4A
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2016
Local teachers get to grade their schools
ANNETTE UTZ
FOR THE STAYTON MAIL
Teachers
routinely
grade students and ad-
ministrators evaluate the
teachers, but every two
years educators have an
opportunity to rate the en-
vironment in which they
work.
The Oregon Education
Association Oregon, Ore-
gon School Boards Asso-
ciation and others partner
with Deputy Superinten-
dent of Education Dr. Sa-
lam Noor to administer
the Teaching, Empower-
ing, Leading and Learning
(TELL) Oregon survey,
which is a biennial, anony-
mous statewide survey of
licensed
school-based
educators to assess teach-
ing conditions at the
school, district and state
levels.
TELL Oregon results
provide educators with
data, tools and support to
facilitate school improve-
ment and create positive
Small town
Continued from Page 1A
sistant principal, who has
coached or worked at
schools ranging from
class 1A to 6A. “A major
advantage for student
athletes in a small school
are their ties with the
schools and the communi-
ty. A student athlete may
be a neighbor to coaches,
teachers, administrators,
and bus drivers in the
community.”
In many ways, that
community connection
provides support to high
school athletes.
“In Silverton, our stu-
dent athletes are visible in
the community and take
an active role in repre-
senting Silverton,” said
Greg Kaatz, Silverton
High School assistant
principal and athletic di-
rector. “Through this
process,
community
members follow our
teams and identify with
the leaders on those
teams. I have observed
our best and brightest stu-
dent athletes really take
pride and perform at their
highest level to represent
teaching and learning
conditions.
The survey consists of
a core set of up to 15 ques-
tions in each of the follow-
ing areas: time allocation,
facilities and resources,
community support and
involvement, managing
student conduct, teacher
leadership, school leader-
ship, professional devel-
opment, and instructional
practices and support.
Each question was ranked
on a scale from “Strongly
Agree” to “Strongly Dis-
agree.”
Concerning Silverton
High School, results were
higher than statewide lev-
els in the quality of facil-
ities and resources, and
managing student con-
duct. Otherwise, respons-
es fell below the state lev-
el. The most substantial
difference was found as to
whether procedures for
teacher evaluations were
consistent, agreed upon
by 12.5% at the high
school versus a 81.2% fa-
Silverton.”
Kaatz describes the di-
rect relationship and res-
onance between small
communities and athlet-
ics as “absolutely a fact.”
“Silverton is one of the
best environments I have
ever been a part of where
community gets behind
its teams,” he said. “We
have experienced incred-
ible team send-offs, com-
munity support, and fan
attendance with the suc-
cess of multiple sports
teams. The Silverton com-
munity really takes pride
in supporting our teams
especially when it comes
to the postseason.
“I’ve never experi-
enced anything like it.”
Stayton Athletic Direc-
tor/Assistant
Principal
Darren Shryock has expe-
rienced the gamut, grow-
ing up and playing ball at a
large California high
school and later coaching
in more moderate-sized
places, such as Stayton
and Silverton.
“I think small towns
identify with their ath-
letes because they often
know them personally,”
Shryock said. “They see
them at the store; they of-
ten see them at their part-
vorable state average.
Overall, 64.4% found
their school to be a good
place to work and learn,
20.8% below state results.
Due to low participa-
tion rates in 2014, compar-
ative results were not
available for Silverton
High School. However, in
the 2016 survey, the cate-
gories of school leader-
ship and time allocation
rated the lowest (42.3%
and 44%, respectively).
Highest rated was manag-
ing student conduct at
90.3%. Within this area,
the statement “The facul-
ty work in a school envi-
ronment that is safe” re-
ceived 100% approval.
“I think the results
show that there’s ample
room for improvement,
especially from the ad-
ministrative point of
view,” Silverton Principal
Mark Hannan said. “Al-
though I will not be lead-
ing SHS next year, I think
these results give the new
principal some tangible
data points to improve
upon. I was pleased with
the results indicating Sil-
verton High School is a
safe place to work. We
place a premium on main-
taining a safe environ-
ment for our students and
staff.”
On a district level, Sil-
ver Falls School District
was ranked higher in the
areas of facilities and re-
sources, and community
support and involvement
compared to state results.
Responses were slight-
ly less favorable in all oth-
er areas but in general,
the outcomes were very
close between the two sur-
vey groups.
Overall, SFSD teach-
ers found their school to
be “a good place to work
and learn” by 82.1 percent
versus the 84.8% state-
wide.
Among specific ques-
tions, the most agreed
upon was “Students at this
school understand expec-
tations for their conduct”
STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE
Perrydale scores a touchdown against Dufur during the OSAA
Class 1A state playoffs in 2015.
time job in the summer. It
is really cool to run into an
athlete around town,
which doesn't happen
very often in big cities.”
Across the valley in In-
dependence,
Central
High School Athletic Di-
rector Shane Hedrick has
seen it play out on genera-
tional levels.
Hedrick’s father, Dale
“Buck” Hedrick, played
ball at his son’s alma ma-
ter, which is Central.
Shane initially coached at
a larger school, but ulti-
mately returned and
coached football at Cen-
tral while also seeing his
at 98% while, on the less
positive end, only 33.6%
and 46.1% were satisfied
with the timely availabil-
ity of assessment data and
class sizes that allow
teachers to meet the
needs of students, respec-
tively.
Superintendent Andy
Bellando found the re-
sults very important to
the health of the district.
“All feedback from
staff members is impor-
tant and sought after,” he
said. “This survey pro-
vides multiple measures
to give us clear direction
and is straight from those
who are in most direct
contact with our students.
“There are many con-
sistent measures at each
school indicating growth
.. Some of the data for
areas to concentrate in-
cludes a range of profes-
sional development sup-
port for all teachers, con-
tinued use of growth data
to best meet the needs of
each student and being
sensitive and responsive
to the increasing de-
mands placed upon teach-
ers and administrators,”
he added. “It is equally
important to receive this
type of input to help all of
us better meet the needs
of our students.”
As stated on the TELL
Oregon website, “Re-
search from around the
country shows that teach-
ing conditions are posi-
tively associated with im-
proved student achieve-
ment and teacher reten-
tion” and with the
information from the re-
cent survey, local schools
will work to improve the
education environment
for teachers and students
alike.
For more comprehen-
sive results, visit http://
www.telloregon.org/re-
sults.
annet
teutz1@gmail.com or fol-
low at twitter.com/Annet
teUtz
kids play multiple sports
there before graduating.
“Smaller schools like
Central have a more per-
sonal touch to the commu-
nity,” Hedrick said. “The
high school is the front
porch to the community,
and in most cases the two
are mentioned in the same
discussion.”
When the school is a
community front porch,
the gym is often the fam-
ily room, and the sports
field a backyard.
“One of the things that
galvanized us the most, as
far as bringing the com-
munity together, was get-
ting
(football
field)
lights,” said Dan Dugan,
the athletic director and
assistant principal at Per-
rydale where he’s seen
sports and other pro-
grams evolve and change
over the past 19 years.
Dugan said before the
lights, Friday home foot-
ball games were played in
the afternoon when many
parents were working or
people were otherwise
unable to attend.
When the topic of in-
stalling lights initially
surfaced 15 years ago, it
was with some hesitation,
even resistance over
doubt about whether it
was a worthwhile ex-
pense.
There is no such dis-
cussion today.
“The lights really
bound our community to-
gether, (enriching) the
sense of community spir-
it,” Dugan said. “There’s
nothing like sports com-
petitions to bring people
in the community togeth-
er.”
When it’s not the lights
at home, it’s often the
lights on the road that il-
lustrate that community
spirit – especially when
that road leads to, or home
from, state.
“In 2006, our softball
team captured the state ti-
tle by beating Scappoose
at Oregon State Univer-
sity,” Hedrick recalled.
“It was bumper-to-bump-
er with cars coming back
to Central from Corvallis
(roughly 20 miles). All you
could see for miles and
miles down Highway 99W
was cars with flashing
lights and people hanging
out the car windows. The
local police and fire ser-
vices escorted the bus
back into town with sirens
and lights blaring.”
That Central experi-
ence is not an anomaly.
“In 2004 under the old
4A system, our boys' bas-
ketball team at Silverton
was ranked in the top 10 in
the state. We traveled to
play a playoff game at
Oregon City and much of
the town traveled with
us,” Shryock recalled.
“The Silverton fans easily
outnumbered the Oregon
City fans, and they had a
very good team that end-
ed up doing well at the
state tournament.
“When we went to the
state tourney in 2010, they
filled five rooter buses
with kids to watch us play.
Smaller towns love their
teams and follow them
faithfully,” he added.
A
decade
after
Shryock’s first described
experience, Kaatz de-
scribes similar experi-
ences within that same
community.
“The (football) State
Championship game in
2014 had one of the most
unbelievable team send-
offs from our community;
almost a full mile of peo-
ple lined the streets as the
bus drove out of Silverton
to the game in Hillsboro,
led by the Silverton Police
Department and capped
off with water cannons
showering arches across
the road by the Silverton
Fire Department,” Kaatz
said. “It was a very proud
community that really
supporting it’s team head-
ing into one of the biggest
games in 22 years.”
Such experiences tak-
en individually are mov-
ing, but collectively they
portray an infectious ele-
ment within the commu-
nity that seems to spread
with success.
“When I was coaching
at Silverton in 2010 and we
played to go to the state
tournament for the first
time in something like 50
years, the gym was elec-
tric,” Shryock said. “I still
get chills thinking about
the roar from the crowd
when we came back onto
the floor for warm ups.
“Yes, the excitement
was there. When our foot-
ball team here at Stayton
started the season 6-0 af-
ter suffering a few down
years, the entire town
turned out for our home
game against Cascade.
Small towns buzz when
their teams do well.”
Beyond the limelight
and highlighted experi-
ences, however, small-
town athletes in many
ways derive more depth,
if not notoriety, from their
experiences — inside and
out of the athletic realm.
“In smaller schools, to
be competitive, and to
have complete squads
students have to be mul-
tisport athletes,” Cas-
cade’s Hermansen said.
“Multisport athletes learn
to adjust to different
coaching styles, which
prepares them for differ-
ent leadership styles in
the workforce. Multisport
athletes are less likely to
have overuse injuries
compared to single sport
athletes.
“An outstanding ath-
lete in one sport may not
be a starter in another
sport, which gives the ath-
lete the opportunity to
build character, and face
adversity in a safe envi-
ronment.”
That carries on beyond
the arena or playing field.
“I think high school
sports provide a commu-
nity with an identity that
nothing else can do,” He-
drick said, describing
how that community iden-
tity
translates
into
healthy individual identi-
ties. “Central, without
question, offers more op-
portunity for an athlete to
participate in multiple
sports and (activities).
We've had a large number
of athletes compete in
multiple sports, sing in
the choir and perform in a
musical or play in the
same school year.”
Similar to this spring’s
season in Perrydale,
where softball players ad-
justed their schedules to
become track athletes at
the appropriate time, and
likely with a tight support
group backing them up.
jmuch@Statesman-
Journal.com or 503-769-
6338, cell 503-508-8157 or
follow at twitter.com/jus
tinmuch