On Tuesday, May 1st, Manson School District hosted a Cultural Celebration, honoring 16 different countries. In conjunction with the district’s annual Dia Del Nino celebration, over 400 students, parents, staff and community members came together in the Manson High School gym to celebrate children and embrace cultures from around the world.
The evening was kicked off by an inspirational welcome given by Mrs. Aurora Flores, Manson School District Board Member. Families enjoyed delicious food while viewing beautiful artwork created by Manson Elementary students. Multiple songs and dances were showcased by elementary students at each grade level, including: El Toro Mambo, Folklorico Ballet, the Heel Toe Polka, “De Colores”, the Troika, the Tarantella, “Sur Le Pont D’Avignon”, and a West African scarf dance.
The 2018 Cultural Celebration was truly a collaborative effort, highlighting the strong relationship between Manson Schools and community. Elementary teachers and students invested countless hours creating art, learning about new cultures, and practicing performances to highlight important traditions from other countries. Many hands went into making the event a success and we look forward to joining together for another rich and beautiful celebration next year!
Manson School District Board of Directors announced the 2018 Blue and White Excellence Awards winners at its April board meeting. Nominations were submitted by staff, students and community members. Award recipients were: Elementary teacher Diana Soliday was the certificated winner. In the classified area there was a tie with Robin Hanson, head cook at the middle/high school and Jane Pratt, Paraeducator.
DIANA SOLIDAY – one co-worker shared, “She is a Goddess Warrior in education, and Manson Elementary is so fortunate to have her. With her superpowers of wit and determination, she engages student learning creatively.
ROBIN HANSON
Robin works to make quality meals and have options for staff. She keeps a well-stocked salad bar offering great healthy options to HS/MS students and district staff. She is always involved in any way she is able to support the district with food items. Robin has gone out of her way to make so many events happen that include food in the district - family fit and fun night, STEAM night, Manson Inc and many others
JANE PRATT
One co-worker stated, “I have known Jane for many years now and am always impressed with her commitment to the students she works with. She is always looking for new activities for them to try that will challenge them, keep them interested in learning, and help them grow.”
Big congratulations to others nominees: Alicia Alexander, Cassie Williams, Katie Sorenson, Susan Sears, Phil Fournier, Kendra Farnsworth, Jared Mumley Mark Nichols and Brittany Sivertson.
Manson School District held its annual Spelling Bee on Thursday, February 22nd.
Our 2018 District Spelling Bee Champion was 6th grade student, Ella England with the winning word "gargoyle". The runner-up was 6th grader Ben Cullison, with the winning word "pastures.”
The District Spelling Bee, held February 22nd, had 13 participants from 4th-8th grade. The participants were: Isabella Aburto, McKinly Glasow, Yuli Cesar, Afton Torgesen, Stephen Bercier, Zahyr Sanchez, Carter Lyman, Ella England, Ben Cullison, May Crist, Oashan Sanchez, Caber Boyd and Eli Willard.
Ella and Ben will be advancing to the NCW Collaborative Spelling Bee in East Wenatchee on March 14th.
Jeffrey Webb a 2017 Manson High School Graduate will be competing in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He is participating in the Alpine Skiing events slalom and giant Slalom and will be representing the country of Malaysia – his mother’s birth home.
The Manson High School student body sent him a good luck video. “Go for the Gold Jeffrey”
Matt Brown, Manson High School’s music teacher has been awarded the “Terry Stombaugh Logo “W” Award” from the University of Washington’s Husky Marching Band.
This award is presented in the memory of former Husky band member Terry Stombaugh who conceived the idea for the “W” entrance drill.
This award is given annually to current or former music education major from the Husky Marching Band whose music education impacts and exemplifies dedication to the advancement of music.
Mr. Brown was presented with a “W” plaque along with a $500 honorarium to help assist his music program in the Manson School District. Congratulations Mr. Brown!
The Manson FFA Ag mechanics team consisting of Cody Amsden, Ben Charlton, Eduardo Escalera, Bailey Cameron, Blake Cochran and Jonathan Morales, recently showed of their welding and shop skills at Cashmere High School who hosted a contest for central WA schools.
The schools competing where Manson, Chelan, Wenatchee, Cashmere and Omak. Students had to sharpen a drill bit, complete a gas butt weld, along with a vertical Lap weld, and gas cut a ½ piece of mild steel. In arc welding they did a butt weld along with a vertical up lap weld. Finishing off with able to Id 10 small gas engines parts. Results were not available at this time.
The Manson FFA apple judging team consisting of Cody Fitzpatrick, Henry Armstrong, Blake Cochran, Marcos Diaz, and Nadia Tejada, traveled to Kennewick to participate in the state FFA Apple Judging CDE.
It was an early morning start meeting at the high school at 5am for the 3 ½ drive to Kennewick.
There were 127 competitors, with Blake Cochran placing 28th in the individual. The team placed 11th overall out of 28 teams, missing the top ten by a mere 1 ½ points.
The contest consisted of 25 questions out of the private applicator pesticide manual, judging two sets of trays: one red delicious and one granny Smith, figuring maturity date from full bloom, showing the proper way to pressure test, grading 25 golden Delicious, 25 Red delicious Apples, Identifying 25 variety of apples and Pears, identifying 25 insects and 50 blemish on the Apples.
The team was excited about their placing and look forward to next year.
Many of us have pondered what influence our lives will have on future generations. Long time Manson residents, Ted and Nicki Leffler, quietly took steps to insure they could positively impact future generations in the communities they loved. In 1993, they created a charitable trust to be equally distributed to three school districts: Chester High School in Chester, Montana (Nicki’s school); Maries County Belle High School in Belle, Missouri (Ted’s school) and Manson High School in Manson, Washington. Upon Ted’s death in 2003 and Nicki’s passing in 2016, the trust funds were transferred to the successor trustee named in the original trust, Superintendent of Manson School District.
The Leffler’s generous actions twenty-five years ago resulted in the development of scholarship trust funds in all three school districts with each receiving more than $200,000 in trust funds. These endowment funds are to be held in “perpetuity” and used for graduating high school seniors from each district with only the interest/earnings on the principle amount to be used each year. In doing so, the original trust amount will stay intact and students one hundred years from now will still benefit.
Manson School District is working with family member Heidi Leffler (daughter) to create the Ted and Nicki Leffler Memorial Scholarship. We’ve learned Ted Leffler had several careers in a variety of fields, but a majority of his work centered on electrical power infrastructure. His career took him from Missouri to Montana (where he met and married Nicki) to Oregon, Idaho, California and even New York. He took great pride in his work and was an innovator in his field. Ted is credited with being one of the first to utilize helicopters to string powerlines and he estimated he had a hand in stringing 60% of the Northwest’s power grid. It’s clear Ted understood the value of skilled labor; Manson’s scholarships will encourage students pursuing post-high school careers or technical training/education to apply.
Scholarship applications will be posted in January and a committee comprised of Manson community members will select winner(s) who will be announced at the June 5th 2018 Senior Awards Ceremony.
Mr. Victor Calderon, parent and Manson Community member is giving back to his community by offering an 8-week basic computer introduction class to the community at no charge. Mr. Calderon brings a wealth of knowledge and skill as he will help individuals navigate the world wide web. Instruction will also include three basic computer programs.
This 8-week course is set to begin January 9th with English speakers on Tuesday’s and Spanish speakers on Thursday’s. Class times are from 6-8p.m. and will be held in the Manson Elementary Library.
For further questions and to reserve your spot, please call the Manson School District office at 687-3140.
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