Seeking Silverdale and Central Kitsap

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This year the Central Kitsap School District hopes to implement a mentor program among eight schools located on what the district considers its east side. The mentor program is being looked at as a pilot, that if successful, will be implemented district wide.

Leah Kyaio, the recently hired diversity/mentoring specialist, has been working on this project since her hire in January.

The concept for the program, though, goes back to the 2005 school year. Administrators from Olympic High School, Ridgetop Junior High and Fairview Junior High met to discuss ways to increase student test scores on the WASL after Olympic High School failed to meet adequate yearly progress for the 2005 school year. Those talks also focused on narrowing the achievement gap between students listed as low-income and those of varying ethnic backgrounds that statistically hadn’t scored well on the WASL.

The talks moved to encompass not only the junior highs that feed into Olympic, but also the elementary schools that feed into the junior highs. A committee was formed, research was done, discussions were held and the group decided to focus on building stronger relationships between students and teachers.

That concept was implemented in 2006, and a preliminary look at test scores show students identified as “low-income” are testing better. While the students can’t be singled out and pulled aside to receive help (test results don’t give the names of the low-income students testing poorly) the district’s effort to work with all kids has proven to be successful based on the recent test data, said Chris Wyatt, director of student services for the district.

The district has been working on its mentor program model for a while, and is finally ready to implement it in the schools. It will offer a combination of adult, teen and peer mentors.

Here’s info from the district’s brochure:

Teen mentors currently attend Olympic High School, have earned good grades, attend school regularly, and want to make a difference in the lives of younger students. They are matched with an elementary student for a full school year, meeting about one hour a week during school hours.

Peer mentors currently attend Fairview or Ridgetop Junior High Schools. Like teen mentors, they have earned good grades, attend school regularly, and want to make a difference in the lives of younger students. They are also matched with an elementary student for a full school year and meet with their mentee about an hour each week in regularly scheduled activities.

Adult mentors are from the community, over the age of 20 years with reliable transportation and no criminal record for the last five years and no history of crimes against children. They are matched with a CKSD student for one full school year, meeting about one hour a week during regular school hours of for after school activities.

Requirements of a mentor: “All that is required is that you want to make a difference and are willing to be a role model and a friend. There are no requirements of education or experience. Make a commitment to be there and just be yourself.”

What they do: “When mentors are matched with their mentees, we try to ensure that there is a common link — things that they like that are similar. In this way, the matched pair decides what they want to do. Whether it is working on homework, engaging in a preplanned activity or just talking.”

If you want to learn more, contact Leah Kyaio at (360) 662-1729, or via email at leahk@cksd.wednet.edu.

They’d like to have mentors in training by the first part of November, so they can start getting them into the schools to work with kids. For those who can’t commit to a whole year, there will be two opportunities for people interested in volunteering. Contact Leah for more information about those dates and events.

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As he sailed off Bainbridge Island to his slip at Brownsville Marina Saturday around sunset, Allen Rogers wasn’t sure if the running lights on his sailboat were casting odd light on the water, causing him to see things.

Swimming from Brownsville to Bainbridge Island was what Rogers described as a “big thing.” Not the most technical description, but from a few hundred yards away, and with dusk fast approaching, Rogers wasn’t sure what he was looking at.

It wasn’t moving like a sea lion, and it sure as heck wasn’t a whale. Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster was out of the question — she’s only been spotted in Scotland. Could it be the ever-elusive Big Foot, making his Kitsap debut while Rogers watched?

As he maneuvered his 30-foot sailboat closer to the curious creature, Rogers realized what he was staring at.

A bear.

Presumably a black bear, but after shooting Rogers an intimidating stare, he decided not to get any closer.

“It was a great big bear. I mean huge,” Rogers said. “I’ve been boating for 35 years and I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve seen deer before, but never a bear.”

Rogers described the animal as “booking” its way across the channel between Brownsville and Bainbridge Island. He guessed it was going at a speed of 2 to 3 knots. It was also being taunted by a number of seagulls, which flew over its head, squawking.

After pulling into the marina and tying up, Rogers went over to the pier where a group of guys were fishing. He asked if they’d seen the bear. They confirmed Rogers’ eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. They saw the bear from the shore, swimming across the water, but still asked Rogers if it might have been Sasquatch?

Rogers confirmed it wasn’t adding, “Bainbridge Island has a population of one more bear right now.”

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Illahee community members who worked on the Illahee Community Plan (both versions) will be happy to know it passed through the planning commission stage Tuesday will no changes.

Commissioners heard public testimony on the plan earlier this month, and had their deliberations Tuesday. Jim Aho, volunteer with the Illahee Community Club, was at the meeting to see the plan take one more step closer to completion.

The commissioners didn’t have much to say about the plan, other than they felt DCD planner Katrina Knutson did a great job of making sure they had all the information they needed.

Commissioner Michael Gustavson said he couldn’t vote in support of the plan because he feels it wastes county resources when communities create plans implementing specific regulations that differ from overall county regulations.

“Every community has special issues,” he said. “How many plans do we need? Each plan puts more cost to the county. This is just one more regulation.”

Board chairman Fred Depee disagreed with Gustavson, saying the smaller communities not represented by a larger city need these plans to address their specific needs.

Commissioner Lou Foritano disagreed with both, saying the plans are created by these communities (i.e. Illahee, Manchester, etc.) because of a lack of regulations. The communities want control over what’s going on in their neighborhoods, and that control isn’t in place without a plan that specifically addresses their needs. But, with the plans must also come a balance of operational efficiency, he said.

In the end the board approved the plan, 7 to 1, moving it forward to the board of county commissioners for discussion, review and public comment. Commissioners plan to adopt the document before the end of the year.

Click here for the overall story of the Illahee Community Plan.

Click here for the story detailing the plan’s greenbelt overlay district.

Click here for the story on the first planning commission meeting.

Click here for the story on the planning commission’s public hearing on the plan.

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County planning commissioners made deliberations today on the Waaga Way connector roads, as proposed by Eric Baker, manager of the county’s special projects department.

The commissioners decided to approve the fourth alternative, revised (I know, it’s confusing), but they also added their own revision to the plan (another confusion). The reason for the commission’s amendment, was because, as one planning commissioner pointed out, the roads don’t really “connect” much. As proposed they branched out and then dead end with a cul-de-sac.

Commissioner Tom Nevins told the planning group he couldn’t support the proposal (alternative four, revised) because he felt the roads only supported neighboring property owners, and not the county as a whole.

“Our concern should extend beyond a few property owners to include the wider community,” Nevins said. “There’s no connectivity with this. It does serve the commercial property owners, which is nice I guess. But it does not serve the citizens of Kitsap.”

Nevins said one reason he made the amendment was because he had heard a meeting had been held in Silverdale where people expressed displeasure with the roads as proposed. That meeting was the Central Kitsap Community Council meeting, where a group of residents off Anderson Hill Road were in attendance for another agenda item. When they saw the presentation of the Waaga Way connector roads, they had a lot of questions and comments for Baker. Most were not in favor of the extension road (and with that the connector roads), which they felt will only jam up like the rest of Silverdale because there will be intersections with traffic lights. They felt the lights eliminate the purpose of the extension road to move traffic.

The process to create the connector roads included public input, but from area property owners, some of which were commercial property owners and others that were residential owners who could sell their now zoned commercial property to developers.

The amended version of the road placement proposal was approved 6 to 2 by the commissioners. That version will go to the board of county commissioners, for their deliberations and final approval.

The board will see all alternatives presented for the project, but will be told which one the planning commissioners recommended. Their recommendation is a modification that would keep the three roads, connecting off Old Frontier Road, off the extension road and at Clear Creek Road.

The change is reflected in the connector that goes north from the extension road toward Trigger Avenue. Instead of stopping at a cul-de-sac, as originally proposed, the road will connect to the east. It’s unclear what road it will connect to (possibly Bison) but ultimately it will come out on Old Frontier Road.

Baker said the reason the fourth, revised alternative, was presented with the cul-de-sac was because residents living off Old Frontier expressed concerns about an increase in traffic from the new developments. Also, the county has no immediate plans to improve the two-lane, rural roadway, Baker said.

Ultimately, the roads as proposed are really place holders, to make sure as the site is developed a store or building isn’t placed in the middle of where a connector road should be built. They’ll be developed by the private entities, but maintained by the county.

County commissioners will hold a public hearing on the matter in either late October, early November. I’ll put a brief in the paper when a date has been finalized.

Here’s the story that explains the options presented and how the roads will look.

Here’s the story that following the planning commission’s public hearing on the roads.

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Saturday’s power outage in Silverdale sparked something in Kitsap Sun copy editor Jim Thomsen’s memory bank, which prompted him to look up a video made two years ago about what life is like in the Kitsap Mall during an outage.

The video was on YouTube, and Jim found it for me, so I could post the link here. Someone obviously had some time on their hands. How many people actually think to write a song about half of the Kitsap Mall having power, while the other half sits in the dark? Maybe he was preparing himself for American Idol? Or Nashville’s next start?

Who knows, but here’s the link so you can see for yourself.

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I don’t work on Fridays, but Chris Dunagan, our environmental reporter, gave me a call today to let me know the Department of Ecology, Kitsap County and the owners of the proposed marina in Seabeck had sent out a release saying the project was going to be approved next week.

Chris will be writing the story for the paper, but I wanted to post something on my blog, since I just responded to Tom yesterday saying I hadn’t heard anything about what was happening.

Here’s the release:

The Department of Ecology, Kitsap County, and the owners of the Olympic View Marina in Seabeck have resolved a conflict that had stalled the shoreline permit for the project. Residents in the area may see progress on the first phase of the project — demolition of the old marina — in the next few months.

Ecology, Kitsap County, and the marina owners have worked out a path that will allow Ecology to approve a scaled back marina right away. Ecology and the County will then work together to solve a regulatory conflict that stands in the way of the full marina proposal.

“Ecology has seen the benefits of this project from the time we first became aware of it. We thought a solution was possible and I’m happy we have arrived at one,” said Jeannie Summerhays, Ecology’s Northwest Regional Director.

“I am pleased that everybody came together, rolled up our sleeves, and worked out a solution,” stated Josh Brown, Central Kitsap County Commissioner.

Ecology expects to issue the state shoreline permit next week. The permit will allow the owners to proceed with certain aspects of the marina, such as demolition of the current marina, preparation for construction, pile driving, and construction of much of the proposed marina. The permit will subsequently allow the owners to complete their full proposal once the regulatory conflict is resolved.

“We look forward to getting started,” said Wil Clark, one of the marina owners.

While the marina owners are getting started, Ecology and the County will pursue an amendment to the county shoreline regulations to resolve the regulatory conflict that dates back to 1976.

“We have taken a close look at the regulations that limit this marina,” said Geoff Tallent, manager of Ecology’s regional shorelines section. “We think an amendment makes sense and is consistent with the goals of the state Shoreline Management Act.”

The act includes goals to protect the environment, promote public access to the water, and give priority to development that must be located on the shoreline such as ports and marinas.

The amendment will require a look at the environmental conditions and past and current development in the marina area.

“We have done some preliminary analysis and an amendment appears to meet our current standards for protecting the environment and improving access to the water,” said Joe Burcar, a shoreline planner with Ecology.

The community will also have a chance to comment on the amendment. Ultimately the amendment must be approved by the Kitsap County Commissioners and the Ecology Director.

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Is it just me, or have other people noticed the increase in pregnant women — or women who have recently given birth — walking around? Is it something in the water?

It seems everywhere I turn there’s a pregnant woman walking the isles of the grocery store, or a newly created family of three fastening an adorable newborn into their recently purchased minivan.

While I love seeing the babies and making funny faces at them to make them smile, area school districts are also getting excited about this potential kiddie boom.

At the end of last night’s Central Kitsap School District school board meeting David McVicker, director of business and operations, gave an update on the district’s enrollment numbers for the year.

They’re looking good, really good. While McVicker warned it’s too early to say for certain that the declining enrollment bubble might be popping, he’s happy with what he’s seen this year (reminder: school’s only been in session one week).

Enrollment in kindergarten, first, second and third grades are up this year from what the district had initially budgeted. That was the case last year among the district’s kindergarten and first grade classes as well. Using skepticism, the district continued to wait for the numbers to drop last year, but they never did to the degree the district had budgeted.

So what does this mean? It could mean that the decline in enrollment that the district has been predicting has hit its low point and is now starting to go up. That will have an impact on the district’s budget, but it doesn’t mean they can say good-bye to their predicted budget deficits.

According to McVicker: “It appears there’s some flattening at the elementary level,” in enrollment numbers. He said he is “optimistically cautious” about future growth in the district, adding this year is the first year that first grade has been larger than the second, third and fourth grade classes — which is a good sign.

In fact, the district hired five new elementary school teachers to address the growing need of its younger student population.

By October McVicker hopes to have a better idea of what enrollment looks like, once things stabilize.

While they wait for that, I think I might stay away from the water for a while.

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I received this link to a YouTube video, put together by families supporting CureSearch, from Trina Swift-Crosby, the mom of Montana who last weekend celebrated her 1-year anniversary of living cancer free.

The video is worth the watch, and reminds us that while we may get overloaded with requests to “support the cure” of many variations of cancer, childhood cancer is the largest killer of children above any other disease. It’s also scary to think Congress recently made a decision that will impact the amount of money going toward funding medical research into finding the cure for various types of childhood cancer.

The video has more statistics and photos set to a song written by Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. While it has been said the song (Fix You) was written by Martin for his wife Gwyneth Paltrow, who suffered depression after her father Bruce Paltrow died, the words are perfect for the video.

Please take time to watch it – it’s about 5 minutes. Make sure you have tissues near by, it definitely gets the tear ducts flowing. (I hope it also inspires you to do something locally to support childhood cancer).

Watch the video here.