The children would select an inspirational quote from people such as Virgil, Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, or Walt Disney.

“Choose what inspires you,” Widner told them.

The sixth grade class preparing for their next art project, papier mache masks. Photo by David Rollins

Next, the children wrote down the quotes on cards with calligraphy pens, and decorated the cards with jewels, markers, and colored paper. Then, instead of taking them home, the cards were left around town for anyone to find.

“It was fun,” Briley Olson, Austin Oh, and Katherine Bo, all students in the class, said in unison.

Widner’s motivation for the project came from some recent family matters. Her brother-in-law, Steve, who had been battling depression, suddenly disappeared. His car was discovered parked and left on the side of a bridge, with Steve nowhere to be found.

“We just kept thinking of alternatives, maybe he got out of his car and started walking,” Widner said. She and her family continued to come up with other outcomes.

“I began to think; maybe he was in a coffee shop somewhere in need of a few kind words from a stranger,” she said. Steve’s body was discovered three days after his disappearance, down river from the bridge.

Widner didn’t reveal her brother-in-law’s story when she introduced the project to the class in November. Instead, she explained her plans for the project, making art that they wouldn’t get to take home.

“When I explained the project, there was this stunned silence,” Widner said.

She then compromised with the class, allowing them to take home a card if they made more than one.

The class produced 37 cards ready for the world. The week before Christmas, Widner distributed them amongst the community.

The Sammamish library had 20 of the cards, the Starbucks in between Safeway and Bartell Drugs had 12 of them. Dr. Rossi’s office, on 228th Avenue had the remaining five.

On the back of each of the cards, there was a note:

“You have found a piece of art made by a Rachel Carson Elementary sixth grade student. We hope you are inspired by these lines. Feel free to keep it, leave it, or pass it on to a friend.”

When Widner returned to the library the next day to collect the leftover cards, she found none. In one day, all 20 of them were taken by complete strangers.

“I was astounded,” she said.

“It’s a really nice feeling to be able to help,” said Elyse Widner, Lesa’s daughter and member of the class.

“It started from something bad, but it turned into something good for the kids to enjoy. Sammamish is just the kind of place where something like that can happen. They didn’t get torn up, or thrown away, they were enjoyed.” Lesa Widner said.

“La bufanda!” and “El vestido!” they shout as their teacher instructs them to repeat after her.

These 10 boys and girls, all between the ages of 6 and 11, are a part of a growing program in the Issaquah School District. Foreign Language for Youth, or FLY as it is also known, is an after-school series that equips elementary school students with foundational language skills in Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese and Mandarin. Featured in 15 of the state’s school districts, the program uses games, conversation and activities to engage young pupils who are otherwise not exposed to foreign languages until later in their school careers.

“Students are like sponges at this early age,” Konni Barlich, founder and director of FLY, said. “Their brains are so malleable that they just take in information.”

FLY is unaffiliated with any formal curriculum, although lessons are often held in a district’s schools to make for a more conducive learning environment. The students in one first-level Spanish course, for example, practiced their clothing vocabulary in an empty classroom after hours.

The teacher asked them to pretend they were shopping at a clothing boutique in Barcelona. To place something in their shopping basket, they would first have to order in Spanish. The student with the biggest pile of loot at the end of the game was named the winner.

“When you have these fun activities, kids don’t even realize they’re absorbing the information,” parent Anne Freeman said.

Freeman enrolled her son in the course at Cascade Ridge because she remembers struggling with languages as a young girl. Learning early on, she hoped, would better equip her son for the future.

“You have to be able to understand other cultures, it’s not just about language alone,” Freeman said.

Barlich first got the idea for FLY when her three children, now in their late 20s, were enrolled in elementary school. While volunteering in the classroom, she realized the students lacked any substantial foreign language curriculum.

“I was frustrated,” she recalled. “I thought, well that’s great, they make tortillas or whatever dish. But what I wanted is for them to actually learn the language.”

Talking to fellow parents revealed that she was not alone in her frustration. And so Barlich, a former nurse, took the initiative. In 1995, she opened FLY. In the coming years, she researched, grew and fine-tuned her curriculum, until she felt she’d developed a set of courses that was both engaging and effective.

Barlich admits that it can be difficult to retain students because the program isn’t formally recognized as a part of their school curriculum. Even one year of language, though, she said, is beneficial. Since the inception of FLY, she has witnessed a range of success stories. She has seen students graduate from the program, master several languages at once, even return to teach. Her own daughter, Karli Barlich, is one such success story.

Karli is now assistant director of the program after majoring in Spanish and honing her skills abroad for a year.

“It encourages cultural empathy,” Karli said of FLY. “We have native speakers teaching these classes and they get to learn all about their culture and their country.”

Karli can remember stepping into a taxi in Spain, after spending years studying the language and realizing how little of it she actually understood. It’s this understanding, that conversation and dialogue are the crux of any foreign language program, that has inspired FLY’s curriculum.

Karli added that peer pressure and the shame of making a mistake often discourages students from fully practicing a language. Starting children at an earlier age, when they’re still too young to be unsettled by peer pressure, gives them the building blocks to confidently study another language in the future.

In a region as diverse as the Pacific Northwest, Konni Barlich said, linguistic aptitude is becoming recognized as a critical skill-set.

“I think it is one of the most important things we teach our children today,” she said of foreign language.

Celina Kareiva is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.

Eighteen students from five Lake Washington School District schools in Sammamish earned honors for their efforts to express their idea of the theme “Diversity Means…” Of those, 10 students will advance to the state-level Reflections contest, with potential to go all the way to national-level judging, according to the Lake Washington PTSA.

The district-level finalists are: Russell Carmichael (film/video), Smith Elementary “Everyone Welcome”; Belle Pan, (literature), Alcott Elementary, “Panda Quest”; Zayanah Rasyamond (literature), Smith Elementary, “Diversity Means Being Like a …”; Ker Lee Yap (literature), Eastlake High, “Pardon Me”; Daniel Liu (musical composition), Smith Elementary, “Fantastic Tale”; Esha Krishnan (photography), Smith Elementary, “Pretty Pendants”; Hanshal Dabbiru (photography) Smith Elementary, “Pumpkins”; Miranda Taylor (photography), Eastlake High, “Diversity Means Being a Part of Something Bigger Than Yourself”; Mukil Shanmugam (visual arts), Smith Elementary, “Many Instruments Make Better Music”; Gregory McComber (visual arts), Eastlake High, “Diversity Means Seeing the World From Many Perspectives”; Aaron Koenders (photography), Mead Elementary, “Slide 2”; Kyle Yee (musical composition), Mead Elementary, “A World of Joy.”

Six others received Merit awards for their entries: Kesini Sunil (film/video), Blackwell Elementary, “International Pesto Sandwich”; Atu Ajoy (literature), Smith Elementary, “Diversity All Around Us”; Andreea Ifrim (literature), Smith Elementary, “A Unique World”; Vidyut Baskar (musical composition), Smith Elementary, “The World”; Alicia Ahi (visual arts), Smith Elementary, “Diversity in Colors and Shapes”; Cathleen McAllister (visual arts), Eastlake High, “Diversity of Thought.”

In the Issaquah district, 24 students from Sammamish schools earned district level honors and will move on to the state competition.

Those students are: Madison Chapman (photos), Endeavour Elementary, “Holding On”; Anna Clicquennoi (photos), Cascade Ridge Elementary, “A Heart of Differences”; Ava Stockman (photos), Creekside Elementary, “It Doesn’t Matter What Color Your Feathers Are What Matters Is How Big Your Heart Is”; Jasmine Cheng (photos), Pine Lake Middle, “Diversity Means We All Connect Together”; Tanisha Kshirsagar (visual arts), Discovery Elementary, “We’re All Different”; Kwak Eunseo, Discovery Elementary (visual arts) “The Unique World of Butterflies”; Katherine Yue (visual arts), Endeavour Elementary, “Diversity”; Sabrina Fischer (visual arts), Beaver Lake Middle, “5 Ballerinas”; Sanjana Gargi (visual arts), Beaver Lake Middle, “National Birds Coming Together”; Katie Ducich (visual arts) Skyline High, “In Their Eyes”; Linlon Xing (visual arts) Skyline High, “Life”; Micah Sikkema (visual arts) “Family Portrait”; Stephanie Yu (visual arts), Skyline High, “Diversity Means the Necessity of All Humans Working to Preserve the Vanity on Earth”; Alexander Park (literature), Cascade Ridge Elementary, “Diversity Means … Us”; Shweta Narayanan (literature), Endeavour Elementary, “Diversity Is Everywhere”; Meryl Seah (literature), Pine Lake Middle, “Nature’s Work”; Megan Freer (literature), Beaver Lake Middle, “Friendship”; Niyathi Chakrapani (literature), “Definitions”; Quennie Nguyen (music), Endeavour, “Colors in a Crayon Box”; Jasmine Cheng (music), Pine Lake Middle, “Colors”; Nirupama Suneel (music), Skyline High, “Discord and Unity” and Rachael Morgan (dance), Endeavour Elementary, “Imagine”.

The reflections program is meant to inspire artistic expression among students for fun and for recognition, according to the National PTA. Millions of students from preschool through 12th grade enter the contest in six categories: dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography, and the visual arts (which includes art forms such as drawing, painting, print making, and collage). A PTA president in Colorado started the program in 1969.

“I really like my robot,” said Alison Chiu.

Schiefelbein and Chiu, both 16 and juniors at Skyline, are two of five Issaquah School District students taking part in this year’s Washington Aerospace Scholars program.

Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say, they hope to take part in the program scheduled for this summer at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Students accepted into the first round of the program have been completing essay, math and graphics projects every other week since late December said Melissa Edwards, the program’s director.

Washington Aerospace Scholars invites students who score well on those assignments to take part in the summer residency at the Museum of Flight.

Guided by professional engineers and educators, students will help design a human mission to Mars. According to a press release, the qualifying curriculum was designed by NASA and consists of 10 lessons and a final project.

For the space shuttle project, students had some choices to make, such as the destination for their machine. Schiefelbein picked the International Space Station.

Students did a lot of reading prior to setting some specifications for their own shuttle and didn’t have to start from scratch. Still, Schiefelbein said the assignment was worthwhile.

“You get a feel for design,” he said.

The current assignment revolves around student-designed robots, according to Chiu. She said there are no set designs or stipulations.

“I think imagination is important here,” Chiu said.

Chiu wants her robot to work outside the International Space Station while the astronaut controlling it stays inside.

Another assignment that got Chiu’s attention was on spin-off technology, when space-age inventions find their way into the hands of people on Earth. For example, NASA initially developed the technology that went into sunglasses that block UV rays.

The current assignment is the fourth, Schiefelbein said. Both he and Chiu said the reading assignments probably take the longest. Students were split on the difficulty of the math problems. Skyline’s Alex Liu said one problem was easy once he figured out to discard a bunch of superfluous information presented as part of the problem.

“It was just working smart,” was how he described his approach to the problem. Like the others, he hopes to go into engineering or some closely related field.

To get involved in the first portion of the Washington Aerospace Scholars program, students fill out an application and complete an essay on why they want to be involved.

“I heard about it in ninth grade,” Chiu said of the program. “I thought it was interesting.”

Looking towards the future, Chiu expressed an interest in bioengineering. Schiefelbein hopes to gain a doctoral degree in astrophysics.

“I’ve always been interested in space and science,” he said. “I want to push the boundaries of what we know.”

One stated goal of the Washington Aerospace Scholars program is to address the perceived lack of college students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM programs.

“Because Washington and the Northwest are central to so many high technology businesses and educational centers, it is hoped that this program will help to provide a solution to a much larger national imperative,” said former NASA astronaut and space shuttle pilot Bonnie Dunbar in a Washington Aerospace Scholars press release.

Dunbar serves on the board of directors for the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation.

Since 2006, about 1,400 juniors from around Washington have taken part in the phase one qualifying curriculum.

Of those, about 700 completed summer residencies at the Museum of Flight. The program is completely free to participants.

Edwards said there are 160 slots open in the residency program this year.

Tom Corrigan: 392-6434, ext. 241, or tcorrigan@isspress.com.

But during a curiosity-driven after-school “dumpster-diving” session, it hit her just how much plastic the approximately 1,800 students at her school use and throw away — as much as 1,000 bottles — every single day.

“Skyline High School tries to give the image we’re environmentally friendly, but…” Knecht said. “When you see something like this, it changes your perspective of the school.”

She had gone through the school’s recycling bins and noticed that most of the bottles were thrown in the trash instead with the plastic bags.

“Every single water bottle hit me that much more,” she said. “There was a ton of Gatorade bottles. But there were definitely more water bottles.”

Knecht recently finished a weeklong project to highlight Skyline’s plastic consumption and waste. It began out of her need to run a public relations campaign for her IB Business and Finance class and the DECA marketing project. But it turned into a full-fledged display in the center of the school’s two-story student commons.

She and a few classmates strung hundreds of plastic bottles and bags across the atrium to remind students every day at lunch and during passing period how much they throw away each day. Knecht said she wasn’t sure how students would take it, as they like to buy their sports drinks and such and not carry them in a reusable bottle. But about 26 percent of the 600 students polled afterward said the event caused them to start carrying a reusable bottle to school.

“Each day of her campaign I had several students approach me and ask how they could participate or support her,” said B.J. Sherman, Knecht’s DECA project advisor, “which is not only a testament to our caliber of learner at Skyline, but to Macey’s influence.”

About 39 percent of the students polled said they still buy flavored drinks, but now carry a reusable bottle for water.

Sherman noted the visual impact the strung bottles and bags had at school.

“When students entered the commons that first morning they were in awe of the visual display that consumed the entire facility which punctuated the point that we are drowning in plastic,” he said.

Speaking to the general mindset of high school students, Knecht reasoned that the school wastes so much plastic simply because teenagers don’t want to refill a container — it’s easier to buy it over and over in a bottle.

“It’s too difficult to refill a water bottle,” she said.

It was more than just telling people about a problem in the world.

As part of her efforts, Knecht offered incentives to those who brought reusable water bottles to school, she said. She and friends also repurposed old posters to advertise the cause.

“We want to make a difference, too,” Knecht said.

Knecht got the idea for the project after watching the trailer video for “Bag It,” a movie that investigates the effects of the world’s dependence on plastic.

Although it’s difficult to gauge the student body’s true reception of the plastic awareness week for a while, Knecht said it will only grow as some students take a hold of the cause and school leaders help incorporate it with the existing efforts to reduce paper consumption.

“There has been a major difference,” Knecht said. “It’s just going to keep going on by word of mouth.”

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.

Thomas had everyone in the building laughing and eager for the next trick as he spent an hour teaching Newtonian physics through his antics in Science Circus. It’s a school assembly program that uses practical and colorful explanations to explain gravity, gyroscopic stability, centripetal force, balance and inertia.

“I liked that he taught us about gravity and made it cool in a way,” said Eli Corriveau, a sixth-grader who volunteered to help during one of Thomas’ gravity demonstrations. “If we didn’t have gravity, then juggling would not be possible.”

Thomas blends science with comedy and circus arts and brings students into some of his demonstrations, which include glass bowl spinning, balancing on a 6-foot unicycle and bowling ball juggling.

“This is a continued effort to not have to work for a living,” said Thomas as students filed into the gym.

The more than 24-year gig as a zany science educator and performer has taken him to hundreds of schools across the country and to museums and venues in 17 countries, said the Portland, Ore.-based Thomas. He was just 25 when he and his wife moved to Seattle for a summer of street performing, according to his website. The rain forced Thomas to develop an indoor show — The Science Circus — which he eventually hired to perform at the Seattle Science Center. That launched him into a life of traveling the world to teach Newtonian physics to youth and adults alike.

“I really like the travel,” he said. “I get applause, money and a work out. What a great job.”

Thomas said he appreciates how receptive his audiences have been over the years. He captivated the McAuliffe students, and their teachers, for the entire hour with a steady stream of wit and jokes and acrobatic tricks. One thing he’s noticed over the years is that if you present the subject with genuine enthusiasm, people will like it and learn a lot.

“Most things you present with genuine enthusiasm they will like,” he said.

When it was all said and done, and the youth had calmed down from the laughing and fast-paced engagement, Thomas’ Science Circus left them with a greater message.

“Science can be fun,” he said.

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.

Parents of students in Lake Washington schools heading into ninth or 10th grade this coming fall may learn more about the district’s newest choice school at the meeting at 7 p.m., Jan. 19 at the LWSD Resource Center. The meeting gives families the opportunity to learn about the application process for the district’s numerous choice schools, as well as stay up-to-date on deadlines and admissions processes.

Applications are due Jan. 27 and the choice school admissions lottery is Feb. 3 for schools with more applicants than spaces available.

The district’s resource center is located at 16250 NE 74th Street in Redmond (Redmond Town Center). Call 936-1200 to learn more about the choice school application and admission process. Learn more about each choice school in the Lake Washington School District at www.lwsd.org/Schools/Choice/Pages/default.aspx.

But for a handful of Skyline students and their peers at other area high schools, math is a fun hobby — an intriguing craft to be applied everywhere in the real world.

That mentality led them to create the Washington Student Math Association, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting math education around the state, said organization leaders Ashwin Rao and Kevin Li.

“We try to show people (math) doesn’t have to be a drudge,” said Rao.

Former Skyline student Evan Shieh, now at Stanford, formed the association in 2009. Since then, the organization has expanded — with help from various professionals — its reach as is aims to be a leading resource for students, teachers and parents interested in creating school math clubs or simply pursuing their interest in math.

Li seemed to speak for many math enthusiasts when he highlighted what made him want get people excited about math.

“Me and Ashwin have participated in competitions since middle school and want to promote it,” said Kevin Li.

The association hosts a weekly leadership meeting to throw ideas around about making math fun and to help people start math clubs at their school. For the more involved members, commitment to the association may take an hour or two each day, Rao said. And not everyone is a math whiz, either.

“Members can make what they want of the club,” Rao said. “You don’t have to be a genius at math to contribute to the organization.”

Rao, Li and their fellow leaders manage booths at area elementary schools’ math expos and put on Math Bowl, a daylong, team-based math competition.

Both Rao and Li highlighted that Math Mania is the association’s largest event of the year. The interactive math seminar brings youth of all ages to learn fun ways to do and apply math. They play math games, see presentations and displays about math in areas like sports, nature and movies. Held Oct. 22 at the Bellevue Square Microsoft Store, organizers even brought in Alex Zolotovitski, a published senior researcher for Microsoft, to talk about and demonstrate math applications in the business world.

“We had our best turnout,” said Rao. “I’m surprised by how much support we’ve received from the community. Parents are interested in bringing their kids to this (group).”

The organization continues to work on making resources available to teachers, students, parents and pretty much anyone who wants to practice math or start a school club, Rao and Li said. The goal is to be a one-stop shop for math resources and new ideas.

“We pretty much put it all in one place,” said Li.

And as they provide more resources and ideas for math enthusiasts, organization leaders said students at many area schools are finding inspiration to start a club.

“We’re getting ready to go into schools,” Rao said. “Students are taking their own initiatives.”

The math association is holding a math expo Jan. 14 at the Redmond Library and plans on organizing a competition in February at Redmond High School.

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.

The committee held its last meeting Dec. 14, Niegowski said.

“We reached agreement on some major points,” said Patrick Murphy, district director of secondary education.

Murphy worked as a chairman or facilitator for the schedule committee.

He will gather the group’s basic ideas and turn them into a report for Superintendent Steve Rasmussen, Niegowski said. That report should appear in this month, Murphy said.

School officials began looking at uniform high school schedules as a means to better share school resources and make other aspects of the school day more efficient.

“We do believe we can do better than the current scheduling,” Murphy said.

Both Issaquah and Skyline high schools use a six-period day, while Liberty High School has an extended schedule.

“The existing six periods is not optimal,” said Kelly Munn, a Sammamish resident and parent representative to the committee.

Committee members put a lot of thought into changing to a seven-period day at all schools, Murphy said. But one concern was that the change would strain the district’s budget by up to $3 million.

According to its supporters, Liberty’s schedule allows the school to offer far more elective classes than the other two comprehensive high schools. Some Liberty parents and students feel the Liberty schedule is worth protecting.

“I’m still being open-minded about the whole process,” Karen Odegard, president of the Liberty PTA, said.

But Odegard also immediately added she hopes whatever new schedule ultimately emerges doesn’t cut Liberty students access to elective classes, arguing other schedules somewhat limit students to core courses.

While the committee doesn’t like the schedules at Skyline and Issaquah, the schedule committee also didn’t land in favor of Liberty’s schedule, Munn said. The committee came to the conclusion Liberty students don’t take full advantage of the added electives and might not put enough time into core classes, she said.

Murphy said he hopes the committee’s work can guide the district going forward, even if no recommendation on a uniform high school schedule resulted from that work. He expressed some regret the committee didn’t arrive at a common schedule.

“In some ways, it was kind of a disappointment,” Murphy said.

But he added a belief that the committee learned a lot, that at a minimum some ideas could be implemented at the building level.

Once Murphy reports to Rasmussen, the administration will make its own report — and most likely some recommendations — to the school board.

Reach reporter Tom Corrigan at 392-6434, ext. 241, or tcorrigan@isspress.com.

As the district reconfigures the grades — bringing in a whole freshman class to Eastlake next fall — administrators had considered moving the choice school for junior high-age students. But instead, Renaissance will move from its roost on the second floor of the high school building outside to a mini-campus of portables. The classrooms, just like those to be used at BEST High School for Northstar Middle School, will have plumbing and water. Renaissance students will continue to use the Eastlake gyms and library, the district said.

The district’s initial enrollment projections for Eastlake’s new ninth-grade class led administrators to seek a new location for the magnet school. But the plan encountered problems like insufficient building space in the eastern section of the district and limitations on building a new school in rural King County.

To accommodate just the incoming ninth-graders, the district is expanding Eastlake’s gym and adding 12 new classrooms.