Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 24, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 1     (1 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 1     (1 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
September 24, 2020
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




i Witwfliasmmmtg iier 3-84 S42 'l'l'l'll"l"Illll'll'lll'lllllll'"llu'lll"llllll"l'llll"'l WCAR-RT 005 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