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In Our Schools: Discovery Students Aim to 'Bump' Heart Disease

Posted on: Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 18:00 CST

By MARGARET ELLIS and HOWARD BUCK, Columbian staff writers

Discovery Middle School students raised money and had fun doing it during the American Heart Association's Hoops for Heart fundraiser, said physical education teacher Ken Smith.

Kids spent three weeks raising money for the charity. They haven't counted all the dough yet, Smith said, but this is the fifth year students have participated and usually they net a couple of thousand dollars.

To celebrate their work, Smith called an all-school assembly with a giant game of "bump" for those who donated $5 or more.

"We raise money for the American Heart Association trying to make kids aware of the whole idea that physical fitness and P.E. and health are important. Even right now, they may have somebody in their life who has benefitted from the services of the American Heart Association."

The winners of the bump competition are as follows:

* Sixth-grade boys: Benjamin Astor.

* Sixth-grade girls: Allison Falkner.

* Seventh-grade boys: Hunter Jones.

* Seventh-grade girls: Lindsay Whittaker.

* Eighth-grade boys: Danny Christenson.

* Eighth-grade girls: Rebel Phillipakis.

Jones and Whittaker were the overall winners at the school. Ken Smith was the winner of the faculty competition.

Running Start students' grades, work honored

A pair of high school students in the Running Start program at Clark College have been named to the 2006 All-Washington Academic Team, based on academic prowess and community work.

Their nominations earned them monetary rewards and a shot at national honors.

Mariah Acton of Vancouver, who hopes to become an attorney, and Sarah Craciun of Brush Prairie, pursuing a pharmacy career, will be recognized March 2 at the South Puget Sound Community College campus in Olympia.

The All-Washington team program, with 68 members, is sponsored by the state's 34 technical and community colleges and Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of two-year colleges.

Acton and Craciun will each receive a medal and $750 in scholarships supported by KeyBank of Washington and the Northwest Education Loan Association. Both also will receive a $500 scholarship from the Clark College Foundation.

As part of the Washington team, they will compete for nomination to the All-USA Academic Team sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, the USA Today newspaper and the American Association of Community Colleges. The team honors 60 outstanding two-year college students nationwide each year.

Besides her stellar school work, Acton was appointed to the Clark County Youth Commission in May, and served as a delegate to the University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference last year.

Craciun has excelled in school while serving weekly at the Veterans Administration Medical Center's in-state pharmacy, packaging medications for veterans. She tutors college chemistry students and has received an American Association of University Women award for mathematics achievement.

Margaret Ellis writes about education. She can be reached at margaret.elliscolumbian.com or 360-759-8047. Howard Buck writes about schools and education. Reach him at 360-759-8015 or howard.buck@columbian.com.

Source: Columbian

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