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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 teacher from one of Washington's tribal schools.

Our 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year recipient was Madeline Dunn of the Toppenish School District (pictured here with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn during last fall's State Teacher of the Year awards ceremony at Seattle's Experience Music Project / Museum of Science Fiction).  Will you be the one who nominates our next honoree...?

To download the official application form or find other information about this program, go to our Teacher of the Year page.

An opening reception will be held on Sunday, February 7, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., with awards being presented at 2:15 p.m., during which time the students receiving awards will give a brief description about their work.  After the opening day, the public may continue viewing the exhibit during Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The 2010 show features 124 entries that represents the work of 113 students of 21 teachers from 17 regional high schools.  The high schools represented this year include:  Davis, East Valley, Eisenhower, Ellensburg, Goldendale, Grandview, Highland, Hope Academy, LaSalle, Naches Valley, Riverside Christian, Royal, Selah, Toppenish, Wahluke, West Valley, and White Swan.

High school art teachers in the ESD 105 South Central Washington region were invited to submit up to seven pieces of their students’ art for this annual event.

Judges for this year’s regional sho w are 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 three judges will select eight of the show’s entries to advance to OSPI's statewide Superintendent’s High School Art Show, which will be held April 6 through June 4 at the Old Capitol Building in Olympia.  Additionally, one of the local pieces will be purchased by the ESD 105 Board of Directors for permanent display as part of the ESD 105 student art collection at the ESD 105 Conference Center in Yakima.

Installation of this year's regional show is being provided by high school students participating with the YVCC Larson Gallery's Cultural Education Extension Program.

The annual regional art show is sponsored by ESD 105, Allied Arts of Yakima Valley, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction as a means to support arts education and provide a venue for student artists to showcase their works.

For the sixth year, ESD 105 is producing a book featuring all the art pieces that will be given to each of the student artists and their art teachers.  Images of the regional show will also be available for viewing soon at the ESD 105 ArtFusion Web site (www.artfusion.us).

For further information, see the ESD 105 ArtFusion page, which also includes complete galleries of works from past year's shows.

[PICTURED FROM TOP:  "Waiting for Ganymede" by Naches Valley 11th grader Anna Rose Ulmer, "Lucky" by Goldendale 10th grader Ariel Ellingwood, and "Tony and Manny" by West Valley 12th grader Taylor Chadwick]

The deadlines are February 5 and February 12 to apply for the scholarship programs sponsored by the Washington State Migrant Education Program to attend this summer's Space Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  This year's Space Academy trip will occuring July 10-17.

• Teacher-Chaperone Scholarships: Middle school math/science teachers are invited to apply for one of MEP's three statewide scholarships to attend the Space Academy for Educators.  Teacher applications must be received on or before Friday, February 5.  Application materials are available here.

• Student Scholarships: Eligible migrant students age 12-14 are invited to apply for one of MEP's nine statewide scholarships to cover expenses (including travel, meals, and lodging) for attending Space Camp.  Student applications must be received on or before Friday, February 12.  Application materials -- and full details about the Space Camp program -- are available at the ESD 105 MERO Space Academy page.

Do you know any outstanding young person or youth group in Yakima County deserving of being publicly honored for their great contributions?  Area volunteers are seeking nominations now for the 17th annual Yakima County Youth Awards.

These awards are open to anyone from the age of 5 to 19 for their achievements in any of the following categories:
• The Arts
• Business/Enterprise
• Civic/Community Service
• Family Life
• Leadership
• Personal Achievement
• Small Groups (up to 9 members)
• Large Groups (10 or more members)

Nominations must be postmarked by Friday, February 12, and mailed to:  Yakima Youth Awards, 407 S. 25th Avenue, Yakima, WA  98902.  Awards will be presented on Monday, March 1, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Yakima's Capitol Theatre.

Get a copy of the official nomination form by clicking here. For more information, call 248-4848.