Port Angeles School District

We at the Port Angeles School District wish you and your family a lovely and safe holiday season!

With just a week left until winter break, students and staff across the district are celebrating and helping make great memories for those in our community. This newsletter is full of fun happenings and student successes. Check it out!

PASD's admin members had a chance to hang out at Dry Creek recently and were amazed by all the fun and learning taking place!

Students worked hard in classrooms, had some serious fun at recess, and were kind to one another.

Way to go, Dry Creek Dragons!

Port Angeles High School students and staff have worked hard to create a great show for our community. Featuring the band, choir, and orchestra programs, the night will surely include lots of fun for the whole family, and is a great way to get in the holiday spirit!

We are excited to announce that the PASD Board of Directors unanimously approved the hiring of Integrus + YGH Architecture to manage the design, project execution, and construction for the expansion and renovation of Stevens Middle School!

Integrus will partner with Vanir Construction Management Company and PASD for this project.

To kick off the design phase, Integrus met with Stevens Middle School staff and the Port Angeles Capital Advisory Committee members. During this time, the design team shared their hopes, concerns, and ideas on building the best school for our students, staff, and community!

Integrus also spent an entire day at Stevens Middle School to watch how students move throughout the building and use the existing space. They also met with students to hear their ideas about a new school and what matters the most to them.

Stay tuned as things progress!

Cases of RSV, flu and COVID-19 are surging across the county and state. Infants and children below the age of two are especially vulnerable, as are older adults

To read the full statement, click here.

Subjects for this final webinar include Online Porn, Radicalization, Shaming & Disinformation. Click here to register and get your link: https://pw4kids.org/white-hatter-webinars/

This special FREE event is presented by Victoria, B.C.-based company and experts in internet safety and digital literacy, The White Hatter. The live broadcasts can be viewed from the Port Angeles Library or online.

Co-Sponsored by Preventions Works, Port Angeles School District, United Way of Clallam County, and Sequim School District, with support from the North Olympic Library System.

More than 20 Stevens honor society students volunteered as tree watchers during the Teddy Bear Tea event over Thanksgiving weekend. This event raises money for our local hospital.

Students also helped hang the coats of guests arriving at the gala event for The Festival of Trees.

They also worked hard Saturday afternoon alongside another group of students, doing yardwork and cleaning the playground of The Boys and Girls Club.

Stevens Middle School Honor Society is a group of motivated students that earn good grades, have good citizenship, and are ready to gain skills by getting involved in the community. Way to go, Stampeders!

Don't forget to make your nominations for this year's community awards program by Saturday, December 10th!

Show some love to the amazing people and organizations that do so much in our community.

Nominees will be announced later in December, and the awards gala is on Saturday, January 28th, at Vern Burton

Last year, Angie Gooding won Educator of the Year, and Luke Gavin won Young Leader of the Year. Who will it be this year? YOU can help decide!

Nominations close December 10th! Click here to nominate today!

10 Students from the YMCA Youth and Government program served Pancakes with Santa for the community.

Supported by the local Lions Club and hosted by the local Elks Lodge, this event raises funds so the students can participate in the Statewide Youth Legislative session held at the State Capitol each May.

Throughout the year, students will learn how to read and write legislation and participate in debate with proper decorum. Most importantly, they learn how to serve and participate in their home communities.

Nice job, students and volunteers! Shoutout to Michell Gentry, the Youth & Government Program Coordinator, for her time and dedication to this great group of young leaders!

Did you know Sodexo offers a new app where you can check out what is served for breakfast and lunch at all of our schools? Check it out!

https://portangelessd.sodexomyway.com/k12news

Olympic Hiking Co. is now partnering with the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club and Black Ball Transport to facilitate a commercial four-wheel drive winter shuttle bus to Hurricane Ridge!

Saturdays & Sundays: January 7 - March 26, 2023

Click here to learn more!

We have just enough bus drivers to run our district's routes. Unfortunately, we do not have enough substitute bus drivers due to the national labor shortage. This shortage means if a driver calls out or is unavailable to work, we could see route delays ranging from 45 minutes to two hours in picking up or dropping off students. PASD's Transportation Department has been utilizing its mechanics, dispatcher, and director to drive routes to keep the buses moving since school started this year.

We need YOUR help! If you are able or interested in joining our team as a sub-bus driver, please apply today! To learn more, click here.

Are you “Rockin’ Solar Panels on your Tesla”? Port Angeles High School Science Club students hope to be doing just that in the near future!

Thanks to support from the Port Angeles Education Foundation, 23 students attended Baba Brinkman’s “Rap Guide to Climate Chaos” concert and lecture at the University of Washington on November 16. They learned some tough truths and reasons for hope for their future.

What are some of those possible solutions? The cost of solar power has come down 80% over the last decade, and on sunny days Germany gets most of its electricity from solar power. There are a lot of sunnier places than Germany out there! We should be expanding solar much faster than we currently are. We should have panels on every roof of every building and car. Battery technology is also improving, but we need to invest more in that as well. Carbon capture out of the atmosphere and oceans is becoming more and more realistic. We need to invest in all these technologies.

How will we pay for all this research and development? A carbon tax seems to be the best plan. Tax all carbon pollution on a scale where those who use the most pay the most. Then use the carbon tax proceeds to pay for the technologies that could save us all. Then we can all be rockin’ solar panels on our Teslas!

-John Gallagher

PAHS Science Teacher

They aim to create greater access to the arts and make this community even more vibrant.

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey so that they can better serve your needs. Let’s create something beautiful together: https://jffa.org/survey/

Register for Winter Break Camp!

Winter Break Camp focuses on winter animals, winter crafts, snow crafts, and science exploration.

Camp is for ages 6-12 and runs December 19-23 and December 27-30. Register online today at https://www.olympicpeninsulaymca.org/schoolbreakcamps-pa

Light Art Experience

November 25 - December 28, 2022
Free | Lit nightly from 4pm-8pm
Let your path through Webster's Woods be guided by Light Art sculptures during the dark months of winter. The selected works will be exhibited alongside over 100 existing sculptures throughout 5 acres of forested parkland, transforming the park with light and color.

Wintertide Festival of Lights
Saturday, December 10, 2022
Enjoy lighted art illuminating the forest paths, lantern workshops, a community lantern parade, food & drink vendors, glow-in-the-dark art stations, and thrilling performances down in the meadow. Visitors can also enjoy the Makers Market in the gallery.

Tickets at: https://pafac.kindful.com/e/wintertidefestival2022

A fun way to stay focused on positive discipline all year long.

The contest is open to residents of all ages living in Clallam and Jefferson counties in Washington State and students enrolled at Peninsula College.

Click here to learn more!

• December 19 - January 2: Winter Break, woo hoo!
• January 12 - Board Meeting - 6pm at Lincoln Center
• January 16 - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday - No School

Port Angeles School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Port Angeles School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Title IX Coordinators, Civil Rights Compliance Coordinators: Scott Harker, 905 W. 9th Street Port Angeles, WA 98363, (360) 457-8575, sharker@portangelesschools.org, for Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Dr. Rachel Summers, 905 W. 9th Street Port Angeles, WA 98363, (360) 457-8575, rsummers@portangelesschools.org.