The Sammamish Review - News, Sports, Classifieds in Sammamish, WA

LWSD secretaries went way too far

Administrator — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:56:18 +0000

Somewhere out there is a medical professional who could earn an award for studying this phenomenon. Somehow, about 60 percent of the secretaries in the Lake Washington School District got sick on the same day. Never mind that their union, legally prohibited from striking, is in the midst of a protracted contract dispute with the school district — secretaries still say they or a family member got sick March 8. “Believe what you want,” said a union representative.
One thing’s certain — we don’t believe them. A union official, a few days before, posted a note on the union’s blog saying they were fed up with coming to work when they or a family member was sick, as if this is some small act of heroism to show up when they’ve got a sniffle.
Here’s a bit of news for you, folks: You’re not special. Everyone in America has gone into work when they are sick, especially in this economy when most feel lucky to have a job.
We believe in the right of workers to organize for collective bargaining purposes, but holding an illegal sick-out and then lying about it is not the act of a group entering into serious labor negotiations. It is the act of petulant children holding their breath because they didn’t get ponies on their birthdays.
The district has been accommodating in changing the way the secretaries will get raises. The sticking point now is that the secretaries think they should reach the top of their pay scale after 11 years, while the district thinks it should take 15.
So, after getting a cost of living increase every year and a raise every few years (by the way, this raise is just for showing up at work, not for taking on more responsibility, or, Heaven forbid, for exceptional performance) the secretaries think they should reach their highest salary in 11 years.
In what profession does a person hit the top after 11 years? To be clear, these raises are given not because of a promotion, but simply for showing up.
The secretaries should take the (too generous) offer of the school district, and count themselves lucky if they don’t get fired for the sick out.

Sammamish, Issaquah councils discuss animal control, fire service

Warren Kagarise — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:51:47 +0000

Issaquah and Sammamish city council members met last week for a wide-ranging discussion about the challenges faced by the neighboring cities.

Talk about Klahanie Park, how the cities will provide animal-control services after June 30 and the future of emergency services dominated the March 9 meeting at Sammamish City Hall.

Future of animal services ‘is a very volatile issue’

With county-run animal shelters set to end June 30, members of both city councils said no proposal exists yet to provide the services now handled by King County Animal Care and Control. Although, representatives from both cities said staffers continue to work on a solution.

A solution could result in a regional partnership among several cities, or individual cities could commission animal-control officers. Federal Way officials, for instance, announced a plan to form a city animal-services agency.

The cost of animal services and shelters will be the key factor for Issaquah and Sammamish. Neither city seems likely to take in enough money through animal-licensing fees to pay for a full-fledged animal-services program.

Issaquah, Sammamish and 30 other cities contract with King County for services, like responses to complaints about vicious animals, animal-cruelty investigations and pickups of stray animals. The agency responded to 194 calls in Issaquah and 225 calls in Sammamish throughout 2008, county figures show.

King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, whose district includes both cities, urged caution as municipal officials prepare for the transition.

“Be aware that this is a very volatile issue — probably one of the most volatile,” she said at the joint city council meeting.

County officials acted after several reports showed problems with King County Animal Care and Control leadership, organization and operations.

Reports dating back to June 2006 indicated mismanagement had resulted in animal cruelty.

Then, a 2008 report prepared by a consultant said the county organization had too few staffers, too little shelter space, failed to track licensed animals and had a strained relationship with volunteers.

Another report delivered in December 2009 said the county used euthanasia drugs in excessive doses.

Lambert and other council members extended the original Jan. 31 deadline to close county-run animal shelters. The decision allowed County Executive Dow Constantine until June 30 to put together a regional animal-services plan.

“We have already extended the date once, and so, we have put in a substantial amount of money that we don’t have at this point, so I don’t think the county will be ready to extend too many more times,” Lambert said.

Sammamish observes fire planning ‘from the sidelines’

Issaquah officials encouraged Sammamish leaders to join a still-nascent plan to change the way local governments provide fire protection and emergency services.

Issaquah City Council members and officials from King County fire districts took the initial step last fall to consider a regional fire authority, and formed a planning group. The group met last month and organized.

“This is only a planning committee,” Issaquah Councilwoman Maureen McCarry said. “It’s not to establish a regional fire authority. It’s only to start seeing if it’s viable for any municipality or any fire district.”

If formed, a regional fire authority would have the ability to tax residents within its boundaries. Under the current model, Sammamish pays Eastside Fire & Rescue from city tax dollars.

The arrangement has strained the relationship between Sammamish and emergency-service provider EFR.

Sammamish Mayor Don Gerend said the city had no intent to join the planning committee, but said a city staffer will attend future meetings of the group.

“We’ve been watching it from the sidelines because we had expressed concern about an RFA from the point of view of whether it makes sense for Sammamish taxpayers,” he said.

Participation in the planning committee does not commit Issaquah or the fire districts to joining a regional fire authority. Parties can withdraw from the process at any time.

The planning process has no effect on the way EFR functions, but the formation of a regional fire authority could require adjustments to the inter-local agreement underpinning the agency.

Besides Issaquah, the group includes fire districts 10 and 38. Districts 27 — in Fall City — and 45 — in Duvall — also expressed interest in the regional fire authority.

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com.

Dozens of Lake Washington school secretaries take ‘sick-and-tired’ day

J.B. Wogan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:50:32 +0000

About 119 secretaries and other support staff in the Lake Washington School District, frustrated over labor negotiations, called in sick March 8. The school district has launched an investigation into the mass sick day. Public employees, including school district secretaries, are not allowed to strike under state law.

“People stayed home because they weren’t feeling well,” said Dale Folkerts, a spokesman for the Lake Washington Educational Support Personnel. “You can believe whatever you want.”

The education support personnel, an organized bargaining group for secretaries in the district, have 199 members (meaning 60 percent were out March 8th) and are negotiating their next three-year contract. Contract talks started in spring 2009, continued past the old contract’s expiration date Aug. 31, 2009, and are still ongoing.

The district is investigating the employees who called in sick on the basis of making sure employees didn’t take a paid day without actually being sick, according to Kathryn Reith, communications director for the district.

Reith said an appropriate use of a sick day would be if the employee or an employee’s family member were sick. If an employee was healthy, but took the day off, they violated the group’s contract with the district. She added that anyone found in violation of the contract would suffer consequences ranging from a verbal warning to getting fired.

Reith said the district’s position was that an inappropriate use of sick days would be the same as stealing money from taxpayers.

“We take that very seriously,” she said.

Reith said that the use of sick days may have been a symbolic gesture.

“I think that was their attempt to communicate in a roundabout way what they were sick about,” she said.

The bargaining group’s blog (http://lwesplocal.blogspot.com) sought to explain how it happened that so many of them took ill on the same day.

“The LWESP group is sick and tired of dragging themselves into work when they are not feeling well and/or their family members are ill or injured,” the post reads. “The members of LWESP have decided it is time to take care of themselves and not come into work sick.”

Folkerts explained that the district was delaying a resolution to the negotiations, causing workers undue stress and hurting employee morale. He described the district’s response to the sick days, both the investigation and potential for reprimands, as “draconian.”

He said employees had met to discuss the contract bargaining process the week before. Many employees who had been putting off doctor’s and dentist’s appointments for months “apparently scheduled them” on the same day, he said.

Folkerts maintains that the bargaining group did not go on strike March 8.

“The district has made an assumption that is not correct,” he said. “Was the number (of employees out sick) higher? Yes. Does that mean that workers were on strike? No.”

Why are negotiations still going?

Dale Folkerts, a spokesman for the Lake Washington Educational Support Personnel, said raises for long-time employees were a point of contention in the labor negotiations.

A new system, which both groups agree on, will restructure the way support staff receive raises. Under the new system, the employees will receive raises every few years – in addition to annual cost of living increases.

The union proposal would allow an employee to hit their maximum pay grade within 11 years, while the district wants it to take 15 years.

Kathryn Reith, communications director for the Lake Washington School District, said the district is wary of the financial ramifications of having 90 percent of their secretaries and support staff at the highest wage level. She added that those employees already receive cost-of-living increases commensurate with inflation and 20 employees did bump up to a higher wage bracket this year.

Donna Lurie, the chief negotiator for the union’s bargaining group, said the district had relented on maintaining the old quota structure for salaries; the district has even proposed switching to a salary schedule based on years of experience, she said.

“We’ve come very close to reaching an agreement,” she said.

Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.

Sammamish relaxes standards for its own buildings

J.B. Wogan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:43:43 +0000

The City Council relaxed its own regulations on city-owned land March 2.

With the changes, buildings can be 30 to 40 feet closer to a park’s border, non-porous surfaces can take up 25 percent more land and lights can be higher than in comparable lots under private ownership.

In a letter to the council, Senior Planner Rob Garwood said the city anticipated future problems with expanding or installing new turf athletic fields.

Those fields would need lights at heights exceeding 75 feet in order to direct the light only onto the field, without spillover onto private land.

The proposal does not limit the size of the lights. Susan Cezar, deputy director of community development, said the lights would be limited by realities of cost.

The city wouldn’t build a light higher than it needed to, she said.

In a later interview, Garwood pointed out that city code requires private landowners to cap structures (like lights) at 35 feet in height; they can exceed that limitation, up to 75 feet, as long as they give a foot of setback for every foot above 35 feet.

To build a light that reached 75 feet, a private landowner would have to locate it 45 feet away from the lot line.

Garwood’s letter also mentioned that parks would benefit from looser restrictions on non-porous surfaces since turf fields qualify as being non-porous, in addition to already existing roofs and asphalt roads.

The loosening of restrictions on non-porous surfaces, sometimes called impervious surfaces, would apply to all public projects in the city, not just parks.

The city can now build structures within 20 feet of a lot line in residential areas, and as close as 10 feet in lots zoned at 12 units per acre or 18 units per acre.

Garwood said the pre-existing setback code for parks required a 50-foot setback for structures.

“Fifty feet pretty much drives everything to the middle of the property,” he said.

A parks structure could only be as close as 10 feet in one situation today: the soon-to-be recreation center in the old library building on 228th Avenue and Inglewood Hill Road.

Parks Director Jessi Richardson said the recreation center drove the city to change the setback restrictions, though the issue has come up several times in the past.

“The proposed gymnasium addition would not meet code. We can’t position it 50 feet from the property line,” she explained.

She added that the Parks Department was committed to being a good neighbor to residents and would only use the looser setback standard when appropriate.

Deputy Mayor Nancy Whitten spoke out against the setback reduction in parks.

“A park can be a real amenity, but it can also be a real intrusion,” she said.

Whitten proposed an amendment that would strike language about the setbacks — keeping park buildings 50 feet away from a lot line — but still giving added flexibility for non-porous surfaces and the height of lights.

Councilman Mark Cross opposed Whitten’s suggestion, pointing out that the looser regulation would give the city more options for designing the layout of a park — it did not guarantee that the city would take advantage of the reduced setback standard.

Cross described a hypothetical situation where buildings could serve as a noise buffer between private land and an public athletic field.

With every capital project, like a new building in a park, a public process allows residents to speak up if they don’t like how close it would be to the lot’s borders.

Mayor Don Gerend also opposed Whitten’s suggestion, pointing out that he lives about 60 feet from Pine Lake Park and would not mind if the park was closer to his lot.

The council voted 6-1 against Whitten’s proposed amendment and then voted 6-1 in favor of the slackened regulations. Whitten was the dissenting vote in both cases.

Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.

Controversial math choice for Issaquah School Board

Chantelle Lusebrink — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:42:31 +0000

Issaquah School Board members got their first look at the superintendent’s recommendation to adopt a new high school math curriculum March 10.

After nearly two years of review and analysis by district officials, Superintendent Steve Rasmussen recommended Key Curriculum Press’ Discovering Mathematics books to be adopted for high schoolers.

A group of district parents is already threatening a lawsuit if the school board adopts the new texts. The board is scheduled to discuss the matter March 24.

The books, if adopted, would go into algebra I and II and geometry classrooms this fall.

“It may have been easiest in terms of politics and expediency if our teachers had just chosen Holt, a curriculum that has a lot of good components,” Rasmussen wrote in a letter to the community Feb. 24. “But our teachers did not choose what was easiest, but rather what they thought would be the very best for all students in Issaquah.”

A new high school math curriculum is necessary because College Prep Mathematics no longer meets many of the new state requirements.

Controversies add up

Meanwhile, 30 concerned parents from Save Math In Issaquah and the statewide group Where’s the Math? met March 6 to consider action against the district’s recommendation — if the board approves the Discovering series. That action includes a potential lawsuit.

“We are considering all viable options to get the district to consider all the evidence,” said Mark Van Horn, an Issaquah parent and founder of Save Math In Issaquah. “It is not our preference to litigate, but if all our other options fail, we will consider litigation. It isn’t a decision we will take lightly.”

Van Horn, an engineer by trade, said that his daughter’s confidence and curiosity for math eroded under the district’s program. When he tried to tutor her, the books they have didn’t allow him to find material to help her, furthering the problem. It is the same concern he has with the Discovering series. School board members Brian Deagle and Chad Magendanz, along with Patrick Murphy, the district’s executive director of secondary education, attended that meeting.

Deagle said he hopes the group will wait to pursue legal action, until the board has rendered a decision.

The materials are at the center of a nationwide controversy that seems less to do with the books themselves than a dispute between academics, politicians and mathematics professionals about how best to teach math to students.

At issue is whether students should be taught mathematics in a mastery-based program — much like math taught until the mid-1990s — or whether math texts should include more inquiry-based ideologies.

“We believe there is overwhelming evidence against inquiry-based instruction,” like Discovering, Van Horn said.

However, some math professionals say that simply learning rules doesn’t get children the education they need either.

“Just learning the methods and not knowing how to use it doesn’t solve anything and we see kids at the university like that. We give the kids real problems and they ask, “What rule do I use?” said University of Washington professor James King, who teaches mathematics. “Ideally, you want the whole package, students who understand the math and know how to apply it.”

Karen Coe, chief executive officer for Key Curriculum Press, defended the Discovering series.

“We’ve been developing mathematical materials for more than 40 years,” she wrote in an e-mail. “All of our authors and editors are current or former math educators. The Discovering Mathematics curriculum incorporates multiple teaching methods. Basically, you get the best of both worlds by learning not just “how” to do something, but also “why” you’re doing it.”

A recent lawsuit — won by proponents of mastery-based math — denounced the selection of the Discovering series by the Seattle School Board on Feb. 4.

The debate also rages in the Bellevue School District where Discovering and Holt texts were piloted. In Bellevue, a math textbook committee has recommended that they adopt Holt, the more traditional textbook.

Issaquah’s process

In the last year, district officials have conducted community input surveys, re-examined the curriculum and held community meetings to explain their selection choice.

State officials have been of little help, district officials said. One state study recommends Holt, while the other says Holt and Discovering both do a good job at increasing student achievement.

District officials went as far as to invite state officials to meetings to clarify their opinions but they didn’t hear back.

Issaquah’s process for adoption is comprised of two groups, a Teacher Adoption Committee, which reviews several materials and narrows it down to the one members believe best fits their goals in the classroom, and a state-mandated Instructional Materials Committee, which ensures the district adhered to its policies for adoption and reviews the books for bias.

Both groups approved the curriculum to move forward, Rasmussen said, because, “it aligns with the standards, transitions smoothly with our middle school and higher level high school math classes, has a robust on-line and technology component, and a very strong professional training program for our teachers.”

In fact, the Discovering series actually brings the district back to a more balanced approach from its last curriculum, Assistant Superintendent Ron Thiele said.

Math professionals and advocates in Save Math In Issaquah said they would have liked the district use their expertise earlier in the process so confrontations at the end could have been avoided, Van Horn said.

“It boils down to the Key Curriculum Press algebra, geometry and algebra II doing a nice job at conceptual problem solving and a good job at the drill and practice,” Thiele said.

Regardless of the outcome, district officials and board members, like Deagle, hope to use the energy of professionals and community members to further student’s education.

“We have an educated, passionate and high energy community,” Deagle said. “If we could harness that energy and expertise we could improve student achievement in math right now.”

What it means

Mastery-based program: A traditional approach to learning mathematics techniques used almost exclusively before the mid-1990s. Students are introduced to a proof, rule or math concept, shown how to apply and solve it and practice using the method until they master the skill.
Inquiry-based programs: A newer approach to teach mathematics that includes using real-world application, problem solving and inductive reasoning. Many times, students are presented a concept and asked what types of math they already know that could help to solve it. A teacher then reviews the core proof, rule or math concept they need to use to solve the problems.

Next steps

March 17: Save Math In Issaquah may submit draft copy of a lawsuit to district officials.
March 24: School board is scheduled to vote whether to accept or reject the superintendent’s recommendation at a 7 p.m. meeting at the district administration offices.
April 21: Deadline for Save Math In Issaquah officials to file a lawsuit against the school district.

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com.

Sammamish to receive $27,457 for overheated lights

J.B. Wogan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:39:39 +0000

A set of 14 overheating light bulbs in City Hall has gotten on city officials’ last nerve.

At its March 2 meeting, the City Council approved a settlement fee of $27,457 from Lite Energy, a Canadian architectural lighting company with a Seattle branch.

The hanging light fixtures in the main hallway and lobby of City Hall were high-intensity discharge lights. When they were purchased in 2006, they were considered some of the best energy-efficient lights on the market, according to Mike Sauerwein, administrative services director at the city.

The city purchased the lights for $14,536. About a year and a half after their installation, the fixtures started overheating. Lite Energy agreed to redesign the fixtures at no cost, but even the redesigned lights still had problems.

“You kind of get that ozone smell,” Sauerwein said. “We investigated and they were really overheating.”

Sauerwein said the city would go out to bid for a new contractor to install light fixtures sometime in the next month. In the meantime, the city is keeping the lights off and relying on natural sunlight from the lobby’s many windows, he said.

Sauerwein pointed out that the settlement results in a net gain of $20,910.

Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.

Street setbacks drop from 7 to 5 feet

J.B. Wogan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Community Development Director Kamuron Gurol went to the council and requested that they strike language requiring the 7-foot standard for communities that received building permits between 2004 and 2009. He said those communities were under a different standard than the rest of the city, which was cumbersome for the city’s permit department.

The council approved the change 4-2, with Michele Pettiti being absent.

Councilman Tom Odell and Deputy Mayor Nancy Whitten voted against the measure.

“I intend to vote against this simply because I do not believe this is the direction this town should go,” Odell said.

In a later interview, Odell explained that he preferred the wider setback for safety and aesthetic reasons. Shrinking the size the setbacks would make things too cramped, he said.

Odell had raised a concern about whether a smaller setback might become a fire safety hazard.

Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Griffin, of Eastside Fire & Rescue, reassured the city that the 5-foot standard was relatively safe.

In a later interview, Griffin explained that he researched the setbacks in nearby communities.

“It’s not a major concern … Actually, the 5-foot (standard) is more common than the 7-foot,” he said. “Wider is better and safer, but this is no different than other communities in the area.”

The Sammamish City Council corrected an inconsistency in their regulations for building setbacks on private property. The minimum setback had been 5 feet until March 2004, but became the stricter standard of 7 feet for five years. In February 2009, it reverted to the 5-foot standard again. Community Development Director Kamuron Gurol went to the council and requested that they strike language requiring the 7-foot standard for communities that received building permits between 2004 and 2009. He said those communities were under a different standard than the rest of the city, which was cumbersome for the city’s permit department. The council approved the change 4-2, with Michele Pettiti being absent. Councilman Tom Odell and Deputy Mayor Nancy Whitten voted against the measure.“I intend to vote against this simply because I do not believe this is the direction this town should go,” Odell said. In a later interview, Odell explained that he preferred the wider setback for safety and aesthetic reasons. Shrinking the size the setbacks would make things too cramped, he said.Odell had raised a concern about whether a smaller setback might become a fire safety hazard. Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Griffin, of Eastside Fire & Rescue, reassured the city that the 5-foot standard was relatively safe. In a later interview, Griffin explained that he researched the setbacks in nearby communities. “It’s not a major concern … Actually, the 5-foot (standard) is more common than the 7-foot,” he said. “Wider is better and safer, but this is no different than other communities in the area.”

2 top fire officials will retire soon

J.B. Wogan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:37:10 +0000

Two central figures in Sammamish’s firefighting organization announced their retirement this month.

Tim Pilling, the fire marshal for Eastside Fire & Rescue, and Dave Gray, the head financial officer for EFR, both retire at the end of March.

Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Griffin paid tribute to Pilling at the March 11 EFR meeting, pointing out that Pilling was the agency’s first fire marshal.

“He set the tone for future fire marshals,” Griffin said.

Mike Sauerwein, the administrative services director for the city of Sammamish, said Pilling was instrumental in establishing the plateau’s July 4th celebrations.

“Tim played a huge role in making that a fun and safe event,” Sauerwein said.

Pilling has worked for EFR since the agency formed in 1999. Prior to his time with EFR, he worked for the now defunct Issaquah Fire Department, the city of Issaquah and the city of Bothell. He became involved in fire protection while volunteering as an emergency medical technician in southern California.

As fire marshal, Pilling was responsible for overseeing inspections to make sure buildings met fire safety codes.

“It’s been an honor. It really has,” he said.

Finance Chief Dave Gray’s departure comes without a replacement picked. Gray was in charge of an effort to revise the process by which the EFR board reviewed future spending and revenue.

He said he thought the change in practices made it perfect timing for someone else to take over. Gray has been with EFR for eight years.

“I’m leaving here with more than I brought,” he told the EFR board.

Prior to joining EFR, Gray had experience in the private and public sectors, working as chief accountant for the San Juan County’s Auditor’s Office, as accounting manager for the northwest division of General Foods-Phillip Morris and general manager of Acme Poultry, among others.

Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.

Youth fast to understand the realities of world hunger

Christopher Huber — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:35:34 +0000

For Greg Peterson, an eighth-grader at Inglewood Junior High School, the hardest part of fasting for 30 hours wasn’t going without food at school March 5 or thinking about the feast on Saturday. The toughest part, he said, was when he went to sleep.

“It wasn’t that hard ‘til I had communion (at the end),” he said, after realizing how hungry he had been. “The hardest part was sleeping on an empty stomach.”

But when parents of the youth at Sammamish Presbyterian Church unveiled the feast of lasagna, salad, bread and other scrumptious foods, Peterson said he hurried to the front of the lasagna line and piled it high on his plate.

“This is their favorite thing of the whole year,” said his mother, Laura Peterson.

About 90 Sammamish youth skipped meals for more than a day March 5 and 6.

The teens also accepted donations of money and food items and learned about world hunger in the church’s annual 30-hour famine event. When it was all said and done, they raised more than $11,000 for World Vision and collected 2,066 food items from the community, said organizer Korina Meyer.

“It’s awesome. There’s a lot of enthusiasm from everybody,” said Josh Schack, an intern with the Sammamish Presbyterian youth group. “The students get to realize, first-hand, what it’s like to be hungry. It’s definitely a starting point.”

The event is about educating the youth about poverty and hunger around the world, but Schack said it also provided the sixth- through 12th-graders with an opportunity to serve the community.

Participants capped off the 30-hour famine with a nearly two-hour food drive Saturday morning. Teams canvassed Sammamish neighborhoods and brought the more than 2,000 cans and packages of food to the church to count, sort and prep to be distributed to the Redmond and Issaquah food banks, Meyer said. At night, they assembled 500 supply kits for AIDS caregivers in Africa.

“It plants a seed for bigger growth in the future,” Schack said as everyone stacked the items in the auditorium.

Sammamish Presbyterian has held the 30-hour famine yearly since 2003, Meyer said. The students sign up in January and raise money until the event happens.

As the 95 youth shared in the fasting experience and stayed over night at the church, it built camaraderie, said pastor Jeff Lincicome.

“Kids want to make a difference. There’s sort of an inherent desire,” he said. “Every year this ends up being a highlight.”

World Vision partnered with the church to benefit the community of Mahlalini, a village in Swaziland, Meyer said.

As the students loaded up on lasagna and other goodies, some reflected on the experience. Julia Coutant, a Pine Lake Middle School student, had a tough time getting through lunch Friday, she said. Her friends waved pizza in her face.

“We have so much here,” she said, thankful to have easy access to food. The thought of people around the world not knowing where their next meal may come from helped her while fasting, she said. “If they can wait, I can wait.”

Learn more about the event and world hunger at www.spconline.org.

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

Chilean families rally local quake-relief support

Christopher Huber — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:32:10 +0000

When Vicente Varas, an Eastlake High School sophomore, heard about the massive 8.8 earthquake Feb. 27, he knew he had to do something to help.

Varas was born and raised in Chile until age 11 and has family who were affected. He and his brother, Inglewood Junior High student Santiago Varas, along with about 10 Chilean families in Sammamish, sprung into action to raise money for their family and for the Red Cross.

“We were kind of shocked … and we wanted to help in some way possible,” Vicente Varas said. “We wanted to use our talents.”

In all, local Chilean families have so far raised nearly $5,000 at school events and various workplace events, according to tallies from Nicole Eisenberg, of Sammamish.

Eisenberg and her children got the word out at Margaret Mead Elementary’s used book fair and pancake breakfast.

The Varas family held a collection at the Eastlake Fire and Safety Fair and raised more than $500 in all March 12 and 13, Eisenberg said.

“Everybody tried to help out with what their particular skills were,” she said. “Everyone’s kind of thinking, ‘what can I do,’ and ‘how can I help.’”

One of the first things the Varas brothers did was make a Facebook page and announce it at their respective schools, Vicente said.

Vicente then raised $500 alone during a tennis match at the Pine Lake Club, he said.

“We don’t really have a goal, just trying to raise as much money as we can,” Vicente said.

The Varas brothers’ efforts go beyond the obvious reasons of why the Chilean community in Sammamish wants to support those affected in their home country.

The Varas and Eisenberg families have sent much of their donations to family members in Vichuquen, the town, south of Santiago, where Vicente and Santiago’s parents met.

Growing up, “we actually spent a lot of time in that town,” Vicente said.

The money has provided food, water and materials to rebuild homes, Vicente said.

“You kind of feel, sometimes, you can’t really do anything about it,” he said. “After we started to get big donations, it felt great to know that it would go to a great charity down there.”

Eisenberg and her two children have sort of become Red Cross representatives for the Chile Earthquake relief cause, she said.

The organization sent her pamphlets and other resources to hand out at the various PTA functions at Mead and Eastlake.

The idea behind raising funds through school events came when they realized the schools had been recently overloaded with large fundraising events, such as for Haiti earthquake relief and loose-change drives, Eisenberg said.

“There are so many fundraisings at school, we don’t want to add more. But through actual activities at school we’re trying to promote awareness,” said Rocio Collado, Vicente and Santiago’s mother, who was also involved in the school events. “This is also part of the Latin American culture. It’s more informal and subtle.”

In addition to placing collection jars at the school gatherings, Eisenberg encourages those interested to donate to the Red Cross. Visit www.RedCross.org, click “Donate Now” and choose the “Chile Relief and Development.”

Vicente’s advice to youth interested in taking up a cause: “It’s really not that hard,” he said. There are plenty of foundations out there looking for help.

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