CONNECTIONS
Fall 2024
Dear Communities,
I hope you are enjoying the start of winter! We are transitioning our paper newsletter into an online format, so thanks for finding us online here! Be sure to scroll to the bottom to subscribe to future issues.
Cascade School District (CSD) is proud to have great opportunities for students inside and outside of school, no matter the weather. This newsletter is highlighting just a few of the opportunities we have for students. You can also read the 2023-2024 Year in Review to learn much more. Thanks as always for your great support of our schools. I hope to see you at some upcoming events!
Dr. Tracey L. Edou,
Cascade School District Superintendent
The picture book, How Otto Found His Way, is a beauty to behold—a tome with screw post binding and a black cover, featuring Otto and the title boldly in white. Inside, crisp pen and ink drawings accompany a story about Otto, a curious young robot, who ends up on an accidental adventure in the woods.
Senior Mia Dreis is the author/illustrator and, with this book, won first place at Technology Student Association (TSA) Nationals this summer in the category, Children’s Stories. Her book perfectly fit the adventure book prompt and was delivered with aesthetic appeal. On each page, mountain scenes combine with mini lessons to show how Otto uses science to solve the challenge of finding his way home.
How Otto Found His Way is a champion because it does more than tell a heartwarming story. Mia’s drawings, like one that introduces the states of water–solid, liquid, and gas–give young readers a visual that they can intuitively understand. Without mentioning“molecules,” a child can grasp that heat affects the state of matter.
TSA is strong in the Cascade School District. Every year students from CHS and IRMS
outcompete bigger schools and magnet schools in Washington to qualify for nationals. The
dozens of competition categories mean there’s something for everyone with a STEM proclivity, and many require creativity and artistry as well—think fashion design, architectural design and board game design.
Mia has been involved in TSA throughout high school and has also competed in extemporaneous speech, on demand video, and tech bowl.
The creation of How Otto Found His Way took planning and revision. “I always start with my
plot, but I have mental images of what the design will look like as I’m crafting the story,” said
Mia. “After I’ve completed the storyboard, I design the sketches.”
Mia balanced the inclusion of science concepts with simplicity suited for kindergarten to second grade readers. “I couldn’t use big words.” And yet she tackled concepts like photosynthesis, combustion and rust.
Out of about 100 children’s books at nationals, only twelve reached the semifinals, where Mia read her book aloud to a panel of judges. Her book included an interactive element—a series of hidden puzzle pieces that, when assembled, create a map leading Otto home, symbolizing the science-based problem-solving he used along the way.
Attending TSA Nationals in Orlando was memorable for Mia, who enjoyed pin-trading with
students from other states and glimpsing the aptitude across the STEM spectrum through the projects on display, from architectural models to solar-powered cars. Mia will continue to
explore and excel at the intersection of science and art as she applies to universities with hopes of majoring in engineering or architecture and minoring in art.
In October, the Icicle River Middle School (IRMS) choir students were preparing for their first concert. With songs memorized they focused on fine-tuning details like enunciation and volume, and posture.
Choir teacher, Darryl Wall, in his halftime role, teaches 108 students. “I like teaching middle
school, the energy, seeing lightbulbs go off, and their excitement over the newness of singing
together,” said Wall. His friendly, supportive demeanor encouraged lots of students to audition
for quartet parts, and he plans to include a student-suggested piece in the December concert.
After brief warm ups, the students practiced “I’se the B’y,” a traditional Newfoundland ballad,
packed with fast-paced lyrics about a fisherman’s bluster about cod and the girls he hopes to
dance with. There’s musical challenge, with call and response and tricky dialect, yet the students embraced it.
Choir, as an outlet for creativity and a way to gain cognitive, social, and emotional skills, exists
this year only thanks to significant community support after last year’s budget tightening.
The Cascade Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) committed to fundraising to cover
nearly 80% of the choir expenses for both CHS and IRMS for this year and next. “It’s ambitious,
but not scary,” said Mercy Rome, PTSA president. Funding comes from grants, donations and a
$20,000 anonymous match each year. In addition to salaries, a flourishing program requires
funding for accompanists, competition participation, and new sheet music.
Parent Amy Edwards is a professional singer and voice teacher, highlighted the value of school
choirs, “Children learn self-confidence in choir under the unique support of being in a group
setting. It is scary to get on stage and speak or sing in front of people by yourself. Especially in
those formative pre-teen years. There is safety in numbers, but kids still get the benefit of public
performance, a rare life skill.”
At the concert, the two sixth grade classes united to sing, the power of their blended voices likely impressed them as much as it did the packed audience. The Swahili words in one song, “Amani utupe na ustawi” (“Give us peace and wellbeing”), resonated clearly, and their synchronized stomp and clap at the song’s end was a joyful exclamation point.
The potential loss of this choir program would have left an empty, silent stage.
Thankfully, community support has preserved music as an essential school program, but the
work is not done yet. Fortunately the Cascade PTSA and Cascade High School Choir & Band Boosters have organized two ways for community members to show their support for music in our schools.
Visit the campaign website.
Learn more about the Cascade Choir Crescendo Campaign and get involved in efforts to support choir programs in our middle and high schools.
Attend the upcoming benefit concert.
Join us December 19 at 7pm in the Cascade High School gym for the Leavenworth Village Voices Christmas Concert featuring the Cascade High School Choir, Bavarian Brass, and CHS alumni Landon Davies and Mary Ising.
Congratulations to CSD senior Caroline Menna! She is the only student in all of North Central Washington to become a Semifinalist in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program.
About 1.3 million students across the country enter the competition every year, which occurs automatically with participation in the PSAT, and about 16,000 earn semifinalist status. In February, Caroline will learn if she is a finalist, which would qualify her for one of the National Merit Scholarships.