January: The Hanford Reach Project

Lisa Toomey, Director of the Hanford Reach Project, provided members with an update of this historically troubled, controversial, and finally astonishing project.  Once the location of the facility was determined and approved, construction began almost immediately in the western end of the Columbia Park.  It will be ready for its public opening in July, this year.  The official title, "The Hanford Reach Interpretive Center." 

The Reach will offer programs for all ages in performing and visual arts, our natural history, historical features of the area, agricultural, and many others. The educational program will include programs for K-12 students revolving around the science, art, and physical activities.  Staff development and inservice programs for local teachers will be offered. 

Tours will be offered in the following areas:  photo safaris, Ice Age Floods, bird watching, B Reactor, wildflowers, orchards and vinyards, wineries and breweries, foods, a concert at Maryhill Museum, cooking and tasting tours, a Day on the Farm, an oil plant, various jet boat excursions, and Palouse Falls. 

Indeed, there will be something for everyone and something which will significantly enhance the quality of life in the TriCity area. 

November: Toy Drive and Musical Entertainment

In November we held our annual toy drive for the Salvation Army.  Anna Avila, Social Services Director for the Salvation Army, presented a brief history of the Salvatin Army and its program of providing help to 106 nations around the world. She also spoke about the Food Bank, clothing drive3s, and helping the homeless in the TriCities.  Anna graciously thanked the BFSRA members for their donations of toys and games to the Annual Salvation Army Toy Drive, and said, "many children will receive gifts for Christmas this year because of your efforts."  Thank you Anna.  We were honored to be a part of the program.

Following the Toy Drive, we were entertained by the Columbia Connection, A Quartet.  Member of the quartet were Lois Raymond, Jo Yetter, Tami Rawlins and Janet Christian.  Most of the music was focused on the Christmas season, but in their opening number they sang, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."  Here you see them wearing their lion manes.  

OCTOBER: Lunch with Saundra Hill, Supt of the Year, 2013.

Saundra Hill, Superintendent of
Pasco School District.

When Saundra Hill delivered her talk to the WSSRA State Convention in Pasco last June, we decided to invite her to share that talk with us at one of luncheons.  She was gracious enough to join us in October and we were thrilled to have her with us. After her talk, yours truly said to her, "If I were a young teacher looking for a job and knew what I now know about you and your district, I would be handing you an application, right now!"  
Saundra has been Pasco School District’s Superintendent since 2002, but her roots in this community reach back three decades. She came to Pasco in 1982 already a veteran teacher, having worked in Bickleton and PeEll prior to entering the Pasco School District as a Migrant Resource Teacher at Longfellow Elementary. Her career in the District continued on an upward trajectory. By 1986 Hill had been promoted to District Bilingual Program Administrator, by 1990 she had taken a cabinet position as Director of Staff Development and Evaluation, and in 1993 she took the helm as Director of Special Programs, overseeing such programs such as Title 1 Basic, Migrant, Bilingual Education, and Student Assessment and Evaluation, as well as supervising and developing programs to improve student achievement.  In 2013, she was named Superintendent of the Year in Washington State.

She is also "one of us," a member Benton/Franklin School Retirees Association.