Non-members are also invited! If you are a member, bring a friend and learn more about the benefits of becoming a member. Thanks!

This photo was taken just this morning. Nice day (weather wise) for a bridge closure. There is a “wake” planned for the South Park Bridge tonight. For more info, click here.

King County Executive Dow Constantine brought together leaders from all over the community today to bring hope to the South Park Bridge Replacement Project. At the base of the South Park Bridge this afternoon, elected leaders from the state to neighborhood came to announce their support for the South Park Bridge Replacement. Governor Chris Gregoire announced $20 million from the State, Constantine, King County Council Chair Bob Ferguson and County Council Member Julia Patterson announced $30 million from King County, City of Seattle Council President Richard Conlin announced $15 million from Seattle, and Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton announced $5 million to support the bridge replacement. The crowd could feel the support for this regional link that connects families and industries. Photo by Virgil Domaoan.

The White Center Healthy Food Gift Certificate Program kicked off today in a big way! What we purposely didn’t mention in our press release was the creative way we planned on getting food bank clients to the markets. Sean Healy, a White Center CDA Community Building Resident Fellow, is also employed as a school bus driver and was able to donate his time to drive White Center Food Bank clients from the food bank to Samway Supermarket and Lee’s Produce, then back to the food bank. We were on hand to take photos of this great program in action:

Bus driver Sean Healy drove food bank clients safely from each location. Half of the clients shopped at Samway while the other shopped at Lee's. All the clients got an opportunity to shop at both produce markets.

White Center CDA Neighborhood Revitalization Director Patty Julio, left, speaks with White Center Food Bank Executive Director Rick Jump outside of Samway while residents shop for their food.

Samway Store Manager Billy Yin greeted each customer with flair. He was even seen giving customer free produce such as corn.

Each food bank client received this $5 gift certificate to be used for only healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables.

Mrs. Nasatka, owner of Lee's Produce, speaks with a customer. At one point, there were 20-25 customers jammed into the produce section. "I can handle 100 of them," exclaimed Nasatka.

Lee's Produce placed a couple of these nice thank you signs throughout their market. Lee's also offered food bank clients 1 free package of strawberries to go with their gift certificate. The affordable prices from both supermarkets allowed many clients to come away with much as 2 heavy bags of produce.

White Center CDA Community Building Resident Fellow Awet Ghebreyohannes helps a client with a heavy bag of produce while heading back to the bus. You'd be surprised to see what you can get out of that gift certificate!

The bus circled back around to pick up the rest of the shoppers at Samway to head back to the food bank.

White Center CDA staff briefly celebrated this great event in front of Samway. From L to R: Patty Julio, Neighborhood Revitalization Program Manager Nhan Nguyen, Awet Ghebreyohannes, and Community Building Director Virgil Domaoan.

Thank you to everyone involved, and thank you to the White Center Food Bank! For more information on how you can donate to this program, please contact the White Center Food Bank by clicking here.

Photos courtesy of Ian Dapiaoen for the White Center CDA. Photos are property of the CDA and are not to be used in any other way.

From the HSD website. Stay tuned to the CDA blog on how you can be involved in this community process, and educate yourselves and others on how the budget cuts will affect your family, your neighbors and your community!

Highline Public Schools will be forced to cut its budget for the 2010-11 school year due to a second consecutive year of declining state revenues. The district has already cut $10 million from programs and operations over the past two years, including an $8 million reduction to the current year budget.

The state legislature is still in session working on a plan to fill the budget gap for next fiscal year. Until lawmakers adjourn, the precise impact to Highline’s 2010-11 budget will not be known. However, based on the latest information available, it looks like Highline will have to cut more than $4.5 million in programs, services, and staff.

Over the past several weeks, the school board and school district leaders have developed funding priorities that will help staff identify areas to cut and areas to preserve. The school board has identified three guiding principles:

Support bold and innovative action to improve student achievement;

Align district initiatives with new federal mandates and guidelines while maintaining the district vision of college and career readiness for all students;

Ensure that equity drives practices and policies, leading to increased achievement for students from all backgrounds.

Superintendent Welch is compiling a list of potential cuts with the help of principals and other administrators. As he did last year, the superintendent will name a number of administrative cuts in an effort to reduce the impact on teachers and students in the classroom.

Parents, community members, and students will have an opportunity to prioritize additional budget cuts at two community budget forums. The forums are scheduled for:

Saturday, May 1, 9:00 a.m. Hazel Valley Elementary School
Tuesday, May 4, 6:00 p.m. Mount Rainier High School

In addition, budget cut options will be posted on the district website, and the public will be invited to give their input online at www.hsd401.org.

The superintendent will present a budget recommendation to the school board at its May 26 meeting. A public hearing will be held June 23, and final adoption by the school board is scheduled for August 11.

The Census QAC banner will be posted anytime there is a representative inside. Photo by Ian Dapiaoen.

Have you filled out your U.S. Census form yet? Do you have questions about the form and are looking for materials in your language? Come to the White Center CDA office to get your questions answered!

The White Center CDA has been established as a Questionnaire Assistance Center (QAC), so please stop by with your questions and your Census form. In addition to English, we have QAC workers who speak Vietnamese, Spanish, and Khmer.

Stop by the office at these designated times to speak to a QAC worker:

Mondays - 4:00pm-8:00pm

Tuesday-Friday - 11:00am-4:00pm

Our office is located at 1615 SW Cambridge Street, on the corner of 17th and Cambridge. You can call us ahead of time at (206) 694-1082 to see if a representative in your language is available.

Logos courtesy of their respective organizations to use on the White Center CDA website.

After spending most of your morning and early afternoon at Spring Clean, visit the Evergreen Community Aquatic Center and swim for 2 free hours! Here’s the announcement from our community partner, WhiteWater Aquatics Management:

Drop by the Pool after your hard day’s work!

Join us for a Free Public Swim!

WhiteWater Aquatics Management is pleased to invite you to the re-opened Evergreen Community Aquatic Center after the White Center Spring Clean on May 15^th.  We can’t wait to have you play around in the pool after all the work you’ve done!  Bring the kids to play - we’ll have the pool toys available, and Life Guards and Water Safety Instructors on deck to keep an eye on them.  Check out our new swim programs, jump in the pool, or just cool off on the patio with your friends.  We’ll be glad to meet you again.

Saturday, May 15^th

3:00 to 5:00

“See you…at the Pool!”

Photo courtesy of Sarah Weir, CDA Staff

The Office of the Education Ombudsman (OEO) is now offering Ombudsman Clinics at community sites for families of students in public schools who have questions about the education system, or are experiencing concerns about their children’s education.  Our first clinic was held at the Greenbridge YWCA in partnership with the King County Housing Authority.

After introducing OEO at a community meeting of Somali, Cambodian and Vietnamese residents, a group of Somali families requested an Ombudsman Clinic to express their concerns about their children’s  education.

During the two-hour clinic, one topic was identified as an area of concern for the families, and two parents offered to serve as spokespeople for the group in sharing their concerns with the school district.

The ombudsman later contacted the school district to share the nature of the families concerns and to schedule a meeting for the Somali parents, the school district and the ombudsman to discuss solutions.

The Ombudsman facilitated a successful follow-up meeting with school district personnel and two of the families. They were able to express their concerns, and the district immediately responded by offering several solutions.  A follow-up meeting with all the families is planned so that the families who attended the small meeting can share what progress has been made.

OEO will continue to meet with a variety of community groups and plans to offer Clinics for several of them over the next few months. For more information about the Ombudsman Clinics, click here.  If you are interested in scheduling a community group to meet with an Ombudsman for a Clinic, please contact Cathy Liu Scott at cathyliu.scott@gov.wa.gov.

“The Ways of the Owls” by Manoush Castaneda-Vizcarra
Book Reading & Signing
Thursday, April 1, 2010

2:30pm-3:30pm

Evergreen Campus Library
830 SW 116th St. Seattle 98146

Manoush Genet Castaneda-Vizcarra completed “The Ways of the Owls” at age fourteen and is working on her next novel. She is a student at the Health Sciences & Human Services High School (HS3) on the Evergreen Campus.

“Manoush Castaneda deftly conjures a powerful story vividly told, The Ways of the Owls deals with profound issues of gender oppression and personal freedom that draws the reader into the lives of the young Mexican girl Maximiana and those around her. Maximiana- her strength, courage, and life in Mexico a century ago - will inspire you.” - JOHN GRIFFITH, Associate Professor of English University of Washington

Books for purchase will be available at the event. This event is free of charge and open to the public.

Hosted by Community Schools Collaboration & Evergreen Campus Library

Burien, WA - Four Highline schools will be recognized with the 2009 Washington Achievement Award.  The Award celebrates the state’s top-performing schools and recognizes achievement in several categories: language arts, math, science, gifted education, graduation rate, and overall excellence.

The four Highline schools to receive the award are:

Aviation High School - Science, Overall Excellence

Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment (ACE) - Language Arts

Health Sciences and Human Services High School (HS3) - Language Arts

Marvista Elementary - Science

The Washington Achievement Award was created by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. This highly selective award is based on schools’ performance according to the newly created School Accountability Index, a comprehensive measurement of how schools in Washington are performing over time. Schools are selected for the award based on their state assessment data for the previous three years.

“The selection process for the Washington Achievement Award is very rigorous, and your staff, students, parents, and community can take real pride in being part of this elite group,” says State Superintendent Randy Dorn.

“These awards show the progress we are making in student achievement,” says Highline Superintendent John Welch. “We have seen that when we raise the bar and hold students to high expectations, they meet and even exceed them.”

The award-winning schools will be recognized at a state awards ceremony in Renton on May 5.