DISTRICT

Check out events on the Sequim School District’s website calendar at www.sequim.k12.wa.us/Page/2. “Like” us on Facebook to receive updates.

There is no school on Nov. 26-27 in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. The district office will be closed on those dates as well.

The next school board meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7. New school board directors Jim Stoffer, Robin Henrikson and Heather Short will be installed at this meeting. An agenda is available on the district website at www.sequim.k12.wa.us/domain/7.

Board meetings are open to the public and time is set aside for public comment.

GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Please note the reading tutor training session for Tuesday, Dec. 1, has been cancelled.

HELEN HALLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Since the beginning of the school year, Jaysa Hill’s fourth-graders have been practicing and utilizing a variety of good writing habits. These habits include everything from double spacing our writing and indenting our paragraphs to elaborating and using “juicy words” to spice up our writing.

Recently, students also have begun recognizing and including different types of figurative language in their written work.

Students have thus far mastered the use of alliteration and onomatopoeias and are now focusing on using similes and metaphors. The following samples of writing demonstrate the creative similes imagined by a number of students in our fourth-grade class. Enjoy!

“The water splashed from the tunnel roof like falling rain.” Hunter Halverson

“My foot felt like someone had just stuck an alligator tooth into it.” Destiny Henrickson

“My favorite teacher is as sweet as pie.” Abbie Maher

“The painting is as priceless as my mom.” Aiden Baylon

“Hannah is as light as a feather.” Annella Smith

“His head is as empty as a straw.” Ben Jones

“Billy Bob is as fast as a cheetah.” Titus Liggins

“The lost dog was as lonely as a snow sled in the summer.” Shane Tenneson

“The first day of school was as scary as a werewolf.” SaVannah Gragg

“A vacuum cleaner sounds noisy like a tornado.” Sierra Milles

“My couch feels as soft as a cloud.” Mason Eveland

“The lost dog was as confused as a chameleon in a bag of Skittles.” Krista Charters

“The painting on the wall is as crooked as a politician.” Conner Fowler

OLYMPIC PENINSULA ACADEMY

Fifth-graders in Rebecca Bullard’s class are learning about rivers.

The class looked at local food webs by dissecting local owl pellets. Through the data that was collected, the class determined that local owl diet consists mainly of rodents.

They also were able to deduce that many of the owl pellets were made in the late spring/early summer, as multiple baby bird skulls were found in the pellets.

With the start of our study unit on salmon, their life cycle, energy transfer and ecosystems, each student made up a board game about the salmon life cycle. They thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to play and review each other’s games. Students also created shadow boxes depicting different trades during America’s Colonial era and gave great attention to detail.

Some of the occupations the students chose included a milliner’s shop by Claudia Morris, a wheelwright’s workshop by Katherine Gould, a gunsmith’s shop by Diego Buhrer, a cooper’s workshop (person who makes jars, buckets barrels and other containers out of wood) by Vincent Carrizosa, a tailor’s shop by Leysha Engle, a miner’s workshop by Dean Rynearson, a miller’s mill by Myrek Skov, a silversmith’s workshop by Ethan Engeset, a cobbler’s shop by Cherith Thomas and a tanner’s tannery by Adin Underwood.

SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL

Students in Jaye Hall’s glass fusing art class have been working on cutting glass into small pieces using tile nippers and assembling the pieces into mosaics.

Some of the mosaics have been fired already and look beautiful. Some students have created mosaics using animals as their subject matter, some are doing landscapes and a few kids are making non-objective designs.

This past quarter they have completed several assignments including sun catchers made of copper between layers of glass, wind chimes and candleholders. Their next project is to design a piece to be used as garden art.

The acrylic painting class recently completed its “16 Techniques on Canvas” assignment. They learned techniques that can be used in future paintings such as alla prima, stencils, modeling paste, sgraffito and pastels. For the new project they recently began, students were given a choice of six different assignments. Each student chose what they were interested in, so there is a variety of painting styles going on in the classroom. Self-portraits, landscapes with plaster and gauze, and black and white portraits were a few of the choices.

The drawing classes have just completed a still life of a pumpkin with colored blocks of wood. They were given blocks of different sizes, shapes and colors, and then were asked to set up their own still life. They carefully observed where the positive and negative spaces were and drew their items. After their drawings were complete, they shaded them in.

Winter Ball will be from 8-11 p.m. Dec. 12 in the cafeteria. Tickets will be sold the week of Nov. 30 for $10, the week of Dec. 7 for $15 and at the door for $20. Winter Ball dance requests will be available in the office starting Nov. 23. They must be completed and returned to the main office by Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.

Band Boosters’ annual Down Home Holiday Bazaar is Nov. 27-28 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the high school campus. This event features multiple vendors with quality handmade arts and crafts, as well as several raffles. Get holiday shopping done early and benefit the high school band and color guard groups at the same time!

SHS’s Jazz Band, led by Vern Fosket, and the Select Choir, led by John Lorentzen, perform “The Lights of Christmas” at Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center in Stanwood on Saturday, Dec. 5.

The Sequim High School Marching Band and Color Guard, led by WMEA Music Hall of Fame director Vern Fosket, will march in the Macy’s Day Parade in downtown Seattle at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 27.

The holiday season is approaching and the countdown to our ninth Winter Wishes assembly has begun! On Dec. 16 the student leadership team will be making wishes come true for the entire Sequim High community. All students are given the chance to request one wish for themselves and one for a friend.

Wishes come in all sizes and range from packages of candy to plane tickets to see loved ones. With donations from local businesses and individuals, we aim to grant as many wishes as possible and touch lives this holiday season.

Careful consideration is given to students less fortunate than others, and with the help of our wonderful counseling staff, we are able to grant many items to students in need. With the spirit of giving in mind, we hope that you will consider contributing to this treasured tradition.

Any and all donations from businesses and individuals are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. All donations need to be received by Wednesday, Dec. 2. Items, gift cards or monetary donations may be dropped off at the main office at 601 N. Sequim Ave.

For more information or to arrange a donation pick-up, call 582-3600. Thank you for your support!