Latest news with #WahlukeSchoolDistrict
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Partnership encourages businesses to come into Wahluke schools
Jun. 3—MATTAWA — The Wahluke School District is inviting businesses in Mattawa, or any business outside of Mattawa that's interested, to participate in a new initiative that will bring volunteers from those businesses to Wahluke classrooms. Wahluke Superintendent Andy Harlow said "Partners in Educating Kids" is a way to increase connections between school and community. People have told him, Harlow said, that sometimes it's difficult to build the kind of relationships between WSD and businesses that can be found in other cities like Othello and Quincy. "I just don't believe it," he said. "I think we have an amazing community. We have different challenges, for sure, but it's taking time to develop these relationships. It might look a little different than Quincy or Othello, but it can be done." The PEAK program will start in the 2025-26 school year. Participating businesses can choose to support one or more of WSD's elementary schools, Wahluke Junior High, Wahluke High School or at the district level. Participants donate to the school they're supporting, $500 for an elementary school or $1,000 for WJHS or WHS. "What makes this partnership different is it requires the PEAK partner to be in the building they're sponsoring three times during the year. And (the sponsor visits) can be all sorts of things," Harlow said. Some businesses have already signed up, including the Columbia Basin Health Association, Umpqua Bank, the real estate agency Generations Home Team NW and Grant County Public Utility District. Harlow said he's had people from other businesses express interest. "We're still looking for partners," he said. The South Grant County Chamber of Commerce is a sponsoring partner with WSD, and Pam Thorsen, secretary to the board of directors, said she thinks it's a good way for students and business owners to learn more about each other. "There's a lot of opportunity to engage the community," she said. The children are the next generation of employees and business owners, she said, whether in Mattawa or elsewhere. It's good for business owners to get to know them and for young people to get a look at the world after graduation. Thorsen said there are a lot of people in and around Mattawa — and elsewhere — who have information and experiences that could and would be beneficial to WSD students. She cited a Desert Aire neighbor who's an airline pilot, and the winery employees at a WHS career education fair who detailed opportunities available in that industry. "You just don't know where you might find resources," she said. Harlow said the PEAK initiative grew out of the effort to strengthen connections between the district and its residents. Sometimes it isn't easy to get volunteers for school activities, but in one case, the 2025 Amazing Shake, almost all the volunteers were from outside the district. Harlow said district officials wanted to find other ways to get out into the community and bring the community to school. "Then, just by chance, I was at a presentation at the Pasco School District," he said. Pasco has been sponsoring a similar program for about 15 years, he said. "I'd never heard of it, and I was totally amazed," he said.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wahluke principal retiring after 40-plus-year career
May 27—MATTAWA — Saddle Mountain Elementary Principal Kurt Hoffman said he became a teacher because he wanted to give young people the same type of experience he had in school. "I had a great time as a student and athlete. I wanted to see if I would be able to do that for others," Hoffman said. "It just makes sense that you'd like to replicate what you were given as a kid and give that back to kids as well." After seven years in the Wahluke School District and more than 40 years in education, Hoffman announced his retirement at the end of the school year. Hoffman said his original intention was to be a coach and teacher. "To be honest, I really thought I'd be a coach for a long time. So I was a PE major and coach when I first started, and then I progressed and became a principal," he said. The principal's job was a chance to expand his impact beyond one classroom, he said. "I got into administration feeling like I would be more empowered to help make things better," Hoffman said. "I truly believe I've been able to do that." But the administration also tested his skills and required him to adapt, he said. "The true challenge of the job, I think, is that there are so many aspects to the job that it's hard to be good at all of it," he said. "You have to really work on your strengths and surround yourself with really good people." Education has changed — a lot in some ways — over his career, he said, citing the impact of technology among other things. "I think technology and some different teaching strategies have been good, but I also think some of the old traditional ways were pretty good as well. I think in some ways it's been better, but in some ways, we need to keep a balance. We really need to continue to see what schools are really here for. I think we have to do a lot in today's school systems," Hoffman said. From his perspective, academics is the area of emphasis. "I really believe schools are here to grow and to give students academic foundations, so they can truly find themselves by the time they're done with 12th grade, so that they can truly go out and decide on a career path that they wish (to pursue)," he said. "And that the K-12 system has given them the ability to prepare for that, and have as many (options) as they can have." Expanding educational opportunities is one way technology has improved schools, he said. "I think technology has helped a lot, and different programs have helped expand what we're able to do and expose students to," he said. When talking to new teachers, he said, he emphasizes the value of patience. That's important throughout the whole system. "Some of the best advice I ever got was nudging over time, gentle nudging over time instead of mandating big changes. Because I think we can try to do too much at one time and then we really don't know what's worked," he said. "But if you have a method to making some changes in smaller ways, you can actually see the effects of those things." In addition, education policy and practices can be complex, sometimes too complex. "Sometimes I think we try to over-complicate things. I would try to keep it simple — really try to find your foundation for what your true purpose is and spend as much time as you can within that fundamental purpose," he said. Hoffman started his career in his hometown of Plummer, Idaho, then became the principal in the Harrington School District. He was a principal in the Lakeland, Idaho, school district, then spent a year with the Upward Bound program at the University of Idaho. He focused on students who were the first in their families to go to college, he said. But his main interest was the K-12 system, he said, and he took a job as assistant principal at Saddle Mountain Elementary. All WSD schools are on the same campus, he said, and that makes it easier for teachers at all grades to work together. "(The Wahluke School District) also offers the students a lot of opportunities in different programs. I think it's pretty incredible what they're able to offer the Wahluke students," he said. Looking back on it, Hoffman said education was the best job for him. "To be honest, I don't think I could have a better career choice. Super grateful for the people I've been able to work with, the kids, the parents, the challenge of trying to make our schools better for everybody — staff, students — the pace of the job, the variety of tasks that a principal has to do, has been really good for me," he said.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Community volunteers sought for Wahluke facility committee
Mar. 4—MATTAWA — People interested in helping write a plan to determine when and how the Wahluke School District will maintain and upgrade its facilities, among other things, are being invited to be part of a planning committee. The first meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. March 11 in the Wahluke School District office, 411 Saddle Mountain Drive. Wahluke Superintendent Andy Harlow said there are some community members on the committee, but he's hoping to add more. That's because community support is critical to making any plan work. "We have (administrators) and we have staff that are wanting to be involved, but we really need community members," he said. "We have four (district patron) commitments, but we'd like to get 10 community members. We'd like to get as many of them that are interested, because they're the ones that, in the end, make sure this whole thing happens, long after all of us are gone." District voters approved a capital levy in February that will be used to pay back a loan taken out to upgrade the heating-cooling system at Mattawa Elementary. The levy money also will pay for upgrades to the security and fire alarm systems in WSD's three elementary schools and Mattawa Junior High. Harlow said the committee will be working to determine what comes next, in what sequence and how much it might cost. The committee will be focusing on the next 10 years, Harlow said. As part of it, work committee members will be looking at all district expenditures, he said. "Everything we do is in this plan. It can be anything from buying a bus to buying curriculum to replacing a roof to repairing the high school track," he said. "We're looking at every detail on this." The district had a facility plan at one time, Harlow said. But projects were deferred, the plan became outdated and now needs a complete review. Participants on the committee will meet twice per month from March to May, he said. Each meeting will focus on one or two different buildings. "What we intend to do is walk the district," he said. "We'll do a couple of buildings or facilities each meeting, and then we will take all the input and start to build a plan." Some maintenance needs have been addressed, the Saddle Mountain Elementary roof being an example. It was replaced using federal funding the district received during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal funding also paid for a new video system. But there are still projects to be done, and Harlow said the committee will try to prioritize them. Among other things, some of the elementary schools need roof repairs; the Wahluke High School heating-cooling system is in need of upgrades. The WHS track is in poor repair. "Our tennis courts — we've got five tennis courts and three of them are breaking apart," Harlow added. The first meeting will start with a review of the committee's job, followed by a tour of Mattawa Elementary, next door to the district office. Once there's a list of potential projects, district officials will start looking at how much they're going to cost, he said. Cost will be one of the biggest factors in setting priorities. District officials have been looking for money to help pay some of the costs. "We've been writing grant (applications) like crazy for HVAC upgrades and we just wrote a grant for tennis courts. We want to maximize every dollar," he said. It's crucial to get community involvement to ensure the projects in the plan are not deferred, he said. "We really need community members to be part of this process as well, because it can't just be our project. We really have to let the community know what their investment is," he said.
