Newcastle parents whisked their children off to school this week, symbolically bringing an end to the long summer nights.

After dropping the kids off at school, you might feel the urge to kick back, relax and enjoy some “me” time. You deserve it after a long summer keeping the young ones entertained.

But wait! The schools need you. The volunteer jobs are endless. The playgrounds need monitors, the libraries can use assistance, the front offices might need your organizational skills, teachers almost never have enough helpers and the nurse’s offices are often in need of a mother’s touch to watch over a sick child.

But the best volunteer jobs may be working directly with students. Parents, grandparents and other citizens are always welcome to just listen to children read.

If you prefer something more athletic, check into becoming a volunteer to help a coach. The middle schools and high schools have an array of sports teams that need organizational and skills assistance in support of its coaches.

Getting involved in school doesn’t necessarily mean more time with children. The PTA at each school is looking for parents to volunteer in everything from teacher recognition to fundraising. Start by joining your PTA, and then get involved.

For those who want to take on a bigger role, ask about becoming a mentor. If you can give just an hour a week, Issaquah’s VOICE Mentor Program and Renton’s Community in Schools of Renton program offer opportunities to make a real impact on the lives of kids who need it most.

Learn more about Issaquah’s program at voicementorprogram.org and Renton’s at renton.ciswa.org. There are several students hoping to find a “special someone” to become their friend, cheerleader and confidante.

Schools require a background check on every volunteer, parent or not. All volunteers must apply and be approved before they get clearance to begin service. In addition to the typical background information, volunteers must undergo a Washington State Patrol criminal history check.

To get started, simply stop in at your local school’s office to learn more about volunteer opportunities. Learn more about volunteering in Issaquah schools at http://bit.ly/1U9T6kT and Renton schools at http://bit.ly/1JHYZzV.

John McKnight is a well-known name in the area, and the Renton School District even named a middle school after him. His father, also John McKnight, was an important man in the Newcastle coal mining era and is buried in our cemetery.

John McKnight, the father, had served in the Civil War and came west after the conflict looking for opportunity. He was very interested in the birth of our nation and wrote and delivered a speech commemorating Independence Day in 1875.

He came to Newcastle in the mid-1870’s to find work. He left his wife Ellen and son Willie in Oregon while he found a job and a place for them all to live.

He started off working in the coal bunkers at a rate of $2 for an eight-hour day. He could have made $3 if he had his own tools, but he had left them behind. His work shift began at 7 a.m., stopped for lunch at noon, started again at 1 p.m., stopped at 6 p.m. for dinner, began again at 6:30 p.m. and went until 9 p.m.

This extended period counted as a little more than a day and a half. As a result, John McKnight earned $3.125 for the shift. The miners were paid once a month for the preceding month’s work. Paying all the miners was done in cash and could take five or six hours to complete.

It was hard work, but it enabled him to bring his wife and son to Newcastle. When he first arrived there was not any available housing. He was able to get room and board for $8 a week, but eventually he secured housing for his family and they joined him.

John McKnight was industrious and ambitious and soon left the mines to work in the company store. The pay was better and conditions were considered less hazardous. During 1884 and 1885, he sold life and accident insurance. He was the Justice of the Peace from October 1889 until February 1891.

He passed away in 1900 at age 45. He was preceded in death by his son William who died in 1893 at age 18. His wife Ellen survived him until 1911.

All three are buried in the Newcastle Cemetery. After Ellen’s death, their other children, including son John (the namesake for McKnight Middle School) moved to Renton. John McKnight, the son, became a very successful businessman.

Every headstone in the cemetery has a story.

Victor Nyman died at 14 years old. He was picking blackberries one afternoon and decided to take a nap. While asleep he was overcome by mine gases from a ventilation shaft and died.

His headstone was stolen by vandals (a common occurrence during the mid-1900s). It was found many years later in a garbage dump.

The person who found it was kind enough to investigate and determined the source was the Newcastle Cemetery. The stone was given to Milt Swanson, of the Newcastle Historical Society, who returned the stone to the gravesite.

If you are interested in learning more about the cemetery, activities of the Newcastle Historical Society or would like to share your local history with us, email Rich Crispo at crispo@comcast.net.

Newcastle drivers should be aware of a few upcoming traffic impacts connected to various construction projects.

First, Lakemont Boulevard Southeast will be closed between Forest Drive Southeast and 155th Avenue Southeast starting at 5 a.m. June 20. It will reopen at 5 a.m. June 22 with alternating one-way traffic.

Drivers will be detoured onto Forest Drive Southeast, Coal Creek Parkway or Newcastle Golf Club Road, depending on where they are coming from. View the full detour map here.

While Lakemont Boulevard is not in Newcastle, many residents use it as an alternate way into the city, especially those coming from Issaquah. The closure is necessary to complete a city of Bellevue roadway improvement project.

The other traffic impact is connected to construction of the new Renton School District middle school at the corner of Newcastle Way and 116th Avenue Southeast.

Expect delays as street improvements take place in conjunction with the school’s construction. Lane closures aren’t expected, but lanes will be shifted and flaggers will be on site to direct traffic.

Work is expected to begin on Newcastle Way as early as the third week of June and expected to be completed by Aug. 31.

Less than two years after she took office, Superintendent Merri Rieger announced her resignation, and the Renton School Board accepted it at its May 13 meeting.

Merri Rieger

Rieger’s resignation is effective June 30. In order to ensure a smooth transition for the interim superintendent, Rieger will step aside from the daily superintendent duties immediately, according to a statement from the district.

“I enjoyed my time in Renton and felt honored to work alongside so many talented and dedicated educators, community members, students and families,” Rieger said in a statement.

Renton School Board directors thanked Rieger for her service to the district and wished her well.

“As part of our responsibility to staff and our community, the board has reached an amicable separation agreement with Dr. Rieger,” Board President Pam Teal said in a statement. “We all work very hard toward the same goal: to provide every student with a meaningful education.

“The School Board and the superintendent simply had differing viewpoints on achieving their shared goals. There was absolutely no impropriety. We wish Merri all the best in her pursuit of other professional opportunities and thank her for her contributions.”

Sheryl Moore, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources, will serve as acting superintendent through June 30. Dr. Art Jarvis, formerly a superintendent in the Tacoma and Enumclaw school district, will assume the interim position July 1 and serve through the 2015-2016 school year.

The board will seek input from staff, students, parents and the community to conduct a thorough search for a permanent superintendent during next school year.

The Renton School Board chose Rieger from a pool of 12 applicants who applied for the position to fill the vacancy left by Mary Alice Heuschel in 2013. Heuschel joined Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration as chief of staff, but left that post after about a year.

Rieger was the chief student achievement officer with the Kent School District before coming to Renton. Prior to that, she spent time as a high school principal in the Bremerton School District and as the dean of students and a high school teacher in the Auburn School District. She earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at Washington State University.

Renton School District teachers will join colleagues across the state in protesting lawmakers’ failure to fully fund public education, but they’ll do it outside of regular school hours.

The district announced today that teachers voted to hold an after-school one-day walkout May 28.

“Teachers in the Renton School District are dedicated to the success of every student. They display that dedication every day in every classroom, and they did so again when union leaders from every school voted to hold one-day walkouts at a time that doesn’t affect classroom learning,” the district said in a statement.

Teachers and supporters will gather at the intersection of Rainier Avenue and Airport Way and the intersection of Rainier Avenue and Grady Way to wave signs at about 3 p.m. Thursday.

A Community Rally will take place immediately after the sign-waving events at 5:15 p.m. at the Renton Piazza, 233 Burnett Ave. in downtown Renton. Parents, students and all in the community are welcome to join.

Dozens of teachers unions in school districts across the state have voted to take a “one-day strike” to protest state lawmakers’ stances on several key education issues. State lawmakers are still in session deciding on budget issues including how to fully fund basic education.

Some of the walkouts already took place; many of the one-day strikes, including nearby Issaquah’s, were conducted during regularly scheduled school days.

In each walkout, teachers made it clear that the action is not directed toward the school district, but toward the state Legislature.

“Many REA members wanted to walk out, just like their colleagues in districts across the state, but it was decided by Renton teachers that we would be courageous in a different way,” said Renton Education Association President Cami Kiel in a statement.

The other school district that serves Newcastle held a one-day walkout May 19. Issaquah School District students did not have school that day as teachers waved signs in cities across the district and joined a larger rally in Seattle.

Merri Rieger

The Renton School District is back on the market for a new district leader.

Less than two years after she took office, Superintendent Merri Rieger announced her resignation, and the Renton School Board accepted it at its May 13 meeting.

Rieger’s resignation is effective June 30. In order to ensure a smooth transition for the interim superintendent, Rieger will step aside from the daily superintendent duties immediately, according to a statement from the district. 

“I enjoyed my time in Renton and felt honored to work alongside so many talented and dedicated educators, community members, students and families,” Rieger said in a statement.

Renton School Board directors thanked Rieger for her service to the district and wished her well.

“As part of our responsibility to staff and our community, the Board has reached an amicable separation agreement with Dr. Rieger,” Board President Pam Teal said in a statement. “We all work very hard toward the same goal: to provide every student with a meaningful education.

“The School Board and the superintendent simply had differing viewpoints on achieving that shared goals. There was absolutely no impropriety. We wish Merri all the best in her pursuit of other professional opportunities and thank her for her contributions.”

Sheryl Moore, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources, will serve as acting superintendent through June 30. Dr. Art Jarvis, formerly a superintendent in the Tacoma and Enumclaw school district, will assume the interim position July 1 and serve through the 2015-2016 school year.

The board will seek input from staff, students, parents and the community to conduct a thorough search for a permanent superintendent during next school year.

The Renton School Board chose Rieger from a pool of 12 applicants who applied for the position to fill the vacancy left by Mary Alice Heuschel in 2013. Heuschel joined Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration as chief of staff.

Rieger was the chief student achievement officer with the Kent School District before coming to Renton. Prior to that, she spent time as a high school principal in the Bremerton School District and as the dean of students and a high school teacher in the Auburn School District. She earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at Washington State University.

Police responded to a report of a suspicious person at the Newcastle Chase Bank, 6911 Coal Creek Parkway S.E., March 26. The Bellevue man, who appeared to be a transient with mental issues, police said, went into the bank and asked for coffee before going on a rant about how the bank had “raped” him in the past. Later, when police approached him at a Newcastle bus stop, he said he used to be the Bellevue Fire chief and that he knew former President George H.W. Bush.

Newcastle Police encountered the man again April 2, after a Metro bus driver called about an agitated passenger. The man claimed police gave him drugs, and added that he owned the FBI and worked for the CIA. Based on his statements and some made to the bus driver, police requested an ambulance for involuntary commitment.

Knock, knock

A man called police after someone suspiciously knocked on his door in the 7400 block of 122nd Place Southeast at about 11 p.m. March 27. The homeowner said after someone banged on his door, he checked and no one was there. The man said he has had issues in the past with juveniles coming and knocking on his door.

Senior center suspicions

Two males drove into the Regency Newcastle parking garage, 7454 Newcastle Golf Club Road, and attempted to gain entry into cars and the building March 29. They were unsuccessful and left without damaging any property.

Sunglass swipe

Kate Spade sunglasses valued at $125 was taken from a vehicle in the 7400 block of 122nd Place Southeast at 4 a.m. April 3. Police were able to collect fingerprints from the scene.

Spare some change?

An Olympus resident reported that someone rummaged through two vehicles parked in the 8400 block of 128th Southeast between April 9 and 10. The thief left more valuable objects, such as a GPS and designer sunglasses, but did take the change.

Photographic evidence

A resident called police when two children told their mother that a person in a white, four-door car appeared to be taking pictures of them at the corner of Southeast 76th and 116th Avenue Southeast on April 14. The children, coming home from Hazelwood Elementary School, said there was no one else around and no obvious landmarks worth photography. The Renton School District sent a representative to observe the next day’s bus drop-off, but no vehicle matching the description appeared.

Wandering wallet

A Newcastle man visited Newcastle City Hall to report a lost wallet April 15. He reported that it probably slipped out of his pocket at the local QFC parking lot or at Lake Boren Park. It contained $500 cash, his identification and credit cards.

The Friends of Renton Schools will host its sixth annual benefit breakfast, headlined by speaker Barbara Madsen, the chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court, on April 27.

Madsen, a 1970 graduate of Hazen High School, earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Washington before going on to Gonzaga University School of Law.

After earning her law degree, Madsen worked as a public defender in King and Snohomish counties. She was first appointed to a bench in 1988, when then-Seattle Mayor Charles Royer added her to the Seattle Municipal Court, where she served as presiding judge.

Voters elected her the third woman to serve on the Washington Supreme Court in 1992, and re-elected her in 1998, 2004 and 2010. She began her second term as the 55th chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court after colleagues unanimously elected her Oct. 31, 2012.

As chief justice, she is the court’s chief representative, presides over Supreme Court hearings and conferences, and co-chairs the state’s Board for Judicial Administration.

Madsen, a member of Hazen’s very first graduating class, has received numerous awards for her service, including the 2010 Seattle University School of Law Woman of the Year and Gonzaga University’s Myra Bradwell Award, honoring an outstanding alumna of Gonzaga University School of Law who has made great strides on behalf of women.

The benefit breakfast is the main fundraiser for the school foundation that provides supplemental funding to support the Renton School District. Funds raised go directly toward paying for after-school and summer robotics programs, music programs and repair of student musical instruments.

Donations to the organization are 100 percent tax-deductible. The fundraiser annually raises about $200,000.

The Friends of Renton Schools’ mission is to develop a sustainable funding resource that bridges the gap between federal and state funding for schools, so students can obtain an exceptional, world-class education.

The breakfast begins at 7 a.m. at the Renton Pavilion Event Center, 233 Burnett Ave. S.

Learn more about the April breakfast and the Friends of Renton School organization at www.friendsofrentonschools.org.

So it’s crucial that they have good teachers. And good teaching doesn’t always happen in the classroom. In the Issaquah and Renton school districts, hundreds of people are giving valuable time.

Don’t have time, you say? It takes an hour a week. One hour.

Thanks to volunteer mentors, the future is brighter for more than 300 elementary, middle and high school students who are finding joy, confidence and opportunity through the VOICE Mentor Program, according to the Robin Callahan, executive director of the Issaquah Schools Foundation.

In Renton, more than 150 students received the guidance of a mentor through the Community in Schools of Renton program during the 2012-2013 school year. Community volunteers provided 2,885 hours of mentoring support.

The programs bring together mentors (some as young as 13) with students in need of academic, social or emotional support.

For many mentees, Callahan said in an email, the hour they spend each week with their mentor is like a warm hug of love and acceptance.

Unfortunately, with the end of the school year looming, there are still many students in need of a mentor. Each is hoping to find a “special someone” to become their friend, cheerleader and confidante.

Men, in particular, are in short supply. Sixty percent of mentees in Issaquah are boys, but only 20 percent of mentors are men. A strong male role model increases school success while decreasing absenteeism and discipline problems.

If you have just one hour to give, email Sue or Teresa at the VOICE Mentor office at voice@issaquah.wednet.edu. For the Renton School District, your contact is Mara Fiksdal, mfiksdal@rentonwa.gov.

Learn more about Issaquah’s program at http://voicementorprogram.org, and Renton’s at http://renton.ciswa.org.