Latest news with #WashingtonElementarySchool
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Beloved Tacoma school crossing guard known for her crazy outfits laid off
As streams of children bounded out of Washington Elementary School in Tacoma's North End on Tuesday, 'Miss Peggy' was there to greet them in the cross walk. For 29 years, 68-year-old Peggy Tonnema has spread joy to kids and parents as the school's vibrant and beloved crossing guard. On Tuesday, she was dressed as Wonder Woman with a long pink wig, red cape, bejeweled pink glasses, glittery blue skirt and hand-puppet gloves as she waved a neon flag and cooed at families crossing the street. Rain or shine, Tonnema always wears wacky and bright outfits when she, twice a day, guides families across the busy intersection. A visit to her costume closet in the school reveals a floor-to-ceiling collection of bright wigs, funny hats, patterned shirts, accessories, boas, gloves, glasses and Halloween costumes. The outfits were donated to her over the decades by parents, students and complete strangers who recognized her on the street. As she stood in the middle of the road Tuesday afternoon, cars slowed to call out to her from their windows. Tonnema said some of the drivers were former students she'd watched grow up and bring their own kids to school. She screams at cars that speed past. She calls out to kids and parents by name, teasing them with her bird hand puppets and reminding them of the late start the following day. Tonnema won't be a crossing guard next school year. Although she works about an hour and a half a day (she also doubles as a school nurse), Tonnema was one of 114 paraeducators who were told their positions would be eliminated in the 2025-2026 school year as the Tacoma Public School District faces a $30 million deficit. Tacoma Public Schools has cited rising costs and insufficient funding from the state as reasons for the cuts. Although she was offered a chance to reapply for her job as an hourly employee, Tonnema said she won't, to stand with the other paraeducators who are being laid off. 'It's not right,' she said. 'I could stay, but I can't. And that makes me sad.' The decision comes with immense grief, for both Tonnema and families who have seen her as a community fixture of joy and support over the years. Tonnema said her outfits have grown more complex over time. She started wearing bright colors, like a bright yellow cap. Then she found some antennae, and the kids begged her to put them all on at once. People began gifting her more items to add to her collection. A 'We Love Miss Peggy' Facebook page documents many of her outfits, which included recent themes for Cinco De Mayo, a Star Wars-themed May the Fourth, May Day, Earth Day and Wacky Wednesday. Tonnema said the kids have a 'Miss Peggy' dress-up day now. When asked how it would feel to hang up her hat, Tonnema said, 'devastated.' According to her termination notice, which she shared with The News Tribune, she was told on May 8 'there would be a change in [her] current position' and her assignment as a 0.2 full-time employee crossing guard 'will conclude at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.' 'Your last authorized workday in this assignment will be Friday, June 20, 2025. After this date, you will be considered displaced and subject to reassignment in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the District and the Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals Local 461. Your reassignment for the 2025–2026 school year will be contingent on your ability to qualify for, interview and be selected for an available position,' said HR director Steven Deaderick. 'Please know that this displacement decision is not a reflection of your work or contributions. We deeply appreciate your commitment to Tacoma Public Schools and your support of Every Student, Every Day. Your efforts have made a meaningful impact on our students' success.' On Tuesday Tonnema said she wanted to dress as Wonder Woman 'because I wanted to stand for truth, justice and the American way.' 'Our country is based on our children. Our children are going to move away. We have to educate them. We have to teach them properly. And to do that, we have to have staff,' she said. 'The paraeducators are right there on the ground floor making sure that kids get the extra care that they need — and there's plenty of them that need that.' When her now 34-year-old son attended Washington Elementary in 1996, Tonnema said, every kindergarten had a full-time paraeducator in the classroom. She has been involved in the Parent Teacher Association for decades and has seen cuts to school nurses, librarians, music and art. 'We just keep being outraged and quiet. That's over. I can't do it. I can't. They have to let the city know, let the mayor know, let the whole education [system know],' she said. 'It's time to raise a ruckus. That's what I'm going to do.' In February when Tonnema's car was stolen, the community raised more than $10,000 on GoFundMe to help her replace it. Behind a pane of glass in a school cabinet are awards Tonnema has received, like the Safe Kids Child Injury Prevention Award in 2018 and the Traffic Safety Superstars Award in 2006. On the wall by her costume closet are thousands of photographs of Tonnema and kids she's helped over the years, in addition to Christmas cards and other messages from families. 'She's a pillar in the community. It would be very different without her,' said Annie Lindgren, who was walking her first grader and infant across the street Tuesday. 'We turn the corner and we are very excited to see what she's wearing every day. She makes everyone smile and feel important. She knows all the kid's names, she knows the siblings' names.' Lindgren said she lives about six blocks away from the school and thought the district's decision to cut Tonnema's position was 'terrible.' 'We need to figure out a way to keep positions like that for the kids,' she said. 'It's not just keeping us safe, but I think all the paras and everything are really important for our kids and the teachers.' Parent Will Brown said Tonnema is 'way more than a crossing guard,' going out of her way to help support kids and hand them fun things like Monkeyshines. 'The last place we need to be cutting anything from is education,' Brown said. 'It's like, the most obvious investment you can do [for] the future.' Uniquely is a series from The News Tribune that covers the moments, landmarks and personalities that define what makes living in Pierce County so special.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Whiteside County judge hands down maximum 15-year sentence in Sterling attempted sex assault case
Apr. 21—MORRISON — Saying that serious crimes need to result in harsh sentences, a Whiteside County judge Monday ordered a Freeport man convicted of attempted predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim younger than 13 to serve the maximum 15-year sentence. Whiteside County Circuit Court Judge James Heuerman then went one step further by agreeing with Whiteside County Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Homan's request that 22-year-old LeAndrew Adams serve the 15 years consecutively to a 3-year prison sentence he was given for throwing toilet water at officers in November 2023 while he was being held in jail in the sex assault case. "He chose the location and he chose the victim," Homan said when speaking of the need for making the sentences consecutive, adding the victim has been in a "mental prison" inside her mind in the two years since the attempted assault Adams was found guilty by a jury in February of one count of attempted predatory criminal sexual assault, one of several filed in connection with the April 2023 case that accused Adams of luring a 12-year-old girl into an alcove near the playground at Sterling's Washington Elementary School and then sexually assaulting her. The jury at that time found Adams not guilty of two counts of aggravated battery in a public place and two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim younger than 13. Homan said Monday a consecutive sentence was appropriate based on Adams' criminal history that included a Cook County conviction of attempted car hijacking for which he was serving conditional discharge and a domestic battery conviction in Winnebago County. He was serving 24 months' probation in the domestic battery case at the time of the attempted sexual assault in Sterling in 2023, Homan said. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated battery to a peace officer in July 2024 for the toilet-water-throwing incident that happened while he was being held in jail, according to court documents. "There's a pattern here and that pattern is violence," Homan said. [ Whiteside County jury hears allegations at center of Sterling sex assault case ] During the trial, the victim now 14, told the jury that in April 2023, she and a 12-year-old boy classmate first met Adams while hanging out on the playground at Sterling's Jefferson Elementary School. The girl and Adams — who the victim thought was anywhere from 14 to 16 years old — exchanged Snapchat information, she said. After the two messaged each other over the next couple of days, the three got together again April 12, 2023, after Adams called the girl on her phone while she and the 12-year-old boy were at Kilgour Park in Sterling, she said. The girl testified that the three met at Kilgour and decided to head to Washington Elementary School's playground. The girl testified that when they ended up at Washington, the three sat on benches and played on the monkey bars. The 12-year-old boy had to leave, so the girl walked away with that friend but later returned to the Washington School grounds and rejoined Adams, she said. Several minutes of security footage taken at the school shows the two swinging on the playground swings. The girl said that she and Adams, whom she called Drew, walked around the playground for several minutes and into what is known as the grassy "U-shape" portion of the schoolyard that is surrounded by structures on three sides. A tiny alcove, which could not be seen on camera and is secluded, is where the two ended up, she said. The girl said that as they entered the alcove, Adams pulled her close to him, pinned her with his arms from behind, put one hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming, and then moved that hand to her neck. She said he then moved the same hand under her leggings and sexually assaulted her. She said she broke free as he was pulling down his pants and that she ran as fast as she could until she became breathless. She caught her breath and made her way to a woman who was walking near the school. The woman testified she called 911 to report what the girl had said happened to her. Whiteside County Public Defender James Fagerman, who defended Adams, told the jury that the girl's version of what happened changed over time. Fagerman reiterated those conflicts during Monday's sentencing hearing, saying the victim's stories about what happened were inconsistent. He also told Heuerman that Adams' history should be taken into consideration. He said Adams, who was born in Chicago, ended up in foster care for seven years after his parents separated when he was 4. He ran away from foster care, and later ended up living on the streets in Winnebago County. Fearing that he would be rounded up and sent back to foster care, he headed to the Sterling area, where he continued to live on the streets. Fagerman said Adams should be spared the maximum sentence, and that the judge should take into account that at the age of 20, the young man's brain wasn't fully developed and impulsive decisions and taking greater risks reflect that. "This is a child himself who is recovering from his own childhood trauma," Fagerman said of Adams when asking for the minimum four-year sentence. But Heuerman didn't agree, saying that Adams' criminal history had to be taken into account and that he was a threat to the community. Prior to Heuerman's sentencing decision, the victim read her impact statement in open court, saying she had nightmares, had thoughts of suicide, had harmed herself and was reminded of the incident when seeing the location. Calling him a disgusting person, a stalker and a pedophile, the victim said her mental pain is ongoing. "I can't get rid of the flashbacks of you touching me," she said. "I was just 12 years old," she said, adding that she is proud that she is able to stand up for herself. "I'm glad I'm getting my justice." Heuerman also said Adams, who declined giving a statement prior to sentencing, should thank the victim for breaking free of his grip and running away, because if she hadn't, Adams would have followed through, committed the assault and faced even more punishment. "The only reason he is being sentenced for attempted is because of the courage of the victim," Heuerman said. "Mr. Adams owes (the victim) a debt of gratitude for running away," he said.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Like a rolling stone, Bob Dylan returns next month to Kansas. For me, he never left.
Singers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan perform at the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963. (U.S. Information Agency archive) The first time I heard a Bob Dylan song was at Washington Elementary School in Baxter Springs, where in the auditorium a young music teacher led our class in singing 'Blowin' in the Wind.' I couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 at the time, but I remember thinking so hard about the words and what they meant that I slipped into a kind of reverie. I say it was the first time I heard a Bob Dylan song, even though 'Blowin' in the Wind' had received enough airplay that it became part of the furniture of my childhood. The most commercially successful version of the song was by Peter, Paul and Mary, whose syrupy pop rendition robbed the song of its power but made it safe for general consumption in 1963. Sitting in a little chair in the auditorium of Washington school, singing the verses for myself, I discovered Dylan and the power of poetry to shape the world. Memory is a slippery thing, and I hesitate to give more detail for fear of being wrong. I'm uncertain of the name of the teacher, or the year, but I believe it was one autumn between the assassination of JFK and when Apollo 1 burned on the launchpad in 1967. I loved music class, at least until the band instructor forced me to try the trumpet, because that's what my older brother played. What I wanted was a guitar. Our music teacher may not have understood she was leading us in a protest song. The song, if not its meaning, had been adopted as part of our national culture, just as another song she taught us had — Woody Guthrie's 'This Land is Your Land.' I've been thinking about Dylan lately because he'll be coming to Kansas next month, for shows in Wichita and Topeka. But hardly a week has gone by in the past decade that I haven't thought about Dylan in some way, listening to his music or reading about him or playing his songs on my guitar. The latter is an attempt to better understand the songs, in the same way reading aloud helps you understand literature. If there is one thing attempting to sing Dylan can teach you, besides the fact you're no genius, it's this: His breath and the song are one. 'Dylan had become a column of air,' the poet Allen Ginsberg said of watching Dylan perform, as quoted in the 2005 Martin Scorsese documentary 'No Direction Home.' 'His total physical and mental focus was this single breath coming out of his body,' Ginsberg recalled. 'He had found a way in public to be almost like a shaman, with all of his intelligence and consciousness focused on his breath.' I've also been thinking about the intersection of culture and politics since Donald Trump had himself appointed chair of the Kennedy Center by a handpicked board of loyalists. In announcing the planned changes, Trump cited a 'Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.' But more on this later. Now 83, Dylan is touring to promote his 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' album, released five years ago. He's been to Kansas a few times before, notably in 1976 and 2004. For a detailed take on his 2023 Kansas City show at the Midland Theater, check out Steve Paul's review. Dylan's the subject of renewed cultural attention since the release last year of James Mangold's 'A Complete Unknown,' a somewhat fictional account of Dylan's life from the time he came to New York in 1961 to when he went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The movie, starring Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, is based on 'Dylan Goes Electric!' a 2015 book by music historian Elijah Wald. I read Wald's book long before seeing the movie, and before that read his books on blues guitar cult hero Robert Johnson and Greenwich Village folksinger Dave Van Ronk. Wald is a source to trust. 'Dylan at Newport is remembered as a pioneering artist defying the rules and damn the consequences,' Wald writes in 'Electric!' — and then goes on to demolish that simple take. 'In most tellings, Dylan represents youth and the future, and the people who booed (at Newport) were stuck in the dying past,' Wald writes. 'But there is another version, in which the audience represents youth and hope, and Dylan was shutting himself off behind a wall of electric noise, locking himself in a citadel of wealth and power, abandoning idealism and hope and selling out to the star machine.' Dylan remains an enigma, the unreliable narrator of his own story. Born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, he invented himself as Bob Dylan, and has been reimagining himself since. Although famously known as a writer of protest songs, he distanced himself from politics; born into a Jewish family, he converted to evangelical Christianity in his late 30s; celebrated as the conscience of youth, he's now firmly in his eighth decade. While 'A Complete Unknown' has gotten knocks for getting some things downright wrong (the songs Dylan played at Newport, for example), what the movie gets right is Dylan's chameleon-like character and the corrosive effect his genius, or perhaps just his personality, had on those around him. His relationship with songwriter and activist Joan Baez, played by Monica Barbaro in the film, is difficult to watch because Dylan's real relationship is with his work, not with her. Dylan broke her heart, but as part of healing Baez forgave him decades later. Another contemporary, Joni Mitchell, considered Dylan a fake, and in a 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times said, 'Everything about Bob is a deception.' Even Pete Seeger, the banjo-playing activist who was Dylan's mentor, felt betrayed, not because Dylan had gone electric but because he disavowed politics. Perhaps hurt by Seeger's disapproval, Dylan didn't return to the Newport festival for 37 years. Since plugging in the Fender Stratocaster at Newport in 1965, Dylan has become the most famous American performer since Elvis Presley. He's won just about every award a musician could hope for. He has 10 Grammy awards, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar for best song. In 2016, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the most persuasive evidence that his songs are indeed poetry. He won for 'having created new poetic expressions in the American song tradition,' according to the Swedish Academy. 'Dylan's songs are rooted in the rich tradition of American folk music and are influenced by the poets of modernism and the beatnik movement. Early on, Dylan's lyrics incorporated social struggles and political protest. Love and religion are other important themes in his songs.' His work offers 'surprising, sometimes surreal imagery.' This imagery is in the sad forests and dead oceans and the other nightmares of 'A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall,' released in 1963. Also 'Gates of Eden,' from 1965: 'Of war and peace the truth just twists / Its curfew gull just glides.' To listen to Dylan, really listen, is to read deeply. In 1997, Dylan was honored at the Kennedy Center for a lifetime of achievement. As is the tradition at such events, Dylan watched as other artists performed a selection of his work. Among them was Bruce Springsteen, who sang 'The Times They Are A-Changing.' The song, Springsteen said, was written during a time when people's yearning for a just society was exploding. 'Bob Dylan had the courage to stand in that fire,' Springsteen said, 'and he caught the sound of that explosion. This song remains as a beautiful call to arms.' Other artists honored by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., include Led Zeppelin, Merle Haggard, the Eagles, Johnny Cash, U2, Ray Charles, Reba McEntire, and Earth, Wind & Fire. At least those are the ones I can remember. I attempted to find a comprehensive list on the Kennedy Center website, but it has been down since Trump purged the board Feb. 12. 'The goal of the Kennedy Center has been to live up to our namesake, serving as a beacon for the world and ensuring our work reflects America,' the ousted center president, Deborah F. Rutter, said in a statement reported by The New York Times. 'From the art on our stages to the students we have impacted in classrooms across America, everything we have done at the Kennedy Center has been about uplifting the human spirit in service of strengthening the culture of our great nation.' If ever there was a persuasive argument for the power of bipartisanship, it is the record of the Kennedy Center in recognizing achievement across the cultural spectrum. That record is now in jeopardy. It is difficult to imagine the Kennedy Center fulfilling its mission now that its board has been packed with political loyalists. Its board members are now all Trump appointees and include his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and longtime aide Dan Scavino. Trump, at 78, is nearly as old as Dylan. They are near-contemporaries, and during their careers have appealed to a roughly similar audience, the American working class. Both have been voices for change, although one advocated for the advancement of poor people and minorities while the other has demonized them. Dylan is the personification of breath. Trump, the stifling authoritarian impulse. The 'golden age' of culture Trump promises has already failed from an injection of toxic ideology. The same would be true if the board were composed only of Biden appointees. In a free society, a political agenda is incompatible with a public mission to promote the arts. Otherwise, it's all just propaganda. Among the reasons Dylan has endured as an artist is the very thing that most frustrates his critics: his ability to redefine himself. In talking about Dylan, there's not just one artist, but a multitude. He has always been busy being born. There's the Dylan of Greenwich Village, the Dylan of Newport '65, the Dylan of 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.' And the Dylan of today. What Dylan has captured, like Walt Whitman, is the American yearning for freedom. The freedom to create, the freedom from the past, the freedom of the eternally open road. I can feel it when I play his songs, an acoustic guitar in my hands and a harmonica on a brace around my neck, and sometimes the words and music come together in a way that feels like pure breath. The Dylan song I never play is 'Blowin' in the Wind' because it reminds me of all the friends from Washington Elementary who are no longer around. I have not been close to any of them since leaving Baxter Springs, these many decades since, and have never gone to a school reunion, but their deaths haunt as if questions on the wind. I won't be seeing Dylan in concert next month because frankly the price of a ticket is out of my budget. I don't believe many of his younger fans will be able to afford to see him, either. Tickets went on sale Feb. 7 at $65 for the Topeka show, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. They now start at $114 from online vendors and range into the thousands for premium seats. While I hate missing the chance to see in person the artist who first made me realize that songs were poetry, I take solace in the fact that we will always have Dylan's work, just as we have Whitman's. And the work is enough. 'For Dylan, it is the art of the song that matters,' writes Richard F. Thomas in his 2017 book on Dylan. 'Song has powerful effects, especially when it responds to human conflict, to perceived injustice, to oppression. It is through song that we give depth to the sentiments for which mere speech is at times of crisis insufficient.' Dylan remains a shamanic figure in American culture, a musical messiah uncomfortable with his followers, a performer who sometimes hates his symbiotic relationship with his audience. Don't trust what Dylan says, trust what he has written. When mere speech is insufficient, turn to 'All Along the Watchtower.' The conversion between the Joker and the Thief is as compelling today as when it was released in 1967. The golden age of American culture? We don't need a president to decree it. It has always been there for us, in folk and blues and gospel, in country and pop and rap. You just have to read deeply enough to find it. Max McCoy is an award-winning author and journalist. Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Residents react to closure of Washington Elementary School
WASHINGTON, La. () — Parents, grandparents and even nutrition managers at were not happy after the School Board announced the doors of the school would be closing in order to make the building a . 'They have no right to even do what they're doing,' said a Washington resident. Those reactions are still felt today as some residents said the school board was making a mistake by taking opportunity away from a school that has shown big improvements in recent years. Town Council member for District four, Mary Lavergne, said she was hurt by the boards decision as many parents were left in the dark regarding any information on the school and may struggle with transportation. 'It's been a top earning school two years in a row, and it will rank number seven most improved school in the state,' she said. 'I saw my teachers cry, I felt so bad. Those Washington Elementary teachers. The two principals, Mr. Sylvester and Miss Laverne, put in the work. All those beautiful teachers that we got paraprofessionals, cooks, janitors. I feel sorry for them.' As the community reflects on the board's decision, Lavergne said the fight to keep the school open may not be over. 'I want to thank the board members that stood up for us. In the past year, they have really stood up for us. And even the ones that didn't vote for us. I know I don't have no ill feelings or hard feelings against them, but it's more things we're doing as a community. We're not letting this go,' she said. Residents react to closure of Washington Elementary School Acadiana woman makes Mardi Gras-inspired makeup palette, sells out statewide Locals create nightly prayer group to unite community in supporting 7-year-old boy with rare disease Severe Storms Possible Saturday Night & Much Colder Weather Sunday… Alleged armed robbers flee Morgan City, found in Beaumont, Texas Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Yahoo
Alleged armed robbers flee Morgan City, found in Beaumont, Texas
MORGAN CITY, La. () — Two people were found hiding out in Beaumont, Texas in attempts to evade alleged armed robbery charges in Morgan City. Officials said on Feb. 7 Semaj Jaqualyn Douglas, 19, and Tanya Sanainoel Toussaint, 20, used social media to arrange a meeting with a man around the Greenwood Street area in Morgan City. It was here Douglas allegedly robbed the man at gunpoint, resulting in the man getting shot and sent to the hospital for moderate injuries. With the help of the and the , were able to find Douglas and Toussaint hiding out in the Beaumont, Texas area and they have been taken to a Beaumont jail until police bring them back to Morgan City to face charges. Semaj Jaqualyn Douglas is facing charges of attempted second degree murder, armed robbery and armed robbery with a firearm. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Tanya Sanainoel Toussaint is facing charges of principal to attempted second degree murder, armed robbery and solicitation for prostitution The investigation is still ongoing. Residents react to closure of Washington Elementary School Acadiana woman makes Mardi Gras-inspired makeup palette, sells out statewide Locals create nightly prayer group to unite community in supporting 7-year-old boy with rare disease Severe Storms Possible Saturday Night & Much Colder Weather Sunday… Alleged armed robbers flee Morgan City, found in Beaumont, Texas Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
