JMS art students create mural at Lower Hathaway Park

Students in the Club 8 art club at Jemtegaard Middle School have left their mark at Lower Hathaway Park in the form of a painted mural completed May 31.   Sponsored by City of Washougal Parks Department, students were given a suggested piece of art and provided surplus city paints.  

“I am really proud of these students,” said JMS art teacher and Club 8 leader, Dani Allen.  “They were given a drawing as a guide and worked together on alterations to make it their own and create a single vision.  They worked together, sharing ideas and even took turns at painting.  It was a true team effort!”

According to Suzanne Grover, City of Washougal Parks & Cemetery Manger, the project started when a group of Clark College students offered to paint a mural in town after doing their thesis on how murals deter vandalism.  “We recommended they put it on the equipment shed at Lower Hathaway, so they modified their original design to reflect a baseball theme. Time ran out and the group was only able to paint the shed a single color. The project sat for about two years uncompleted.”

That is where Allen and JMS students took up the charge, transformed the design slightly and started painting.

“I was really honored to be able to do this,” said JMS 8^th grade student, Aracely Caunas. “I like that this piece will be seen by the next generation.  I hope it inspires others to do art.”

“The best part was getting to hang out with other students and be creative,” said Jeanette Lara, JMS 8^th grader.  “We modified the art together, worked as a team and became friends through the process. It was a valuable experience to listen to each other and work on something from beginning to end.”

This was the first piece of public art any of the students have worked on. “I like that people can just come across it and enjoy it,” Lara said.  “My other artwork is only shared with my close family.  Not many see it.”  

JMS Club 8 students are also currently working on more public art by creatively painting bird houses to be added to the “For the Birds” community bird house art installation next to Washougal City Hall sponsored by Washougal Arts and Culture Alliance. 

For the last 10 years, the Washougal Parks Department has had a goal to enhance the individuality of each park with themes.  “We hope to eventually draw in local artistic talents to touch each park and public space with a special surprise,” said Grover. “The surprises come in the form of little libraries, art sculptures, unusual benches, or cob features. The mural at Lower Hathaway Park is a dramatic splash of color that brightens a shady spot in the park.  The students who worked to create this mural will have a lasting memory of their contribution to our community.”

JMS Students with finished mural

PERSONAL LEAVE CASH OUT OPTION

It's that time of year when you may have the opportunity to cash out your unused personal leave balance. Please use Skyward Employee Access to check your personal leave balance. Remember that you may have taken or requested personal days in the future that have not been recorded in your leave history yet.

Your bargaining agreement dictates how many days you may cash out or roll.  Please click on this link to the HR Blog Find a Form page to access the form for your union group. The form will tell you what restrictions you may have based on your union agreement.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email Cyndi Barbur or Becky Friedrich.

PAPERLESS DIRECT DEPOSIT SLIPS

“It’s not enough to prepare our children for the future… We must prepare the future for our children.”       ​Jill Buck, founder of the Go Green Initiative .     

A big 

​THANK YOU!!​

 to those

​ of you​

 who have already 

​opted out

 of a 

​printed

 deposit slip!!

As part of​ ​​our​ ​"​GO GREEN” campaign, we are​ ​​once​ ​again asking WSD staff to choose a paperless direct deposit slip. By doing so, you can ​help ​do your part to help to reduce impact on forests, cut energy use and climate change emissions, limit water, air and other pollution and produce less waste! 

To put this in perspective; if all WSD staff were to go paperless, we could be saving approximately 6,600 pieces of paper every year!  Not to mention the ink and manpower it takes to process them every month. 

If you are not already familiar with Employee Access, right now is a great time of year to get assistance from your HR Department on how to find your direct deposit and payroll information online. 

Simply​ ​click here with your choice to STOP receiving paper direct deposit slips and​ in doing so help save a tree!!!  

WASHINGTON STATE SICK LEAVE LAW INITIATIVE 1433

In compliance with the new Washington State Sick Leave Law Initiative 1433 effective January 1, 2018, the Washougal School District is sending out the following notification to all staff: 

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE A BOARD HIRED EMPLOYEE COVERED BY A SICK LEAVE POLICY IN A BARGAINING AGREEMENT (for example: PSE, WEA) OR INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT, YOU MAY ALREADY BE COVERED UNDER A SICK LEAVE POLICY THAT IS MORE GENEROUS AND ALLOWS MORE ROLLOVER THAN THE POLICY THAT IS IN EFFECT DUE TO THE NEW LAW.

Employee Paid Sick Leave Notification – Washougal School District

You are entitled to accrue paid sick leave beginning January 1, 2018.  This leave will accrue at a minimum of one (1) hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours you work.

You may use this accrued paid sick leave for the following reasons:

· To care for yourself or a family member (please refer to RCW 49.46.210(2) for a full list of the eligible family members.)

· When you or a family member is the victim of sexual assault, domestic violence or stalking.

· In the event Washougal School District or your child’s school or place of care is closed by a public official for any health-related reason.

The Washougal School District sick leave accrual year is September 1 to August 31.

Accrued, unused, sick leave balances of 40 hours or less will be carried over to the next accrual year. Accrued, unused sick leave over 40 hours may be forfeited.

You may use accrued paid sick leave as it is accrued.  Accrued sick leave may only be used for hours you are required to work in a hired position, or, required to work in a long-term substitute position. A long-term substitute working for a certified position is defined as a position of 20 or more work days in a continuous assignment.  A long-term substitute for a classified position is defined as a position of 30 or more work days in a continuous assignment.

Retaliation for using paid sick leave for authorized purposes is prohibited.