Community Extra: Applause

Everett: Boeing officials surprise staff at middle school

Boeing officials surprised Principal Larry Fleckenstein and the staff at Evergreen Middle School in May with the John D. Warner Award for Excellence in Education.

The award, which comes with a $25,000 grant, honors the school for its leadership, teacher excellence, continuous improvement and strong partnerships with the community.

Nearly half of Evergreen's students qualify for free or reduced meals. Statistically, a school with that percentage of low-income families would struggle to continually improve student performance, but Evergreen has won awards for its improvement, Boeing officials said.

Boeing created the grant to honor Warner, who retired as Boeing's chief administrative officer in 2003. The award recognizes Warner's longtime and continuing dedication to public education.



Everett: YMCA hands out awards

YMCA of Snohomish County's 12th annual Minority Achievers Program Recognition and Scholarship Banquet honored students, volunteers, staff and supporters.

This year, 15 students received scholarships, thanks to the generosity of the EverTrust Foundation, American Distributing Company and the Seattle Foundation. Since 2001, the program has awarded 140 scholarships totaling more than $75,000.

Scholarship recipients are:

Ashely Smith, Everett High School; Deontae Elder, Mariner High School; Daniel Conchas, Marysville Getchell High School; Francisco Petz Cantu, Marysville Getchell High School; Carlos Romero, Monroe High School; Sir Stephen Jackson, Edmonds-Woodway High School, Manyma Jammeh, Mariner High School; Weyni Haddis, Mariner High School; Leobardo Carmona, Everett High School; Gabe Cacias-Neri, Monroe High School; Candy Vargas, Monroe High School; Leticia Aparicio, Marysville Getchell High School; Jessica Idrovo, Jackson High School; Ahmed Lowti, Jackson High School, Colleen Cruz, Marysville Getchell High School.

In addition to scholarships, the Ray Sievers Award is presented to volunteers who support the YMCA and the Minority Achievers Program. This year's recipients are:

Steve and Dru Miller and Beverly Miller for their leadership in providing scholarships and assisting students in developing healthy lifestyle habits through nutrition and physical activities; Dr. Hoa Appel, who surveyed students, wrote a grant request to address childhood obesity and set up a nutrition program; Mark Thornley, who has volunteered with since 2010, mentoring students with one-on-one with their math homework; and Alexis Romero, a former MAP program participant who volunteers 20 hours a week helping teens with homework.



Lynnwood: Clothes for Kids fundraiser does well

The volunteers of Clothes for Kids, a Lynnwood-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing clothing to eligible children in Snohomish County, hosted the annual Celebrate the Children Luncheon and Auction on May 5.

Attendees chose from 20 different salads and cupcakes prepared by the volunteers and took part in the auction. More than $14,500 was raised for Clothes For Kids, which provided more than 4,000 wardrobes to children this school year.

For more information, go to www.clothesforkids.org.



Mill Creek: Troop earns Girl Scout award

Mill Creek Girl Scout Troop 52774, under the leadership of Kimi Boal, has earned the Bronze Award.

To get the award, the troop of 10 fifth-grade girls chose a project that would help the Everett Animal Shelter.

They contacted the Paddywack pet store of Mill Creek Town Center for help. Seated in front of the store on two Saturdays, the girls raised about $550 in food and supplies for the shelter. On June 3, the troop dropped off its donations at the animal shelter, where they received a tour.



To submit news for the Applause column, contact reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.