Camas Science Olympians dominate
After last year's State Championship was led by a core of ten seniors, the CHS Science Olympiad Team was little nervous about what the 2011-12 year would hold. Their fears were turned to folly when 25 students medaled in one or more events at the Camas Invitational in January. This was the highest number of wins at a single tournament in S.O. history as well as more medals than the team typically earns in a year!
Their next tournament is at Aviation High School in Seattle on February 4. However, if you'd like to take in some events closer to home, the regional tournament will be in Longview at the Lower Columbia Community College on March 10. The State Championships are at Eastern Washington University in Cheney on April 14. All tournaments begin at 8:30 a.m. and final awards are usually completed around 5:30 p.m. If you have questions about the program or the upcoming events, contact S.O. advisor Ron Wright at Ronald.Wright@camas.wednet.edu.
On the sidelines: National College Signing Day
The best part about being on the sidelines is watching the teams and the athletes you cover accomplish some pretty amazing things.
You get to ask them questions, tap into their emitions and share their stories.
From the time they arrive on varsity as freshmen, sophomores and juniors, to their final go around as seniors, you grow to respect these athletes for all the hard work they put into their sport for their teammates, coaches, school, family, friends and community.
As eight Camas High School seniors sat at the table in front of the packed North Commons area on campus for National College Signing Day Wednesday, Athletic Director Terry Cavender chose the perfect statement to describe these Papermakers.
Photo by Dan Trujillo
Art speaks to viewers at Camas High
CAMAS — Ashe Parra described how the girl in her drawing, with flowers, a butterfly and a clock adorning her head, represented childhood and carefree living. Emily Hull shared how her rhinoceros photo resulted from time spent volunteering at the Oregon Zoo and a new camera lens, courtesy of her parents.
Photo: Troy Wayrynen
Papermaker wins top honor
Senior Zach Marshall was awarded the top prize, a $3,500 scholarship, at the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Banquet January 18. This marks the third straight year that a Papermaker has earned First Place honors: Stu Jergensen, Logan Grindy, Odin Coe, and now Marshall. Go Papermakers!
Photo: Zachary Kaufman
English Author Connects with Students in Washington State
Last week, we heard this fun story about how students from a high school in Washington used Skype video call to bring literature to life...
Prune Hill Book Fair success
The Prune Hill Book Fair brought in nearly $4,000 to help purchase new library books, classroom book collections, and bring in a guest author to present to students. Thanks to all the parents, volunteers, and staff members who helped make the Prune Hill Book Fair such a success!
Papermaker Brent Richards signs with Timbers
Brent Richards (pictured right) of Camas has been impressing Gavin Wilkinson with his soccer skills for more than seven years.
Now the Portland Timbers’ general manager hopes Richards will impress well into the future.
Richards, 21, signed a Major League Soccer contract with the Timbers on Wednesday, making him the first MLS Homegrown Player signed by the club. Contract details were not released.
“It’s awesome. It’s something that I wanted for a long time,” Richards said.
Read more at The Columbian. Photo: Steve Dipaola
Middle School Cook it Up Healthy Challenge
Attention middle school students!
Are you a Camas middle school student with a healthy recipe to share?
Take the Cook it Up Healthy Challenge! Include the recipe name, ingredients, and instructions on this form.
Winners will showcase their creations at an event on Wednesday, February 1. Applications are due to your health/fitness teachers by January 6!
CHS Proudly Presents Voices of Art 2012
Join us for a fantastic collection of Camas High School student art which will be on display at the Zellerbach Administration Center on Tuesday, January 17, from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Student voices will lead participants through the show thanks to an exciting cellular phone technology. The student artists will talk about their personal artistic process and will describe each of their pieces. The exhibit will include drawing, painting, pottery, digital photography, and digital art. Don't miss this amazing event!
Feeding the community
Fourth-annual Stuff the Bus brings in 61,600 pounds of food. Photo: Danielle Frost.
Robotics team earns spot at state
Team members in the photo above (all Camas except noted): Andrew Whitaker (Bethany, OR), Jordan Hendricks, Jordan Slotto, Maggie Wells, Tate Perry, Gabe Mukobi, Owen Wilks. The team coach/mentor was Jeff Hendricks and mentors included Steve Slotto, Ken Perry, Doug Wells, Rick Wilks (not pictured). The team was sponsored by Broker Knowledge Group of Camas.
The Camas Mechanakidz were selected among 20 teams at last weekend’s ORTOP First Lego League qualifying robotics tournament in Salmon Creek, earning them a spot in the upcoming state tournament January 14 and 15 in Hillsboro. The Portland region is the largest in the country with approximately 400 teams. Eighty teams were selected to compete at the upcoming state competition.
Mechanickidz was the only team to earn two awards: 1st place in the Robotics Performance and 3rd runner up in the overall competition. Teams were judged in four key areas: Robot Performance, Core Values, Team Presentation, and Robot Design.
These avid robot lovers worked tirelessly since the end of summer, meeting regularly for 4- 8 hours per week at Coach Jeff Hendricks’ home. They used their time understanding the requirements for the robot missions, strategizing robot development, hardware and software development, and fine tuning the one-of-a-kind creation. The goal was to have the robot complete as many successful missions in the robot “food factor” challenge. The coach and mentors helped guide the team in each of the four areas of development and prepare for the competition.
The project consisted of a skit demonstrating an innovative prototype to keep bacteria from forming on take n’ bake pizzas which was presented to a judging panel. An element of the Core Values scoring was to observe teamwork and problem-solving skills for a problem with which the team was presented. Overall, the team grew in areas that most kids will not experience until high school or college, performed very well at the competition, and had an amazing experience.
Papermaker named Outstanding Teen
Brianna Scott, a 16-year-old Camas High School junior, was named Miss Clark County’s Outstanding Teen 2012.
Junior Olympics National Cross Country Meet
Alexa Jones, Maddie Woodson and Alissa Pudlitzke competed this weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Meet. Their team, Evergreen Storm, took 5th in the Nation! Go Camas!
Middle School Science Olympiad Tournament
Camas-Camas High School will host its annual middle school Science Olympiad tournament on December 10, 2011. The tournament will host a multitude of schools from California, Oregon, and Washington. Each school has a team of students who will demonstrate their knowledge of science for a wide variety of events ranging from biology and physics to hands on creations. We invite anyone to come experience this display of intelligence and hard work at the CHS Invitational Middle School Science Olympiad tournament at Camas High School on Saturday, December 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Spectators are encouraged to come and go as they please. If you have any questions, please e-mail CamashsSO@gmail.com.
Who: Camas High School Science Olympiad Team
What: Middle School SO Tournament
Where: Camas High School
When: December 10, 2011
Harris wins sportsmanship honor
Dylan Harris
Senior Dylan Harris, left tackle for the CHS football team, was awarded the WIAA Sportsmanship medallion at the November 25 State Semi Final game v. O’Dea High School.
Getting greener
Four Skyridge students attend Clark County Green Schools Summit
Skyridge Middle School seventh-graders, from left, Joey Emmet, Cooper McNatt, Michael Mattthews and Christian Nghiem attended a Green Schools Summit recently. They learned about additional ideas for resource conservation. Photo: Danielle Frost.
Camas schools rocket to the top at Science Olympiad
Grass Valley, Dorothy Fox earn awards
Students from Grass Valley Elementary School in Camas took part in the Nov. 19 Elementary Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament at Clark College. Pictured above are Grass Valley students (left to right) Luke Brewer, Zach Macia and Danilo Kamenko. The Camas school’s “Team 1” (groups A and B) earned Top Group awards in two events. Photo by Jenny Shadley/Clark College.
CHS #1 in WIAA Scholastic Cup
In recognition of varsity team grade point averages, achievement in state tournaments, and sportsmanship, Camas High School is currently atop the Scholastic Cup standings for all 3A high schools in our state.
Background on the Scholastic Cup: The WIAA Scholastic Cup recognizes performance in the classroom as well as on the playing surface. Schools that finish at the top of their respective classifications in state athletic competition receive points, as do schools that finish at the top in team academic performance. Sportsmanship is also a factor, with substantial points deducted for ejections from contests. At the end of the year, the school with the most points in their classification will be awarded the prestigious Scholastic Cup.
Click here for a summary of CHS Fall Sports accomplishments!
Widdop, Ramey join ranks of CHS National Board Certified Teachers
Sarah Widdop (Humanities) and Kelly Ramey (Spanish), recently learned that their portfolios were approved by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Congratulations Sarah and Kelly! They join ten CHS teachers who have examined and improved their instructional effectiveness en route to earning National Board certification: Kristi Bridges, Melanie Clark, Mark Gardner, Sam Greene, Eric Linthwaite, Terry Nyquist, Christen Palmer, Val Parbon, Elizabeth Rollman, and Ashley Snyder. Best of luck to Tyler Morgan, who is currently pursuing National Board certification.
Sarah Widdop
Kelly Ramey
Sister City Award
The Camas Sister City organization, a partnership between the City of Camas and Camas Schools, won the Washington State Sister Cities Association Peace Prize Award. They were recognized for their 30+ year relationship with the communities of Hosoi and Taki in Japan and relatively new eight-year relationship with sister cities Krapkowice, Morawica, and Zabierzow in Poland. Click here to visit Camas Sister City blog for more information about the award.
Stuff the Bus
A message from CHS Leadership Students:
Happy Holidays everyone! We hope you enjoyed the break. If you're not already aware, Stuff the Bus is back! On Friday, December 9th, from Noon-5 PM we will be stuffing the buses with boxes of canned food in front of Camas High School. Last year, the CHS community donated over 42,000 pounds of food. Together with Washougal High School, 72,000 pounds of food was collected – enough to feed 200 families for one year. This year, we want to do even better. In these tough times, more and more families are in need, and it's our goal to help as many of these families as we can.
Camas marshals on without star
Camas’ Zack Marshall (25), fighting off O’Dea’s Tyler Longmire, rushed for 51 yards on six carries in the first quarter before leaving with a dislocated thumb.
Three qualify as National Merit Semifinalists
Gabriele Ilard
Alexander Pien
Nadine Stone
The National Merit Scholarship Program has announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists nation-wide who will continue in the competition for 8,200 National Merit Scholarships. Seniors Gabriele Ilarde, Alexander Pien, and Nadine Stone are all part of this elite group. Congratulations and good luck to the CHS’s “Terrific Triad.”
JV girls soccer players make big donation to Rescue Mission
Congratulations to Coach Paul Della Valle and our Varsity and Junior Varsity Girls Soccer Teams who this year collected donations that nearly equaled the $1,027 they raised for the Portland Rescue Mission in 2009 and 2010. Their third annual fundraiser totaled $957.08, which will feed nearly 480 people this year at Thanksgiving! The girls’ generosity made a big difference in the lives of many over the holiday season.
Girls Cross Country Team: 2011 3A State Champions
The CHS Girls Cross Country Team had an amazing performance this weekend defeating a strong Glacier Peak team, ranked 14th in the nation, by 2 points to win the 3A State Cross Country title. The girls had a great day with the top 5 runners all finishing in the top 33. Alexa Efraimson finished 3rd, Austen Reiter was 7th, Megan Napier was 8th, Lindsay Wourms was 28th, and freshman Alissa Pudlitzke was 33rd. It was truly a special day for the number six and seven runners, Camille Parson and Trisha Patterson running personal bests. Congratulations State Champs! The girls are coached by Chris Gragg and Mike Hickey.
CHS Fall Sports Success Stories
This fall’s teams have continued the successful trend in recent years, as Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys Golf, Football and Girls Soccer have all won league championships. Girls Swim and Volleyball finished second league and Boys Tennis ended up third. As a group, our teams finished the fall with a combined league record of 59-6-1!
We have also established what is a first for CHS Athletics – at the end of the regular season, CHS had five fall teams (boys cross country, girls cross country, girls soccer, volleyball, and football) ranked in the Top Ten in the Seattle Times rankings for prep sports.
Minder Named State Coach of the Year
Roland Minder
CHS teacher and coach Roland Minder, who coached the Boys 3A State Champions last spring, was named the 2011 Boys State Soccer Coach of the Year by the Washington State Soccer’s Coaches Association. Congratulations Coach Minder!
Camas School District 117 Placed on the College Board’s 2nd Annual AP® District Honor Roll
Camas School District 117 is one of fewer than 400 public school districts in the nation being honored by the College Board with a place on the 2nd Annual AP® Honor Roll, for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement coursework while maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP exams. Achieving both of these goals is the ideal scenario for a district’s Advanced Placement program, because it indicates that the district is successfully identifying motivated, academically-prepared students who are likely to benefit most from AP coursework.
Everything came together to produce Camas’ state title
The Camas High School girls cross country team win first 3A state title. Photo by Zachary Kaufman
Staff Spotlight: Colleen Hord
Grass Valley Elementary School teacher and author inspires students to write “slices of their lives”
The worst mistake a student can make in Colleen Hord’s class is telling her that he doesn’t like to write.
“Once a student tells me that, he’s on my radar. I will find a way to show him writing is fun and anyone can write,” Hord said. “I believe all students have a voice that needs to be heard.”
A second-grade teacher at Grass Valley Elementary, Hord has written five books for Rourke Publishing Group. The titles are Clean and Green Energy; My Green Lunch; My Safe Community; Need it or Want It?; and What’s my Role?. She has a December deadline to complete three biographies and four fiction books.
Readers are Leaders
Lacamas Heights Family Read Night aims to strengthen reading time and family time
Lacamas Heights Elementary School Principal Jan Strohmaier did a double take as she looked at the deer mouse on the book cover of “Poppy.”
“The deer mouse is wearing an earring,” she told third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at a school assembly. “Why would a deer mouse be wearing an earring?”
CHS vs. CRHS
Camas High's Zach Marshall makes a move on Columbia River's Patrick Figueroa for extra yards in the first half at CRHS on Friday September 16, 2011. Camas won the game 38-14. Photo by Zachary Kaufman
Winter Weather Information
As winter weather approaches we think about school schedule changes. In the event of a school closure or delay, the district will launch an emergency notification alert which will send a recorded message via primary phone to every parent in the district when schools are delayed or cancelled. You will receive this call at approximately 6:00 AM. The information is also available through local news media and the district website. Please notify the school o!ce immediately if
your child has a different-than-normal emergency plan in the event school closes early for any reason. Your child must have an emergency plan in place (and the office notified of the plan) if he/she is to do something other than his/her regular dismissal routine.
NOTE: Snow routes are not the same as 2-hour late starts. If you live on a snow route, you have already been notified by the Transportation Department.
In the event of a 2-hour late start on any Wednesday, all elementary schools will dismiss at 3:30 instead of 1:10.