BGPS Bulletin

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Tukes Valley Primary students spread kindness one coffee cup at a time

• What the levy pays for at Captain Strong, Daybreak, Glenwood Heights, Maple Grove, Pleasant Valley, Tukes Valley and Yacolt primary schools

• March 10 board meeting recap and highlights

• Battle Ground High School senior places third at state Poetry Out Loud competition

• River HomeLink drama presents 'Peter Pan'

• Celebrating Education Support Professionals week

• BG CAST ep. 43: Battle Ground Virtual Academy and CAM Academy

• CAM Academy team shines at Solar Car Challenge

• Spring outerwear giveaway

During Kindness Week in February, students at Tukes Valley Primary worked hard to create more than 720 customized coffee cup sleeves with positive and uplifting messages. The project was spearheaded by school counselor Justine Cohen, who brought the idea, dubbed “sleeves of kindness,” from her former school in Montana.

“I loved the idea so much, I know I wanted to do it once I was at the right school,” Cohen said, “and Tukes just embraced the project with open arms!”

Each day in art class, students spent time either duplicating other designs or creating their own. “It was fun to see how seriously they took it, but even more fun to see all of their creativity,” said Cohen.

The sleeves were distributed to Founder’s Mercantile Coffee and Coffee Creations on Main Street.

“My hope is that our students learn that one small act of kindness can start a chain reaction with a lasting impact,” said Cohen. “We hope the community sees just how grateful we are for their support. Battle Ground is this wonderful, supportive community that shows up for each other, and sharing kindness and encouragement is our small way of saying thank you.”

Check out a fun video of students creating the sleeves of kindness on the district’s Instagram account. Way to go, Timberwolves!

BGPS’ board of directors held a special meeting/executive session at 5 p.m. and a regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 10. Summaries and the recording are available on the district website. The board will next meet on Monday, March 24, for a regular meeting at 6 p.m. You are invited to attend in-person at the Lewisville campus (406 NW 5th Ave., Battle Ground) or watch the meeting online.

Come along with Peter, Wendy, Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys as they try to outsmart the dastardly Captain Hook during River HomeLink Theatre's upcoming production of "Peter Pan." Journey to the exciting world of Neverland for a tale about friendship, family and the bittersweet innocence of growing up. Under the direction of Sandy Sparks, this tale comes alive with original costumes, snappy songs and plenty of amazing choreography.

Shows are at Prairie High School (11311 NE 119th St.):

• Fridays, March 21 and 28 - 7 p.m.

• Saturdays, March 22 and 29 - 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Tickets are $5 for children ages 3-10 and senior citizens, or $10 for general admission. They are available online in advance or at the door on show days.

Peter Pan is a two-act play adapted from the novel Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie. Adapted by Craig Sodaro and produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Services, Inc., Denver, Colorado.

Earlier this month the 2024-25 winter sports all-league teams were announced. Here are the first team and player/coach of the year selections from Battle Ground Public Schools. The full list is available on The Columbian's website:

4A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE

Boys wrestling

First team: Clyde Cass, 106 lbs., Battle Ground HS | Zackery Motzkus, 138 lbs., BGHS

Girls bowling:

First team: Emma Johnson, BGHS

3A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE

Boys basketball

Player of the Year: Carson Morningstar, Prairie HS

Coach of the Year: Jimmy Tuominen, Prairie

First team: Malachi Patton, Prairie

Girls basketball

First team: Harmony Fallin, Prairie

Boys wrestling

Coach of the Year: Rob Smith, Prairie

First team: Tommie Vick, 132 lbs., Prairie | Kaidyn Prue, 138 lbs., Prairie | Skyler Dassinger, 215 lbs., Prairie | Christopher Simpson, 285 lbs., Prairie

Girls wrestling

First team: Mira Thompson, 170 lbs., Prairie | Faith Tarrant, 235 lbs., Prairie

Boys swimming

Swimmer of the Year: Vladyslav Danylyuk, Prairie

First team: Michael Oshkader, 200 free and 500 free, Prairie | Vladyslav Revutskyy, 50 free, Prairie | Nikita Glukhov, 100 breast, Prairie

Gymnastics

Gymnast of the Year: Abigail Mendoza, Prairie

First team: Abigail Mendoza, vault and beam, Prairie

Co-assistant Coach of the Year: Cambelle Snider, Prairie

Girls bowling

Player of the Year: Izabella Hewes, Prairie

Coach of the Year: Rhonda Bash, Prairie

First team: Lauren Bisson, Prairie

Congratulations to all of our players and coaches on a successful winter sports season. See you in the spring!

What's that big building going up north of Battle Ground High School? The central operations building is a 23,125-square-foot facility that will create new space for the district's operations department, currently housed on the BGHS campus in a converted bus barn from 1932. The existing warehouse, built in the 1970s, is now well beyond capacity. This new building will expand the district's warehouse space by 50%.

Funded entirely by impact fees collected from new construction, the new operations building is expected to be completed this August. Impact fees generated from new construction are restricted and can be used for only capital projects such as building schools, adding classrooms, purchasing land, etc. as outlined in the approved capital facilities plan. Other larger projects recently completed using impact fees are the new CAM Academy and new kindergarten classrooms at Pleasant Valley Primary.

CAM Academy students recently participated in Clark Public Utility's annual Solar Car Challenge and came away from some hardware for their efforts.

In the elementary division, coached by Andie Noye, Marshall Smith, Lucas Campos, Joel Lazukin and Ezra Alvarez brought home 2nd place for Interview and Engineering Design documentation. Kai Parks, Lucas Scutari, Jeremy Michael and Charlie Earls claimed the Judge's Choice award.

For middle school, coached by Andrea Smith, Zander Benson, Sam Kolodko and Uriah Michael claimed the top prize in the Interview and Engineering Design documentation category while fellow CAM students Samuel Amundson, Gavin Steward and Neelambar Mahesh finished third.

"It was such a great day!" said Noye. "The teams learned so much through this experience. I asked all my fourth graders if they would do it again next year and they all said, 'YES!'"

Noye wanted to give a special shout out to all of the CAM parents who volunteered their time to help out with the contest. Way to go, CAM!

March 10-14 is Education Support Professionals Week, a time to recognize the more than 800 people who make sure students get to and from school safely, keep them healthy and safe while at school, maintain buildings and grounds, keep facilities clean and orderly, assist in classrooms and provide a number of other specialized services. Also called classified employees, education support professionals are those who fill non-certificated positions in our schools. Thanks for all you do!

Battle Ground Public Schools is currently hiring for a number of positions. Visit the jobs page for details and to apply.

Registered behavior technician (districtwide)
Special program classroom assistants/paraeducators (various schools)
Classified and certificated substitute positions
Various coaching and sports positions (see site for a full list and locations)

Find more information and apply online.

Bus drivers
BGPS' transportation provider, First Student, is in need of part-time bus drivers. Get more details on First Student driving careers, including sign-on bonuses starting at $1,500 ($3,500 for experienced drivers).

Right At School
The district's before and after-school care provider, Right At School, is looking for program managers and educators. Learn more or email your resume to michael.speer@rightatschool.com.

The Columbian

• Battle Ground Public Schools names its next superintendent

The Reflector

• BGPS installs new earthquake early warning system at Amboy Middle School

• BGHS Unified Basketball earns third at state competition in Wenatchee

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