Small groups of students soon will have opportunities to meet for sports conditioning or club and group activities, thanks to changes in state health guidelines and rules from the North Puget Sound League that gained approval by the Tahoma School Board.

Adjustments made by health officials in recent weeks prompted new guidance from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool. In response, athletic directors from the school districts in the North Puget Sound League made a plan to allow students to return as safely as possible to extracurricular activities and athletics. For now, that means very small groups of six or fewer students with their advisers or coaches, and all club meetings or sports conditioning must happen outdoors.

There are two distinct differences between this proposal and the ability to offer in-person school, board members pointed out: All of these athletic and club activities will occur outdoors, and all of these meetings will be confined to small, consistent groups.

The School Board reviewed this proposal at its meeting on Tuesday, asked questions and voted to approve the plan 5-0. School boards in the other NPSL districts, including Federal Way, Kent and Auburn, have not yet approved the plan.

“It’s a huge win for our kids,” said School Board Vice President Katrina Montgomery.

Students need something to look forward to, and this plan is one thing that can offer that hope, Athletic Director Tony Davis said. “We’re excited about it. The kids are excited about it.”

Senior Levi Kovacs, who plays football and wrestles, said he has really missed being able to go out and compete with his teammates. "Everything from practice to games or tournaments and even just hanging out with one another. One of the special parts of high school athletics for me has been the relationships I have made through my years. I am most definitely looking forward to being able to meet in person with my teammates and coaches."

He said that the ability to meet in small groups will help the physical side of their preparation as a team, but will also help begin shifting their mindsets. "We will be able to see each other putting in work. For me, a big part of football and wrestling is knowing that I am not just competing for myself but I'm competing for the guys to my right and left. With these conditioning workouts, I know that every member of our team will be able to see that and be inspired," Kovacs said.

There is no guarantee that in-person competitions will be able to happen, whether in activities or sports, but this move will allow students to meet in very small groups to discuss, plan and participate in some aspects of their activity; or to condition for their sport. Other health requirements such as social distancing must still be met. Students must remain in the same “pod” or cohort/group, to limit mixing of different small groups.

The changes were prompted by adjustments to the Washington State Department of Health Decision Tree on Oct. 16. One of the changes that affects activities and athletics states: “Under Extracurricular, DOH created flexibility for schools and districts to cautiously phase in extracurricular activities as they phase in in-person learning to create more parity between school-related and community related activities based on disease activity level. DOH continues to prioritize educational opportunities over extracurricular or other activities in the surrounding community.”

King County is currently in a “high” level of COVID-19 activity, as defined by the Key Indicators. When transmission rates are high, health officials state in the decision tree that they “Strongly recommend canceling or postponing most in-person extracurricular activities, including sports performances, clubs, events, etc. with the option to allow extracurricular activities in small groups of 6 or fewer students."

To read the guiding documents that the School Board reviewed, click here.

The District Reopening Task Force on Tuesday recommended to the School Board that elementary students return to buildings for in-person learning no sooner than January; and that secondary students return to buildings for in-person learning no sooner than Jan. 26, following the semester break. The board members asked clarifying questions of the task force members and district staff. They plan to make a decision about the recommendation at their next regular meeting on Nov. 10.

The task force members who presented to the board emphasized that while it is a complex situation with many factors, the primary reasons for their recommendation were input from parent/guardian and staff surveys, the timing of Winter Break and the likely increase in transmission rates during the holidays, following the state Department of Health Decision Tree’s recommendations for phased re-entry and calendar considerations at the secondary level to support the timing of the semesters.

Superintendent Mike Hanson said that the task force has been helpful at a number of key points since March. “This is one of those times that leaning on the task force has been really helpful,” he said, noting that additional viewpoints and thinking helped strengthen the process.

Task force member Denise Wagner, who has students in middle and high school, shared the results of recent surveys with the board members. “We wanted to know if people wanted to return to school as quickly as possible or more time before the transition,” Wagner said. “We also wanted to know how much time people wanted.”

About 4,600 guardians and parents responded to the survey, which represents 49 percent of all guardians; about 600 staff responded to the survey, which represents about 70 percent of all staff. 

Family responses:

Staff responses:

In addition to the thinking and reasoning mentioned above, the task force members said they also considered the social-emotional health of students, the quality of the remote and in-person programs, trends in COVID-19 rates (including local vs. county rates), Public Health protocols, the ability to staff not only classrooms but fill sub positions, bus driver positions and other vital needs throughout the district, student/family needs in the community such as childcare and other factors.

Photo courtesy of Kurt Audett

Yo, ho, ho -- there’s a barrel of fun to be had at the first-ever drive-through community Halloween Pirate Ship. Filled with Disney-style magic inspired by the Pirates of the Carribean and the Haunted Mansion, the experience includes special effects, spooky characters and the chance to donate to the Maple Valley Food Bank & Emergency Services.

The creative and elaborate project is a collaboration between the Knudsen Family, the Middle Schools of Tahoma PTA and a team of hard-working volunteers.

"We wanted to do something to bring some normalcy, to raise money for the food bank and to build community," said Eric Knudsen, who had the idea to transition his family's longtime Halloween pirate display into a drive-through, COVID-safe event. For more than a decade, the Knudsens created and hosted a pirate ship at their own home in Maple Woods. Last year was meant to be the final year, because they moved and couldn’t store most of the pieces they had built, collected and created over time.

Knudsen said he and his wife, Renee, and son, Jacob have had ongoing conversations during recent months about what they could do to help others during the approaching holiday season. They thought of a community Halloween event that people could attend and that would also bring in donations for a local charity. Brainstorming, they visited local parks and looked for a location. They considered several options, but the short timeline made it seem impossible.

Ready to give up on the idea, they instead decided to post it to Facebook as a last-ditch effort. 

Tahoma High School student Cooper Perez heard of the possibility and decided to email Superintendent Mike Hanson, asking whether the district would grant permission to use Summit Trail Middle School’s parking lot to host the event.

Perez said he felt like there had to be a way to make the event happen. “Our community needs something fun right now. Our food bank needs help more than ever right now. I know many families are torn on if they want to participate in typical Halloween events like trick-or-treating and this gives families an opportunity to still do something festive.”

Within a few days, arrangements were made for STMS to host the ship. Cooper and his mom, Daedre Perez, along with PTA board members from both middle schools, began recruiting volunteers to help the Knudsen family assemble the ship. Many pieces had to be built from scratch, actors had to be recruited to play the parts of pirates and other spooky characters, costumes needed to be assembled and volunteers were needed to guide traffic and collect donations.

A very short time later, the pirate ship held its soft opening. The event continues tonight (Friday) and Saturday from 4-10:30 p.m. It is free to drive through, but attendees are asked to consider a donation of nonperishable food items or a monetary donation. So far, community members have donated nearly 2 tons of food.

“We’re just so pleased to see a lot more donations coming in than ever before,” Knudsen said, noting that he gauges the success by the number of kids' smiles and the donations. The smiles and reactions are a huge boost, he said. “It charges things up, and gives us the extra push when our backs hurt. That’s what it’s all about.”

Cooper Perez said that for him, the best responses have come while playing the “Ghost Groom” in the display. “People saying ‘thank-you’ as they drive by and little kids say ‘Look at that!” or ‘Look at the bride’ -- because of course even if you’re a ghost bride and groom, all eyes should be on the bride.”

In terms of donations, Daedre Perez said she has been overwhelmed by the community and how quickly they answered the call for volunteer needs, as well as the donation of talents and donation of supplies.

Summit Trail PTA co-president Denise Wagner agreed. “It’s become an all consuming project, but it is amazing,” she said. “People are so happy, so impressed and so grateful -- and have been so generous with food/monetary donations!”

Knudsen said that he hopes this message will stick with those who attend, long after the pirate ship sails away this year: “A student can make a difference. The community can make a difference.” 

And, for those who have witnessed what the Knudsens and their friends and neighbors have accomplished through the years, it’s clear that one family can make a difference, too.

For a video preview of the event, click here for a clip shared by an attendee on Facebook.

Note: Attendees must remain in their vehicles at all times. No restrooms are available. Oversized vehicles larger than a full-sized SUV will not fit (clearance is 7’ 3”). PTA volunteers are still needed to help make this event a success. If you can help, please click here.

In a year of unprecedented challenges, finding ways to support students is crucial. That's why Tahoma is in the process of implementing a Wellness Screener for kindergarten-grade 12 students. The purpose of this screener is to check in with our students to offer support and resources as needed. This is not a mental health screener. The screener for grades 6-12 is called “Here to Help” and the K-5 tool, which is designed for students to use with their parent/guardian, is called “My Kid’s Voice."

The results of this screener will be available only to the Care Team at each school for the purpose of supporting students as needed. The Care Team will consist of a school counselor and support staff. Their answers will be kept confidential. There will be a chance at the end of the screener for students to decide if they would like a member of the Care Team to contact them. Also, there is an option at the end to receive resources for the needs that have been indicated. The Care Team may reach out to parents or students with follow-up questions.

“We’re really excited about this,” said Liz Thibert, the district’s Wellness Coordinator. “Kids can answer as much as they want to or as little as they want to. Depending on how kids answer, they will be given different resources.”

The School Board on Tuesday heard an update about the screeners, which are being provided through the company Tickit Health. Translation support is being provided for families who need or request it, through the Language Line, counselors and Tahoma’s ELL staff.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” School Board Director Malia Hollowell said, speaking to the staff members and the members of the district Health and Wellness Work Team who helped research, select and prepare the screeners.

Student Representative to the School Board, Mathieu Chabaud, said that he and his fellow student board representatives like the fact that more is being done to support student mental health, but noted that he is concerned that the screeners are “opt-in” only.

“Student health and wellness is a critical part of their journey to achieve their goals. We are here to help get them there,” Thibert said. 

Resources for students and families are available on the TSD Wellness Support page. In addition, here is the list of community resources that will be included in the screener.

If you would like to review the screener in advance, please click here for the test link. Your responses will not be recorded. To get started, please enter any 6 numbers as the identifier.

This screener will be open for students to complete during school hours.

Click here to listen to the recorded webinar explaining what you will encounter on the screener. “We look forward to supporting your student in any way we can,” Thibert said.

Add one more adjustment to school schedules as a result of the coronavirus pandemic: November elementary parent-teacher conferences and student report cards are moving to January.

The change was originally intended to coincide with returning students to in-person learning, which was scheduled to start on Oct. 19. But, when COVID-19 transmission rates increased to the point that it was considered too risky to bring students back into classrooms, the decision to move conferences and report cards to January remained.

Dawn Wakeley, executive director of Teaching and Learning, said having conferences and report cards in January allows teachers and parents to adjust and plan for the second semester of the school year. Tentative conference dates are Jan. 20-22.

Wakeley said teachers have or will contact families to check in this fall, but emphasized that parents are invited to contact teachers anytime about their child’s learning progress. “We want them to be connected with teachers as needed,” she said. 

Middle school and high school conferences will not be held this year; parents are invited to contact teachers or guidance counselors with questions or concerns about their students’ progress.

Elementary school principals will be sending letters to families with information about the conference schedule and report card changes.

Sharon Chastain is not letting the coronavirus get in the way of bringing the joy of reading and music to Tahoma’s elementary school students. 

As a librarian with Maple Valley’s King County Library branch, Chastain is well known for bringing books to life in her story time sessions with young readers. Since the pandemic began, Chastain has employed Facebook as a way to reach young readers, and she now has followers from as far away as India. In addition, she is finding ways to continue visiting with students in school by working with teachers to become part of the remote learning program at several schools.

Instead of appearing at schools for in-person assemblies as she has in the past, Chastain is reaching kindergarten and first-grade students on Zoom video calls.

“We’re doing mini-assemblies, 'Zoomblies,' and doing them every month,” she said. 

Chastain works with teachers to align her stories and songs to support or to reinforce learning that students are doing at the time. But she is also aiming to entertain and engage her young listeners by giving them a fun change of pace. She describes her visits as being “an energizing moment with books” that gets kids thinking and moving.

The Zoomblies are seen by several classes at the same time and are about 10 minutes long. They include a couple of songs in addition to sharing a story or two. Students can make song requests and Chastain noted that “Sticky, sticky sticky bubblegum” is almost always one of the songs that her young audience insists upon.

Kindergarten teacher Krissy Riggs said Chastain’s visits with Rock Creek Elementary kindergartners are a big hit. “The families loved it. The kids loved seeing each other. The interaction was really cool, for them to see other kids and teachers,” she said. “It’s a fantastic connection and incredible community outreach to have her come to our school.”

Chastain estimates that she has visited about 1,000 students so far this fall. She is learning as she goes and making adjustments to improve the online programs. She would like to do more and invites teachers from other grade levels to collaborate with her to bring virtual story time to their students. 

For Chastain, the opportunity to continue reaching young readers is well worth the time and effort required to make adjustments.

“It’s keeping me grounded,” she said. “I had to do something to keep what I do going. It has grown and it keeps me from going stir crazy working from home all the time.”

The ability to reach large groups of students via Zoom may be something that Chastain will continue to pursue even after students return to school for in-person learning. But she still wants to resume school visits when possible. “It’s more fun to be in person with the kids,” she said.

To keep an eye out for videos that Chastain shares with the community, visit the Maple Valley Library's Facebook page here.

In a typical year, Tahoma High School students in Scott Newton’s metals classes would be designing and creating projects in the shop, measuring cutting, drilling and wire feed welding. This year has been anything but typical, but Newton and his students have found new ways to learn and build in the remote setting.

Students and some parents asked how a welding class could be taught online. Newton says he simply views it as a new challenge. “We always have challenges in the classroom -- from time limits to equipment and so on. I’m approaching it from that perspective, and I hope it rubs off on the kids a little bit to make the most of what they have.”

The Metals 1 class has spent time completing all their safety training so that when COVID-19 numbers allow a return to in-person learning, his students can hit the ground running, safely. They have also focused on learning the design process using a Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) although they are using a new online program called OnShape because it wasn’t feasible to use their usual program, Inventor. OnShape can run on any device from Chromebooks to phones, and Newton says it is allowing his students to learn the skills they’ll need to use Inventor when they get back to the building.

In recent weeks, the class tackled a new project to build their own scribe, a tool used to mark a piece of sheet metal. It can be set to mark at a certain distance, then used to swipe across the edge of the metal. It can also be adapted depending what it will be used to mark with or on, Newton said.

“We designed and built a whole scribe from our homes,” said Callie Milam, a freshman in Newton’s class. “I liked that first we got to put it together on Onshape (The designing program). Then we got to put it together in real life in our own homes, it was really fun!”

“I think it’s so cool that I can go around and show and tell my family all about what I’ve been doing during metals. I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to do anything, and then we learned how to design things online and our teacher Mr. Newton would cut them at the school,” Milam said. “I never expected to learn all that I did because I thought metals was just welding and building things, but it was more than that.”

The scribe project offered students the chance to practice design, layout, deburring, fit and finish skills, and cutting threads. All of those skills will carry over to other projects they will complete later, Newton said. “A long time ago, a shop teacher said, ‘It’s not the project, it’s the process,’” he said.

Most of the beginning metals students have not used a scribe before because it’s a metalworking tool, but when they return to in-person learning, they’ll be able to use the scribe on projects they complete in class, he added.

Advanced metals students have been learning about how in industry a project would be contracted for design, then built out. “(Metals) is such a broad subject area. There’s a lot to learn about welding processes, and the design process, so we can lean more heavily on those,” Newton said.

In another project, students were assigned to complete some type of small home improvement project. It didn’t need to be expensive, require any new tools or supplies, or take a significant amount of time. Instead, the idea was that each student would sit down with their parents or guardians, get permission to complete a project and find out what would be helpful, such as putting felt pads on the bottom of kitchen chairs and table to protect the floor; touching up paint or drywall; oiling the hinges on a door or cupboard. It was an opportunity to learn something, help out around the house and recognize similar concepts.

“I always tie it back to: There are so many similarities when you’re working with your hands in all of these trades. For example, the concept of deburring (in metalworking), clamping things down when you drill, or always sanding in one direction,” Newton said. “These are fundamental concepts that doing things around the house are going to help with. Yeah, maybe they’re patching drywall, but they’re working with their hands and learning a new skill.”

During supply pick-up, metals students collected a kit including safety glasses, a “C” clamp to use as a vice, sandpaper and other necessary materials and items for projects such as the scribe project this quarter.

“I am so impressed with the work of Mr. Newton and his students as they find unique and meaningful ways (such as the scribe project) to understand the design process and the hands-on opportunities that are associated with our Metals classes during this challenging time,” said Marty Barber, Associate Principal and CTE Director for THS.

On Oct. 16, Tahoma High School’s We the People Team earned a qualifying score during the We the People District virtual presentation. The Bears will advance to the state competition on Jan. 23, 2021, to compete for the state title and the honor of representing Washington state in the Nationals Finals.

“This class is so cool,” teacher and We the People adviser Gretchen Wulfing said. “Even though I do not have We the People officially until Quarter 2 (Nov. 4), they have been voluntarily meeting, writing essays, and practicing follow-up. This team is incredibly bright, talented, flexible, positive and tenacious.”

Shadow Lake volunteers helped work on the school’s Interpretive Forest Trail and outdoor learning area for Make a Difference Day on Oct. 24. PTA Vice President Mike O’Brien has been leading the effort for the last several years; O’Brien applied for and received a grant from the MADD committee for the project. To read more about the efforts, click here for an article from last year.

Tahoma families are invited to “Ending the Silence,” an engaging presentation that helps audience members learn about the warning signs of mental health conditions and what steps to take if you or a loved one are showing symptoms of a mental health condition.

Presented by the National Alliance for Mental Illness, the event is from 6:30-8 p.m. on Nov. 12 via Zoom.

NAMI Ending the Silence presentations include two leaders: one who shares an informative presentation and a young adult with a mental health condition who shares their journey of recovery. Audience members can ask questions and gain understanding of an often-misunderstood topic. Through dialogue, we can help grow the movement to end stigma. Please fill out this google form if you would like to participate. The event is free.

We asked representatives from our Tahoma parent-teacher groups to share something wonderful that is happening at their school. In this video, elementary PTA and PTO board members share something awesome from their individual schools.

We asked representatives from our Tahoma parent-teacher groups to share something wonderful that is happening at their school. In this video, middle and high school PTA board members share something awesome from their individual schools.

Don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour Saturday night for Daylight Saving Time. For most of the United States, Daylight Saving Time began on March 8 and ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1.

Tahoma High School Drama recently announced that they will produce their first-ever virtual musical, the Broadway version of “Little Women.”

“We are really excited to have the opportunity to create theatre with our kids again!” Director Melissa Bean said.

To audition, high school students may submit an audio recording and a video. For more information, visit their website at www.tahomadrama.org. Audition videos will be accepted until Nov. 8, and the cast list will be posted by Nov. 14.

The production, which will be created entirely through Zoom and video editing, will be available to stream at the end of January.

If you checked out a district Chromebook for your child and no longer need it, here’s how you can return it:

Thank you for partnering with us to help keep the computers in excellent condition.

If you did not check out a device for your student and need one now for remote learning, please call the Technology Help Desk at the number above to make an appointment to check out a computer.

Meals are being served curbside, free to Tahoma students and any children 18 and younger, via a USDA program, at Lake Wilderness Elementary and Tahoma High School. For times and other details, click here.

To check out what's on the menu, click here.