Leadership through service
Ridgeview Elementary School sixth-graders Esther Hunt and Ashlyn Bachman were hard at work inside the principal’s conference room before the end-of-day bell rang last week.
Both girls, reporters for the school’s newsletter, were brainstorming story ideas for the upcoming issue.
“I asked first- and second-graders how you cook a turkey,” Hunt said. One boy suggested putting the bird in a toaster.
Bachman may write about lunchroom behavior and the school’s reward system.
The young journalists are part of a new leadership program at Ridgeview this year that assigns fifth- and sixth-grade students occupations.
The students work in a variety of jobs, including newsletter reporters, student activities coordinators, fire drill assistants, custodial assistants, office housekeepers and tutors. Some jobs are 20 minutes daily just before the end of school, and others are as needed.
The program replaces the traditional form of student government where instead of having five students voted in as officers of an Associated Student Body, more students are involved within the school, said Principal Kathy Williams said.
“To me (five students) wasn’t enough to establish a culture of leaders,” Williams said. Williams was hoping the jobs would help them take pride in their new school building, completed this summer and paid for with a voter-approved capital projects bond.
Jobs were posted in each classroom, and students selected the slots based on what interested them. They were required to apply in writing for each position, and sign a contract.
The students not assigned work detail stay in class and agree to study time, 20 minutes at the end of each day when other students go to work.
“It really gives them a sense of ownership,” Williams said.
It was the first day on the job last week for Ha’ane Quifunas, a custodial assistant assigned the duty of restroom monitor. She checks to make sure the girls bathroom is in order and the floor is free of litter.
“My mom wanted me to have good grades and be responsible for stuff,” Ha’ane said.
Here’s a complete list leadership teams and the student assigned to those posts at Ridgeview this year:
Fire Drill Assistant: Madie Dahl
Student Activities: Madie Dahl, Megan Smith, Antonio Holder, Jessica Walden, Aaron Wicks and Ricky Carlson.
Audiovisual Specialist: Robert Dickey.
Custodial Assistants: Rachel Kindsvogel, Chantel Smith, Andrew Yaden, Casey Martinez, Isaiah Chacon and Ha’ane Quifunas.
Office Assistants: Megan Neidhold and Jessica Cornwell.
Newsletter Reporters: Ashlyn Bachman and Esther Hunt.
Class Tutors: Abby Asan, Scott Ouimette, Olivia Chomthong, Miranda Weipert and Shae Moore.
Reading Buddies: Kylee Peterson, Rhonnalee Risinger, Jecelynn Flink and Dustin Edens.
Flag Salute/Assemblies and Special Events: Hannah Stuart.
Tour Guide: Savanna Kilgore.
Recycling: Kyle Cerenzia.
Student Display Manager: Rachel Bokma.
Library Assitants: Chayton Roberts and Amber Smith.
Crossing Patrol leaders: Ashlyn Bachman, Ricky Carlson, Kyle Cerenzia, Madie Dahl, Breanna Dickerson, Robert Dickey, Lauren Ferguson, Jecelynn Flink, Steven Hutchinson, Rebekah Hyatt, Wyatt Kelley, Haili Knutson, Malesha Lockett, Casey Martinez, Joel Morris, Doran Porter, Chayton Roberts, Jessica Walden, Jono Williams and Ashley Zigman.
Yearbook: Rhonnalee Risenger, Esther Hunt, Shae Moore and April Grose.
School photographers: Jecelynn Flink, Rachael Knapp, Mitchell Cox and Lauren Ferguson..
Odyssey joins advisory committee
The Spokane school board voted last week to add a representative from the Odyssey Youth Center to a committee that examines and makes recommendations about the district’s human growth and development curriculum.
Ramon Alvarez, the executive director of the Odyssey Youth Center, a center for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, will fill a spot left vacant on the Citizens Advisory Committee for Human Growth and Development by a representative from the Spokane County Domestic Violence Consortium.
The 16-member committee is made up of “at-large” citizens and representatives from a list of approved Spokane agencies, said Scott Stowell, coordinator for science, health and human growth and development for Spokane Public Schools.
“There’s actually more agencies then we have slots for on the committee,” Stowell said. The executive members of the committee vote on which agency representative will fill spots as they are vacated, he said.
The committee usually meets once a month for two hours, from September through May with the exception of November, to discuss instructional materials for human growth and development, including sex education, HIV/AIDS and personal safety.
Human growth and development, specifically sex education, begins in the fourth grade and continues through the ninth grade. The state mandates that HIV/AIDS courses be taught from fourth through the 12th grade, and lessons in personal safety begin in kindergarten and continue through ninth-grade, and then continue as an elective until graduation, Stowell said.
Under state guidelines, parents may request to view human growth and development curriculum at any time through the school district.
St. George’s plans open house on Monday
St. George’s School will host an open house Monday from 9 a.m. to noon for students and parents interested in learning more about the school.
Students and parents are invited for campus tours and classroom visits led by current St. George’s students. Parents of current students and administrators also will be on hand to answer questions about the school, located at 2929 W. Waikiki Road, just north of the city on the Little Spokane River.
Founded in 1955, the private nonsectarian college preparatory school is home to about 390 students in grades kindergarten through 12.
For more information about the school and its application process visit the school’s Web site at www.sgs.org. For open house information, contact Debbie Duvoisin at 466-1636, ext. 304.