La Grande Pride
www.lagrandesd.org • September 2019
3
LOVE, CARE, SERVE
When Teachers and staff go the extra mile
By Trish Yerges
The La Grande School
District’s theme of “Love,
Care and Serve” is demon-
strated daily by teachers
and staff, positively infl u-
encing students so they can
learn, feel supported and
valued at school.
One staff member, Linda
Lyman, who has worked
for the district for the past
24 years and as attendance
offi cer at the high school for
the past six years, uses a
love, care, serve approach as
she tries to keep account of
550 students every day.
“Kids are our greatest
natural resource, and it
really is an honor to help
parents to see them through
(school),” said Lyman. “We
need to do everything we
can to steer them in the
right direction, and our
school district feels that as
well.”
It’s out of caring for them
and loving them, that she
spends her time account-
ing for each one, especially
when they don’t show up for
school. She loves helping
the parents by being anoth-
er set of eyes for them, and
they are appreciative.
“When George Mendoza
started being our super-
intendent, things took an
upswing,” she said, “because
of his love, his care and his
serving. He’s one of the
kindest, real people I’ve met
in that kind of capacity, and
that’s what he wants for
every child, offering them
whatever opportunities we
can and making sure they
know they are cared about.”
Central Elementary
School’s fi fth grade teacher
Shawn Brooks is enter-
ing his fi fth year with the
district, and he has about
30 students, all clamoring
for his love, care and serve
attention, and they get it.
“I try to genuinely know
my students on another lev-
el than just academics and
take a personal interest in
their lives outside of school,
building a relationship with
them,” he said.
One way that he does this
is by organizing activities
at school, like the three on
three basketball tourna-
ment during his prep time,
just to stay active. He also
likes to play with the kids
at recess and get to know
them.
Last year, he started
giving out high-fi ves to all
the kids coming into school
to welcome them into the
building. He has a lot of
positive energy, and he
wants them all to feel wel-
come as they enter school.
“Some of us have our own
special handshakes, and it’s
a good meet and greet thing
at the beginning of the day,”
he said. “The kids love it.
Some of the second grade
students like to give me the
rock-out sign, and we give
handshakes like that or fi st
bumps.”
As a teacher, he serves
their families by sharing
class photos on Class Dojo,
a free communication app
that connects directly to
the parent’s email or phone
and shows them what their
child is learning in class.
“Building relationships
is the main thing I do to
show that I love, care and
serve our district and kids,”
he said. “As a result, I get
text messages from parents
inviting me to their fam-
ily’s summer events, and
students send me an abun-
dance of thank you notes
during teacher appreciation
week.”
Choral director Kevin
Durfee teaches grades
six through twelve, split-
ting his day between the
Middle School and the high
school. He thinks of these
important values in the way
they naturally develop for
him. “I guess I’d say serve,
care and love, which seems
the natural progression of
things.”
Not only does he person-
ally demonstrate those
values, but he’s been teach-
ing his class as a whole to
do the same. The class gets
out to sing the Star Span-
gled Banner several times
a year at sports games and
at Memorial Day for the
Veterans of Foreign Wars.
They also like to go around
school singing for people if
it’s their birthday, and last
year, they sang for residents
at assisted living facilities
in the community.
Despite the demands on
his time, Durfee said it all
boils down to taking the
time to say hello and have
a conversation with the
students as often as pos-
sible. With an average of
200 students each year in
his classes, he likes to make
himself available to the
students before and after
classes.
“Mrs. Durfee (who also
works with the choirs) and
I always spend our lunch
time in the classroom and
keep it open for the kids
because it’s a safe place to
be,” he said. “Lots of times
they are there working and
not just socializing.”
As students repeatedly
stay in the choral program
over the years, Durfee also
gets to know their families
pretty well, and he and his
wife have developed good
friendships that way.
School resource offi cer
Cody Bowen has been show-
ing the love, care and serve
model for several years now
in the schools, at home and
as an assistant coach for the
softball team.
“I try to be a positive role
model for the kids,” he said.
“Loving what I do is a big
part of it, and I consider
all those kids my own, and
I enjoy the work I do with
them.”
He builds honest rela-
tionships with the kids, and
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