School Kids Get A Big Green `A'

Children can make a difference.

Last week there was a storm-drainage ditch in front of Woodridge Elementary School. This week it was turned into a schoolwide riparian demonstration garden.

Students researched which native plants grow best on the banks of a natural waterway. Students helped document the application for grants from government agencies, even illustrating them with drawings.

This week Woodridge students, under the direction of parent Diane Pottinger, installed the proper plants.

Although the plants are in the ground, the project isn't over.

Students are working on a brochure that will explain the garden area to visitors.

Lunch bunch: A group of local moms still use their sons' and daughters' Seattle Prep connections as an excuse to meet. The young adults are now in college but the mothers get together regularly.

That's how I heard about Hunt Hanover of Mercer Island.

His parents, Myra and Jack Hanover, won't brag to strangers. However the other Seattle Prep mothers in the lunch group do brag.

Hunt Hanover, Seattle Prep Class of 1997, recently was elected next year's sophomore class president at Notre Dame University.

"We were all impressed with his great accomplishment," said friend Susan Hathaway of Kirkland.

Kidnapped: Anne Slaugh of Bellevue makes frequent public appearances in her role as Miss Seafair.

One royal guideline, issued apparently in jest, is to avoid the

Seafair pirates.

Good luck, she said.

"They think their main job at some functions is to protect me," Slaugh said.

Saturday night, for instance, they insisted upon giving her a ride home from her Seattle appearance at the Humane Society's Tuxes & Tails benefit.

Considering the pirates' roles, isn't that akin to having Herschel, the sea lion, guard the salmon ladder at the Ballard Locks?

Bird-brained: Have robins been knocking on your windows recently?

Susie McKinney of Woodinville worries the one flying into the sliding door on her deck will stun himself and become cat fodder.

At my Eastside home, a persistent robin has been bashing into my kitchen window and door each morning this week.

Typical springtime behavior, said Mary Yeager wildlife rehabilitation manager at PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society). Clean windows contribute to the action - they act like mirrors.

"Robins are territorial and this is their mating season," she said. "They see their reflection in the glass and their instinct is to attack."

Yeager suggests hanging a sheet over the window.

One last grin: Redmond police Officer Bob Hales drives a white Porsche to Redmond elementary schools to teach D.A.R.E., the self-esteem and anti-drug program.

At stoplights he enjoys watching people's reaction to the sign on the back of his D.A.R.E. car. "People always smile," he said.

The sign reads: "This vehicle was unwillingly donated by a convicted drug dealer."

Redmond's other D.A.R.E. vehicle, a black BMW, was similarly appropriated.

Sherry Grindeland's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in The Seattle Times Eastside edition. You can reach her by phone at 206-515-5633 or 425-453-2130, e-mail at sgri-new@seatimes.com, fax at 425-453-0449, or mail at The Seattle Times Eastside bureau, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004.