Prom is right around the corner and will be here before we know it. The date is set for April 24 and the theme will be “Masquerade.”

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) review team was here, from the report they left behind, they were impressed with our school. I interviewed the three-person review team and here are some of their comments.

“I felt very at home here, students and staff were all very engaging. As a teacher, Carlé would be a place I would love to teach at,” said Carmella Della Pia.

“There's such a sense of urgency and purpose here, and the students and staff are all on the same page. Theres such a family feel and all of you should be very proud of what goes on here,” said Aubin Giampaoli.

“I agree with the other two committee members, visiting here is like visiting someone's home,” said Donald Raynard.

Possibly the most flattering comment made by the team was, “We have never been in a community that takes care of its children so well.”

We are very proud of what we do and we were very glad to share this wonderful community with the WASC review team.

Speaking of WASC, we had three students prepare, cook and serve the luncheon that was held for the team. Thanks go out to our adult volunteer Carli Tippett (whose son, Trevor, graduated from this program), who was the head chef and Ellie Hackler, Christine Mcquown, and Michelle Larue the student cooks and servers and we greatly appreciate all their hard work and effort.

Carle's Odyssey of the Mind team went to the state finals in Brentwood and we couldn't be more proud of the team!

They placed sixth and presented themselves very well.

“We participated with seven teams in division three. The problem was called “discovered treasures” and our team got sixth place, however we went over the time limit and received a 15-point deduction, after going over all the scores we saw that if we didn't get that deduction we would have gotten third

place,” said Principal Ed Zander.

“I am so proud of the team for giving their very best and competing well with much larger comprehensive high schools from around the state,” he continued. “All of the team members are much more aware of their strengths and weaknesses by going through this problem solving process and I have seen so much growth in each individual, they should be so proud of themselves.”

The team members are Phoenix King, Justin Boyce, Christina Ortega, Lisa Davis, Rebecca Englander, Jonathan Truax and Jeremy Burton.

Thanks also go out to Foods ETC., Ray's Foods, Michael Tellez and Derek Grace for making this possible. We also thank Harriet Rogers who donated $400 from past Odyssey of the Mind teams, which helped with expenses for the finals.

Speaking of Odyssey of the Mind, the Bay Area Theatre Sports (BATS) put on a special performance and workshop in San Francisco especially for our Odyssey of the Mind team. Chris Sams set it up; he had been in Odyssey of the Mind in North Carolina and was happy to set something up for the students. He worked with the team on improvisational strategies through playing games.

Carlé truly appreciates all the effort and time spent working with our students by these professionals.

Michelle Larue was our student of the week and she has definitely earned that title! She makes a birthday card for each and every student throughout the year to make sure that they are recognized and appreciated. We all thank you very much Michelle and keep up the great work!

And finally we would like to announce the final contest of the year. Carlé will be having a t-shirt contest where students can put their own individual design on a shirt that ties to Carlé in some way. T-shirts will designs are due April 23.

Have a great spring break and we will see every safely on the other side of the break.

Andrea McMullen is a student at Carlé Continuation High School in Lower Lake.