Chris Woods, YCS student representatives, speak on extracurricular activities impacted by levy

In a video uploaded to YouTube by Yelm Community Schools (YCS) on Wednesday, Sept. 16, YCS Superintendent Chris Woods was joined by three of the district’s senior student representatives, who attend each of the YCS Board of Director meetings, to discuss the different aspects of levy funding in everyday student life.

First, Woods noted that over the next several weeks he’ll be uploading several short videos to discuss different aspects of the upcoming levy measure in this November’s general election. He said the levy will run at a rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed home value over a two year period, if approved.

“This money would provide local funding to maintain local priorities,” Woods said, in the YouTube video. “Basically, it would maintain our current educational programs, class sizes, course offerings and student activities. And possibly, also provide a little bit extra funding for the school board to bring back some services in alignment with our updated strategic plan.”

He also directed citizens to ycs.wednet.edu to find more details about the upcoming levy proposal.

Ayden Williams, one of the three student reps in the video, said that he’s heavily involved in both football and associated student body (ASB) at Yelm High School. He believes each of the two levy-funded activities have always been a key role in his everyday school life — especially football.

“Not only is it fun to play, but a lot of my friends I’ve found through football and the teammates that I’ve grown up with since I’ve lived in Yelm,” Williams said. “It’s always played a big role in my life. Not me personally, but a lot of kids, playing football helps you keep your grades up and stay engaged in school because if you want to keep playing football, you’ve got to keep your grades up.”

He added that ASB has also played a huge part in his educational journey in Yelm, as he’s made a lot of friends and memories through ASB participation since he joined in seventh grade.

“It’s where I feel at home in the school district, and it’s just amazing for everything,” Williams said.

His classmate, Cali Stein, noted that she’s part of the YHS sports medicine program, and also serves as ASB President for sports medicine at the school. She noted that attendance was something she struggled with as a freshman, sophomore and junior — but the sports medicine program made her want to attend class more frequently.

“It made me want to come and learn about things I didn’t know,” Stein said. “That, as well as so many of my friends who take the class, also improved their attendance by being in the class. Something cool about sports medicine is that we travel a lot, and for all different reasons.”

Stein also noted that every two years, the YHS sports medicine program goes to California to participate in a regional competition — and the team “usually” does really well there, she claimed.

“And then every year, we get the opportunity to qualify for nationals for anatomage,” Stein said. “Last year, we went and placed seventh out of the hundreds of schools that competed and wanted to go. Sports medicine has always been part of my life. I always wanted to go into that field and sports medicine gave me that opportunity to find what I truly love.”

Rebecca Rankin, the third and final YCS student representative in the video, noted that she does a lot at the high school, including dance, ASB and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). She claimed that dance is the most important to her.

“The thing that I like the most about dance is that it has given me a lot of important leadership skills,” Rankin said. “I’m the captain of the team. It’s given me a lot of room to grow and learn how to be a leader. Our practice schedule is a lot, and it keeps me accountable and a structure for the whole week of the important things we do.”

She added that dance has also given her a group of people who she can trust. She described the team as a small family.