Toppenish School District superintendent Steve Myers has been selected to become the next superintendent of Educational Service District 105. The ESD 105 Board of Directors on Friday morning selected Myers to lead the regional school service agency.  The Board will offer Myers a contract at its March 16 meeting, and Myers will assume his new duties on July 1. Myers will assume the agency's leadership from Jane Gutting, who announced last November her plans to leave ESD 105 after 11 successful years leading the organization. Myers, 61, has served as the superintendent of the Toppenish School District since 2003.  He joined the Toppenish School District in 1983 as a...

Congratulations to the six local high school teams that will be moving on to statewide Knowledge Bowl competition following their strong performances at the ESD 105 Regional Knowledge Bowl! Teams from 12 area high schools competed in this year’s regional meet, which was hosted by Toppenish High School on February 24.  The top finishers from each school division will advance to the State Knowledge Bowl competitions that will be held Saturday, March 27.  Kennewick will host the statewide matchups for class 2A, 3A, and 4A teams, while Spokane will host the state event for 1B, 2B, and 1A schools. The local schools advancing to the State Knowledge Bowl are:
• Class 2B:
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Congratulations to Joy Kaasa, a paraprofessional for the special education programs at the Wahluke School District in Mattawa, for being selected as Educational Service District 105’s first-ever Regional Classified School Employee of the Year! The award is designed to recognize the excellent service that our state’s paraprofessionals, custodians, secretaries, cooks, payroll officers, and bus drivers provide to their schools.  Candidates are reviewed for their contributions in helping improve student achievement, their leadership and collaboration, and their overall outstanding work performance for their school community. Kaasa joined the Wahluke School District as a paraprofessional...

Congratulations to the eight students whose creative work will represent our region at this spring's statewide Superintendent’s High School Art Show hosted by OSPI at the Old Capitol Building in OIympia!  Their work was chosen as the standout entries from among the 124 pieces in this year's ESD 105 Regional High School Art Show. The pieces in our 37th annual Regional Art Show were juried by Monique McFadden, Carmen Petersen, and Alyssa Skiles, local artists who are members of the new ESD 105 Arts Integration Mentoring Project in association with Allied Arts.  The winning entries were announced during show’s opening reception on Sunday, February 7, at the Allied Arts of Yakima Valley’s...

Nominations are now offically open for our next ESD 105 Regional Teacher of the Year! The 2010-2011 Regional Teacher of the Year won't be announced until August (shortly before the start of the new school year), but application materials will need to be submitted to ESD 105 no later than Friday, May 7, 2010. This program annually honors an educator who exemplifies teaching excellence in our south central Washington region.  Our regional honoree will also serve as one of 10 candidates statewide for the Washington State Teacher of the Year.  The statewide award will be announced in the fall, and will include nominees from each of Washington's nine ESDs plus — beginning this year — one...