Youth Voice for Orcas: London Fletcher

Above: London Fletcher, 11, of Blaine, Washington, delivered a fiery speech at a rally for the remaining 74 Southern Resident orcas on the steps of the Temple of Justice in Olympia on Friday.

“We can no longer wait for the gears of bureaucracy,” Fletcher said.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

On behalf of the climate and Earth’s creatures, youth voices are rising. No longer can they be ignored and no longer will they be silenced.

London Fletcher, 11, of Blaine, Washington, wants to be a marine biologist specializing in cetaceans. 

In an article written two years ago for Dam Sense, Fletcher wrote, “Do not be distracted by my age. Please pay attention instead to the facts that we all need to know about our salmon and our killer whales.”

A marine activist for years, Fletcher is president and founder of The Blue Advocates Group, an ocean awareness organization for children and teens in Blaine, as well as a responder for the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network and a research assistant at the Orca Research Trust. She is the world’s youngest member of the Society of Marine Mammalogy.

She has visited the Snake River dams and in August testified in front of the Southern Resident Orca Task Force convened by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee.

Inslee received a report by the task force on Friday and said he will review its 36 recommendations.

No one appeared to be distracted during Fletcher’s fiery speech about the remaining 74 Southern Resident orcas at a rally in Olympia on Friday.

In fact, her words brought tears to the eyes of some observers as she delivered them on the steps of the Temple of Justice.

“We can no longer wait for the gears of bureaucracy,” Fletcher said, her words loud and clear.

“Governor, I come to you again today on behalf of the critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales of the Salish Sea, the 700 thousand people who have signed our petition to breach the lower four Snake River dams, and as the spokesperson of the generation who will inherit the problems stemming from the decision you make today.

“Mr. Governor, in your inaugural speech, you said you want to reinvest in ourselves, in our future and in our children’s future, and to do these things we must act in a bipartisan way. You said that our core mission is serving the people of Washington, and every single thing we do should reflect that mission. Well, Mr. Governor, the people of Washington have spoken and you’re right, it is time to remember who we are as a state.

“Now, I must ask, who are we as leaders? Is your administration going to be remembered as the orca killers? Or the ones who stopped the relentless march of extinction in its tracks and set sail on a course toward a brighter future?

“Mr. Governor, I ask again, what legacy will you leave behind for my generation? Will it be a legacy of crippling debt? Will it be a legacy of mass extinction and barren waters? Or will it be a legacy of hope and prosperity?

“…the legacy you leave behind will be defined by your bravery or by your cowardice. That choice is yours to make, Mr. Governor,” she continued.

Recommendation 28 of the Orca Task Force suggests suspending the viewing of Southern Resident orcas in Puget Sound for the next three to five years.

Fletcher took issue with this and other recommendations:

“The laundry list of recommendations and the ‘bold’ last minute introduction and passage of wording proposing a meaningless moratorium of a benign activity while skirting the major problem for these whales – salmon population crashes throughout their range – is appalling.

“Mr. Governor, I implore you to do what is right so your grandchildren will be able to say on this day, ‘My Grandfather stood for what is just and what is right.’

“Today, I am young and life is long, and my purpose is clear. The days of killing our rivers, streams, fish and precious Southern Resident Killer Whales are numbered and I will never give up this fight.

“Today I made good on my pledge to fight for the orca and I hope that you stand with folks like me, and those you see before you today on the steps of our State Capitol who come to beg for the lives of these precious animals.

“Mr. Governor, the evil of the extinction and extermination of a noble and sentient family of whales unlike any other in the world is upon you.

“The entire world is watching. Do the right thing.”

Above: An “Orca Formation of Mourning” rally for the remaining 74 Southern Resident orcas was held on the steps of the Temple of Justice on Friday in Olympia. It was organized by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Portland.

Little Hollywood wrote about the Southern Resident Orca Task Force recommendations and Friday rally at http://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/2018/11/rally-for-74-orca-task-force.html

Tumwater Educators Strike, School Delayed

Above: A young member of the Kressin family gives second grade teacher Lauren Roberts, center, a big hug Tuesday morning outside Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School. Kristina Kressin and her children came to show their love and support for the teachers. 

Teacher Lauren Roberts wants lower class sizes and language in her contract that addresses safety issues

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Tumwater school children met their teachers and brought them cookies and snacks at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School on Tuesday.

Teachers, crouching low, gave out big hugs while laughing and exclaiming how big their students had grown over the summer.

But instead of all these greetings happening in the classroom, they were out on the picket line outside the school.

School was scheduled to start on Wednesday, but that will be delayed for the Tumwater School District.

Day by day, Washington Education Association union members from across Washington State have been able to bargain agreements, but Tumwater School District and Tumwater Education Association (TEA) members have not.

“There will be no school September 5th due to the TEA decision for a teacher strike,” read the Tumwater School District website on Tuesday. 

“Both the district and TEA bargaining teams are coming to the table on September 6th to continue working to reach an agreement. If you have an appointment scheduled at any of our schools, it will need to be rescheduled when schools reopen. We will communicate Wednesday when we have more information.”

No negotiations were ongoing on Tuesday.

Above: Members of the Tumwater Education Association and children strike outside Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School on Dennis Street in Tumwater Tuesday morning.

Parent Kristina Kressin of Tumwater says her soon-to-be third grader, TJ, 8, is a smart little boy who has had the best teachers at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School.  

“He has had the best teachers who have made sure he is challenged - they've gone above and beyond and have helped him encourage other kids. The teachers deserve to get paid like everybody else. This school district made the top ten in all of Washington but are not being paid as much as those in Olympia and Thurston County.”

With her four year old daughter starting kindergarten next year and a five month old son, Kressin says she wants all her children to have the same teachers.

“I was going to be the mom who homeschooled her kids, but then I met his kindergarten teacher and fell in love.  I would really like to keep the caliber of teachers we have here. This is our home and I don’t want to lose our teachers because they can’t afford to live here.”

Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School second grade teacher Lauren Roberts of Tumwater says she is on strike in support of lower class sizes and language in her contract that addresses safety issues. 

She has been an educator for 12 years and is passionate about her classroom children.

“We do everything in our power to make sure their day is the absolute best that it can be and sometimes that’s hard. And most of the time, it’s the best thing in the whole entire world. It’s so fun. I wouldn’t do anything else but I also deserve to be paid fairly.

“We have a lot more kids these days. Some come from challenging home lives and they are not always ready. Some of those behaviors come out in the classroom. We love them through and through but it’s sometimes hard for the other kids in the classroom to see those outbursts.”

She said there have even been injuries.

“It can take its toll emotionally on a teacher and on a classroom. Those kids who act out end up being some of my favorites but we also need language in our contract that supports teachers during those challenging times.”

Roberts was asked what that support would look like.

“It would look like somebody covering the classroom for ten minutes so I can remove myself or help a kid take some time out, not as punishment, but to recognize that there may have been a trigger for something and we need to do something else. Maybe we could look for it in advance. Luckily at Peter G., our admin is so supportive of this and works really hard with us, but having that language in our contract helps protect us and helps us say, ‘No, we really need this.’”

She said that this year, she will have 24 children in her classroom.

“We’re in public education, so we are going to teach these kids, all of them. Our contract from before says that 24 kids is our trigger limit, so if I get a 25th kid, I get overage pay. We have five second grades right now. Three of us are at 24 kids and the other two are at 23. Those are really high numbers. Really, if we had one more teacher, we’d all be at 19.5 kids, which is a reasonable number. In the high schools, the class sizes are even higher.”

According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tumwater is 277 out of 295 statewide districts for student to classroom teacher ratio.

Decision to Strike

The last thing Tumwater Education Association union members wanted to do is strike, said Tumwater Education Association president Tim Voie, but that’s what happened as of 12:01 a.m. September 1.

On August 27, voting 91 percent in favor, Tumwater Education Association members authorized a vote to strike if a contract agreement wasn’t reached by August 31. An agreement was not reached.

The Association’s goal was to start school on time with smaller, safer classes. The union is also calling for the Tumwater School District to pay its teachers competitively in order to attract and retain high quality teachers.

In accordance with the McCleary Decision to fully fund education, the Legislature increased state funding for public school by billions, including $2 billion to increase educator salaries in the 2018-19 school year.

As of Tuesday evening, nearly 6,000 Washington Education Association members are on strike in nine Western Washington school districts.

For more information about the negotiations and the Tumwater Educator Association, go to Little Hollywood and read the August 25 story, “Tumwater Educator Union Members Rally,” at http://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/2018/08/tumwater-educator-union-members-rally.html

Tumwater Educator Union Members Rally

Above: Jillian Emerson, 17, and Jessica Bowerman, 17, will be seniors at Black Hills High School in September. They rallied in support of their teachers and others represented by the Tumwater Education Association outside Tumwater School District offices on Saturday afternoon.

“I really believe that with the numbers we have right now, over 90 percent of our members will vote to strike,” says Tim Voie, Tumwater Education Association union president.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https:/janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“The last thing we want to do is strike,” said Tim Voie, Tumwater Education Association president at a rally held outside Tumwater School District offices on Saturday afternoon.

Inside, union representatives were working on a contract while Voie and union members were outside calling for lower class sizes and professional pay and respect.

Many families are on vacation squeezing out the last bits out of summer or shopping for back-to-school clothes and supplies while educator union members around the state are bargaining for fair wages.

In its January, 2012 McCleary decision, the Washington State Supreme Court ordered the state to fully fund K-12 public schools as required by Article IX of the Washington Constitution.

This past June, the court ruled that the state is in compliance with the McCleary decision. The Legislature increased state funding for public schools by billions, including $2 billion to increase educator salaries in the 2018-19 school year.

Although the money is there, pay raises at the local level in each school district need to be negotiated.

An educator for 26 years, Voie is a teacher at Secondary Options, Tumwater’s alternative high school. This is his fifth year as president of the Tumwater Education Association.

The Association has been in negotiations with the Tumwater School District since May. 

“At that time, they offered us a 3.1 percent pay raise. Then we spent the summer watching districts around the state get significant pay increases. We believe that the teachers of Tumwater should get a fair portion that the state allotted in the McCleary decision for teacher’s salaries.”

The 3.1 percent figure, Voie says, is an imaginary number.

“So many districts have flown past that percentage that the district finally agreed yesterday that the 3.1 percent number is a non-factor. Now we’re trying to bargain a contract to get us to an equal footing similar to our like-sized districts from around the state. What we’re finding is that in order to attract and retain great teachers, we’re going to have to offer a salary that’s going to do so,” said Voie.

“Right now, the offer the district has put on the table will not be ratified by our membership when we present the numbers to them. We’ve got a strike authorization vote for Monday. I really believe that with the numbers we have right now, over 90 percent of our members will vote to strike. That doesn’t mean we’re on strike then. We’ve still got until August 31 to work on it. That’s when our current contract expires, so we so could vote to authorize a strike and we could keep working on negotiations.”

There are about 6,000 students in Tumwater and about 400 certificated staff. Members of the union include not just teachers, but psychologists, counselors, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, and nurses.

Tumwater Education Association negotiators include five certificated members and one representative of the Washington Education Association.

Voie was asked if Tumwater union members have ever before reached this point of contention.

“Not to this point. We went to mediation a couple of years ago and had to use a mediator to settle but we’ve never reached a point where a strike was imminent. We’re there now. Again, that’s the last thing we want to do. That’s not good for anybody, but neither does settling for a salary that we think doesn’t value and honor the teachers.” 

Above: Tumwater Education Association members rally on Saturday.

Jillian Emerson, 17, and Jessica Bowerman, 17, both students at Black Hills High School, spent their Saturday supporting their teachers and Tumwater school district staff.

Amid noisy, supportive horn honking by cars driving past the rally, Bowerman said she moved to Tumwater from Minneapolis when she was in the eighth grade. She says she wants to be an engineer.

“I really like math and took calculus last year,” she said.

Emerson, who has attended Tumwater schools since kindergarten, says she wants to go into the medical field, perhaps as a physical therapist.

“I love all my teachers. They deserve fair pay. We’ve lost some good teachers to other districts because of the pay. I don’t want them to go on strike. My dad is a bus driver and I want my dad to work. I definitely support what the teachers are asking for,” said Emerson.

Olympia Education Association Bargaining Session on Monday

Adam Brickell, president of the Olympia Education Association, was at the rally in support of the demonstration. Brickell represents about 700 union members.

Brickell, a speech and language pathologist, works with special education students with speech delays. He’s been an educator for 22 years and has held his position as union president for almost six years.

Brickell says Olympia is still having good, constructive talks at the bargaining table. His union is not considering a strike and his members are out supporting others. 

The Olympia Education Association has an all-day bargaining session scheduled for Monday. He hopes they can get a temporary agreement so they can ratify it at their general membership meeting on August 29.

“Everyone is bargaining right now and trying to wrap things up before school starts, so you’re going to see a lot happening in this next week,” said Bricklin.

Above: Jennifer Hyer-Long, a physical education teacher at Tumwater Middle School, with her son, Chase, who is almost 13 years old, on Saturday afternoon. Holding her homemade sign, Hyer-Long said she has lived in Tumwater since the fourth grade. 

A Stronger Latinx Community, Una Fuerte Comunidad Latinx

Above: Bill Fishburn, president of the Hispanic Roundtable of the South Sound, gives Olympia immigration attorney Steffani Powell a hug after Powell gave a passionate, 30 minute speech detailing the repercussions of the Trump Administration’s immigration plans and policies.

South Sound Hispanic Roundtable Summit Highlights Community Resources, Immigration Issues

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Una fuerte comunidad Latinx, A Stronger Latinx Community, was the theme of the first Hispanic Roundtable of the South Sound community summit held in Tumwater on Friday.

About 200 people attended the event held at the Capital Region ESD 113 event facility in Tumwater.

Many were representatives of area schools and colleges, state agencies, and nonprofit, community agencies that serve the Latinx population in Thurston, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Mason and Pacific counties.

Cosponsored by Educational Service District 113, participants were invited to collaborate, create conversations, and identify opportunities, gaps, and barriers regarding Latinx access to employment, housing, public health, education, legal, financial, and community resources.

According to 2016 Washington State Office of Financial Management statistics, Latinos comprise 12 percent of the Washington State population. Thirty-two percent of Latinos in Washington are immigrants. 

Latinos comprise eight percent of Thurston County’s population and 10 percent each of Lewis, Grays Harbor, Mason and Pacific counties.

Above: Business cards and organizational materials were exchanged throughout the day as new relationships were forged during conversational sessions at the Hispanic Roundtable community summit on Friday. 

Left to Right: Maira Ramirez, Kaleidoscope Play and Learn facilitator at Child Care Action Council, Karin Verrill, League of Women Voters Thurston County, Aleyda Cervantez, program assistant for outreach services at Highline College, Carlos Ruiz, president, ALPFA Seattle, an organization that promotes opportunities for Latinx advancement, and Pat Dickison, immediate past president of the League of Women Voters Thurston County.

The summit’s timing meant that recent national and state immigration issues and policy shifts focusing on Latinx youth, children and families took center stage.

Olympia immigration attorney Steffani Powell’s voice broke as she described the Trump Administration’s immigrant deportation plans and policies and the hundreds of parents and children who are currently being separated.

“Trump’s vision of America is exclusionary….As of last Sunday, 300 of the 550 children currently in custody at U.S. border stations had spent more than 72 hours in custody…almost half are younger than 12,” she said.

On Thursday, it was confirmed that as many as 120 asylum seekers were transferred from Texas to the federal detention center at SeaTac. The group consists of mothers who arrived with their children seeking asylum and were prosecuted for unlawful entry. Their children are being held elsewhere, with their location unknown to the mothers.

A solidarity day of action at the SeaTac Detention Center in support of the mothers being detained was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Above: Olympia immigration attorney Steffani Powell described the Trump Administration’s widespread immigrant deportation plans and policies at the Hispanic Roundtable Community Summit on Friday.

“This is beyond sickening….this isn’t really about law and order. Separating immigrant families is cruel and immoral. Many of the people crossing the border are fleeing from violence in Central America and seeking asylum in the United States, which they have a legal right to do.

“U.S. Homeland Security recently announced the end of temporary protective status for approximately 57,000 Hondurans living legally in the United States. In other aggressive policy moves, over the next two years, more than 300,000 individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal and Sudan, who are legally in the U.S. with permission to live and work, will be asked to depart voluntarily or be deported,” she said.

Powell said that as of March, there were 680,000 pending national immigration court cases. Each individual has just one and a half hours to present their asylum case and some judges have a 99 percent denial rate.

According to the American Immigration Council, there are 980,000 immigrants in Washington State. One in seven Washington State residents is an immigrant.

Three hundred and fifty thousand people in Washington live with at least one undocumented family member.

“This current administration has commandeered the immigrant story….they have rubbed out all color, love, hope, sacrifice and struggle. They have erased the tenacity, the courage and devotedness of their characters….This administration has vilified and dehumanized and criminalized immigrants. It’s trying to make us believe a grim, desolate life story.

“It is imperative that we take back the immigrant story…the true story is of sacrifice, endurance, fortitude, resolution and devotedness to the cause of families.…It is not a story about people who need to be kept out by a wall….The people who have arrived in our communities have traveled far….The only wall that should be built is a wall around hatred, willful ignorance, xenophobia, racism and intolerance,” said Powell.

Above: Many resources for immigrant family support were provided at the first Hispanic Roundtable community summit on Friday. Karina Brown, a Spanish teacher at Elma High School, picks up materials at a table about Sound to Harbor Head Start and ECEAP, which provides individualized preschool education, health education, and family support in Grays Harbor, Mason and Thurston counties.

For more information about the Hispanic Roundtable of the South Sound, go to www.hispanicroundtable.org

Spring, Sun, and Bubbles

Above: In celebration of the first day of spring, students of Olympia School District’s Transition Academy joined in the fun at the 26th Annual Community Bubble Blow in downtown Olympia on Tuesday.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Sunny skies and warm temperatures made for excellent bubbles and great fun at the 26th Annual Community Bubble Blow on Tuesday.

Come wind, rain, hail, sleet, snow, high tides, sea-level rise, or maybe even sun, the event is always held on the first day of spring from noon to 1:00 p.m. near “The Kiss” statue on Percival Landing in downtown Olympia. 

Glorious batik windsocks are provided each year by Earthbound Productions.

This year, jump ropes were added to the festivities. When the children showed reluctance to try them out, the adults tied the two ropes together and played their own games. 

The event is sponsored by People-Who-Know-We-Live-In-A-Great-Place.

Above: Keatyn Cummings, 2 ½ , came with her mom, Jasmine, and Uncle Jesse to make some fantastic bubbles.

Above: The adults could not resist jumping rope. 

Above: Skye, 3, and her mom created amazing bubbles with the very special Romper Room wand. 

Above: EF International Language Campuses coordinators Kagan Yabas, left, and Deniz Kutluhan of Istanbul, Turkey also stopped by on Tuesday. Tomorrow, they leave for Santa Barbara, California. 

Pet Parade 2017

Above: Russell Soderquist, 3, of Olympia, gets a little help with his ice cream from his pug, Kirby, 9. The Soderquist family won the prize for best family entry, and earned a sweet bicycle that will take Russell a few years to grow into. They won the contest with Russell and Kirby sitting in their “Bathing Beauties” wagon, which was decorated like a shower, complete with shower head and clear curtain.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“Beauties and Beasts” was the theme of the 88th annual Pet Parade as goats, horses, bunnies, cats and dogs, King Kong, and even Sasquatch strolled through downtown Olympia on Saturday morning. 

All ended up in Sylvester Park with participation ribbons and ice cream for kids 16 years of age and under.

The event was sponsored by The Olympian newspaper and a wide range of local businesses. Donated prizes and gift certificates were awarded for a variety of categories.

Above:  This sweetheart of a Beast held onto his rose throughout the whole parade.

Above: Rusty, 3, an Australian Shepherd/English Springer mix, was a happy pollinator for the day as his owner, Malla Hayak, of Shelton, gives him a treat. Hayak's mother, Barbara, brought Darla, her four year old German Shepherd, and won $20 for their pirate costumes in the large dog category. “This was so much fun! I’m going to bring my nieces and nephews next year!” said Hayak, who won a $25 gift certificate. This was her first Pet Parade.

Above: Dressed like a skunk, Porter, 4, takes the pug breed to a whole new level.

Above: This family went all out with their float of the Capitol Building, King Kong, and a dog dressed as Faye Raye.

Take Your Daughter/Son To Work Day

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

http://www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Above and Below: Evergreen State College Chief of Police Stacy Brown plays catch with children of college employees on Red Square Thursday afternoon. Thursday was Take Your Daughter/Son to Work Day. 

Brown, a 2006 Evergreen graduate, had over 20 years’ experience with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department before accepting her current position in January.