Students learn from biography project

News from Naselle:

No school on Monday for the Naselle Schools in honor of Memorial Day.

Don’t forget to attend the annual Athletic Awards ceremony on May 31 at 7 p.m. in the Naselle Commons. Show your appreciation for all the efforts our young athletes have put forth this year. They all deserve the honors they will be receiving.

Naselle-Grays River Valley High School will send four athletes to the state track tourney being held in Cheney this coming weekend.

Naselle’s Evening of Excellence will be held on June 1 at 7 p.m. in the Naselle Commons. See your favorite students get their rewards for all their accomplishments this past year. Congratulations to each and every one of them.

Mark your calendar for the Naselle All School Carnival on June 8. One of the last big fun fund raisers for the year. Always fun for the whole family. The fun starts at 6 p.m.

Naselle-Grays River Valley School principal Karen Wirkkala was presented a Washington Achievement Award, which is given by Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. Dr. Twyla Barnes, Superintendent of ESD 112 presented the award. It was given to recognize Naselle Jr-Sr High School for showing consistent gains in the areas of language arts (reading and writing), math, science, extended graduation rates, and making adequate yearly progress.

Schools are selected based on their statewide assessment data for the three previous years. Dr. Barnes stated that Naselle is one of very few schools who have consistently been the recipient of this award each year. Naselle-Grays River Valley School District has received the School of Distinction/Washington Achievement Award each year since 2006.

The Naselle Elementary 6th grade class has been integrating Reading into a special Biography project. Students chose a favorite person to read about, do research on and make a presentation to their classmates. Each student read books and researched information on-line using classroom laptop computers. Pictures were printed out, framed and details and facts were added around the frame. Some students worked in partner groups and others chose to work independently, creating i-movies, power-point presentations and graphic sources. Students printed out assorted pictures, typed biographies and time-lines to include in their projects. Students were given the opportunity to choose a person of interest or someone they were connected to in some way. Some students chose famous athletes, singers, actors or historians and still others chose distant relatives connected to their own family tree. The project was a huge success, giving the students many new skills as well as learning more about people they were interested in.

The Congregational United Church of Christ at 14 Parpala Road in Naselle will be holding its annual Trash and Treasures Sale on May 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Enjoy their lunch of soup, beverage and dessert which will be served for a $6 donation.

Naselle Lutheran Church is the site for a large multi-family garage sale during the Memorial Day weekend. The event will be held tomorrow (Friday)and Saturday from 7 a.m. until 1p.m. each day. Coffee and baked goods will also be available for sale. All the proceeds will be used to continue their mission work. The church is located at 308 Knappton Road in Naselle.

Looking for a relaxing weekend? Ride a motorcycle –or not. Why not join The Pacific County Chapter of ABATE which will be sponsoring the Wildwood Rally on July 8-10 at the Deep River Camp Grounds on SR 4 between mile post 10 and 11. This weekend campout is open to all, whether you ride a motorcycle or not, and providing you can produce a valid ID saying you are over 21. No pets, firearms or fireworks will be allowed. It will include lots of fun, food and friends. For more information you can contact Lenny Pletsch at 484-7226. More information on this event as it nears the date.

The Pacific County Chapter meets on the first Sunday of each month at 10 a.m. at Hunter’s Inn in Naselle. Come check out what is going on in the Washington legislature regarding motorcycle riding, riders and other related issues. This group is on top of this information and on the side of the people.

Other news from the Westend:

American Legion Deep River Post #111 will hold their first pancake and egg breakfast of 2011 on Saturday. Breakfast starts at 8 a.m. and serves until 11:30 a.m. Enjoy all you can eat pancakes, with sides of ham, sausage, eggs (anyway you like them), juice, milk and coffee for the very reasonable price of $5 for adults and $3 for children. The funds from this breakfast help to fund the many community and veterans related activities the post supports each year.

This breakfast is a great way to support and honor our American Veterans, so don’t miss out on the opportunity.

One more week until Skamokawa will be invaded by lots and lots of vintage vehicles for your perusal. The annual Rods and Reels Show, in conjunction with the 11th annual Derby Dollars For Scholars event will take place on June 4 at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds in Skamokawa. Fun for the whole family. Entertainment by the Naselle Marimba Band, free fishing pond stocked with trout for kids 12 and under. Lots of raffle prizes and prizes for the sturgeon derby participants. Don’t forget the delicious chicken and salmon barbecue dinner which will be served from 1 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Proceeds from this annual event are distributed to students from both Wahkiakum and Naselle high schools, in the form of scholarships. In 2010, more than $18,000 was raised. Thank you to all the volunteers, students, participants, and attendees. This is an awesome event and it seems to get better each year. Lots of work but also lots of benefits for our kids.

Join the Wednesday Senior Lunch Bunch that meets at Rosburg Hall each week for a great home cooked meal. Pat Potter and her volunteer crew always make the meal a pleasure to attend and to consume.

CAP sponsored lunches are served at the same location on Tuesdays and Thursdays and their menus for this week include: Thursday, the 26th-chicken Romesco, pureed hominy, spinach salad and caramel custard; Tuesday, the 31st-cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and pickle, potato salad and strawberry shortcake. Thanks to Mary Saari and the volunteers for providing the service and for providing the information to me each week.

Birthdays being celebrated this coming week include Makenna Busse, Darrylin Eastham, Katie Ashe, Clyde Sprague, Joyce Rangila, George Vernon, Toni Smith, Doug Wirkkala, Mark Badger, Bryan Penttila, Kaisa Saari, Tylor Nortrup, Ted Swanson, Amanda Badger, Oscar Penttila, Alex Bighill, Derek Johnson, Cramer Smith, Kerry York, Jacob Eaton, Kaden Cooper and Kyle Burkhalter. Happy Birthday to each of you.

Happy Anniversary wishes go out to the following couples this week: Billy and Lois Bighill, Vincent and Kathy Stoeff, John and Ann-Marie Didion and Gerrad and Courtney Lemon. Wishing you many more.

I hope everyone will give thanks to our American Veterans this weekend. We need to be grateful for their service and sacrifice to keep our country free. My personal thanks go out to our son Shane who is serving with the US Army in Iraq. And another special thank you to our nephew Mark who is on a second tour in Afghanistan as a US Marine. Be safe and God bless you both.

My thoughts and prayers also go out to the people going through such devastation in Joplin, Mo. We have personal reasons for being especially concerned, as we have four nieces and nephews and their families right in the midst of the disaster. Fortunately all are accounted for though some have had minor injuries and some personal property loss, and it doesn’t look like it is over yet. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. God bless our veterans and their service to our country.