10 years ago 1998
Lakewood School District Superintendent Kristine McDuffy officially began her new job July 2, but she started it without a desk. I think theyre going to put me back there, she said, pointing to the back of the district administrative building. The temporary lack of a writing surface probably wont hold back McDuffy, who was already discussing ideas for the next school year. At the top of McDuffys list is the formation of a district advisory council, something that McDuffy had been discussing for several years with outgoing superintendent Wayne Robertson. The district council would help construct a diverse perspective and inform people about how the district operates, said McDuffy. Currently, the districts four schools al have advisory councils. The experience at the building level, which is a smaller model on a smaller scale, has been a real bonus, McDuffy said. She hopes the district advisory council will include parents, students, staff, members of the community and anyone else concerned with the way the district is run on a day-to-day basis. If a business person asks, Why are we spending this? these questions and different perspectives can add value. Thats what Im looking to do add value at the district level.

25 years ago 1983
Frank Carlson, Director of Special Services for the Marysville School District, added new meaning to the word scary. Pleased by some of the scores of fifth- and seventh-grade students taking the California Achievement Test this past spring, Carlson searched for a word to show off the students potential. When you start to get into the 67 percent range thats scary, Carlson said in describing the median scores of local fifth- and seventh-graders who were tested in the areas of reading, language arts and mathematics. Theyre showing considerable strength in those areas. It makes you wonder just how well they can do. Carlson pointed out to the school board meeting of June 17 that median is the middle score of a group of students taking the test the central tendency of the group. The median scores represent where the middle students of the group are, Carlson explained. School district officials, including Superintendent Dick Huselton who had his contract extended three years in a vote by the board, were pleased to learn the 67 percent scores in the total battery of the three disciplines outdistanced the national median for the two grades of 50 percent.

50 years ago 1958
The Marysville Cancer Drive has reached a total of $1,000. Mrs. James Regan, chairman, wishes to express on behalf of her committee gratitude for being able to achieve that amount. Five hundred dollars of that amount has been spent here in Marysville and vicinity. Last year in Snohomish County alone 216 persons died from cancer. To combat this the American Cancer Society during 1957 awarded grants for research amounting to $10,439,569.