Like many of the teachers at Orcas Island High/Middle School, Nancy Wrightsman constantly changes her job “hats.” Arriving on Orcas Island in 1995, she already had many years of teaching experience behind her. She taught as a substitute for one year and then accepted the job of school counselor. Wrightsman remains in that position, but also teaches classes both in the middle and high school.
School’s out for summer, but not for the Superintendent, Glenn Harris. His desk, as usual, is covered with paperwork for 15 to 20 projects demanding documentation, decisions, consultation, research, communication, or all of the above.
In thinking about and reporting on the school budget situation, we’ve gone into the records from last year, and those from the Sounder archives two, three and four years back. And we’re struck by the progress that has been made.
I have often been prompted to write concerning the Border Patrol actions at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal, but others have already expressed excellent points of view over the past four months. But two recent events have finally spurred me to action. The first was that I ran across a lead article on the subject in this week’s Seattle Weekly, with the great cover “Rough Seize – kicking Juans out of the San Juans,” in which several Orcas Islanders told their stories. The second: today (June 18) getting herded into the customs enclosure in Anacortes yet again (fifth time) for a citizenship check. So here goes.
Continually visualizing the “big picture” while supervising the academic infrastructure to meet the needs of the individual students is the on-going charge for the Orcas Island School District school principals. Tom Gobeske oversees the K-6 elementary school program while Barbara Kline cares for the Orcas Island Middle School, High School, OASIS, and Waldron Island schools. They are both visible in their schools and strive to know their students. Both have many years of teaching and principal experience, although Kline has been with the district for about 20 years and Gobeske has just completed his first year at Orcas Elementary.
At the graduation ceremonies signaling the beginning of a new era for 22 Orcas High School graduates, it was difficult to leave, not only because of the celebration and happiness, but also because the time when we could look out for them, guide them and watch over them is ending.
The recently established San Juan County Veterans’ Advisory Board (VAB) has completed its initial planning and is pleased to announce the availability of San Juan County’s Veteran’s Assistance Fund (VAF).
The following Letter to the Editor articulates the position of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington regarding the Border Patrol’s questioning of passengers at the Anacortes ferry terminal.
When Sharron Mierau began her work as the Orcas Island School District (OISD) Administrative Secretary in 1987, the district did not own a computer. Board minutes were typed on a typewriter and the monthly enrollment reports were done by hand. Mierau is now the Human Resources Officer, and along with business and district office co-workers Sara Morgan, Ben Thomas, and Amber Johnson, she finds that a computer is essential to the organization and execution of daily work.
The Orcas Island Prevention Partnership (OIPP) is continuing its “Spotlight on the Positive” campaign for the parents of Orcas 6th-12th graders.
Their reasons for not completing high school until now are as varied as their futures undoubtedly will be – from needing to work for a living, to international travel interrupting senior year, to hospitalization, to personal family matters, to “not being able to get it together.”
If you are the individual who kidnapped the small flock of pink flamingos from my property on Olga Road, just past the south park entrance, you may not have realized that you flocked yourself.
The birds were there to support a very important cause, Breast Cancer.
It is not being overly-dramatic to say that, with the closing of the Coldwell Banker Orcas Island (CBOI) office, an era has ended: the era when the real estate business flourished on Orcas Island, when prominent Realtors and Brokers such as Wally Gudgell, Stu Stevens and Rusty Post started their careers with Pat Pomeroy and Coldwell Banker Orcas Island.
