Mt. Rainier High School Alumni Newsletter

	First Quarter 2003 Volume 1, Issue 1 PO Box 13261 Des Moines, WA 98198-1004
News for Alumni, Parents, Teachers and Community
Sponsored by the Mt. Rainier High School Foundation	http://www.mrhs.info/

Dear Mt. Rainier friends and alumni:

I am enjoying my third year as the Principal of Mt. Rainier High School. You need to know that great things are happening at your Alma Mater. You have left us a legacy of striving for greatness, and that is exactly what we are doing.

Our WASL scores were outstanding this year! We raised our scores 10%-20% in each category. We are so proud of our students that we have placed our scores in the school gym along side our athletic successes.

We have an array of programs to meet the needs of all our students. We continue to have an Internationally renowned International Baccalaureate Program (IB). Many of our students who graduate with the IB Diploma are able to receive college credit from prestigious universities around the world.

Our Teacher Academy prepares young men and women for a profession in education. Several of our students in this program have been awarded scholarships to continue to pursue a degree in education.

We have started two new Academies. The Environmental Science Academy was started two years ago and has already received an award from King County. Each course within the academy focuses on the environment and attempts to prepare students to be effective stewards of our land. We have discovered a wetland right here on our campus and the students are currently in the process of returning it to its native state. This Academy is also partnering with Camp Waskowitz where students have an opportunity to study in an outdoor laboratory.		The following public meetings have been scheduled to provide the community with information on the design and development process for the new Mt. Rainier High School: Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003 Mt. Rainier High School Thursday, March 13, 2003 Marvista Elementary Monday, March 24, 2003 Pacific Middle School All sessions 7-8:30 pm
Just this year, we have opened our 9th Grade Academy. This academy has 100 students in it and is providing a smaller learning community for students as they transition into high school. Seven teachers are involved with this project and have developed an integrated curriculum, career planning and projects, hands on learning, field experiences and internships. Our hope is to offer additional academies for the rest of our 9th grade population and to expand the program into the 10th grade on a more limited basis.
Mt. Rainier Music Program continues to be outstanding and we have won many first place awards at state competitions. Many of you may have seen our Band marching in the Bon Marche Holiday Parade. These great programs would not exist without great teachers. We continue to attract some of the best teachers in the state. In fact, one of our teachers has just received her National Teacher Certification. You may have read about her in the Seattle Times.

Our standards are high here at Mt. Rainier. We are the Mountain! You helped us years ago by setting the foundation for our successes today. We want to continue to be successful in the future and we need your help to make that happen. The Mt. Rainier High School Foundation was created to find resources to support our current programs as well as future programs to meet the needs of our students. Our goal is to provide our students with the best opportunity we can for success and we want to involve our alumni in helping us reach that goal. We are striving for excellence in all areas of our school.

Please feel free to attend any of our Foundation meetings that are held the first Tuesday of every month at 7 pm in the Mt. Rainier HS Library. I would very much like to meet you and tell you more about the great plans we have for Mt. Rainier High School.

Sincerely,

Toni Pace, Principal, Mt. Rainier HS

Ramblings from a Retired Professor of the "Old Math" - David Price

It doesn't seem possible that nearly eight years have passed since I last walked down the hallowed halls of Mt. Rainier High School. I retired in 1995 with thirty years under my belt - twenty-seven in the Highline School District and twenty-five at Mt. Rainier. I think I taught in the best of times. The 60's, 70's, and 80's were slower paced with strong family ties and much more focus on school related activities.

For example, I remember during the 70's, if you weren't seated in the gym by 6 pm for the JV basketball game, you would be out of luck for the varsity game tip-off at 8 pm. The game would be sold out by 6:30 pm. I recently attended a game where half of the bleacher seats were rolled up against the walls and maybe 100 fans were in attendance. Student support and enthusiasm was clearly missing. There are so many more events and activities nowadays competing for students' attention and dollars. Attending school events is not a top priority. That's sad.

My experiences in teaching were for the most part very favorable. Each day offered new challenges. I hope that my enthusiasm for mathematics rubbed off on my students and that they acquired some skills and knowledge that may have served them well in later years. It was my belief that only three rules in math were essential:

1) If you see a decimal point, move it.

2) If you see a sign, change it.

3) If you see a fraction, invert it.

Life after teaching is now quite different in the Price household. Our two daughters have moved out and launched careers (one's a teacher by the way). My wife and I do much less laundry and tidying-up and our phone and light bills are much lower! We now find we have more time for those quiet, intimate moments, travel a bit more, and both remain gainfully employed in new endeavors. Sadly, teacher's retirement pay does not keep pace with rising household and medical expenses. Unless you're the sole beneficiary in rich Uncle Louie's will or think you have a shot at winning the lotto (7 million to one), I strongly urge any teacher nearing retirement age to have a plan for some supplemental income. Keeping the other spouse working full-time is a good place to start

Life has treated me very well. I have a loving and supportive family, many dear friends, and was fortunate to have pursued a career that I wouldn't have traded anyone for - not even A-Rod! Best Wishes, and Good Health to All.

Mt. Rainier Athletes Enjoy Finest Fall Season in Recent Memory - D. Rawie, Class of '80

In the past three years, "The Mountain" has produced over twenty league champions and that success was highlighted with a top-ten ranking in WIAA's prestigious Washington State Scholarship Cup recognizing interscholastic high school programs for excellence in academics, sportsmanship, and athletic performance.

After guiding the boys soccer team to a league title in his first year as head coach, '87 alum Dave Hanson did the same for the girls team this fall enroute to a division and league title and a state tournament berth while gaining coach of the year honors.

Also in his first year as head coach, another alum, Joe Fain guided the girls swim team to a division crown and district title leading a large contingent of competitors to the state meet. In addition, his peers named Fain Washington State Coach of the Year.

In her fourth and final year as head coach, Julie Melver led volleyball to their second consecutive championship season in Seamount play as well as district champs and another state tournament appearance. Never finishing below second place in her four years, Melver was the third coach this fall to be awarded coach of the year honors.

Football began its rebuilding process in a healthy way growing stronger each week with a new coach and winning the final two games of the season making the future look very promising. In just the second year since returning as a sport to Mt. Rainier, golf is sending competitors to the state meet including one athlete for the second straight year. Cross-country continued to improve with entire boys team qualifying for the state meet in Pasco.

Mt. Rainier High School Foundation
Vision:	A foundation to advance the educational aspirations of all Mt. Rainier High School students.
Mission:	Strengthen our community by fostering, encouraging, and promoting the achievement of excellence at Mt. Rainier.
Goals:	To provide leadership in gathering resources for the adademic, artistic, athletic, extracurricular, and enrichment needs of students at Mt. Rainier High School.
	To enlist support from a broad coalition within our community - alumni, students, parents, teachers; business, civic and service organizations; local city, county, and state government.
	To develop an endowment sufficiently large to make a difference.

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