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B.F. Day kids win reading quiz

On May 10, a team of six 5th graders at B.F. Day Elementary School triumphed over a team from M.L. King Westwood School of Kalamazoo, Mich., to win the seventh annual Global Reading Challenge. The opponents competed against each other over the Internet.

B.F. Day won the right to face the Kalamazoo team after edging out more than 150 other 4th and 5th grade teams from 26 schools from throughout the city to win Seattle's Global Reading Challenge on April 25. The team from B.F. Day included Ian Affleck-Asch, Caitlin Carranza, Hashim Elberer, Henry Gales, Lindsay Sandler and Captain Emma Staak). The team's teacher is Phyllis Johnson.

The Global Reading Challenge is a Jeopardy-like contest sponsored locally by the Seattle Public Library.

Mary Palmer, a children's librarian with the Seattle Public Library, said in addition to "lots of hugs and kisses," the B.F. Day students had won a visit to their school by David Patneaude, author of "Last Man's Reward."

B.F. Day Elementary is located at 3921 Linden Ave. N. in the Fremont neighborhood. For more information about the Global Reading Challenge, call Mary Palmer of the Seattle Public Library at 386-4605.

Blanchet grad turns pro athlete

Nadja Morgan, a former Bishop Blanchet High basketball star who graduated from the school in 1998, has been signed to a professional women's basketball team in Jiang Su, China. Morgan recently graduated from Pepperdine University in California and has already left for China in hopes of helping her new teammates advance to the Chinese National Playoffs. At Bishop Blanchet, Morgan played on the school's varsity girls basketball team for four years, scoring a total of 1,843 points and grabbing 1,001 rebounds. She helped Bishop Blanchet win back-to-back state titles in 1995 and 1996 and played in four consecutive state semi-finals.

Bishop Blanchet High School is located at 8200 Wallingford Ave. N.

Loyal Heights kids donate clothes

On May 10, 3rd 4th and 5th graders at Loyal Heights Elementary School donated over 4,300 pieces of clothing to World Concern, a Christian nonprofit, international relief and development organization based in Shoreline.

The students, led by teachers Sally Peterson and John Hamel, spent nearly a month creating posters and flyers to aid them in their outreach effort to the other classes and the community.

Loyal Heights is located at 2511 NW 80th St. For information about World Concern, call 800-755-5022 or visit www.worldconcern.org.

Roosevelt wins national competition

Roosevelt High School's jazz band took top honors in the prestigious seventh annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition at New York's Lincoln Center in May, according to a Seattle Times report. The Roosevelt band, led by teacher Scott Brown, placed first out of 15 finalists from throughout the nation. Another Seattle high school, Garfield, placed second. As the first place winner, Roosevelt took home a $2,000 prize. Roosevelt High School is located at 1410 NE 66th St.

St. John students win contest

Students at St. John's Elementary School in Greenwood recently donated more than 2,200 books for the children's libraries at Harborview and Swedish's First Hill Medical Center. In doing so, St. John's beat seven other schools won a contest sponsored by Half Price Books and Radio Disney.

Prizes that St. John's received include a check for $500, which will be spent on books about the Renaissance for the school library, a special assembly hosted by the contest sponsors, and a "Rockin' Recess," which will feature a Radio Disney disc jockey.

St. John's Librarian Judy Neumann organized the school's book drive. She said despite getting a late start, students and parents gathered over 3,000 books, but those in poor condition were pulled to be used in the school's July rummage sale.

St. John's is located at 120 N. 79th St.