In your neighborhood

East Clark County: Camas & Washougal

Camas: The Camas High School Knowledge Bowl team took the 3A state championship on March 27. Members of the championship team are Ryan Gompertz, Chris Emmet, Chris Grote, Nicholas Lim, and Alec Maier. Another team from Camas, consisting of members Devynne Barret, Jacob Freedman, Connor Sullivan, Keira Alkema, James Marsh and William Sarchet, finished 11th out of 18 teams.

Washougal: Robyn Pfeifer, 15, was chosen as the Portland Area Honored Hero and is encouraging people to participate in the Take Steps Walk on June 19. Robyn has lived with Crohn’s disease since she was 13. Crohn’s, combined with ulcerative colitis, are painful and unpredictable digestive diseases impacting more than 1.4 million American adults and children. Money raised from the walk will benefit research and raise awareness of these diseases. After only two years, CCFA’s Take Steps Walk has raised more than $13 million for research and patient service programs.

Camas-Washougal: Sam Greene, adviser for the Skyridge Middle School Knowledge Bowl team, reports that the team captured the district championship March 23. The varsity team, composed of Levi Holscher, Kyle Binder, Xinyang Chen, Rachel Fadlovich, Jonathan Ho and Satya Hariharan, defeated defending champs Shahala Middle School and perennial contender Wy’east Middle School in three intense rounds of competition. To add to the good news, Megal Sheth was a part of the championship mixed school “international” team.

North Clark County & Woodland

Yacolt: Four times per year, an inmates committee at the Larch Corrections Center selects a local charity to receive their donations and benefit from their labor. Over the past year, inmates raised more than $2,500 for nonprofits such as Bridge the Gap, Angel Tree and the YWCA. Last summer, they helped harvest a bumper crop of carrots for the Clark County Food Bank. At the latest fundraiser — involving discounted pizzas from Little Caesar’s in Battle Ground — they kept raising money for the hungry and generated $315. Inmates at Larch make an average of 35 cents per hour, so this amount reflects about 900 hours worth of pay. Larch inmates also make handcrafted jewelry boxes, which are donated to a wide variety of nonprofits in the community.

Woodland: The city of Woodland is seeking people interested in representing the city in the Clark County Arts Commission. Art disciplines may include: architecture, dance, digital, heritage, cultural, literary, music, theater or visual. Applications are due by April 30. Additional information and an application are available from the city at http://www.ci.woodland.wa.us or 360-225-8281.

Ridgefield & Fairgrounds

Fairgrounds: Dennis Johnson, Bridget Schwarz and George Vartanian were re-elected to the Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association Executive Board in March. Board members are making plans for the grand opening of Fairgrounds Community Park on May 22. Neighborhood meetings are held every second Thursday of the month except August.

Hazel Dell, Felida & Salmon Creek

Salmon Creek: Skyview High School’s Varsity 1 squad took first place at the 4A State Knowledge Bowl Championships on March 27. Zach Byrd, Nathan Evans, Charles Fleck, captain Matt Heid, Fred Lu and Griffin Taylor make up the team. AP Calculus teacher Bob Brands is the team’s coach.

Salmon Creek: Brains over brawn? How about both. The Skyview Girls Varsity Wrestling team won the Team Academic State Championship with a GPA of 3.65 in the 4A division. Two team members, Elise Yoshioka and Julie Yoshioka, were individual Academic State Champions with 4.0 GPAs. Other members include Anna Stauffer, Maddie Stumpf and Miranda Buck. Coaches are Tori Sharpe and Jeff Thompson. What’s more, team members also placed in the 4A State Wrestling Competition. Anna Stauffer took second in the 135-pound weight class, Elise Yoshioka placed fourth in the 103-pound weight class and Julie Yoshioka placed eighth in the 103-pound weight class.

West Hazel Dell: The Columbia River girls soccer team was honored by the Washington State Senate with the passing of Resolution 8715 on March 9. The resolution honored National Women and Girls in Sports Day and named Columbia River as a high school that fosters outstanding achievement in girls’ sports.

West Hazel Dell: The Columbia River girls gymnastics team placed second in the 3A Girls Gymnastics Competition in February at the Tacoma Dome. Jennifer DeBellis placed second in floor competition and fourth in the all-around competition. Jordan Hess placed third in bars and 15th in all-around competition. Other team members are Leah Davis, Shaylan Hawthorne, Grace Mammarella, Beth Miranda, Hannah Reis, Lanie Sperry, Rachel Thompson, and Chanel Uskoski. Head coach is Alicia Green; assistant coaches are Allison Sparrow, Krystal Karsch and Sysko Nieto.

Orchards, Sifton & Brush Prairie

Green Meadows: Nancy Stubbs, who lives in the Green Meadows neighborhood, walks on a regular basis with her sister, Cecille Hill. When the weather isn’t to their liking, they walk at Westfield Vancouver mall. They greet others out for a bit of exercise, which includes Ross Whisman, who has been walking in the mall for 17 years. When Stubbs found out Whisman was going to have a birthday she made cupcakes and gathered other walkers to help him celebrate.

Brush Prairie: Joseph Wagner, a Clark College student, has been selected to participate in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals for a yearlong fellowship to study and work in Germany. He was selected as one of 75 participants from more than 630 applicants. While in Germany, he will attend a two-month German language course, study at a university or professional school for four months and complete a five-month internship in business management with a German company.

Orchards: Local cheer gym Columbia Extreme Cheer is leaving its mark in numerous cheer competitions. The Senior Level 3 team took first in the Coed Division of the Spirit Cheer Nationals in Orlando, Fla. The team also scored highest in its division at the PacWest Nationals in Portland, earning the rank of grand champions in Level 3. It also placed first in the Senior Coed Level 3 division of the competition. The Tiny Level 1 team (made of kindergartners) is undefeated in several competitions throughout Washington and Oregon. The gym was started in 2003 by Dena Brandenburger and Millie King. King is now the head coach. The gym offers tumbling, team and skill classes for ages 4 to 18.

West Vancouver & Downtown

Hudson’s Bay: The Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation sponsored 2010 ShamROCK on March 17 at The Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits. Linda Thomas, the board chairwoman, headed up the event, which more than 500 people attended. The event raised $1,000 and will help support the library district’s 2010 summer reading program.

Esther Short: Folks have been wondering what happened to the youth-driven Vancouver Burrito Project, which got some publicity and donations last summer for its good works feeding hungry people in Esther Short Park. “Yup, we’re still here, and starting a round of servings next Friday, the 16th,” responded VBP mastermind Coline Milne, a senior at Mountain View High School. Milne said the VBP will be in the park every Friday from until May 21, serving free burritos from roughly 5:15 to 5:30 p.m.

Central Vancouver, Minnehaha & The Heights

Hudson’s Bay: Gusts broke a large branch off a cedar tree behind the Vancouver Public Library, 1007 E. Mill Plain Blvd., on April 5. It landed in the delivery driveway after smashing the front end of a library vehicle and breaking an upstairs window. There were no injuries, but folks in and around the building heard and felt the impact.

East Vancouver, Cascade Park, Fisher’s Landing & Evergreen

Mountain View: Jim Peterson, social studies teacher at Mountain View High School, has been summoned. Peterson is headed to the Supreme Court in June where he will participate in the Supreme Court Institute. Entrance to the program is highly competitive; the institute only chooses 30 participants nationwide. Peterson will head to Washington, D.C. to learn about the inner workings of the Supreme Court and sit in on hearings.