Maple Valley student honored in National Literacy Challenge

For being ranked by the U.S. Department of the Treasury among the top students who took the National Financial Literacy Challenge this spring, Rachel Meis has received the Congressional Award Silver Medal.

The award was presented May 28 by U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.

Meis received the bronze medal last year.

The Challenge was taken by more than 46,000 high school students nationwide.

$1.6 million welcome center opens at GRCC

Green River Community College has opened its new, $1.6 million Zgolinski Welcome Center.

The center, which was formally dedicated June 2, will assist students who are entering college by connecting them with services and academic advising.

Half of the funding for the new center was donated by Dan Zgolinski, whose gift was matched with public funds. The facility is named in the Kent resident’s honor.

Zgolinski was born in 1913 in the southeast King County area, where he has spent most of his life. He worked for Sears until retiring.

Black Diamond teen receives hospital’s $1,000 scholarship

The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Foundation has awarded a Black Diamond teenager with one of four college scholarships honoring employees of Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District and in support of local youths pursuing careers in healthcare.

Jessica Lynch is one of this year’s recipients of the second annual Scholarship Awards to Dependent Children of Hospital District Employees. Lynch, who was awarded a $1,000 scholarship, will attend Western Washington University this fall as a sophomore, with English as her major.

She is the daughter of Angela Lynch, who works in patient unsurance verification at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.

Instructor picked for national programs

Bart Salisbury, a political science instructor at Green River Community College, has been selected to attend two summer workshops supported by the federal National Endowment for the Humanities.

He’s one of 50 teachers selected nationwide to participate in “Revolution to Republic: Philadelphia’s Place in Early America.” The one-week program will be directed by Roderick McDonald, a history professor history at Rider University and editor of the Journal of the Early Republic.

Salisbury was chosen for the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi workshop.