Newcastle Elementary honored with King County Earth Heroes award
March 29, 2012
NEW — 10:50 a.m. March 29, 2012
Students, parents, teachers and staff members who share a passion for environmental conservation — including Newcastle Elementary School — will be honored by King County Executive Dow Constantine at the county’s annual “Earth Heroes at School” ceremony in April.
“These stewards of the environment are our heroes – for conserving resources, protecting the environment, and spreading the word about sustainable practices,” Constantine said in a statement. “I am proud to recognize them for their hands-on commitment to the planet.”
As a King County Green School since 2009, Newcastle Elementary School ensures its recycling and composting programs thrive through Waste Watchers, a program where students who monitor the lunchroom containers to ensure proper sorting.
In an effort to save paper, the school’s staff meeting notes are no longer printed out, and teachers and students work together to post signs about conserving resources.
Newcastle Elementary has also increased its recycling rate from 50 to 60 percent.
Free heart screenings available for high school students
March 28, 2012
NEW — 3:40 p.m. March 28, 2012
High school students (and others aged 14-24) throughout the area can get a free, comprehensive heart screening from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 4 at Hazen High School.
The screenings are offered by the Nick of Time Foundation which brings in doctors and medics to screen students for heart abnormalities, including sudden cardiac arrest — the leading cause of death in exercising young athletes.
The 30-minute exams normally cost up to about $2,500 per individual. The service is free, but a $25 donation is recommended to high school students from area high schools.
The organization will see between 400-500 students who can only receive the screening by appointment. Additional information can be found on the Nick of Time Foundation website.
King County mails ballots for April 17 election
March 28, 2012
NEW — 3:25 p.m. March 28, 2012
Ballots should start to appear in Issaquah and Renton school district voters’ mailboxes in the days ahead.
The Issaquah electorate faces a choice on a $219 million school construction bond in the April 17 election. (The school district stretches from Preston to Newcastle, and from Sammamish to Renton.)
Voters in the Renton district will cast ballots for the second time this year on a $97 million school construction bond that would finance a new middle school in Newcastle, among other projects.
Issaquah School District officials opted not to pay to include a voters’ pamphlet alongside ballots.
Issaquah bond would finance new fields for middle schools
March 28, 2012
NEW — 3:15 p.m. March 28,2012
There are several themes that come up over and over as backers and school officials talk about the prospect of placing artificial turf on the fields of each of the five Issaquah School District middle schools, including Maywood Middle School.
The upcoming bond package would provide the middle schools with rubberized outdoor running tracks if voters decide to approve the $219 million capital improvement plan on April 17.
District officials hope to install the turf and tracks at a cost of $1.5 million per school, not counting fields that could go in at a transplanted Issaquah Middle School.
