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Shelton-Mason County Journal
By NATALIE JOHNSON students in Mason County are participating in
the SWIM program, testing creeks, streams and
Water quality is a huge issue for everyone in even Hood Canal for dissolved oxygen levels, ni-
Mason County and through the Mason Conser- trates, pH and turbidity, which measures how
vation District's Student Watershed Investiga- clear the water is.
tion and Monitoring (SWIM) program, middle "All this data that they're collecting is going to
school students get to learn about those issues in the conservation district," said Southside School
their own backyard, teacher Stella Feeley, who led a group of 14 stu-
"They're going all to different streams and dents in water quality monitoring at a creek in
monitoring for a variety of parameters ... They Walker Park last Friday morning.
are looking at streams that are right outside Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, stu-
their doors," said Stephanie Bishop of the con- dents at Evergreen Elementary and Southside
servation district. "The Hood Canal School is and Hood Canal schools set out to test water
also doing the canal at Potlatch."
Twenty-six classes of fifth- to ninth-grade See Conservation on page B-6
Southside students
Jayson Johnson, left,
and Rachel Hall work
with teacher Stella
Feeley to test water
quality samples from
Walker Creek for the
Mason Conservation
District's SWIM
program.
Journa DnoIos O, Natahe Johnson
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HARST NEISLANDNEW$
WHAT%COOKIN'
Grange
ponsors
Spooktober
Journal Photo by Natalie Johnson
Shannon Klasell, adult program coordinator for basic skills at Mason County Literacy, said the
organization is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, and changing its name to Sound Learning.
Mason County Literacy celebrates 20 years
Nonprofit will soon
change name to
Sound Learning
By NATALIE JOHNSON
Mason County Literacy is celebrating
its 20th birthday Oct. 27 with a party a~
the historic Colonial House in downtown
Shelton from 6 - 8:30 p.m.
"It's a big deal to hit 20 years and be a
small nonprofit and still be a small non-
profit ... especially in the economic climate
for the last 10 years." said Shannon Kla-
sell, adult program coordinator for basic
skills.
After 20 years of serving Mason Coun-
ty, the non-profit literacy program has ex-
panded to also serve Thurston County and
will soon change its name to Sound Learn-
ing to celebrate the milestone, Klasell said.
"It was time to grow up and have a new
name," she said.
Mason County Literacy grew out of a
project first started by Simpson Timber 20
years ago to help employees improve their
reading skills, Klasell said.
"When this program was first started it
was very targeted ... It was strictly a read-
ing improvement program," she said.
Over the years, the program has grown
and changed to meet the needs of the com-
munity.
The nonprofit now subscribes to the
idea of "21st Century Literacy," which
Klasell said includes more than just read-
ing skills, but also computer literacy, prob-
lem solving and critical thinking.
"It's a different world and a different
county. People need to have different skills
to be successful," she said. "It's a broader
view of what literacy is~ .:.,you don't just " sarily ~0rking t0ward a OED.
learn to read in a vacuum[" LaSt year, the non-profit and volunteer-
Many students who attend the literacy based organization served 300 students in
center are now working to attain their Mason and Thurston counties. It is funded
GEDs. entirely through grants, donations from
"I'm personally impressed by [Masonthe community and local corporations and
County Literacy] ... it's different than I programs such as the annual Spell-e-bra-
was expecting," said GED student Susan tion.
Crabtree. "It's been a while since I was in "It's gotten harder to get funding," Kla-
school ... they make it comfortable to ease sell said.
your way back to a school setting."The literacy program prides itself on
The literacy center also offers English having a good tutor-to-student ratio and
as a second language courses and basic gives students clot of individual attention.
education classes for people looking to im-
prove their literacy skills without neces-
. See Cookingon page B-6
:, :i ~ ::~" :?~. ~ ..... :~:: Thursday, October
27,
2011
I have to comment again on the yel-
low, pumpkin-orange maples that so
beautifully dot our roadways.
I'm hoping that if you have the
means and opportunity to plant such a
tree along an island roadway that you
take it. I can imagine driving on the
island some fall year in the future and
being embraced with the overwhelm-
ing inspiration that these vibrant col-
ors command.
Take time and drive the Island
Drive North just before Jarrell's Cove
and feel tl~at-einbi~ade. O~imdg:iiae the
island roads lined with and looking
like the red maples at Dudley's boat
shop and connect those to the yellow-
red maples a~ Community Hall road
connected to Chuck's garden at the
bottom of Jones hill with all those red-
orange sumacs connected to the big
leaf maples just past Deer Creek it
would be overwhelming if island road-
ways looked that.
The Women's Club will meet next
at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3. at
the community hall. This month it's
a brown bag lunch with dessert and
coffee provided. The group meets with
time for socializing prior to lunch, a
program and business meeting. This
month's program will feature Shannon
Klaselt from Mason County Literacy,
who will describe what the group does
and plans for future
educational efforts.
Should be interest-
ing. They welcome
participation by cur-
rent members and
newcomers alike.
Wow, there are
three LaJune Se-
nior Lunches in the
MIKE month of Novem-
CALLAGHAN ber. On Nov. 2 they
will be servang spa-
ghetti, green salad,
garlic bread and sherbet. Then on Nov.
16, they will have some sausage with
sauerkraut and potatoes along with
some mixed raw veggies and for des-
sert. brownies.
And on Nov. 30, they will serve up
a warm stew with beer bread, pickled
beets and assorted fruit crisps. If that
sounds good to you arrive at the com-
munity hall a little before noon to find
a seat. They serve up some wonderful
food and all that is asked is a donation
of $3.
The three recipients for Citizens of
the Year were Lynn Fish. Sandy Mur-
phy and Sam Edgin. Bill Burrows was
chosen for the Honored Citizen of the
Year award. Last week I used Arlen's
notes on Lynn Fish. This week I'm us-
ing Billie Fish's notes on Sandy.
"This person proposed and accom-
plished one of the most challenging
tasks ever at our community club. Of
course I refer to the brick pavilion
around the flagpole. She pursued this
endeavor relentlessly devoting an enor-
mous amount of time and management
to sell what was set at her goal.
We owe her a great debt of gratitude
for this and how beautiful it is. She
See Harstine on page B-6
- Shelton:Mason County Journal - Page B-1
!