COMMUNITY 6 l November 20, 2013 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

6

By Neil Pierson

Arts education may not be a primary part of the curriculum in public schools these days, but visitors to Endeavour Elementary School would be hard-pressed to believe it.

Along with other Issaquah School District campuses, Endeavour held its annual arts competition last week. The com-petition known as Reflections, which is sponsored by the National PTA, has been going since 1969 and features more than 1 million participants across the country.

Principal Kathy Connally and her staff love to tout the fact their school has had one of the highest rates of participation in Reflections among Issaquah’s 24 schools for several years.

“We’re really proud of that because we really enjoy seeing kids express themselves in a vari-ety of ways,” Connally said.

Last year, Endeavour had four students advance to Reflection’s state-level competition. This year, Endeavour had 167 entries across six categories – dance, film, music, literature, photogra-phy and visual arts. For Connally, it was exciting to see 26 students submit literature entries, a record number at the school.

“Our focus for our building

is literacy, in terms of student growth,” she said. “Seeing that many kids participate in that is really validating, because that’s what we want them to do.”

On Nov. 14, the school held an awards reception where it passed out 12 trophies to finalists, who qualify for the district competi-

tion in January. An additional 12 students were given ribbons for honorable-mention status.

Before the reception, parents and children milled through the hallways to admire the student galleries. For the 2013-14 com-petition, students had to create something based on the theme,

“Believe, Dream, Inspire.”Dozens of paintings, drawings

and computer-generated works dotted the walls.

There were several mon-tages - Olympic gymnasts, the solar system, animals and out-door scenes. One colorful piece seemed inspired by social justice.

It showed two men exchanging a cup of coffee with the words, “Seattle Homeless Shelter – Helping Those in Need,” floating above them.

Endeavour fifth-grader Krista Mainard was her school’s lone entry in the film category, but she did a bang-up job on “Kat,” a documentary of her love for music. Mainard sings and plays guitar, piano, recorder and drums. She earned a finalist’s tro-phy for her work.

“It’s just basically saying that everybody can do what they want to,” Mainard said. “And I like to do music and stuff, so most of it just showed me playing the instruments that I can play.”

The task of organizing Endeavour’s competition fell to parent Melinda Flores, who went all out in her attempt to find expert, unbiased judges.

She enlisted the support of a local film producer, two profes-sional photographers, a teacher at Issaquah’s Dance Premier studio, and four instructors from Issaquah’s Museo Art Academy, among others.

“For literature, I found a librar-ian,” Flores explained, “because it’s important with literature that they’re also judged on what would be expectant of that level.

Reflections puts student artists under the spotlight

See ART, Page 7

By Neil Pierson

Teenagers are often criticized for their poor driving habits, but it turns out that adults are even more prone to engaging in the dangerous behavior of texting and driving.

While 43 percent of teens admitted to texting behind the wheel, that rate was lower than the 49 percent of adults who do it, according to the results of an AT&T commuter survey in March.

Claire Wright, a sophomore at Eastside Catholic School, is hop-ing to lower both numbers drasti-cally. Wright spoke to a group of teens Nov. 13 at the Sammamish EX3 Teen and Recreation Center, reinforcing the dangers of texting and driving.

Wright has been speaking on the topic for several months. She researched texting and driving statistics to prepare for a speech in August, and her message helped her win the crown of 2013 Miss Washington Junior Teen.

Wright told the teen center group that even the briefest text

can cause a collision, which could be fatal, but it’s within a driver’s

control to not engage in risky behavior.

“Make it a habit to turn off your cell phone when you sit in the driver’s seat of a car, or better yet, put it in the trunk,” she said.

There are other ways, she said, to avoid texting and driving. Teens can make pacts with their family and friends to hold each

other accountable. Purchasing wireless Bluetooth devices is also helpful, and if sending a text is important enough, drivers should simply pull to the side of the road before they do it.

Facts about texting and drivingAT&T revealed the results of a commuter survey in March,

and the findings show some startling statistics:u Ninety-eight percent of commuters said they know sending

a text message or email while driving isn’t safe, but 49 percent admitted to doing it.

u The texting and driving problem seems to be worsening. Sixty percent of commuters said they never texted while driving three years ago.

u Forty percent of respondents said texting and driving has become a habit.

u About 90 percent of teen respondents said they expect a response to a text or email within five minutes. That could put more pressure on fellow teens to respond while driving.

AT&T customers who use a BlackBerry or Android device can download a free application called DriveMode. The app sends customizable, automatic replies to texts and emails while the user is driving, letting others know they’ll respond when it’s safe. Verizon Wireless offers a similar app, Safely Go, to its customers.

Additionally, drivers can go online to www.itcanwait.com and take a pledge to never text and drive.

Teen leader speaks on the dangers of texting and driving

Photo by Neil PiersonEndeavour Elementary School will be sending 12 finalists to the Issaquah School District’s Reflections art competition in January. Endeavour’s finalists were announced during a Nov. 14 ceremony.

See TEXT, Page 7

Contributed photo by Rochelle WrightClaire Wright, an Eastside Catholic School sophomore and the 2013 Miss Washington Junior Teen, talks with fellow teens about the dangers of texting and driving Nov. 13 at the Sammamish EX3 Teen Center.

SPORTS 8 l November 20, 2013 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

8

By Neil Pierson

After finishing fifth at the 2012 state championships, the Skyline Spartans girls swimming and div-ing team didn’t want to go home again without some hardware.

Only the top four teams get trophies, and Skyline managed to score 146 points to snatch fourth place at the Class 4A state meet, held Nov. 15-16 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

The Spartans didn’t win any events, but their consistency throughout most of the meet proved valuable. They earned seven medals, including a run-ner-up finish from senior diver Erin Taylor.

Taylor only started diving last year, but she improved dramati-

cally upon a 17th-place finish at state in 2012. She stood in fourth place after her first eight dives, then moved up with three quality scores on the second day of com-petition. Taylor’s 373.40 points trailed only champion Hailey Kessler of Auburn (387.30).

“I just love to dive, and I put in the time and effort,” Taylor said of the reasons behind her success. “I’m just glad to be in this group of kids. Everyone here that competes in diving, we’re all friends, and we all love each other.”

Skyline wasn’t able to keep up with KingCo Conference rival Newport, which repeated as the 4A champion with 232 points. Wenatchee was second, and Gig

Photo by Greg FarrarKaela Call, Eastlake High School junior, earns 6.5s, 7s and a 7.5 on an inward dive during a preliminary round Nov. 15 at the 4A state championships in Federal Way. Call finished third in state and teammate Christina Torrente finished sixth. Erin Taylor of Skyline finished second.

Skyline swimmers return to podium at state swim meet

By Neil Pierson

Neither team could have been entirely comfortable with the 9:45 a.m. start time at the Class 4A state volleyball tournament, but it wasn’t the early start that got the Skyline Spartans in trouble.

A veteran Skyline squad appeared jittery and unfocused when they opened the tourney Nov. 15 against the Emerald Ridge Jaguars. A slow start doomed the Spartans as they dropped a 25-11, 26-24, 25-20 decision in the opening match at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey.

However, the Spartans (20-5) didn’t allow a slow start to wreck their dreams. They were determined to win their second state trophy in three years, and accomplished it with three consecutive wins to end the tourney.

Skyline swept Mead (25-22, 25-14, 26-24) to make it to the second day of the event. The Spartans knocked off Rogers of Puyallup (25-21, 25-14, 21-25, 25-22) and moved into the tro-phy round, where they swept KingCo Conference rival Bothell to win the seventh-place trophy.

The 25-16, 25-14, 25-20 demolition of Bothell included a balanced attack as Crystal

Anderson, Chloe Epker and Katy Mounsey combined for 31 kills. Meghan Wedeking and Katy Valencia dished out 33 assists.

Against Emerald Ridge, the first set was an ugly one for Skyline, which saw the Jaguars serve eight aces and dominate at the net. Emerald Ridge students packed both ends of the court and were noisy throughout the match, and that may have had its intended effect upon the Spartans.

“I think it was just nerves and kind of being in a loud envi-ronment,” Skyline head coach

Callie Wesson said. “We’ve never played in anything quite this bad. (Emerald Ridge) had their fans –

they had a lot of them – and I think we just took a while to kind of get into our flow.”

Skyline settled down after the first set. Wedeking and Valencia, who have split setting duties all season, began making crisper passes, and Anderson, the team’s star outside hitter, heated up by slamming several kills into the floor.

Molly Gallaher’s kill gave the Spartans an 18-11 lead, and they seemed poised to even the match.

But the Jaguars (26-4) came roaring back behind Jenna

Mullen, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter who has given an oral commit-ment to play for Portland State University.

Mullen had four kills down the stretch in the second set, including a spike that broke a 24-24 tie and set up teammate Makenna Smith for a set-clinch-ing ace.

Wesson was clearly disap-pointed in how momentum shifted at that point.

“It’s just missed opportuni-ties,” she said. “If we can’t capi-talize against these good teams, then we’re not going to go very far.”

Down 2-0, the Spartans start-ed well again in the third set. Molly Mounsey’s kill gave the Spartans a 14-10 lead, but the Jaguars scored 13 of the next 15 points and never looked back.

Mullen dominated to close out the match, recording five of her match-high 18 kills in the third set. Anderson led Skyline with 15 kills and nine digs, while Molly Mounsey col-lected four blocks. However, the Spartans didn’t produce consis-tent offense, and Valencia and Wedeking combined for only 22 assists.

Wesson said she was sur-prised her players seemed off-kilter because of the loud, pressure-packed environment. Eleven of the 14 players are juniors or seniors.

Photo by Greg FarrarHanna Erdahl (6), Skyline High School junior outside hitter, and senior middle blocker Molly Mounsey (9) try to defend a hit by Emerald Ridge 6-foot, 1-inch junior outside hitter Jenna Mullen in the first set of their Nov. 15 state 4A tournament match. After the loss, Skyline per-severed with three wins to take seventh in state while the Jaguars claimed third.

Spartans rally from early loss, claim 7th at state volleyball

“It’s just missed opportunities.”– Callie Wesson,

Coach –

See VOLLEY, Page 9See SWIM, Page 9