed each and every day of his life,” read the SAMMI memoriam passed out to each guest. The Youth Advocate Award is annually given to a person that values and supports area youth and champions their needs and interests in the community. This year that honor was given to Connor Creswell for his work of pioneering “Cool Kicks,” a program that collects shoes for foster

children. The senior at Eastside Catholic is a self-confessed lover of shoes and has always loved filling his closet with dozens of pairs of shoes. The teenager decided to turn his interest into something he could share with those less fortunate. Upon accepting the award, Creswell told the audience that when he met one of the foster children who had received a pair of shoes from Cool Kicks the person thanked him by explaining that something as simple as getting a nice pair of shoes made him feel important. Kent Kiernan, who many know as the “Helpful Hardware Man” at Sammamish Ace Hardware, received one of the greatest honors of the evening with the Sprit of Sammamish award. Chosen from a group of six individuals who embrace the highest level of commitment to the community by selflessly lending their time and talents, Kiernan was humbled by the award. A former police sergeant who even after retiring never ceased serving the public, Kiernan said in an interview last week

Photo by Lillian Tucker

Ryan Brown, Nathan Gelbrich and Allie Murphy got to take home their own piece of the SAMMIs Friday night after they were honored with the Trevor Price Award for setting an example of good will for their peers by organizing a basketball tournament to raise money for youth sports scholarships. that long before his nomination he has been a great fan of the SAMMI’s because of the inspiration that isshared with the community. Kiernan was nominated because of his inspiring acts

which include using his past experiences to partner with public officials, safety experts and other volunteers to help the community plan for emergencies through his role of president of the Sammamish Citizen Corps

Council. “It’s nice to be recognized by the people you work with,” he said. For the musical joy that he has brought to the community R. See SAMMI, Page 9

Global Washington visits Sammamish By Lillian Tucker

Photo by Lillian Tucker

Meena Thirumurthy of Global Vidya and other Sammamish residents gather at City Hall on March 13 to discuss how connecting nonprofits with each other can help further the individual organization’s missions.

The SAMMI awards ceremony is not the only place that evidence of Sammamish’s good will can be found. Every day the spirit of giving is illustrated by the numerous nonprofit organizations that are run by local citizens. It’s the concentration of groups and charities that brought Bookda Gheisher, executive director of Global Washington, to talk to Sammamish residents on March 13 about her organization that acts as a club for the state’s nonprofits. “Is it something in the water?” Gheisher said during her presentation at Sammamish City Hall. “Washington is really touching lives and exporting hope, not just coffee and airplanes.” There are more than 300 nonprofits in the state that are working for international development.

One of the largest clusters, Gheisher said, is the pursuit of educational development. That is something Sammamish residents like the children at Beaver Lake Middle School can relate to. Over the years the students there have collected items to support more than 40 schools in South Africa. But charities aren’t just asking for donations any more, said Gheisher, nor are they all fueled by adults and retirees. She gets around 500 emails every day and half of them, she said, are from young people asking how they can get involved with Global Washington. “Young people today don’t divide the world into ‘global’ and ‘local’,” Gheisher said, adding that her 11-year-old understands why cleaning the water here is a global issue. “Whereas I think it took me a long time to see the world that way.” See GLOBAL, Page 9

March 21, 2012

SCHOOLS

SAMMAMISH REVIEW

Cascade Ridge students raise thousands for Africa By Lillian Tucker

a couple spills but now we can go do it fast and it won’t spill.” The fifth graders at Cascade The busy-bee workshop that Ridge Elementary School had engulfed Wilson and his classtheir work cut out for them mates was the culmination of March 16 when they had 90 their weeklong effort to raise minutes to package more than money to benefit the Children of 24,000 individual meals to send the Nations charity. to Africa. Each year it is a tradition for The students had originally the fifth-graders to fundraise for scheduled that time to put togeth- one charity. For the last several er 8,000 packyears the 10ages but when “It’s showing me that I and 11-yearthey lapped olds have shouldn’t take things for devoted their their fundraising goal of class project to granted.” $2,000 the chilChildren of the – Eddie Rosemont, dren ended up Nations, which Student – buying several is involved thousand more in a number pounds of food. of projects To get it all done in time the around the world from feeding students turned their school’s orphans to drilling wells to furcafeteria into a makeshift food nishing schools. assembly line, complete with “It’s showing me that I aprons and hair-nets. shouldn’t take things for grant“It’s been really fun,” said ed,” said Eddie Rosemont. Derek Wilson who was hard at This year the students raised work sealing up the meal packmoney to feed children around ages. the world. Once the individual plastic Children like those at Cascade bags were pressed and sealed Ridge fundraise to buy lentils, they were tossed to the next spices, chicken-flavored vegan batch of children who boxed up See MEALS, Page 11 the finished product. “We’ve had

Photo by Lillian Tucker

The Cascade Ridge fifth graders furiously work through the final step of their charity project for Children of the Nations. In order to package the 24,000 meals, the students had to work in assembly stations like the one above.

Relocating, rebuilding schools is part of Issaquah bond By Tom Corrigan

gram during planning sessions held roughly a year ago. One long Four projects account for debate was whether to propose roughly half of the $219 million rebuilding the oldest schools or bond package proposed by the to push for dollars to repair and Issaquah School District. maintain those buildings. If district voters approve “It was a big question,” said the issue in a special election Steve Crawford, district director April 17, plans call for rebuildof capital projects. ing the district’s three oldest Ultimately, the bond commitschools, Clark and Sunny Hills tee decided it would be cheaper elementary to rebuild now, schools, along rather than On the web with Issaquah spend money Middle School. Learn more about on maintaining Total cost: Volunteers for Issaquah the older build$109.1 million. Schools at www.visvote.org. ings and replacIntertwined ing them later, with the plans Crawford and to rebuild Clark others said. and Issaquah Middle School is the Overall, the plan will play a bit plan to rebuild Tiger Mountain of musical chairs with the locaCommunity High School on tions of Clark, Issaquah Middle part of what is now the Issaquah School and Tiger Mountain. The Middle School campus. Cost of changes allow the district to that project is estimated at $3.9 rebuild the schools while keepmillion. ing present facilities open and, more importantly to the bottom line, allows those buildings to be The overall plan reconstructed without the disThe buildings involved are old trict having to buy new property, and largely past their useful life said Jake Kuper, district chief of spans. finances and operations. A bond feasibility and developThe relocation plans also allow ment committee developed the the district to make use of pororiginal capital improvement pro- tions of Issaquah Middle School

“Things are falling apart.” – Corrine DeRosa, Principal –

the roomier Clark site on Second Avenue Southeast, adjacent to Issaquah High School. That would allow for expansion of the school and the eventual addition of up-to-date athletic facilities, according to Crawford and others. Sunny Hills

Map by Sammamish Review graphics

The Issaquah district plan would swap the location of some existing schools and renovate the buildings which house them. that were remodeled in 1997, Crawford said. The plan to rebuild Clark carries a price tag of $19 million. Rebuilding Sunny Hills is projected to $27 million, though the two schools would be similar in size, Kuper said during a recent public

meeting. If plans move forward, the current Issaquah Middle School site on First Avenue Southeast would become home to a revamped Tiger Mountain and an almost new Clark Elementary. Issaquah Middle School would be rebuilt at

Aging infrastructure and the overuse of portable classrooms are problems Sunny Hills Principal Sarah White mentions when talking about potential rebuilding of her school. She said the roof needs attention, the plumbing system is failing and a fresh coat of paint is needed in many spots. Sunny Hills is home to about 570 students. The school has two restrooms. One is sometimes out of commission — one possible See BOND, Page 12

calendar

March 21, 2012

Events

March

Help keep a park pretty

4 5 11 12 18 19 25 26

The Macro Asset Perspective: A Wealth Accumulation Seminar, discover the value of proper horizontal diversification diversification between tax treatments and the potential rewards of this strategy at 7 p.m. March 21 at the Sammamish Library.

The Civil War in Washington Territory, this pre-

2012 6 13 20 27

7 14 21 28

1 8 15 22 29

2 9 16 23 30

3 10 17 24 31

public calendar

Feng Shui Tips for a Harmonious Home and Life, discover how to create greater harmony in your home using Feng Shui, the Chinese art of placement and design to enhance positive living at 7 p.m. March 22 at the Sammamish Library. A fair to discuss summer options for children and adults with disabilities is from 7-8:30 p.m. March 23 at Sunset Elementary School, 4229 West Lake Sammamish Parkway S.E. Organizations will provide opportunities for all ages and levels of ability. Email Info@ IssaquahSpecialNeedsGroup.org.

SAMMAMISH REVIEW

March 26 Lake Washington School Board worksession, at 5 p.m. followed by a business meeting at 7 p.m. at the L.E. Scarr Resource Center, located at 16250 N.E. 74th St., Redmond March 28 Volunteer to help maintain Lower Commons Park, behind City Hall. Volunteers will help remove invasive plants and add native plants. Younger volunteers may come if they are accompanied by an adult. The event is from 9 a.m.-noon March 24. Visit https://www. ci.sammamish.wa.us/events/Default.aspx?ID=2294 for more information. sentation will consider territorial attitudes toward race and slavery, agitation for northwest secession, and federal suppression of freedom of the press, at 7 p.m. March 28 at the Sammamish Library.

Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process

to Organize Your Home & Life, in this workshop, learn the steps to getting organized and leave feeling empowered to take action, at 7 p.m. March 29 at the Sammamish Library.

Donate blood from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 2 at

City Hall.

Issaquah District Superintendent Steve Rasmussen will hold coffees around the district to discuss the dis-

Issaquah School Board meeting, 7 p.m. at district headquarters, 565 N.W. Holly St. in Issaquah April 3 Sammamish City Council meeting, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall April 4 City Council office hour 5:306:30 p.m. at City Hall Parks and Recreation Committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall April 5 Sammamish Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall April 10 City Council Study Session at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall April 16 Lake Washington School Board worksession, at 5 p.m. followed by a business meeting at 7 p.m. at the L.E. Scarr Resource Center, located at 16250 N.E. 74th St., Redmond April 25 Issaquah School Board meeting, 7 p.m. at district headquarters, 565 N.W. Holly St. in Issaquah To submit items for the Community Calendar, email to samrev@isspress.com. Items will be edited and must be received by the Wednesday before publication.

calendar

March 21, 2012

Events

March

Help keep a park pretty

4 5 11 12 18 19 25 26

The Civil War in Washington Territory, this pre-

2012 6 13 20 27

7 14 21 28

1 8 15 22 29

2 9 16 23 30

3 10 17 24 31

public calendar

SAMMAMISH REVIEW

Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process

to Organize Your Home & Life, in this workshop, learn the steps to getting organized and leave feeling empowered to take action, at 7 p.m. March 29 at the Sammamish Library.

Donate blood from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 2 at

City Hall.

Issaquah District Superintendent Steve Rasmussen will hold coffees around the district to discuss the dis-