It’s time for another youth-adult dialogue — Vashon’s 19th since they started in January 2004 following the death of an Island girl at the hands of her father.
The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council’s executive board held a discussion Monday night where it delved into some of the harder issues boards of any stripe face. What parts of its deliberations are open to the public? When might those discussions be closed? And what are the rules surrounding e-mailed discussions among the members of the board?
The Vashon Public Library is at an important crossroads, and we, the people of Vashon Island, will have a say in which way it goes. Will it take the path towards becoming a warm, beautiful, efficient beacon for those of us with needs for information and entertainment? Or will it take another path and become a cold place, a spot to go to only when one can’t find one’s books or videos or other needs someplace else?
There is such a resonate blast of kinetic energy emanating from the building, it could almost be mistaken for an electric power substation. But it is a place even more highly charged. It’s McMurray Middle School.
This week’s Beachcomber features the third political cartoon by Islander Bill Jarcho. We thought it was perhaps time to introduce him.
In 1980, in a fit of passion, I left the Island to sit with Tibetan Buddhists in the Rocky Mountains. I returned home to Vashon Island six months later. If I had learned nothing else, I learned this: “When you do for yourself you tire easily; when you do for others you do not.”
A theme that has permeated every fiber of my being these past few weeks has been devoted to searching out answers from some of my students, fellow workers and friends as well as myself to some core questions: Is there a person who stands out as someone who has made a difference to you in your life, who has been a positive influence? How have they made a difference? What did they say or do that makes you feel this way?
To be successful, youth need something to love. We need something to live for. Adults can help us strive to discover what exactly makes us happy. Teens need a passion to fill the gap in our lives that is created by a lack of enjoyment. Instead of removing the negative influences that fill this void, adults ought to aid us in replacing harmful habits. When one thing is removed, it needs to be substituted to maintain balance.
The other day someone asked what I wished I could be famous for. I responded with my standard answer, which is somewhat obvious for someone who does the work that I do — I would be famous for being a mentor to someone who creates positive change in our world.
I don’t know if this is something I learned through my 20-year career working with teens. It seems to me that I have always known not to do anything for a young person that they can do themselves. Obviously, this doesn’t mean do nothing, or I couldn’t have had that 20-year career. Working with teens is actually a very important, active and engaged role.
The Vashon Park District and the King County Sheriff’s Office need to take seriously mounting concerns over what appears to be illicit activity taking place at the Village Green.
I suspect that those of us who participated in high school sports have memories of that experience as vivid as if it happened yesterday.
As winter dissolves into this year’s precipitous spring, the woods are not yet cloaked in the Northwest’s Green Scourge.
