sammamishreview040412

By Lillian Tucker

The local community got a boost March 27 when hundreds of high school students stepped out of the classroom to lend a helping hand.

The service projects were the focal point of Eastside Catholic High School’s “Peace and Justice Day.”

“One of our school’s touch-stones is servant leadership,” said teacher Julie Jessum. “That really drives the program today to get involved with the com-munity.”

Jessum and Bob Strung, Eastside Catholic’s college coun-selor, accompanied a group of ninth graders to the Providence Marianwood Skilled Nursing Community on March 27 where the high schoolers helped out with spring cleaning and gar-dening.

“It was fun today,” said Daniel Carlton, who volun-teered at Marianwood. “It was a day to do something for oth-ers that benefits someone other than ourselves.”

The teenagers arrived at Marianwood at 9:30 in the morning and immediately got to

work planting flowers and veg-etables for the residents to enjoy throughout the spring and sum-

mer months. Once their work was done in

the flower beds and the raised

vegetable patch, the students went to work cleaning the com-munity’s large windows that

look out on the gardens.“It’s awesome,” said Andrea

Abercrombie, a recreational therapist at Marianwood, adding that Eastside Catholic has been sending volunteers to the com-munity for several years. “Each time they are just incredible…Without the students here to do that, we wouldn’t have the gar-dens look so good for the spring and summer.”

Abercrombie said she uses the outdoor spaces to inspire conversations and reminiscing among Marianwood’s residents, who also help water the plants and pick the flowers to put in their rooms.

The flowers and vegetables also are great for sensory activi-ties, explained Abercrombie, like tasting, touching and smell-ing. It’s a good way for them to connect with the gardens they used to have, she said.

“I like being able to help them,” said Sarah Whiteman, a student volunteer from Eastside Catholic whose own grand-mother spent time at the nurs-ing community. “There wasn’t very many flowers when I came

COMMUNITY8 l April 4, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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By Lillian Tucker

For poets and readers alike, haiku can offer a heightened awareness of natural surround-ings.

That’s what Sammamish resi-dent Michael Dylan Welch, vice president of the Haiku Society of America, believes and that’s what he hopes to bring to participants of the upcoming “Haiku in the Woods,” event.

Co-sponsored by the Sammamish Arts Commission and Sammamish Walks, the free poetry event is set to take place April 14 when attendees will be taught about the art of writing haiku and be lead on a nature walk by Welch.

“Haiku helps us to notice our surroundings,” said Welch, who explained that it’s common for people to admire the trees that bloom in spring and said that haiku helps people go a step further to take in moments like when the buds first start expand-ing. “I hope people will gain a great appreciation for the spring season in general and use haiku

as a way to record moments of personal experience.”

Welch has been writing haiku for more than two decades. That passion has since led him to many accomplishments, includ-ing publishing several poetry books; cofounding the largest public haiku archive outside of Japan at the California State Library in Sacramento; and having his co-translation of an ancient tanka poem printed on a cherry blossom stamp that was released by the United States in March to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the cherry trees in Washington D.C.

In the midst of all this, he said, he also has taken every opportu-nity he could to get people out-doors so he can teach them about haiku, which is centrally tied to nature.

Traditionally a haiku poem has a “kigo,” which is a word or phrase that implies the season of the poem.

But Welsh said he is not inter-ested in teaching people a for-mula for writing haiku. Rather, he said, he teaches people to approach as many targets as they

can and this is the same formula that he will be following on April 14.

The event will start at 10:30 a.m. at the Beaver Lake Lodge where Welsh will give a presen-tation and hand out samples of haiku so that everyone can dis-cuss the poems and identify char-acteristics and targets.

After a lunch break at noon the group will go on a guided walk that will hopefully spur the writing of individual haiku. After sharing and discussing each oth-ers’ poems the event is set to conclude at 2:30.

“What I love about these opportunities the most is when a smaller group gets together for a particular event…and gets a chance to meet each other in the community,” said Sammamish Arts volunteer Daphne Robinson. “They are dialoging.”

Register for the event at www.sammamishwalks.org.

Reach reporter Lillian Tucker at 392-6434, ext. 242, or [email protected]. To com-ment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.

Local poet invites community to learn about haiku in nature

ContributedMichael Dylan Welch, a noted poet, will lead a discussion of haiku.

Students turn to community for lessons in service

Photo by Lillian TuckerNinth-grade Eastside Catholic High School student Steven Johnescu works with his teacher Julie Jessum to help clean the windows at Providence Marianwood Skilled Nursing Community March 27.

See SERVICE, Page 9

sports14 l April 4, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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By Lillian Tucker

When “ladies” echoed from the sun dome speakers March 23, the Eastlake dance team knew immediately that they were the 2012 pom state champions. That was the sound of their routine’s music kicking off and also the personal touch that is used to announce the winners of the 4A state dance/drill tournament.

“When you hear it your heart drops and you freeze for a sec-ond,” said one of the team’s captains, 17-year-old Monica Ruddell.

With a score of 461.3 Eastlake earned a Superior Rating and bested Moses Lake, a team that many expected to win. “It’s the best feeling. You worked so hard and you won. You are the best in the state and all the practice is worth it.”

The state championship is the dance team’s last stop on an 11-month journey that includes five to 12 hours of practice a week and sometimes even more. Early in the squad’s season Coach Corinne Cope brought in college-level choreographers from Maryland to develop three separate routines, dance, kick and pom, for the girls to use in the state tournament. In three and a half days the team worked non-stop to learn the dances.

“It’s like having a part-time job,” said Ruddell. “You’ve got to be dedicated.”

Ruddell and the other captains are responsible for crafting sev-

eral of the team’s other routines like those they perform at the high school’s football games.

Last summer the squad learned the year’s 12 routines in two weeks.

“They endure eight-hour practices sometimes,” said Cope. “It requires a lot of mental and physical fitness. These kids have taken every challenge that I have thrown at them and exceeded my

expectations.” For performances like the

matador-inspired kick rou-tine that earned the team an “Exceptional Rating” at state with a score of 419, the coach explained that it takes a lot of core and leg strength and flex-ibility. “It’s Rockette style,” she said. “They are basically trying to kick up to the top of their heads for two minutes while running

around the floor and linking up with somebody. It’s really chal-lenging.”

The team’s state champion pom routine requires a lot of energy as well.

Using dance techniques that are found at the national compe-tition level, the performance is fast-paced with hip-hop currents that send the girls down on the floor to complete their move-

ments. For two-minutes and 15 seconds, the dancers are con-stantly moving to creating strong visuals with their red and white poms.

“It’s all about creating that picture that you want to leave in your audience’s mind,” said Ruddell. “Part of why our routine won is because we had so much energy at the end. We were out of breath but we just kept up our energy and pushed through.”

Going into the championship the girls were confident that they would do well but also that they would be happy no matter the outcome.

“Toward the end we realized it wasn’t about getting the tro-phy,” said Ruddell. “Whatever happens we were so happy with how hard we worked and how hard we pushed ourselves.” The co-captain said that all the long hours and hard work made the team into a family and that being a part of it was the highlight of her high school experience.

“Hearing that was different for me,” said Coach Cope. “It’s natu-ral for a competitor to want to win but these girls really enjoyed the journey that went along with it.”

Cope also went home on March 23 with another honor, coach of the year.

“She not only teaches us things within practice but she also teaches us life skills,” said Ruddell. “She loves this team just as much as we do. She is like our mom.”

ContributedExploding with energy, the Eastlake dance team performed its way to first place in the poms cat-egory at the Washington State Dance/Drill Championships.

Eastlake dancers bring home top prize from State

By Lillian Tucker

If Sammamish was only allot-ted one sunny afternoon last week, March 26 was the perfect pick as plateau baseball fans gath-ered in the sunshine to watch the Skyline Spartans edge out the Eastlake Wolves 4-3.

Both teams entered the con-test having been successful so far in the beginning of what looks like to be a solid season of league play.

“4A KingCo in any sport is tough, but especially in baseball. There is no game you go into thinking ‘we have the advan-tage,’” said Skyline coach Chris Tamminen. “A lot of the teams are right there with each other.

Each game is going to be a battle; it’s going to come down to who can play in the clutch.”

The Spartans lead 3-0 most of the game by grabbing a run in the second, third and fourth innings.

“Our motto is to play a hard seven no matter what the score is,” said Tamminen. “We have a good bench. The kids do a good job as far staying in the game and helping out on the field and com-ing in when they have to.”

For the Spartans, Brandon Fischer went 2 for 4 with a dou-ble and a run; Jack Valencia hit 2 for 3 and scored one run; Patrick Harrod batted 1 for 4 with a dou-ble and 1 RBI; Matt Sinatro hit 1 for 3 with an RBI; and Clayton

Huber, who pitched the major-ity of the game for the Spartans, struck out six of the 24 batters he faced and hit 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Photo by Lillian TuckerWith the Skyline fans and team cheering him on, Brandon Fischer, a senior, heads for home plate with the winning run, ending the game against Eastlake at 4-3.

Skyline tops Eastlake in baseball

See BASEBALL, Page 15

Issaquah District Superintendent Steve Rasmussen will hold a series of coffees at high

schools around the district to dis-cuss the district and education in general. The meeting at Skyline is set for 7:30 a.m. April 6.

Sammamish Family YMCA’s annual Easter Egg hunt will feature carnival booths, bounce

houses, a mini-golf course and egg hunts for toddlers and older children. A shuttle is available from Discovery Elementary School. The event is set for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. April 7.

The Ugliest Duckling Puppet Show, for children of all ages with an adult, is at 1 and 2:30 p.m. April 7 at the Sammamish Library.

Seniors Making Art, a free class about printmaking will run from 10 a.m.-noon on

Mondays from April 9-May 21 at the Sammamish Teen Center. To register, contact Allison Gubata at 295-0597 or [email protected].

Learn about speech and language mile-stones for infants through preschoolers

during a presentation at 7 p.m. April 11 at the Sammamish Library.

How to start a busi-ness. Learn resources available to you through the Small

Business Administration at 1:30 p.m. April 13.

A computer recy-cling event, is being sponsored by the city of Sammamish. Bring

desktop computers and laptops, monitors (LCD & CRT’s) cell phones, iPods, iPads, keyboards, mice, cables, speakers, print-ers, scanners, copiers and TVs. They will not accept DVD play-ers, old software, VCRs, CDs, microwaves, stereo equipment or appliances, Styrofoam, card-board and other packing materi-als. The event is from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. April 14 at City Hall.

Learn haiku during a nature walk. Michael Dylan Welch, president of the Haiku Society of America, will join a guided nature walk and poetry writing session from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 14 at Beaver Lake Lodge.

Learn the basics of how to compost at home at 2 p.m. April 15 at the Sammamish

Library.

A dramatic read-ing of “The Pitman Painters” will be performed by the

ACT Theatre at 7 p.m. April 19 at the Sammamish Library. The free program, sponsored by the

Sammamish Arts Commission will feature selected scenes and a moderated discussion between the audience and the perform-ers.

Volunteer to help clean up Beaver Lake Park to cel-ebrate Earth Day from

9 a.m.-noon April 21 Visit www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/events/Default.aspx?ID=2356.

An interactive seminar about tax strategies and planning is at 10 a.m. April 21 at the Sammamish Library.

Drop in to learn about ebooksthrough the King County Library System at 1 p.m. April 21 at the

Sammamish Library.

Used book sale including chil-dren’s and adult’s books priced from 25 cents to $1 and DVDs for $3 will run from 8-11 a.m. April 21 and 3-4 p.m. April 23 at Margaret Mead Elementary.

The Sammamish Symphony will per-form “Requiem” by Verdi at 2 p.m. April

22 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. Tickets are $30. Visit www.SammamishSymphony.org.

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Good Friday services — April 6

A community-wide Good Friday service, spon-sored by Sammamish area churches, is sched-uled for noon at Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church.

Sammamish Hills Lutheran, 4 and 7:30 p.m.

Pine Lake Covenant Church, 7 p.m.

Mars Hill Sammamish, 6:30 p.m.

Sammamish Presbyterian Church, 7 p.m.

Mary, Queen of Peace, 3 and 7 p.m.

Easter Services — April 8Pine Lake Covenant Church, 9 and 11 a.m.

Sammamish Hills Lutheran, traditional service 9 a.m., contemporary service 10:30 a.m.

Mars Hill Sammamish, 8:30, 10 and 11:30 a.m.

Sammamish Presbyterian Church, 8:15, 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Mary, Queen of Peace, 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.

Community Church of Joy, 10:45 a.m.

Spirit of Peace United Church of Christ, 9:30 a.m.

Foundation Baptist Church, 10:30 a.m.

Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, Sammamish First Ward 9 a.m.-noon, Sammamish Second Ward, 1-4 p.m.

Easter services

PassoverFirst seder 7:30 p.m. April 6, second seder

9 p.m. April 7 at the Chabad of the Central Cascades house. Fee $36 per adult, $25 per

child, but options are available for those who lack funds. Pre-registration required, visit www.chabadissaquah.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/846234/jewish/Passover-in-Issaquah.htm

Events

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April 2012

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April 10

City Council Study Session at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall

April 16

City Council Finance Committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall

City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall

Sammamish Arts Commission at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall

April 18

Sammamish Youth Board at 6 p.m. at City Hall

April 19

Sammamish Planning Commission at 6 p.m. at City Hall

Lake Washington School Board worksession, at 5 p.m. followed by a business meeting at 7 p.m. at the L.E. Scarr Resource Center, located at 16250 N.E. 74th St., Redmond

April 25

Southeast Eighth Street Park Master Plan meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall

Issaquah School Board meet-ing, 7 p.m. at district head-quarters, 565 N.W. Holly St. in Issaquah

public calendar

A mobile mammography facility will be available for Sammamish residents. The mobile facility features the same equipment used at Evergreen Hospital, but you do not need to be an Evergreen patient to use the facility. It is available from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the Evergreen Primary Care Center, 22850 Northeast Eighth Street. For an appointment, call 899-2831.

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