September 2014 Luncheon Speakers
Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce luncheon meetings are held at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St., at noon each Monday, federal holidays excluded. Everyone is welcome!
Sept. 1 – Labor Day Holiday
No meeting today. Enjoy the holiday weekend.
Sept. 8 - Keven Elliff
Elliff of Windridge Solutions talks about recent changes by the major Internet search providers and how to use them to your advantage. Sponsor Korean Women’s Association
Sept.15 - Travis Berglund & Tabitha Miller
Putting aside some money for the proverbial rainy day is something everyone aspires to do and few people actually accomplish in time to retire. This First Federal team will talk about how you can save for the future. Sponsor Jefferson Healthcare
Sept. 22 Michael D’Alessandro
The Executive Director of Northwinds Arts Center talks about Port Townsend’s downtown center for the arts. Sponsor Peninsula Credit Union
Sept. 29 - PUD candidate forum
Kenneth Collins and Tony DeLeo talk about their vision for Jefferson County’s Public Utility District. Sponsor Kristin Manwaring Insurance
Standing up for educational excellence We need more internships, mentors, training opportunities
By Amanda Funaro Last week I received a letter informing families that our school district, and the vast majority of school districts in Washington, are now classified as “failing” by the Federal government. Without getting into the details of the fight around policy and metrics, in the simplest terms, schools in our state are labeled as failing because our state is not adhering to a federal mandate for standardized evaluations of teachers and students alike. As a parent of a student in our schools, an advocate for improvement of public education, and your Chamber President, like many of you my first reaction was that of concern. “Failing” is a scary word, and beyond the weight of the label I have concerns about the impacts that designation brings for funding and quality of education for our children in general and for my 7-year-old daughter specifically.
After a pause, I was also inspired - inspired to live in a community that values our schools enough to already be on the path to a solution. While we are largely powerless in the larger fight between the Federal and State education systems, our community has moved past the argument to focus on the central question: “How can we best prepare our children for the world?” Ours is a very small district with remarkable teachers, a dedicated staff, thoughtful administrators and a community working together to make sure that our schools and students are thriving by metrics too important to be measured by standardized tests alone. Our schools, our students, need to be prepared to deliver something greater. The district and this community are working together to ensure excellence in each student. It takes a village, and our village challenges our students to do well in classes and also participate in community service, internships and work preparation. To do this we need the businesses to step forward -- to support excellence
Hands on learning is part of the idea behind the Maritime Discovery Schools initiative. The Chamber encourages business to find ways to help improve local school programs. in education, get engaged, to Schools (MDS) initiative that provide internships and training has brought together our loopportunities, and to appreciate cal business community, the the teachers and staff who work nonprofit sector and the Port with our children every day to Townsend schools in an effort help them grow into effective to tie learning to the real world. and thriving adults. The MDS initiative has a 5-year Last year the school board plan being led by Sarah Rubenadopted a new vision known stein – former Blue Heron math as the Maritime Discovery Continued on Page 2