Grad feature

There’s still time for graduating seniors to participate in The Beachcomber’s annual grad tab, a special feature of the class of 2025.

To participate, visit tinyurl.com/2025VashonGradTab. Surveys are due May 31. Questions? Email publisher@vashonbeachcomber.com or editor@vashonbeachcomber.com.

And from all of us to you, con-grad-ulations!

Big visitor at Tramp Harbor

Is Elwood back?

Vashon Nature Center reported on social media on Monday that a male elephant seal is hanging out in Tramp Harbor. It’s possible the seal will stay there for his annual molt, which could be up to a month, said Bianca Perla, director of the Nature Center.

The seal is in the same place that the elephant seal dubbed “Elwood” hauled out in 2022.

“We aren’t sure this is Elwood this time, but either way, let’s give him the space he needs while he’s here and check him out only from afar — the marine mammal protection act requires keeping [about a 100-yard] distance,” wrote Perla. Pets should also be kept far away from the seal.

“This lunker of a seal sleeps for long periods, and sometimes molting can make elephant seals look haggard as the fur and outer layer of skin sluffs off,” Perla added. “They also naturally breathe heavily and might have lots of snot! This one seems to be doing just fine.”

Marine mammal stranding coordinators at World Vets have been notified and are keeping tabs on the seal, Perla said, who advised islanders that if they see the seal somewhere else — or any injured, dead, or stranded marine mammals — to call the marine mammal stranding hotline: 866-767-6144.

To learn more about elephant seals in Puget Sound, visit tinyurl.com/3hrrm8c2.

Funding update from VCA

Allison Halstead Reid, the executive director of Vashon Center for the Arts, announced last week that VCA has raised more than $39,000 in support of Vashon Artists in Schools after the program unexpectedly lost its funding from the National Endowment of the Arts.

The decades-long program places local artists in classroom residencies to help students explore subject matter in all grades. Recently, it expanded to offer free, walkable field trips for school district students to see productions at VCA by notable touring companies.

Long funded by the NEA, Artists in Schools currently has costs of approximately $74,000 per year, with about $40,000 of that amount earmarked for compensation to teaching artists.

But on May 2, VCA and scores of other theater and arts presenters across the nation received notifications that their previously approved NEA grants to fund programs in 2025-2026 had been canceled because they did not currently reflect the priorities of the current White House.

(The same day, President Donald Trump announced his intention to abolish the NEA as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.)

For VCA, this spelled a loss of $15,000 to the program for its 2025-2026 program, but there was more: the May 2 email also informed VCA that a current grant of $10,000 to fund Artists in Schools program in 2024-2025 had been terminated — leaving it unclear as to whether the NEA would honor VCA’s invoice for reimbursement for those funds, which had already been spent.

Halstead Reid, in her email to community members last week, said that due to quick action by VCA’s grantwriter to submit the invoice, the NEA has, in fact, now reimbursed those expenses.

Thanking islanders for their “incredible generosity,” Halstead Reid vowed to keep the program going, saying it would not be reduced in any way.

“We will continue to serve students across Vashon Island School District with the same commitment, depth, and creativity that have defined this program for 36 years,” she wrote. “In fact, we remain determined to grow it. The arts are not optional. They are essential to the education and emotional development of our children — and we will not let short-sighted policy shifts deter us from that mission.”

The swift support from islanders, in the face of the funding crisis, had inspired her, she wrote.

“Your voice matters,” she wrote. “Your belief in the arts matters. While it’s hard to predict future challenges that may come, your support has helped us navigate a difficult moment with clarity and strength.”

In a later email to The Beachcomber, Halstead Reid said that she does not intend to do a yearly “ask” to donors for Vashon Artists in the Schools while the current administration is still in office.

Rather, Halstead Reid said, support for the program might be folded into other funding requests for educational programming and scholarships at VCA. She said that VCA’s grantwriter is looking at other funding sources to offset likely future losses. She also said that she plans to speak to both county and state officials including Senator Patty Murray and Councilmember Theresa Mosqueda to “hear their recommendations and ask them to fight for us.”

Health care provider honored

Dr. Marli Parobek was recently honored with the State Award for Outstanding Contributions from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (Courtesy photo)

Dr. Marli Parobek, an islander who has operated an independent psychiatry practice on Vashon since 2021, was honored recently with the 2025 state award for outstanding contributions from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Parobek is a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and family nurse practitioner. She holds a Doctorate of Nursing Practice.

The award “honors individuals who have made significant strides in advancing health care through practice, education, advocacy, research and leadership (PEARL), and have demonstrated efforts to advance the image, profile and visibility of nurse practitioners,” according to the association.

Parobek was nominated by her peers in the state. The AANP’s selection committee decides the winners, and only one nurse practitioner is selected from each state each year by the Association.

“Marli probably won because she precepts so many NP students, she has a solo private psychiatric practice in a rural underserved area (Vashon), her work with Vashon Youth & Family Services, and her constant advocacy for the nurse practitioner profession,” her husband Thomas Parobek said in an email.

Parobek will attend the 2025 AANP National Conference in San Diego in June to accept the award.

Local student recognized

Ryen Kirschner was named to the spring 2025 Dean’s List at Illinois Wesleyan University, which requires maintaining a 3.5 grade point average or higher.