Every year, Members of Congress are allowed to display one piece of artwork by a high school student from their district in the U.S. Capitol for one year.

Congressman Adam Smith, who represents Washington’s 9th Congressional District (which includes Des Moines), is holding an annual judged art competition to select which local art receives this honor, with a deadline of April 9th.

The selected student will win prizes and be invited to attend the national reception for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, May 24, 2010 in Washington, DC. two round-trip airline tickets are donated for travel to DC. The winning entry will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year.

Prizes also include a scholarship to the Savannah Collage of Art and Design.

If you have any questions or want to receive electronic updates about Rep. Adam Smith’s Congressional Art Contest please contact Ms. Debra Entenman (253) 593-6600 or email: Debra.Entenman@mail.house.gov.

For contest guidelines, please download the forms from Adam’s website here.

2010 Congressional Arts Competition:

The Congressional Arts Competition allows each Member of Congress to display one piece of artwork, created by a high school student in their district, in the Capitol for one year.

Entries for the 9th Congressional District Art Contest are due by 5:00 PM on Friday April 9, 2010. All submissions should be sent to:

Congressman Adam Smith
2209 Pacific Avenue, Suite B
Tacoma, Washington 98402

Additionally, during the month of April, most entries will be on display at Tacoma Art Museum (1701 Pacific Avenue). However, please be advised that due to space limitations it may not be possible to display all entries.

The winner of the competition will be announced at the Art Exhibition and Reception on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 1:00 pm at The Tacoma Art Museum.

The winning student will win prizes and be invited to attend the national reception for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, June 17, 2010 in Washington, DC. Three round-trip airline tickets are donated for travel to DC. The winning entry will be displayed in the Cannon tunnel of the U.S. Capitol for one year.

2010 Congressional Art Competition Guidelines:

The competition is open to high school students only. Exceptions will be made for schools that have 7th through 12th grades on one campus. Each Member’s office can choose whether or not to include 7th and 8th grades in the art competition if there are schools in its district that fit these criteria. Additionally, official resources are to be used only to the extent authorized by the Committee on House Administration and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

In order to allow artwork to hang in the Cannon Tunnel in the U.S. Capitol, the following restrictions are enforced:

• Artwork must be two dimensional;
• Each piece can be no larger than 28”x28”x 4” (28 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches deep) including the frame. Artwork cannot weigh more than 15 lbs;
• Each entry must be original in concept, design, and execution and may not violate any U.S. copyright laws. Any entry that has been copied from an existing photo (not the student’s own), painting, graphic, advertisement, or any other work produced by another person is a violation of the competition rules and will not be accepted. Work entered must be in the original medium (that is, not a scanned reproduction of a painting or drawing);
• Artwork must arrive in Washington by May 24, 2010 for inclusion in the exhibition.
• Artwork will hang in the Capitol for the entire year of the exhibition and cannot be returned to the students earlier. Students should, therefore, submit artwork they will not need for other purposes.
  

  Last year's Congressional art contest winner Arunan Mukphrom with Congressman Adam Smith at his office in Washington DC. The winning artist and their family were invited to Washington, D.C. to see their artwork hung in the Capitol.

Artwork accepted mediums are as follows:

• Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.
• Drawings: pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, markers
• Collage: must be two dimensional
• Prints: lithographs, silkscreen, block prints
• Mixed Media: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
• Computer-generated art
• Photography

Paper Work:

A typed and securely affixed large label must be applied to the back of each piece. Also provide a typed copy of the Student Release form, signed by both the teacher and the student, must be attached to the back of the artwork to certify the originality of the piece.

The winning artist’s student release form along with the Member Approval form should be sent to DC via fax to 202.225.3012, attn: 2010 Art Competition, as soon as you have chosen a winning artwork .

Release forms and Member Approval forms must be received by May 28th. This will allow us to determine if more information is required from the student before actually receiving the artwork.

The final decision regarding the suitability of all artwork for the 2010 Congressional Art Competition exhibition in the Capitol will be made by a panel of qualified persons chaired by the Architect of the Capitol.

Artwork must adhere to the policy of the House Office Building Commission.

In accordance with this policy, exhibits depicting subjects of contemporary political controversy or a sensationalistic or gruesome nature are not allowed.

It is necessary that all artwork be reviewed by the panel chaired by the Architect of the Capitol and any portion not in consonance with the Commission’s policy will be omitted from the exhibit.

Framing Guidelines:

High School students in Washington's District 9 are eligible.

Framing guidelines apply only to the ONE winning artist/artwork that will be sent to Washington, DC.

All artwork must be framed. Frames should be kept as simple and sturdy as possible.

Metal frames are recommended. No “snap on” frames with glass are to be used.

All artwork must be protected by Plexiglas or glass. Plexiglas is preferred. If glass is used, special packing and shipping arrangements are encouraged to ensure that the work is not damaged if the glass breaks.

All works, including frame, should be no larger than 28 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches deep, to the outside of the frame, and 15 lbs. in weight. Please double check the size before sending the entry to Washington, DC. Due to wide participation of Member offices, framed work larger than the specified dimensions will be turned away.

Matting can enhance or detract from a work of art and should be carefully prepared.

Use sturdy picture hangers on the back of the frame. Two sturdy eye hooks should be attached at the top right and left sides of the back of the work for hanging in order to prevent the work from leaning forward or hanging unevenly. Do not put wire between the hooks for hanging; these will be added when the artwork is hung in the Capitol.

Do not attach labels, ribbons, etc. to the front of the piece or underneath the glass or Plexiglas.

If the artwork is abstract in design, please indicate on the backside which side is “up” with arrows.

As directed by the House Oversight and Standards of Official Conduct Committees, each district winner is responsible for framing his or her own entry. Any hardship case should be assisted at the district level; works can no longer be framed by the Architect of the Capitol.

A typed copy of the Student Information & Release Form must be securely attached to the back of the artwork.

More information on this art competition is available at Adam Smith’s website.

Highline Community College Business instructor Jeff Ward has earned a statewide honor for his leadership and achievements in “eLearning,” also known as electronic learning.

No, it’s not for teaching people about electronics, it’s for helping teach classes online.

Ward, of Lake Forest Park, provides one-on-one support to faculty and encourages them to explore and expand their use of technology in the classroom as Highline’s Faculty in Residence for Technology and Distance Learning.

“With online learning we have erased geographical boundaries. I can have students in class from all over the world, and their different experiences and backgrounds enrich discussions and give topics a more global perspective,” Ward said. “Alternative delivery of classes such as online and hybrid courses are better able to meet the diverse needs of our students – working parents, returning students, full-time workers, etc.”

The Leadership & Innovation in eLearning Award from the eLearning Council of Washington’s community and technical college system recognizes up to two individuals annually for achievements in electronic learning.   The honor comes with a $200 cash award and a grant for all-expenses paid trip to participate in the spring Pacific Northwest Higher Education Assessment, Teaching & Learning conference from April 28-30 in Vancouver, WA.

For more information on the Washington State eLearning Council, visit www.sbctc.edu/college/e_elearning.aspx.

Highline Community College was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County. With approximately 18,300 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 and weekend classes. Alumni include former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, entrepreneur Junki Yoshida, Washington state poet laureate Sam Green and Scott Schaefer, Publisher/Editor of this here blog and three-time National Emmy winning Writer for “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”

by Ralph Nichols

Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler recently presented to the City Council gifts that were given him during a trip to China late last fall.

But the mayor brought home a lot more than just gifts and a slide show of his travels in this ancient, now-booming country.

A multimillion-dollar development along Pacific Highway South backed by Chinese investors – agreed to during Sheckler’s highly productive trip – is now in the planning and permitting stage.

Ground breaking and the start of construction are expected to take place this summer if preliminary activity continues at its current pace.

The development, which will feature a hotel and restaurant and possibly retail space, will be located at the old state vehicle emissions testing site on the east side of Pac Highway not far north of Kent-Des Moines Road.

While in China, Sheckler also laid the foundation for an exchange program between Chinese community college students and students at Highline Community College.

And now there is the promise of even more. He reported at the Feb. 11 City Council meeting that representatives of business investors in China and Russia, with billions of dollars to invest, “are very interested in Des Moines.”

“The word’s out” about Des Moines – and the marina. “The word’s definitely out there,” Sheckler said. “They’re saying, ‘Where have you been?’ People are discovering that this (waterfront city) is a jewel. It’s very exciting.”

Sheckler began planning his China trip (Nov. 13-22) two years ago, not long after the prospect of developing a sister-city relationship with Changle, a coastal city in the Suzhou province of South China, was first discussed.

After corresponding with Changle Mayor Lin Wengang, Lin invited Sheckler to meet with him there. Sheckler was accompanied by Des Moines investor Matt Chan, who plans to build the Watercrossing development on the southeast side of the Pac Highway-South 216th St. intersection.

“I was there to visit him” and discuss a sister-city relationship, Sheckler noted. But he also went to China with plans to pursue an exchange-student arrangement and “to develop interest in investment in Des Moines.”

Even before he was “warmly received” by Lin and Deputy Mayor Lin Jian Xiu – to whom he presented gifts paid for by himself, as well as accepted their gifts – Sheckler had met with Zedong Ye, a property developer, and Mr. Zhang, an industrialist. Both had visited Des Moines and Tacoma last summer and liked the Waterland city.

Ye and Zhang had been told in advance that Sheckler and the Des Moines City Council are “very progressive in economic development” and wanted to meet with him.

In their culture, the initial meeting often determines whether a deal will be agreed to, and their cordial relationship at this dinner resulted in a green light for the Des Moines project. An advance team already in Des Moines was told to begin the pre-application process with the city, and the hotel project has been moving forward since then.

“I went over there to meet the mayor of Changle and to meet with others to get development going.” Mission accomplished.

Establishing a sister city relationship, according to custom, will take time, but the process has now begun. Discussions are in progress for an exchange student program in Des Moines. And ground breaking for the hotel is just a few months away.

That’s a pretty big long-term payoff for the city – which paid none of Sheckler’s expenses. He covered his round trip to Beijing and his hosts covered some of his expenses in China.

“But the key thing is the city didn’t have to pay for it. What I did on my own time and my own dime is my own business,” Shecker said, recalling that “certain naysayers” in the community criticized the cash-strapped city during the budget-setting process last fall for allegedly paying for his China trip.

He added, “The fact is, the city is the beneficiary, but the trip didn’t cost them a penny.”

One of the annual projects the Des Moines Rotary Club does to help this community is to distribute dictionaries to students at Woodmont Elementary School, and this year Rotarians presented every third grader there with a new illustrated children’s dictionary.

The project aims to promote literacy and build connections with local schools.

Here are some photos courtesy this local service organization:

Don’t forget, the Rotary is sponsoring the annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival, which will be held at the Landmark Event Center on March 6th and 7th – for more info, including how and where to buy tickets, click here.

For more information on the Des Moines Rotary, click here.

Students from Des Moines’ Aviation High School (AHS) gave Port of Seattle Commissioners first-hand descriptions of their experiences and a robotics demonstration during the Commission’s first community outreach meeting of 2010, held last Tuesday, Feb. 2nd.

The Port of Seattle supports AHS through its tax levy along with an airport environmental curriculum challenge, a job shadow program and high school internships.

“The students at Aviation High School will one day help Washington maintain a competitive edge in aviation, aerospace and high tech industries,” said Bill Bryant, Port of Seattle Commission President. “They are an impressive group! The future is in terrific hands.”

Aviation High School, located in Des Moines, is the only public, college-prep aviation themed school in the Northwest. Founded in 2004, the high school is part of the Highline School District but is open to students throughout the region. Currently 65% are students from the Highline School District with the rest coming from other districts, as far away as Olympia, Bremerton and Everett. With a current student body of 411, AHS has been very successful in providing a rigorous, high quality education to its student body.

The Port of Seattle has pledged $15 million in tax levy funds for Aviation High School, including $9 million in 2010 to help with constructing a new facility to be built at The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. After 2010, the school will receive $650,000 per year through 2013 from the Port.

The high school prides itself in having the third highest score in the state in math and science as well as a highly diverse population of which 21% qualify for the free or reduced cost lunch program.

The Port of Seattle Commission meets quarterly at community locations.

Aviation High School’s slogan is “Where the sky is not the limit,” and is administered by Highline Public Schools. It is open to students across the Puget Sound region, and serves as a model science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) school. The curriculum is college preparatory, and all subjects are taught in the context of aviation and aerospace.

As we reported on March 26th, Aviation High recently received a $4 million grant from James Raisbeck. It will be re-named Raisbeck Aviation High School, and will move to the Museum of Flight in Seattle; construction is expected to begin in March.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Des Moines’ Aviation High School Makes U.S. News “Best High Schools List”
• Aviation High School Kicks Off Fundraising Campaign
• Four Aviation High Students Graduate From Washington Aerospace Scholars Program
• Aviation High School Students Hitch Ride On Delivery Flight Of Brand New 737
• Aviation High School Gets $4 Million Dollar Grant, New Name & New Address

Highline Community College’s StartZone is marking its first-year anniversary with a celebration from 5pm – 7pm on Thursday, Oct. 8 in the Highline Student Union (Building 8).

Since opening in October 2008, StartZone has helped more than 120 women, people of color, immigrants and people with disabilities who want to start or expand their small businesses in Southwest King County.

In addition, StartZone members have started 15 new businesses, created dozens of new jobs and obtained nearly $90,000 in financing.

The celebration, which is free and open to the public, will feature speakers who have found success after receiving support from StartZone’s trained business specialists.

Featured speaker Adugna Wubbie, of SeaTac, originally came to StartZone with the hope of building a successful business and helping his family back in his home country of Ethiopia.

He started Rose Super Clean Services, a commercial janitorial service, and is now earning about $3,000 a month in revenue. By the end of his first year in operation, he hopes to generate at least $10,000 a month in revenue.

“Our StartZone business adviser gave us information on what we needed for success,” Wubbie said. “As part of the StartZone community, we have had an opportunity to meet other business owners, network and find support from our peers.”

Ruth Tial Par, of Kent, will also be sharing her success story during the event.

Tial Par, who is wheelchair-bound and came from Burma more than a year ago, wanted to convert her hobby of sewing clothes into a business opportunity.

StartZone helped Tial Par get new sewing machines and her business, Ruthy Tailoring, recently started accepting customers.

StartZone services are free to members and include assessments, referrals, business consulting and planning, loan packaging, workshops, mentoring and opportunities for networking and peer support.

StartZone offers orientations from 6-6:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month at the HCC Outreach Center (Building 99), room 132, 23835 Pacific Highway S. in Kent.

For more information about StartZone, call (206) 878-3710, ext. 3388, e-mail startzone@highline.edu or visit http://startzone.highline.edu.

StartZone is funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Highline Community College was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County. With approximately 18,300 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 yes, even Scott Schaefer, the Publisher/Editor of this here blog.

Attachment: Adugna Wubbie, of SeaTac
Ruth Tial Par, of Kent

Four students from Des Moines’ Aviation High School graduated from the 2009 Washington Aerospace Scholars Summer Residency program this summer, and we here at The Waterland Blog would like to give a big shout out to them:

• Thomas Malchodi
• Andrew May
• Andrew Reece
• Michael Thompson

They were among the 150 students who qualified for the Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) Summer Residency program from 260 students who applied last November. To qualify for the residency program, they spent six months studying a NASA-designed, distance-learning curriculum via the Internet. Based on their academic performance on these lessons, they were selected to attend one of the four residencies hosted at The Museum of Flight in Seattle this summer. During the residency, the students collaborated with the other participants on the design of a human mission to Mars. WAS scholars are guided by professional engineers, scientists, university students and certified educators as they plan these missions. The WAS program is designed to inspire students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) but the students are divided into teams which also require them to learn about mission management, budgets, the legal aspects of space exploration, and medicine.

In addition to the design of the human mission to Mars, they and the other WAS scholars participated in a number of hands-on engineering challenges. These challenges included: design, construction and deployment of robotic rovers, model rockets, lander devices, and payload lofting systems. Summer residency participants also received briefings from experts in the fields of engineering, science, physics, medicine, project management, risk management, and space exploration, such as Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar, astronaut and CEO of the Museum of Flight. They also visited the Boeing plant in Everett for a behind-the-scenes tour of Boeing’s Commercial Airplane assembly (including the new 787), and toured engineering laboratories at the University of Washington.

As graduates of WAS, Thomas Malchodi, Andrew May, Andrew Reece, and Michael Thompson join over 380 alumni representing 170 different Washington high schools.

All expenses (including travel, meals and lodging) are provided to students free of charge by the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation. The program has been supported through generous grants from The Apex Foundation, The Aldarra Foundation, The Boeing Company, Microsoft, Battelle and individual donors. The Museum of Flight hosts both the program administration and the summer residency sessions. Additional partners include NASA Johnson Space Center for curriculum development, the Washington State Governor’s Office, Washington State Legislators, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Washington Aerospace Scholars began accepting applications in early September for the 2009-2010 program cycle to download an application, please visit www.museumofflight.org/washingtonaerospacescholars. WAS participants must be high school juniors with 3.0 minimum grade-point-averages, United States citizens and Washington State residents.

The deadline for student applications is November 6th, so you’d better get ready for take-off now.

Highline Community College’s 14 Honors Scholars for the 2008-2009 academic year received $624,000 in financial aid and scholarship offers to continue their education, including five students from Des Moines:

• David Ganett
• Nari Kim
• Mang (Jerry) Li
• Kuan-Hung (Eleven) Liu
• Robert Martin
• Tuyet Anh Nguyen
• Jerry Zarski

The Honors Scholar program’s 70 graduates have earned a combined $2.4 million in scholarships and other financial aid since the program began in 2003.

“The 2008-2009 academic year has been a banner year for the Honors Scholar program,” said Barbara Clinton, the program’s adviser. “The entire group of graduates earned about 25 percent more in financial aid and scholarships than last year’s students.”

The program is open to all students who have 12 credits of college-level work with a 3.5 GPA or higher. The program prepares students for upper division courses, typically offered at a four-year university or college.

It has shaped Gates Millennium Scholars, USA Today Academic All-American, Coca Cola Gold Scholar and Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship and QuestBridge College Match Scholarship winners.

The 2009 scholars will graduate on June 11 and include Boreth (Terry) Long, a national Guistwhite Scholar winner.

The White Center resident was one of the 20 students across the nation who won the honor, a $5,000 scholarship for academic achievement, community service and participation in the national honor society for two-year colleges, Phi Theta Kappa.

Long emigrated from Cambodia to the United States four years ago and has found success in Highline’s Honors Scholar program.

“The program inspired and motivated me to do more in my classes than what was expected,” Long said. “I’ve learned so much and I am confident I will be successful when I transfer to a university.”

He plans on attending the University of Washington in fall 2009 and will graduate with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering at Highline.

In addition, he has maintained a 3.87 GPA while working as a math tutor in Highline’s Math Resource Center and organizing the Fundraising to Make a Difference Club, a group that has helped raise about $500 each quarter to support children’s education and to fight trafficking of women in Cambodia.

In June 2009 he received one of the college’s top awards – the Shirley B. Gordon Academic Excellence Award – a $1,500 scholarship named in honor of Highline’s former president.

“The Honors Scholar program is a must for everyone who comes to Highline,” Long said. “It is a privilege to be part of such a program.”

This year’s 13 other Honors Scholars, by city, are:

• Des Moines: David Ganett, Nari Kim, Mang (Jerry) Li, Kuan-Hung (Eleven) Liu, Robert Martin, Tuyet Anh Nguyen, Jerry Zarski
• Auburn: Tierney Kuhn, Katherine S. Tacke
• Burien: Jennifer Anne Kemp
• Federal Way: Lei Lam (Selina) Chan
• Renton: Ashley L. Matsumoto
• Milton: Rikki-Rachelle Hinz

For more information about Highline’s Honors Scholar program and to read more success stories, visit http://flightline.highline.edu/honors/.

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 even Scott Schaefer, Publisher/Editor of this here website.

The King County Housing Authority and Federal Way Public Schools Americorps teams, in conjunction with Washington State Parks, are hosting an Earth Day Fair at Saltwater State Park in Des Moines (map below) this Friday, April 24th from 10am to 2pm.

“Be Water Wise” is the theme, and elementary and middle school students will have the opportunity to do interactive activities and visit information booths.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Earth Day “Be Water Wise” event at Saltwater State Park

WHEN: Friday, April 24th from 10am to 2pm

WHERE: Saltwater State Park, located at 25205 8th Pl South in Des Moines (map below)

INFO: This event will allow students to examine the water around them and the life impacted by it. They will learn to play safely in water and participate in fun arts and crafts. Representatives will also be there from a variety of water-related fields planting seeds for future career ideas for students.

So far the tentative schedule and events includes:

• 11am/12:45pm: Beach/forest walks
• 11:45am-12:45pm: Entertainment
• Activity and information booths will be open the entire time
• Explore Careers in Marine Science, National and Community Service, Education and Environmental Science
• Meet Divers, Park Rangers and Marine Biologists

NOTE: They will be able to accommodate a limited number of students for this event. To reserve a spot for you class contact: Malia Delacruz, KCHA AmeriCorps at 206.870.4294 or saltwaterearthday@gmail.com

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