LISD School Newsletter
A HUGE THANK YOU to all who either participated, attended or volunteered at the Lopez Island PTSA Talent show this past Saturday. For the 4th year a in row, the LCCA was packed to capacity with folks showing so much love and appreciation for our talented and hard working youth - and for the school district overall!
A special shout out to our awesome emcees - Superintendent Brady Smith and LISD Senior Kaileah Poole who kept all the acts moving and the crowd engaged.
Attention 10th and 11th grade students:
Each year OPALCO holds a leadership camp that leads to scholarship money. Students who apply and are selected receive a $1000 scholarship towards college and after attending the leadership camp can be eligible for an additional $1000 for a total of $2000 towards college costs.
Activities at the leadership camp will include: electric speakers and presentations; field trips to the Idaho state capitol other local sites; networking with students and faculty from all over the Northwest; visit to a water park; social dances; roller-skating; bowling; volleyball and a talent show. The camp is July 5-10 at Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho. All travel costs are covered by OPALCO. We have had Lopez students attend this camp and receive the scholarship money in the past.
Applications are due by March 27th. There is no essay to write but you must have a short Zoom interview with a selection panel. Talk to Robb Ellis if you would like to discuss this opportunity. Go to this link for more information or to apply:
https://www.opalco.com/about-community/youth-rally-scholarships/
From The Pack:
Betty Burt is 1 of only 10 seniors in 1B/2B schools across our state to be selected to play in the Washington State Coaches Association Senior All State game. Betty has been voted First Team All League for basketball her sophomore, junior, and senior year. She was voted Second Team All Leauge her Freshman year. She has been selected to play in the all state game her sophomore and Junior year, also a tremendous honor.
The Pack has proudly sponsored her trips to the All State Game and is again sponsoring her to this very special senior game in Seattle this weekend. We will always support our athletes to participate in these very special opportunities. We are incredibly proud of Betty’s Basketball accomplishments.
Congratulations Betty Burt, and thank you to everyone who donated so we can make things like this happen.
Go Lobos!
The 4th and 5th-grade combined class went to the Washington State Capitol in Olympia last week to experience what they have learned about how government works! The students have spent the past two months fundraising for this trip, and the community has been extremely generous in their donations. Thank you, Lopez Island community for supporting our students. Lopez Island Education Foundation also contributed a grant of $500 towards the cost of the trip. Thank you LIEF for being a solid partner for school activities.
The class has been learning about the three branches of government, the two parts of the legislative branch (Senate and House of Representatives), and the checks and balances of the democratic system. The legislature was in session during our visit, and it was the 59th day of the 60-day session! During our visit to Olympia, after a 24-hour-plus session, the legislature passed the "Millionaires Tax" bill into law. That was historic! A highlight of this trip was when the Civics Education Teacher at the Capitol praised this class for being a wonderful class to have on the tour. She said they were better and more engaged than most of the classes she takes on the tour. I am so very proud of them!
This month dried beans have been highlighted in the cafeteria. Beans are a part of both the protein and vegetable food groups because they have a lot of protein, vitamins, and fiber. There are many types of beans, including the commonly found kidney, pinto, and black bean, as well as the more local orca and cranberry beans. While each has a unique flavor, you can substitute one type for another in most recipes. Try blending cannellini beans into your pasta sauce for a creamier texture, adding them to a salad, or in a soup. Every year a variety of beans are grown in our school garden! Engage your student by trying a new type of bean at home and talking to them about what they eat at school.
Betty Burt
What is one of your favorite memories from school? One great memory was going to state basketball this year. Going to state your senior year is a really big achievement, and the team worked so hard the last couple years to get there. Just having the opportunity to play in the opening round was great.
What are your plans after high school, and what are you most excited about? My plans are to attend a four-year university, and I’m really excited to experience life off the island…not having to use the ferry system when I want to go do something fun, like go to a concert.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? I think I’d like to be a coach. I’d like to eventually own my own place with a small flock of sheep.
Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your freshman self? Really focus on school because your grades are going to help you out when it comes to applying for colleges.
What is the most meaningful assignment or project given to you by a teacher? Mr. Carter gave us an assignment where we had to sit in nature and write what we saw. I sat on a piece of property on island that my family has been farming for 150 years, and it made me recognize that I will always have this connection to this island.
What is a favorite book, movie, song, or show that tells us something about you? My favorite movies (tied for first place) are Smokey and the Bandit and Second Hand Lions. I like old funny movies.
Who or what inspires you? Papa. He gives really good advice. If I have a question about something, he always give me a really wise answer. He’s my go-to for life advice. He’s also just a really hard worker. I think I would consider him my best friend.
When you’re not in school or working, how do you like to spend your free time? I like sports and that takes up a lot of my free time because I do sports all three seasons. I also really like music. I play guitar and I love to go to concerts. One of my favorite artists is Zach Top. He’s from Washington and has gotten really popular recently.
In what ways do you feel you have had an impact on your community? I’m very involved in the community in lots of ways though sports, 4-H, and participating in community events.
What else do you think people should know about you? I love trivia games!
Sophie Citro
What is one of your favorite memories from school? I got to show off the pollinator garden during the Farm Tours. As a part of my senior project, I built the pollinator garden from scratch with a grant from the Lopez Thrift Shop and other donations, and I really enjoyed being able to show it to people.
What are your plans after high school, and what are you most excited about? I’m going to be attending Pitzer College in Clairmont, California, planning to double major in biology and linguistics. This college is part of a consortium, which is five colleges within walking distance from each other. I’ll be an official student at Pitzer but able to take classes and have access to all the resources at all five colleges! I’m excited that I’ll get to study linguistics, since there aren’t any high school classes in this. I’m also excited to meet new people and get bubble tea more often.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? I hope I’ll have a job as a linguistics professor or speech and language pathologist. I hope I’ll be living somewhere nice with a lot of pet bugs.
Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your freshman self? Don’t spend so much time worrying about what other people are thinking. Focus on classes you like rather than classes you think would look good on your transcript.
What is the most meaningful assignment or project given to you by a teacher? In Mr. Carter’s English class, he gave us a personal narrative assignment. I wanted to make a short interactive game as my submission, so I ended up learning a lot of Python language, which ended up being really nice for a computer science class I took this year. It was also meaningful because I got to do a lot of things that were outside of my comfort zone.
What is a favorite book, movie, song, or show that tells us something about you? I really like the book series, The Familiar by Mark Z. Danielewski. It’s a really complex book series. Each book is 880 pages and there are meant to be 27 books in the series, but there are only actually five. The writing style changes to match the way each character thinks. The series resonates with me because I find all that complexity so appealing.
Who or what inspires you? Bugs and nature are my biggest inspiration. I’m really interested in them and I’m usually motivated by my interests.
When you’re not in school or working, how do you like to spend your free time? I spend a lot of time drawing and making art, and I also spend a lot of time studying insects and caring for my pet isopod collection.
In what ways do you feel you have had an impact on your community? I think in the long term, my senior project to renovate the garden will be very helpful. It will have an impact on the community because the changes will make it easier for the elementary students to grow food. I’ve also worked with KWIÁHT on environmental work for the larger Puget Sound community such as measuring toxin levels in herring populations, studying pesticide levels in wild animals, and testing traditionally harvested plants to see if they are contaminated.
In what ways do you want to have a positive impact on the world in the future? I want to make people like bugs more. Bugs are very important to the environment and a lot of people just write them off as pests, especially wasps.
What else do you think people should know about you? I am really open to talking about bugs any time and people can always ask me questions!
Lopez Island School District
Brady Smith, Superintendent
Martha Martin, K-12 Principal
The Lopez Island School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee(s) has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, and Title IX Coordinator Sarah Rucker; Section 504, Mary Fordham. OR contact by phone, 360-468-2202, OR mail to 86 School Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261.