A listing of various clubs and organizations on Vashon and Maury islands.
Steamboats played an important role in Vashon and Maury islands’ history and development, and this summer brings opportunities to learn about this history firsthand.
The steamer “Virginia V,” a national historic landmark constructed in 1922, will visit the Island on Aug. 17. The boat will pick up passengers at the northend ferry dock and cruise around the Island past waterfront landings where Islanders once waited for the daily boats that took them to Seattle or Tacoma.
Yaani Drucker has spent 25 years researching the underlying cause of conflict and injustice in the world and would like to share her findings and engage Islanders in a meaningful discussion on the problem and the solution in a weekend intensive called “Planetary Enlightenment and You.”
School board to meet tomorrow
The Vashon Park District failed to get a grading and clearing permit prior to some of its extensive work upgrading the historic Belle Baldwin House at Fern Cove, according to King County officials.
Wendy Braicks, the park district’s executive director, said the lack of a permit was an oversight that the staff quickly addressed. Though called a grading and clearing permit, she noted, the park district’s work on the landscaping around the home has mostly focused on clearing invasive plants from the property.
The line of second-graders slithered its way out of Carolyn Candy’s classroom door one recent afternoon, dancing the snake dance conga-style.
For the past several years, there’s been room to groove in room 115 — a classroom that boasts xylophones and drums rather than chairs and desks. That’s one of the reasons Candy — who’s retiring this year after six years as Chautauqua Elementary School’s music teacher and 27 years as a teacher there — is hailed by many as innovative, creative and gifted.
When Keith Putnam designed what is now the main building at Vashon High School some 35 years ago, he included in one of his mock-ups covered walkways connecting the school’s scattered buildings.
“And the school board said, ‘Why should we have covered walks? Let them walk in the rain; it’s good for them,’” he recalled.
Now, that architectural feature — a hodge-podge of buildings that makes the campus both wide open and, in the winter months, a source of colds and discomfort — is seen as one of its greatest liabilities.
Educators say that kids sit in classrooms wet and cold in the winter months, and attendance falls. They say the fact the campus is “porous,” as some have put it, makes it far less secure in this post-Columbine era, where student safety has become paramount.
They also say an ill-fated educational concept of the ’70s, when Putnam designed Building A, has resulted in a building that today is cramped and unworkable.
When Putnam came up with the design — three large octagons connected to a central area — open classrooms were vogue; no walls separated the classrooms, and the building, though not quite big enough even then, could accommodate all the students, he said.
But the open classroom concept did not last long; walls were soon built to give teachers the noise barriers they needed to teach effectively. And today, Building A — the main classroom building at the sprawling campus — is crowded, dark and difficult, teachers and administrators say.
Earlier this month, the school board agreed to offer up to Islanders a couple of different architectural scenarios for a potential bond levy next February. One of them — the option preferred by many teachers and administrators — includes a new 40,000-square-foot structure that would replace Building A as the main classroom facility: a square, two-story building that would have big windows, adequate classroom space and only a couple of entrances.
A graduation ceremony was held at Vashon Island Fire & Rescue on Saturday, May 31, to celebrate the accomplishments of its newest members. Fifteen firefighters graduated from the recruit academy and were presented certificates by Captain Candy McCullough and Lieutenant Rick Brown.
The Vashon Park District board of commissioners will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 24. The meeting will be held in a special location, at Fern Cove, rather than the usual meeting location of Ober Park.
The Vashon Island Growers Association will present its first ever Nutrition and Wellness Fair at the Vashon Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 21. Several Island health care practitioners and nutritionists will offer free information, food samples and services to the community.
