By Ari Cetron

Cindy Duenas has spent most of her career as an educator working with students who have specific needs.

She’s had students who were considered “at risk” and students in honors programs, sometimes teaching both sorts of students in the same school year.

“I found it fascinating because it taught me a lot,” Duenas, a Kirkland resident, said. “It really taught me that teenag-ers are all the same.”

Now, Duenas will bring her 27 years of experience to a new challenge as principal of the Lake Washington School District’s newest high school, a science technology engineering and mathematics (sometimes called STEM) magnet school.

The school was started partly as a response to district residents who wanted an option for an intensive science program for their children, and partly to help provide more space for the grow-ing number of students across the district.

It will house 150 students per grade. This first year, there are

only ninth and 10th grade stu-dents at the school.

The building is still under con-struction off state Route 202, just north of Sammamish.

Students will be housed at Eastlake High School until con-struction is complete, which

Duenas said she expects to be some time around December’s winter break.

While the STEM stu-dents may be housed at Eastlake, it will effec-tively be its own school, complete with a sepa-rate bell schedule.

Until the move, Duenas said that teach-ers and administrators at Eastlake have been

working with them to ensure that her teachers will have adequate classroom and lab space.

Those teachers, Duenas said, were chosen by her from across the district largely because their interests meshed with the school’s mission.

“I was going after teachers who are passionate about sci-ence, technology, engineering and math,” she said.

But there was another nuance Duenas wanted. While the teach-ers — 13 full time and one part-

time — needed the passion about STEM, they also needed to under-stand that students would need a more well-rounded education.

“Don’t do it at the expense of

language arts or foreign languag-es,” Duenas said.

The focus, however, will lead to limiting some options in non-STEM areas. The only foreign

language for the students will be Spanish, and there will be limited choices for arts classes.

back to school10 l August 22, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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Science, technology focused school opens in LWSD

Courtesy Lake Washington School DistrictConstruction proceeds at the new school site shown in this aerial photo from July.

Cindy Duenas

See STEM, Page 11

By Lillian O’Rorke

“It’s a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”

Spoken nearly a century ago by Albert Einstein, the senti-ment is increasingly becoming the concern of many parents across the Issaquah School District and the nation.

“How do you find a passion if all you do is go to school, do homework and go from one scheduled event to another,” said Lea Bachman, mother of a rising seventh grade student at Pine Lake Middle

School. “After school hours are for kids to explore interests…laying around and getting bored and figuring something out – kids

don’t have so much time to get bored these days.”

Bachman is not alone in the belief that chil-dren have too much homework.

Earlier this sum-mer more than 18,000 people across the country

signed a petition asking the National PTA to support “healthy homework” guidelines.

At the heart of the petition

Photo by Greg FarrarSkyline High School Associated Student Body officers are (from left) Olivia Fuller, director of communications; Ally Staikos, director of assemblies; Peter Stromgren, vice president; Claudia Covelli, secretary; Tyler Hamke, president; Taylor Schroeder, direc-tor of student activities; and Morgan Huish, treasurer.

Skyline ASB officers Back to school, back to homework?

See HOMEWORK, Page 12

Get involvedThe district’s homework policy is

available online at www.issaquah.wednet.edu. On the “District” pull-down menu click on “Policy Manual.” Homework (2422) can be found half way down the page for 2000-Instruction.

The School Board’s next meet-ing is set for 7 p.m. Sept. 12. Also meeting in the district’s administra-tive building in Issaquah will be the Issaquah PTSA Council at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 18.

By Lillian O’Rorke

Video games at school sounds like the dream of many teenag-ers, but for many in the Issaquah School District designing and having them in the classroom became a reality last year.

Through a partnership between the district and Microsoft, students taking Introduction to Computer Science last spring at Skyline, Issaquah and Liberty high schools, got to design, program and ultimately play video games all in the name of learning. And starting this year, the course will also be offered at Tiger Mountain Community High School.

For Kevin Houghton, math and engineering teacher at Issaquah High, this was the first time video games made an appearance on his syllabi.

“A lot of these kids, good or bad, go home after school and plunk down in front of an Xbox,” he said, explaining that when Microsoft offered to buy the class a set of Xbox Kinects, he was

excited. “Kids need stimuli. They are not just going to sit there and listen to an hour-long lecture... pretty soon they were making video games and the kids were just pumped.”

Classes took part during the first hour of the school day and got help from volunteer software professionals, who gave instruc-tion under the supervision of the certified teacher.

At Skyline, Colin Miller of Sammamish, who during the day is a product unit manager at Microsoft, walked students, step-by-step, through the process of programming their own versions of classic games like Mario, Pong and Galaga.

With objectives like creat-ing an annotated character that responds to keyboard clicks, the students used Scratch, a program-ming language that allows begin-ners to dive in without having to learn the rules like putting a semi colon at the end of every line, Miller explained.

“It also helps kids to not feel intimidated by these things,” said

Miller. “I got the comment that ‘okay, now I realize that this isn’t impossible to learn.’ It breaks down those barriers and gives those kids the exposure to com-puter science.”

In Houghton’s classroom at Issaquah High, students were split into groups of four. While

each team was given a different theme, the requirements were all the same. Each game had to have a menu and help screen; it had to be timed and built for two players. Using the Kinects it had to respond to body movements and there needed to be a point system; the list goes on.

“It was really just about tying all these concepts together: human-computer interac-tion, graphical parts, the logic itself,” said Michael Hawker of Microsoft, who volunteered at Issaquah High. “A major issue in computer science is ‘how do you break the problem down into these little bits so that they can be run at the same time?’… it was pretty involved. It was huge proj-ect but a lot of fun.”

In the end, students developed video games like one where play-ers moved their arms around to steer a helicopter through approaching rings.

In another game the goalie has to block incoming soccer balls that, over time, increase in numbers and speed. Other games themes included a bat cave, food fight, math and fishing.

“These kids were hit pretty hard with the fact that it’s cool but it’s pretty hard. You have to take care of a lot of details. You don’t just click the button and

By Warren Kagarise

London extinguished the Olympic flame in a glitzy, star-studded ceremony Aug. 12, after 16 days defined by milestones reached, records shattered and, for a local family, a golden oppor-tunity to experience the 2012 Summer Olympics up close.

Sue Hamke — joined by hus-band Kurt, daughter Jessica and son Tyler — left the Sammamish Plateau for London in early August.

The family attended the Winter Olympics in 2002, 2006 and 2010, but London offered the Hamkes a chance to experience the Summer Olympics in a famil-iar setting.

The family lived just out-side the city from 2004-06, as the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to London and preparations for the event started in earnest.

The games, clustered in futur-istic venues constructed mostly in London’s East End, did not disappoint.

“The amazing thing about the Olympics is seeing athletes from all over the world and how the crowd cheers for them all,” Sue Hamke recalled Aug. 12.

The family, seated high in Olympic Stadium, watched Sarah Attar make history.

“We saw the first woman ever allowed to compete in an

Olympics from Saudi Arabia run in the 800 meters,” Hamke con-tinued. “She finished well behind the others in her heat, but she received a standing ovation by the crowd as she completed her last lap.”

London reflected a transforma-tion from the years the Hamkes lived about 30 miles from the city.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the venues that they built for the Olympics,” particu-larly the ArcelorMittal Orbit — a twisting observation tower rising 377 feet above Olympic Park — Hamke said in a pre-Olympics interview.

The security cordon for the Olympics and crowds from around the globe also exempli-fied the changes.

“I just have confidence in the security,” Sue Hamke said in the pre-Olympics interview.

The family remembers a 2005 terrorist attack against the London subway system, or the Tube.

Kurt Hamke escaped unscathed from the bombings in the London Underground.

The security concerns faded into memory as the Hamkes raced from venue to venue.

The docket also included the women’s marathon along the streets of London, a table tennis match between Korea and Hong Kong, and a women’s field hock-

ey match between the United States and New Zealand. (New Zealand eliminated the United States, 3-2.)

The family also headed to Earls Court to watch the U.S. women’s volleyball team out-

maneuver Turkey, en route to a silver medal. (Brazil nabbed the gold.)

The lineup of events hinged on luck. Spectators purchase tickets in a pool, and often do not know the countries competing in

the team events until the event day arrives. Olympic Stadium and the elegant cauldron — fash-ioned from 204 tulip-shaped copper petals to represent the

community16 l August 22, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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Local family experiences Olympic history in London

ContributedJessica (from left), Tyler, Kurt and Sue Hamke hold a U.S. flag as the U.S. women’s volleyball team faces Turkey on Aug. 5.

See OLYMPICS, Page 17

Gaming teaches local students problem-solving skills

ContributedStudents work together to create a video game.

See GAMES, Page 17

sports18 l August 22, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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By Lillian O’Rorke

School starts soon, and fall athletes have already begun prac-ticing. Some Eastlake Wolves are hungry to head to state this year.

Cross Country

After failing to make it to the state tournament last year, Eastlake High School’s cross country team is back with a ven-geance.

“They were very disappointed with last season’s results,” said coach Troy Anderson, explain-ing that it was the first time since 2006 that the girls team did not qualify for the championship. “They are really attacking the season with enthusiasm.”

After losing its fastest run-ner, Anastasia Kosykh, to a back injury, the girls squad took fourth at the KingCo League Championship and finished sev-enth at districts. Healed, Kosykh, who took second at the 2010 state tournament, is back and ready to lead her team.

“That’s her primary goal. She wants to do as best she can as individual but she wants to do it in the context of getting the team back to state,” said Anderson. She is ramping up her mileage, he added, but also being careful to ease her body back into training.

The team also stands to ben-

efit from returning runners, juniors Devon Bortfeld, Nicole Stinnett and Anna Carskaden and sophomore Grace Johnson as well as a whole slew of new incoming freshman and sopho-more athletes.

On the boys side, the Eastlake Wolves are looking to cash in on the use of its veteran runners including seniors Josh Caile and Reece Bynum.

Juniors Kyle Suver and Jordan Oldenburg had outstanding track seasons in the spring, explained Anderson, adding that all of his top runners have continued to train through the summer months.

“They understand now how hard they need to work to achieve the goals they want to achieve,” said Anderson. Their goals this year include having four boys in KingCo’s top 20 with less than 20 seconds between No. 1 and No. 4, as well as having strong No. 5 through No. 7 pack. “They have a serious focus this

year, which is awesome.”Practice was set to begin Aug.

20 when Anderson said he was expecting the team’s capacity to push 120 runners.

The addition of ninth-grade students to Eastlake is a win-win, he explained, because the Wolves will have more athletes out on the course and the incoming new students will already have the support of a large team to help them adjust.

“They are out there having fun, improving themselves and they are getting to know people they probably wouldn’t be able to know otherwise,” he said. “ It helps ease that intimidation of the first week of high school…here is another 100 people they know before school even starts.”

The team’s first home meet is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at Beaver Lake Park, with the start and finish line near the baseball field.

Boys Golf

The Eastlake boys golf team may not have held its tryouts yet, but it is a safe bet that this will be a good year for the Wolves.

Having never slowed down, senior Li Wang is coming off of a good summer season. It started out with a bang May 23, when he

File photoAnastasia Kosykh, center, leads the pack during a race in 2010. After an injury last year, Eastlake will look to her for leadership this season.

Eastlake golf, cross-country ready for a new fall season

See EASTLAKE, Page 19

“They are out there having fun, improving

themselves and they are getting to know people.”

– Troy Anderson, Coach –

Hundreds compete in Beaver Lake TriathlonBy Lillian O’Rorke

The buzz of hundreds of people chat-tering rose up from the shore of Beaver Lake Aug. 18 as athletes clad in Speedos and wetsuits waited for their turn to make a splash.

The Beaver Lake Triathlon kicked off at about 8 a.m. with the first group of elite challengers disturbing the silky lake surface like a school of salmon. What followed was wave after wave of 50 swimmers each, making their way around the quarter-mile course before sprinting to the bike transition area.

“It was very warm — we had that heat wave,” said Jason Renfroe, of Sammamish. “It’s a real short course. All you do is sprint as fast as you can, gulp a lot of water and tag your partner.”

His teammate Steve Holton took over for the second, cycling leg of the race. After finishing the 13.8-mile bike ride down and back up Redmond-Fall City Road, Holton was stripped of any grand illusions but still smiling.

“It was hard,” he said. “I don’t think we are in as good a shape as last year.

But it’s always a good event.”Holton’s team, 3 Amigos, complete

with John Wall as the runner, finished with a time of 1 1/2 hours and 23 sec-onds to take sixth place out of the 18 teams.

“We had more donuts this year,” Renfroe said.

In first place was another Sammamish team made up of Amy McOmber, Sam Beeson and Michael Flindt. At 18, Flindt was the youngest among those to first cross the finish line after running the 4.3-mile final leg in 25:14. His team won with a total time of 1:13.30.

“We came out to have fun,” said Beeson, adding that the three of them only decided to compete a few weeks ago. “We didn’t know he was going to blow the field away.”

The overall first-place title went to Rusty Pruden, of Redmond, who, wear-ing a Speedo, completed the triathlon, from start to finish, in 1:06:41.

“This one was especially fun because

See Triathalon, Page 19

Photo by Lillian Tucker

The first leg of the Beaver Lake Triathlon took athletes on a quarter-mile swim Aug. 18.