Renton School District Shares Good News

Two Renton Park Elementary School students will participate in this year’s Rainier Youth Honor Choir. Megan Phillips, a fifth grader, and fourth-grader Ratu Nagasima, will take part in the community-based choral group whose young members come from all over the Puget Sound area. The organization creates a world-class choral performance and music education program for children, emphasizing the development of vocal skills and music understanding.

Cascade Elementary School Third-Graders are learning about the earth by discussing the parts of the world their families originated from including Indonesia, the Philippines and American Samoa. The social studies project also introduces students to philanthropy and donating time and energy to parts of the world devastated by natural disasters. The students are raising funds for World Vision to help those in devastated areas, with a goal to raise 4,000 coins.

Student Council members at Hazen and Lindbergh High schools recently won the 2009 Distinguished Council of Excellence Award for their demonstrated excellence in leadership to improve school climate. The students attended an annual conference for Washington Association of Student Councils where they participated in service projects, attended general leadership sessions and other leadership-based trainings. As Distinguished Councils of Excellence, these student leaders are recognized for the trust and confidence they have in themselves and have earned among their peers.

Renton Park Elementary School Music Specialist Marlene Creaser has been awarded a grant from the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, Inc. for a full three-octave set of handchimes to be used through the school year. The grant includes curriculum materials for use in music classes from kindergarten through fifth grade. A handchime, like those being viewed in Creaser’s 4th-grade music class (r), is a tuned metal square tube with an external clapper mechanism that, when struck, produces a desired pitch.