Enjoy the summer!

From The Principal

What a year! Every school year goes by quickly, but this year has been especially fast with unprecedented challenges AND celebrations.

I know we all continue to be challenged by the budget reductions across our District and State. The District process of community forums is completed this week. I will be communicating soon the outcomes of those reductions at Madrona in terms of both staffing and program. Look for a letter from me to come home with Notes From The Office in the next week or two!

Occurring every year are preparations for transitions. We understand that our multi-age structure causes the move from level to level to be especially important to students and families! To this end we try to provide information that helps parents to support their child via some parent information evenings:

- Primary Orientation for parents with graduating kindergartners will be held Monday – June 8th from 4:15-5:15 in the Tri Center.

- Intermediate multi-age information for parents with graduating third year students will be held Wednesday – June 10th from 6:30 – 7:30 in the library.

- Registration information for parents of new middle school students was shared last month. There will also be a middle school information gathering for parents and students in August.

Each of these evenings is an opportunity for parents to hear about what’s coming up for their child and how to help support them along the way! Often, the best information comes from our veteran parents who have previously gone through the transition and have wisdom to share! If you have a transitioning student – I hope you’ll join us

Something to celebrate this year is our selection as a finalist for the Washington State Imagination Award! This award recognizes schools that focus on skills for the 21st Century including: imagination, creativity, reflection, empathy and others. The panel that made the selection included Astronaut Bonnie Dunbar, a Boeing VP, an author and a Director for the Pacific Science Center. The competition was described as intense. We were disappointed not to be selected as the winning school (an alternative school in Seattle won by a one vote margin!) – but, we were gratified to hear from the award foundation how impressed they were with our school culture and the work we do with our students. We have been invited to attend a recognition event in the fall, and to apply again for this award in the future.

As we close this year we say good-bye and thank you to some parent leaders in our community. I want to thank Erika Jennings for her leadership as our MIT Co-Chair this year. Erika’s skills with communication and group decision-making have been a real gift this year and we thank her! Ellen Ernst has provided exceptional leadership of the Safety Committee (and MIT) for the past many years at Madrona. Her youngest child is graduating this year and so we say good-bye to Ellen and thank her for her dedication to Madrona as a safe and civil school! Of course we also thank our dedicated Volunteer Program Manager Kim Magana for another year of caring service! We are fortunate that Kim will continue in her position next year. There are a host of other parents who have dedicated hundreds of hours of time to our school this year, which results in wonderful support for our children. I’m grateful for each and every one of you! Thank you.

I send my best wishes for a safe, fun and happy summer to each of you. Our school office will open August 10th and I’ll see you on the first day of school on September 7th!

Your principal, Lynda

Madrona Integrated Team

MIT Co-Chair’s Corner

Thank You for A Great Year

Before the year ends, I wanted to acquaint you with some of the dedicated volunteers whom I’ve worked with over the course of this year and thank them for their service towards helping MIT support a school that enables children to thrive.

I’ve got to start with Linda Hood. Linda is the person I – and many people – go to because she has so much information about the school, its history, and its challenges at the tip of her tongue. If you have a question, Linda can probably answer it. If she doesn’t know the answer, she’s hooked into the network and can quickly find the person who does. You might not know that Linda has been spending 8-10 hours/week keeping up the treasury of MIT. This is, in essence, a part time job on top of her “real” job – and she volunteers during the school day and at most evening community events too! Linda, you are my star of the year!

I also want to thank Steve Escandon and Brad Proffitt for taking on chairing roles in MIT on top of their teaching jobs. It’s conventional wisdom (and also wrong) that teaching is an easy way to get a shorter workday and summers off. Aside from putting in extra time for the students (such as for Middle School camp), they’ve dedicated themselves to the much less glamorous job of supporting parent involvement, taking time away from their families but making our school a much richer community.

Linda Park: thank you for making Scrip your personal mission, sitting by the front office many mornings/week, and never failing to campaign for this crucial free source of funding. But it takes effort to get this “free” money, and that’s invaluable. Also thank you to Penny Hoppe, Tracy Langley, and Sarah DeMun for helping to sell scrip to parents! Anyone interested in helping out next year, please contact Linda or Kim Magana, as scrip may become an even more important source of funding in this time of cutbacks.

Please bear with me as this starts to sound like an Academy speech! I want to thank the board parents who come to evening meetings, report on their areas and help us to get a sense of what is happening in the school as a whole: Annie Rueda-Brown, Geoffrey Mattens, Diana Jackson, Heather Freeman, Ony Hoffman, Shellette DuBois, Christian Heydemann, Marikay Gillingham, Karie Dostert, and Sara Pearson.

Then there are those parents who aren’t necessarily on the board but spend lots of time in service. Ellen Ernst will be missed (when her child graduates to high school). She has a wealth of information, having served MIT under various guises and having additionally been an advocate for Madrona at meetings with the district and city. Kory DeMun thoughtfully attends the Edmonds School District Citizens’ Planning Committee and keeps us in the loop about impending decisions that we want to weigh in on; Sarah DeMun keeps the middle school parents in touch through her weekly newsletter and also has spent many hours with Madrona Children’s Theater and Music Boosters. They will also be missed (and a great asset to their child’s high school!). Frank Simorjay has attended meetings regularly and lately has been consulting on our bylaws’ functionality and marketing. I’m looking forward to his increased visibility next year and am grateful for his willingness to step up.

We couldn’t have had such a festive and well received Bear Scare without Felicia Seubert’s dedication to that event and her willingness to chair it every year. Many people are willing to volunteer their time yet those who take on a leadership role are indispensable resources. And thanks to Simone Bower and Sherry Horvath, without whom (among others) we wouldn’t have had a Talent Show. Thank you so much to all the teachers who contributed crafts to Lynda’s silent auction

at Art Walk; you’ve all inspired us to expand upon your idea next year, and the kids had great fun seeing your talent. I’d like to articulate a premature expression of gratitude towards Stacia Williams who has already brought her experience and skill towards organizing next year’s sure-to-be successful Jog-a-Thon.

Here’s a shout out to our paid program manager, Kim Magana, who nevertheless volunteers many UNpaid hours to assist where needed; and Lisa Miller who coordinates our Enrichment Activities. Lisa Hollek has greatly benefited our direct donation program, All For Kids, with her vision and effort. Because M.I.T. is a nonprofit organization, we have the unusual ability to offer tax-deductible status on donations, and unlike with sales, we make 100% of the profit. However, gift wrap sales have also been crucial to our ability to fund all the activities that MIT sponsors, so for that I thank Tamara Becker for enabling us to have many successful Innisbrook sales. Nancy Karis volunteers time and printing to put

together our Bear Facts newsletter, and has the job of reminding us all (sometimes repeatedly) to get articles in on deadline. Sounds like the job of a parent, eh? ;-) For all of you who never actually get your child’s copy of Notes from the Office, you can thank Allan Townsend and his team for putting it (and other useful information) on www.MadronaBearFacts.com. We’ll be relying on that more as a source of information in time to come as we progress towards going “paperless.”

If I’ve left anyone out (and I’m sure I have), oof, your behind the scenes efforts DO make a difference; even when it goes unrecognized, every hour of volunteerism towards making our children’s school more successful at its aims is appreciated and does count, and I do hope you get the icing on the cake of being recognized by the people who see you do it, day in and day out. (Here’s your prompt to let the people you see volunteering know of your gratitude.) I am appreciative of each and every one of you, mentioned or not, and writing this partial list of names fills me with a sense of awe and gratitude for how dedicated our parents are and for how many people it takes behind the scenes.

Not all of us have it in us to homeschool (or believe in that), but schooling is such an important part of our children’s lives, and our children’s teachers and school administrators so important to their success, that having a place to partake in their education through M.I.T. membership keeps us connected with our own children…and keeps us members in their community. Our community. So last, but not least, Lynda and Craig - whose last names we don’t need. You are the face of Madrona, and its heart. - Erika Jennings, empathic_negotiation@hotmail.com

Silent Auction A Success!

Thank you, thank you everyone for the great support of our first ever Art Walk Silent Auction! We raised $1,500 to support arts development for our students. Thank you to Madrona staff for getting this event going with their wonderful contributions. Thank you to staff and parents who purchased items and to Erika Jennings and Marikay Gillingham for collecting the proceeds. We will form a committee of interested staff and parents next fall to determine how to use this money for our students. I’m hoping that a committee be formed next year to plan the next auction AND that we open submissions to our parent community where we have many talented artists! - Lynda Fischer

Don’t miss the VERY LAST MIT Business Meeting!

• June 9th (Tues)
• 7 pm - In the library

Bus Count This Fall

Mark your calendars! The week of October 12-16 is bus count week, when ridership on busses is counted to determine how much money the Edmonds School Districts receives. This is particularly crucial this time due to all the budget cuts looming for the District. Monies are determined by the number of riders taking the busses during the morning (not the afternoons)-on average $320 per rider.

Yes, October 12-16 is a way out, but it is important to know that if we increase bus ridership:

1. More monies go to the School District (and less is cut out of the District)
2. Less congestion and increased safety in our parking lot
3.  Less fuel is used

I would urge everyone to see what they can do to increase bus ridership, if only for bus count week!

Any questions on this, please contact me at kdemun@comcast.net or 425.775.6027

 - Kory DeMun

Madrona Integrated Team

Treasurer’s Report

At the June 9th MIT meeting, the membership will be asked to approve next year’s budget. In creating the budget, the MIT budget committee had to take a hard look at where we choose to spend our money and how to best use the resources we have. We decided to throw a much larger portion of our collections directly into classrooms, primarily in response to the budget cuts coming down from the District. Per-kid funding is slated to drop from $15 to $10 at the district level, and we decided we needed to make that up. We cannot have our children miss out on books or flashcards or learning tools.

In exchange for the increase in classroom monies, we pretty much slashed a lot of the feel-good activities. MIT will not be spending a lot of money on volunteer appreciation week or teacher appreciation week. We all hope our volunteers and teachers know how much we appreciate them, without the boost of a small gift. As a matter of fact, many of us heard from teachers that they would willingly sacrifice many of the perks in order to make sure their classrooms had better resources. And social activities will still happen, but we have planned to make sure they break even, instead of being funded by MIT.

This has been an intense year in terms of making sure we have the funds to pay for everything we had planned last year. We are in better shape now than I feared we would be at mid-year, but I know we have a long road ahead of us before we can be as generous with our resources as we had been in years past. Thank you all for your generosity and support of Madrona’s programs. – Linda Hood

Parent Involvement Opportunities

There are many ways to be involved in the life of this school and we need everyone’s contributions! Together we model for our children the need for service to community. Please contact Craig or Lynda if you would be interested in serving on the following Madrona Teams:

- Learning Environment – meets in August to do an annual review of our behavior expectations. Craig will contact interested parents with the date/time. Learning Environment Team meets throughout the year to plan our character education, Tribes and service work, and to set goals and action plans to continuously improve the learning environment at Madrona.

- Safety Committee – meets monthly to address issues of safety ranging from the parking lot to the large scale emergency preparedness planning and rehearsal we do each year. Our long time parent leader Ellen Ernst is graduating from Madrona – so we really need new membership! Safety committee meetings are set in advance for the year and will be published in the fall Bear Facts.

- Arts Development – a new committee formed to plan for further art development for our students with the resources created by the Art Walk Silent Auction.

If you are interested in any of the above groups, please send Lynda or Craig an email with your interest and we will be sure to put you on a contact list! – Lynda Fischer

Fischerl@edmonds.wednet.edu, Baldwinc@edmonds.wednet.edu

All for Kids

Thank you to all the families who participated in All For Kids this school year. You are providing many educational opportunities that wouldn’t be available without your contribution. Our goal is to maintain the academic programs we want our students to have at Madrona. To continue this support it is necessary for us to do more next year. I am hoping to encourage other parents who are interested in this very important program to join me. It has been my great honor to volunteer for All For Kids these last few years, but this upcoming year will be my last. I hope you will consider joining me to support All For Kids. Contact me at lisahollek@comcast.net

 - Lisa Hollek

Madrona Integrated Team

A Farewell to Ellen

Ellen Ernst has been a member of the Madrona community for 10 years, and this year is her last. Her daughter is graduating from 8th Grade in a few weeks and Ellen will then be able to devote her energies to her kids’ high school, instead of splitting her time, as she has the past couple of years.

Ellen’s efforts have been fundamental in making this school safe and strong. It is thanks to Ellen that Madrona was one of the leaders in disaster-preparedness in the Edmonds School District. She helped found the Safety Committee, lobbied for and assembled survival supplies and the shed to put them in. She established protocols and ran safety drills far and away more sophisticated and “real” than the District did; her success was modeled by other schools and by the District itself in its disaster-preparedness. Ellen was also the person who decided to actually do something about the traffic situation in the parking lot. She worked together with the administration and other volunteers to work out the plan that exists today, making our morning and afternoon parking lot routine much safer and smoother than many could have ever dreamed.

Ellen has also walked the talk at Madrona. She has volunteered in her kids’ classrooms, served as classroom coordinator, and was an officer on the MIT Board for many years, including serving as parent co-chair. Ellen wrote and implemented many of the procedures that MIT uses to function as an organization. She’s worked hard to make herself available for so many activities over the years, and has cheerfully stepped into the breach without being asked twice.

For me, Ellen has also been a terrific resource, on whom I could call for a reality check or a lot of wisdom. It will be a sad day for me next year, when I look for her smiling face in the halls and don’t find her. Thank you so much, Ellen, for all you have done for MIT and Madrona School. You have truly made Madrona a great community to belong to.

 - Linda Hood

Yearbooks are here!

Madrona 2008-09 yearbooks and dvds have arrived! The yearbook staff will hold a distribution event on Monday, June 15th from 8-9:15 outside the cafeteria. The first 100 students will get a free doughnut with their yearbook. Hot chocolate and signing pens (bring cash!) will be available for purchase and the Jazz Band will play. Our yearbook company, Jostens, has shipped 50 additional books for us to sell, so if you forgot to pre-order in the winter, books and dvds will be available for purchase. Hardback book is now $21.00, dvds with movies of every center, many assemblies, tribes events, sports, Bear Scare, etc. are available for $7.00. Purchases can be made with cash, or checks payable to Edmonds School District. Students who don’t pick up their reserved copy during the signing event will have them delivered to their class that same morning

The media business managers are seeking several parent volunteers representing all grade levels who are able to assist with our yearbook and dvd distribution event on Monday, June 15th. Time commitment would be from 7:30 – 9:30am. Should be fun. Bring your mocha, come listen to some music and watch the excitement as kids get their first peek at the 2008-09 Madrona Yearbook. Please contact Monica Edwards if you are willing to help! 425.431.2944 or edwardsmo@edmonds.wednet.edu - Monica Edwards

Attribute of Character for June : Patience

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”

 ~John Quincy Adams

“Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.” ~Mac McCleary

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Madrona Integrated Team

Notice of Opportunity

Director – Madrona Children’s Theater

The Theater Administration Board of the Madrona Children’s Theater is currently seeking a Director for our annual musical. Performances will be held March 18 through 21, 2010. The Director must be available for rehearsal, planning and auditions in November. We are hoping to have at least four rehearsals weekly (4:00pm-6:15pm) beginning in January. The production is usually fully or partially double cast in order to give the most number of students an opportunity to participate in theater (this can include up to 80 students). The Director should have experience working with children and the ability to work with a varied team of professionals and volunteers.

If you are interested in applying for the position, please submit a resume and letter of intent to the Madrona Office, addressed to the MCT Hiring Committee, no later than Friday, September 17th. Interviews are tentatively scheduled to be held during the latter half of the week beginning Monday, September 20th. Hiring decisions will be made by October 1st. This is a stipend position.

If you would like more information on the position, please contact Sharon Quiring (cornusmas@msn.com) to receive an information package containing the expectations, duties, and responsibilities of the Director position. – Sharon Quiring

Last Chance for Lost & Found!

Please come & check our LOST AND FOUND one more time. It is located in back of the cafeteria in the corner. I will be sending out items to charity on June 15. Anything that comes into lost and found the last week of school will stay at school until the end of June. SO PLEASE, PLEASE check and see if your kids are missing anything and look for it at the lost and found. Thanks! - Cathy Araya 

Recycle your ink cartridges!

Madrona can make QUICK CASH simply by collecting used ink & laser cartridges! Drop off yours today in one of the Rapid Refill collection bins located at the south end of units 1 & 3, or in the parent room in unit 2.

Battle of the Best Books

Congratulations to our Battle of the Books teams!! The following students represented Madrona at the District "Battle of the Best Books" competition on Thursday May 28 at Meadowdale Elementary! 

• Emi Nakashima (DaV)
• Lua Stee (DaV)
• Isabelle Carr (Tri)
• Jeremiah Kaler (SND)
• Maya Nuno (Tri)
• Merili Roberts (Ren)
• Kate Parrish (PSC)
• Shayna Kaler (Epi)

Alternates: Sara Conley (Ren), Olivia Farley (Ren), and Alexis Bryan (Epi). Back-up support: Alexa Trowler (SND).

The students have read at least 5 books from the "Best Books" list and qualified from the Madrona individual competition. We had two teams at the District Competition, ”Keeper of the Chapters" and "People of the Pages". Out of 40 district teams of 3rd thru 6th graders, ’People of the Pages' tied for 8th and 'Keepers of the Chapters' tied for 5th!! We are very proud of our readers!!! Great job!! Special thanks to Cheryl Kaler, Dan Stee and Margo Roberts for all the support in running this club. – Cheryl Kaler

From the Library

Thank you for all of your support this year. We were able to purchase many new books for the library for our students to enjoy.

Just as a reminder: please help your student return all of their library books and materials by June 5th. I will be sending out overdue notices the following week. If your student has lost the book I am asking that you purchase the replacement book (same title) rather than pay a fine.

Thank you and happy summer reading!

 - Ann Swenson, Librarian

Madrona Integrated Team

Intermediate P.E.

Intermediate P.E. is taking its final field trip of the school year. Get ready to go bowling!

Monday, June 15 – daVinci and Epicenter will be going bowling at Robin Hood Lanes. Permission slips went out on Friday, May 29th. They should be returned with the $8 check, made out to MIT, by Friday June 12.

Wednesday, June 17 – Renaissance and Summit centers will go bowling at Robin Hood Lanes. Permission slips went out on Friday, May 29th. They should be returned with the $8 check, made out to MIT, by Friday, June 12

 – BJ Stephenson

ASB News

- Spirit Week is June 1 – 5. Monday is ‘go crazy day’. Tuesday is ‘twin day’. Wednesday is polk-dot/stripes day. Thursday is ‘support a cause day’ (wear a t-shirt with a cause name on it). Friday is Madrona colors day.

- June 8 is “School Walk for Diabetes” fundraiser at 3 p.m. on the track. Donation envelopes went out to students on Tuesday, May 19 and must be returned on the day of the walk. Any parent able/willing to help out with collecting/counting these donations please contact B J Stephenson @ ext. 2940 or email to stephensonb@edmonds.wednet.edu.

- Middle school students will have their final dance of the year on June 12. Parent chaperones needed. Contact B J Stephenson

8th Grade Celebration!

Eighth Graders are getting their diplomas &

celebrating “BEARing” up to go to high school! In the gym at 10:00 Friday, June 19th

Primary Music Rap!

The Madrona primary centers showed REAL "perseverance" as they wrote and recorded a rap about the May character attribute. With dedicated brainstorming, sharing, editing, recording and RE-recording we were able to preserve our efforts and display them at Art Walk. Thanks to all the families who came by the Music Room to hear their student's group's recording. Here are the words they wrote:

- Barb Jensen

Perseverance Rap

(Madrona Primary-2009)

Believe in yourself, do the best you can

If at first you don’t succeed, then, try again

Stay strong, stay brave and never give up

Work for your dreams and DON’T STOP!

Don’t be a quitter, have a lot of patience

Believe that you can do it and you’ll persevere.

Chorus: Persevere, Persevere,

Believe that you can do it and you’ll persevere!

Don’t let people discourage you

Keep on trying through and through

Keep on trying and you’ll succeed

And one day you may be in the lead

Do not let go of your dream

Keep on trying as a team

Chorus: As a team, as a team

Keep on trying as a team

I think I can, I think I can,

Keep on trying cuz I think I can!

Follow ALL of your dreams and try something new

Do whatever you set your mind to

You can do anything no matter what you face

Just practice and practice and win the race.

Chorus: Win the race, win the race

Just practice and practice and win the race.

Stay on task and remember your goal.

Don’t give up and be true to your soul.

Practice makes progress when you try

Take a chance and you might even fly.

You can do anything - go for it

Practice makes progress so never quit!

Chorus: Never quit, never quit!

Practice makes progress so never quit!

Important Info from the School Nurse

Dear Parent or Guardian:

Immunization Requirements: Washington State law requires that all children attending 6th must show proof of:

• Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccination if he/she is 11 years old and it has been five years since he/she received a tetanus-containing vaccine, like DTaP or a tetanus-diphtheria (Td) booster.
• Varicella (chickenpox) vaccination, approximate date of illness, or results from a blood test that show he/she is immune.

Documentation: Your child needs an up-to-date Certificate of Immunization Status (CIS) form (available at your child’s school) before the first day of school in Fall 2008. Complete the form with Tdap and varicella information as follows:

A health check-up that includes vaccinations is recommended for all children age 11-12 years. Schedule your child’s check-up appointment at least one month before school starts to make sure they get all of the vaccinations needed for school.

Vaccine and Disease Information: Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap)

The Tdap vaccine protects teens against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough). The vaccine is recommended for all children 11 years and older. Tdap should replace one tetanus booster. Pertussis is a very serious disease that causes coughing spells that make it hard to eat, drink, and even breathe. It can also cause pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and death.

Varicella (Chickenpox): Children are required to have one dose of the varicella vaccine to protect against chickenpox. Chickenpox spreads easily and can cause serious skin infections, pneumonia, meningitis, and even death. Even mild cases of chickenpox are uncomfortable; it is difficult to treat itchiness and there is potential for scarring.

Talk to your child’s doctor, nurse, or clinic for more information on the Tdap and varicella vaccines, or visit: www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/immunize.

Link to Seattle Children's Hospital Preteen classes. These two part "growing up" classes are recommended for boys and girls age 10-12. The classes are divided by sex and require a parent or guardian to accompany the child. Emphasis is on the importance of the family as a primary resource and communication between parents and children. One of our very own Edmonds School District nurses will be teaching some of the classes. A flyer is available at the following link.

http://www.seattlechildrens.org/child_health_safety/pdf/flyers/ce012.pdf

Sincerely,

Jennifer May, RN. 425-431-10981

Center News

Kindergarten News

Ms. Rust’s Class

Well, the school year is almost over. Kindergarten has been the greatest! But we still have about a month left and there is a lot more to do! Last month I told you about how we were going to watch larvae turn into butterflies.. Well it really happened! They look beautiful now.

One June 5th, we’re going to be making ice cream from scratch with our middle school buddies.. Yummie! On the 15th we have field day, & all of the kindergarten classes plus April’s DHH class will be taking part. We get to play at six different fun stations!

We can’t forget about Father’s Day! We are going to be making gifts for our dads this month.. My Daddy says he wants me to make him a new water heater for our house.. I told him if he needs hot water to just go pour some from the tap in the kitchen. He smiled and said “Gee.. why didn’t I think of that, sweetheart”.. I don’t think he knows just how smart I am!

But before you know it June 18th is going to roll around and we will be having our graduation. This year our party is at the Edmonds city park. What a great way to end the year!

 - Ms. Rust student, Dorothea Koetje

Animal Crackers DHH Preschool/Kindergarten

A huge THANKS to Roberto Rodriguez, our visiting artist who led the way for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing students at Madrona to showcase our project Hand-Made Vines during Art Walk on May 21. The art can be seen on the poles outside the main office on the way to the cafeteria and beyond! Many staff, parents and children have commented on the art project and how 43 painted wooden hands add to our school culture of creativity and child-centered activities. A special thanks to the now disbanded group,Child Hearing League, for their generous donation that enabled the project to move forward. We hope everyone has a wonderful summer and see you next school year! - Gary Elise PJ and Dani

TriCenter

Tri Center has been busy on their animal reports. There are different animals we have never seen before.

An upcoming event is going to happen for the 3rd graders. It is the 3rd grade party. We wish the 3rd graders lots of luck as they enter middle school.

Everybody is very excited because of the field day on June 12th. We are going to do lots of activities and everybody is going to have lots of fun.

Tri Center’s end of the year field trip is coming up real soon. We are going to Edmonds Beach. We hope it’s going to be a sunny day! – Tri Center students, Helen & Ciara

Notes from the Summit

This month in Summit we have been working on electricity in our science unit. We learned how circuits work, and got to demonstrate what we learned: on Friday last week we demonstrated our electric city dioramas. There were houses, dream rooms, a lighthouse, a saw mill, a disco, a batting cage and many other creations, all wired for light or motion.

In social studies we also built a pop-up colonial village. I liked the idea of everybody making one structure and having them all fit together -- they looked like a real town when they were done, and we could fold them up and stack them out of sight. – Summit student, Liz Hood

Renaissance

Our most recent field trip was the to International Children’s Festival (now called Giant Magnet). We watched comedic acts from around the world and then enjoyed the Seattle Center and the “fountain!” It was really fun!

In Science we are working on electric circuits and in Social Studies we are learning about human rights.

On June 17th all of the Intermediate centers are going on a bowling field trip. It’s a fun tradition that we really enjoy! At the end of the year we are having our annual 6th grade graduation. We are exited for the 6th graders to move on to middle school, but also sad to let our beloved leaders go.

- Renaissance students, Alicia Wright & Claire Kasinadhuni

O hana

Ohana finished our Pacific Rim projects in time for the Art Walk. Next is our huge feast where each of us will bring a dish from our countries & we get to try all the different tastes. We also had a fun field trip the International Children’s Festival & got to see a show with Eric Carle. Then we came back & made our own Eric Carle pictures We had another great year in Ohana & want to say thank you to Robert & Jeanice, and also to all the wonderful Ohana parents! We hope you all have a great summer!

 – Ohana student, Jackie Karis

“Eric Carle-style” animal pictures in Ohana.

Epicenter

It’s hard to believe another school year has come and gone. It’s been a year of learning, laughing, exploring, and embracing new ideas and challenges! We would like to wish those 6th year Epis’ moving onto middle school the best of luck…..and those who are arriving in Epi next year as 4th years……..welcome!

Thank you M and Amy for navigating this year’s “adventures”. We look forward to the start of a new journey in September!

 ~ Tiffany Langager

Africa America Exchange Club

Africa America Exchange Club will be meeting with Prosper Ndabishuriye on June 3 at 7:30 in room 34. Prosper is the founder of Youth for a New World, the parent organization for the Africa America Exchange Club. We will be presenting a check for $1000+ at this meeting. This is the cost of building one home in Bujumbura. Thank you to all of you who bought numerous chocolate bars from us and made it possible to build a home for someone in Bujumbura. Our partner school is in Bujumbura, Burundi, Africa. All interested persons are invited to join us. – BJ Stephenson

da Vinci

DaVinci is having a blast doing “Electric City” right now. We had our field trip to Rosary Heights canceled because of rain, but we get to try again on June 8. We will spend the day sketching outside. Below is a sample of our pastels we did after learning about Georgia O’Keefe. - daVinci student, Hannah Karis

Congratulations to daVinci student Lua Stee, who won the Snohomish County PUD Art Contest! Lua’s award-winning comic strip features an energy-saving superhero named Light, who has a solar-paneled bike. Lua & her family attended an award ceremony where she was honored & given a prize.

Just For Fun

The Bear Market

Madrona’s own “classified ads!”

Babysitters for Hire! Malena & Sydney Langlie, age 13 would love to earn money babysitting for you. Both are child & infant CPR certified after taking a babysitting course through Lynnwood Rec. Center. You can have one or both. Prices depend on ages and number of children. Make an offer! Please email or call if you are interested: (425) 741-2162

Sydneysguppies@hotmail.com ; malenalanglie@hotmail.com

Join a Community Supported Agriculture (CPA) Farm This Year!

A small group of Madrona families participated last year in the CPA farm Boistfort Valley Farms in Curtis, WA. Each week from late June to early November you receive a box of organically grown seasonal produce. To join you pay for the season up front in May/June. There are now pick up sites in Edmonds and Shoreline! This year for the first time they are offering a Small Box option for people that don’t want as much produce or for smaller families. For more information go to their website http://www.boistfortvalleyfarm.com/ You can always contact me for information: Sarah DeMun at sdemun@comcast.net or 425-775-6027.

If you’ve got something for our Madrona community, post it here! Send ads for “The Bear Market” by the end of each month to: nancykaris@comcast.net

Upcoming Concerts

Elementary Orchestra/Choir Concert

Beg. & Inter. Orchestra, Elementary Choir

June 3 (Wed), Madrona Gym - 7:00pm                      

Middle School Spring Concert

 MS Orchestra, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, MS Choir, Jazz I

June 4 (Thur), Madrona Gym, 7:00pm

Madrona Cooks!

Mixed Berry Spoon Cake serves 8-10

• 3-4 pints strawberries (2 pounds), hulled and quartered
• 2 pints blackberries (12 ounces)
• 2 pints raspberries (12 ounces)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

BATTER

•  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1 cup sugar
•  2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
•  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•  1 teaspoon kosher salt
•  2 eggs
•  1/2 cup milk
•  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
•  1 ½ sticks butter, melted

In a bowl, toss the berries with the sugar and cornstarch and let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the batter: Preheat the oven to 375°. In a medium bowl, whisk flour with the sugar, lemon zest, baking powder & salt. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk & vanilla. Whisk the liquid into the dry ingredients until evenly moistened, then whisk in the melted butter until smooth.

Spread the fruit filling in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spoon the batter on top, leaving small gaps. Bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and a toothpick inserted into the topping comes out clean. Let cool for 1 hour before serving.

 - Food & Wine Magazine

Submit recipes to: nancykaris@comcast.net

Bear Facts Newsletter

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this newsletter all year long! It’s your articles that keep the Bear Facts interesting! Look for us sometime in August for information about our September 2009 issue. – Nancy Karis

The Back Page

Important dates and events to remember…

Save The Date!

• Jun 1-5 Spirit Week!
• Jun 3 Africa Amer. Exchange Club Mtg.
• Jun 3 Elementary Orch/Choir Concert
• Jun 4 3rd Year Party at Yost Pool
• Jun 4 Middle School Spring Concert
• Jun 5 6th Grade Party at Yost Pool
• Jun 5 Last day to return library materials
• Jun 8 Parent Info night for new Primary students, 4:15 in Tri-Center
• Jun 8 Walk for Diabetes
• Jun 9 Last MIT Meeting
• Jun 10 Parent Info night for 3rd year students, 6:30 in Library
• Jun 12 Primary Field Day
• Jun 12 Middle School Dance
• Jun 15 Yearbook Distribution Event
• Jun 15 & 17 Intermediate PE bowling trips
• Jun 18 Richmond Beach Party 10-2
• Jun 19 8th Grade Graduation 10 – 11:30
• Jun 19 Last day of school – early release
• Jun 21 Father’s Day
• Sept 8 First day of 2009-2010 school year

Scrip News

It’s the end of another school year! The final day to place an order on non-inventory items is Friday, June 12th. This will ensure delivery by the end of the school year. Scrip will be sold through Wed., June 17th, or until the stock of items is depleted. If you have large orders to place, please do so early. Shop early to make sure you get what you want for Father’s Day and graduations!!

If you are traveling this summer, please remember to use gift cards for all of your needs. We have hotels, fast food, gas, rental cars, and many other cards.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the scrip program this year!

 - Linda Park

Linda Park & Tracey Langlie manning

the Scrip table!

Box Tops & Soup Labels

Remember to keep collecting your box tops & soup labels over the summer! Please note that the front labels for Campbell’s do not work. The UPC is the only part that is needed. - Tracey Langlie