Good News October 11, 2016

Thomas Jefferson High School Math Team places 6th in nation

On July 10th, 2016, the Thomas Jefferson High School math team traveled to St. Louis, Missouri for the 46th Mu Alpha Theta National Convention at Washington University in St. Louis. The Thomas Jefferson team trained all year and summer as well for the annual week-long math competition. Sixty-five of the top schools from across the nation competed in numerous events and the Thomas Jefferson math team did extremely well, placing 6th overall in the nation.  This achievement is alignment of our strategic plan Goal Four: Content-Area Competence: Mastery of All Subjects.

Thomas Jefferson High School now has three new national champions including: 

• Nicholas Kimwho placed first in Theta Applications
• Austin Kimin Theta Matrices and Determinants
• Tim Greene, one of the team’s coaches, placed 1st among all coaches in Mental Math

This continues Thomas Jefferson's winning streak of 22 consecutive years of placing in the top 10 schools in the nation.   

Congrats to the Thomas Jefferson math team coaches and scholars who excelled in this national convention. Way to go!

TAF Academy recognized as School of Distinction for fifth consecutive year

For the fifth consecutive year, TAF Academy has been recognized as a School of Distinction Award for its commitment to improving student outcomes.  

Thirty-six schools in 11 districts in addition to TAF Academy earned this honor for being among the top 5 percent for their continuous, substantive, and sustained improvement in English Language Arts and Math over a five-year period.   

We would like to recognize the following individuals:  

• Chris Alejano, Director of Education, here on behalf of Trish Millines Dziko  
• Principal Pam Tuggle

TAF Academy’s innovative approach to education has paid off for students, and the school actively demonstrates work towards Goal Three of our strategic plan, Active Learners: Engaged, Empowered, Critical Thinkers as well as Goal Four, Content-Area Competence: Mastery of All Subjects.

Congratulations to TAF Academy for this award, and all the work they do on behalf of our scholars to ensure they are successfully mastering standards to be college and career ready!

Students participate in Boeing internship

Each year, Boeing offers internships to a select group of students from local school districts. In June, four student-scholars from Federal Way Public Schools were chosen to participate in the Boeing Fabrication High School Internship. Opportunities such as these help us meet Goal Five of our strategic plan: Persistence to Graduation – High School Graduation through Successful Transitions.

We'd like to recognize the following students selected in 2016 for the Boeing Fabrication Internship: 

• Darryl Worcesterand Caleb Coleman from Todd Beamer High School
• Rachel Konfrom Federal Way High School
• Bruce Rogstadfrom Thomas Jefferson High School

The scholars worked at Boeing during the summer and received hands-on training, factory experience, as well as pay. Students are selected and evaluated primarily on communication, personal discipline, productivity, teamwork, personal ethics, punctuality, interest, and enthusiasm. Once selected, they are assigned mentors in fields such as Chemical Engineering, Business Operations, or Finance. In addition, students that go on to a university are encouraged to apply for college internships at Boeing.   

Daryl, Caleb, Rachel and Bruce: We are proud of you and the bright futures you have ahead!

Jackson Patterson participates in FullConTech Conference on Microsoft Campus

Jackson Patterson, a TAF Academy senior, is a young man of many talents and interests, who is excited about the future of technology that it is ever-expanding, and he can’t wait to see what new inventions and discoveries appear in this fast paced industry. He is driven to find ways technology can help address problems in his community, especially as an advocate for younger students facing the same struggles he has had to overcome.

Recently, Jackson was selected to interview Governor Jay Inslee at the 2016 FullConTech Conference on the Microsoft Campus. Jackson’s questions for the Governor were about the funding and opportunities for better technology for education, so our students from Washington State, specifically students of color and women, would be fully prepared to secure jobs in our local tech industry. He did an outstanding job in the presence of many technology leaders and innovators.

Jackson is a scholar who demonstrates being “empowered and prepared to develop personal responsibility in order to be a positive, productive member of society,” which supports Goal Two, Whole Child: Thriving, Confident Responsible Individuals.

His commitment to having his eye on the goal makes him a role model for other students struggling to overcome personal challenges to find academic and personal successes. Congratulations, Jackson, for your accomplishment. We are proud of you!

Totem Middle School wins Zero Robotics competition

We are proud to announce that this summer, out of thirteen schools competing from across the country in the Zero Robotics competition, Totem Middle School won the regional tournament!

The five-week STEM curriculum introduces students to computer programming, robotics, and space engineering, providing hands-on experience programming SPHERES - which stands for Synchronized, Position, Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites.

The program culminates with a tournament where winning teams’ SPHERES compete aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Middle school participants got to see the SPHERES operate in space.

We'd like to acknowledge the following scholars:

• Hayden Williams
• Alex Patton
• Navid Shudjauddin
• Hunter O’Shea
• Talaifina Tuuholoaki 
• Oliveo Smith
• Hailey Mencias
• Sainofo Fanene
• Leonora Fanene
• Joshua Ennesser                              
• Nolan Thao 
• Ryan Le  
• Oscar Paredes
• Carmella Sanders

This Zero Robotics competition is a great step toward Goal Four of our strategic plan: Content-Area Competence: Mastery of All Subjects.

We are so proud of this team for their focus on STEM curriculum, and their success in the tournament. Congratulations!