Opinion
A4
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
OUR VIEW
Courage
in the face
of COVID
challenges
T
he COVID impact spotlight has rested —
rightfully — on the thousands of dedi-
cated men and women in the state’s medical
system who have remained on the front lines of the
pandemic for nearly two years.
Their commitment has been a mostly silent
one. They’ve gone to work, completed their work,
and grappled with the impact of watching people
become very sick or die from the COVID-19 virus.
Their courage in the face of unprecedented
upheaval should not be forgotten, but there is
another group — teachers and educators across the
region — who have, in some ways, escaped notice
of the challenges they’ve faced and overcome since
the pandemic kicked off .
Our teachers, coaches and administrator have
been in the spotlight as well, but usually for a very
diff erent reason. At specifi c times during the pan-
demic, the people we trust to educate our youth
somehow ended up in the middle of a political debate
regarding masks and the very severity of COVID-19
itself. For reasons that remain mysterious, teachers,
coaches and administrators were tossed into the
maelstrom of debate about COVID-19, often
becoming the targets for decisions made at the state
level they had no control over.
Our educators — through no fault of their own
— also were forced to completely adjust the way
they teach when schools were closed across the
state because of COVID-19.
These men and women at local and regional
schools faced an array of serious — and often
disappointing — challenges with little room to
maneuver.
The truth is teachers and administrators should
never have become focal points of local angst about
vaccines or whether COVID-19 is serious or even
real.
Their job was a straightforward one — teach our
youth to the best of their ability.
When the COVID-19 mandates were handed
down by Gov. Kate Brown, an entire way of
teaching — etched into our collective consciousness
for decades — evaporated overnight. That created
huge challenges for teachers and administrators.
Our educators — just like our medical profes-
sionals — were not and are not searching for praise.
They just want to do their jobs. Yet, it is fi tting and
right to point out their contributions and sacrifi ces
during the past 18 or so months of the COVID-19
pandemic.
We must not forget that our teachers and educa-
tors are part of our communities and deserve sup-
port during these challenging times.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the
opinion of The Observer editorial
board. Other columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
LETTERS
• The Observer welcomes letters
to the editor. We edit letters for
brevity, grammar, taste and legal
reasons. We will not publish con-
sumer complaints against busi-
nesses, personal attacks against
private individuals or comments
that can incite violence. We also
discourage thank-you letters.
• Letters should be no longer than
350 words and must be signed and
carry the author’s name, address
and phone number (for verifi -
cation only). We will not publish
anonymous letters.
• Letter writers are limited to one
letter every two weeks.
• Longer community comment
columns, such as Other Views,
must be no more than 700 words.
Writers must provide a recent
headshot and a one-sentence
biography. Like letters to the
editor, columns must refrain from
complaints against businesses or
personal attacks against private
individuals. Submissions must
carry the author’s name, address
and phone number.
• Submission does not guarantee
publication, which is at the discre-
tion of the editor.
SEND LETTERS TO:
letters@lagrandeobserver.com
or via mail to Editor, 911 Jeff erson
Ave., La Grande, OR 97850
YOUR VIEWS
Why we withdrew our
children from GRA
I am writing to tell our experi-
ence and concerns with the local
private school Grande Ronde
Academy. We enrolled our children
in August. The fi rst week our family
got COVID. My husband became
dependent on oxygen and we lost his
father all within two weeks.
Our 8-year-old son missed two
weeks because his class was quaran-
tined. He was home when his papa
passed and was there as they worked
on him. His teacher showed him no
grace. She never reached out to us
to discuss the trauma our son expe-
rienced and when approached she
wouldn’t talk to us. She demanded
every last assignment to be done
right away. We were not mentally
or emotionally capable of doing that
and had been advised by counselors
to not push him due to his ADHD,
anxiety and trauma.
When asked why she didn’t reach
out she replied, “I don’t know you,
why should I?”
I am a teacher and understand the
benefi ts of verbal learning, so we
did my son’s work verbally. She then
accused me of cheating and sent
him to the offi ce.
Principal Johnson went out of his
way to help us but lacked support
and respect from the board.
The president of the board
seemed to hear my concerns but
no action was taken. No apology
was received. At the public board
meeting they discussed how new
people corrupt their school.
Since we are new and our son has
a true fear of his teacher, we chose
to no longer “corrupt” their school.
Elise Stevens
Union
Resolving pandemic is a
work in progress
Thanks for all of the comments
about the COVID-19 pandemic. The
more information we receive about
a problem, the higher the likeli-
hood of fi nding an eff ective solution.
Of course, each bit of data must
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande offi ce: 541-962-7691
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford offi ce: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
STAFF
SUBSCRIBEAND SAVE
Subscription rates:
Monthly Autopay ...............................$10.75
13 weeks.................................................$37.00
26 weeks.................................................$71.00
52 weeks ..............................................$135.00
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton offi ce: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50
You can save up to 55% off the single-copy
price with home delivery.
Call 800-781-3214 to subscribe.
be evaluated for credibility to be
useful. Resolving this pandemic is
obviously a work in progress.
Rejecting treatment modali-
ties for not being 100% eff ective is
a bit like looking for health insur-
ance and deciding coverage up to
$5,000,000 would be necessary to
cover any potential disaster. There-
fore, if the only available policy is
for just $200,000, it would not be
worth the time, eff ort or expense to
have.
In addition to fi nding the short-
comings of certain treatments, we
should each formulate what could
be helpful in solving this problem
and try to implement those ideas. In
addition to the unbelievable death
toll and disruption of lives, our med-
ical system is being overwhelmed,
making it diffi cult or impossible not
only to treat those with COVID but
to provide help for other serious ill-
nesses and injuries.
May all of mankind soon have
relief from this pandemic.
Dr. Richard Haddock
La Grande
Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896
www.lagrandeobserver.com
Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
(except postal holidays) by EO Media Group,
911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850
(USPS 299-260)
The Observer retains ownership and copyright
protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising
copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may
not be reproduced without explicit prior approval.
COPYRIGHT © 2021
Phone:
541-963-3161
Regional publisher. ...................... Karrine Brogoitti
Home delivery advisor ............... Amanda Fredrick
Interim editor ....................................Andrew Cutler
Advertising representative ..................... Kelli Craft
News clerk ........................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative .................... Amy Horn
Reporter....................................................Dick Mason
National accounts coordinator ...... Devi Mathson
Reporter............................................Davis Carbaugh
Graphic design .................................. Dorothy Kautz
Multimedia journalist.........................Alex Wittwer
Page design .........................................Andy Nicolais
Toll free (Oregon):
1-800-781-3214
Email:
news@lagrandeobserver.com
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
The Observer,
911 Jefferson Ave.,
La Grande, OR 97850
A division of