July 10, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A
Rec district hires new aquatics head
rector Mary Blake said. In-
coming executive director
Skyler Archibald played a
The Sunset Empire Park ELJ UROH LQ PDNLQJ WKH ¿QDO
& Recreation District hired selection, since the two will
Justin Smith to be the agen- work together in the future.
cy’s new aquatics manager.
Smith currently serves as
He started June 29. For- aquatics manager at the Paul
mer aquatics manager Rus- Henson Family YMCA in
sell Cleveland resigned in Prairie Village, Kan. The fa-
March, and Mike Kadi, head cility is part of the YMCA of
coach of the Seaside Swim Greater Kansas City, based
Team, has been serving as out of Kansas City, Mo.
interim aquatics manager. Smith began working there
Smith, who is from Kansas, in August 2012. Prior to that,
was offered the job May 28, he worked with the YMCA
and he accepted shortly after. Trout Lodge in Potosi, Mo.,
The recreation district for about three years. His
originally advertised through experience there included
the National Recreation and lifeguard, waterfront direc-
Parks Association and re- tor and program operations
ceived 13 applicants, which manager.
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Smith originally is from
for phone interviews. Two Sydney, Australia, and at-
were invited for in-person in- tended went to trade school
terviews with a seven-mem- there before moving to the
ber panel, which included a United States and discover-
practical, hands-on compo- ing his real passion was for
nent, and to meet the district water recreation.
staff. The decision between
When the Sunset Empire
WKH WZR ¿QDOLVWV ZDV YHU\ Park & Recreation District’s
close, interim executive di- aquatics manager position
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
became vacant after the de-
parture of Genessee Dennis
in late summer, Smith ap-
plied for the job. He was one
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along with Cleveland, who
ultimately was hired.
Smith was very interest-
ed in moving to the Seaside
area and becoming involved
in the community, which he
believed “would really just
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he applied for the position
again.
The recreation district’s
aquatics facility size is sim-
ilar to the one he oversees
now, Smith said, and he’s
very familiar with managing
employees and programs in
this capacity.
“I think the transition will
be kind of smooth since I do
a lot of this stuff already,” he
said.
Smith’s greatest passion,
when it comes to aquatics, is
teaching water safety to chil-
dren and young adults. He
looks forward to continuing
to provide the district’s key
aquatics programs, such as
the Seaside Swim Team and
swim lessons.
During his time at the
YMCA Trout Lodge, Smith
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perience managing others,
as well as giving instruc-
tion and leading programs.
At the Paul Henson Family
YMCA, he helped build a
robust swim team.
“Now I’m hopefully go-
ing to take (both experienc-
es) and bring them there (to
Seaside),” Smith said.
He said he looks forward
to working with others at the
Sunset Empire Park & Rec-
reation District, which he be-
lieves to have a strong back-
ing from the community.
Smith’s personality, en-
thusiasm and proclivity to
team-building and public
relations made him a good
candidate, Blake said. The
YMCA is very focused on
youth development and risk
management, so Smith’s
background in that area will
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Duane Larson is Vice Principal of the Year 2014-15
Mayor’s son honored at
school administrators
conference in Seaside
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
Duane Larson, the son
of Seaside Mayor Don
Larson, was selected as
Oregon’s Vice Principal of
the Year for 2014-15 and
honored during the 2015
Confederation of Oregon
School
Administrators
Conference in Seaside.
The Oregon Associa-
tion of Secondary School
Administrators
select-
ed Larson for the honor,
which was open to all
high school and middle
school vice principals in
the state. Larson was an-
nounced as the winner in
fall 2014.
Larson serves as vice
principal of Alice Ott
Middle School in Port-
land, a position he has
held since 2002. He at-
tended the COSA Confer-
ence, and June 19, he was
recognized, along with
those who were given oth-
er honors. Larson’s wife,
Elizabeth; daughter, Ra-
chel; and parents, Don and
Lois, were in attendance.
“Having the award pre-
sented to me in Seaside,
with my parents there,
was very special to me,”
he said.
Under Larson and Prin-
cipal James Johnston,
Alice Ott Middle School
achieved Model School
status, designated by the
Oregon Department of Ed-
ucation, for the past three
years. In his nomination
letter, Johnston described
Larson as “a cornerstone
to what we have been able
to accomplish with stu-
dent achievement.”
Larson attended Cherry
Park Elementary School,
Floyd
Light
Middle
School and David Doug-
las High School. After
obtaining degrees from
George Fox College and
Portland State Univer-
sity, he did his student
teaching at Alice Ott. In
1991, he joined the David
Douglas School District
as a sixth-grade teacher
at West Powellhurst Ele-
mentary School. He also
taught math at Floyd Light
for three years, served as
an administrative intern
and was the Community
Sports Coordinator before
being appointed as vice
principal of Alice Ott.
While being recognized
individually is nice, Lar-
son said, “success really is
a team effort.”
“Alice Ott Middle
School has been recog-
nized several times re-
cently in the state, and na-
tionally, and that’s due to
strong effort from all staff
and students,” he added.
Last year, Johnston was
named Oregon’s Middle
School Principal of the
Year.
Larson is passionate
about middle school stu-
dents and helping them be
successful, he said.
“I think this award con-
¿UPVWKDWP\HIIRUWVKDYH
been successful and en-
courages me to continue
working hard,” he said.
Students come to the
school as 11-year-olds
and “leave as high-school-
ready teenagers,” so they
do a lot of growing up,
physically and emotional-
ly, during middle school,
Larson said.
“It’s rewarding and
enjoyable to help them
during this transition in
their lives. It can also be
frustrating, as we deal
with a tough population,”
Larson said, adding the
school has more than 70
percent of students who
are on free or reduced-cost
lunch and there are more
than 30 languages spoken
in the students’ homes.
“That being said, we
are regularly compliment-
ed for how well behaved
Alice Ott student are,” he
said.
SUBMITTED PHOTO COURTESY A IS
A PHOTOGRAPHY
Duane Larson, the son of
Seaside Mayor Don Larson
and the vice principal of
Alice Ott Middle School in
Portland, was honored as Or-
egon’s Assistant Principal of
the Year for 2014-15 during
the Confederation of Oregon
School Administrators con-
ference in Seaside June 19.
Dining
on
the
Seaside high schoolers
help adorn cast of local
music festival production
Sewing Club members
participate in costume
apprenticeship
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
Three students from
Seaside High School’s
Sewing Club took part in
the Astoria Music Festival’s
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program in late June.
The festival, which held
its 13th season this year,
traditionally incorporates a
Vocal and Instrumental Ap-
prentice Program. The pro-
gram’s production for 2015
was the comedic opera
“The Magic Flute,” or “Die
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Amadeus Mozart. The pro-
duction used Astoria as its
setting. In general, the two-
week apprentice program
provides advanced training
to pre-professional singers
and instrumentalists. It also
incorporates local young
dancers.
A new addition to this
year’s program was a cos-
tume apprenticeship, over-
seen by Costume Manager
Cynthia Harber, a local
teacher at Astoria Middle
School.
When Managing Di-
rector Carol Shepherd
heard about Seaside High
School’s Sewing Club, she
saw an opportunity to pro-
vide another venue to in-
struct and develop young
people through the appren-
tice program. Three stu-
dents from the sewing club
— Brooke Laws, Max Mc-
Neill and Chastity Cozzi-
torto — participated in the
costume
apprenticeship,
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from their participation,
Harber said.
The program also bene-
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costumes, which gave the
team the ability to create
more elaborate attire. They
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costume pieces for the near-
ly 20-member cast, as well
as about 18 dancers from
Maddox Dance Studio and
the Astoria School of Ballet.
Because “The Magic
Flute” was set in Astoria —
with references to the U.S.
Coast Guard, a pirate and
Columbia River Bar Pilots
— the costumes followed a
nautical theme. Characters
included spirits, a queen
of the night, priests and a
bird-catcher.
“Thank God we had a
budget this time,” Harber
said.
She devoted about 14
hours per day to the pro-
duction through the dura-
tion of the program, and the
sewing club students each
devoted about four to six
hours per day. Besides the
students, Harber also re-
ceived help from Astoria’s
Englund Marine and In-
dustrial Supplies, who will-
ingly let the group borrow
costume parts.
Harber taught her ap-
prentices techniques and
skills they could take with
them and teach to others
in the sewing club when it
reconvenes for the 2015-16
school year. “It’s going to
help them the next time they
have to do this for a perfor-
mance at their school,” she
said.
Shepherd agreed it went
well.
“The students have had
a great time, and it’s been
a very good experience for
them, and a great way for us
to involve more students in
the festival,” she said.
Harber’s goal is to build
the apprentice program to
include apprentices in all
areas, such as direction,
stage management, costum-
ing, props, lighting sound,
video and more.
In return for the Sea-
side students’ help making
costumes for “The Magic
Flute,” the Astoria Music
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high school’s sewing club.
North Coast
pow ered b y
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