Wednesday, September 13, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Oregon woman and
guide dog help others
17
MOOREHEAD: Oregon
man moves on to
regional competition
Continued from page 1
By Kathy Aney
East Oregonian
PENDLETON (AP) —
As a young woman, Sharon
Zenger traded in her driver’s
license for a seeing eye dog.
Zenger started life with
almost normal vision, but as
a toddler was diagnosed with
a degenerative eye disease
called retinitis pigmentosa.
Growing up in Pendleton,
the girl spent years preparing
for blindness, practicing with
a white cane and learning to
read Braille. When her sight
dimmed, she was ready.
Zenger, now 37, trains
visually impaired chil-
dren in six Oregon coun-
ties as an employee of the
InterMountain Education
Service District. Tod Zenger
chauffeurs his daughter and
her guide dog, Jude, from
school to school each day.
Except for the ever-present
Jude, one might not realize
the Pendleton woman can’t
see. She walks with an air
of confidence, following her
German shepherd’s subtle
guidance. She wears glasses
and appears to look directly
at people who speak to her,
though in reality she sees only
blur or blackness, depend-
ing on the brightness of the
environment.
Zenger’s easy nonchalance
belies her toughness. She
got her first guide dog at the
Guiding Eyes for the Blind
guide dog school in New York
City. To graduate the month-
long training, students must
navigate the Big Apple’s leg-
endary traffic and multilevel
subway system.
“I walked out of Grand
Central Station and had to
find my way to Central Park,”
Zenger recalls.
After reaching her destina-
tion, she headed to the sub-
way, found a train to the upper
east side, got off at the proper
stop and found a pub where
she met her classmates and
instructors. Getting around
in New York City can rattle
even sighted people — doing
it with impaired vision takes
nerves of steel.
“I remember thinking
I’m glad I don’t live in New
York,” Zenger said.
She returned to Oregon,
where she earned under-
graduate degrees in social
science and teaching and a
master’s degree in education
at Portland State University.
She memorized the campus
and surrounding cityscape.
She knew the exact number
of steps and stairs in various
PSU buildings from front
door to classroom.
She learned to navigate
through the school’s under-
ground tunnel system.
After graduation, Zenger
taught for 10 years at the
Utah Schools for the Deaf
and Blind. In the three years
requiring high-crawls through
the ocean surf in full battle
gear to shore. Once on shore,
Moorehead had to carry two
cement-filled ammunition
canisters to the top of a steep
sand dune and then race back
down to the finish line.
The stress-shoot por-
tion of the event included
three timed M9 pistol firing
sequences while enduring
stressful distractions such as
smoke, sirens, yelling, and
evacuating a simulated casu-
alty from an Army vehicle.
Other physical challenges
included climbing ropes,
crawling under wires, and
maneuvering through a num-
ber of other obstacles.
Besides the physical test-
ing, soldiers were required to
complete a written exam and
essay as well as face a board
See TEACHER on page 25
Sgt. Dane Moorehead competing in the Omaha Beach event during the
recent 2017 Oregon Best Warrior competition at Camp Rilea.
of sergeants major that tested
their Army knowledge.
Moorehead will next rep-
resent Oregon in regional
competitions to be held in
Alaska in May 2018.
The son of Rod and Carol
Moorehead of Sisters, he
was named a National Merit
Commended Scholar at SHS.
He also participated in track
and field and cross-country,
as well as serving as the man-
ager for the varsity basketball
team.
When not training or
deployed, Moorehead lives in
Monmouth while attending
Western Oregon University
where he is majoring in
psychology with a minor in
biology.
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