March 15, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Shelton-Mason County Journal
WHAT%COOKIN'
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Kris Smock, former executive director of Sound Learning, previously Mason County Literacy, left the nonprofit this week after five
a job working for Washington state.
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
years to pursue
Sound Learning director moves on to job in Olympia after 5 years in Shelton
By NATALIE JOHNSON from," she said. literacy programs has suffered since "We're using volunteers creatively
nai.alie@masoncounty.com Immediately, Smock said she new the start of the recession, but Sound and changing our services to group
she was working at someplace special. Learning has retained services by in- some classes rather than have one-on-
"(Mason County Literacy) provid- creasing its volunteer staff, one support," she said. "We're moving
After guiding the small nonprofit ed everything I was looking for," she This week, Smock is moving to an in the direction of two to three people
through one of the worst recessions said. "It was clear from the beginning entirely different job, working to coor- per tutor."
this country has ever faced, Sound that people care very deeply about the dinate the Amer.iCorps Volunteers in Despite having to decrease opportu-
Learning Executive Director Krisorganization and what they do." Service to America (VISTA) program, nities for one on one tutoring, Smock
Smock is ready to move on to the next Smock said she has particularly en- Smock started at Mason County said she is proud of the non-profit's
challenge, joyed working with families, especial- Literacy five months before the begin- ability to maintain a supportive atmo-
Smock came to Mason County Lit- ly mothers and children, ning of the recession. She said dealing sphere for its students.
eracy, now Sound Learning, almost Focusing on learning as a family is with budget cuts and economic hard- "The relationships that form are
exactly five years ago after spending based on the theory that children learn ship was the biggest challenge of her still really strong and positive," she
time working for the Washington De- best when their parents are educated, time at the nonprofit, said. "I'm proud we've been able to
partment of Social and Health Servic- "That's probably one of the things"We kind of had to scale back be- maintain a high quality service in the
es (DSHS). that intrigued me the most," she said. cause of cuts in funding, which we're face of daunting economic challenges."
"I missed the connection with the "It's been really great to work with still doing," she said. There are many other things Smock
local community... I wanted to do these women." However, Smock said the nonprofit
something I could see a direct impact State and federal funding for family still serve.~ about 300 people a year. See Director on page B-4
lars •
line is coming up
Ithink one of my favorite days of
this year was March 11. That was
the day we got our hour of daylight
back.
Of course it takes a week or so for
my body to adjust, but I don't care, I
like the extra hour.
The idea of Daylight Savings Time
(DST) has come and gone a number of
times. Some credit Benjamin Frank-
lin with cgming up with the idea for
DST in 1784. When visiting Paris, he
couldn't figure out why it was getting
so sunny so early. He also thought
that by adjusting the time, people
would save on candle costs. However,
DST was not implemented until 1916,
when Germany and Great Britain
used it as, a way to conserve energy
during World War I. The United
States used it in 1918, but citizens
were against the idea and it was aban-
doned. Since that time the idea has
come, gone and come back again - I'm
ready to stay on it all
the time.
OK, Harstine Is-
land students: now
is the time to work
on those scholarship
applications. The
Harstine Island
Women's Club has
By MIKE for years offered
CALLAGHAN a couple,of real
good ones. I have a
granddaughter who
just graduated from high school and I
bugged her for two years to get those
applications in and it took two years of
bugging to get her to do it. I say that
because I am going to put this remind-
er in the article a couple of times be-
fore the May 4 deadline. So, if you are ....
a Harstine Island resident and if you
are graduating from high school or
See Harstine on page B-4
March madness
Journal photo by Kevan Moore
A suddent hail storm Tuesday afternoon caught many downtown Shelton
pedestrians off guard, including this unidentified woman on Cota Street.
The hail lasted for about ten minutes, followed by about another 10
minutes of wet fluffy snow which then gave way to brilliant sunshine.
Thursday, March 15, 2012 - Shelton-Mason County Journal- Page B-1