LWGMS news

More photos from "You Can't Take It With You"

2009-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

"You Can't Take It With You" opens tonight!

2009-05-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

The LWGMS 8th grade's play You Can't Take It With You opens tonight at Theatre Off Jackson. Suggested donation is $8.00. Performances: Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30 7:00pm 409 7th Avenue S., Seattle.

2009 Jacob Friedman Writing & Art Contest

2009-05-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the LWGMS students who were recognized for their excellent writing and art in the 2009 Jacob Friedman Writing and Art Contest sponsored by the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center. Congratulations to teachers Lindsey and Jenny for guiding the students through the process.

Eight hundred 5th-12th grade students from 68 Washington schools entered the contest. Students from our small school of 54 girls won ten of the 23 awards:

WRITING I (5th & 6th Grade):

Andrea (First Place), Tong Yuan (Second Place)

WRITING II (7th & 8th Grade):

Ilana (Second Place)

ART I (5th & 6th Grade):

Finn (First Place), Emma (Second Place), Andrea (Third Place)

ART II (7th & 8th Grade):

Hailey (First Place), Elena (Second Place), Hana (Third Place), Jillian (Honorable Mention)

We Love Spirit Week!

2009-02-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

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Spirit Week 2009

On Kooky Day, students and staff had fun with their most interesting outfits. On Food Day, costumes included grapes, bananas, berries, ice cream sundaes, peanut butter, and hamburgers. On Fairy Tale Day, there were witches, princesses, kings and queens, some pigs, and three Pinocchios. On Switch Day, there were LOTS of girls dressed as Patti, which this year meant they wore a big "pregnant" belly. We also had at least one of every other faculty/staff member, and a few girls dressed as Daisy the dog. Finally, on School Colors Day, everyone sported their Scarlet and Silver with pride!

LWGMS Turns Ten and Celebrates in Style!

2009-01-31T13:08:00.000-08:00

Lake Washington Girls Middle School celebrated its ten year anniversary with a great party! All current LWGMS students performed. Speakers included Lauren Luke, LWGMS's first alumna to graduate from college, Janet Brodsky one of the founding parents, and Sandi Cioffi, our keynote speaker.

Inauguration Day -- January 20, 2009

2009-01-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

LWGMS held a school-wide Inauguration viewing party. In preparation for this historic event, students researched the process of presidential inaugurations, assigned "colors" for a Red, White and Blue Potluck (see photos below), and read articles on the significance of this inauguration.

Red, White & Blue Potluck

2009-01-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

LWGMS students kicked off Inauguration Day in style, with a VERY colorful potluck!

LWGMS Students March for Peace and Justice

2009-01-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

On Friday, January 16, Lake Washington Girls Middle School joined Giddens School and other Central District schools in a March for Peace and Justice in honor of Martin Luther King Day. This march was organized by Giddens third and fourth graders - impressive!

The march was featured in the Seattle P-I. See photos from the march (#5, 8, 13, and 14 feature LWGMS) and photos below.

L-Dub student recognized at MLK Celebration

2009-01-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

LWGMS 8th grader, Jaida, won first place in the King County Civil Rights Commission’s MLK essay contest. Jaida was recognized at the 22nd Annual King County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Thursday, January 15, at the Paramount Theater.

Jaida with the LWGMS 8th grade class, teacher Jenny Zavatsky, teacher Lindsey Mutschler, Head of School Patti Hearn, members of Jaida's family and Councilmember Larry Gossett.

This was the third time that LWGMS students took top honors in this contest. To see the four past winners from LWGMS, visit the 2008 celebration page and the 2006 celebration page.

To learn more, to read the winning essays, or to see photos from the 2009 event, visit the King County website. The event will be broadcast on King County Television Channel 22 for those who were unable to attend. King County TV will broadcast the show on the following dates:

* January 16 at 7p.m.,
* January 17 at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and
* January 18 at 9:30 p.m.

Arsenic and Old Lace a huge success!

2009-01-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

On January 8 and 9, LWGMS sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students performed Arsenic and Old Lace in the LWGMS Auditorium. The show was a fantastic success due to the hard work of the cast, the crew (including 8th grade stage manager Thea) and the directors, Nora Utevsky and Rebecca Mostow.

Alumnae Family Dinner and Festival of Lights

2008-12-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

LWGMS hosted the second annual Alumnae Family Dinner on December 11, followed by the 11th annual Poetry Night, called the Festival of Lights. Both were huge successes!

Jena and Tessa - Class of 2008

Pliny, Ella, Jena, Shannon, and Safiya - Class of 2008

Anna, Fiona, and Hannah - Class of 2007

Founding Board Member, Donna Mackenzie

Sixth graders visit water treatment plant

2008-11-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, November 6, the sixth grade class visited a local water treatment plant as part of their study of Puget Sound.

LWGMS Girls Use Their Voices to Get Out the Vote

2008-11-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

LWGMS students rallied today on the corners of 12th and Union and 23rd and Cherry to encourage local community members to vote.
The energy in the air was palpable. Cheers, chants, beeping, waving, and calls of support came from passers by. KING5 news stopped by and interviewed a few students, and that news story aired today at noon.

See the clip from King5 news:

Hear and see the girls chant their support for democracy in action in this video clip:

More photos...
"Vote and make your voice heard," say the sisters in their adorable "vote" hats.

Vote like a girl!

Vote because I can't!

The King5 cameraman and reporter film students for the news.

An Explosive Chemistry Class

2008-10-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

On October 20, L-dub had its second guest teacher from the Science and Math Institute (SAMI) at BCC, part of our partnership with the college. The professor, Jenny, talked with the girls about what they knew about chemistry. Then, this:

(Click the "play" arrow above to watch the video.)

Fuerza Volleyball

2008-10-13T19:59:00.001-07:00

Pre-game warm ups & rules of the match are part of the team work!

Go for it!
L-Dub girls are all smiles!

6th Grade Goes to Eastern Washington !

2008-10-12T13:14:00.001-07:00

8th grade geology trip, fall 2008

2008-10-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Class of 2009 set up their camp at Wanapum State Park on Wednesday, October 1. They then visited the Gingko Petrified Forest before heading to Frenchmen's Coulee to see basalt columns and view the Columbia River. The next day, they headed to Dry Falls, Coulee City and then to Lake Lenore Caves State Park for a hike to the caves. They stopped at the Wild Horse statues on the way to Diatomite mine. On the last day, they met up with the sixth grade class, who were on their own three-day field trip, for lunch and some games.

More Ashland Photos 2008

2008-10-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Arrival at Cox Hall

It's nearly Halloween!

Isn't she lovely...? Isn't she wonderful...?

A picnic break during the long drive

7th grade goes to Ashland!

2008-10-06T10:48:00.001-07:00

The Class of 2010 visited the Oregon Shakespeare Festival during the week of September 29. They saw five plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Comedy of Errors, The Clay Cart, A View from the Bridge, and Othello. They also took a backstage tour of all the OSF theaters and participated in several classes and prologues, including a stage combat workshop and a performance class. The girls stayed in dorms at Southern Oregon University and enjoyed campus life and the town of Ashland.

Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess visits LWGMS and lives to blog about it

2008-09-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

His 9.17.08 blog, City View, had this to say:

Hope: Morning, Noon and Night

I had a great day today!

The day started at Lake Washington Girls Middle School near 18th and East Cherry Street where I had a discussion with a class of 8th graders about public corruption, ethics in government, character, and American campaign tactics. Wow! Those girls were impressive. Their questions were focused and cut right to the heart of the issues. They invited me as an elected officials after reading Robert Penn Warren's All The King's Men, a novel loosely based on Gov. Huey Long of Louisiana.

The girls were from across Seattle. Engaging with them was a measure of hope—they were bright, very aware of contemporary issues and problems, and well read. The last question of our hour together was right off the front page of the morning newspaper: "What do you think of the government taking over AIG?" I admitted I didn't know enough to answer.

Read the entire blog entry here:
http://timothyburgess.typepad.com/tim_burgess_city_view_/2008/09/hope-morning-no.html

LWGMS Partnership with Science and Math Institute

2008-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

As the introduction to our year-long partnership, Dr. Karla Fuller, Program Manager for the Science and Math Institute at Bellevue Community College, spoke to the whole school about the importance of science and math in all our lives. She has spearheaded a program called Science to Go through which science, math, and technology professors from BCC will visit school to talk about their fields and conduct a class or experiment with the students. The purpose of the program is to inform and excite girls about the many professions that involve science and math. The hope is that girls will pursue these fields in high school, college, and beyond and explore science, math, and technology-related professions. LWGMS is honored to be the pilot school for this program. The students will benefit from one to two visits each month from different professors who will conduct a class related to the curriculum.

Dr. Fuller shared her educational and professional experiences that led to Ph.D. and job as a Cancer Biologist. She then led the girls through an exercise in the scientific method.
* The students came up with the problem"How can scientists come up with a cure for the common cold?"
* They brainstormed ideas and observations.
* They formed hypotheses.
* They discussed how scientists would conduct experiments to work toward developing a preventative or cure for the cold.
* They revised their hypothesis and experiment.
* They did verbal research and collected data.
* They analyzed their data.
* They drew conclusions. In the end, they decided that the common cold was a necessary evil to foster strong immune systems.

We look forward to a visit from BCC chemistry and math professors on October 13th.

LWGMS featured in the P-I!

2008-06-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

View the full article and the online slideshow at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

June 17, 2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article by Cecilia Goodnow

Article below:

Meryl Schenker / P-I

On June 11, the last day of school for the sixth and seventh-graders, they were asked to dance down the hallway in their own personal style as a way to symbolize passing from one grade to the next. Sixth-grade student Erin Proctor makes her passage into seventh grade.

All-girl middle school nurtures sisterhood when it really counts

Middle school is often a walk in the wilderness -- a time of shifting allegiances, unsettling body changes, intellectual leaps and uncertain self-image. Who am I? Who will I become?

Having scaled the summit of eighth grade, Pliny Stevens can look back and see the distance she has traveled since her first, jittery days at Lake Washington Girls Middle School.

As a raw, sixth-grade recruit, she worried that the academics would be too hard, that she'd have only one friend, that other girls would scrutinize her every move, that they'd form a secret "we hate Pliny" group.

"I didn't have much confidence in who I was," she said, "or who I wanted to be."

But sisterhood can be powerful. Instead of cliques and mean girls, Pliny found a nurturing community of spirited girls who had one another's back.

"As time went on," Pliny said in a graduation-night speech last week, "I found out that the people in our class would always accept me for being me."

Keeping girls strong and self-confident -- that was the dream 10 years ago when six families created Lake Washington Girls Middle School, the state's first secular, all-girl middle school.

This year the school grew to 52 students, including a graduating class of 16 eighth-graders -- all of whom were invited to speak at commencement and reflect on their experiences.

"The middle school years can be difficult, especially for girls," said Patricia Hearn, head of school.

"So often, girls who had been outgoing and confident begin to raise their hands less often, they don't run for the ball in gym class or they show some other signs of losing confidence. That is why this school exists: to make sure that doesn't happen to our girls."

Other schools, including Seattle Girls' School and Bellevue's Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, are trying to address these issues as well.

But it happened to be Lake Washington Girls Middle School that Seattle P-I photographer Meryl Schenker visited last fall for an assignment. She sensed something special.

Intrigued by the positive vibe and the exuberance of the students, Schenker returned throughout the school year to chronicle their heartfelt journey from feisty little girls to focused young women.

"I was just totally wowed by this place," Schenker said. "It is so different than any school I have visited in my 12 years at the P-I and so different than my school experience."

Schenker's photos convey a tiny slice of what she encountered over the months.

"People always say that middle school doesn't matter and you won't even remember the friends that you had," eighth-grader Tessa Tweet said, "but I think our school is different. At our school, you don't make middle school friends -- you make friends for life."

-- Cecelia Goodnow

8th grade play

2008-06-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

The Eighth Grade Play was performed at Theater Off Jackson on May 29 and 30, 2008.

The Adventuress

2008-04-09T16:47:00.001-07:00

View photos of the
7th grade Rites of Passage trip
aboard The Adventuress!

Thanks to Julie C. for the photos!
Buoy
Originally uploaded by jcolando

More Man of La Mancha Photos

2008-03-07T16:13:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Jacqui James for the photos!