LWGMS news

“Dear Senator Murray and Representatives Pedersen and Chopp:

2010-02-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

Cutting funding programs benefiting children’s rights is not an option. Without housing, education, and healthcare the future of Washington State will be uneducated, unhealthy, and homeless. Is this what you really want? Your continuing support for HB 1492, addressing independent youth housing, and HB 2261, concerning education programs, will make Washington a better place for everyone.”

- Tong Yuan ’11, Lake Washington Girls Middle School

Lake Washington Girls Middle School students know the facts...

At least 50,000 people experience homelessness every year in Washington State. 
250,000 Washington households must make desperate choices between necessities like food and healthcare, and rent. 
Families with children make up 47% of Washington’s homeless population.

...and are hard at work writing letters, making signs, and preparing to meet with their legislators in Olympia on Friday, February 12. Partnering with Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness and the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, the entire LWGMS community will hop on a bus (donated to the school for the day’s event) to join hundreds of our fellow advocates for HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS ADVOCACY DAY 2010 and tell our elected officials that "everyone deserves the opportunity to live in a safe, decent, and affordable home!"  

Lake Washington Girls Middle School students are activists. Whether communicating with representatives in state government, preparing meals for and serving homeless communities and residents of local women’s shelters, or spearheading sustainability projects for their school and local community, our girls are informed, confident young women, independent thinkers, and powerful speakers who know that each of them has the ability and the right to implement change in the world. LWGMS is one of the most economically and ethnically diverse independent schools in Seattle, and as such, our curriculum encourages students to view the world from multiple perspectives, is designed to use multicultural resources, and provides diverse learning opportunities. At LWGMS, students develop a positive regard for differences and learn to be active citizens who use their voices to effect change.

This is the second time LWGMS students will travel to our state capitol to support a cause important to them. It certainly will not be the last.

LWGMS 8th Grader Wins King County's MLK Essay Contest

2010-01-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

On January 14, the Lake Washington Girls Middle School class of 2010 had the privilege of attending King County's Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Seattle. The event was special for many reasons: the group was able to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, they heard Senator John Lewis speak, and they cheered on their classmate Sofia as she accepted the trophy for winning first prize in the county's Martin Luther King, Jr. essay contest.

It was a very distinct pleasure to share a room with Senator Lewis. Often referred to as "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," Senator Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community" in the United States. He spoke of the change he has witnessed and felt in his lifetime, of his relationship with Dr. King, and he encouraged everyone in the room to "never give up" as we stand up for civil rights.

Here is an excerpt of the Senator's 20 minute speech that resonated with our girls:

"Find a Way to Get in the Way"

Sofia and the other essay winners accepting their awards:

Congratulations, Sofie!

Martin Luther King, Jr.

2010-01-18T16:22:00.000-08:00

Today, the Lake Washington Girls Middle School community pays tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., and his legacy of securing progress on civil rights in the United States. Dr. King's teachings help us recognize our abilities to improve our communities and to take action against injustice with social responsibility.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

More awards for LWGMS writers!

2010-01-04T14:21:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Sami and Delphina for receiving honororable mentions for their work with the Young Playwrights Program. See www.acttheatre.org for more information.

Congratulations to Sofia for her first place win in the King County Civil Rights Commission's Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest. See the King County essay website for information about the contest and past winners (some of whom are LWGMS alumnae!)

Festival of Lights

2009-12-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

Two fabulous L-dub performers at work...

Fall Festival Fun!

2009-11-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

LWGMS/St. Clouds Homeless Cooking Project

2009-11-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

On October 27th, 34 LWGMS students and 29 of our alumnae, parents, grandparents, and staff joined Madrona's St. Clouds restaurant owner John Platt to provide an hour of dignity and good food for those who have too little of both in their lives.

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See photos from this project:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lumhaus/sets/72157622605527189/show/

(Thanks, Dawn!)

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Read an account of the day written by Jeff Lee, parent '12.

Part I: St. Clouds

We arrived at the restaurant at 9am to the sight of two smallish 6th graders carrying bags of potatoes stacked up to their eyebrows. Inside, the place was buzzing, with several girls already wielding chef’s knives and vegetable peelers. More piles of produce and dry goods followed, balanced on skinny 6^th and 7^th grader legs. A little later, the 8^th graders straggled in bearing jars of spices and condiments, still yawning from their interrupted beauty sleep.

Soon the little dining room was packed. Every booth and table was covered with cutting boards and veggies, and the parents gave a few quick lessons in slicing and dicing, with an emphasis on avoiding fingers and fellow cooks.

John Platt, the owner and executive chef at St. Clouds, whirled around the room like a 6 foot 7 inch tornado, fielding questions and shouting orders. Michael King, his able sous-chef was a calmer presence, but no less capable. Soon a group of girls was lined up along the huge, commercial cooktop, stirring pots, working the griddle, and lowering baskets into the deep fryer. Heavenly smells began to waft through the air.

Out in the dining room, bowls the size of hula hoops began to bulge with vegetables. As compost bins filled up with peelings and trimmings, the chatter of sweet, high voices rose and fell against the low roar of the vent hoods and the sizzle of sauté pans. The onion booth overflowed with giggles and tears, and the girls at the lime table sprinkled zest and droplets of juice in the air.

Before long, raw ingredients began to morph into sumptuous and elaborate dishes. Carmelized onions mingled with butter and delicata squash, then draped themselves over steaming mounds of bow-tie pasta. Yard-long baking pans filled with orderly columns of pork chops and chicken breasts and Italian sausages. Bushels of rice swam in gallons of sweetened cream, and banana chocolate tarts as big as coffee tables slid onto oven racks to bake.

Soon the giant serving pans were filled, covered, and labeled for delivery. We made over 300 meals, destined for 4 different sites, each with a different four-course menu. Then it was time for clean-up. Our daughters wiped, scrubbed, sprayed, swept, vacuumed, dumped, stacked and stored until St. Clouds was ready for its afternoon seating. The girls didn’t complain, they didn’t resist, and they didn’t disappear. By the time we were done, most of them were exhausted. They were amazing.

Before we dispersed, we gathered out front for a group photo. John took a moment to praise the girls and all their good work, then he paused, and faltered a little with unexpected emotion.

“A lot of the people who will get these meals never eat like this,” he said. “They never sit down at a restaurant and have something beautiful and delicious that was prepared just for them. When you serve them this food tonight, think about that. Think about how much that moment of dignity might mean if it were something you never got to have.”

Part II: Hammond House

While the girls went home to clean up and take a break, a few dedicated parents took the afternoon shift to reheat the meals and transport them to the various sites. A few hours later, one group of servers headed north to Tent City. The rest of us went downtown to the Hammond House women’s shelter.

The entrance to Hammond House is quite literally a hole in the wall. It’s a rectangular opening in the brick wall of an alley with no signs, no ornamentation, and no distinguishing feature other than a locked wrought iron gate. We rang the bell and were greeted by Carol, an unhurried woman in her mid sixties with a generous smile and a slight southern accent. Carol led us down the stairs into a windowless basement room with worn linoleum floors and recessed fluorescent lighting.

We sat on the mismatched dining room chairs and listened as Carol gave us our orientation. Hammond House is an overnight shelter for women only. The residents arrive after 6pm for dinner, then stay overnight and leave in the morning. There is no limit on how long they stay, and many residents have been there for months or years. They came to Hammond House for many reasons. Some lost their jobs or were bankrupted by poor health. Some are fleeing domestic violence. Some struggle with mental illness or addiction. Surprisingly, about half of the women are over 50, though the ages of current residents span from late 20’s to early 80’s.

Next, Carol gave us a tour. The residents sleep in a large, open dormitory. They have a bed and a nightstand, and a couple feet of floor space. There are approximately 40 regular beds, but sometimes a couple of cots are added when the weather turns cold. And even in good weather, the demand for beds always exceeds the supply.

The women have tried to brighten up their personal space as much as possible. A little touch like a colorful quilt or a stuffed animal graces most beds. There are no screens and no semblance of privacy. Many residents pile their belongings in the middle of their beds and throw a blanket over them to hide them from prying eyes.

At six o’clock, the residents began to file in. Many seemed surprised and a bit taken aback to see so many unfamiliar faces. The girls washed their hands and slipped on oversized rubber gloves. They stood behind the counter over the steaming food, with serving spoons in hand and friendly smiles on their faces.

The meal was a big hit. Everyone loved the spicy potato salad and the pasta with sausage and squash. But by far the biggest hit was the banana chocolate cream tart.

“We love our dessert,” said E, an elderly woman with bright purple hair. “I get my hair colored once a year,” she said. “You know, just to shake things up.”

After the meals were served, the parents cleaned up so the girls could sit down and have some dinner with the residents. At one table, a tall, middle-aged woman named M held court surrounded by several girls. She had a deep voice and bleached blond hair, and a spiked dog-collar on her neck that intrigued the girls almost as much as what she was saying.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” she explained. “I got into transitional housing down at the YWCA. It’s nothing fancy—just a room. But it’s safe. And private. They let me come and eat here because I lived here before I got into the Y. I’m an alumnae.” She went on to talk about her struggles with bipolar disease, and how that had altered the course of her life.

At another table, some of the girls sat with K and her friend J. Both women were in their 60’s, neatly dressed, and very articulate. Either one looked like they could have been the grandmother of one of our daughters. K is a lifelong vegetarian, so she couldn’t eat the sausage, but she made up for it by having seconds on dessert.

K used to work in a research lab at UW. When budget cuts hit last year, she lost her job, and couldn’t afford the rent. She’s been at Hammond House for several months. Every day, she goes out and tries to find work, but with the economy as tough as it is, she’s not having any luck. When she’s not job-searching, she fills her time by going up to UW and sitting in on lectures. Her parents were both in healthcare, and she listens to NPR, so she’s been following the current healthcare debate closely. That’s what we talked about, mostly. Healthcare, and politics, and the economy. It’s a conversation I might have had in any coffee shop in Seattle.

It began to get late, and the girls were pretty tired, so we packed up our serving pans and got ready to go. J and K encouraged us to come back.

“You don’t even have to bring food,” said J. “But we won’t complain if you do.”

M had a hard time saying goodbye. It was clear she relished having such an attentive audience.

“It’s really a treat for me,” she said. “A lot of the people I run into every day aren’t . . . well, they aren’t very nice people. You should all come back soon. It’s really been a pleasure.”

Strong Voices for Humanity

2009-10-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

A note from Patti --

Today I had the great pleasure of attending the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center’s Voices for Humanity luncheon, where Tong Yuan (’11) and our humanities and art teacher, Lindsey Mutschler, were two of the esteemed speakers. They were both inspiring – truly highlights of the day! And they were in good company -- Randy Dorn, Enrique Cerna (KCTS), and author James Waller also spoke at the event.

The artwork of Hailey Jenkins (’09) was featured on the invitations and placecards, letters from Leila (’11) and Emelia (’11) were featured in the printed program, and cards featuring the artwork and artist statements of Elena (’10), Finn (’11), Emma (’11), Hana (’10), Andrea (’11), and Jillian (’10) were for sale at the event.
I am so pleased that LWGMS students and teachers so genuinely lent their voices and vision to this worthy cause. I was especially proud to hear Tong Yuan speak today about the way that learning about the Holocaust has affected her, and to hear Lindsey speak about how teaching about the Holocaust fits her personal teaching philosophy as well as LWGMS’s mission of educating girls to work for social justice.

LWGMS first invited a Holocaust survivor to speak at our school in 2001. These speakers, such as Hester Kool who was honored at today’s luncheon, have shared their stories with our students, lending relevance and impact to their learning as only a personal connection can. The goal of the Holocaust Education Resource Center is to provide resources for teaching about the Holocaust in order to give a voice to those who can not speak. It is no wonder, then, that our students and their role model teachers – all of whom are strong in mind, body, and voice - were welcomed today as part of this important program.

"She-Bot" Update...sort of...

2009-09-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

This Saturday a group of Lake Washington Girls Middle School students, parents, and faculty made its way down to Seattle Central Library expecting to learn something of the whereabouts of the now-famed "She-Bot" who left her quiet, comfy existence in Kirsten Rooks' science classroom and headed straight for the trash. Well, not really. Before she was fit for the bin, she spent some time with the researchers from MIT's SENSEable City Laboratory who fit her with a small, smart, location aware tag: "a first step towards the deployment of "smart-dust" – networks of tiny locatable and addressable microeletromechanical systems." Wait. What?

We thought we went to the library to learn about trash, but Carlo Ratti, director of SENSEable City Laboratory, and his team first introduced the audience of more than 50 of Seattle's finest environmentalists to the absolutely inspired, innovative, and incredible work they've been doing in Boston (and all over the world) for more than three years. The lab's mission, to look at how we can embed technologies in cities, and at how embedded technologies in cities can help us understand them and one day change them, was revealed to us through short presentations (with fantastic graphic renderings) of a few of their many projects. "Computers," said associate director Assaf Biderman, "are making their way out of their home, out of the office, and into the streets. They are increasingly present in our pockets, street lights, traffic lights, urban furniture, and infrastructure. There’s a blanket of increasingly dense interconnected computers covering cities. This allows us to extract and put back information at specific locations. So we thought, why not apply the thinking that’s behind human computer interaction to cities?"

Ratti and Biderman told us about EyeStop, a touch-screen bus shelter that monitors environmental conditions (weather, air quality) and real-time bus movement, and also provides information and communication tools that can interact with your cell phone (sending tweets if your usual bus is running late, for example), scheduled for installation in Florence, Italy, next month. The EyeStop, which has touch sensitive "e-Ink" screens as well as LEDs, features a bus map plotting locations in real-time, email and Web access, tools for planning a best route and getting directions, a community bulletin board, and, of course, a place for silent video advertisements. Intended for tourists as well as locals, the EyeStop tools are accessible in several languages.

Another project, the Copenhagen Wheel, aimed to transform bicycle use in Denmark’s largest city where there are more bicycles than people, through promoting urban sustainability and building new connections between the city’s cyclists. They made the bikes "smart mobile sensing devices that map[ped] the real-time flow of people and environmental conditions in Copenhagen." This was achieved through strategically placing small location and environmental sensors on bicycles to gather information as people rode through the city. The data from the cyclists was used to understand more about city dynamics, and eventually power applications of benefit to citizens, city municipalities and researchers interested in bettering them, making their city more efficient and user- or biker-friendly.

It is hard to convey how exciting it was to learn about these projects, mostly because my mind was - and still is - about to burst, but by the time Ratti and Biderman got around to talking to us about Trash, we were all hooked, and actually more prepared to understand the mechanics of the Trash Tracking program. 3000 pieces of Seattle trash were tagged, taken back to their "homes," and disposed of or recycled as they would normally have been. Once picked up by Waste Management, one of the sponsors of the project, the tags somehow sensed movement, triggering a search for nearby cellphone towers. The tag then sent an SMS (i.e. text message) containing this information to MIT, where software compared it with standard maps of cell phone signal strength to determine the position of the tag. The tags calculate the ongoing location of each piece of rubbish and report back to a central server, where the data is analyzed and viewed in real time. And back to the "smart dust": yes, someday these tags will be as small as particles…and attached to, well, whatever!

Seattle's Waste Management is very interested in the results of the Trash Track project, hoping that finding out more about how trash goes through the systems will help them improve their logistics, from trash transportation to recycling to disposal systems. But Waste Management isn't the only thing the experiment hopes to improve - the researchers want to get at the root of the problem: how we treat consumables in the first place.

"Trash Track has the potential to encourage people to make more sustainable decisions about what and how much they consume, and how it affects the world around them," said Biderman. "The project represents a type of change that is taking place in cities: a bottom-up approach to managing resources, promoting more informed decision-making in the public through the use of pervasive technologies and information."

Naomi True '10, head of the LWGMS Green Team, attended the presentation and is as dedicated as ever to help our community consider and improve the way we handle and treat trash and recyclables. Already this year she's addressed the student body about waste free lunches – informing her peers which typical lunchbox items are reusable, recyclable, and which are not – and is creating a series of green goals for the year. Naomi is one of many LWGMS students who strive to be contentious consumers and stewards of the environment, excited to be part of the MIT Trash Track project.

We did not find out where our "She-Bot" is, but the MIT team will continue to track data through October 11, presented online and at the Central Library, and we have no donut she'll make her presence known…she's an L-Dub girl after all!

-Shannon Blaisdell

What’s a retired girl robot to do?

2009-09-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Why, track trash, of course! Come hear what she has to tell us about where our garbage really goes this Saturday at Central Library.

Little did Kirsten Rooks’s science students at Lake Washington Girls Middle School know when they built a solar robot last year that she would find meaningful retirement work as, well…trash.

Last week as part of an MIT study, the school’s “she-bot” was one of some 3,000 other pieces of garbage fitted with electronic smart-tags and ceremonially tossed into ordinary garbage cans.

Using the cell-phone technology in her tag, LWGMS’s “she-bot” has been faithfully reporting her whereabouts back to MIT computers, allowing researchers to monitor the journey from garbage can to landfill in real time.

This Saturday, September 19, you are invited to Central Library (1000 4th Ave) from 11am-12:30pm to hear all about her amazing journey.

Why should we care where our garbage goes? Because there’s a lot of it—almost 400,000 tons of waste, yearly, from Seattle alone—and because we don’t know nearly as much about the “removal chain” as we do the “supply chain.” Gaining more information about the waste stream will not only help us build more sustainable infrastructures, it could foster real behavioral change. If you know exactly how long a drive that Starbucks cup has to take in order to become landfill…you may just think twice before tossing.

That’s what the folks from MIT’s “Trash Track Team” believe, anyway. And that’s why they’re tracking trash in two cities— New York and Seattle—this fall.
As for the Lake Washington Girls Middle School “she-bot”…well, until Saturday she remains persistently unavailable for public comment. A source close to her, however—Lake Washington Girls Middle School Head of School Patricia Hearn—notes that the “she-bot’s” Trash Track is just one part of a much larger environmental campaign the young female environmentalists at Lake Washington Girls Middle School are taking on this year.

“Lake Washington Girls Middle School is proud to participate as one of just a handful of ‘Washington Green Schools’—schools that work intentionally to eliminate waste and to undergo voluntary waste audits in order to educate more sustainably,” says Hearn. “Our involvement with Trash Track is one part of this new campaign, and we couldn’t be more excited to hear what our ‘she-bot’ has to teach us!”

Please join us Saturday to find out!

Update! Read the New York Times article about the trash tracking project.

Student Art Show 2009

2009-08-19T00:10:00.001-07:00

Summer Backpacking Trip 2009

2009-08-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from our backpacking adventure to Rialto Beach in the Olympic Peninsula. I was so busy having fun that I didn't take pictures every day, but these should capture a good slice of the trip. Jenny and I had a fabulous time, and look forward to our trip next summer! If your daughter has more photos to add to the blog, please have her email them to mutschler@lwgms.org. Enjoy! ~Lindsey

More photos from "You Can't Take It With You"

2009-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

"You Can't Take It With You" opens tonight!

2009-05-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

The LWGMS 8th grade's play You Can't Take It With You opens tonight at Theatre Off Jackson. Suggested donation is $8.00. Performances: Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30 7:00pm 409 7th Avenue S., Seattle.

2009 Jacob Friedman Writing & Art Contest

2009-05-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the LWGMS students who were recognized for their excellent writing and art in the 2009 Jacob Friedman Writing and Art Contest sponsored by the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center. Congratulations to teachers Lindsey and Jenny for guiding the students through the process.

Eight hundred 5th-12th grade students from 68 Washington schools entered the contest. Students from our small school of 54 girls won ten of the 23 awards:

WRITING I (5th & 6th Grade):

Andrea (First Place), Tong Yuan (Second Place)

WRITING II (7th & 8th Grade):

Ilana (Second Place)

ART I (5th & 6th Grade):

Finn (First Place), Emma (Second Place), Andrea (Third Place)

ART II (7th & 8th Grade):

Hailey (First Place), Elena (Second Place), Hana (Third Place), Jillian (Honorable Mention)

We Love Spirit Week!

2009-02-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spirit Week 2009

On Kooky Day, students and staff had fun with their most interesting outfits. On Food Day, costumes included grapes, bananas, berries, ice cream sundaes, peanut butter, and hamburgers. On Fairy Tale Day, there were witches, princesses, kings and queens, some pigs, and three Pinocchios. On Switch Day, there were LOTS of girls dressed as Patti, which this year meant they wore a big "pregnant" belly. We also had at least one of every other faculty/staff member, and a few girls dressed as Daisy the dog. Finally, on School Colors Day, everyone sported their Scarlet and Silver with pride!

LWGMS Turns Ten and Celebrates in Style!

2009-01-31T13:08:00.000-08:00

Lake Washington Girls Middle School celebrated its ten year anniversary with a great party! All current LWGMS students performed. Speakers included Lauren Luke, LWGMS's first alumna to graduate from college, Janet Brodsky one of the founding parents, and Sandi Cioffi, our keynote speaker.

Inauguration Day -- January 20, 2009

2009-01-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

LWGMS held a school-wide Inauguration viewing party. In preparation for this historic event, students researched the process of presidential inaugurations, assigned "colors" for a Red, White and Blue Potluck (see photos below), and read articles on the significance of this inauguration.

Red, White & Blue Potluck

2009-01-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

LWGMS students kicked off Inauguration Day in style, with a VERY colorful potluck!

LWGMS Students March for Peace and Justice

2009-01-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

On Friday, January 16, Lake Washington Girls Middle School joined Giddens School and other Central District schools in a March for Peace and Justice in honor of Martin Luther King Day. This march was organized by Giddens third and fourth graders - impressive!

The march was featured in the Seattle P-I. See photos from the march (#5, 8, 13, and 14 feature LWGMS) and photos below.

L-Dub student recognized at MLK Celebration

2009-01-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

LWGMS 8th grader, Jaida, won first place in the King County Civil Rights Commission’s MLK essay contest. Jaida was recognized at the 22nd Annual King County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Thursday, January 15, at the Paramount Theater.

Jaida with the LWGMS 8th grade class, teacher Jenny Zavatsky, teacher Lindsey Mutschler, Head of School Patti Hearn, members of Jaida's family and Councilmember Larry Gossett.

This was the third time that LWGMS students took top honors in this contest. To see the four past winners from LWGMS, visit the 2008 celebration page and the 2006 celebration page.

To learn more, to read the winning essays, or to see photos from the 2009 event, visit the King County website. The event will be broadcast on King County Television Channel 22 for those who were unable to attend. King County TV will broadcast the show on the following dates:

* January 16 at 7p.m.,
* January 17 at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and
* January 18 at 9:30 p.m.

Arsenic and Old Lace a huge success!

2009-01-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

On January 8 and 9, LWGMS sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students performed Arsenic and Old Lace in the LWGMS Auditorium. The show was a fantastic success due to the hard work of the cast, the crew (including 8th grade stage manager Thea) and the directors, Nora Utevsky and Rebecca Mostow.

Alumnae Family Dinner and Festival of Lights

2008-12-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

LWGMS hosted the second annual Alumnae Family Dinner on December 11, followed by the 11th annual Poetry Night, called the Festival of Lights. Both were huge successes!

Jena and Tessa - Class of 2008

Pliny, Ella, Jena, Shannon, and Safiya - Class of 2008

Anna, Fiona, and Hannah - Class of 2007

Founding Board Member, Donna Mackenzie

Sixth graders visit water treatment plant

2008-11-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, November 6, the sixth grade class visited a local water treatment plant as part of their study of Puget Sound.

LWGMS Girls Use Their Voices to Get Out the Vote

2008-11-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

LWGMS students rallied today on the corners of 12th and Union and 23rd and Cherry to encourage local community members to vote.
The energy in the air was palpable. Cheers, chants, beeping, waving, and calls of support came from passers by. KING5 news stopped by and interviewed a few students, and that news story aired today at noon.

See the clip from King5 news:

Hear and see the girls chant their support for democracy in action in this video clip:

More photos...
"Vote and make your voice heard," say the sisters in their adorable "vote" hats.

Vote like a girl!

Vote because I can't!

The King5 cameraman and reporter film students for the news.

An Explosive Chemistry Class

2008-10-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

On October 20, L-dub had its second guest teacher from the Science and Math Institute (SAMI) at BCC, part of our partnership with the college. The professor, Jenny, talked with the girls about what they knew about chemistry. Then, this:

(Click the "play" arrow above to watch the video.)

Fuerza Volleyball

2008-10-13T19:59:00.001-07:00

Pre-game warm ups & rules of the match are part of the team work!

Go for it!
L-Dub girls are all smiles!

6th Grade Goes to Eastern Washington !

2008-10-12T13:14:00.001-07:00

8th grade geology trip, fall 2008

2008-10-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Class of 2009 set up their camp at Wanapum State Park on Wednesday, October 1. They then visited the Gingko Petrified Forest before heading to Frenchmen's Coulee to see basalt columns and view the Columbia River. The next day, they headed to Dry Falls, Coulee City and then to Lake Lenore Caves State Park for a hike to the caves. They stopped at the Wild Horse statues on the way to Diatomite mine. On the last day, they met up with the sixth grade class, who were on their own three-day field trip, for lunch and some games.

More Ashland Photos 2008

2008-10-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Arrival at Cox Hall

It's nearly Halloween!

Isn't she lovely...? Isn't she wonderful...?

A picnic break during the long drive

7th grade goes to Ashland!

2008-10-06T10:48:00.001-07:00

The Class of 2010 visited the Oregon Shakespeare Festival during the week of September 29. They saw five plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Comedy of Errors, The Clay Cart, A View from the Bridge, and Othello. They also took a backstage tour of all the OSF theaters and participated in several classes and prologues, including a stage combat workshop and a performance class. The girls stayed in dorms at Southern Oregon University and enjoyed campus life and the town of Ashland.

Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess visits LWGMS and lives to blog about it

2008-09-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

His 9.17.08 blog, City View, had this to say:

Hope: Morning, Noon and Night

I had a great day today!

The day started at Lake Washington Girls Middle School near 18th and East Cherry Street where I had a discussion with a class of 8th graders about public corruption, ethics in government, character, and American campaign tactics. Wow! Those girls were impressive. Their questions were focused and cut right to the heart of the issues. They invited me as an elected officials after reading Robert Penn Warren's All The King's Men, a novel loosely based on Gov. Huey Long of Louisiana.

The girls were from across Seattle. Engaging with them was a measure of hope—they were bright, very aware of contemporary issues and problems, and well read. The last question of our hour together was right off the front page of the morning newspaper: "What do you think of the government taking over AIG?" I admitted I didn't know enough to answer.

Read the entire blog entry here:
http://timothyburgess.typepad.com/tim_burgess_city_view_/2008/09/hope-morning-no.html

LWGMS Partnership with Science and Math Institute

2008-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

As the introduction to our year-long partnership, Dr. Karla Fuller, Program Manager for the Science and Math Institute at Bellevue Community College, spoke to the whole school about the importance of science and math in all our lives. She has spearheaded a program called Science to Go through which science, math, and technology professors from BCC will visit school to talk about their fields and conduct a class or experiment with the students. The purpose of the program is to inform and excite girls about the many professions that involve science and math. The hope is that girls will pursue these fields in high school, college, and beyond and explore science, math, and technology-related professions. LWGMS is honored to be the pilot school for this program. The students will benefit from one to two visits each month from different professors who will conduct a class related to the curriculum.

Dr. Fuller shared her educational and professional experiences that led to Ph.D. and job as a Cancer Biologist. She then led the girls through an exercise in the scientific method.
* The students came up with the problem"How can scientists come up with a cure for the common cold?"
* They brainstormed ideas and observations.
* They formed hypotheses.
* They discussed how scientists would conduct experiments to work toward developing a preventative or cure for the cold.
* They revised their hypothesis and experiment.
* They did verbal research and collected data.
* They analyzed their data.
* They drew conclusions. In the end, they decided that the common cold was a necessary evil to foster strong immune systems.

We look forward to a visit from BCC chemistry and math professors on October 13th.

LWGMS featured in the P-I!

2008-06-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

View the full article and the online slideshow at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

June 17, 2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article by Cecilia Goodnow

Article below:

Meryl Schenker / P-I

On June 11, the last day of school for the sixth and seventh-graders, they were asked to dance down the hallway in their own personal style as a way to symbolize passing from one grade to the next. Sixth-grade student Erin Proctor makes her passage into seventh grade.

All-girl middle school nurtures sisterhood when it really counts

Middle school is often a walk in the wilderness -- a time of shifting allegiances, unsettling body changes, intellectual leaps and uncertain self-image. Who am I? Who will I become?

Having scaled the summit of eighth grade, Pliny Stevens can look back and see the distance she has traveled since her first, jittery days at Lake Washington Girls Middle School.

As a raw, sixth-grade recruit, she worried that the academics would be too hard, that she'd have only one friend, that other girls would scrutinize her every move, that they'd form a secret "we hate Pliny" group.

"I didn't have much confidence in who I was," she said, "or who I wanted to be."

But sisterhood can be powerful. Instead of cliques and mean girls, Pliny found a nurturing community of spirited girls who had one another's back.

"As time went on," Pliny said in a graduation-night speech last week, "I found out that the people in our class would always accept me for being me."

Keeping girls strong and self-confident -- that was the dream 10 years ago when six families created Lake Washington Girls Middle School, the state's first secular, all-girl middle school.

This year the school grew to 52 students, including a graduating class of 16 eighth-graders -- all of whom were invited to speak at commencement and reflect on their experiences.

"The middle school years can be difficult, especially for girls," said Patricia Hearn, head of school.

"So often, girls who had been outgoing and confident begin to raise their hands less often, they don't run for the ball in gym class or they show some other signs of losing confidence. That is why this school exists: to make sure that doesn't happen to our girls."

Other schools, including Seattle Girls' School and Bellevue's Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, are trying to address these issues as well.

But it happened to be Lake Washington Girls Middle School that Seattle P-I photographer Meryl Schenker visited last fall for an assignment. She sensed something special.

Intrigued by the positive vibe and the exuberance of the students, Schenker returned throughout the school year to chronicle their heartfelt journey from feisty little girls to focused young women.

"I was just totally wowed by this place," Schenker said. "It is so different than any school I have visited in my 12 years at the P-I and so different than my school experience."

Schenker's photos convey a tiny slice of what she encountered over the months.

"People always say that middle school doesn't matter and you won't even remember the friends that you had," eighth-grader Tessa Tweet said, "but I think our school is different. At our school, you don't make middle school friends -- you make friends for life."

-- Cecelia Goodnow

8th grade play

2008-06-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

The Eighth Grade Play was performed at Theater Off Jackson on May 29 and 30, 2008.

The Adventuress

2008-04-09T16:47:00.001-07:00

View photos of the
7th grade Rites of Passage trip
aboard The Adventuress!

Thanks to Julie C. for the photos!
Buoy
Originally uploaded by jcolando

More Man of La Mancha Photos

2008-03-07T16:13:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Jacqui James for the photos!

Man of La Mancha

2008-03-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

Spirit Week at LWGMS

2008-02-28T15:42:00.001-08:00

Cowgirl & Southern Belle Day

Prom Day

Fuerza basketball wins on Valentines Day!

2008-02-15T09:22:00.001-08:00

It was a tight game...

Life in math class

2008-02-06T16:36:00.001-08:00

LWGMS students travel to Olympia

2008-02-06T14:44:00.001-08:00

On January 31, Lake Washington Girls Middle School students traveled to Olympia to participate in Have a Heart for Kids Day.

See more photos from Have a Heart for Kids Day!

LWGMS 8th graders win King County MLK essay contest

2008-01-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Eighth graders Patricia and Audre won second and third place in the King County Civil Rights Commission's Martin Luther King Day essay contest.

See the King County page about the event (and more photos!)

Read the Seattle Post-Intelligencer article where they are quoted.

Alumnae Night

2007-12-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

Members of the Classes of 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, along with their families, attended an alumnae gathering on December 6, 2007.