The local Junior Girl Scout Troop at Coe Elementary is hosting a Bake Sale/Mini Fair tomorrow, Tuesday, June 11th after school at the Coe playground – and this is no ordinary bake sale. One of their kindergarten schoolmates, Paola, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and the sale will benefit her and her family. Whatever is raised via the sale, or donated to the cause, will go directly to Paola’s family.

In addition to selling baked goods, the Mini Fair will feature games for kids and tables with items for sale from the Girl Scouts’ own homes as well as craft projects such as bottle cap magnets. They’re doing whatever they can to help raise money for Paola and her family, as this particular cause is close to them.

There will also be a collection jar at the Bake Sale/Mini Fair, so if you’d like to help out, stop by Coe Elementary tomorrow at 3pm.

This Wednesday, May 1st, from 4pm to 6pm, the Eat to Thrive Cooking Education Class will be held for free at the Queen Anne Presbyterian Church. The class will be led by Paule Attar and will focus on teaching people how to cook nourishing, wholesome fresh food, with an emphasis on dishes that are simple, delicious, easy to make, and affordable.

The class is open to anyone in the greater Seattle area, but please RSVP at prforpeopleevents@gmail.com, so the class will have enough food for all who attend. Queen Anne Presbyterian Church is located at 414 West Howe Street, on top of Queen Anne. Additional classes are planned for July 24, October 2, and December 4.

If you are interested in volunteering for this or future classes, please contact Patricia Vaccarino at prforpeopleevents@gmail.com for more information and to learn of ways you can help!

The American Homestay Network (AHN) is currently seeking Queen Anne area families to host international students for both short and long stays. AHN launched in late 2012 and has already placed over 100 students in the greater Seattle area.

Host families or individuals share their home and culture with a student, and AHN manages the administrative details of the student’s stay. AHN provides an online homestay management system, national background check, 24×7 professionally staffed emergency support, online payment services, online student and host orientation training, and airport transportation services.

The current AHN homestay opportunities for local hosts include:

• A two-week stay at the end of June for students who are part of a French aviation program at Seattle Central Community College. These students are all male, ages 18-50, and are returning to Seattle for further studies. Host families would need to provide overnight accommodations, breakfast and dinner. The students arrive June 25th for a two-week stay, leaving July 8th.
• 2013-2014 school year (beginning Summer 2013): Within this school term, the hosting needs vary, from a few weeks to a semester to a year.

Homestays are cultural exchanges, with the student improving his or her English-speaking skills and learning about American culture and different lifestyles while they study at local colleges and universities. AHN works with both host families and students during the application and review process to ensure a good match – covering length of stay, family type and demographics, geographic proximity to school, and other key factors.

According to AHN representatives, successful homestays have benefitted both students and host families, providing a “perfect balance of introduction to two new cultures, freedom and independence for both student and host, and a deep learning experience certain to continue far beyond the length of the homestay.”

Potential host families are advised to visit AHN online to learn more about the application process, apply online, and manage their application. Or, for more information, contact AHN at 425.285.4402.

Electronics recycling made easy? Yes, that’s exactly what Queen Anne Elementary is doing this Saturday, April 27th from 10am to 4pm. Today is Earth Day, so take a look around your home, garage, basement, and attic and gather up any electronic parts and pieces for the electronics recycling event this Saturday.

Recycling your electronics at the QAE event helps the school fund field trips and community learning experiences. Plus, the electronics will be responsibly recycled courtesy of American Electronics Recycling.

Items eligible for free e-cycling include all types of computers and tablets, peripherals, printers, cables, cords, power supplies, telephones, AV equipment, cameras, small appliances, and more!

In addition, for a fee you can get rid of old vacuum cleaners ($5), TVs (price dependent on size, ranging from $15-$55), and CRT monitors ($30).

And, the event will also feature free hard-drive destruction. However, please do not bring air conditioners, refrigerators, florescent light bulbs, regular light bulbs or alkaline batteries.

See the site for a full list of items that can/cannot be recycled on Saturday at the school, and keep in mind that cash donations to the school are welcome.

A good way to celebrate Earth Day? Mark your calendar for this weekend’s event!

April is national Autism awareness month, and to kick off the month, the Seattle Children’s Museum is hosting “Light It Up Blue” recognition event on Tuesday evening. It’s a free event that starts at 6:30pm, with a short program at 7pm. You can RSVP for the event online.

The Children’s Museum will also be turning their lights to blue today and tomorrow to promote autism awareness. The Seattle Monorail will also be running its blue train lit with lights on Tuesday.

Light It Up Blue is an annual event lead by Autism Speaks used to raise awareness of Autism every year. The Seattle Children’s Museum has partnered with Autism Speaks for several years, hosting this annual event that recognizes the Seattle-area businesses that are Lighting it up Blue this year.

In addition to the event, the Seattle Children’s Museum provides Sensory Sensitive Hours on the first Saturday of each month, with a reduced entry fee of $3. During these Saturday hours, the Museum dims the lights and has minimal sounds, transforming the Museum into a safe space for autistic kids to play and feel comfortable.

The John Hay Elementary Auction kicks off this Tuesday when online bidding opens to the public. You can browse and bid on over 250 auction items from the comfort of your home. The team behind the auction is uploading items as we speak, and you can get a preview of what’ll be available on the online auction site.

Items include gift cards to local restaurants, camps and classes, sports and entertainment tickets, video games, toys, services, and more. Browsing the auction site, you’ll notice some familiar Queen Anne restaurants and shops – this auction is not only driven by the local bidders, but also by the donations from our local businesses. (Thank you, Queen Anne businesses!)

The online bidding begins on Tuesday, March 26th at 8am and runs through Thursday, April 4th, with bidding closing at 10 pm that day. Be sure to log on to the site to check out the items, place your bids and help out John Hay!

Making dining-out plans for lunch, dinner, or breakfast on Wednesday? Want to help out one of our local schools? Like Wegetable Wednesday? One answer to all three: the 5 Spot.

All day Wednesday from 8:30am to 10pm, the 5 Spot is donating 25% of all proceeds to John Hay Elementary to help fund its arts program. So, if you’re looking to eat out but stay local, and help out John Hay’s arts program too, plan on the 5 Spot.

A local startup founded by a Queen Anne video game designer has a new approach to getting kids to read and engage in stories that adapt to their choices in the narrative. Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? Well, if you do, think of Vidya Books as spring-boarding from those interactive print books to a more immersive experience with today’s technology. (I may be dating myself here, but I loved those books when I was a kid!)

The concept merges the printed word, e-Books, and video games, and the end result is pretty cool. Vidya Books provides an interactive book experience for kids that they experience via an iPad/iPhone app. According to the company, “it’s a novel you play with – it’s a book that is a game.”

After kids open the app and start reading, the story appears on the screen, one word at a time. Kids interact with the words as they appear, directing the main character through the literary journey – each swipe or touch of the screen advances the story; it appears before the reader as it happens.

As an example, the first Vidya Book is an adventure where readers control the choices made and next steps taken by the hero who traverses the globe to solve a centuries-old mystery. It’s more than just reading, it’s creating the path of the hero and the storyline depends on the choices of the reader. As with the Choose Your Own Adventure series, it’ll likely captivate young readers and not only drive them to create the final scenes of the story, but also tempt them to re-read and make new choices to see what happens.

You can check out the Vidya Book as experienced by both kids and adults via the video below (click the image to play):

If you’d like to learn more about Vidya Book and how you can be a part of this Queen Anne startup, check out their Kickstarter campaign. And, if you’re interested in seeing the technology first-hand, Joe and Anna Booth are hosting an open house today til 8pm, and Sunday 11am-4pm at 1632 3rd Ave W.

In less than a month, the John Hay annual auction will grace the doors of the Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion. The April 6th auction is the school’s most important fundraiser, with up to 400 parents attending the live event each year plus an online auction that you can surf from the comfort of your home.

This funds from the auction help fund key programs that are no longer supported by the school district such as math and reading tutors, curriculum enhancements, art education, sports equipment and more – and the Queen Anne community helps drive the success of the auction. There are several ways you can get involved and help one of our local schools:

Donate/Procure Auction Items: The school is looking for more auction items, and any Queen Anne community member can help. Past donations have included dinners, arts/sports tickets, vacation rentals, professional services, cooking lessons, and more – you can get creative with this one, and donations are tax-deductible. Procurement forms are available online or outside the John Hay volunteer office.

Dessert Dash: Are you a baking master? The school needs about 40 desserts to fill the popular dessert dash table. You just need to make a dessert that feeds about 10 people and auction bidders get the chance to buy your dessert. If you’re interested in volunteering your baking expertise, contact Lynn Baker.

Wine Grab and Fine Wines: For the silent auction, the school is looking for both fine wines and wines in the $15-20 range as well. John Hay is partnering with McCarthy & Shiering for this fun event – you can stop by 2410 Queen Anne Ave N or call them at 206-282-8500 and they can pick out a great wine for you to donate to the auction.

RSVP:  The auction extravaganza is open to all Queen Anne community members. RSVP via email.

Online Bidding: Interested in participating via online bidding? Mark your calendars, the online auction through Bidding for Good opens March 26th.

Hey readers, this may ring a bell – remember Thumper, the missing John Hay classroom tortoise? He went missing back in September from a Queen Anne yard, and was never found… until now!

The little guy apparently dug his way underground and stayed safe & sound over the winter months. He must know Spring is around the corner, as he re-surfaced (literally) in the same yard he disappeared from back in the Fall.

From the John Hay teacher via David Nelson at the Seattle P-I Inside Belltown blog (thanks, David!):

The McClure Middle School PTSA Mixer is set for March 23rd, and tickets are on sale now – and if you buy your tickets before March 15th, you’ll also be entered to win a mystery prize!

According to the organizers:

The McClure Mixer is a festive, adult-only evening event where we bring our McClure Middle School community together to help raise critical funds for library books, classroom technology, Writers in the Schools, math and reading tutors, our music program, drama club, and so much more.

The Mixer will be held at the Queen Anne Community Center, with the festivities beginning at 7pm. There’ll be food, a no-host bar, music, wine toss and silent auction with proceeds going to helping McClure kids.

For any questions or to volunteer, contact Chris Karam via email or at 206.954.1994.

From our sister site My Ballard – congratulations to Queen Anne residents Josh Pehrson and Ian Rice!

Ballard Student-Athletes Advance to Regionals and State
By Bucky Beaver, Posted by Danielle Anthony-Goodwin on February 18th, 2013

Ballard High School had all five of its winter programs make the playoffs for the first time since the mid 90’s. In addition to boys and girls basketball a number of student-athletes from wrestling, boys swimming, and gymnastics advanced to regionals and on to the state competition in their respective sports.

Photo Courtesy of BHS Athletics

The following boys swimmers advanced to districts at the University of Washington: seniors Kyle Garrity, Duncan Fowler, Elijah Lancey, and Nathan Powell, juniors Josh Pehrson, Tim Porter, Kellen Reeder, sophomore Andrew Stevens, and freshmen Rory Carlson, Ian Rice, and Nate O’Leary.  Junior diver Evan Arends also qualified.  The 200 relay team consisting of Garrity, Stevens, Pehrson, and Carlson, as well as Pehrson in the 100 breaststroke advanced from districts and qualified for state as did diver Arends.