Wednesday, September 16, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon C O M M U N I T 3 Y Sisters School District at a glance By Charlie Kanzig Correspondent ILLUSTRATION BY CARLY GARZÓN VARGAS Sisters artist Carly Garzón Vargas designed this original piece for Sisters Farmers Market. You can view her work at www.carlygarzonvargas.com. Raffle will support market, fire relief " Grand prize basket filled with nearly $850 worth of goods from vendors featured at the 2020 Sisters Farmers Market. Tickets can be purchased through the end of September either online at www. sistersfarmersmarket.com/ raffle or in person at Sisters Farmers Market, Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fir Street Park. Winners will be drawn during a live Facebook event on October 1. With a growing local population and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the market anticipated the By Caroline Hager Sisters Farmers Market Manager The Sisters Farmers Market is hosting a Fundraising Raffle for COVID-19 expenses and Oregon Wildfire Relief funds, featuring three large prizes with values totaling nearly $3,000. Prizes consist of: " A 2021 large Seed to Table produce share or $800 gift certificate to the Seed to Table booth at Sisters Farmers Market. " Private tour and dinner for four on Seed to Table Farm prepared by a local chef. See RAFFLE on page 12 " Sisters Education Association (union) President Michele Hammer thanked the school board and Superintendent Curt Scholl for working coopera- tively with the teaching staff on solving issues related to working conditions during COVID-19. Hammer also expressed how much the teaching staff looks forward to being back, doing in-per- son instruction. " Teachers are largely working from the school buildings this year during the distance-learning phase as opposed to from home as they did last spring. " Beginning fund balance of the budget for the 2020-21 school year came in higher than expected according to Finance Director Sherry Joseph. The extra money resulted from greater returns from the local option tax ($300,000) and from less spending last spring on items such as transportation, new hires, substitutes and athlet- ics, as the district operated under distance learning. " Building principals reported a good start to the first week following a lot of outreach to students and families, including socially distanced meet-and-greets, school tours, and home vis- its to help welcome new and transitioning families. " All three principals con- veyed a hopefulness that the health metrics related to COVID-19 infection rates will continue to drop so that students can return to in-per- son learning. If low rates in Deschutes County hold, K-4 students will return to class on September 28 and Sisters Middle School and Sisters High School students will return October 19. " The school board passed a proclamation emphasizing commitment to equity and anti-racism and resolving to establish specific goals and policies to support equity and anti-racism. " Enrollment numbers are not final yet, but the middle school reported 50 new students resulting in See SCHOOLS on page 12 Modified ‘seasons’ for SHS athletes By Charlie Kanzig Correspondent Outlaws athletes are going to be able to get in some modified sports activities this fall. In the topsy-turvy world of COVID-19, guidelines and rules are ever-changing. High-school athletics have been subject to constant flux since March. When schools first shut down last spring, hope remained that they would reopen before the end of the year and spring sports would be allowed to complete a truncated season. That dream didn9t pan out and high school athletes were left to fend for themselves when it came to staying active. Summer came and things didn9t get any better regard- ing gathering in an orga- nized way. In July, the Oregon Schools Activities Association (OSAA) con- ferred with school leaders to come up with a plan for the 2020-21 school year; that resulted in a