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18 April 2011

Principal’s Message:
Congressman Jay Inslee, who is interested in learning more about innovative models of teaching and learning along with a number of other educational issues that are impacting our schools, is visiting us this morning. Thank you for welcoming him and sharing your learning!

Congratulations, Speech & Debate Club, for sponsoring an intriguing Mystery Dinner this past Friday evening. Proceeds will offset some of the costs for Albert Ta and Hayk Saakian to attend the national Speech & Debate Conference in Texas in June. This is the first time that members of AHS S&D will compete at the national level! Please join me in wishing them well!

In spite of a tornado that ripped through St. Louis, Missouri on Friday, it appears that the FIRST Robotics organization is still holding the World Championships in the city this weekend. Our Skunks will be departing on Wednesday, ready to compete with FIRST teams throughout the world. Go, Skunks! We’ll be watching you on the webcasts and cheering for you from our homes as well as school!

I started my teaching career in Bridgeport, a tiny town in north central Washington. The community has changed dramatically since the time I was there, but the spirit of the students and staff at Bridgeport High School seems to be better than ever. So good, in fact, that they are one of six finalists nationwide that is competing for the honor of having President Obama as their graduation speaker! Since they are competing with much larger cities such as San Diego, Newark and Pittsburgh, they need a lot of help to entice the President to come to their commencement ceremony. Let’s help them out by sending some votes their way. Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/Commencement#vote-top; and be sure to vote by this Friday, the day the ratings are scheduled to close! FYI: Bridgeport is the only school in Washington State selected as a finalist. And “yes”, Aviation High School was also an applicant!

Seniors: Congratulations on wrapping up your senior projects! Those of you who were selected to showcase your projects in the cafeteria last Friday will now have the opportunity to receive a PTSA-sponsored scholarship! Along with the PTSA scholarships, AHS is proud to again be able to offer a variety of scholarships to the Class of 2011. Our goal is to have the Scholarship Packet available to you by the end of the week. We will post it on the AHS website and also print a limited number of copies. Scholarship awards will be presented at your Senior Awards Ceremony on Sunday, 7 June. (FYI: Please consider the awards ceremony as a ‘must do’ rather than optional. All students are recognized at this ceremony. And…it will be one of the few remaining times that you will all be together to celebrate as a class. Thanks for making sure that 7 June, 1:30 p.m. at the Boeing Theater is on your calendar! A formal invitation will also be mailed to you and your family.)

Parents: We so appreciate you, and are asking for your participation in completing a survey about how we are doing as a school. Survey results inform our thinking about how we can improve to best meet the needs of our students and the expectations of parents. If you haven’t already done so, please take just a couple of minutes to complete this year’s survey that can be accessed http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22BZN3BVR33/. Thank you!
Here’s to more sunny days—ones like we enjoyed this past Saturday and to an outrageously great week of learning! I’m honored to be your principal—Reba

NOTE:
o Continue checking the AHS website or logging on to school computers to get updated information on events and meetings.


Quote of the Week:
“To me, it seems like we’re on the verge of a golden age of spaceflight; that’s where I wanted to be.”
~Garrett Reisman, NASA astronaut who joined private spacecraft builder SpaceX
Seattle Times, April 24, 2011

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18 April 2011 Principal’s Message “Every cloud has a silver lining” was the theme for a Friends of the Museum Luncheon that I attended at the Museum of Flight last Saturday. The event was planned as a celebration to honor those who had so earnestly supported the Museum’s bid to acquire a retired space shuttle. And, as most of you know by now, the Museum isn’t one of the four locations selected for a shuttle; however, it is receiving a one-of-a-kind Full FuselageTrainier (FFT)! According to former astronaut Dr. Bonnie Dunbar who spoke at the luncheon, there is only one FFT, and she and every other astronaut have trained in it. Doug King, CEO of the Museum pointed out, “Not only is it a unique and exciting educational artifact to have as a centerpiece of our Space Gallery, but unlike the actual shuttles, we will be able to allow the public to walk inside it and actually see where the shuttle astronauts trained.” As Mr. King made his remarks on Saturday, Aviation High School students were cited as those that he hoped would be among the first to experience the FFT. So, while there won’t be a shuttle displayed on the West Side Campus of the Museum, the silver lining is gaining a historical artifact that will be of significant educational benefit to AHS and generations of students to come. Reason to celebrate indeed! Eighteen students attended the State Science Olympiad Conference this past weekend: Wendy Au, Matt Petroske, Albert Ta, Conor Marsten, Jenny Gao, Libby Redda, Caitlin Schaefer, Catherine Elliot, Danica Balsiger, David Hartranft, Elizabeth Ong, Michael Phuong, Daryl Phuong, Carlos Herrera, Allen May, Sarah DeWeese, Salina Abraham, and Tony Truong. As a team, they placed 13th in the entire state, demonstrating their usual and much appreciated smarts, cooperation, and integrity. Congratulations to our Olympians for a stellar season of accomplishments and to Coaches Durrant, McComb, and Dyer for leading the way! In last week’s NOTAM, I thanked a number of student ambassadors for their assistance in interviewing students for the Class of 2015; unfortunately, I neglected to include Emma Finnsson, Jenny Gao, Liam Wingard, and Amanuail Ambaye. My apologies Emma, Jenny, Liam, and Amanuail. Your help was invaluable! We have three VIP groups on campus this week:

• Today (Monday), Boeing videographers from 2:00-3:30 p.m. A special video presentation is being prepared by the Boeing Company to honor one of their premier engineers. Aerospace Engineering, Ground School, and selected students from Flight by Design will participate in a videoshoot in the gym during 7th period; prior to that, we will tour classrooms in search of some action-oriented project work that they may choose to feature.


• Tomorrow (Tuesday), Steve Fulton (Pathfinder 2011) & Monica Uhl, 9:00-11:00 a.m. Classroom tours and interaction with students and staff.


• Wednesday, Doug King (CEO of the Museum of Flight) & 10 Guests from Qatar & a Boeing executive, 10:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Navid Shafa and Katie McConville will serve as student ambassadors/tour guides.

Is there an educator whom you would like to nominate for a Twentieth Annual KCTS 9 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education? I sincerely hope that you will take the time to honor an Aviation High School staff member who is making a difference in the lives of students. The purpose of this awards initiative is to honor and share innovative and successful teaching models and programs among Washington State educators. To request a nomination form, call the Golden Apple Information line at 1.800.766.0900; send an email to GoldenApple@KCTS9.org; or, visit the KCTS 9 website at www.KCTS9.org/GoldenApple.

My best to you for an audacious week of learning! I am honored to be your principal. ~Reba

NOTE: o Continue checking the AHS website or logging on to school computers to get updated information on events and meetings. § For example: Phoenix Flyer fall recruitment meeting: this Wednesday at lunch in Mr. Savishinsky’s room (21) § Congressman Adam Smith is sponsoring a U.S. Service Academy Night this Tuesday. Quote of the Week: “I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.” ~William Faulkner

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11 April 2011 Principal’s Message Welcome back! I hope you are rejuvenated and ready to begin the fourth and final quarter of the school year. And…I hope you found a little sunshine somewhere over your spring break. It’s hard to believe that it really is spring in Seattle, especially if you traveled to a warmer climate over the break. For me, it was Dallas where the sun shone brightly every day and temperatures climbed into the 90’s. I took it all in and loved the warmth, but it is still good to be back in the Pacific Northwest where I sometimes take for granted the clean air and all the beauty of nature. Just before break, we completed our interviews for the Class of 2015. We interviewed 175 students for 115 seats that we can offer. Invitation letters have now been mailed so we should be able to announce the class within the next two weeks. We will keep you posted! In the meantime, we wish to again thank all of the wonderful AHS students who assisted with interviewing our future students. Katie, Lauren, Jacob, Anastasia, Beemnet, Alyssa, Betsy, Audra, Sureetha, Dustin, Hiren, Natalie, Royce, Austin T…we couldn’t have done it without you! Know that we are grateful for your service and ambassadorship! Many thanks, too, to everyone who allowed an eighth grader to shadow with you this year. And special thanks to Mrs. Sanders and Mrs. May for facilitating several parent orientation sessions! Congratulations to Mr. Savishinsky who was notified just before break that he is a winner of a $10,000 technology grant from the Qwest Foundation. This award will be used to enhance the Journalism class and publishing of our school newspaper. Students will be doing investigative journalism and web-based publishing using the toolkit of today’s publishing industry—Web 2.0 cloud-based software and storage. Industry professionals will train students to build a secure, cloud-based production system and distribution network. Student journalists will learn first-hand about investigative research, journalistic ethics, story creation and community interaction with the news. Workshops and mentoring on good business practices and organizational management are part of the project. To ensure that the program sustains itself for years to come, the grant includes development of a training program for new students. Mr. Savishinsky is one of only nine teachers in the state to win the grant. The Qwest Foundation funds the competitive Teachers & Technology grant program to recognize K-12 educators who are creative technology integrators. Congratulations, too, to Antony Zhong and Jonathan Adams who recently participated in the annual Washington State High School Japanese Speech Contest at the Shoreline Center. Antony won third place for his first year division and Jonathan brought home the third place award for his third year division. Wow! Remember Ms. Ellinger who taught Biology and Health at AHS up until the current school year? She is now the proud mom of twin boys, Knox Madsen and Kole Patrick, born at 5:06 and 5:07 p.m. on March 25th. If you wish to send a card or note of congratulations to Ms. Ellinger, I know she would love to hear from you. Drop off notes in the office and we’ll mail them in a package at the end of the week. This year’s High School Proficiency Exam concludes tomorrow when our 10th graders take the third and final portion: Science! For the last two years, AHS has been the only high school in the state to earn an achievement award in science for our performance on the statewide tests. Tenth graders: continue to do us proud. That’s it for this week, Scholars. Make each day and minute of learning count! You’re on the home stretch with only 44 more days in the current school year! My best—Reba NOTE: o Continue checking the AHS website or logging on to school computers to get updated information on events and meetings. Quote of the Week: “A’s buy Mercedes, B’s buy Maybe’s!” ~Written by student applicant, Class of 2015, to describe the importance of earning good grades.