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APRIL 5, 2023
TEACHING A LOVE FOR THE ARTS
@qamagnews VOL. 104, NO. 14
FEATURED STORIES
QA teacher leads Coe performing arts program By Laura Marie Rivera Contributing writer
Magnolia resident Krista Carreiro is the heart and soul of Queen Anne’s Coe Elementary School’s performing arts program. She’s been living and working in the neighborhood for the last 30 years but only experienced her largest audience to date — directing her students during a performance at a Mariners game — last Sunday.
Growing up performing Carreiro, who grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, began her journey in performing arts when she was only 2. Her mother started her in dance classes at a very young age, and she stayed with it all through high school. She said that she was never a very good singer, but she loved it, nonetheless. Soon enough, she was helping to choreograph school musicals and show choir performances. Her commitment paid off when she got her first job as a summer camp counselor where she got to sing around the campfire and create skits to make the children laugh. This summer job also served as her introduction to teaching while she worked as a lifeguard and a swim instructor. It would be a while, however, before she made her way into her official teaching career.
SEE ARTS, PAGE 8
FALLING AWAKE PAGE 2
RECIPE PAGE 4
Ben VanHouten | Mariners Director of Photography Coe Elementary students in Krista Carreiro’s performing arts program sing the national anthem at the Mariners’ game Sunday. Carreiro submitted an audition video of her students, who were selected to perform on opening weekend.
LIBRARY PROGRAMS
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Little League, sports teams struggle with field problems
By Jessica Keller Queen Anne & Magnolia News editor
The ballfields at West Queen Anne Playfield, more commonly known as Big Howe, have been slated to be modernized for some time only to be delayed by the city, to the consternation of youth athletics organizations. Through most of the year, Big Howe ballfields are used by youth soccer and boys and girls Queen Anne Little League teams, as well as adult recreational teams. Former Queen Anne Community Council member and Queen Anne Little League parent Creighton Carroll said
encountering is the field space available in Queen Anne and specifically Big Howe playfields cannot accommodate the growing number of players interested in players, specifically among the girls teams, QALL President Tommy Kim said. From 2018 to 2023, the number of softball players enrolled in Queen Anne Little League has almost tripled. In 2018, 58 players between the ages of 5-12 signed up. Those numbers have grown each year, reaching 96 players in 2021 and 155 at the start of this season. Five years ago, Kim said, QALL only fielded Field needs One of the biggest problems two softball teams; now it has Queen Anne Little League is a full slate. upgrading the ballfields at Big Howe has been on the city’s priority list for 25 years. The city was set to replace the grass fields with turf in 2020, but because of COVID and other factors, the project has been postponed until 2027. Frustrated by the city’s inaction and encountering delays, Queen Anne Little League organizers and parents are trying to push up that timeline as the need for modernized fields grows more pressing. “The time for us to have this modernization complete is sooner than later,” Carroll said.
“Basically, what is happening is that we have more teams than ever and the same number of fields. While this is positive in itself, the Little League has had to adjust schedules to accommodate all the players. “In order to give the softball teams the same amount of playing time as the baseball teams, we’ve basically had to pull back how many times a week they get to practice,” Kim said. Before, the older players would practice four times a week, while the younger athletes would practice three times a week. Now, the older players practice for three, and the younger players practice
Photo by Jessica Keller Parks and Recreation Department staff smooth out one of the fields at Big Howe Park in Upper Queen Anne last month. Often, Little League volunteers have to grade and prep the fields for games when city staff aren’t available or the fields are torn up because of dogs. twice a week. “The problem is, there’s only so much space in Seattle, so there’s not many other fields
we can go to,” Kim said. Kim said one of the benefits
SEE FIELDS, PAGE 7
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