On Thursday (Aug. 5th), the Exchange Club of Highline put together 66 “Goodie Boxes” to send to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Club spent $3,000, and along with generous assistance from Evergreen Food Services, purchased items that troops have said they love to get – baby wipes, chapstick, peanuts, cookies, gum, trail mix, and beef jerky.

With help from Vicky Mohler of Support America’s Armed Forces, the Club had three different groups who received the Goodie Boxes. Members volunteered their time to assemble the boxes and get them to the post office for shipment.

Photos below show the boxes after being assembled by Club members:

According to their website:

Established in 1961, Exchange Club of Highline was formed with the goal of bringing business and community leaders together to support Youth, Americanism, Community Service, and the prevention of Child Abuse. By holding an annual fundraiser, the money generated is used to meet the ongoing needs of existing community organizations, and members volunteer their time to other community projects. As needs are brought to the club’s attention, members decide on the course of action allowing flexibility and responsiveness to the ever-changing needs of our Highline community.

Story by Janet Grella with photos by Michael Brunk

Over 300 supporters of the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence gathered at the DoubleTree Guest Suites in Southcenter on Friday, May 21st to celebrate the Tenth Annual Gold Star Awards for the Highline School District.

The highly supportive audience was also told that the foundation has raised over $1 million in its 10-year history. These donations have funded many opportunities for teachers and students that they may not have had otherwise.

Honored Gold Star recipients were:

Outstanding Administrator – Rick Harwood, Principal at Global Connections High School. Mr. Harwood was honored as he “embodies all the traits of a knowledgeable, dedicated, caring and hard-working principal. All his actions and energies are centered around creating kind, intelligent, thoughtful and action-oriented young adults.”

Outstanding Classified Employee – Jacqueline Faundez, Cedarhurst Elementary. The Gold Star committee found Ms. Faundez “an especially effective advocate for our students most in need, regardless of home language or background. As an ELL tutor, Jacqueline is a professional in every sense – good at what she does and continually striving to improve.”

Outstanding Teacher – Carlyn Roedell, Bow Lake Elementary. Ms Roedell was chosen as she is “the paragon of an effective teacher. She loves to learn and she loves to teach. Her students are inspired by her enthusiasm, joy, and hard work. The test results back up her success.”

Outstanding Volunteers – Klara & Braxton Dunn, Gregory Heights Elementary were selected due to “their dedication, belief in children, and high standards, which led them to introduce themselves and ask to help out ten years ago. They have a passion for inspiring youngsters.”

The last award in this annual fund raising event was for Lifetime Achievement and was awarded to Reba Gilman, CEO/Principal of Aviation High School. Ms. Gilman spent 16 years at Seatac’s Occupational Skills Center prior to becoming the first Principal of Highline’s Aviation High School. The award was presented by Tom Russell, Emeritus Trustee for the Foundation.

Musical entertainment included harpist Clara McMichael from Pacific Middle School and Mt. Rainier High School’s “Music Company” directed by Sara Stricherz. The guests enjoyed a wide variety of song and dance from this award winning choir during lunch.

The Master of Ceremonies was Peter Fewing. Besides being a proud Pirate and Highline High School graduate. Mr. Fewing is known around the Northwest for Peter Fewing Soccer Camps and his broadcast on 710 ESPN radio, talking about what else, but Soccer. He is also coach of the Kitsap Pumas.

Boeing was the Executive Event Sponsor. Event Sponsors included Rogers and Norman, Saint-Gobain Containers and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

Photographer Michael Brunk assembled this slideshow with additional scenes from the awards luncheon.

Click to Play Michael Brunk’s Photo Slideshow

The Hospitality Services and Women’s Programs at Highline Community College are sponsoring a “Clothing Closet” for graduating students. The event will be held in the student union on May 28th and will go all day or until the clothing is gone.

Project coordinator Donna Longwell says, “I saw a need for some of my students to acquire clothing for a job interview. Because I ran a clothing closet of such in Bremerton, it was easy to put on a one day event for our students. We have a huge need on this campus and all are very generous. We collect the clothing for a few weeks and then display them like a small store. Folks come in and shop and go out with one or two nice outfits, shoes, jewelry etc and feel better about themselves. This helps them have more confidence as they look for work.”

This is a great opportunity to do a little spring cleaning and free up room in your closet! The college is collecting clothing appropriate for professional wear for both men and women.

If you have clothing to donate or would like more information, please contact Donna Longwell at 206-870-3777 or dlongwell@highline.edu.

The Rotary Club of Burien/White Center is pleased to announce that this year’s major fundraiser will be a “Rockin Valentine’s Dinner and Dance” on Saturday, Feb. 13th at South Seattle Community College.

“Our community has not had a Valentines event in some time,” said Rotary Club spokesperson Tami Greene. “And our Rotary Club thought it would be a nice change of pace. So if you are looking for a new and fun way to celebrate this Valentine’s Day, please attend our dinner, dance, and auction. This event is not just for couples, single people will have just as much fun!”

The major Sponsors are Cox Financial and New Frontier Marketing.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Burien/White Center Rotary’s Rockin Valentine’s Dinner and Dance

WHERE: South Seattle Community College

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 13th from 6pm – 11:30pm

INFO: This event will feature:

• Fundraising
• Live Auction
• Raffle Prizes
• Music by Uncle Ernie, playing great Rock n’ Roll music (great dancing and listening music)
• Corsages, boutonnieres, and chocolates will be available for sale.

TICKETS: $75 per person, available from any member of the Rotary Club of Burien White Center Club or online at Brown Paper Tickets here.

Local band Uncle Ernie are well known to the Highline and surrounding area and include Highline High School’s class of ’78, Tim Clark and newly elected Des Moines Councilmember, Matt Pina, Mt. Rainier class of ’78.

Other participating sponsors to date include:

• Tami Greene with Sound Mortgage
• Burien Toyota
• Burien Chevrolet
• The B-Town Blog
• Bonney Watson
• Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub and Restaurant
• Collins Chiropractic

The club is still seeking Live Auction items and Raffle Prizes, so if you wish to donate a live auction or raffle prize (it’s a great way to market!), contact Bob Wray at 253-670-0466 or via email at bob@newfrontiermarketing.com, or download a PDF of the Sponsorship Package here.

Here’s more info:

Burien’s Highline Medical Center has been chosen as one of the “Top 10 Healing Hospitals” for 2008 by Baptist Healing Trust, a Christian foundation based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Highline was singled out as lucky number seven in the list. This year’s six-member selection panel reviewed hospitals coast-to-coast before making their decisions about the winners. Panel members consisted of Presidents & CEOs from hospitals and health systems across the nation.

The “Healing Hospital” recognition was created to honor hospitals and leaders that have made a special commitment to creating cultures that demonstrate compassion and quality. Each hospital honored in the list has “demonstrated extraordinary commitment to patient and employee-centered care,” according to the release.

They are also noted for embarking upon a journey of establishing a Healing Hospital environment.

In addition to Highline, this year’s recipients include:

• Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, Texas
• Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut
• The 2006 Baldrige Award-recipient Sharp Healthcare in San Diego, California

“This is wonderful recognition and a real tribute to our staff and medical staff for all they do to support the Planetree philosophy of patient-centered care at Highline Medical Center. We are honored to receive this distinction alongside such well-respected hospitals from across the nation,” stated Mark Benedum, CEO of Highline Medical Center. “This recognition supports our mission of providing high quality, compassionate health care in a healing environment to our patients and the community.”

More information on Highline Medical Center available here.

And the nominees are..

Nancy Paré, Executive Director of Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence has announced the nominees for the 2009 Highline Gold Star Awards.

Over 40 educators, volunteers and classified personnel were nominated by fellow educators, parents, citizens and students in the following classifications:

• Outstanding Administrator/Principal
• Outstanding Teacher
• Outstanding Volunteer
• Outstanding Classified Employee

If you want to see if you, a friend, a neighbor, a relative or your favorite principal/teacher were nominated, just click here.

The winners will be selected by a volunteer committee that has been selected to review the Gold Star nominations and make recommendations as to who will be the winners in each category. The committee consists of a Highline School District representative, a Foundation Board representative, a Retired Teachers Association representative, and a PTSA representative. The committee is staffed by the Foundation Executive Director. The committee will be reviewing the submitted nominations materials and meeting early next week for decision making.

Stay tuned to the WLB as we will be announcing the winners next week.

The winners will be honored at the Gold Star Benefit Luncheon at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Tukwila, coming up on May 29th. The Master of Ceremonies will be local funnyman John Keister, former Host of KING TV’s “Almost Live!“, local celebrity bald guy and former co-worker of the publisher of this here blog (EDITOR’S NOTE: whatever you do, don’t say this to John in an overly-enthusiastic voice: “Successful succession of successful success!“).

For more information on how you can attend this luncheon, please contact the foundation at 206-248-5196.

The Highline Schools Foundation Gold Star Benefit luncheon is sponsored by Boeing, BECU and Rogers and Norman.

Highline Schools Foundation mission is to “provide community resources to help Highline Public Schools Succeed. By enriching the classroom and school experience, we can engage students to reach a higher level.” Since 2001 the foundation has distributed over $250,000 to the 32 schools in the Highline District. Donors include corporate, foundations and private citizens.

Burien Arts is holding its first annual Highline Vintage Jazz Festival on Saturday, May 2nd at the Highline Performing Arts Center, located at 401 South 152nd Street in Burien (map below).

The all-day music fest will feature two unique three-hour performances, the first from 2pm-5pm and the second from 7pm-10pm, with some of the region’s most well-known jazz musicians playing Dixieland, swing, solo stride piano, gypsy jazz and more!

Tickets to the event cost $20 per show or $35 for a full day pass, and are available through Brown Paper Tickets (<–click to order safely online).

Matinee performance musicians will include:

• The Canote Brothers as MCs
• Bulldog Brass Band (Garfield High School New Orleans style band)
• Pearl Django (Gypsy Jazz)
• The Jangles (Western Swing)
• Dina Blade (“A Tribute to Dorothy Fields”)

Evening performances boasts a seperate line-up of impressive jazz musicians including:

• Holotradband (Dixieland)


Hot Club Sandwich

• Paul Asaro (Solo stride piano)
• Hot Club Sandwich (Gypsy Jazz)
• Casey MacGill & Blue 4 Trio (Jump Swing & vocals)

The Festival will also feature:

• Outdoor musical entertainment
• Dancers
• Great food
• Raffle prizes
• Free transportation to and from local restaurants and bars (which will likely be having specials for festival-goers)
• And more!

The Highline Vintage Jazz Festival is the brainchild of Burien Arts’ board member and fixture in the local music scene, Lance Haslund. Lance is a part-time musician and lifetime lover of all music, particularly jazz. He has been promoter of small concerts in the Burien area for several years and says:

“The Highline Vintage Jazz Festival will fill a void in the local festival scene. To my knowledge, until now the Puget Sound area has not provided a showcase for multiple styles of early jazz in one event. As Burien emerges as one of the new vital places for the arts in the region, we pay tribute to the people who moved here and grew the community during the Big Band era, and offer a faithful rendering of the music of their youth.”

Burien Arts is a local non-profit dedicated to enriching the community by providing engaging and innovative arts programming to the Highline region and beyond. Vitally active since 1965, Burien Arts maintains a crucial role in the artistic fabric of the community. In addition to hosting the Highline Vintage Jazz Festival, Burien Arts also: runs a vibrant art gallery, manages the South King County High School Arts Program and Education Annex, supports a summer performing arts series, and partners with other arts groups, civic organizations and the City of Burien to bring exciting art installations and community festivals to the region.

Tickets to the event are available online through Brown Paper Tickets or by calling: 1-800-838-3006.

Walk-up sales can be made at Allusia in downtown Burien, located at 921 S.W. 152nd Street in Olde Burien.

For more information, please check www.burienarts.org, call 206-244-7808 or email info@burienarts.org.

To give you a taste of what kind of music you can expect, here are some video clips of artists scheduled to appear:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyT4n3d-ddI[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8xPRDVYB1w[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r7TWtPixg0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erZMD0qj7hk[/youtube]

View Larger Map

The Waterland Blog is proud to announce that we have become the first Community Website Sponsor for Highline School’s Foundation for Excellence Gold Star Awards.

These awards have been presented annually since the inception of Highline Schools Foundation in 2001. Award recipients are selected from the following categories:

• Outstanding Administrator/Principal
• Outstanding Teacher
• Outstanding Volunteer
• Outstanding Classified Employee

To download a ballot, please click here for a PDF file which you can then print, fill out and either mail or fax in.

All ballots must be postmarked by April 7th, and sent or faxed to:

Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence
245 SW 152nd Suite D
Burien, WA 98166
Fax: 206-838-6041

The winners will be honored at the Gold Star Benefit Luncheon at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Tukwila, coming up on May 29th. The Master of Ceremonies will be local funnyman John Keister, former Host of KING TV’s “Almost Live!“, local celebrity bald guy and former co-worker of the publisher of this here blog (EDITOR’S NOTE: whatever you do, don’t say this to John in an overly-enthusiastic voice: “Successful succession of successful success!“).

For more information on how you can attend this luncheon, please contact the foundation at 206-248-5196.

The Highline Schools Foundation Gold Star Benefit luncheon is sponsored by Boeing, BECU and Rogers and Norman.

Highline Schools Foundation mission is to “provide community resources to help Highline Public Schools Succeed. By enriching the classroom and school experience, we can engage students to reach a higher level.” Since 2001 the foundation has distributed over $250,000 to the 32 schools in the Highline District. Donors include corporate, foundations and private citizens.

For more information or to see how you might participate go to www.highlineschoolsfoundation.org.

Highline Community College men’s basketball team (15-1, 20-7) clinched the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Western Division crown on Saturday in a win against Pierce College, 81-78.

“We got the win under tough circumstances,” said Head Coach Ché Dawson. “I’m really proud of the kids for remaining focused, night and day, on winning the division title.”

In addition to the division title, Dawson was named the NWAACC’s Western Division Coach of the Year.

“It’s a nice honor, but it’s really a team and coaching staff honor,” Dawson said. “It reflects our outstanding team, assistant coaches and athletic director.”

The Thunderbirds go into this week’s NWAACC championships as the No. 2 seed in the Horizon Air final overall basketball polls, with Clackamas Community College, of Portland, Ore., taking the top spot.

The Thunderbirds first game in the tournament is against Eastern Division’s fourth-ranked Columbia Basin Community College, of Pasco, Wash., at 2 p.m. March 5 in Kennewick, Wash.

Highline Community College was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County. With approximately 10,000 students and 350,000 alumni, it is one of the state’s largest institutions of higher education. The college offers a wide range of academic transfer and professional-technical education programs, with day, evening, online and weekend classes.

With the most diverse population of any college in Washington state, Highline takes a multicultural approach to education for the success of all its students and the prosperity of its surrounding communities. Alumni include former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, entrepreneur Junki Yoshida, Washington state poet laureate Sam Green and Boston Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine.

“To Your Health,” Highline Medical Center Foundation’s Annual Gala and Auction is Saturday evening, March 7th at the SeaTac Hilton Ballroom.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Highline Medical Center Foundation’s Annual Gala and Auction; Black Tie Optional

WHEN: Saturday, March 7th:

• 5:30pm: Doors open for Silent Auction and Champagne Reception
• 7pm: Dinner and Live Auction

COST: $150 Patron Tickets, $250 VIP Tickets; more info here:

INFO: RSVP by Monday, Feb. 23rd to (206) 901-8501 or email MClingman@highlinemedical.org; more info at the event website.

Save the date of Saturday, March 7, 2009 for the Highline Medical Center Foundation’s “To Your Health” Annual Gala & Auction at the Hilton Seattle Airport.

The auction will feature the following live items. Be sure to check back as the event gest closer as the list will be updated each week.

• Two weeks in Mazatlan
• Private suite for 16 at Safeco Field for a Mariners game
• Trip to LA and tickets to Dr. Phil and The Doctros shows
• Fishing trip to Argentina
• Gourmet dinner for eight
• Fall trip to Vermont
• Fighter pilot for the day
• Puget Sound sailing excursion
• One week in Maui
• Husky vs. Cougar package including football game tickets
• One week in guest house in South Africa
• A year in bloom: 12 months of flowers

For ticket, sponsor or donation information, please contact us at (206) 901-8501 or email MClingman@highlinemedical.org.