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Since 1886 Vol. 134, No. 39
MASON COUNTY, THURSDAY, SEPT. 24-, 2020
$1.5
SMALL Town PAPERS
927 w RAILROAD AVE Lzo
0 SHELTON WA. 98584-3847
Wade Wilson-Mclnnis, 4, of Mount Vernon and Luci Toedt of Portland give it
a twirl
Saturday at the inaugural Hoop Fest for Totten' Shores residents and
their guests at
Totten Shores Community Park. Beth Rossow,
who has lived in the community south
of Arcadia Point since age 19, said she wanted to stage a fun event for all
ages while
maintaining mask“ and social-distancing guidelines. See more photos on
page A-37.
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
dent of the
By Gordon Weeks—m
gordon@masoncounty. com
Alex Apostle, superinten-
Shelton School
District, announced Tuesday
he will retire at the end of the
school year.
Apostle made the announce-
ment near the end of a 3 1/2-
hour Shelton School Board
regular meeting. He has led the
school district for the past five
years. June 30 is his last day.
Apostle said he made the
decision almost two‘years ago,
and told school board members
of his plan at that time.
Apostle noted some of the
district’s achievements during
his tenure, including passing
a $65-million building bond in
2017 that built a new Moun-
tain View Elementary School,
created new buildings at Shel-
ton High School and made im-
provements at the district’s
other five schools. He noted the
district passed every levy dur-
ing the past five years; reconfig-
ured the schools, which brought
the ninth-graders to the high
schools; and developed and ac-
tivated school academies.
“What I’d like to cite is that
’ we made it a priority to take a
strong stance on staff perfor-
mance in respect to students
and expectations in relation
to ‘all positions to make these
great things happen,” he said.
“That was not easy to do, but
we did it.”
Apostle’s announcement fol-
lowed extensive reports by de-
partment heads on the first two
weeks of school, with all the
district’s 4,216 students learn-
Apostle
to retire
ing from home due to the pan-
demic. ‘
People are invited to ask
questions of the superinten-
dent during an' open commu-
nity forum on YouTube from
6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Comments
and questions can be made by
sending an email to communi-
tyforum@sheltonschools.org or
by calling 1~253-215-8782 and
entering identification to be an:
nounced on the district’s web-
site during the scheduled meet-
ing time. When calling, mute
your microphone until you are
admitted into the meeting and
prompted to speak.
The link to the» meeting is
youtube.com/user/Shelton-
SchoolDistrict, underthe head-
er MM/DD Community Forum.
The first hour of the opening
of school reports Tuesday eve—
ning was devoted to the online
K-12 Academy curriculum and
teacher training.
Kelly Neely, director of the
district’s of curriculum, instruc-
tion and state and federal pro-
grams, said she’s getting phone
calls and emails from parents
saying their children are feel-
ing overwhelmed by the num-
ber of assignments.
Board member Sally Brown-
field said she’s also fielding
calls and emails from parents
saying their children are get-
ting assignments, “but the
teaching is not going on.”'Those
students feel “they’re falling be-
hind, they’re getting panicky
That’s panic time I’m hearing
from some parents, students
and staff,” she said.
see RETIREMENT, page A-2
CHOICE graduates finally get ceremony
By Gordon Weeks
gordon@masoncounty. com
Last spring, the pandemic
forced students and staff at
Shelton and CHOICE high
schools to, create fresh plans
for graduation ceremonies.
The Shelton High School
Class of 2020 opted for a
drive-thru ceremony June
23 in front of the school. The
CHOICE High School Class of
2020 elected to stage its com-
mencement Sept. 18 in Shel-
ton High School’s Performing
Arts Center, in the hopes the
spread of the disease would
have slowed to allow people to
gather.
But, the pandemic re-
mains, prompting CHOICE
graduates to follow suit and
celebrate in a drive-thru cer-
emony Friday outside their
school.
Each graduate was al—
lowed one vehicle. The ve-
hicles began lining up at 2:30
p.m. at Loop Field. The driv-
ers were directed through
the Evergreen Elementary
School parking lot where
the graduates picked up
gowns, caps and face masks
(if needed) and to the front
of the CHOICE building. The
masked graduates were an-
nounced after they exited the
vehicle, received their diplo-
mas on stage, and exchanged
elbow pumps with CHOICE
CHOICE High School graduateAlexis Valley sits in the '
back of a truck carrying her to her graduation ceremony.
More photos on page A-12. Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
Principal Stacey Anderson.
Friends and relatives in the
vehicle who wore masks were
invited to step outside to take
photos and shoot videos.
“I thought it was really
good,” said Anderson, who is
also principal of the new Ce-
dar High School. “I’m glad it
went off without a hitch.”
The seniors shed tears and
were grateful for the event,
even though .“I know they
wish they could have had a
traditional ceremony,” Ander-
son said.
The school is producing a
video showing the highlights
of the ceremony. It will in-
clude Student videos, photos
and comments from the staff.
V INSIDE TODAY '
i i ll! J Hill,"
' 8 53263 00
District leads to meet
on reopening schools
Page A-Z
at Crazy Sweets
Page A-25
Savory, spicy treats
Three county projects
receive state salmon funds
Page A-28