By EILEEN BROWN
Some bright children are born that way. Others blossom according to conditions and circumstances in their lives that give them opportunities to learn.
When Paratransit bus driver LINDA NIENHUIS, a woman who was born and raised in Oak Harbor, boasted about her smart grandchildren, she said something I simply had to check out further.
“My grandson MITCH RYITER, 13, has been accepted by Johns Hopkins University,” Linda beamed. “It’s a special program for Highly Capable students.”
His sister, ABBY, 9, is also in a Highly Capable Program. In the Ryiter home, emphasis is on quality time spent as a family, whether reading, playing games or attending the children’s many sporting events.
Because not every teacher has unlimited time to spend with each child, their mother, JENNIFER RYITER, a graduate of Oak Harbor High School Class of 1993, believes in supplementing what is taught in the classroom in the living room.
The first step for Mitch on this education path was to be tested. “When your kids are tested at school, they test them at grade level. You might not know your child is highly capable unless he routinely brings home scores of 100,” Jennifer explained.
Mitch tested into the Highly Capable program in the fifth grade, proving himself in the top 2 percent academically for his grade level.
He currently attends the middle school Highly Capable Program full-time in both Literacy and Social Studies, as well as Advanced Math and Science.
His early SAT scores qualified him to participate in distance education and online courses through the Center for Talented Youth, a division of Johns Hopkins. His test scores indicated that, on average, he scored higher than 45 percent of last year’s college-bound seniors.
Courses allow for younger students to be challenged at a higher level and potentially earn credits for their schooling. Such classes as “Writing: Crafting the Essay,” are expensive at about $800, but will benefit Mitch in high school.
Jennifer earned a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy and her husband Derek a Bachelor of Science degree in political science as graduates of the 1997 winter class at Central Washington University. She is now weeks away from a Master’s in Teaching degree and a Washington State teaching certificate. As an example of her drive to help her family get ahead, she delivered the Seattle P-I newspaper for five years straight and worked as a para-professional for the school district.
“We are home as much as we can be. We spend all our free time with our kids,” Jennifer added. “The kids feel they are the most important things in our lives.”
Painted chairs
It was rough, about this time last year. I avoided going home. Lenny, my beloved dog, was no longer there.
I started hanging out at the WAIF Thrift Shop after work and that’s when I began to collect and salvage old wooden chairs, refinishing and painting them in fanciful designs. Carved arms and turned legs made them even more desirable. Now the once-Ugly Betty chairs have given me a way of helping my favorite cause, WAIF, in Lenny’s memory.
Recently, a homely chair I bought at the WAIF Thrift Shop a year ago for $5 netted $82 in $1 tickets for a Mother’s Day raffle. TOY KELLEY of Oak Harbor won the transformed orphan chair, once dressed in faded avocado velvet with wobbly legs to a striking glossy black parlor chair, its seat covered in iridescent burgundy silk. Finishing touches were black fringe all around and protective booties to save madame’s floors.
MARY ANNA CUMMINGS, WAIF Thrift Store manager, said excitement built for the two weeks before the drawing and people seriously wanted that chair. Good thing I have more stashed away and some to finish.
In the end, it was a good “green” idea all around. It saved a chair from the dump, made a local woman happy and gave myself a chance to work out my grief while raising money to feed and care for Whidbey Island’s homeless cats and dogs.
Good to hear from you while I recovered at home. Call me at 675-6611 or write to lifeonwhidbey@yahoo.com.
