Ordway
Elementary did something pretty amazing around this time last
year. Through the leadership of teacher Sean Megy, the school had
300 out of its 400 students bike to school on National Bike to Work
Day.
That’s 75 percent of the student body.
This year, Megy would like to hit the 100 percent mark. He knows
that’s unlikely, but by aiming high he thinks Ordway may top last
year’s turnout.
I plan to check in and see how the school’s effort goes this
Friday.
In other Bike to Work initiatives, Squeaky Wheels is hoping to get
more than 200 cyclists on the 7:05 a.m. ferry to Seattle on Friday.
Last year, they nearly reached 160, so 200 is well within reach,
said Squeaky Wheeler Dana Berg.
Matias Solberg, Liam Solberg,
Gavin Jakubik and Mitchell Melby lean on a new bench at Ordway
Elementary honoring slain school counselor Jeffrey
McKinstry.
Here are a few more photos I took while covering the dedication
of “Counselor’s Corner” at Ordway Elementary School on Tuesday.
The memorial is at the spot school counselor Jeffrey McKinstry
stood every morning to greet students as they hopped off the bus.
McKinstry was killed by his mentally ill son in 2007. For more
about the dedication, click here.
McKinstry's family release
balloons to open Counselor's CornerMike McKinstry shares memories
of his late brother.
Blakely Elementary students
yank ivy from Blakely Harbor Park on Wednesday
Andrea Pickett can’t remember the campfire songs she sang as a
fourth-grader at her Bainbridge school’s outdoor education camp,
but she has no problem recalling the lessons about nature she
learned there.
“I remember how to catalog trees and understand the different
chemical pHs of soils,” said Pickett, now the mother of a
fourth-grader enrolled at Blakely Elementary. “Some of my most
powerful memories when I was that age came from that
experience.”
So, when Pickett heard last spring that the Bainbridge Island
School District was cutting the three-decades-old outdoor education
program, she and dozens of other parents rallied to save it.
Through various fundraising efforts, the parent-teacher
organizations from Blakely, Ordway and Wilkes elementary schools
raised enough money over the last seven months to revive the
program, which includes annual two-night trips for fourth-graders
to IslandWood and other environmental science centers.
“It’s been a phenomenal effort on the part of parents,” Blakely
Principal Ric Jones said. “We’re facing some serious budget
considerations, and the outdoor ed program was a considerable
expense and undertaking.”
The district announced it would cut the $32,500 program last May
as part of a larger effort to trim $1.5 million from its
budget.
Many children had been anticipating the program for years,
parents said.
“For many kids, it’s kind of a right of passage where they spend
a night away from home for the first time,” said Kirsten
Fitzgerald, the mother of an Ordway fourth-grader. “From a young
age they start looking forward to it after hearing about from their
brothers and sisters.”
The procession of cheering, sign-waving kids stretched almost
the entire mile separating Ordway Elementary School from the
Helpline House food bank.
Snaking along Madison Avenue, the students beat on drums, smiled
at motorists and lugged backpacks full of donated food.
“This feels good because I know it will make other people happy
for Thanksgiving,” said third-grader Ellie Devries as she hauled
cans of cranberry sauce, olives and soup along with about 400 other
students from every Ordway classroom.
