Parkview Elementary School might be going a little “clucky.”

Principal Jane Tromburg and intervention specialist JoAnn Johnson teach students in Miss Jiminez's first-grade class the Chicken Dance

And while Tromburg enjoys “making a fool” of herself, there is a reason behind the madness: the students raised at least $16,500 during the school’s annual jog-a-thon earlier this month.

Tromburg makes a deal with the students each year to do something crazy if they meet their goal. This year’s goal was $15,500, beaten by at least $1,000 with more receipts still coming in.

The past two years, Tromburg has spent a day working from the roof of the school as a reward for the students, but she decided to switch it up this year.

And the students loved the surprise, exclaiming “that was funny!” and “oh my gosh, that was fun,” after doing the short dance. The chicken and her farmer, school prevention specialist JoAnn Johnson, also passed out Chicklettes for students to enjoy after school.

“I’m just so proud of the kids and all the money goes toward our curriculum enrichment program,” Tromburg said. “It’s worth celebrating all their efforts.”

Jeffrey Coulter, the principal at Whatcom Middle School, was recently named the Middle School Principal of the Year by the Washington Library Media Association.

Coulter was chosen due to his support of libraries, children and technology.

Karst Brandsma, the former deputy superintendent of Everett Public Schools, has been appointed the acting deputy superintendent of the Bellingham School District.

Brandsma will work for the district part-time this school year while Sherrie Brown, deputy superintendent for the district since 2008, serves as acting superintendent.

Brandsma’s duties include supporting district committees and directors in the Curriculum and Instructional Technology/Libraries, Federal and Special Programs, Special Education and Student Services departments.

Brandsma is retired with 32 years of education experience. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Washington University, his principal’s credentials from Central Washington University and his superintendent’s credentials from Seattle Pacific University. He was the interim superintendent for Everett Public Schools during the 2008-09 school year and the deputy superintendent from 2001 through 2008.

Jamie Yoos, a chemistry teacher at Bellingham High School, is the new state teacher of the year.

Yoos, who beat out eight other teachers from around the state for the title, is the first state teacher of the year from Whatcom County.

“It’s an exceptional honor,” said Yoos, 41, after the announcement Monday, Sept. 28, in Olympia. “For whatever reason, my experience stood out a little bit, and I’m just ever so pleased to be recognized for it.”

Yoos is in his 14th year of teaching, fifth in Bellingham. He taught the full science gamut – from biology to physics to fifth-grade ecology – before he “settled quickly” into chemistry 11 years ago.

Yoos’ classroom is regularly a buzz of activity, with students working on projects and experiments while Yoos walks around and assists. He and his students regularly joke and tell stories, giving his classroom a fun, yet thought-provoking, atmosphere.

Yoos’ main job is teaching honors and Advanced Placement chemistry, but last school year he brought his love of bicycling into the classroom. Yoos knew school and district budgets were tight, so he secured more than $5,000 in grants and donations to offer a bicycle maintenance class. And the class has proven popular – there’s a waiting list this semester.

During class, whether it’s chemistry or bike maintenance, Yoos keeps his students active by emphasizing hands-on learning and the idea that people learn from their mistakes.

Yoos also tries to go beyond the classroom and find learning opportunities for himself, co-workers and students. Last school year he used a technology grant to mentor co-workers on how to incorporate technology into the classroom. For his chemistry classes, Yoos creates video podcast lectures that students can watch at home if they need to, allowing for maximum lab time in class.

As the state teacher of the year, Yoos will serve as a teacher ambassador this school year while still working at Bellingham High. He also will advance to the national Teacher of the Year competition, which will have a winner announced this spring.

“I absolutely hope that I can do what I can do to represent the teachers of Washington state appropriately,” he said. “While I do have visions… I see myself as a representative rather than someone just touting my own initiatives.”

Budgets for field trips are going to be small this school year, if they exist at all. That means teachers are going to need to look to alternative sources of funding if they want to take students on field trips.

Target is offering up 5,000 grants of up to $800 each to teachers and other educators around the country this year, allowing one of every 25 schools in the country to send a classroom on a field trip.

To receive a grant, teachers must send in an application by Nov. 3, detailing the field trip, the benefits to students, how it will tie into the school curriculum, number of students impacted and how the grant will be used. Grant funds can be used to pay for transportation, admission, supplies and resource materials needed for the trip.

Only one application is allowed per person, but previous winners are allowed to apply. The field trip must take place during the 2009-10 school year, however winners won’t be announced until early January.

To apply, go to www.target.com/fieldtrips.

Six Western Washington University professors have received awards that honor their excellence in teaching, research and service.

A new award was introduced this year, the Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award, which recognizes and supports efforts to create bridges and paths for others to follow. The award is named for a 25-year WWU professor and administrator.

Award recipients are listed below.

Carmen Werder — Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award. Werder has been a teacher and administrator at WWU for 24 years, is the director of Writing Instruction Support and the head of the Teaching-Learning Academy.

Jackie Caplan-Auerbach — Peter J. Elich Excellence in Teaching Award. Caplan-Auerbach is a geology teacher who is known for her enthusiastic teaching style and willingness to serve on a large number of thesis committees and research project teams.

Lorraine Kasprisin — Diversity Achievement Award. Kasprisin has been at WWU for nearly 30 years and shares her perspectives of diversity and social justice with her students and coworkers. She recently founded the Journal of Education Controversy, an electronic journal.

Wendy Walker — Excellence in Teaching Award. Walker, an 18-year WWU teacher, believes in experiental education, and even runs Spring Block, a set of four courses in which student prepare lessons and teach environmental education to elementary and high school students.

Michael Medler — Faculty Outstanding Service Award. Medler, a pyrogeography expert, not only studies forest fires, he’s on the President’s Waterfront Development Committee and has secured more than $50,000 in grants for Huxley’s move. He also developed the Huxley College Speaker Series and serves on other committees.

Merrill Peterson — Paul J. Olscamp Research Award. Peterson, a field biologist, explores ecological and evolutionary theory. He’s been working on a beetles species research project, funded by a $450,000 National Science Foundation Grant.

Jamie Yoos, a science teacher at Bellingham High School, has been named the 2010 Regional Teacher of the Year, putting him in the running for the Washington State Teacher of the Year award next year.

Yoos, who teaches chemistry and bicycle maintenance/indoor cycling for fitness, is one of only nine teachers in the state being considered for the state award.

Yoos has taught at BHS since August 2004. He was named the districtwide certificated staff member of the year earlier this spring.

I have had the honor of speaking with Yoos multiple times — both about a science competition and the bicycle class. Congrats!

The accolades for Bellingham School District staff and students have been piling up, so I’m finally getting everything out there. Please let me know if something’s been missed.

• Happy Valley Elementary fourth-grader Kaleb Harrison was recently received an Award of Excellence from the state’s Reflections program. He composed and performed his own piano piece, “Dreaming.” He is one of 78 students across the state to win an Award of Excellence. The Reflections program is a PTA-run arts contest that allows students to write, draw, act, perform, take photos, etc. This year’s theme was “Wow.”

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Catherine Riordan has been named the new provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Western Washington University.

Catherine Riordan (courtesy WWU)

Riordan, who is the vice provost for academic affairs at Central Michigan University, will start her new position in August.

She replaces Dennis Murphy, who is retiring from his provost position this summer after 12 years.

Riordan, who was selected from a national search, has been at CMU since 2001 and was the director of Management Systems at the Unviersity of Missouri-Rolla from 1991 to 2000. Riordan has a doctorate in Social Psychology from the State University of New York at Albany and taught Psychology for 21 years.

Fourteen Whatcom County teachers have each been awarded $9,000 grants for professional development to train them to become technology peer coaches.

The grants, which are funded through the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology program, cover a 10-session training program, substitute teachers and new classroom technology.

The program is designed to educate teachers about how to integrate technology into their classrooms and curricula. Those teachers then return to their schools and teach their co-workers about how to improve technology integration.

This is the third year of the grants in Washington.

The following teachers received grants:

Luke Hostetler, Alderwood Elementary

Denise Marie Bentley, Birchwood Elementary

Katherine Tully and Susan Towers, Happy Valley Elementary

Christine Forslund, Kulshan Middle School

Leslie J. Rogers, Lowell Elementary

Carol Mitchell, Parkview Elementary

Ashleigh Bobovski, Sehome High

Tasha Ericksen, Squalicum High

Katy Ackerson, Brian Pahl, Sunnyland Elementary

Nicole Huggins, John W. Smith and Nancy Hudson, Horizon Middle School