The Madrona Institute has awarded $22,500 in grants to local nonprofit organizations in its first year of grant making based on revenues received from sales of the San Juan Islands Special License Plate. This year’s grantees include: San Juan Islands Conservation District for their San Juan Islands Youth Conservation Corps ($6,000), Friends of the San  Continue Reading

This survey provides the San Juan Island Prevention Coalition (SJIPC) with some local information about community perceptions and to look at it as one point of data reference. We use this along with the Healthy Youth Survey, school intervention data that the Student Assistant Professional collects, and the program assessments for the programs that the  Continue Reading

Sign up for an upcoming, on-line U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Course Bellingham, Wash. – This fall, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Bellingham and San Juan Islands Flotilla is providing boaters on-line, Washington State Basic Boater Education Course. All Washington state residents must carry a Boater Education Card while on the water operating a power-boat greater  Continue Reading

Skagit Valley College announces a second-year award of pilot scholarship program to help Running Start students pay for books, supplies, and student fees  Skagit Valley College (SVC) is pleased to announce that the College has been awarded approximately $52,000 for a pilot scholarship program designed to assist SVC’s Running Start students by the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC).  The SVC Running Start Pilot Scholarship will support student success by covering the cost of books,  Continue Reading

Sailing Club will be back on the water at Jackson Beach soon! Middle- and high-school students with and without sailing experience are invited to come sail one- and two-person sailboats on Griffin Bay. The SJI Sailing Foundation will be launching two new RS Fevas – super fun to sail two-handed boats — the first boats  Continue Reading

The Economic Development Council (EDC) and Lopez Community Land Trust (LCLT) are offering a free course on conceptual skills to run a construction project effectively. Instructors Sandy Bishop (Executive Director, Lopez Community Land Trust) and Pete Kilpatrick (former owner of Ravenhill Construction) will share their deep understanding and local perspective. The course will be on  Continue Reading

The Islands’ Oil Spill Association (IOSA) is offering free oil spill response training for interested islanders in October. Sessions will be held on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan Island. This half-day hands-on training is intended to give both new and existing volunteers an introduction to basic response strategies and provide a general overview of the  Continue Reading

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid The Fraught and Fascinating Biology of Climate Change by Thor Hanson There is always reason to celebrate the release of a new book by San Juan Island biologist and author, Thor Hanson. If you’ve read Feathers, Seeds, and Buzz, and sat enthralled at one of Thor Hanson’s lively and informative  Continue Reading

Are you joining Medicare this year? If so, there’s a lot of new information for you to understand.  Medicare has its own vocabulary and rules.   There are deadlines you need to make and penalties (some lasting a lifetime) for not doing things at the right time.  You will need to choose among several types of  Continue Reading

Dateline: Friday Harbor, WA – Friday Harbor Film Festival is now scheduling feature documentaries and short films to be shown during the Livestream Festival October 14-17 and the On-Demand Festival October 18-24.  While FHFF has many excellent submissions, there is room for more.  The final date for submissions is September 20. If you are an  Continue Reading

Dateline: Friday Harbor, WA Due to safety concerns, Friday Harbor Film Festival will present a scheduled livestream festival in mid-October, showing a program of feature documentaries and short films over 11 days, October 14 – 24 at FHFF.ORG.  The festival will be divided into two sections: Livestream Festival will open with a special free live  Continue Reading

On Wednesday, August 25, 2021, the San Juan Island School District Board of Directors will hold a regular (open) School Board Meeting at 5:00 pm as a Zoom meeting with an option for in-person attendance.   All in-person attendees must register before 4:00 pm on Tuesday August 24 to provide contact tracing information. Social distancing and the use of face masks will be expected. Non-compliance  Continue Reading

Skagit Valley College will require employees and students that attend courses or other activities in-person to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or request an exemption based on medical, religious, or philosophical reasons prior to the start of Fall Quarter 2021. The college will continue to require everyone to wear face coverings inside all college buildings at each of its campuses and centers regardless of vaccination status.     Continue Reading

In 2020, the San Juan Island Community Foundation quickly adapted to a “virtual” San Juan County Fair by taking their popular annual matching grant event online. Nearly $140k was donated by hundreds of generous community members during the 4 days of the fair. After matching grants by SJICF were added, more than $170k was granted  Continue Reading

Engineering for US All (e4usa), a national initiative to bring engineering courses to high school students, is expanding its reach for the 2021-2022 academic year. Two years ago, e4usa launched a novel engineering curriculum in high schools across the United States. This multi-institutional effort was initiated by five universities: Arizona State University, University of Maryland,  Continue Reading

San Juan Community Theatre will finally be open to the public this fall. In addition to touring artist performances and the fall musical, Mamma Mia, SJCT will also be hosting multiple classes for all ages throughout the fall season. Regular classes are available for ages three and older.  SJCT will also be hosting Drama Club Nights for families, middle school students, and adults.  Continue Reading

Kairos & the Ghost of FHL: Writing in the Moment, by Holly Shelton Dr. Holly Shelton holds a PhD from the University of Washington in language and rhetoric along with MA degrees in Applied Linguistics and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She has taught in Chile, Turkey, Canada, Kazakhstan, and the US; received  Continue Reading

Get your tickets now! The world-famous photographers, Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher, land in Friday Harbor on August 22 to share their spellbinding adventures in Africa. The talk is brought to town by the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) and presenting sponsors Glen Moreno and Marilee Wood. The renowned trailblazing photographers share their  Continue Reading

At the beginning of June, our school staff was able to celebrate the graduation of seniors from both Friday Harbor School and Griffin Bay School outside on the football field. Seeing the faces of those students and sharing in their joy was priceless.  The 2020-2021 school year seemed to last forever as we all navigated  Continue Reading

By Pegi Groundwater, San Juan County SHIBA Volunteer Coordinator Are you joining Medicare this year? If so, there’s a lot to learn.   Medicare has its own vocabulary and rules. There are deadlines to meet and penalties (some lasting a lifetime) for not doing things at the right time.  SHIBA volunteers are here to make  Continue Reading

  From Browne’s Home Center   We’re excited to be hosting DIY classes again!   Browne’s Home Center’s first kids DIY class of the year will be a chalkboard toolbox. Kids will be able to build and paint their own toolbox so they can help fix things around the house, or at least keep all  Continue Reading

From San Juan Islands Museum of Art Join the San Juan Islands Museum of Art while nationally known educator, author and counselor Dr. Kellie Kirksey shares her stories and poetry. With passion and dedication, Kirksey advocates for peace, wellness, and equality. This is a shared event with the support of the health and social justice  Continue Reading