The Observer., August 29, 2020, Page 6, Image 6

6A — THE OBSERVER
TEACHERS
Continued from Page 1A
“Students will be able
to be reunited with their
friends. Classes will be
building relationships,”
Fritz said.
The teacher stressed
she misses her students
terribly and would like
nothing better than to
have them again in her
classroom.
But the district’s Com-
prehensive Distance
Learning model, she said,
“is the next best thing.”
A key component of
the district’s program is
Google Classroom, one of
the tools for virtual educa-
tion Fritz and all teachers
have been learning a
great deal about in recent
months. Fritz said learning
about these tools has been
invigorating and will help
her as an educator.
LMS sixth-grade
teacher Kelly Oliver is
another fan of the dis-
trict’s improved CDL
program. She said she
likes how it simulates an
onsite school day and pro-
vides students with struc-
ture. Oliver noted stu-
dents will be expected to
attend the classes as they
are streamed live, and
that attendance will be
recorded and students who
are late will be marked as
tardy.
Oliver said she believes
many of the school dis-
trict’s teachers feel good
about the program in
place for the fall and are
inspired by the opportu-
nity to dive deeper into the
world of online teaching.
“Most teachers like
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020
challenges,” Oliver said.
She lauded the school
district for how well it
has prepared its teachers
for providing virtual
education.
“We all feel ready,”
Oliver said.
The sixth-grade teacher
said students are eager to
come back to school in an
improved virtual setting.
“They are charged up.
Many want to start now,”
Oliver said.
Parker McKinley, also
a sixth-grade teacher at
LMS, said he is glad he
will be able to see his stu-
dents more on a face-to-
face basis than he did
last spring. The educator
said this will provide him
with more opportuni-
ties to read his students’
body language, which he
uses to gauge how well
they are understanding his
instruction.
McKinley said a key to
making distance learning
successful is to ensure stu-
dents, parents and teachers
are working in unison.
“When you have all
three working together it
is very powerful,” he said.
La Grande High School
social studies teacher John
Lamoreau said one of the
things he likes best about
the CDL program is the
opportunity it is providing
educators to develop a
better understanding of
the technology available
to them. Some are tools he
will continue using after
the COVID-19 pandemic
subsides and students can
return to in-person classes.
“We are learning about
new tools and how they
relate to today’s world,”
Lamoreau said.
Many students, how-
ever, would not choose
virtual learning.
“All of the students I’ve
talked to wish they could
be back in the classroom,”
Lamoreau said.
The LHS teacher said
one feature of Com-
prehensive Distance
Learning he likes is
the requirement that all
teachers provide dis-
tance education from
their physical classrooms.
Last spring, many faculty
taught from home.
Lamoreau also said
he is looking forward to
being with his colleagues
again now that school is
starting.
“It will give us a chance
to share ideas,” he said.
La Grande High School
literature, writing and
French teacher Kevin
Cahill also is looking for-
ward to seeing more of
his colleagues, but he is
not sure how students
will respond to distance
education.
“The big unknown in
all this is will they hang
with us or disappear,” he
said, adding that keeping
students focused and inter-
ested “will be a huge
challenge.”
Students in a traditional
classroom setting can
draw on support and feed-
back from their peers. But
in distance learning, he
said, “they have to supply
their own energy.”
Pat Des Jardin, who
teaches science at LHS,
said he has mixed feel-
ings about the challenge
of delivering distance
education.
“I’m excited and ter-
rifi ed. I have so much to
learn, and I’m afraid I
will let students and par-
ents down,” said Des
Jardin, the winner of mul-
tiple inspirational teacher
awards from Eastern
Oregon University for his
work at LHS.
Still, Des Jardin said he
believes the district’s new
distance education pro-
gram is signifi cantly better
than what was in place last
spring and thinks it has
great potential.
“The possibilities are
endless,” Des Jardin said.
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics proudly welcomes:
Raffaella Betza, MD
To the Union, Elgin, and Urgent Care teams as a Primary/Acute Care Physician
Dr. Raffaella Betza comes to us from John Day where she practiced the full spectrum of rural
medicine in the clinic, hospital, obstetrics floor, and nursing home. While there she also worked
as a medical examiner and chief of staff. Dr. Betza earned her undergraduate degree from the
University of Edinburgh, Scotland; completed Medical School at the University of Washington,
and her Residency at Swedish First Hill, Seattle. Her professional Interests embrace the full
spectrum family medicine for patients of all ages with particular interest in
women's health, procedures, and addiction medicine. She feels strongly
that medicine is a calling and that her door is open to all, meeting people
where they're at and finding a treatment plan that is evidence based but
also tailored to the individual. Although she grew up in New York, she has
been visiting her family in Elgin since she was 11 years old. After living all
over the world, eastern Oregon continued to call her home. She and her
husband are delighted to have been able to fulfill their dream of buying
her family's property in Elgin and raising their son in Union County.
Raffaella Betza, MD
To make an appointment with Dr. Betza, call the
Union Clinic at 541.562.6180 or Elgin Clinic at 541.437.2273
Applications
open for $62M
fund for Black
Oregonians
By Zane Sparling
Pamplin Media Group
SALEM — A $62
million relief fund is
accepting applications
from Black residents
picking up the pieces after
the novel coronavirus
shattered lives and liveli-
hoods across Oregon.
The Oregon Cares Fund
for Black Relief and Resil-
iency will distribute the
money — taken from the
$1.4 billion sent to Oregon
via the federal CARES
Act — in increments of
$1,000, $2,000 or $3,000,
depending on the severity
of the virus’ impact.
Grants also are avail-
able for Black-owned
businesses and nonprofi ts.
“The fund is there to
fortify the entire Black
community,” said state
Rep. Akasha Lawrence
Spence, D-Southwest
Portland, “and doing the
work to support them
so they can support our
community.”
Two nonprofi ts, The
Contingent and The Black
United Fund, will manage
monetary distribution, and
an 11-member Council
of Trust was formed
to provide oversight.
Grant applications will
be accepted on a rolling
basis, with distribution of
the money expected two
to three weeks later.
The money will be dis-
tributed based on need —
not on a fi rst-come, fi rst-
served basis — and Rep.
Lawrence Spence said he
believes they will be able
to meet the needs of all
who apply.
The Oregon Legisla-
ture’s Emergency Board,
which approved the $62
million allocation in July,
requires the money be dis-
bursed no later than Dec.
30.
Sharon Gary-Smith,
former executive director
of the MRG Foundation,
said Oregon has suffered
from a pandemic of racism
long before the corona-
virus washed ashore.
It “has limited our
health, our housing, our
community, our eco-
nomic stability, our ability
to accumulate and build
wealth,” she said.
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