Marysville School District provides free SAT exam to juniors on April 12

Contact: Marysville School District, www.msd25.org

The Marysville School District is helping high school students mark one thing off their graduation checklist.
 
Juniors at all of the high schools in the Marysville School District will take the SAT exam free of charge during the school day on April 12. Free online test prep was also made available through Kahn Academy and the Naviance College and Career Readiness Platform.
 
The District is committed to ensuring all students have an opportunity to achieve and all students have options for their future.
 
“By providing the SAT exam to all of our juniors, we are helping them be college and career ready, and making every option after high school available to each student,” said Lori Knudson, Executive Director of Secondary Education. “A student’s success should not be dictated by their financial situation.”
 
Research shows that students who participate in test preparation activities enjoy significantly higher SAT scores than students who do not prepare for the official exam. Data also shows that better SAT scores and likelihood of attending college are positively associated with test preparation.
 
“Our passionate teachers and staff worked hard to make this a reality for our students,” said Superintendent Dr. Becky Berg. “Our District families invest their time and energy to ensure their kids can have a successful future, and this is one of the many ways the District provides the resources to help.”
 
Eleventh grade students registered for the SAT® in school during their advisory period. Prior to test time, students were able to access online course materials for free using the Naviance College and Career Readiness Platform. The College Board also offered free access to Khan Academy where students received full-length practice tests, test-taking tips, diagnostic quizzes, video lessons, and instant feedback. Students can use Naviance to search career interests, look up estimated wages, research college majors, and work on college applications.

Being Frank: Poor coho returns demands caution

 

By LORRAINE LOOMIS, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission 

 

There likely will be no coho fisheries in western Washington this year as returns are expected to plummet even further than last year because of poor ocean survival.

Coho returns in 2015 were as much as 80 percent below pre-season forecasts. The Nisqually Tribe canceled its coho fishery when fewer than 4,000 of the 23,000 fish expected actually returned. The same story was repeated in many Tribal fishing areas.

That’s why western Washington treaty Tribes are calling for greater caution in fisheries management planning this year and more equitable sharing with the state of the responsibility for conservation. It is important that we have agreement on in-season management methods and actions before the season starts.

Unlike sport fishermen who can go where fishing is best, Tribal fishermen are bound by treaty to traditional fishing places located mostly in terminal areas — such as rivers and bays — that are the end of the line for returning salmon.

Every year, we must wait and hope that enough fish return to feed our families and culture. Faced with low catch rates last year, however, most Tribal coho fisheries were sharply reduced or closed early to protect the resource. The state, however, expanded sport harvest in mixed stock areas last year to attempt to catch fish that weren’t there.

That’s not right. The last fisheries in line should not be forced to shoulder most of the responsibility for conserving the resource.

Making matters worse, lack of monitoring by federal fisheries managers last year allowed Southeast Alaska commercial fishermen to exceed their harvest quota by more than 100,000 chinook. Most of those fish were bound for Washington waters.

Coho salmon that managed to make it back last year showed frightening effects of poor ocean conditions. Most were 20 to 30 percent smaller than normal. Females returned with about 40 percent fewer eggs. That will likely result in lower natural and hatchery production and fewer fish in the future.

Right now, what salmon need is plenty of good habitat to increase stock abundance and build resiliency to survive the impacts of climate change and poor ocean conditions. Sadly, salmon habitat continues to be lost and damaged faster than it can be restored, threatening the future of the salmon and tribal treaty-reserved harvest rights.

Fisheries management is about the future, and the future doesn’t look good for salmon if we don’t reverse the trend of habitat loss and damage. Perhaps most of all we need a commitment from state and federal fisheries managers that the same high conservation standard that Tribal fisheries are held to will be applied to all other fisheries. That includes making the tough decision to close some fisheries to protect returning salmon for everyone.

 

— Lorraine Loomis is chairwoman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. Commission members include the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and the Suquamish Tribe.

Victor Moses Jr.

Moses_Victor_20160401

 

Victor H. Moses Jr. July 9, 1961 – March 29, 2016 Victor H. Moses Jr., 54, of Tulalip, Washington went to be with the Lord on March 29, 2016. He was born July 9, 1961 in Everett, Washington to Victor and Ester Moses.

He was a logger, fisherman and crabber.

He is survived by his children: Matt S. Moses, Kumiwut Moses, Etasha Moses, Evalee Reeves, Jeremiah Moses , Shania Moses, Hallie Moses, Derek Jones, Davon Jones, and Matt K. Moses; brothers, Kelly Moses and Shane Moses; sister, Angie Moses; 25 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. He was loved by all of his aunties and uncles, nieces and nephews and cousins.

Visitation will be held Friday, April 1, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at Schaefer-Shipman with an Interfaith service to be held at 6:00 p.m. at the Tulalip Gym. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the Tulalip Gym with burial to follow at Mission Beach Cemetery.

Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News 

Amongst Native peoples, few things in life are as scary as diabetes. And then, after being clinically diagnosed with diabetes, a person must take many steps to resume a normal life, and in most cases, a more healthy lifestyle. What can be just as surprising as the diabetes itself are the unexpected, nonphysical effects, which are equally threatening to one’s quality of life. Although these effects might make the road to diabetes management somewhat bumpy, experts from the Healthy Hearts team from the University of Washington’s Indigenous Wellness Research Institute are demonstrating that life with diabetes not only goes on, but can get better.

The Healthy Hearts team has been working to understand and address cardiovascular disease in the Tulalip community since 2008. The first study, Healthy Hearts Across Generations, collected surveys from 284 randomly selected participants from the Tulalip tribal membership to examine cardiovascular disease risks and look at what coping strategies were most productive. From 2010 to 2012, Healthy Hearts Across Generations also provided 135 community parents and guardians with culturally influenced classes to promote health in their families.

In 2012, planning began for the second Healthy Hearts study called Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds. This was launched in 2013 for Natives in the Tulalip area whose diabetes/prediabetes put them at greater risk for heart disease. Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds provided those who were eligible and wanted to participate with one-on-one wellness counseling to take control of their diabetes self-care. This study came to a close in late February.

Local community resources and input from tribal members were used to develop study materials and programs, which were culturally-adapted and designed to promote sticking with positive, healthy behaviors even when it can be tough in the face of busy schedules and other challenges.

Just as exercise strengthens the mind as well as the body, awareness and education play an important role in nonphysical healing. Optimal diabetes management is more likely when people understand the nature and persistence of diabetes, and the fact that it is treatable. It’s more than just sharing facts; people also must be taught how to return to healthier lifestyles and avoid the habits that likely contributed to their health issues in the first place. This is yet another way in which wellness counselors are beneficial, providing an evidence-based intervention strategy to help participants succeed with diabetes management.

“Our focus was the wellness mental state. With diabetes, one of the challenges is that you are asked to do so many things to take care of it yourself. You have to change how you eat, you have to exercise, and check your blood sugar, you have to take your medicine, and don’t forget about getting your eyes and feet checked. It becomes very overwhelming for people,” says Rachelle McCarty, Project Manager of Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds. “If you are really stressed out, then it’s hard to take care of yourself. That’s where our program aimed to help out. We provided participants with one-on-one coaching and very useful tools and information, so they could minimize their stress level to better manage their diabetes.”

Participants were asked to meet with a wellness coach for 10 sessions over a three-month period. Throughout the sessions, participants worked with their wellness coach to identify individual goals they wished to focus on regarding their pre-diabetes or diabetes and stress. They also worked with their coach to complete the Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds curriculums, which covered a range of topics and skills like problem-solving, adherence, motivation and relaxation training.

Wellness coach Michelle Tiedeman, who has been with Healthy Hearts since 2009, says “What I enjoyed the most was working one-on-one with individuals and seeing them make one small, positive change at a time that added up to better overall wellness. It has been an honor to work with the Tulalip community the past several years. I have had the pleasure to work with some amazing individuals and see them accomplish great things.”

Healthy Hearts sponsored an informational lunch to share results from Healthy Hearts Across Generations in August 2014, and hosted a community celebration on February 2, 2016 to honor Tulalip’s commitment to health and share results from Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds. You may have also seen them giving out results flyers and booklets at public events, health fairs, and the semi-annual General Council meeting last year.

 

Here is a sample of some of the findings:

  • 42% of tribal members who responded to the health survey said they do participate in traditional activities like culture night, canoe journey, salmon ceremony, talking circles, and others.
  • 40% of tribal members who responded to the health survey reported that they had high blood pressure, 50% of the men and 32% of the women.
  • 27% of parents reported that they often use their own behavior as an example to encourage their child(ren) to be physically active.
  • 77% shared that they have one or more blood (biological) relatives with diabetes.
  • Those who enrolled in Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds significantly lowered their depressive symptoms.
  • Healthy Heart, Healthy Minds participants rated themselves significantly better at sticking with their goals at the end of the program compared to the beginning.
  • 70% agreed with the statement, “I have a responsibility to walk in a good way for future generations.”

 

For help with your diabetes, contact the Diabetes Care and Preventions Program at 360-716-5642. For more information on the projects or results available to date, email the Healthy Hearts, Healthy Minds study at iwri@uw.edu. The projects were funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

 

Contact Micheal Rios, mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov