A PORCINE PUCKER awaits Bill Lanning, principal at Pioneer School, as he gets ready to plant a wet one on the lips of a pig in the arms of Trish Loertscher. Students picked Lanning for the honor as part of a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society.

THREE STUDENTS at Oakland Bay Junior High make traditional drums at a literacy-culture day last month honoring the work by Native American students. From left they are: Derek Grover, Billy Uden and Taylor Wiley. They also participated in the Read Right program at the school.

NORA ELLEN RICHARD, who's leaving her position as director of Olympic College Shelton after seven years, can't resist showing some affection to C.C., the well-fed cat who has carved out a home on the campus.

Talk about tomorrow's
technology today

Students at Southside School model jackets they received for capturing an honorable mention in the Toshiba National Science Teachers' Association ExploraVision Awards contest. They received the award for developing a concept they call "Bullet Blocker." Starting with existing technology, they imagined development of a blocking device on ammunition so police officers, store owners and banks could disable ammunition when they were in danger of being shot. Teacher Roy Conover said their idea assumes that in the future every piece of ammunition will have a microchip embedded in it and that could activate an electronic sender that would keep a bullet from firing. Award-winning students pictured from left to right in their jackets are: Kyle Welander, Ryan Pearson and Aaron Michaelis.

Let them also eat cake!

Chowing down on ice cream is Alyssa Olivas, a fourth-grader in Joyce Smith's class at Mountain View Elementary School. Ice cream was served with a cake baked for the students by folks from the Mason County Shelter for the homeless in thanks for the kids' support of the recent Shelter Shuffle, a fund-raiser in support of the homeless.

SUNNY SKIES AND faces alike see in the community's annual Relay For Life fund-raiser at the high school last weekend. That's the event's kickoff, the Survivors' Lap, in the centermost inset. One fund-raising gig the "Brig" captivated turnkey and pay-for-release 'jailbird' alike, inset near.

SHELTON'S NICK OWENS won NCAA Division I collegiate All-American honors this past week, placing third in the men's hammer throw in track & field's outdoor national championships in Sacramento.

TO THE VARIOUS rollicking delight and tongue-tied anticipation of those bearing witness, the usual gang of fourth- and fifth-graders does battle in the Shelton Rotary Club's annual all-county track showdown last week in Highclimber Stadium. Soaring to second in the Class B girls' long jump, inset center, is Southside fifth-grader Amy Morris. And leading by a chin in the Class A boys' 100 just below her is Bobcat classmate Grant VanderWal, who wound up second as well. Amy later won the open 400 and Grant the high jump.

STANDING BY Simpson railroad Engine 49, which has been sold to a man in California, are Jerry Gregerson, on left, superintendent of the company's railroad, and Cliff Carter, locomotive engineer. The engine is destined for a new home at a logging history museum located in Willits, California.

A total of 149 seniors
get their diplomas

Members of the North Mason High School Class of 2005 work their way out of the Kitsap Pavilion in Silverdale on Monday night following commencement exercises. A total of 149 seniors received diplomas during the ceremony which featured student speeches by Lindsay Wing and Jana Shumaker. The Herald's annual, four-page graduation package which includes graduate pictures, speeches, scholarship amounts and much more will appear in next week's edition due to deadline constraints.