District XI Report - 2003/09
The initiative
Several months ago Joanne Schultz, a teacher at Reardon Grade School in Reardon, Washington, contacted Arnie King, a local modeler, and asked for his help getting two boys and two girls ready for the Washington State Science Olympiad. There was not enough time to prepare properly, but this request turned into something much bigger than expected.
Kim Hanson, an eighth-grade teacher, saw Arnie working with the sixth-grade class and asked if her class could participate. Other teachers liked the idea and it spread to other grades. Before he knew it, Arnie had 48 students.
Arnie contacted me and we discussed the project.
Community support
Grandpa Arnie, as the kids call him, secured donations and materials from local businesses and manufacturers, including:
- B&B Hobbies
- Columbia Cycle and Hobbies of Spokane
- Peck Polymers
- Sig Manufacturing (provided catalogs for the project)
- Davenport Building Supply (provided building boards)
- Ziggy’s Building Supply of Spokane, Washington (provided building boards)
Arnie’s background
Arnie, 67, had been out of modeling for some time, but this project rekindled his interest. He began in the hobby as a child; his mentor was Vern Clements of Caldwell, Idaho. Vern had several articles and plans published throughout the years.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
