For the donors, Nancy Tangeman, a 1979 Mount Rainier High School graduate and Chris Blumenthal of Oregon, the Fund for Excellence provided the type of restricted giving opportunities the two North westerners sought.  “Both Chris and I were very surprised at not only the level of need, but also the basic nature of the grant requests,” comments the Mt. Rainier grad.  Through their own granting organization, known as MAD Grants—the acronym for Make a Difference, Blumenthal believes a little funding can go a long way.  “I think there are plenty of creative ideas that just need a little cash to get them started,” he said.

The Highline grant requests are written and submitted by the teachers themselves and include a basic description of the materials needed, how they will be used, and what the lasting effect on the students will be.

The grant recipients include Mike Donahue, math instructor at Highline High School, who needed calculators, protractors, half rulers and graph paper to give students a solid base from which to progress through integrated algebra and then geometry.  At Des Moines Elementary, music and band specialist Rodney Olsen wanted to follow the lead of Jon Madden’s book, Make Your Own Marimbas.  Olsen saw the project as an opportunity for students to use math and science skills through planning, following directions and measuring to accommodate the acoustic needs of the instruments.

When Carlyn Roedell, classroom teacher at Valley View Elementary, learned about MAD grants, she asked her students for ideas.  The result was an innovative idea of partnering her fifth grade class with the first grade class for a field trip to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo.  The idea was that the older students would gain valuable reading and research skills as well as factual information on the topic of interest to them.  The concept also gave the older students the chance to be an expert and to be able to share their knowledge with younger students.

To date, MAD grants have funded 13 requests from Highline teachers ranging from $75 to $1,000. 

Tangeman feels good about being able to invest in her former school district.  “We followed the lead of a program I heard about in Boston where a graduate was able to directly affect the needs of his former school district.”  Like many other young donors, Nancy wanted to make sure the funding they gave was going to the source of the need.  “Being able to solve specific needs with our funding is why we started MAD and we know its money well invested in the children who represent our future.

More information about MAD grants is available at www.madgrants.org.  To learn more about the Highline Schools Fund for Excellence, log onto:  www.fund4excellence.org.

“These standards will help define the quality and character of our desired future business park development in the area,” Scott Greenberg, community development director, said.  “With the basic planning complete, the next step is to attract redevelopment with uses that will benefit from being so close to the airport.”

The area has been separated into three land-use categories – A, B and C.  The uses presenting the greatest potential impacts to their surroundings – such as warehouses and auto dealerships – are restricted to the areas farthest away from abutting neighborhoods.  Office buildings and business parks are among the uses allowed in the areas closest to the abutting neighborhoods.  Wide landscape buffers will help separate the uses on the borders of SPA-4 from the adjacent residential neighborhoods.

The Burien community will look over Town Square's development plan in mid May, according to the memorandum of understanding approved by the City Council on November 24.  The Town Square site lies north of Southwest 152nd Street between 4th and 6th Avenues Southwest.

The understanding sets the timeline for Urban Partners LLC of Los Angeles to prepare its design concept and development plan.  The plan will integrate a public plaza with quality retail, office, residential, educational, and civic uses on the city’s eight acre parcel, which is the heart of its downtown revitalization work.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the developer would present its design concept at a public workshop about April 15 and its revised development plan about May 15.

This schedule fits with the city’s original plan to allocate six months for the developer’s planning of the integrated design configuration, the public amenities, and the financing to carry out this major revitalization of downtown Burien.

The Puget Sound Educational Service District, which owns two adjacent acres, has expressed strong interest in joining the redevelopment.  Urban Partners will also be working closely with Meal Makers Restaurant, the only privately-owned site on the block.

The developer has partnered with GGLO, a Seattle architectural firm, to design Town Square.  GGLO designed a portion of the highly successful remodel of University Village in Seattle.