Education

The following is from information sent by colleges to Gig Harbor Now and other community publications. College graduates Hannah Park of Gig Harbor earned a bachelor degree in music from the University of Alabama during its spring commencement ceremonies on May 6-8. Nicklas Yockey, of Gig Harbor, earned a bachelor of arts degree in marketing

Summer break began last week in the Peninsula School District, a nearly universal cause for celebration for kids. Yet for some students, the end of the school year also means the end of free, nutritious and easily obtained meals. That’s where the Food Backpacks 4 Kids program, based on the Key Peninsula and serving the

If Peninsula School District were a corporation, its 2022-26 Strategic Plan would be the equivalent of a long-term business plan. But instead of delivering commercial goods or services, the district is a publicly funded entity. Its “customers” are its more than 9,000 students and their families. Its stakeholders include roughly 600 teachers and nearly 400

The Class of 2022 has lived the arc of the COVID-19 pandemic. They began with a normal freshman year. In spring of their sophomore year, schools shut down and learning went entirely online, a benefit to some but a challenge for so many students who struggled with social isolation. High school students across the country

Parents of students at Discovery Elementary School on Wednesday got a chance to sound off about the lack of interior classroom doors, an issue that lately resurfaced as a security concern. Since the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Peninsula School District officials have fielded complaints about the school’s “open concept” design, which also

Hair dryers whirred amid a background of relaxing music Monday, Salon Day at Henderson Bay High School. Twinkling lights illuminated black and white curtains in the entryway of what had, until recently, been an ordinary classroom. Staff and volunteers revamped the room for the annual event where students can get a new look or just

Special education teacher Wendi Fein was attending a threat assessment meeting this spring at Discovery Elementary School. An actual lockdown occurred during the meeting. Fein’s thoughts immediately turned to teachers and students in classrooms at Discovery that lack interior doors. As everyone hunkered down, she agonized over their vulnerability. The lockdown was lifted without incident.

Has this ever happened to you? You’re at a ball game. It’s chilly. You’re wearing gloves, cheering on your favorite team. But instead of a loud clap, your hands go “thud, thud, thud.” Lame. Pioneer Elementary School student Kai Sandoval has the solution for you: The Cold Clapper. It consists of two plastic disks you